The Apocalypse was on the loose downstairs.

Must be Thursday.

She heard the shouting in her office and was on her way out the door whne the two girls burst in; she only needed to take a look to see how shaken up they were, tears, anger, fear, everything. She did not need a second look to tell which one of them was feeling worse.
And that only meant one thing.

I promised.

Also, now that the door was open, she could smell smoke.

"You two get in there and stay put" she said, opening the office door for the girls. She glanced down the hallway towards the living room "How many of them and how many of us?"

This. Was. War.

Agnes was not sure how much time had passed. All she knew was that she was running and she was not going to allow herself to stop, not until she got to where she needed to go. Gina was angry with her for leaving Andrew behind, and lord knows as much as Agnes didn’t want to do it, that was her best option at the moment. She was not going to run and leave Gina there to face Malachi and her parents, nor did Andrew seem to want her there. Maybe he was doing well without having to worry about attempting to protect the two girls. Though he needed to get that male machismo bull out of his head, for the moment she ignored it. She didn’t want him to get anymore hurt than she was sure he must be enduring at the moment.

But still, no matter how hard she ran, she simply could not get to her destination fast enough. In the back of her mind, that part of her that wanted to hide and quiver in fear, she could not allow it to bubble up to the surface. She needed to hold her breakdown for the time being. Her parents were here, they a mutant causing mayhem, and all of it simply because they wanted to take her back. They must have anticipated resistance…

“Stupid, stupid, this is so stupid,” she chastised herself and continued to run. It was Gina’s sweet voice that pulled her back in.

>> “Who are we getting? What’s the plan?”

“The guidance counselor, Ms. Taylor,” Agnes said with a resolute nod. “She can turn off mutant powers. She can stop Malachi…at least I hope to god she can.”

As they rounded another corner, Agnes nearly skidded to a stop when she saw the woman’s office. She had been there too many times in her experience and this was only going to add to the reasons why she was avoiding the place. She hated the fact that her family situation brought this madness into the mansion, something she was sure they wanted to avoid. But there was no feeling sorry now…they had to be stopped.

Agnes burst into the room just as Gemma Taylor seemed to be walking out. The next few minutes were a complete blur. The runaway knew that she was talking, she could feel the words coming out of her throat, but all she could hear was her own panic, taste her own tears, even feel the jittering shakiness of her limbs. But it was not totally because of her parents, she feared for Andrew, which she had explained to Gemma with urgency. They abandoned him, left him alone, and he needed help.

The guidance counselor seemed quick to accept the situation, smelling the smoke that was already filtering to them from down the hall.

>> "You two get in there and stay put…How many of them and how many of us?"

“T-Three…” Agnes said breathlessly. “My parents…and…Malachi…he…he’s the mutant…s-setting everything on fire…poor Andrew.” But despite Ms. Taylor’s command, Agnes did not stay put. She was going to follow her no matter what.

****

>> "Right. Y'all are gonna have ta get past me and the rest of the staff here before you can take that girl. We don't hold with abusive parents."

Malachi had misjudged the boy, and as a result of that, he was now holding onto a table he had just sent himself hurtling into. The kid was quicker than he had anticipated but it didn’t matter. As he pushed himself off the table, the surface of the wood began to boil, crack and burn, leaving his hand marks burned into the very top of it. But he didn’t care, all of this stuff was tainted by the presence of these demonically possessed people. It was worth nothing to a true and honest person like himself. No matter what, it would get cleansed in the fires.

Chuckling in his deep, baritone voice, the blond, fiery man stood up straight and turned to glare directly at Andrew again. He could see no visible demonic influence over the boy, nor had he demonstrated anything that might prove that he was one of those beasts. But that didn’t mean he wasn’t. Because he consorted with them alone was proof enough for him. He would cleanse the boy just as thoroughly without remorse.

“Boy, you don’t feel the evil ones influence on you, but I can tell you…it is there” he grinned slightly. “You bar these fine folks from attempting to reclaim their daughter’s soul! To pull her back from the hellfires! You cause more harm than good…”

As Malachi said all this his fiery eyes never left Andrew. Though his voice was honey and pleading, it was obvious that he was in utter disgust as he looked at the boy. He really wanted nothing more than to make him burn. He was a psychopath with a zealot influence. Not the best of combinations. Hands open, he approached Andrew slowly, looking as defenseless as possible, even though he still had his fiery whie aura up.

“Listen, child, this is not your fight. Let it-“ he stopped himself and smirked wide as he watched the boy. “Who are we kidding? You won’t listen to me. Or just as corrupted…so…let me personally save your SOUL!![/b]”

As he said these last words Malachi stomped hard on the ground in Andrew’s direction. As he did so, a wave of blazing white fire washed off his aura and rolled directly at him, burning every square inch of carpet that dared to be under it. But Malachi knew the kid was quick. Even as he sent the wave of fire at him, the zealot growled as he dashed forward and aimed a powerful, flaming punch directly for the kid’s jaw.

He would make his flesh burn…

Agnes clued Gina in, telling her that they were going to get the guidance counselor, who could shut-off mutant powers, and who would hopefully be able to stop the flaming muscle-head. Gina only nodded in return, locking her eyes dead-ahead and trying to still her erratically thrumming heart.

The Guidance Counselor? Gina echoed mentally, following Agnes closely. In all the time that she'd been there, she'd yet to visit the guidance counselor, but she sounded like she meant business. They rounded the corner, approaching a door that hosted a placard thet read "Ms. Gemma Taylor", and underneath, in a smaller font, "Guidance Counselor". They skidded to a stop, and Agnes threw the door open, missing the counselor's nose by inches. Gina lost her resolve at the sight of an adult, someone that could help take control of the situation-- angry tears brimmed her eyes, and Gina squinted against them, trying hard not to lose it. She was quivering with a mixture of fury and fear, and perhaps sorrow.

Nice to meet you, Ms. Taylor.

>> "You two get in there and stay put-- how many of them and how many of us?"

Gina stood in the background as Agnes reported that there were three people, two of whom were her parents, and one of whom was a pyromaniac. She then mentioned that Drew was still down there. Gina simply stood in the background, shaking uncontrollably as Miss Taylor brushed past. Gina did as she was told, darting into the office, but when she turned, Agnes was gone. Gina had only agreed to run becuase Agnes had run with her. She didn't expect her to go charging back after the counselor. Gina poked her head into the hall and hollered after her, her voice raw with emotion.

"Agnes! Agnes, Ms. Taylor told us to stay put!" Gina yelled, her voice cracking. Her heart was hammering hard in her chest, as she watched her sister disappear down the hall, obviously ignoring her. She'd told Agnes that she'd run, but, man-- did she feel absolutely sick to her stomach for running away like this. She should be out there, helping, defending her sister and her friends. Gina steadied herself, tried to clear her head, and took a moment to survey the room. It was a normal room, nothing too out-of-place, and as comfortable as you'd expect a counselor's room to be. Gina spied a phone upon the desk, one of those old ones tethered down by a cord, and an idea struck her-- how long would they be able to hold off the religious psychopaths? How long until the Mansion would be burnt to a crisp, or Agnes reclaimed by her parents? Oh no, she didn't have to sit by and do nothing while a trio of crazies laid siege to the Mansion.

Gina made her way over to the phone, plucking the reciever off of the jack and listening to the dial tone on the other end of the line. She pounded a couple of buttons-- three, simple buttons-- and the phone rang-- once, twice, and then someone answered on the other end of the line.

"9-1-1, what is your emergency?" a smooth, female voice inquired on the other end of the line.

"Yes, my name's Gina Schuyler, I'm a student at Xavier's Sister School," Gina announced, fighting the quiver in her tone. Okay, they didn't need to know that, so she cut to the chase, "There are three people currently attacking the school-- one of them's a fire manipulator and I'm pretty sure he's going to burn the school down, and the other two are the parents of a girl named Agnes Nicholas--" Gina swallowed, recalling when Agnes had told her of the fact that they were now wanted criminals, and that the NYPD was now looking for them, "--They're wanted by the law, so, uh, send the cops, and probably some firemen too, please."

"And you're at Xavier's at the present moment?"

"Yes ma'am, Xavier's Sister School-- the foyer, to be exact."

"Law enforcement is being dispatched immediately."

Gina thanked the lady, and hung up the phone. She maneuverd away from the desk, and peered into the hall. She'd just gotten through with her house arrest almost a month ago, did she really want to risk getting on the bad side of another teacher? And, she'd promised to Agnes, but... was that really relevant right now? Against her better judgment, Gina departed from the Counselor's office, hoping to God that she didn't get busted for chasing after her best friend.

Drew was rather glad that he'd managed to avoid Muscles' charge. The table certainly didn't look any better for the burnt handprint it now sported. Once Muscles righted himself he turned with a chuckle and fixed Drew with a glare. The glare was very mutual. The moment Muscles started speaking Drew was sickened. This psychopath, and if those weren't the eyes of a genuine nutter he didn't now what was, actually believed that drivel. A look of disgust fixed itself nigh permanently on Drew's face.

Drew was just about to tell him to save the speeches because it was obvious neither of them were going to convince the other when he talked himself out of it. No instead he sent a wave of white fire at rolling across the carpet at him! Crap! Drew managed to move out of the way of that when he saw the punch. Reflexively he brought his arm up to block it. His bare forearm touched the fiery flesh and Drew bite back a yelp of pain. He shoved hard against the arm to move it away from him.

If he weren't trying to keep this guy busy he'd try and find some water to dump on him. Pity Jorge wasn't here. Or Sam. Sam would do too. Drew would be happy enough if the girls got Gemma down here. Then at least he'd have a fair fight with this clown. As it was he couldn't actually fight the guy, only keep him busy until help arrived. Glancing around Drew caught sight of a lamp. He'd tell Sam to take the difference out of his paycheck. Drew darted over, grabbed the lamp, and swung the somewhat clumsy blunt instrument at Muscles. It probably wouldn't do much but it was better than trying to punch a flaming man.

An evil man who thought he was an angel was burning the living room with cleansing fire. A boy stood between him and his prey. Two people who should have been parents but were turned into demons by their religion were fanning the flames. Apocalypse was now.
Until the guidance counselor marched in and went berserk.

She arrived just in time to see Andrew whack the flaming man over the head with a lamp. He staggered back but did not fall. Tere were flames everywhere. Gemma grabbed Andrew by the scruff of his shirt and pulled him out of the way with her left hand; as soon as he was out of the picture, her right came down in a wide half-circe on the man who was not flaming anymore, due to her powers.

SLAP.

It was the loudest slap the Mansion had ever heard. It was the mother of all slaps. It was the slap Eve gave Cain when he came home alone.
It was a stinging, eye-watering, open-handed b*tch slap that sent Malachi staggering back against his two masters with a bright red mark on his face.

"That. Was quite. ENOUGH!" Gemma stood, glaring all three of them down, fists on her hips. "You have. Exactly. One mintue to get the f*** out of this building and off school property and then keep driving until you are out of the reach of all the mutants who live in this school. Do I. Make myself clear?!"

Gemma Taylor.
Was furious.

Agnes ran. The guidance counselor was surprisingly quite a bit fast than her but she managed to keep her in sight. The sounds of screaming, fighting, and the smell of roasting carpet and furniture filled the air with a thick scent that brought the teenager to tears. It was simply because the smell was horrible or that the air was thick with heat, it was because she had brought all this to the mansion’s doorstep. It was because of her that part of the mansion was going to roasting thanks to her presence. Maybe it would have been better had she just stayed with her parents and died during that exorcism. They she would have never have come her, Gina would have never had been in danger and Andrew wouldn’t be roasting like a pig over a spit.

But as these thoughts invading her mind, and Gina’s calls for them to stay where they were nagged mutely, Agnes could not help but chastise herself. She was letting her parents win again. This was their influence, they were the ones that wanted her dead for the sake of their overly zealous beliefs. They were the ones that had strapped her down and cut and burned her in a foolish attempt to get the “evil spirit” out of her body. It was because of them that she was wishing she were dead right now.

Well…no more. She simply would not let them win anymore!

The runaway’s blue eyes narrowed and focused with an unseething hatred for her parents as she ran down the hall. All of it, every emotion she every felt about what her parents had done to her were bubbling to the surface again, only this time they were being fueled by unprecedented anger instead of sadness. The now rebellious nature of the teenager had simply had too much of all this BS; too much blaming herself, too much caring about what her parents might do, too much wondering if she should be alive at all.

Even as Agnes burst into the room just in time to see Andrew being pulled away by the back of his shirt and the guidance counselor boldly storming up to the power mad Malachi, all she could feel was that last bit of fear of parents dry up and evaporate into the ether of the universe. It was at that moment that Agnes Nicholas, runaway, living bug hive, supposedly possessed girl, knew that she was completely…and utterly…done…

It was then that she watched as the guidance counselor slapped Malachi so hard that the once arrogant face of her parents’ prideful alcolyte turn flush with red. The hand mark was clearly visible and as he stumbled back, knocking into her once powerful looking father, Agnes heard the most terrifying voice slink out of Gemma Taylors lips…

>> "That. Was quite. ENOUGH! You have. Exactly. One mintue to get the f*** out of this building and off school property and then keep driving until you are out of the reach of all the mutants who live in this school. Do I. Make myself clear?!"

A silence had fallen over the room. Agnes stood there, jaw tensed as she glared at her parents, tears dotting the corners of her eyes. Those people whom she once loved, whom she once sought so hard to please, watch the tall, dark skinned woman with a mixture of fear, awe and hatred. Malachi looked surprised and actually as if he were cowering from the very presence of the woman. He seemed to look as at his own hands, curious as to why he could not bring about God’s blessed fires anymore. Zacheria look just as mystified but could not take his eyes off the guidance counselor. These once strong and intimidating people…were now nothing but cowering…whimpering…

“Daughter of Cain! You care to speak to me with such a retched tongue!!” Maria Nicholas stepped forward, the veins clearly visible on her neck as every muscle in her body seemed to tense up. It was obviously that the older, devout woman was not going to be spoken to with such indignity. “Your kind should have never been removed from the dark continents! You dare to speak to me? To keep me away from my own daughter!! She is a hellspawn!! Her presence quickens the End of Days!”

As Maria spoke she slowly advanced Gemma, holding her crucifix that hung around her neck tightly in her calloused hands. Shakily she held it up to her chest, as it the presence of it away would shun away the tall guidance counselor. But with her jaws set tight, her dark eyes focused intently on her, watching her every move, spittle rolling down the corner of her lips, Maria whispered in tone so harsh that it could skin a rock.

“I will spill anyone’s blood who keeps me from doing my HOLY DUTY!!” her hands holding the crucifix suddenly twisted and crucifix popped open, reveal a small knife hiding within its base. With blade in hand, Maria dashed directly for Gemma Taylor…seeking to remove any and all obstacles in her way.

Before he knew what was happening he was being dragged away from a no longer flame covered Mr. Muscles. This was what he had been waiting for, though he was a little disappointed that he wasn't going to get to punch Muscles. However it was worth it to see Mama T in action. She waltzed right up to Muscles and slapped him so hard he backed up right into the parents. The man was even cowering before her! And then, oh then she spoke. The mansion's mother figure was good and furious and now the wretched parents and their psychotic attack mutant knew it.

Drew couldn't stop a chuckle or two during the verbal assault. It was magnificent to behold and he was very glad he wasn't on the receiving end of it. Besides, with Gemma in the room Drew felt like himself for the first time in a very long time. He remembered Sveta, felt no need to look Rhythm up like the crown jewels, and best of all could quite easily contemplate all the various ways he would murder Martin without feeling so much as a twinge of guilt for betraying him. It was bliss.

And then the screaming harridan descended on Gemma and his brief moment of happiness was snatched away and replaced with anger. How could anyone behave like that?! She screeched and howled at Gemma. Well there were words but Drew wasn't deigning to hear them anymore since the woman had long ago delved into madness in his eyes. What he did pay attention to though was the moment her crucifix suddenly became a knife that was aimed at Gemma. Drew darted foward, throwing Gemma back and to the side with one hand as the other stretched forward to punch the crazed woman. The blow connected and stopped the woman only long enough for her gaze to turn to Andrew. Her next movement was too fast for him to track. There was pain, and something foreign buried up to it's hilt in his side. A victorious look flashed on the woman's face as Drew realized that he'd been stabbed.

Gina was still darting down the hall when Miss Taylor got a hold of the invading zealots She heard the muffled crack of a bare hand making contact with the flaming muscle-heads cheek. Gina's heart hammered, for she hoped to God that it wasn't Agnes who hadn't been hit. It sounded like the best b*tch slap to have ever been dealt on the face of the Earth, which probbably meant that it had defined a new level of hurt. Then came the shouting, which quelled Gina's nerves a fraction.

>> "That. Was quite. ENOUGH! You have. Exactly. One mintue to get the f*** out of this building and off school property and then keep driving until you are out of the reach of all the mutants who live in this school. Do I. Make myself clear?!"

That was the Guidance Counselor, all right. So she'd dealt the blow, which meant that it liably hadn't been Agnes that had been hit. There was a crumbling silence about them, then, a silence which struck terror to Gina's very core. She ran faster, faster than her short, plump little legs had ever carried her before. The Mom was shouting now, spewing more of her religious words. As Agnes's mother spoke of her daughter, a hellspawn, the accelerant of the Apocalypse, the dulled fury returned with stunning brilliance. They just had to hold these people off until the cops got here. Once the cops got here, it'd be fine. It'd all be back to the way things were once again.

Gina turned the final corner, spying Agnes first. She wasn't physically, visibly harmed. A wave of relief hit the gargoyle, but too soon. She saw the Mom, making her advance upon the guidance counselor, before registering the guidance counselor and Drew. The rug was scorched, and it smelled awful from the burnt carpet fibers. Yet... no one seemed burnt to a crisp. The relief over this realization was short-lived for, as Gina realized this, Agnes's mother made her move. Wielding a knife, she lunged at Miss Taylor. Gina let out a sharp yell, giving away her position as she stumbled forward, but Drew was quicker to intercept. He pushed the counselor back as he dove towards Agnes's deranged mother. He landed the blow, and as if in slow-motion, the woman cocked a wicked grin and buried the blade in Drew's side.

"Drew!" Gina yelled, her voice cracking in alarm. Ohmigawd, this woman just stabbed Drew! Her stomach hit the floor, and she froze, stumbling to a stop in front of her sister. Agnes was going to kill her for not listening, but she hadn't listened either-- Drew was on the floor, now bleeding, and Miss Taylor was on the floor from being thrown back by Drew... like Hell if Gina would let the Mom get anywhere near Agnes. She was the next line of defense, and she'd fight tooth-and-nail for her sister.

Gina darted forward, carefully skirting around Drew and coming to pause before him, once again finding herself playing the role of human... er... mutant-meat-shield. She was less reluctant to take them on now, as the Burning Man was no longer burning, but the crazed fury in Agnes's mother's gaze was enough to make even those with the steeliest of nerves second-guess themselves. There was no telling what a crazy person would do in the attempt to get their daughters out of the clutches of "evil". In her approach, she'd grabbed the only thing she'd thought to grab to utilize as a weapon.

The Mom's Bible.

Agnes's mother seeemed alarmed that Gina had opted to use said Bible in her own defense, but it was all that Gina could think to grab. She rushed forward and situated herself in front of Drew, moving with such determination that even the Mom stepped back in hesitation. Though her face was set with stubborn rigidity, her body quaked with raw nerves and adrenaline, and tears pricked her eyes. And, when Gina spoke, her voice quivered too.

"Y-you can't have her," Gina reiterated, just as she'd said before, "A-and h-how dare you st-stab my friend." It didn't sound as bad-*ss as she'd hoped it would. But, it got the point across-- Gina was the next in Agnes's line of defense, and wouldn't let Agnes's mom have a go at Drew without a fight. She sank down low, lowering her center of gravity as she settled into a makeshift fighting stance. Her hands were clutched onto the Bible so tightly that her knuckles were white, ready to utilize the Holy Book as either a bludgeon or a shield. It would have been the wiser to have let the Counselor handle this, to have sat by patiently from the safety of the Couseling room and to have kept her promise to Agnes-- but none of that mattered now.

>>“Daughter of Cain! You care to speak to me with such a retched tongue!! Your kind should have never been removed from the dark continents! You dare to speak to me? To keep me away from my own daughter!! She is a hellspawn!! Her presence quickens the End of Days!”

Gemma's eyes narrowed. The woman did not even realize how deep a hole she was digging for herself. Double racism and religious fanatism? Please.
The witch was going down.

>>“I will spill anyone’s blood who keeps me from doing my HOLY DUTY!!”

She did not expect the cross. She only had time to brace herself for the stab, shocked that the woman would really go so far as murder. The newt moment, Andrew was pulling her out of the way.
And then, Andrew was stabbed.

>>"Drew!... Y-you can't have her. A-and h-how dare you st-stab my friend."

By the time Gemma was on her feet again, a very scared and very determined little gargoyle was standing between them and the enemy. Blood was dripping from the blade, and Andrew was on the floor, a patch of red soaking into the carpet.

Red.

"It's okay, Gina" she stepped up next to the girl, prying the Bible from her fingers. Her voice was calm, so dangerously calm. The woman must have surprised herself by actually stabbin a kid; she just stood there, with a triumphant smile.

"Agnes, Gina, take Andrew out of here to Doc. And then call the NYPD. Ask for Detective Cervantes and the MRC. Go."

As soon as the sentence was over, the Bible swung out in a wide arc and collided with the woman's face. The little gargoyle was right. It really made a suitable weapon. Gemma advanced like an avalanche combined with a mother bear, she twisted, the pulled, and then the woman was backing away from the point of her own blade at her throat until her back hit a bookshelf.

"I don't think I have introduced myself" Gemma kept the blade at her throat, but made sure she could also see the other two from the corner of her eyes "My name is Gemma Taylor, and I am the guidance counselor of the school. I am responsible for all the children, and the staff as well. I am an adapted human, as you saw with your pathetic excuse for an angel, my power is to cancel mutant abilities. That would put me on your side of the crusade, right?"

She glared down the woman, just to make sure she understood.

"I guess it does. So, right now, I guess I am the only thing standing between you and the warth of a few dozen mutants who will soon know that you tried to murder one of their own. See, the problem is, I am not going to be here forever." she leaned against the bookshelf, her hand inches next to her head "Barely just till the police arrives to take you all to prison for life. If they are quick enough, that is." she leaned even closer "Nobody. Hurts. My children."

The clock was ticking.

Agnes stood as still as a statue, unable to really following everything that was going on at the same time. Her parents were there, trying sound as self-righteous as always but at the same time they managed to stab one of the only people here that accepted her as she was! Her mother, the shrieking banshee of a woman had completely lost her mind. Such was her mania to control her daughter, to complete this retched task that she was letting absolutely nothing stand in her way, nor anyone.

She stood there, frozen as he mother approached Ms. Taylor, pulled a knife from that crucifix and drove it into the side of Andrew. He stumbled to the ground like a sack of fallen leaves. Too much in shock, she really didn’t know what to do. Instead all she could do was stare at the blood that seeped through his shirt and a sheer panic had overtaken her. Her parents were really this insane?

The whole world muted as only the sound of her own heartbeat filled her ears. Gina had run past her, attempted to defend both Andrew and Ms. Taylor from her insane mother. The whole time Agnes heard absolutely nothing. Instead, as she watched the unbounded fury slip across the guidance counselor’s face, the terrified look on Gina’s, and the weakening one on Andrew’s. Her mother was satisfied with what she had done and it showed on her smug face, but that was quickly erased when the counselor smacked a large and heavy bible across her jaw.

Agnes watched dumbfounded as her mother stumbled backwards, caught by her husband, but she didn’t remain there long. Ms. Taylor advance, knife in her hand and the point held directly at her mother’s throat. The whole time, Agnes could not take her eyes off her mother or Gemma Taylor, or the two other fools who stood dumbfounded away from them, fearful of the guidance counselor. She knew she should be heading off to help Gina with Andrew. She knew that, they had to get DocProf, they had to get him out of here…but why couldn’t her feet move? Why couldn’t she find the will to remove herself from this spot?

The counselor’s words mutely evaded Agnes ears as she thought and watched her mother. This was the first time she really saw true and utter fear in her eyes. And it was not a look of fear of a mutants, or fear for the immortals souls of the youth, no, this fear in the woman’s eyes was the exposed vulnerability of a woman who was caught. She was actually scared of the tall counselor, scared for her life ending, scared of what was going to be on the other side. It was the first time Agnes saw this in the woman and in that second, that very moment, Agnes knew that she didn’t have anything more to fear from her, or her father, or their damned acolytes.

Thoughts returned to her, the world did as she finally heard words being spoken…

>> "I guess it does. So, right now, I guess I am the only thing standing between you and the warth of a few dozen mutants who will soon know that you tried to murder one of their own. See, the problem is, I am not going to be here forever…Barely just till the police arrives to take you all to prison for life. If they are quick enough, that is…Nobody. Hurts. My children."

“Ms. Taylor?” Agnes’ small voice squeaked into the tension of the room. Slowly she walked up to the counselor, raised her hand and placed it gently on hers. “Don’t let them make you do something you’ll regret, please.” she whispered as she slowly attempted to lower Gemma’s knife hand.

Her blue eyes were full of pleading for the counselor before she finally turned them onto her parents. The look on her face was one of complete sympathy as she stared at them. Her eyes searched her mother’s, peering deep into her soul and seeing the true and pathetic wretch that she really was. She was not fit to waste her fears on anymore, Agnes finally realized this.

“You come with us, you devil,” her mother stammered as she glanced between Ms. Taylor and her own daughter. “W-We need to finish…what we started…”

“No,” Agnes said calmly, a little too calmly. “We’re done here. The police are coming…they’re going to arrest you…and I’m never going to think about you…any of you, ever again.”

“Child. You are my daugh-“ Maria’s words were cut off by a resoundingly slap.

Agnes stood there, arm still arched in the air after she had slapped her own mother across the cheek. Her eyes were welling up with tears as she looked at her mother, seeing her for what she really was…a pathetic mess. The runaway’s hand still ached a little but as she lowered it, she flexed her fingers in an attempt to bring feeling back to them. She stared at the red mark she left on her mother’s face.

“I-I’m not your daughter anymore. She died…” Agnes said as she reached down and lifted her shirt to show the cuts, the scars, and that horrific crucifix branded into her stomach, “…the second you did this her.”

She dropped her shirt. The second she did, she glanced to the windows of the front of the mansion and saw the flashing of red and blue lights. She sniffled as she stepped back and stood next to the counselor, taking one last look at the people who would claim to be her parents before she turned and darted back to Andrew and Gina’s side. She make sure to thank him properly for helping to save her.

Storming up to the building, Jorge Cervantes, followed by a pair of other officer’s, headed directly for the front door of the mansion. Emergency dispatch had gotten the call that Agnes’ parents were finally found, but worst of all was the fact that they were actually here, at the school, looking for the poor girl. This was the outcome that Jorge had wanted to avoid at all costs. There was no need for the parents to disrupt the young girl’s life. They should have just stayed disappeared. But now that they dared to show themselves, and here, he was going to make sure they were locked away in a hole so deep that they never saw the light of day again.

He moved past the large, unmarked van, motioned for a detective to search in and finally stepped into the mansion. The cool air of the building had assaulted him the second he opened the door, but there was something else in the air. The smell of something that had been burning. The tears welled up in his eyes from the scent as he glanced back to the officer who was aiding him.

Pulling his gun free from the holster, he dashed in, following the scent. That was what led him to the scene inside: his girlfriend, Gemma, was holding a knife in her hands, there was a trio of kids in the far corner, Andrew looked hurt, and there was another trio who were staring deathly afraid of Gemma. His teeth immediately ground as he and the officer stormed up to the gathering. He holstered his gun as he removed handcuffs from his belt.

He nodded to Gemma and then turned his eyes onto the “parents” and their third party. He immediately recognized the older adults as those of Agnes Nicholas’ parents.

“Zacheria and Maria Nicholas,” his said with a disdainful edge to his voice. “Been looking for ya. Kindly turn around? You have the right to remain silent…” he said as he sharply turned them around and began to handcuff and read them their Miranda rights.

As he did so, he sighed as he turned to look at Gemma, a small sad smile on his face. He hated the fact that she was the one who had to confront this people first, and worst of all that they had invaded Agnes’ safe world. That was not far of them and definitely was not going to be allowed to go unpunished. It was horrible that Agnes would have to go through this, but it was over now. He would personally make sure that never of these people never saw anything except for prison bars for the rest of their natural lives.