Ulrich opened his eyes. His body kind of ached, and he felt kind of chilly. He looked around, at what happened a few hours ago. Nothing seemed to change, and everyone was still dead. He got up without any issue, and stuffed the gloves into his pockets. He walked around for a few minutes, trying to assess the situation, and that all stopped when he noticed a helicopter in front of him. He looked inside, and there was nobody in it.
"Hey! Who're you?!"
Ulrich turned around, petrified. In front of him was a man in a helmet, Hi-Viz jacket, and goggles.
"Woah there, relax." He yelled out, putting his hands in the air. "You okay?"
"Uh, no." Ulrich replied. "I almost died." He felt as though he screamed it at him, but the man didn't budge, so he might be too weak.
"I see. Well, feel free to take a seat, grab some food, whatever."
Ulrich went into the helicopter, seeing some sandwiches. He didn't even know what was in them, he ate them so fast. He shot up, and then realized he wasn't dying, so it probably wasn't peanut butter. He leaned back into the leather seats, and overheard the guy speaking with someone else.
"You find anyone?"
"Yeah. Some teenager was snooping around the helicopter, he's in there now. You?"
"Nobody else. Numbers wise, the death toll is pretty standard, but percentage wise...Jesus."
Once they finished talking, he and another guy in the same outfit moved into the helicopter.
"Hey, you holdin up okay?"
"Yeah, thanks for the food." Ulrich replied meekly.
"You mind answering a few questions?"
"Sure." Ulrich sighed.
"So, when did this happen?"
"Let's see here…couple hours ago? July fourteenth."
"Fourteenth? Kid, it's July seventeenth."
"Seventeenth? I-it's still 2008, right?" Ulrich yelled out, panicked.
"2008, yeah. So, did anything strange happen beforehand?"
"Before the portal? Some blonde chick from Iceland showed up, and seemed to know what was going on. She gave me these gloves, and was I was able to shoot fire to defend myself. And then I defeated the demons. But by that point, everyone was dead."
The worker looked at the other worker, confused. "This happen before?"
"He was out for three days; he might be delusional."
"Fair point." The first worker replied, looking back at Ulrich. "So, how old are you?"
"Eighteen."
"Old enough to look after yourself, huh? Tell you what. A hotel chain in Alabama is offering stays for people affected by the demon attacks, sound good?"
Ulrich wanted to argue about the existence of his powers and the girl, but he couldn't prove it. He could try light another fire, but if he had to pick between two guys thinking he had a weird dream or setting a helicopter on fire, the former sounded better. So, with nothing better to do, he began drifting off to sleep, and when he woke up, it was night.
"Oh, you're up. How you doing?"
"Fine." Ulrich replied, despite the leather seats almost being worse than the pavement.
"Well, we're almost there, so hold tight."
The helicopter landed on the roof of the tallest building around for miles. Ulrich groggily stepped out, with one worker having to stop him from tripping, and the three of them walked down the stairs down to reception, messing up Ulrich's legs even more.
"Hey, got any more room?" One of the workers asked.
"Well, no solo rooms, he'll have to share with someone. That okay?"
"Yeah." Ulrich sighed. "What floor is it?"
"Fifth floor. We'll…have someone help you."
Once Ulrich barely got to the fifth floor, he looked at the clock on the wall. 11:PM.
"Oh, something in case you need food." The aging receptionist remembered, handing him a granola bar.
Ulrich silently waved his helper goodbye, and went into his new hotel room. Considering time and circumstances, he expected another guy, who would probably be asleep. But when he opened the door, he was greeted with someone yelling on her flip phone, in what seemed like a New York accent, but he wasn't a hundred percent sure.
"Mom, I'm fine! Look, I was doing a show, and those demon things attacked. I'm in a hotel in Alabama right now."
"Yeah, I'll probably be back in New York in a few days. Wait, moving back with grandma? Mom, are you seriously making me move in with her? Yeah, I know its less populated and safer, but…Really? Yes, I broke up with Morgan a while ago, but still."
"Oh, Daisy and Maya? I…haven't seen them lately. Now, we don't know if they died. But…I wouldn't keep my hopes up."
The girl sat down on her bed, screaming into her hands and looking like death. And then she noticed Ulrich.
"Uh, how long were you there?"
"Long enough to hear…whatever that was. Sorry to hear what happened to your friends."
"It's…whatever. So, what brings you here?"
The one eye that wasn't covered by her neon pink hair looked tired and agitated. The girl also wore a white tank top with the words 'Trik Mystik' on it, alongside some simple ripped jeans, and what appeared to be military boots next to her bed, alongside a purple guitar.
"Yeah, I'll be staying for the night, sorry."
"Yeah, cool. Just stay on your side of the room, okay?"
Weird request, but one he was willing to honour. He didn't even reply before collapsing on the bed.
Ulrich woke up, and looked at the clock next to him. 3:AM. He still felt like death, but he seemed to have been woken up by some kind of crunching noise. He scanned the dark room for a second, and noticed that the girls guitar was in the middle of the room. It also seemed slightly longer, for some reason. Against all better judgement, he put on his gloves and went over to it. The crunching got louder, and then it turned around.
It was yet another demon.
Ulrich immediately ran towards the girl, and aggressively shook her.
"Lady, lady? We need to go, now. The demons are tracking me down, and we need to get out of here!"
He ran to the window, looking to see how big the portal got while he was sleeping.
And the portal was…not there.
He turned around, and he heard a small thud, and the guitar demon eagerly picked up whatever the girl threw. and even though it was dark, he could feel the anger in her eyes burning through him.
"Go back to sleep." She grumbled, before turning back into her bed.
Ulrich checked the clock the next time he woke up. 10:AM. He was refreshed enough, and he decided to go get breakfast. He ate some toast and cereal, taking another free granola bar with him for later.
When he returned to his room, the girl was there, dressed in a leather jacket, texting somebody on a flip phone. She noticed Ulrich there, and just gave a quick "What's up" without anything else.
"Hey. So, what was up with last night?"
"I…slept?"
"So, what about your demon?"
"My demon? Kid, making jokes like that is kinda scummy."
Remembering the thud and crunching noise, Ulrich took out a granola bar, and threw it at her guitar. Nothing happened for a second, and the girl looked relieved. Then a purple claw came out of the guitar and took the bait. The girl quickly turned around, looking scared.
"Care to explain? Ulrich asked, a smug aura washing over him.
The girl once again looked at the guitar, looked down and sighed, and back at Ulrich.
"Alright, fine."