::The landlord opens the door and steps inside.::

"How's this, beautiful?"

::He asks Matthew whilst gesturing at the interior. It's nothing horrifically grand, but it's not too shabby.::

"This'll do...thanks."

(What's up with him calling me beautiful?)

::Matthew steps into the bedroom, closes the door behind him, and lays down on the bed, his mind racing with thoughts about his new destiny::

::A grinning warlock blinks in next to the bed and takes an athame in his hands, pointing it down at Matthew.::

"Your power is mine, pretty-boy."

::In a heartbeat, Matthew gasps, his eyes widen, and he rolls out of the bed, scrambling against the wall on the opposite side of the room::

(Oh crap...now what?)

::He slowly slides against the wall, careful to stay away from the window. He just stares at the Warlock::

(A spell? Worth a shot...)

"Uh...
Warlock standing here in time,
I vanquish thee with this very rhyme."

[Uh... no. Your spell fails abysmally. For some reason the warlock feels slightly aroused]

"Are you trying to turn me on, tough guy? Cos I feel a tingling in my crotch and an urge to do more than take your power."

::The warlock steps towards Mathew and holds out his hand, which begins to glow red with heat::

(Great.)

::Matthew watches the hand glow with heat and is disgusted by the fact that the Warlock is aroused. Not knowing what else to do, he grabs a lamp off the end table and hurtles it toward the Warlock as hard and as fast as he can.::

::The lamp slows as it nears the warlock's hand, and then burns away to nothing within seconds::

"Now picture that all over your body."

::He runs at Mathew, hand grasping for him, and laughs like a dirty old bastard::

(Give me a break.)

::Matthew waits a moment, then darts out of the way, moving to the opposite side of the room- the wall with the bedroom door::

(I have to get the athame...but I need more room, more time.)

::He reaches his hand behind his back, not taking his eye off of the Warlock. Matthew throws open the bedroom door and backs into the living room, his eye still on the Warlock.::

::The warlock, quite simply, follows. And gyrates a bit.::

::Matthew slowly backs into the kitchen, still facing and watching the Warlock. He pulls open a drawer, takes out a steak knife and holds it in front of him::

(Please let this work...)

::The warlock snarls and throws an energy ball at Matthew.::

"That's not really good for extracting powers!"

::Matthew ducks and staggers a few feet to the side, clutching the knife close to him::

"That's not what I want."

::The warlock slowly stalks towards Matthew, drawing his own athame again, and sudddenly lunges towards the boy, arm outsretched and aimed at Matthew's stomach.::

::Matthew dives to the side, he was either breathing very quickly or not breathing at all. He holds his knife out in front of him and lunges for the Warlock, aiming the knife directly at it's back.::

::Blink! The warlock moves out of the way of the knife attack and stands by the door.::

"You're not really very hospitable, are you? I mean, the least you could do is offer me a drink."

"A drink, huh? hmm..."

::Matthew takes a few steps closer to the warlock, being about halfway across the room now.::

"How about some demon blood?"

(Please let this work.)

::Matthew throws the knife at him, as fast and as hard as he possibly can, hoping that it will finally vanquish him.::

::The warlock sticks a hand out and catches the knife by the hilt. He smiles and holds it up.::

"You're just great with the one liners, aren't you?"

::His hand glows red as he melts the knife.::

(Oh crap.)

::Matthew's heart begins to beat faster. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he wasn't surprised that throwing the knife hadn't worked and now that he replays the past attempt to vanquish it, he sees what he should have done. He backs to the wall again and edges toward the fireplace.::

"You're a very chatty warlock, aren't you?"

::Reaching the fireplace, he picks up a long, metal rod with 2 very sharp points at the end from a stand next to the grate of the fireplace. He starts walking forward.::

"Maybe it's best we put an end to that."

::He reaches the warlock, but isn't directly in front of him, he's about a foot or so away. In a millisecond, as fast and as hard as he can once more, he shoves the pointed end into the warlock's stomach.::

::He blinks out and into the space behind Matthew, kicking him in the back.::

"Will you stop trying to stab me? I'm beginning to take it personally."

::He now swipes his athame toward his victim's chest.::

"Also, when you inch near my with pointy objects, do you think I don't expect you to poke me with them?"

::Matthew sucks in his gut, missing the athame by a mere miracle.::

(pointy objects...well...he does have point...but what else?)

:Matthew concentrates as hard as he can on vanquishing the warlock in front of him. He pictures flames surrounding it's body and sending it to demon-hell. He wants it more than anything at this particular moment in time and there was only one more way that he could think of to accomplish this need.::

::Keeping the image in his mind and the desire in his heart, he speaks again.::

"Warlock standing here and now
another way - I don't know how,
down to hell, I vanquish thee,
eternal death, so mote it be."

[Congratulations, Matthew, it worked. The warlock explodes with a loud bang and leaves bits of himself all of your apartment. Enjoy your day now.]

::Matthew let out a deep sigh of great relief as he slides down the wall. The bits of demon that now decorate his apartment don't matter to him at this particular moment - he was too happy and relieved. His first spell had been cast and his first warlock had been vanquished. Tiredly, he trudges his way to the bedroom, changes into his pajamas and falls asleep in bed almost instantly.::

::Matt finally wakes and stretches for a moment in bed before changing into a button-down shirt and jeans and heading into the living room. He sighs at the sight of the demon leftovers and heads over the hallway door. Picking up the newspaper from the hallway and placing it on the table, he moves to the refrigerator for the milk and reaches inside a cabinet for a bowl and a cereal box.::

(I should practice my power today.)

::Finishing breakfast, he places the bowl in the sink, grabs his coat off the rack and heads to the lake, leaving the demon guts in the apartment once more.::

::Matthew re-enters the room, closing the door behind him and hanging his coat on the hook, sighing at the sight of the warlock remains. He drags his feet to the kitchen and grabs a bucket and sponge under the sink. He observes the now-dried blood on the floor, walls and even the ceiling and furniture as he fills it with water and soap.::

(Give me a break.)

::He drags his way to the first bit of residue that he sees and starts scrubbing away, going from one stain to another in his attempt to clean the apartment.::

::Matthew finishes. He straightens up and looks around at the clean apartment with a smile, ignoring the few stains on the couch that wouldn't come out.::

(I'll cover it with a blanket or something...)

::He dumps the dirty water down the drain, dries off the bucket and puts it back under the sink. He walks to the couch, passing a mirror on the wall and as he looks into it to check his appearances, he notices that his eyes are no longer blue - they're green. He emits a tiny smile as he lays on the couch and focuses on changing them back to blue.::

[The entire apartment complex blows up. Fire destroys everything and kills anybody left inside: the explosion is far too violent to expect any survivors. Debris and plaster flies everywhere, and the noise is deafening. The building is destroyed and left in a flaming wreck.]