[img]http://i.imgur.com/J8VStXo.png[/img]

The lion turned to look at Lucien and grinned devilishly.

"W-What the hell?" The summoner grabbed at the floating card and tore it in half, but the lion didn't disappear into a puff of smoke. It was still there, eyeing his friends hungrily. The animal let out a deep and rumbling laugh and the summoner felt sick to his stomach.

"I'm going to eat them one by one and it'll be all your fault," the beast crooned.

"We're doing this because we love you son," it was his parents' voices now. "You disobeyed us and so you will be punished."

The summoner swiveled around, but only darkness greeted him. "This isn't funny!" He yelled desperately, "whoever you are, we'll take you down. We're the pride and we've beaten demons..." the last part was barely a whisper and before Lucien could say anything else the lion lunged towards his unsuspecting friends.

[i]You could save them if you were stronger, but you're too weak.[/i] The lion's thoughts were meshing with his own. It was still his summon, if he could concentrate hard enough, he could stop it! The summoner screwed his eyes shut and began battling with the taunting voice inside his head. The lion let out several protesting snarls but had stopped in it's path, just a few feet away from where the rest of the pride were chatting.

He cracked open an eye and scowled. [i]Get the hell away from my friends...[/i]

The lion bared it's teeth cockily and it was a battle for control. The animal's thoughts went quiet and Lucien wondered if he had won. "Hey! Hey! Run now!" No one heard him and a sickening laughter filled his head. 

"Kid, you and I, we're light years apart." The lion leaped forward with jaws wide open and sunk its teeth into Dylan's neck. It rained red and when Lucien raised both his hands, they were covered in blood. Lucien couldn't say anything, he stared at his stained hands, eyes the size of pinpricks and knees shaking like jelly.

"His blood is on your hands." It was the same mocking voice, the lion was laughing. "It's your fault."

The world tilted and the man fell to his knees, it felt like his eyes were burning. Lucien didn't notice but tears were streaming down his cheeks as he stared at his friend's lifeless body. There was so much red.

The lights flickered off and when they turned on again Moira and Syed were seated on park bench, talking.

"It's time for round two, let's see if you can save them, Lucy." 

---

[img]http://i.imgur.com/ZEQcnsM.png[/img]

The girl recoiled and found her back pressed up against a tree.

That bear hadn't been there earlier, it hadn't been there at all and last she checked, bears didn't appear out of thin air. It approached, letting out a growl and 15-year-old Xan found herself petrified. She made a run for it, nearly tripping over her own feet. "Dad?!" The forest that had once been filled with the chirping of birds and steady flow of the stream was now filled with nothing but silence, even the wind had ceased to blow. "Is anyone there?" The girl continued running as fast as she could, hopping over bushes and even wading past the stream.

She didn't know if the bear was still following her, but she didn't stop to look back either.

"Xan, are you alright? You look like you've seen a ghost." She crashed into her dad, bewildered by his sudden appearance. Just a few moments ago, there had been nothing in front of her.

"D-Dad?" The girl spluttered. "I-I saw you back there, but you disappeared." The girl began rambling about running into an angry bear and the man in front of her gave her an affectionate pat on the head. She was comforted by his presence, but his soft voice grew distorted and soon he didn't sound like her father at all.

"What do you say we play a game of cat and mouse, Xan?"

"What?" The girl looked up and suddenly, his kind smile turned into a sadistic grin. The figure in front of her vanished into thin air once more. Xan spun around to run only to bump into a grinning bear. The girl let out a surprised yelp before falling onto her back. Suddenly, she felt like she was being crushed and the bear's warm breath made her want to choke. It pressed its claws into her left shoulder and bared its teeth. A tingling feeling ran down her arm and back followed by a searing pain.

There would be no one there to hear Xan scream.