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Altar seemed confused, at first, by his question, as if wondering why he gave a damn after having fought with him only mere hours ago. True, they got off to a wrong start but it wasn't exactly the type of situation to be continuing such nonsense. He had already forgotten about the matter and had decided to move on. If he said they were going to get out together, they were going to get out together. Naturally, he needed to know if he was alright.

In his head, he was already planning. It was hard to tell the time of day, if any in such a world but they would need rest at some point, Altar would, undoubtedly. If the creature would let them do such a thing without getting bored was another question entirely.

"If you're feeling faint at all, tell me. It'll be bad to over exert yourself, even I'm feeling a bit off." He had stated before pausing, hesitating to answer the next statement "It's not your fault to begin with, there's nothing to apologize for."

Walking down the hallway was a sickening repetition. The same walls, the same floors, no hallways looked different. Endless. Frightening. Sickening. It was a warped story to say the least.

Too warped.

Rayne wrinkled his brow and he felt an unsettling feeling in the pit of his stomach. It wasn't the library but it was good damned copy of it. No, it was different. There were no children, no laughs or anything. Then there was that other scent... a different smell that was mixed faintly in to the familiar one the two of them knew.

He didn't answer Altar at first, or even look at him. He walked towards the center a bit and then paused. Something was definitely not right. there was a scent that shouldn't have been there. Like how the children were supposed to be around another anomaly that would not have been there was apparent and he took a few steps forward.

"It smells like blood." He said before turning around and standing by Altar "Things are going to start getting troublesome from here. We'll be safe in the hallways but not in the rooms. Right now, we're in one of them and we'll have to find our way out." He paused for a moment then said "Only this is a clever copy of the library so there will be just as many doors as there were in the other, I'm assuming. The next door might be hard to find.

"Then.... there's the issue of the smell. We'll need to stick close. So, don't run off anywhere alon-"

"FE FI FO FUM. I smell human and demon blood." A child's voice said, ringing unpleasantly throughout the building. It contrasted greatly against the peaceful sounds of the library, making the room seem to shake mysteriously like white noise.

Then suddenly, the room became dark and the sun that shone above was replaced by the red face of the moon and it was like the place had suddenly changed completely. Books littered the floor, tapestries that hung were torn and the faint smell of blood became heavy.

There was the sound of children laughing, almost maniacally.

"Hide and seek, hide and seek, around each corners, we'll give a peek.
Run and hide, run and hide, find the door to the other side.
The night time we play, the day we sleep, so in our time, you best keep
That heart of yours still beating sweetly or we'll rip it out so very neatly."

They chanted and Rayne shivered.

"Tick tock tick. Tick tick tock. You have half and hour before we search and devour."

"Oh ********>

The floor felt wet and squished sickly beneath his feet. His eyes flared and his instincts seem to switch on automatically. His canines bit into the flesh of his lips as he thought for a moment.

He looked over at Altar who seemed paralyzed with fear and who could blame him, even Rayne's pulse was pounding a bit.

"Come on, we need to move faster before they start moving." He said, his voice growling a bit, his demonic nature showing up a bit and his eyes seemed to almost burn. "Don't listen the sounds here, just pay attention to the task at hand." He said, grabbing the man's hand and yanking as he began to run. "Go at a walking pace, we'll only waste time just getting there and then we won't have enough time finding the door."

He made quick work of guiding the two of them there, seeing as Altar was much too disorientated to possibly find his way around. Much less think straight as he proved by telling him information he already knew being the librarian's assistant.

They reached the place in good time, a hallway decorated with doors. The fast sound of splashing from running seemed to seep in now due to the moist feel of his shoes. He didn't look down and stared straight forward. The walls were stained, oozing with red and the stench was heavier than ever.

"Let's start. Quickly, let's open the doors, the other side should look like the hallway we were just in. I'll take the right, you take the left. Be quick so we can eliminate this floor if it's not here."

Each door was a failure, none of them lead back to the hallway. He could deal with the little cretins if they came but he wasn't really willing to see what they were capable of. He was one of the best back home but his powers were a bit restrained being under Azrael's control.

"Come on, first floor, then." He dragged Altar to the balcony and looked down before looking back at the human. He gave him a sympathetic look "Sorry about this." He said before heaving the young man over his shoulder like it was nothing and jumping over the railing and down to the first floor.

The landing came with a great thud that seemed to make the carpet ripple. The blood-soaked carpet splashed violently with the collision and he put the human down.

Rayne made his way over to the nearest door, only a few steps away from where they were. No. That wasn't it. The door next to it. No.

s**t.

Wait, there was one door he could think of.

"Azrael's room. It's on this floor but a ways away, we might not make it before they start looking." Rayne took Altar's hand again "Let's go."

Rayne bolted down an alleyway of bookshelves. He dodged and weaved through each section expertly. If he could go faster, he wouldn't even be making noise on the carpet.

His heart pounded, they were close, about five minutes away from it and they'd be saf-

"TIME'S UP."

His heart sank.

There was the sound of little feet and not in the way that Rayne remembered. He could feel blood thristy intent radiating throughout the whole building, they knew where they were. Thankfully, none of them seemed to be on the first floor yet. They were catching up pretty damned fast, though, to the point they were almost animalistic.

The two of them were nearing the door but the demon could feel a pack of children right no their tail, getting closer and closer. He didn't look, it would only hinder their movements.

He pulled them to make a turn and at the end of a row of book shelves as a gold ornamented door, grand and clear, contrasting greatly with the rest of the building. It had to be it.

He picked up his speed has they neared the door and suddenly two children left from the bookshelves, blocking their way. They looked like the children back home only different, more grotesque. Then, like some rip-off from a bad horror film, they changed physically into something larger and dismembered, as if they were torn apart and sewn back together again. He had seen things like this before. Low-class demons.

His eyes flared and he barred his teeth, his canines sticking out almost like fangs, his hair floating ever so slightly as if standing on end. "OUT OF MY WAY." He said, his voice booming loudly as he lunged forward and threw one aside with the simple smack of his arm. He roared and took the other one quickly before another movement was made. The next thing that happened was the body being tossed aside, burning and ripped in half.

Rayne took Altar's hand and opened the door. This was it.

He pulled them in as his heart pounded in the beat of the many tiny feet pattering behind them.

He shut the door behind them and sighed.

He never expected to be so happy to see the endless corridor again.

Usually, Rayne was quite fond of children, but, ankle biters who evolved into human eaters did not fit into the same category. Right at that moment, he had lost a little love for kids and had figured that he might just be a bit traumatized by the whole experience due to the fact he lived in the library.

When they reached the other side of the door, he felt his back slide against the wall where the door used to be. He sighed and looked over at Altar who had an expression of terror on his face, as if he was ready to keel over and die on the spot.

The human seemed a bit distraught and Rayne had figured it was due to the fact that they almost got eaten by a pack of children. Who could blame the guy? It was like a nightmare come true, only worse. t was an unfortunate thing, to be caught up in such a story. The two of them undoubtedly had shitty luck.

The demon looked up as he listened to the sound of an annoyingly familiar voice and he scowled despite his fatigue. He was already tired and it was only the first door. God damn it.

"Lots of fun. You should have been there." He wanted to say but decided against it, for all he knew it could have lead him into a world of trouble if he wasn't already in it. He picked himself up slowly and stood over Altar "We need to get moving, are you alright? Do you want me to help you up?" He asked, sounding genuinely concerned.

He felt bad for the human, honestly, the poor boy looked terrified out of his wits.

"We need to go now, I can carry you if you need the rest." He suggested as he stood by him. Hopefully he would have enough energy for the rest of the feat.