DEVIL, DEVIL (Michael Langdon)

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On the morning of Judas Wardwell's fourteenth birthday, he accidentally made the family car crash. They were on their way to get ice cream. His parents were arguing about something; they were always arguing now, even in front of Judas, a new development he hadn't expected for his teenage years. But today he was sick of it. He just wanted to have a nice day, get some ice cream and go home to open the presents from his parents. "I will turn this car around!" His father was shouting.

"But what about my ice cream?" Judas asked, feeling emboldened by the passing of another year.

His father didn't answer. The shouting between his parents grew louder. "Guys," Judas urged, trying his best to calm them just long enough to not ruin their trip. "Guys, come on!"

"Jude, will you please just stay quiet?" his mother urged, her tone tense, her face angry and tired.

He was angry. Angrier than he ever had been at them. They were ruining the one day that was meant to just be about him. They could argue every other day of the year, even Christmas, but just not today. It didn't take long for his shouts to mix with theirs, the noise in the car reaching a fever pitch. Judas was shaking as his eyes welled with tears and energy buzzed inside of him just waiting to be released.

In a single movement, Judas sent the car rolling, screaming as the windshield shattered and the roof caved in on him and his mother's dying cries filled his ears, something that left him with a fear of loud noises for the rest of his life.

He really hadn't meant to. He would repeat that to his father every day for a week. He'd meant to, at least, stop the car, not overturn it and kill his mother in the process. Judas didn't even really know exactly what he had done or how he'd done it.

But his father ignored all of the apologies and the tears. Judas almost thought that he would ignore him forever. The newly fourteen-year-old was prepared to run away when his father explained to him what had happened.

Judas Wardwell was a warlock, a descendant of Samuel Wardwell, one of few men hung for accusations of witchcraft during the Salem Witch Trials. What the witch hunters didn't know was that Samuel could indeed do magic, a trait passed on to his children, who in turn passed it along to their own and so on.

Judas' father told him that sometimes the magic skipped a generation, as it had with him. But he had always known that Judas would have power, ever since he was born. He claimed that, as an infant, Judas had been able to shatter a lightbulb that was shining in his eyes. He had seen Judas throw toys across the room as a toddler with nothing more than a look. By his father's accounts, Judas was an early bloomer, even for their family's line. Most developed their powers fully by the age of sixteen, but with some trial and error, the fourteen-year-old realized he was a full-fledged telekinetic, much to his own horror and his father's delight. His mother had never even known of the fact that her son had these wild abilities, and even if she had suspicions, there was no way to confirm them.

Together, Judas and his father learned the limits to his abilities. Actions like flipping the car took an abundance of energy. Judas would need to sleep for an entire day after the fact. But small things, bending spoons and shattering glasses seemed like the easiest thing in the world. They learned that Judas could read energies with a touch, feeling how strong a person was.

But, after a year of this careful testing, his father couldn't train Judas properly. That was a job for Hawthorne's School for Exceptional Young Men, which Judas' grandfather had attended as a boy. And so, merely days after Judas turned fifteen years old, he was taken there, greeted with open arms by others of his kind. Grand Chancellor Ariel Augustus and instructors John Henry Moore, Behold Chablis, and Baldwin Pennypacker were happy to take Judas in. And so, begging and pleading with his father not to leave him there, Judas joined the ranks of Hawthorne School.

After nearly two years, admittedly a long time, Judas took the warlock's evaluation. Most took their test after a year of training but he wanted to be the strongest he could. Ranked on a level of one to four, Judas Wardwell was labeled a level two warlock.

That very same year would be the one where Judas met Michael Langdon, and all Hell broke loose.