~Battle of the Beauties (Part 2)~

“Hey, I know you felt pathetic and weak for not being able to use your power whenever you need it the most, but I’m sure of it, you will know how to handle it sooner. Just don’t be sad. It’s my fault for not being there to protect you.” Drake tried to apply reverse psychology to his girlfriend just to make her feel fine but altogether intentionally meant the words he said. He blamed himself for being obsessed with capturing Linda, which made him lose focus on protecting the most vital essence in the scenario; his girlfriend, the Key.

“Hey, don’t say that! I never nor will blame you for all the bad things that are happening in my life. You’re the one that makes me happy the most. You’re the reason that I become me, for finding the truth behind myself. You will never be a fault in my life.” Lez finally smiled after telling her deep emotion to Drake.

“Sorry, I just can’t take myself out of the blame especially seeing you that worried,” Drake explained.

“No! It’s just, I’m worrying for something else.” Drake looked at her girlfriend so keenly, for he didn’t know the meaning of the words she said.

She lifts her hand and shows Drake her wounded palm.

“What the hell? How did this happen? I never even noticed this earlier. What happened?” Drake got frustrated for seeing her girlfriend get hurt, especially knowing about her ability to protect her from any harm.

“Did Christ do this?” Lez just nod.

“How?” he followed to ask.

“Chris told me earlier that he found my weakness as a key from reading the book, and he used the knife to cut my hand,” Lez explained to her boyfriend.

“Damn it! So it really was my fault, after all, for leaving the book behind. I’ve got to know what that weakness is to prevent this from happening again. Gladly I had the book back.” Drake talks in his mind.

“We’ve got to treat that quickly. When we get to the hospital, we’ll have to get that checked before it gets infected.” Drake worriedly said.

“Don’t worry too much. I’m fine now. Really I’m fine.” Lez reassured Drake about her condition.

“Okay. I trust you, but you’ve got to eat Lez, even just a little just to fill your belly. Look, I bought you your favorite meal, see?” Drake said while showing her the cheeseburger.

“But that not my favorite meal; that’s your favorite meal,” Lez complained while looking at the burger, but as soon as she raised her head to look at her boyfriend’s face, Drake was already giggling. Lez got slightly annoyed as her boyfriend made fun of her. She acted like a child that wanted something but hadn’t given it to her. But smiled and laughed in annoyance in the end.

“Okay! Okay! I just want to see you smile and laugh, okay.” Drake said while kissing her lips and asked in continuation. “Just tell me what your favorite food is, and I’ll go grab it.”

“I want shrimp.” Lez simply said it. “A stir-fried shrimp.”

“What? I don’t think they have that in here. Lez, we're in a fast food joint right now.” Drake made a statement while laughing.

Lez just replied to him with a sad face as a gag while Drake laughed at her joke.

“Okay! I’ll promise I’ll take you for dinner tonight, and you can have all the shrimp that you want. Just

Give me something available in this joint so I can have it to you.” Drake promised just to make her smile.

“Yey!” Lez acted like a kid who got a new toy.

“So?” Drake followed to ask.

“A chicken nuggets with fries will do for me now.” Lez finally made up her mind.

“Nuggets it is.” And Drake went to order Lez some food.

After they had their lunch, they went directly to the hospital where Mike was confined to visit him. They immediately had Lez’s palm checked and treated it before they went to Mike’s room. When they went in to surprise Mike, they were the ones who got surprised instead.

“Al?” Drake asked to confirm if the lady inside the room was her sister Alex.

“Oh, hi!” Al greeted back the couple.

“What? This is a surprise, and what are you doing here?” Drake followed a question, wondering why Al visited Mike alone.

“Why am I here? Am I not allowed to visit a friend?” Al replied, wondering why her brother would ask that kind of question.

“Glad to see you here, Al,” Lez said as she went to hug her.

“You too Lez.” Al replied, then Lez went to give Mike a soft hug and surprise present.

“Wooh, what’s this? A cheeseburger? Wow, I really missed eating our favorite food bro. Thanks.” Mike happily thanked the couple.

“Yeah! I know you’d love to have a cheeseburger now, bro.” Drake's fist-bumped with Mike as he replied, laughing, for it was their leftover food. It was supposed to be Lez’s lunch, but she liked to have a nugget instead.

“Al, sorry if I overreacted last time.” Drake gave his sister a big hug.

“Apology accepted,” Al replied, a hug back to her brother.

“Yeah, to explain why I’m here, is that I gave Mike A test run of the medicine that our doctors discovered to double or even triple the healing rate of a human body that Mike took earlier.” Al implied.

“Test run?” Mike commented as he stopped eating his burger as soon as he heard ‘Test Run’.

“Yes, test run. You know you’re the first one to test its capabilities. So we're waiting now for the result; if it’s successful, then that’s great, but if it failed then….” Al quickly gave a slashing sign on her throat that meant death.

“What?” silence echoed the whole room for seconds until the three burst into laughter except Mike, who became the center of the joke.

“Hey, it’s just a joke.” Al took back what she said earlier as Mike continued to eat his burger.

“Of course, it is tried and tested,” Al added.

“But we tested it on a monkey.” And this time, she’s not joking that made Mike stop eating his burger again as Drake and Lez burst into laughter for they thought it was still a joke from Al. But Drake saw Al wasn’t laughing.

“You’re just joking again, right?” Drake asked his sister, but she only replied with a straight face.

“No! I’m not.” Silence echoed in the room as the three altogether looked at Mike.

“Hey! I felt great now. See, I can stand up and walk. I’m feeling great now.” Mike happily informed them of his condition.

“Then that’s great!” Al quickly gave Mike a big hug while the couple just watched them have their moment.

“Wow! I can feel the connection there.” Drake said as he walked towards Lez and gave her an embrace as Lez replied to him back with a hug.

Al heard what Drake said and quickly pulled her head to see Mike's face. Mike is having the time of his life as he embraced the goddess he worshiped so much while wearing a happy, silly face. Al quickly pushed Mike into bed and stood straight while polishing her dress off and acting as if nothing had happened.

“By the way, Drake, I have something to tell you.” Al quickly changed the topic.

“Yeah, I think I know what you are about to say.” Drake already anticipated what Al’s news was about.

“So, what’s their decision?” Drake asked her sister.

“I’ve only talked to our brother John but not to our father yet. John was open about it and understood well the words I told him. He approves of protecting the Key rather than eliminating it in the process, for we could use all the help we could get, especially fighting against the demons.” Al gladly informed the news of the group.

“Really? That’s great!” Drake happily commented on Al’s News.

“He also added that he would be happy to train us, especially the both of you who don’t know well about your powers yet,” Al added more great news.

“You heard that, Drake? I’m getting excited!” Lez said to Drake as they both celebrated in joy and hugged each other.

“And to top that, John also said that he would likely to convince dad about it so expect the full force of the Scotts to support you both, but for now, they’re out of the country and expect to be back next week, so he entrusts us to deal with this ourselves until the day they arrive.” Al gave them the most important news they wanted to hear.

“That’s great! Yes! Al, I’m sorry if I ever doubted you. Thank you so much!” Drake gave her sister a big hug as thanks.

Al gave him a big embrace and replied, “That’s okay, my little Drakey. Besides, I’m your big sister, after all. Of course, I’ll always give my support to my little brother.” A big brother-sister hug for the both of them.

“Ah… that’s sweet. Can I have some too?” Mike interrupted the two while looking directly at Al.

“You can have a hug from your burger,” Al replied as Lez and Drake laughed.

“Oh, by the way, Drake, before I forgot. Clem called me earlier and informed me of something. He said he tried to call you many times, but you didn’t answer your phone?” Al wondered of the reason why.

“Yeah, about that. We kind of got into trouble, especially Lez.” Drake started to explain.

“What trouble?” Al followed a question.

“You see, Lez got hurt earlier at school while she got attacked by Chris,” Drake explained.

Lez showed them her bandaged hand.

“What? What happened? And how could this happen?” Al confusedly asked the couple, for she thought Lez would be protected by her barrier.

“Wooh, Stop! Chris? Linda’s boyfriend? How did he do that? Al told me everything about Lez that she is a guardian thing, and she has a protective barrier ability that prevents her from any harm as the Key? Then how could she get hurt?” Mike commented and could not comprehend the happening.

“Wait! This Chris you are talking about is that demon Linda’s boyfriend, right?” the others just nod to agree. “Is he a demon too?” Al asked.

“No! No, he’s not. It’s just that he read this book (Showing the book of Lock and Key). That would be my fault; I forgot this book on a table at the cafeteria when Lez and I argued before we got into trouble with the demon Linda. Chris found out the weakness of the Key, and that’s the result.” Drake pointed to the injured hand of Lez.

“Wait, this means Lez could get in danger. If that information gets into the demon’s hands, then we are all doomed.” Al worriedly said.

“What do you mean doomed?” Drake couldn’t comprehend what his sister meant.

“Drake, I know for sure by now the demon knows who the Key is, and I know that they will be targeting Lez for the Key because if I were a demon, I would do that too. Remember? The demon's priority is to obtain the Key. Still, until now, we don’t have any information on how they are going to do that but based on what I witnessed from the incident where you are badly injured and Lez held you in her arms, I saw that demon attacked Lez. It was trying to kill her.” Al thoroughly explained her thoughts, and now everyone in the room gets what she meant for them to understand. “I’m just saying, maybe, the way to obtain the key is to kill her.” Al looked at Lez so worriedly.

“We have to protect Lez at all cost. We can’t let them have the Key. Most of all, I can’t let her die.” Drake said while touching Lez’s face, looking straight into her eyes.

“Yeah, that’s why I’m calling Clem for bodyguards.” Al sets contingency measures to avoid any mishaps that will lead to more disaster.

“Those bodyguards you said, are they gonna last long against a demon?” Mike asked for clarification.

“No! Not that much. Drake would be a better bodyguard, for he has the speed and ability to take out those bodyguards in just seconds. It’s just perimeter security so that if the demon attacks, we could have a heads up and prepare for any trouble or let Lez escape if necessary.” Al implied while talking at Clem on the phone.

“Hey guys, can you hear that?” Drake suddenly commented.

“Hear what?” Lez replied while everyone wondered what he heard.

“Nah, it’s nothing. Probably just my hallucinations were playing with me again. Stress-related, maybe.” Drake implied as he walked towards the closed door while rubbing his forehead.

“So, what are we gonna do now?” Lez asked Al what she planned.

“First, we’ll wait for the requested bodyguards to secure this area before we leave. These bodyguards will be there wherever you go Lez so please bear with it for now. Maybe at least until our brother’s arrival, so this will be just temporary, especially you can’t handle your power that well.” Al laid their first plan.

“Second, we must know what your weakness is. Knowing it will help us counter your weakness to prevent any harm that may cause your own demise. We cannot let that happen.” Al sincerely said to Lez with eye to eye contact.

“Third, we have to defeat or at least capture that demon, and that's the reason why Clem called you many times, Drake. To inform you that they found out the demon’s weakness and how to close the gate. Drake? Drake, are you listening?” Al tried to call her brother in which the meantime, is facing back at them, but seemed to get no response.

“Hey, Bro? Are you okay in there?” Mike called Drake’s attention but still no reply.

The three are looking at each other, that they feel something weird is going on with Drake. Lez and Al slowly approached him and gently turned his body to face them, but Drake just stood there staring at nothing.

“Drake? What’s wrong? Are you thinking of something?” Lez asked but still got no reply.

“Drakey? Are you in there?” Al added to call his attention but still nothing.

“Drake, you’re scaring me. Talk to me.” Lez is getting worried about her boyfriend.

“Not just you Lez. He’s scaring us, that is. Drake?” Al commented as they moved closer and tried to shake him but suddenly, his eyes started to glow in full blue.

“Jesus Christ!” Mike quickly uttered as he fell back into bed, as the girls screamed in fright as they stepped back away from Drake.

Drake started to move, opened the door, and started strolling towards the hall.

“Holy shit! Those eyes. I’ve seen those eyes. Those are the eyes that demon Linda has that I couldn’t forget. That is so scary; what the hell, bro!” Mike said as he trembled in fear.

“No! This is not good. I think Drake’s under a spell.” Al gave her thoughts.

“Why? How? And how can we break it?” Lez wondered how Linda put a spell on Drake.

“I have no idea about that Lez, but for now, let’s just follow him and find some answers for ourselves.” Al was getting curious about where this happening might lead them. She knew deep inside that this would result in a battle with demon Linda itself. She was prepared to bring her a fight and take back her brother and probably have a chance to close the gate.

They watched Drake walking in the hall from a distance and suddenly vanish.

“What? Where’d he go?” Mike wondered as his friend was completely gone in just a split second.

“Mike, try the other corner in the right, Lez, you in the left. I’ll go straight ahead.” Al instructed the team like a leader.

Ding! An elevator bell rings.

“The elevator!” they altogether said as they heard the elevator bell rang.

They quickly ran into the elevator and saw Drake inside it, but they weren’t fast enough to catch it.

“Where is he going?” Lez asked.

“Top floor?” Al replied, wondering why.

“Rooftop, maybe?” Mike suggested as they all positively agreed where Drake might be going.

They used the stairs to climb up more than five floors as quickly as they could, which resulted in heavy pants of breathing as they reached the hospital top floor then proceeded to the rooftop doorway.

Lez quickly opened the door that leads to the rooftop itself, and there saw Drake, standing right in front of Linda, who’s wearing her school uniform like herself.

“Drake!” they called his attention while moving a distance towards them.

“Hello, my love. Come to me. Come to me and kiss your lover.” Linda gave command at Drake as his eyes still glowing in full blue; he followed without any hesitations and kissed her as a lover does to his sweetheart right in front of the three.

Lez felt a crushing feeling in her heart while watching her boyfriend kissing the demon bitch Linda. Felt jealous, and more rage mixed deep inside her as the sky seemed to get dark and indeed pour a heavy rain ahead.

“Linda!” Lez shouted, calling her with rage in her voice.

“What have you done to my boyfriend? What have you done to Drake?” Lez clenched her fist as flame started to flicker in her hands.

“Ah… Lez, your hands start to emit fire.” Al informed Lez as she noticed a flare of flame bursting out from her clenching hands but seemed not to hear a single word from her.

“What the fuck! I’ll be sorry for any girl who tries to flirt with Drake in the future; I’m sure they’ll become a toast.” Mike punned.

Al did laugh a little bit but held herself not to while saying the words, “Not now, Mike. This is not the time.” And bit her lips holding herself not to laugh.

“Well, I’m just sayin’,” Mike added as Al just took a deep breath and sighed while looking at him, shaking her head.

“Oh! Hi there, Ms. Fiery Fist and friends. Glad to see you here. Are you here to witness the love between my Drake?” Linda was trying to tease Lez and make her mad by kissing Drake again and again.

“Get away from him!” Lez shouted as the flare of flames from her hands got much more prominent as she raged on.

“Oh! Getting feisty already. But I don’t want you to rage on. I want you to despair. That’s the only way to obtain the Key away from you. But tell me, what is your true despair coz I’ve tried killing your friend there, but it didn’t work.” Linda now revealed to them how to obtain the Key as he tried to kill Mike before just to make Lez feel despair but failed.

“I even tried to sacrifice my love, Drake, here; sorry for that, my love.” Linda looked at Drake and kissed him passionately, which added Lez’s rage more and more as she continued her speech. “And tried to kill him right in front of you, but still, you won’t despair. Are you that kind of hard-hearted woman who won’t despair the death of the man she loves most?” Linda teased Lez more.

“Trying to kill you will achieve me nothing, for that barrier will always protect the key no matter what, so I’ll find another way to let you feel despair.” Linda gave excellent information for the group.

“So this bitch doesn’t know the Key’s weakness yet, huh? That’s good to know.” Al made a nasty smile while staring at Linda as Mike wondered why Al was making that kind of face as he noticed her but kept it for himself.

“So how about I’ll make my love Drake kill all of your friends, and you give me to despair.” Linda menacingly looked at her prey.

Alex knows what Linda is about to do now, so she prepared a countermeasure.

“Kill them, Drake!” Linda handed Drake a knife and ordered him to kill Mike and Al on the spot.

“My pleasure, my love.” Drake obediently obliged her orders as he vanished quickly on their sight as an assassin made for killing.

“Drake, no!” Lez shouted, but it was too late.

Linda saw it with her own two eyes as Drake slashed both Al and Mike repeatedly with his knife, cutting their legs, arms, chest, face, and throat in just seconds. Their lifeless bodies fall like a rock dropped from mid-air, quick and audible. Blood quickly spread on the floor as Drake stood there, like a statue, watching the blood oozes from their bodies while Lez just sulked and cried.

Lez suddenly heard a quick thud as Linda fell to the ground with a face full of shock while looking at Al standing right in front of her.

“How’s that for a sucker-punch bitch?” With her dark aura hand, Al repeatedly punched Linda in her face, lying flat on the ground, groaning from the pain of each strike that Al does until she rages on and transforms.

Al took back a distance from her as Linda became a demon. Her eyes were now glowing blue, and her hair started growing, reshaping into ten spears and ready to strike.

“Die, you fucking guardian!” Linda screamed as her hair stroke at Al, but as soon as it hit its target, blows of punches were the only thing she could feel from her entire body. For the second time, demon Linda fell to the ground with AL standing right before her again.

“What the hell is happening here?” Linda asked herself.

“I don’t know who you are bitch. But you’re acting so arrogant and pretty tough.” She said while getting herself up. “But now feel my wrath!” Linda did the same thing again, but now she doubled her spears and rapidly attacked Alex in consecution.