The Thirteen Unfortunate

The First Entry

Not to sound cliche, but never would I have thought in a million years that I would end up becoming a killer. Or that I would be doing such things with other people. We were repeat offenders if you will. But the term serial killer just did not fit. The thought of it all keeps me very uneasy.

I mean, in my defense, they aren't actually people. Or they aren't really animals. They may look like you and me, or your neighbor's dog most of the time, but they aren't.

They're demons.

Sounds ridiculous right? And they aren't the typical huge red dude with horns and a forked tail. They take on forms of anything that evokes fear, things that we see on horror movies and television shows, and things that we could never ever imagine. Their forms of evil, are truly endless.

It all started a week ago when I went to the Ambrose City Vault with my older sister Malena. Her mom had given her some of her grandmother's jewels to put away so there we were. She promise lunch her shout afterwards so that's why I tagged along.

Big mistake.

Long story short, three pricks decided today would be a great day to rob the place. They utilised the vault's shutter systems to close off any chance of police using snipers on them or even for a chance to look inside.  They managed to load up a few trolleys with what seemed like tonnes of gold but the moment they dragged out an old looking chest is where everything went to shit.

"Don't fucking open that you idiots!" screamed one of the men, who I know now as Akar. Until the chest was bought out, he stayed quiet, and didn't care for much of the happenings until the said object was bought out into the foyer from the vault. He was extremely robust and stood well over six feet tall. His age was indeterminate; he looked like he was in his mid forties but gave off the air that he was much older.

And he was indeed, much older.

Usually when the attackers have guns, you stay on the ground, but no. Akar ran straight at them when the robbers decided to start unlocking the chest. Shots were fired but this man went AT them full force, ignoring the bullets piercing his skin and giving the rest of us the modern interpretation of a Herculean champion charging at hungry lions in a den. Once he knocked one off them off their feet, two of the other hostages joined in. A simple business man and one of the security guards. While they tussled, I remember him screaming "I need you all to get the key out!" which took me a moment to realize he was motioning towards us. I don't know why but we did.

Malena, myself and another man ran to the crate, and tried to get the key out, but it wouldn't budge. It was like something was holding it in place. What was so dangerous about this crate that Akar got himself shot for? Is it a bomb? Little did I know.

Then, before we knew it, the security guard threw one of the gunmen, unknowingly in our direction, and hit Malena and the other guy, Samuel. This was the turning point because when he was hit, Samuel was holding the key. And he accidentally turned it.

It took moments to realize, but once Malena told Akar the chest was unlocked, his eyes widened into horror.

"I-I-I'm sorry!" screamed Samuel, as the chest began to open,this sickly red fog leeching out from it.

"NO-"

and then, WHAM!

One of the gunman took advantage of Akar's distraction and knocked him down with a crowbar.

"IDIOTS! There's no chance now..." barked Akar, lying in a pool of his own blood. How he was not dead, I did not know.

Silence followed for seconds before a huge blast of red and black energy blasted all of us into the air and into the walls and shutters around us as the chest flung open, what looked like a torrential out pour of spirits and energy burst out of the chest, flying up and out of the roof, without actually destroying it. I couldn't explain what it was. It was truly insane. Deafening screams of dread and horror accompanied the spirits as well as maniacal laughs that made the hair on the the back of my neck stand up. This went on for a good few minutes before Akar, managed to get close enough to the chest to slam it close. Stirring, we all got up and we were understandably freaked by what had just happened.

"What the FUCK was in there? What the fuck is this?" I remember the security guard shouting, as we got up and began to recoup around the chest. A quick glance at his ID read the name Tyler.

Everyone began ranting and freaking out, some started to cry whilst others just looked around, probably in disbelief and what had just unfolded in front of them. I personally, wanted to throw up in my mouth. I don't know what the fuck just happened.

Akar was at the point of no return. Man I had never seen fury and anger until I saw him explode in front of my eyes. He refused to answer any of our questions and we had to stop asking while he proceeded to destroy our surroundings. Pot plants flew around and he smashed tables with a kick of his leg. Whatever that fucking chest didn't destroy, Akar did. Then, he as he tried to regain his composure, he attempted to explain to everyone what had just happened. But no one would shut up. Including Malena, who was running off in Puerto Rican at everyone for saying she should've locked.

Cut after half an hour of screaming and more freaking out and Akar gets sick of it all. With a flick of his wrist, he bounds us to the ground by chains. Golden, glowing chains. Magical chains.

With another slash of his wrist, white glowing ribbons wrapped around all our heads, muting all of us. He then proceeded to tell us about EVERYTHING. In calm silence.

Akar was... Not human. That was obvious at this point. He was a seraph, and from my understanding of Christianity, he was some sort of Angel...  a celestial being. He was over a thousand years old and explained that demons and fiends from hell regularly came forth up to earth to wreak havoc. He then explained that , basically, his job is to either destroy or send these demons back to hell. Insane right? And he wasn't this high and mighty figure who would calmly tell us everything would be okay. His fury and temperament were not unlike another typical arrogant and proud man. He contained to say that his cohort of seraph created the Pagìda as a way to send the demons away, with the Pagìda being the powerful chest before us.

He explained that the Pagìda was not actually some sort of storage for the demons as I had thought, but it was a portal. Between earth, and hell. Akar said he was here to simply transport the Pagìda from here to another vault , in another city, in another country. He mentioned something about the enchantments used to hide the whereabouts of the chest to last six months exactly before demons on earth were able to hunt it down again and presumably destroy it. All of this was fucking crazy to me.

If I wasn't chained to the floor by golden chains, I would've had a hard time believing this guy.

Then he hit us with the real hitter of the night. With a click of his fingers, the chains faded away, and the ribbons around our mouths were gone. We got up, some complaining about the unnecessary bounding but the rest silent never the less.

"When the chest opened, you all should've died. But with my blood, I managed to enchant you all just as the blast hit. I saved your lives. And you are now, indebted to me." he said.

This was met with a lot of protest. For people who had just seen the fiends of hell enter our world , and spent the last hour crying and freaking our, they had the audacity and this arrogance that said "No, I don't have to do shit for you, even though you just saved my life." and it was like none of them had just witnessed something which was thought to be nonexistent unfold right before their eyes. In short, for the 30 minutes that I've been with these people, I can confidently say that these are the most selfish, arrogant, stuck up people I've ever met.