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<~*Chapter 1*~>

In the big city of Erebus, the capitol of the Underworld, an 18 year old essence user recalls the happy friends in his past silently until he's knocked from his thoughts.

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A high-pitched alarm blares, signaling that it's 6:00 in the morning.

Scott Powers was already wide awake, he turns his phone alarm off and hesitantly gets out of bed. His once peaceful mind has now become a disaster of voices and memories.

Scott doesn't get much sleep. He listens and watches the chilling encounters in his mind, the constant chatter won't allow him any peace. He used to be able to sleep through anything, now he can't. He doesn't even get tired, all he can do is sit silently baffled.

Strange voices speak louder than his thoughts but it's usually distorted to the point where he can't understand. When he closes his eyes he can make out small figures moving quickly, as if they were miles and miles away.

The voices don't see him watching or listening in, maybe they do, he still only listens in. He hears weird stories from them, they speak about what has happened, about what's coming, and everything currently. It all makes no sense to Scott, he feels like he's going insane.

He hears this all the time, no matter what he's doing. He's learned to block it out now but he listens at night to hear what the voices say. It's like a reality television show, he gets new episodes constantly.

But, his thoughts of the confusing time get cut off by someone rapidly knocking on his door.

"Are you awake yet?" His sister shouts through the door, seeming annoyed.

"Yeah, I'm up. I'm up." Scott says as he hurries to get dressed.

"Why are you taking so long?" His sister says through the door, she sounds angry now.

"Hold on, I'll be out in a minute." He says then continues to get ready for his day of school, or hell, as he and most teenagers like to call it.

Scott is out in about 5 minutes, backpack in hand. He takes one last look at his almost blank room making sure he didn't forget anything, then he rushes downstairs before his siblings decide to leave him to get to school on their own.

"Ugh, finally. Let's go." His step-brother says, as he rolls his eyes and opens the door to leave.

"Not even gonna let me eat?" Scott asks displeased, his siblings are always in a rush.

"Should've got dressed quicker." His sister says as she follows their step-sibling out to their shared car. Scott followed them out silently and got in the back seat.

Getting places was a pain, the city was huge and Scott isn't allowed to use his abilities to teleport due to the Underworld's laws. His only option is to travel with his annoying siblings. Erebus is the capitol of the Underworld, and the only place Scott has ever known because of the gigantic walls that surround it. It's a huge city run by the Demon King, though he never makes an official appearance.

The law prohibits abilities from being used because younger essence users can't fully control them and often cause trouble throughout the domain. All humans have inner essence, if you didn't something was definitely wrong and you could die very early in your life. Inner essence is the first that was given by celestials, the ability to stay on Ethereal and be protected from it's harsh air. The second essence given is spirit essence, most people have this but it won't hinder their life if they didn't. Spirit essence grants supernatural abilities, such as shapeshifting, invisibility or even flying. But this depends on what your ancestors had, and what manifests from it. Based on the abilities people started declaring each other different races, such as a werewolf who has abilities to enhance their senses and shapeshift into a wolf. Also vampires, with enhanced senses and the ability to grow stronger by drinking blood.

Throughout Erebus everyone's appearance is different based on their spirit essence, some demons have horns and almost always have red eyes. Banshees are usually so pale they look dead and are very quiet even if their personality is outgoing. Usually the adults past the age of 25 start developing the appearance change but it can happen to anyone, regardless of age or gender.

The Underworld's residents aren't necessarily racist nor judgmental, but there is a hierarchy within that rules over the place. Besides the demon king, since he doesn't show himself, there are others who take the stand to make laws and set forth standards. There are groups called 'packs' that take in blood relatives of werewolf essence users, they are the most popular throughout Erebus due to long ancestry in the Underworld, and the pack with the most influence is the Kane pack, and the closest to the Demon king is the Kane's leader, Elliot Kane.

Scott used to brag to a few people he knew that he was close with Elliot Kane's oldest son, Leon, but they haven't talked in a while due to a past quarrel.

"Scott, why do you always look like you got into another fight? I thought you stopped all that. You know using your abilities is forbidden at school." His sister asks, looking skeptically at the bruise he has over his eye that he did not have the night before.

"I fell off of the bed earlier, if only someone wasn't rushing me. And maybe I do get into fights a lot but not all the time. You can't use your abilities either, Melanie." Scott says her name with hate, his siblings are always getting on his nerves. He's agitated and already wants to go home.

"Of course you get in fights all the time but still. You're always covered in bruises. No wonder our family doesn't like you, you're a total trouble maker." Melanie says, turning to look at the front.

"You know, she's right Scott. Maybe if you didn't get into fights mom would talk to you." Scott's brother said as he smirked.

Scott was beyond angry now, his mom wouldn't talk to him? Yeah, so what.. He doesn't need her and she doesn't need him, apparently.

"Shut up, Matt." Scott seethes, trying to cool down. He was really tired of everyone's crap.

"You think she doesn't like you 'cause you look like your dad?" Matt says, pretending to be wondering aloud with a smirk still present.

Scott's body tensed and his mind went to his father. He did look like his dad, his dad that ran away from his whole family. Scott is like a mini version of his dad, white hair, dull red eyes that were once bright and a small, muscular body. Along with that, he has the sarcasm ready to fire missiles.

While Scott was like their dad, Melanie got their mom's features, small and petite frame, bright blue eyes, brown hair and the wonderful sass to back up her look. Scott has always believed his mother doesn't like him because of his looks, he's always hoped he could change them but knows it won't ever happen.

Matt wasn't their biological sibling but they've been together for years, Scott considers him immediate family, but his step-dad not so much. His step-father isn't the nicest and his cruel look he always sends Scott doesn't help ease the tension, luckily they don't see each other much. Matt and his father could be twins if not for Seth's, his step father's, aging face. They have blonde hair and gray eyes, both equally annoying but Scott can tolerate Matt most of the time.

"Oh? Did I hit a soft spot again? Whoopsies." Matt said, laughing with Melanie as they were watching Scott's reactions.

Scott usually has comebacks, but today he was feeling so tired. Not physically, but emotionally and mentally tired. The voices in his head were very loud right now, he hoped they would go away but they always seem to get louder and louder when he gets angry or sad.

Melanie and Matt seem to notice Scott's new mood and look to see him angry. But he looks so.. broken? Betrayed? Sad? Furious? Confused? All words to describe his feelings.

Matt and Melanie stopped laughing while Scott ignored his surroundings, he didn't notice they made it to the school until Melanie shouted for Scott to get out of the car.

Scott was not in the mood to go to school, he can't seem to concentrate on what he's doing but nonetheless, he gets out of the car without saying a word to anyone.

He walks down the hallways of the school, wishing to be anywhere else. Scott has changed and he knows everyone around him can see it but he won't acknowledge their stares nor give in to their pestering.

About two months ago was when everything started, his daily routine to skip classes and disobey the no fighting rules had come to a complete stop since then. His carefree attitude in public became more refined and he hasn't been participating in his team sport. He now shows up to class and always sits with his siblings, as if he's afraid they'll disappear if he isn't with them.

Before his change, he went missing for almost two weeks with his family searching for him everywhere. He came back as if nothing had happened and then he closed up and obeyed what his parents told him to do. His goofy smiles and jokes stopped at their request but he probably wouldn't give any smiles anyways.

Now it's been some time since then but everyone still tries to get him to answer their questions, all he does is give a blank stare and a quiet "No." Before he wasn't a chatty person but he still would smile politely, or mischievously, to answer questions. Now he's definitely more quiet and less sociable, he only speaks when he needs to or if he's in a good mood, but that's a rare sight for anyone to see.

Scott has changed significantly but he refuses to be aware of that because that means he'll have to acknowledge the facts of why he disappeared and why he had changed so drastically. He just wants to ignore it and hope he can stay in peace for a while longer. He wants to be normal, he believes he has to, and he knows he needs to.

So, his day will be normal, and he will carry on with his studies, unlike he used to.