The Nerds Get Grabbed

Noah hated being near Felix. He had nothing against Felix, quite the opposite, but rather, it was because whenever he saw the guy, he was reminded of his own cowardice. His inability to stick up for people when it most mattered, even when that person was in the right... he couldn't take it. So whenever Felix tried to talk to him, he'd pack up his things, and rush out. For once, he was thankful that Winters was such an asshole of a teacher because it meant that Felix had few opportunities to try to talk to him. He didn't share another class with Felix, so this conflict would only play out once.

Once he was away from Felix, Noah could go back to his usual self. The happy nerd with a bunch of friends just like him, living his best life. Oh sure, he'd commiserate with the rest of them about how they were all virgins, and whether they'd ever really get laid, but he never really got bothered about that kind of thing. He was too busy writing ultra optimized class builds for the latest action RPG, GMing D&D every weekend, and acing all his classes without a sweat. Sure, he was a bit chubby, but who cared about that when he could code in Javascript and Python before he even graduated high school? If he ever got horny, there was a world's worth of hentai to watch, and besides, there was plenty of time to get laid in college.

His last class of the day was AP History, and as usual, it was a breeze. Given that Noah had to learn all the possible interactions of dozens of character abilities with hundreds of items, remembering some names and dates wasn't a challenge. The teacher was almost rolling her eyes at his confidence, but still took his test back when he completed it in record time. It was just like last week when the long essay was due, which most of the class had to cram to finish on time, he had completed weeks before. Everything about his school life was just snapping into place for him to graduate with honors, and maybe even get an academic scholarship, without having to break a sweat.

His good mood lasted until he left class, when he saw Zachary coming down the hallway. With a sigh, Noah ducked into a nearby classroom to be near another adult. It was times like this he was reminded how, despite all of his academic accomplishments, the friends he made, and his godlike powers online, he was still an overweight nerd, as **** to people like Zachary as all the rest. However, upon stepping into the class, which looked to still have students and a teacher...

Noah found himself in the middle of a reinforced concrete hallway. The hallway lead to some room he couldn't make out that well in the distance. Turning around, instead of seeing the door he had come through, he saw more hallway leading up to what looked like a cafeteria. Alongside the walls he spotted four rooms that had privacy curtains, like at a hospital, serving as their doors.

Moving as slowly as he could, worried he would alert someone to his presence, Noah crept through the facility. He couldn't see any cameras, but that wasn't re-assuring when it came to the question of whether someone could see him. However he had gotten here, it wasn't by normal means, and he pinched himself several times to be sure that no, he wasn't in a dream. When he got to the cafeteria room, he saw a plaque right outside the entrance stating, "Mess Hall." Peering into the room, he saw tables with surprisingly comfortable seating for a room with such a utilitarian name, but otherwise, nothing too out of the ordinary. A bunch of tables, some with benches, and some without, along with holding stations that were, at the moment, empty.

Seeing nothing else of interest, Noah then checked each other room in the hallway, sneaking around in a vain hope that he wouldn't attract any attention. In each room he found a bedroom with a large, amazing looking bed, carpeted floors, and otherwise rather spartan furniture. He wondered why would someone put such a nice bed into a room where everything else was so spartan while continuing to check for anything that was off. Peeking further into one of the rooms showed him another door within. When he summoned up the courage to walk in and check it, he just found a restroom. It was well built, but notably had no shower or bath, just a tiny powder bathroom shoved into a corner like a closest.

When Noah finally exited the room, he let out a breath, and walked towards the room he had spotted in the distance. However, before he could get there, he felt breath on his neck. The type that he described many times as a GM when describing some monster creeping up behind the party, minus any kind of bad smell.

"Noah, be a dear and try not to piss yourself." A voice Noah did not recognize, and that was more terrifying than any video game he had ever played, said.

Noah was spun around to see a demon. A demon, a fact that he couldn't deny despite trying to think of another possibility in the vain hope that it would make this situation less terrifying, was staring him in the face, with burning eyes that hurt to look at. A demon with silver hair that framed her face in a way that somehow made it even more terrifying, and fire red skin that somehow didn't look ridiculous. It didn't matter that all she was wearing was a robe, or that Noah had seen creatures more terrifying in monster manuals and various video games, this demon was the real, true thing. It put lie to the idea that seeing something on screen could desensitize it to you in real life, because nothing, not even the grossest parts of the internet, could've prepared Noah for seeing a demon face to face.

"I appreciate you trying to sneak around, but you can never hide from me." She whispered in Noah's ear, with an undercurrent of a growl. "After all, I know your name and have seen your face."

It was in that moment, with a level of terror Noah had never felt before, and perhaps to release the pressure that threatened to cause worse, that Noah screamed.

Hailey's day was going fine, or at least, as fine as it could be lately. She was passing her classes, and while she couldn't quite breeze through them with the ease Noah did, it was enough. The science class she was in, for instance, she was getting through with a solid B, and while her mom would whine about reaching for As, a B was passing. She wasn't interested in studying for hours to get a benefit that may never arrive, or that pissed away her only chance to enjoy being young. No amount of ranting about how women needed to work twice as hard to make it, or about how she wasn't taking advantage of the opportunities given to her, was going to change that. And hey, she'd gotten an 86 on last week's test despite only spending half an hour studying, so who could complain?

Once class ended, Hailey was met by Carter out in the hall. She knew Carter from weekly D&D sessions with him, Noah, and some other guys in Noah's social circle who loudly debated various nerd things at lunch every day.

"Hey, did you want to come over for Battlefield 2064?" Carter asked.

"Sure, I'll just need to sneak out," Hailey said. "Mom won't let me go willingly but I can just wait for her to get into another screaming match with dad."

"Great, I'll-" The bell rang and they dashed off to their respective classes.

Hailey sighed because she was now going to be in a class with Felix, the school pariah. She didn't hate Felix, or buy into the narrative around him, but she didn't want to be near him. He now attracted this whirlwind of drama, bullying, and a bunch of bullshit she didn't want to be in missile range of. Maybe that made her a bitch, but she dealt with enough drama at home from her parents' clearly collapsing marriage and a mother determined to mold her into someone she wasn't. Most people at school ignored her, and she wanted to keep it that way. Thankfully, Felix had gotten the message, and so didn't try to bother Hailey in English class. That made her feel worse, because it showed how much she had abandoned him, but it was a price she had to pay if she wanted to avoid the gaze of everyone else.

When English let out, Hailey was quick to exit before Felix could try anything. She dodged the gaze of Mr. Smith quite easily by, once again, blending into the background with hordes of other students. Once she saw he was in a conversation with Felix, she took the opportunity to run past him. She didn't think she was on Smith's shitlist, but she didn't want to risk it, given how much of an asshole the assistant principal could be.

Once past him, Hailey was home free. However, right when she pushed through the doors leading out of the school, she found herself instead...

...in a reinforced concrete hallway. In the distance, Hailey saw an entrance to a room she couldn't make out. Turning around, she saw a hallway that lead to a heavily reinforced metallic door with a timer on it. She was too far away to see what the numbers said, but she could tell it was counting down, but to what? Turning to her right and left, she saw screens that looked like the kiosks you'd use to order food or similar, but, why were they in this hallway? But that of course just begged why was in this place to begin with, given she had never seen this place before.

It was then that a single scream filled the air, and she knew in an instant that was Noah's voice. What the hell was he doing here, and why was he screaming? The question raced through Hailey's mind as she just stood frozen, trying to figure out what to do when-

"Hello dear." Hailey heard the voice of a woman, except no. The voice was too powerful, too supernatural to be a woman.

"I'd love to do the same song and dance I did with the ones before you, but I suspect the audience is running out of patience." The voice said, before powerful arms grabbed Hailey with one gigantic, fire red hand clasping over her mouth.

Hailey squirmed, but it was like a toddler trying to escape their mother's grasp as she carried to the room she had spotted in the distance. Despite the creature walking, the trip there was shockingly short, because of long strides or something. When they entered the room, she saw Felix and Noah next to each other, both sitting in complete terror. Racing through her mind were panicked questions about what was going on, and who this entity that kidnapped her was. Did this creature bring her to this place she had never seen before? But how?

The creature then set Hailey down on the couch, and revealed herself to the assembled group.

"Sorry for my terrible rudeness, let me introduce myself." The creature said. "I am a demon from a realm and hell that are not your own."

Hailey just sat there in silence, in shock at the sight before her. This demon, as she called herself, was gigantic, and was only wearing a simple robe.

"I would give you my name, but that could go poorly if you've ever dabbled in magic." She said to the assembled group, while winking at Felix for some reason.

"Alright, stay here, and mommy will come back to explain everything." The demon said while taking on a scary parody of a maternal figure in her voice. "She has to track down far naughtier children than you first."

The demon then disappeared in a haze of black smoke, and left everyone in the room in stunned silence.