I could feel it, his hands wrapping around my throat and squeezing as tight as he could. My eyes closed tightly and I felt like I was going to die as he forced the life out of me. I couldn’t let myself die there, as terrified as I was, even if I knew I would die right then and there, someone out in the world was waiting for me. Quickly I reached for the knife at my belt and pulled it from its sheath, what happened next left me scarred for quite a while. I ended the man’s life before he could end mine. It was what my mentors would have want me to do, to survive by any means necessary. Somehow I had to keep myself alive, I would continue to learn and grow stronger. I would do whatever it took to find my best friend, even if in the end, it would cost my life. All I wanted was to see him again. I only wished… that I had proof he was still alive… I was lying on my side, crying hard, gasping for air at the same time. That was only one of my first experiences with pain and extreme fear. If that was what it took to become stronger, I would deal with it. [i]Don’t worry, Liam… I will find you, no matter what it takes.[/i] ----- Normally, a person having a nightmare would jump up in a cold sweat, breathing heavily. However, Sarina was not very normal anymore. She had seen too much, gone through too much. Her eyes snapped open and she glared at the ceiling, why did she keep dreaming about being hurt? Beside her, Jayoden Moretti, a close friend, sat in a chair next to the bed watching her sleep. He looked skeptically into her eyes when she turned her head to look at him. “You are strange, you know that?” He told her. “And you aren’t? You are watching me sleep. You think that is normal? Okay, maybe for you” Jay smirked and reached out his hand to help her sit up. She willingly accepted his kind offer and allowed him to help her. “I’m sorry, I couldn’t help it, you’re always so fascinating when you sleep, I can only imagine what kind of crazy stuff goes on in your head” Halfway through his sentence he dropped into lazy Italian speech. “Also,” He added in his first language, Italian, “you’re always squirming and calling for Liam like he is dying before your eyes… he’s not dying in your nightmares is he?” His tone became slightly worried, Sarina didn’t need to see such things, she didn’t need to suffer any more than she has without her best friend. The nineteen year old responded in Italian, “no, Liam doesn’t die in my head; I can’t let myself think like that, especially since we are so damn close. No, I’m usually the one dying in my nightmares, or at least, I almost die. Fun right?” She couldn’t help but laugh at herself for being so pathetic in her mind, like she used to be on the outside. “Right… come on, we have work to do, the sun is going to go down soon” He looped one of his arms into hers and pulled her out of bed. “Soon, Sarina, very soon.” ----- Sarina stood before the building tucked deep within the maze of the city called Venice, Italy. It took her all this time to find it, and finally now that she was confronting the place, she was almost afraid. Jay stood behind her, leaning on his orange Harley Davidson that was being held up only by its kickstand. He placed a hand on her shoulder and spoke quietly in Italian, “You can do this” Slowly she nodded her head without looking back at him. “I know, I have to do this. For him” Without another word the young woman headed toward the asylum where they were keeping Liam for three whole years. It was time to put her plan into action. When she got to the front entrance she knocked with the hefty door knocker and waited. The small rectangular window on the front door slid open and a voice spoke heavily accented Italian. “State your business here.” “I’m here to see Subject Nine” She replied in perfect Italian. “What? That beast, you must be an exorcist, I can think of no other reason you would want to see that demon” Sarina held her tongue; rage burned inside of her, and that was only the beginning of their hurtful words toward her friend. “You might say I am an exorcist of sorts, now allow me to see him or I shall bring the leaders of the Vatican down upon you” The door creaked open. “Please remove whatever metal you have on you, exorcist” The man somewhat demanded. She sighed and removed her katana from her back and her kunai belt from around her waist, placing them by the door. “Anything else? We have a metal detector miss” Her plan had worked, almost flawlessly, but she would have to go in without Jay’s help. She removed her communication device from her ear and placed it with her stuff. “Alright, that’s it” Nothing could stop her now. Sarina followed the guard into the darkness through the halls and down into a corridor deep underground. Along the way, people had given her strange looks and whispered things about the demon boy she was going to see. All she could do was ignore it since she didn’t have Jay in her ear telling her to stay calm. At the end of a corridor was a thick, steel door with nothing but a small window at eye level that opened and closed to peer in, just like the front door. Inside she could hear screams like howling in pain and anger. “I cannot allow you to enter; he is dangerous, even for an exorcist. He is like the devil himself” Her blood boiled, how could this man speak about Liam that way, someone so sweet and gentle. What was worse, how could they keep him in this horrible, dark place for so long. She wanted so desperately to blow up the door and free him from his suffering. What had Liam done to deserve this? Sarina inhaled and exhaled sharply before moving her hand to open the door to the small window. What she saw she could not have expected, despite what Jay had told her to prepare for. Liam was in a metal strait jacket and chained up in the center of the room. But that wasn’t the worst part, he looked nothing like his former self. When the struggling boy looked up to return her gaze with her, there was something inhuman in his eyes. She saw his horns for the first time and it made her stomach churn. Sarina could see him calm down for a moment when he saw her, but something told her that that wasn’t Liam anymore. She was too late. “Liam…” Her hands balled into fists. He didn’t seem to hear her whisper his name. The man who had led her to Liam’s cell quickly closed the door to the window. “You are no exorcist are you? Out with you! This boy is a threat to all mankind and you are not to upset him further with your presence, if he were to escape only God knows what would happen!” [i]God? What god was there if they let this happen to the boy I loved so dearly?[/i] Her thoughts swirled mercilessly in her head. They destroyed Liam, he was not who he was before, he may not ever be recovered, but she wasn’t going to leave him there. She still had a plan to see through. A nearby guard helped the other guard somewhat forcefully see her out of the asylum. “And don’t come back!” The man said as they threw her out into the dirt along with her things. “All go according to plan?” Jay asked as he walked over and helped her off of the ground. “I mean for the most part” He added with a slight smile. “You found Liam right? He’s in there?” Sarina carefully dusted the dirt off of her clothes and nodded. “Yes, he is in there, what’s left of him. He isn’t human anymore Jay… His eyes, there was something dark in them… but we aren’t going to leave him in there, I will do whatever it takes to set him free, and try to return him to how he used to be” By now tears started to slide down her cheeks. “Damn it!” Before she could wipe her tears away, Jay wiped them away with his thumbs. “It’s okay; you know you don’t have to be strong all the time. We will save him, and we will bring him back to his former self. Only a bit more waiting to do”