Prophecy of the Nexus

Chapter 3

"Are you joking?" Damion whispered to me. We were sitting at the back of our history class while Mr Peterson droned on. I had taken this opportunity to tell Damion and Jason my plan. They had both instantly believed my encounter with the demons. However, I think that might have been because Alice had got to them first. That was the easy bit though. What was harder to believe was what I planned to do next. Damion checked Mr Peterson hadn't noticed our conversation before continuing. "You want to catch a demon?" he said. "You? The poster girl for angelic studies wants to catch a demon?"

"Any other way you want to put it?" I hissed at him.

"But you're the one who always goes on about the dangers of meddling with Order stuff," he hissed back. "Wasn't one demon encounter enough?" I hadn't thought about this much as the idea of capturing a demon had engulfed me. I tried to think back to the fear I felt during my face-off with the ghasts last week. The memory was almost a blur now. All I could remember now was the demon's words about my prophecy. And that outweighed any fear I had.

There was a cough from the front of the classroom. Mr Peterson was staring right at us, arms crossed. "Anything you would like to share with the class?" he said.

I didn't want to share one syllable of what I had said with the rest of the class. So, I just looked abashed while Damion took the lead with one of his fake stories. One history lesson and two detention notes later, Alice, Damion, Jason, and I were chilling at our usual spot on the playground. We sat near the library as it was quieter and less likely for a stray ball to hit you. We were all enjoying our lunches until Damion broke the silence. "Do you know, the thing that got me most about going beyond the Halo was the sky not being the same colour," he said. We all stopped chewing. I had forgotten that the other three had their own experiences with the demonlands, though theirs weren't so dramatic. It hadn't occurred to me to ask how they felt about their trip beyond the Halo. "What kind of power allows them to change the sky?" he continued. We shrugged at each other because none of us knew. Damion looked at me for a minute. I had never seen him look concerned before. "You sure you wanna do this?" he asked.

I nodded. This was the only way. The worst-case scenario was me being eaten by a rogue demon. Still, best-case scenario, I might end up helping the Order. "So, how we going to do it?" Alice said.

"We?" I repeated. "You guys aren't helping me with this. I'm not putting your lives endanger too."

"Yes we are," Alice said. "I will not have my best-friend take on a demon alone. Again. You need backup." She pointed at Damion, "you're in, right?"

"Of course," Damion said, without hesitation. "We'll become legends."

Alice then pointed at Jason. Jason didn't reply. Instead, he slowly took one more bite of his sandwich. I understood his worry. His father was a auxiliary officer for the Order, and this kinda behaviour was super illegal. If anyone caught us messing about with this kinda stuff, we'd be spending a night in the cells. Finally, he gave a sharp nod.

In victory, Alice turned to me, "See? Backup." I knew there was no point debating with her. Plus, this wasn't the main issue with my plan. "So, how do we catch a demon?" She asked me.