* warning this chapter isn't really for kids but i dont think its earned its self an adult rating so this is your warning ^^ enjoy*

Dante stared down at the country map lying over the bathroom sink in the highway rest stop along interstate 90.  Nightmare stood in the corner reading today’s newspaper.  Dante had managed to steal it from an old man on the bus while he was sleeping.  Dante followed a blue line to the right with his eyes watching as it twisted and turned on the paper leading to the cost.  He heard the devil chuckling causing him to glance over his shoulder.  “Oh how we must stop in Southbend.”  Nightmare smiled as he read an article involving several grisly murders taking place in the county.  “Another devil running amok can’t be ignored can it?”  Dante didn’t look up from the map, Nightmare continued reading “each victim was brutally raped and beaten to death.  Each victim was a young female between the ages of 14 to 19.  Police suspect that the culprit is a serial killer who recently resided in Michigan because of the similarities of the murders.”  Dante still stared at the map only now his expression was blank.  He had been frozen since Nightmare had mentioned how the victims had been killed.  It was the exact way his sister had died before his very eyes.  That devilish grin appeared on Nightmares face, he knew he had snared him.  “Where?”  His voice was just barely above a whisper the devil scanned through the paper for a moment before answering “the victims have all been found in or near Potawatomi Park in South Bend Indiana.”  Dante didn’t answer as he folded the map back up and slipped it into his jeans pants pockets.  Then he took the paper from Nightmare before leaving the bathroom and returning to the bus.

                On the bus Dante took an aisle seat so Nightmare would be able to see out the window.  Also so no one would possible sit on him, since he couldn’t be seen or heard by average people the only way they could find out about him was through touch so he had to be careful.  Although Nightmare probably would just kill everyone on the bus if that happened.  Dante was fast asleep before the automobile even pulled out of the rest stop.  He slept with his arms crossed in front of him and his head buried in his chest.  Nightmare looked amused his summoner looked so innocent while he slept.  In his sleep he looked like any other 10 year old.  It would be hard to believe that this child was responsible for the destruction of a small Chicago street gang.  He stared out at the different cars they passed by on the interstate.  This was the first time that he had ever seen cars.  The last time he had been summoned was during the crusades in England.  However his time had been short.  His previous summoner had been a night in his mid thirties, and had just barely been able to pay the price to read his contract.  To even see Nightmares contract the summoner must sacrifice 50 years of their natural life span.  If the sacrifice could not be paid they died instantly.  It was slightly annoying since his summoners died before he could even show them the pact.  However this time was different, he had never been summoned by someone so young before.  Dante would probably live to be about twenty or so which gave Nightmare 10 years at least to make his dream a reality, but first he had to remove all obstacles from his path.  That was the cause of the interest in the devil of South Bend.  It could be a problem for his plans if the devil was left of his own designs.  Nightmare planned to kill every other devil he could, it wouldn’t be difficult he thought to himself.  After all he was an arch angel class devil.  There were only around five totals.  “Oh Dash.”  He shook his head as he grinned “I wonder if he has been summoned to this world of man as well.  Surely he of all would understand my dream after all.  It was something we had both longed for in hell.”  Dante mumbled something and he tilted a little toward the aisle.  “Heart break, a call of spirits the haunting of corpses, the sweet scent of blood and sweat.  A new victim has been chosen.”  Nightmare smiled again “will we make it in time or will we just be too late.”

                The night air felt crisp in the predators’ lungs.  The moon hung full over head.  Giving a new elegance to the night.  He stalked his prey carefully from the shadows.  It was a young girl between the age of 12 and 14.  She had been staying at a friend’s house, but left early due to a fight regarding a rumor at school.  He didn’t care about the details all he cared about was that she was alone.  Walking the dark streets alone, the perfect prey, and a small dark imp like devil sat on his shoulder.  Together they watched her as she moved under a street lamp then back into darkness.  It was taking everything he could muster to prevent him from making a premature lunge.  If he didn’t do this right she would get away, but he had enough experience at this.  After all he had been doing it for years.  He slipped from the shadows and crossed to the other side of the street.  He was now directly behind her trailing her by only a few feet.  He wrapped a length of heavy fishing test line around his hands as he got closer.  His devil Pan began to drool as he got closer.  Ahead at the corner a white van was parked.  Its windows tinted, the young girl got next to the sliding door and the fishing line tightened around her neck.  She tried to scream but she couldn’t her oxygen was cut off, and everything went black as she slipped into a world of dreaming.

                Puck glanced around through the windows nervously when they arrived in Potawatomi Park.  He didn’t know what it was but something was wrong, and his summoner didn’t seem to notice.  His summoners name was Charlie Morison a notary’s serial killer.  The girl they had just abducted lay in the back of the van her arms and legs duck taped.  There was a large gash in her head from where Charlie had just struck her.  The wound bled profusely.  Next to her lay his instruments of destruction.  Several power tools all cord less and full charged.  He prized himself on always being prepared.  His personal favorite was a black and Decker hand saw that he knew could cut through solid bone.  He found that a lot of tools made by black and Decker worked well for his hobby.  He picked up a long bladed cleaver and cut the fabric of her T shirt down her back to the duck tape binding her arms.  Before he could go any farther the air in the van turned to ice in his lungs.  Puck’s head jerked from side to side as he scanned the view from each of the windows.  The young girl whimpered slightly, and he struck her on the back of the head with the knife handle to silence her.  He ran the blade tip gently down her back; he loved it when they shuddered when the cold blade touched their flesh.  Something scrapped across the side of the van.  He shuddered as the sound of scrapping metal pounded against his ear drums.  The sound echoed off the back door then the noise vanished into the night.  “What was that Puck?”  The devil listened tentavily to the sounds of the woods.  It was silent.  “I don’t know.”  The tiny imp whispered.  They both knew it couldn’t be the wind.  Charlie slipped the knife into the belt loops in his jeans and picked up the cordless hand saw.  With a yank he ripped the door open and peered out into the darkness of night.  It was quite and the ground was covered with a light mist.  It was an odd scene that held a strong resemblance to most horror movies, only the predator had already got his victim.  Who was still silent in the van.  Charlie could sense that there was something out here.  Something else lurking in the shadows other than him, he pushed the red button on the saw letting the blades run.  The woods remained motionless.  There was movement and the bushes ahead of them began to thrash violently.  The blades revved as he inched closer something darted from the shadows and sank deep into his shoulder.  He shrieked as the warm sticky liquid dripped down the front of his shirt.  The saw fell from his hands and he sprinted back to the van slamming the door behind him.  In the light he took the time to examine what was in his shoulder.  It was a short black knife.  He tried to remove it but it was stuck and teared at his flesh.  It most likely had a barb on it like a fish hook.  Making it harder to remove, he didn’t know they came like that.  He twisted and wiggled until finally it came out splitting his wound wide open.  The blood gushed freely from his wound making a crimson pool beneath him.  He had been right a sharp barb protruded from the dull end by the tip.  He tossed it on the floor by his tools, just then he realized that he had dropped his saw when he fled.  Charlie opened the sliding van door slightly to peer out, it was gone.  He shut the door and leaned up against the passenger seat.  The little girl whimpered again.  “Something has to be out there.”  Said Puck as he peered out the window, Charlie didn’t respond.  “Come on let’s just go we can take her somewhere else!”  The tiny devil screamed, this had been the first time he had ever heard the devil so frightened.  Charlie sighed and slipped into the driver seat.  He twisted the key in the ignition and the van’s engine sputtered and died.  He tried again only to hear the same sound of the dying engine.  “What do we do now?”  Puck asked still in a panic.  Charlie simply opened his door and stepped out into the crisp night air.  The moon shone brilliantly through the trees giving him good visibility.  Puck leaped from the passenger seat and landed on his summonders shoulder.  The imp grabbed handfuls of his masters’ hair as he stared out into the dark abyss of the forest.  By the time Charlie had heard the roar of the saw it was too late.  It cut down the length of his side spilling his intestines onto the cold ground.  He stared horrified up at the blonde haired boy.  Dante had been hiding on the roofs van since he cut the cables under the hood.  Charlie tried to cry out, but the saw buzzed again and the blade sliced his neck open wide and his corpse fell to the ground.  The devil Puck shrieked out as his body faded away into nothingness.

                Dante silently slid the sliding side door of the white van open.  The young girl was still tied up in the back of the van.  Her shirt had been cut away.  As Dante got closer he removed his black jacket and tossed it over her.  The girl whimpered loudly, and she began to thrash when he picked her up.  She would’ve screamed if her mouth wasn’t covered with duck tape.  Her eyes were also covered with a blindfold, but since her savoir was also covered in her kidnappers blood that probably wouldn’t of calmed her down.  Dante adjusted her so she was clinging to his back, and exited the van.

                He walked the abandoned moon lit streets in silence until he found her home and set her on the front porch.  After he left him had Nightmare cut the duck tape on her hands?  He knew she couldn’t see him and would rather he himself not be seen.  When she was finally free she removed her blind fold and looked around curiously.  Only to find no one there, all that was left of her hero was the black coat still draped over her shoulders.

                Nightmare laughed as him and Dante walked side by side.  “You know she would of most likely of loved to see her rescuer.”  Dante’s voice was barely a whisper “why was I so cold?”  Nightmare smiled his devilish grin “that’s what happens when two devil summoners encounter each other.”    Dante didn’t respond as he continued to walk along the dark streets.

                Detective Zack Davis looked down at the rotting corpse of the serial killer Charlie Morison.  Other officers moved in and out of the white van usually carrying their own equipment in and leaving with his sealed in clear plastic labeled bags.  “What happened here?”  Asked a large burly man with a dark brown beard and a light brown head of hair riddled with gray, Zack was only 20 and had already made it as a detective in the Southbend Police department.  “Someone got to our serial killer.  Most likely an associate of one of his earlier victims.”  Another officer an older female of around 40 or so with her brownish blonde hair tied in a pony tail came from around the van.  “There was a boy around here last night.  Several witnesses claim to of saw him; they also saw him later carrying a girl while they were blindfolded.  The witness is with the sketch artist now.”  Zack moved past the van and through the crowd of police to a young man and women in their early 30’s talking to a man in his late 20’s with a shaved head and a thick set of glasses.  He was drawing on a large notepad.  The couple would occasionally chime in with little suggestions or changes needed.  Finally they both stared at it then nodded “yes that looks like him.” The women said with approval.  The artist handed the notepad to the detective “What the hell is this?”  The picture showed Dante with the girl on his back.  What surprised him was how young his suspect looked.  “Ok!”  Zack yelled “this is our suspect.  Find him and take him into custody.”  The officers stared at the blood covered face of Dante carrying the young girl.