Chapter 5 - The screaming Walls
The air inside Valencia High was heavy—too heavy. The walls seemed to breathe now, pulsing faintly as if veins had grown beneath the paint. Every whisper echoed longer than it should. Every reflection moved half a second too late.
Adrian Sanchez ran his thumb along the scar under his left eye, the one Rin Kaito carved there during training—a reminder that power demands pain. Adriana walked beside him, her twin blades humming with faint red sigils.
They weren't alone.
A group of students lingered near the lockers, their faces pale, their eyes glowing faintly violet. One of them smiled—too wide, his jaw cracking like stone splitting.
> "The bell's about to ring," Adriana muttered, gripping her weapon.
"Yeah," Adrian said quietly. "But not for class."
The hall lights flickered. The "students" started laughing, voices bending and echoing. Then their skins peeled away, revealing horns, split jaws, and crawling black fire.
Demons in disguise—but stronger this time. Rin Kaito's words rang in Adrian's memory:
> "The more blood they taste, the closer they come to remembering what they were. Don't let them feed."
---
The twins lunged into battle.
Adriana spun, her twin blades cutting arcs of red light, severing arms and tails that turned to black smoke. Adrian punched through a wall—his gauntlet flaring to life with crimson sigils.
A massive demon, shaped like a headless bull with eyes all over its torso, emerged from the gym doors. The lockers shattered, desks flew.
> "You think you're hunters?" it boomed. "You're just children bleeding in the dark."
Adrian leapt forward, blood spraying as his gauntlet tore through the creature's side. Adriana followed, slicing upward, her blade igniting like a dying star.
The creature screamed—so loud that windows burst, and the school's walls began to bleed.
---
When the dust settled, Adrian was on one knee, panting. Adriana was silent, staring at the cracked ceiling where the demon had vanished.
Then, faintly, over the sound of dripping blood, a phone rang.
It was the same sound as before. The same cursed ringtone.
Adriana looked at her brother, her face pale.
> "That sound again… It's coming from your bag."
Adrian pulled out his phone. The screen was cracked and glowing red. One message appeared:
> "RIN KAITŌ HAS FALLEN"
The call echoed in both heads like vibrating voices. And from somewhere beneath the school, something ancient laughed.