“This is a fucking mess, you know that?” Carlos ushers them into his vehicle, though a more accurate term would be herding them into it. With his words doing the cracking of a whip. “In all my years – I’ve never seen such rampant stupidity.”

  The van is simple and utilitarian. With plenty of room for these fools.

  It’s one thing to deal with idiotic teenagers, it’s quite another to deal with a problem they have created. It’s an entire fucking process from start to finish with them, opening one portal after another, then as a result of their reckless summoning the seal cracks and breaks.

  Carlos flings open the front door, thinking back – there are four bodies, or at the very least what remains of four bodies. The dogs went wild, leaving only bones and red meat, the blood spoiling clothes and sinking into the ground. A horrific way to go. The one tied to the chair didn’t fare much better, at least his end was quick. A broken neck, his body is torn apart too. The one that got ripped open into a blood painting is crying, with pale skin and red tears going down his cheek, with the camera lying on its side from his cold, dead fingers.

  He feels the urge, the hunger to give in to his rage, he wants to tear them apart. Their decision to continue with their antics meant that countless family members could not see their children again.

  This test cleanup is a reminder of the past. It’s a feeling of hopelessness, seeing the bodies of comrades. Little more than blood and guts staining the ground, their despair and pain only adding to the story. Carlos snaps back to the present when he can see Alexi, giving him a searching look.

  “Is there anything else?” Carlos asks viciously.

  “No. Everything has been accounted for.” Alexi replies in an even tone.

  Carlos is sitting down now, but he cannot stop his fingers from going white. Gripping the wheel like a vice. Alexi remains irritably cautious. There’s going to be a calming voice any moment now, telling the old man to reign in his emotions and stop bsting the kids.

  Alexi is giving him plenty of looks, to take his foot off the gas literally and figuratively. Born and raised in different eras, it’s not just age that separates them though. There’s a reason those in the upper ranks gave him a brother-in-arms. Still, there’s things the young gun can’t fix.

  “Is one of you going to fucking speak up, or am I going to have to stop and get back there?” Carlos is gring at them through his rear-view mirror, the kids are huddling together, trying to ease their torment. Drawing strength from each other. No answer is forthcoming.

  He can see Alexi in his peripherals – opening his mouth to speak.

  The goth girl is turning away, and the blond leader of the boys is trying to keep himself upright.

  Alexi is a polite fellow, with little in the way of a fearsome temper. “You’ve been ranting for the better part of ten minutes, perhaps you should take a breather?”

  “A breather, Alexi? Hell no, these idiots should be grilled to the bone.”

  Alexi sighs heavily, rubbing his eyes. “They’ve had enough, Carlos.”

  “That’s what they all say, when bad things happen. That they’ve had enough of seeing everything change.” Carlos can feel the weight of his own words pressing down on his soul. The whole group of them are on edge. Life is cruel. Especially when something alive and real is no longer something to cherish. He’s been doing this for far too long, day by day, night by night, a life of loyalty to a greater cause. At least that’s what his heart always tells him. “To change like this is a curse. A curse that is self-inflicted burns harsher.”

  “So, we’ve gone over the basics.” Alexi starts. “That you, Vukosava and John are the ringleaders, you were here filming a video and underwent rituals that allowed the supernatural to enter into our reality. Does that sound right to you?”

  Vukosava, the goth is looking towards her two-gal pals, Amber in crying, and Harley trying to comfort her. This is weighing heavily on her – perhaps there will be a confession. Someone to put the bme on for this shitshow. He fixes his eyes on the goth, there’s sadness, regret and anger. Defeat and nihilism setting in.

  “It’s all my fault. Why didn’t I stop it?” Vukosava’s words shake with raw emotion.

  Alexi looks over to her sympathetically.

  “A good question for you to ask now, after the doing is done.” Carlos snaps.

  John puts his head down, though his eyes gleam with defiance. “Yeah, you’re right. Don’t bme Vukosava, I was the one being an idiot, I opened it first, then she had to as well.”

  “We understand the reasoning behind her decision, all the same, it doesn’t change the result. Lives lost.” Alexi keeps his tone and words soft. “We’ll discuss what unfolded in greater detail, for now just sit still and rex.”

  This night is a mess. Four young men, being a Marcus, a Fred, a Gregory and a Barry weren’t going home. It’ll take time for the reporters to arrive, with all the cameras and lights. John shares the same vacant expression that she does, there’s no big smile or boastful manner. The castle of eternity, the city of heartache, is fading into the night, with the mist falling around it beneath an obsidian sky with a sickle of light from a hanging moon.

  “Rex, huh?” Nathen asks. “We’ll be doing plenty of that – I just can’t believe it.”

  “They must’ve been lying in wait.” Carlos mutters darkly. “A signal for them to enter.”

  “What are you going to do?”

  “That is not your concern.” Alexi answers. “We’ll be taking you to a discreet location. I’ll give you this warning now, considering your professions, if you look for this location - via maps or any other navigational software, you won’t find it. And we’ll know that you’re trying something. You will answer all of our questions to the best of your ability, once our enquiries reach their end, there will be a sentencing that matches the damages dealt.”

  After a brief pause, Alexi turns back in his seat. “I’d advise you leave nothing out.”

  With that final statement, the van slips away into an old apartment complex, slightly off from the beaten track. It’s the fever dream of a naturalist, plenty of vegetation and room for growing roses. It looks so ordinary and mundane, it’s hard to believe that this will be their discreet location. As they make their way up the stairs leading to Carlos and Alexi’s room, the whole pack of them are looking around, their faces turning white as they contempte what’s going to befall them. Good, they’ll learn a lesson before they reach their final destination. It’s a front of course, the families and friends hanging out for movie nights and ughing together is a showing of normality.

  Carlos isn’t a man who wastes time, they’re barely out of the vehicle before he starts herding them inside. With the door closing behind him and all of them sitting together like a family – he starts ying into them with the same fire and ferocity he had earlier. “Now, those questions I was talking about, all of you are going to start answering.”

  “Sir, we didn’t do anything wrong, we are just a bunch of dumb kids.” Harley butts in quickly. “That’s what we are.”

  “I won’t deny that.” Carlos grumbles viciously. “If it were up to me, all of you would share the bme equally. That’s what friends do, right?”

  “We’re not kids, sir. We’re young adults, and young adults can make mistakes.” Nathen quickly adds on. “Our mistake was an honest one, if we had known it would do something like this, we’d have never done it in the first pce.”

  “Do you think I’m a fool for you to fuck with?” Carlos explodes.

  The group is eager to cast off guilt, but like any group of children. They keep stepping over each other’s toes. Carlos is too knowledgeable for such a thing to confuse him – he’s dealt with dumbasses his whole life. They may look different from one another, but they all act the exact same way. In one case, the little romantics at heart decide to stand in front of a mirror in a dark room, candles flicking in the gss, their faces distorted by the flicking fire, spinning around and around - chanting a name three times.

  It's a bitter reminder that no matter how much work he does, some idiot decides to make a reckless decision, not caring about the consequences until it’s far too te. He didn’t tolerate the idea of listening to them.

  “I’ve had quite enough of your prattle, why don’t we get to the chase?” Carlos gres pointedly at Vukosava and John. “As the two leaders of this ‘paranormal investigation’, you will be the ones that take the brunt of it. Understood?”

  “Yes, sir.” Vukosava answers lowly. “I should be thrown in jail.”

  John is spinning his head between them; an omission of weakness is turning the tide out of his favor. “What are you going to tell me, John? That she’s lying.”

  “We’re still recovering from what happened, could we have more time?”

  “Time? You had time.” Carlos didn’t take his eyes off the young man.

  “Your actions though not intentional have warranted a legal response.” Alexi butts in, diverting their attention temporarily with his businesslike tone. “If it’s not criminal negligence, it could possibly be mansughter. You’ve acted with btant disregard of serious risk and harm.”

  The boys eyes are darting now; the group is in much the same state. “Now, why don’t we break this up a bit?”

  Carlos points to John and Vukosava. “Come along, I want the full picture, make sure you leave nothing out.”

  They follow him into his personal office; he sms the door behind them. Alexi remains with the others, breaking them up is a good way of getting answers.

  John looks at him squarely in the eyes, though the shame is killing him. “I request a wyer.”

  “A wyer? You want to weasel your way out of it, is that it? I’ve known plenty of guys like you.” Carlos growls at him. “You won’t go out on your shield, and you won’t lie down in the hole you made either.”

  “My father is Thomas Maxwell, the local representative for this state.” John doesn’t buckle down the pressure; he sits across trying to keep the emotion away from his eyes.

  “I’m to take you at your word?” Carlos stares a hole through him.

  “What would I gain by lying? Nothing. I’m not pulling your leg, man.”

  Carlos frowns. “I’m not one of your boys. Now, what happened?”

  “Just like Nathen said, we made a mistake.”

  “You’re going to regurgitate what he said, what about Harley?”

  “John, why are you doing this? We have to be honest.” Vukosava is identifying the contents of his desk. There’s barely anything on it – save for documents, a ptop and a portable printer. No family photos or memorabilia that gives him an identity beyond being a man done with dealing with the bullshit of others. It’s a sensation that burns and leaves him wanting more.

  “I don’t care if your father is the senator or the president of this country. I will not tolerate you dancing around the issue.” Carlos snaps bluntly, causing them to jump back into their seats. “You’ve deyed this long enough.”

  John and Vukosava exchange a gnce, the two of them weighing up their decisions. One believes in a just punishment while the other wants to get out of it.

  After the external pressure weighing him down, John takes a sim card from his shoe. “Okay, fine. This is what my group got, right in the center of the action.”

  Carlos levels him with a look. “Where’s the other one?”