For millennia we fought them and held them at bay. We were often rewarded for our actions and victories, but we wept for the losses in the field of battle. An archangel was never lost, but the others weren’t as strong as we were. As we still are. From before the rise of the Romans, to the present where technology and communications rule the many, we have walked among them. They do not know us. They do not know we are there. We have learned their ways, and how to interact with them.
The Others have learned, too. They disguise themselves well and can hide among the humans. They are not as experienced as we are, for they have not been around as long. Only those who have been trained by The Fallen himself can hide as well as we do. He has many lieutenants and generals who run the place in his stead. He does not have to loom over the demons; the Fallen has his own abominations for that.
The Fallen was once an archangel, known by another name: Lucifer. He was once as high as Michael and Gabrielle. He was once our brother. He was cast down to Hell by Michael, for reasons unknown even to me. Only the Father, Michael and Lucifer know what caused his fall from grace.
We watch the humans and interfere when commanded to do so. Otherwise, we stay out of their affairs. Meddling has never gotten anyone anywhere. Some of us guard special ones—future prophets, future archangels, and those who are deemed important and will be important to the human race in the future. Michael leads us, with Gabrielle at his side. Ariel teaches the young angels, and Chamuel guards the Gates. Raguel and Raziel—the twins—are in charge of weapons and weather on Earth respectively. Castiel guards a prophet along with Michael. I haven’t had an occupation in centuries. The Holy Wars are few and far between.
What happened between this world, the human world, and the world of the Fallen is not my story to tell. I took very little part in it. Therefore, this is not an account of my experiences, but rather those of Gabrielle and Michael. Their journey was not a joint one; everything will be explained.
I say all this because a Holy War almost began. If not for our two most trusted warriors, all would be lost and Heaven and Hell would be battling on Earth with the humans as innocent bystanders to be caught in the crossfire. Our story unfolds a decade ago, when a future prophet lived in the northeast region of the country known as the United States of America. Little events and tragedies leading up to her move to Seoul were not coincidence. Everything is planned. Everything is known. It is not fate; it is the work of God, the almighty Father.
Thus begins the tale of the Lord’s hunter.
-Raphael
~~~~
“Sissy, tell me a story. Mama does that.”
“Hmm…once upon a time, there was a beautiful angel. She protected other angels like she was their big sister. But down on earth, there was an evil, evil man who liked taking things from people.”
“What kind of things, sissy?”
“Very important things, Zell. Stuff that he shouldn’t be taking. Anyway, he took these really important things. Well, God told the beautiful angel that something needed to be done about the evil man’s tricks. He told her that she needed to get rid of him. She went down to earth and looked for him, but the man had many disguises. He could hide anywhere.”
“Did she find him, sissy?”
“She did, but it took her a very, very long time. Angels can’t die, so she had literally forever to look for him. It took her a thousand years to find him, Zell. He’d hidden for so long, he forgot why he was hiding in the first place. She finally found him, and she trapped his soul in a jar. Whatever weapon she used, she put the soul into it, and used it as a power.”
“What was his name?”
“No one really knows, but some people say Azazel.”
“That’s a funny name…I’m sleepy now. I wanna go to sleep.”
“Okay, Zell. Good night.”
“…Taz? Is our guardian angel gonna watch us while Mom and Dad are on vacation?”
“Of course, sweetie. Good night.”
“Night, sissy.”
~~~~
Fresh innocent blood surging through his veins allowed him to sprint the entire time, and yet he felt as if it wasn’t enough. He should have taken more. He should have completely drained the girl. But no, he’d left her with enough to crawl away and get help. No one would believe her story; they’d just assume she was the victim of a brutal stabbing to the neck. His teeth was so jagged, the cops would probably think it was a savage dog.
Still, his feet didn’t feel like they were carrying him fast enough.
He swung around the pole on the corner of the busiest street in the city and tore down the sidewalk. His steps made no noise to the outside world, but to him they seemed to echo, “Come get me, I’m here, come get me.” He increased his pace to what humans would consider unusually fast for someone that resembled them—but vampires were not humans.
For a mile now, he knew he was being followed by someone. Whoever it was kept a fair enough distance but was quick and able to keep up, albeit it farther away. He’d exited his favorite bar with the girl of the evening, taken her to an alley, and ripped into her throat. He was regretting letting her live; the extra lifeblood might have been an aid in throwing his stalker off his or her trail. He’d first sensed someone tracking him a few minutes ago, but no one was in sight. It wasn’t another member of his coven or another vampire. Whoever it was knew to keep out of sight and yet managed to keep up with him easily.
What the hell do they want? I didn’t sense anyone in that alley. They couldn’t know I almost killed that girl.
The sharp edge of a spire came into view against the starless sky (for in New York City, one could see no stars). The abandoned cathedral had been boarded up for decades; his family had come across it and chosen it as the stronghold. He breathed a sigh of relief and eased up on his speed. Once he was inside, he’d be surrounded by his brothers and sisters, and they’d help take out his pursuer easily. “Come get me now,” he taunted to the shadows. “I dare you to come get me now.”
He darted into the cathedral and slammed the doors shut behind him. Good. I’ve got the advantage. “Hey, guys! We got ourselves a little mouse in here!” He laughed and started backing up to the wall, where their metal bats were set up on a rack. “I think we should give them a nice warm welcome~” His foot met something slippery and he stumbled. “What the…?”
Luther, his coven’s leader, lay headless on the floor, recognizable only by his leather jacket with the rip on the side. Around him were heads and bodies belonging to the other members of his coven.
“Oh, hell.” He glanced around wildly. Did whoever was after him get here before him? But they wouldn’t have known where he was headed until the last minute. Or maybe they knew this place was home to a coven and simply waited until it looked like one of them had led them here. “Come out, you stupid-ass moron!” he yelled in bravado. “You got me! I’m alone. I’ll rip you to pieces.” As he was snarling, his second set of teeth grew in front of his regular teeth. “I’ll tear your face from your skull. COME AND GET ME!”
His only warning was a low growl from his right.
A large brown thing slammed into his side, taking him down to the floor. He had to jerk his head back to avoid the massive set of canines on this creature. When it let out a frustrated growl and tossed him aside, he had to let out a chuckle. “You know, I still have a heart to take.”
The werewolf tilted its head to the side and snarled. Heart-shaped features and a protruding chest told him this was a female. “I’d like to keep it, though,” he mumbled as he got to his feet and dusted his clothes off. “I can’t believe I didn’t notice it was a freaking full moon. Otherwise I might have kept some sort of silver on me.” He looked the she-werewolf over; her shirt was practically in tatters, and her jeans had long rips in them. “Did you do that yourself, or…?” His eyes traveled to the chaotic mess on the floor. Beds were upturned and ripped apart, and many bottles lay half broken among the mattresses. “Ah, I see. My family put up quite a fight. Good. My revenge for them will be~”
“Oh, will you just shut up?” Both he and the werewolf jerked their heads up.
A lean young man was sitting languidly on a rafter above them, swinging his foot from side to side. “The speechifying is annoying. Didn’t anyone ever tell you that less was always more?” His clipped British accent matched his clothing: crisp white dress shirt, and black slacks. “The werewolf didn’t kill your ‘family,’ by the way. That was me. I didn’t realize this was a stronghold, and I had no choice but to take them out.”
“You should have left!” the vampire hissed.
“Right, well, I didn’t feel like it.” He shook his head. “You arrogant creatures. You think if you found it, it’s automatically yours. Nothing belongs to you anymore. You’re vampires. You’re the abominations of the demon world. Go crawl back into the hole where you came from.”
“And just who the hell are you?!” the vampire snapped.
“Oh? Me?” He pushed off the rafter and landed lightly on his feet. He extended his hand. “Eduard Bastion. Or rather, that’s the name on the ID in my pocket.” When the vampire only glared at his hand, he slowly withdrew it. “Fine. No manners whatsoever,” he said quietly.
“You murdered my coven! Why the bitch should I make with the nicey-nice?”
“That sentence would make more sense with a different swear word, but I digress.” Eduard looked over at the werewolf, who had gone oddly still. “Hmm, at least someone senses what I am. For this bumbling idiot in front of me…” He flashed his eyes at them, which had suddenly turned black—the pupils, the irises, everything. “Now you know what I am, and how I was able to kill so many vampires without a single scratch on me. Your leader felt the need to assert dominance over me, so he was first to go. They ran, and I caught them.” He straightened his sleeves. “Now, if you and the dog don’t mind, get out of here.”
“THIS WAS MY HOME FIRST!” the vampire roared.
“I understand that, heathen, but my need for a shelter is temporarily greater than yours. Pack your Louis Vuittons and get out of my new cathedral.”
The vampire stood his ground. “For your information, bro…I was being followed here, so I will go vegetarian before I leave this place.”
“Followed.” Eduard suddenly looked a bit concerned, but hid it excellently as he asked, “I beg your pardon. Did you say you were followed here? As in, you led someone to this location? Just eat them. Devour their blood. I really don’t care, I just want you out of here. You’ll give away where I am.” He glanced around the chapel, eyes scrutinizing everything. “If they’re in here, I didn’t hear or sense them come in.”
Forgetting his newfound foe had killed off his coven, the vampire muttered, “I don’t know if they’re in here or not. I could at least sense them around here. But I don’t sense anything. Nothing at all.” He stoop a little to peer under the wooden pews. “I mean, if they were hiding, I’d hear them breathing like they were out of breath, but I don’t hear~”
A loud gunshot echoed in the cathedral.
Eduard opened and closed his mouth several times. A gooey black substance trailed from his lips before coming out in a streaming gush. He touched his lips and drew his fingers back to stare at them in horror. The same black substance (demon blood?) began to drip from his nose and eyes. He just stared at his fingers. And then he hissed.
“You bitch.”
His knees gave out and he fell to the floor. The black substance flowed out of every orifice, seeping onto the floor. It seemed to dissolve into the wood, but left no stain. Someone stepped out of the shadows. “Now…to deal with you.”
Tall. Dark red hair. Pale skin. Blue eyes. Gun pointed at us.
“Well, aren’t you something,” the vampire chuckled. “And a cute little girlie, at that.”
Beside him, the werewolf focused on her. Her eyes zeroed in on the hunter’s chest, where presumably a beating heart lay untouched. A low hungry growl escaped from the beast’s mouth as she began to inch forward. The girl did not point her gun at him, but did turn her glare on the werewolf. Drool trickled down the beast’s chin; her only intent was to attack the girl and rip her heart from her chest.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” the girl warned.
The werewolf howled once before charging forward. In a second, the girl had another gun in her hand; this one looked more modern and resembled a standard Beretta. The werewolf had taken four steps when a second shot rang out, only it sounded less menacing than the first one. The werewolf howled and screamed in agony, and fell to the floor a writhing mess. “I told you so.” The girl tilted her gun down. “Silver hurts, doesn’t it?” Another shot, to the head this time. The werewolf lay still. “Serves you right. You took three hearts before I could stop you.”
It was obvious that the girl had more firepower on her, probably enough to take even a vampire out. Bullets wouldn’t work, but for some reason her other gun—the one now holstered at her thigh—seemed to radiate something deadly. The vampire backed away slowly, but the girl immediately snapped her eyes on him. “What the hell kind of gun can kill a demon?” he asked quietly, more to himself than her.
“One forged by the Lord and the soul of a very powerful demon.” She turned her gaze to the still demon body on the floor. “You’re not worthy enough to take a shot from it, however.” She looked back up at him. “Now, to deal with you.”
“Wait,” he almost begged. “I don’t eat as much as my brothers and sisters did. I’m good, I swear. I steal blood from the hospital, which isn’t good per se, but at least I don’t drain humans, right? I mean, that’s gotta count for something!”
Her eyes narrowed. “You really think I don’t know you’re lying?”
He gulped and shook his head. “I’m not.”
“Yes you are. I know you, James. I know your habits. I know what you do from morning to night. You may have let a girl go tonight, but that doesn’t really make up for the others you’ve killed and turned, does it?” She reached into a back leg pocket and pulled out a hunter’s machete. “You know what the rule with vampires is? Head. Keep cutting until it’s not on the body anymore.” She twirled the long blade between her fingers and winked at him. “I strongly suggest you run now.”
Something whizzed through the air behind him, and he had enough to wonder what it was before all thoughts of his ended in one clean slice.
~~~~
“My kill,” he repeated for the hundredth time as he retrieved the metal boomerang from the floor. “You know I was hunting that werewolf. You know it took my charge’s friend. That makes it my kill, and you had to show off and prove you were a badass.” He glared at her as she examined the demon body with boredom. “Are you even listening to me?!”
“You know I always listen to you.”
The sincerity in her voice brought him up short. “I know you do. Forgive me for even questioning it. I’m still mad at you. You took my kill. You know I had every right to take out the werewolf. The demon was yours, of course. You’ve spent a few weeks chasing the bastard. Yet you didn’t stick to the plan. You never stick to the freaking plan. Follow the vampire to his coven, and wait for me to get there, but no, you have to prove you’re slicker than oil. If you had waited for me, I wouldn’t be as~”
“Michael, shut up for a second.” She squatted beside the body and touched his shoulder blade. “Hey, he made it. He’s breathing.” She grinned down at her gun. “I knew that the modifications Rags made would work. Kills the demon, saves the human from the pit.” She lifted her eyes to Michael, who was seething. “Calm down, or else I’m getting Cas and he can deal with you. I have trouble following your orders.”
“Gabrielle, you used to never have trouble following orders,” he grumbled.
“Well, I was a little excited to finally take this sucker out. Oh.” Her pageant smile turned back on. “Hey, are you okay? We heard some noises in here, and found you knocked out on the floor.” Her eyes flitted to the headless vampire, his head, and the dead werewolf. The body in front of her moved, and it made a sound. “Try not to move.”
“What happened?” he groaned.
“Nothing. Just stay still.” Quicker than the eye, Michael had moved the bodies to a dark corner of the cathedral, as well as the other vampires (heads and all).
“Where am I?”
“Hmm.” Gabrielle looked around. “Looks like a church.” Her eyes found Michael as he finished hiding the bodies. He nodded to her. “Let’s get you to a hospital and make sure you don’t have a concussion or anything.” She looked back at the shadowed corner once before helping the real Eduardo get to his feet. At the door, her nose caught the unmistakable scent of lighter fluid, and she heard a faint click and then the quiet roar of a large fire. See you upstairs, Michael.
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