Werewolves @ MindSay

She ignored the laughter from the other vampires, concentrating on breaking the triangle.  One of the Bazels slashed at her and she took a few steps backwards, only to stumble to a knee as another kicked at her leg.  She could barely make out their forms as they blended in almost perfectly with their surroundings.  Sarah swung her fist and felt it grabbed.  A cry of pain escaped her as the Bazel bit her arm and she struck with her other fist, hurting it enough to let go.

But she felt another grab her from behind, holding her effectively as it bit her neck again and again.  She was lost, she knew it.  Already her body was not responding to her movements.  All she could focus on was the laughter of Nessa and Anaya.  But her thoughts soon turned to her love and she smiled, seeing him in her mind's eye as darkness settled over her vision.

 

 

 "There's a sword sticking through my chest," Victor thought dumbly.  He looked down at it, not sure where it had come from.  It was twisted sharply and he threw his head back and screamed from the exploding pain.  Time seemed to slow down to a crawl as his voice died away, fading with all the other noise into silence.  The sword had pierced his heart, he had felt it done so.

Yet he was still alive.  Or maybe he was dying?  Was that darkness settling over his vision?  Maybe it was just his eyelids?  Could angels even die?  His thoughts were a jumbled mess.  Victor's wings struck out at the offender, sending him flying through the air as he reached back to pull the sword out from his chest.  Time began to speed up again yet the movements of those around were achingly slow.

He threw the sword, impaling two vampires together, killing them instantly as he blocked another who had swung an ax.  His vision changed then and he saw the world in colors; the auras were back.  He saw Link, his body submerged in dark red with sky blue lightning bolts shooting through his aura.  Fire lanced out from his body, striking the vampires around them one after another.  He disappeared the next instant, his aura leaving a trail out the doors.

Victor looked around him and saw that out of the vampires left, there was only Katherine and Robert.  None of the demons had survived the fire.  Christof dropped the sword he had stopped inches from his head, brushing the dust from the dead vampire.  "Well, didn't know the old boy had it in him," Lucifer said.  His clothes were singed.  Before the sudden fire 'show', two demons had grabbed a hold of him and now were just a pile of dust like most of the other bodies.

"So what now?" Katherine asked.  Her arms were blackened from Link's fiery attack.  "Do you plan on killing us like some mangy..."  She gasped, looking down at the gaping hole that had appeared in her chest.  There, clutched in a hand, was her heart.  Robert pulled his hand back, crushing her heart as he did so.  "I never did like you, stupid bitch," he said as she crumbled lifelessly to the floor.  "Boy...that was anti-climatic," Christof said.  "What are you going to do to me?" Robert asked, bending down to wipe his bloody hand on Katherine's clothes.

"Just tell me where my son is," Victor said.  "Oh...you mean the baby the Machiavellians stole," Robert replied.  "If he's dead..." he started to say.  Robert quickly put up his hands.  "Hey, he's alive.  The last time we saw him," Robert said.  He kept talking seeing the angel move towards him.  "They got ambushed along the way.  The baby was taken by an angel."  "What?" Lucifer asked, turning his attention to Robert.  "Like I said.  He was taken by an angel.  She said her name was Alicia?"

Lucifer jerked at the name but didn't say anything more.  "So..." Robert started to say.  Victor nodded his head angrily and the ancient vampire left without further prompting.  "You know Alicia too," Victor said, it wasn't a question.  "Yes.  And you know why they took him," Lucifer countered.  "As much fun as this all is, I'm not going to stick around.  I've had enough dealing with all of this," Christof said suddenly.  "What?  You're leaving?!" Victor asked incredulously.

"Don't get all girlie on me now, angel boy.  I never intended to stick around, risking my life for idiots like you.  Frankly, I have no intentions of going up against God and her fucking angels.  No offense Lucifer but I hate your brothers and sisters," Christof said.  Lucifer shrugged his shoulders but didn't say anything.  "Fine, go ahead and leave too.  I'm sure Link will..."  "Link will want to save Sarah and then leave.  That kid is not a fighter.  Not the kind that you'll need going up against God," Christof said.

"Oh, you son of a bitch," Victor moaned.  "I know.  Have fun," Christof said cheerily.  Before Victor could respond, the vampire left, gone almost without a second thought.  For a few moments, all Victor could do was stare.  He hadn't really believed Christof was being serious yet he had just left.  And if he was telling the truth, Link would leave after saving his love.  "Come on," Lucifer said.  Without a word, he headed out the door.  After a moment, he followed the seraph angel to the rooftop.

 

 

Link didn't know how he could conjure fire.  Certainly he had never done it before; the only other time had been in the nightmare where Sarah had died.  He felt the power pull back into him as he raced up to the roof, leaving a trail of ashes and burnt bodies behind him as he went.  The door to the roof burst open, decapitating a vampire and striking another, flinging her and the door over the side of the building.  Her scream was lost in the inferno that struck out from Link.

 

Nessa and Anaya jumped over the side of the building.  It was thirty stories down to the bottom yet they fell, unafraid.  Anaya grabbed onto a ledge halfway down, the force of the fall, dislocating an arm and she screamed in spite of herself, keeping her hold.  Nessa fell a few stories more, pulling the same stunt to stop her fall.  Up above, they saw the towering fire that shot up into the sky but they didn't care.  It was time for them to leave, suffer the punishment for failing a job and move on.  There would be time later to redeem themselves.

 

The Bazel holding Sarah dropped her as they turned as one toward the new threat.  But they were too slow, horribly so compared to Link as he sent the fire against them.  They screamed in unison, an unearthly noise that shattered the windows below them ten stories down, sending glass sprinkling down onto the ground, a danger to passing humans who ran for cover.  When the fire died, there was nothing left of the Bazels, not even ash.  The fire made its way back into Link, seeping into him, disappearing and leaving him breathless...not that he needed to breathe.

 

Link ran to Sarah's side, picking her up to cradle her.  He placed his cheek on her chest, keeping still as he struggled to listen for any signs of life within her.  "She's alive...but just barely," a voice spoke up behind him.  "Can you save her, Lucifer?" he asked, turning to face the seraph angel.  Victor was by his side, his coat long since gone, the black wings that showed his status folded in place behind him.  "My healing powers were stripped of me when I became a fallen," he said.  "I'm sorry, Link."

 

Link nodded, holding his love close to him.  "Buon per niente angeli[1]," he said.  "I have to go, Victor," Link said, putting up a hand as he started to speak.  "Vampires have few things to live for in life.  Those of us who have survived millennia, do it for some reason or another.  Sarah is my reason.  Let me do this and then I'll help you...if it's not too late."  Victor stayed silent for a moment then nodded.  "Alright," he said with a sigh.  "Thank you, Victor.  You'll have to take me to where I need to go.  The demon realm is not a place either of us would like to be at the moment."

 

Victor turned to Lucifer but the angel had already begun to move away from them.  "Go on, the two of you.  I'll meet up with you when you're ready.  I have more things to do," he said.  Without another word, he took off into the sky, gone and out of sight within a few moments.  "How come he didn't just travel by thought?" Victor asked suddenly.  "That's how we got here."  "You've got vampire blood in you.  Witches haven't learned yet how to keep us out where we don't belong.  Irritates the hell out of them.  Now come on, please.  Sarah doesn't have much time," Link said.  The angel sighed, his thoughts on his son as he took Link to the place he had in his own thoughts.

 

 

Jake had been a security guard for almost twenty years and working at a mental institution had never been a place he expected to work at.  But it was a job that let him have time to spend with his family during the day up until he had to go to work.  Working the night shift did have its downsides but he enjoyed it.  He whistled softly, walking along the perimeter when he heard a noise behind him.

 

"Who's there?" he asked, shining his flashlight behind him, his hand reaching for his nightstick when he recognized who it was.  "Chris?  You're alive," he said incredulously as he stepped toward the robed man.  His hair was a mess and he was muttering to himself, shielding his eyes from the light instinctively.  "Hi-hi, Jake.  I had to go.  I was hungry.  I needed food," Chris said, letting himself be led in the direction of the institute.

 

Chris had disappeared over a month ago, his disappearance a puzzle to the doctors and orderlies on duty that night.  How he had managed from a locked room was a mystery and there had been heavy investigations of all those on duty.  But he was back, seemingly healthy, if still under the belief that he was a vampire.  Sometimes he found his way out into the halls, talking with some of the other patients or watching TV.

 

"Where have you been all this time, Chris?" Jake asked, wanting to put the man at ease.  Chris was strong, freakishly so as some of the orderlies had found out after trying to make him go out of his room in the daytime.  Two of them had required stitches and another a cast on his arm.  Medication didn't do any good on the guy and no amount of restraints kept him held for long.  But the doctors soon found out that if they allowed Chris to stay relatively free and let him stay in during the daytime, he would go along with whatever they wanted.

 

"Can I see Bella, Jake?" Chris asked, bobbing his head from side to side.  "I'm sorry, Chris but I'll need to...uh, I mean, yeah, of course, Chris," Jake said, feeling the man tense up suddenly at the prospect of being denied.  He had seen the orderlies the day after their mishap with Chris and he didn't want to visit the hospital any time soon.  He remembered suddenly that the doctors had said never to deny Chris anything whenever he bobbed his head like that.  Not unless they wanted to get him mad.

 

They headed past the guard station and he nodded curtly at Joe who stood up, seeing Chris.  "Hey Joe, we're just going to go see, Bella.  You'll let Doctor Levitt know Chris is back, right?" he asked as he kept pace with the determined Chris.  "Uh, yeah, I'll call and let him know."  They turned the corner as Joe began dialing.  "You're good, Jake." Chris said, patting his arm.

 

 

Before the guard could say a word, Christof struck the man, knocking him into the wall.  He didn't bother to check to see how Jake was, he knew the human was still alive as he hurried ahead.  Sure, he could have taken the easy way and just sneak his way back in but where would the fun be in that.  Besides, it was always fun pretending to be insane.  Christof stopped in front of the door to Bella's room, tearing it free from the wall and throwing it to the other side.  By now, the other patients began to wake up, those not on medication and were hollering as an alarm sounded.

 

Bella, or Isabella as she had been known, was a petite girl, just an inch or two over five feet.  Her long, silky-black hair was tied back in a ponytail as it had been when he last saw her.  She lay on her bed facing the window as she usually was at night.  Despite the commotion, she hadn't moved a muscle.  He had met her in Peniche, Portugal, a small fishing village where she had been born.  Back then, she had been full of life and vigor.  It pained him to see her like this.

 

Seeing as how things were going to hell in a hand basket with Victor and the others, he wanted to be near Bella, who reminded him in a way of his beloved wife, who had died millennia ago, killed by the angels who had nearly wiped out his kind.  He had no idea what had brought on her catatonic state and short of turning her into a vampire, he didn't see how he could bring her back.  She was healthy though because of his blood, which he fed her to keep her from harm.

 

"We're going back to Peniche, Bella.  You'll like it, I hope," he said, picking her up in his arms.  For a moment he thought he saw a flicker of emotion but there didn't seem to be any change in her state.  Maybe it was just blind hope.  He sighed, stepping into the demon realm just before Joe and the doctors reached the door.

 

 

They arrived in a well-lit home, an almost normal-looking setting...if it wasn't for the fireplace with its purple and blue fire.  There was a girl humming in the kitchen as she cooked something sweet-smelling.  Almost a second later, the lights in the house pulsed rapidly and she turned towards them, pointing a hidden gun at them.  "Don't shoot, Jessie, it's me," Link said, stepping in front of Victor.  "What the hell are you thinking bringing an angel here?" she asked as she held the gun pointed at Victor.

"He's a fallen angel and part vampire," he said, not moving.  The roaring silence seemed to build before finally she put the gun away.  Her eyes held suspicion as she looked at Victor but turned to concern when she looked at Sarah.  "What happened to her?" she asked, walking toward them.  "I need you to put Sarah into the tank.  She was being drained by Bazel demons," he said.  Without a word she moved towards the unadorned wall, touching a couple spots in quick succession as she whispered under her breath.

A portal opened up in the wall, showing a space larger than the room they were in.  There were other witches there working on various experiments.  In the center, there was a giant tank nearly seven feet tall filled with a red liquid.  Victor knew what was in it and understood in a way, why they had come here.  "Go on, I'll wait here with the angel," she said.  "I'm not here to..." he started to say but Link interrupted him.  "They won't care, Victor.  Angels, even fallen ones, aren't loved by all."

Without waiting for a reply, Link stepped through, heading towards the tank of blood.  "Will that save her?" Victor asked, watching Link jump up to the platform above the tank.  For a moment, Victor was sure that Jessie was going to ignore him but finally she answered.  "I'm not sure.  Bazels demons don't kill you physically.  They drain your life force, the energy that keeps a person alive.  In reality, everyone has an almost unlimited energy source, what you angels see as auras.  Bazels though can drain a person faster than the energy can replenish itself."

Link had by now, lowered Sarah into the tank and into a harness.  He had bit her arm before sealing it shut, leaping down to the ground effortlessly.  "It's what your god harvests for herself," she added bitterly.  "She's not my god.  From what I hear, she's as mortal as you and me," he said, putting his hands in his pockets as he watched Link.  "We know.  But so far, only her angels have been the only ones who can reach where she lives."  Link stood near the tank for a moment, looking up at Sarah, trailing his hand across the glass.  "Try not to be near him if she dies.  He's never been good with grief," she said ominously.

The two watched Link head back towards them, glancing one final time at Sarah before stepping through the portal.  "Do what you can," he said to Jessie as she sealed up the portal.  He turned to Victor, his icy blue eyes hardening as he clenched his fists.  "Let's go, Victor.  I know how we can meet god."

 

 

"Link, what are we doing here?  I don't think god hangs around the red light district," Victor said, looking around at the run-downed neighborhood they had appeared in.  The street lights were sporadic, most broken and offering little illumination.  "She doesn't.  We're here for someone else," Link said, walking up to an abandoned building.  He paused for a moment outside the large doors, looking around him.

"What are you..." Victor began to say when suddenly he was pushed backwards by Link.  A ball of purple energy flew past where he had been and the fire that Link had commanded earlier burst into view.  There was a scream and a cry of pain as the unseen attacker was burnt to a crisp.  Link turned back towards the door, placing his palms flat against it.  "Keep a look out, Victor.  These demons won't give up their prize too easily," he said.

The doors lit up bright blue, the magic protecting it fighting against the blazing fire Link called up.  Victor turned his back, facing the near-empty streets.  He consciously willed the auras to view, using it to look for any hidden demons.  His wings formed a barrier as he spotted something come at him from the corner of his eye.  The energy attack fizzled as he turned, grabbing the clawed hands of a reptilian demon as it moved in.  It snapped its massive jaws at him, swinging its tail to knock him off his feet as he grappled with the demon.

Victor kicked the demon away, wishing he had a weapon.  A black hilt appeared in his hand; it had gold stripes that wound its way up the hilt.  A bright, fiery blade split into two burst to view, a vibrant white/red color.  The demon tried to back up but Victor, urged on by the appearance of the sword, moved in with his angelic speed, spearing the demon before it could take more than a step.  The same energy that made up the sword coursed its way through the demon's body, engulfing it quickly.

The demon's screech of pain cut out mid-way as it disappeared, swallowed up by the light of Victor's sword.  There was a hiss followed by a earth-shattering boom that rocked the neighborhood for miles around.  Car alarms went off and windows shattered in the distance as the door exploded inward.  "Come on, Victor.  Keep your sword out," Link said unnecessarily as he led the way inside.

There were five demons in the building, surrounding a large green barrier.  The building itself was just a shell despite the look of it from the outside.  If the demons noticed the explosion, they didn't show it as they kept their post.  Victor saw three more demons, watching them passively.  The largest of the three stood nearly ten feet tall and was massive in size.  It had two pits where the eyes would have been as it stared sightlessly at them.  For a moment, Victor was reminded of what trolls were supposed to look like and figured this demon was where the description had been taken from.

The two other demons were smaller, a little over six feet each.  They were extremely thin; their skin as white as snow.  Their eyes were black as the darkest night.  Each had a feral smile on their face as their clawed-tip fingers held weapons similar to Victor's own sword.  "We have a visitor, Brother," the demon on the right said, keeping its eyes on Link.  "Yes, dear Sister.  I think the vampire wants to take our prisoner," the male demon said, watching Victor.

It was then that Victor noticed who their "prisoner" was.  In the center of the barrier, there was an angel watching all of them.  He had three pairs of wings, which were kept stretched out from tip-to-tip.  The angel was beautiful as all angels were.  He looked a little like Lucifer though were the other smiled, this angel kept a stoic expression on his face as he stared at them.  Victor knew then what was meant when people said, "If looks could kill..."

"Step aside...and no one gets hurt," Link said, taking a step forward.  The demons hissed creepily and it was then Victor realized they were laughing.  "A vampire and an angel?  Is this all that God has to offer for his archangel, Uriel?  No, little vampire.  Leave now and maybe we'll let you live," the female said.  A ball of fire sprung to life in Link's palm.  "If this is what you wish..." the male demon said.

The troll-demon from behind let out a roar that put the earlier explosion to shame as it charged forward.  Link brought up his other palm as another ball of fire appeared.  From all around them, demons began to shimmer into view, converging on them as soon as they appeared.  Victor gazed around him, wondering how they could stand a chance against this much firepower.

 

 

The fire in Link's palms changed colors to silver mixed with maroon as he knelt on the ground.  It shot out around them, forming a bubble that forced the demons back.  Its appearance was too quick for the troll-demon to avoid and it slammed head-on into the barrier.  It roared in pain as it tried to shake off the damaging effects of the energy shield.  The other dozen or so demons that had appeared were agile enough to keep back, staying out of touch from the barrier itself.

"Impressive...Link, isn't it?" Sister asked as she walked towards the barrier.  The demons parted before her, closing in the gap until she stood next to the barrier itself.  She ran a clawed-hand across it, a grimace passing briefly across her face as she did so.  "I haven't seen barriers this strong since the angels locked up our kind," Brother said, appearing on the opposite side.  "What are we going to do?" Victor asked in a low tone.  He turned slowly in a circle, counting nearly three dozen demons now.

Sister raised her sword into view, pointing it at the barrier.  It began to move through the barrier and she twisted it, forming a crack within it.  Brother did the same on his side, widening the crack his sword made.  "Victor, put your hand on my shoulder.  Just trust me," Link said, blood sweat forming on his brow.  Victor looked around, sighing as he did so.  He didn't have much choice and had no idea how they could fight off all the demons.  For a moment, he felt nothing as he placed his hand on Link's shoulder.  Then he felt something slip from within him and just as he was about to break contact, he heard Link's voice within his mind.

"Don't let go."  The silver-maroon barrier began to change, adding in white and red to the mixture.  It was their auras, working together to power up the shield around them.  A few of the demons noticed the same thing and were quick enough to shift into the demon realm.  But the barrier expanded too quickly for the rest of the demons, catching them before they could flee.  There were no screams, no cries, nothing; only silence.  Link moved forward, breaking the contact between them.

Victor felt an emptiness within him that stayed for just a moment before disappearing.  Link had already started towards the captive angel they had come to find.  Uriel's wings had drooped around the kneeling angel, covering his body.  "Your god has forsaken you since the day your brothers and sisters began their slaughter of the people on Earth.  For millennia, you have been tortured endlessly and still your god ignored you, left you to rot, never taking the time to save you," Link said.  He knelt down next to the archangel, lifting his face to meet his own.

"A vampire and a half-breed took out the demons guarding you.  So the question you have to ask yourself is this:  Will you help us reach Heaven...or will I have to take that information from you?" he said.  Uriel breathed deeply, the hatred burning deep within his eyes though whether it was towards Link or to God, Victor didn't know.  The two stared at each other, neither moving an inch.  Finally, Uriel opened his mouth and said, "I...will...never betray my Lord!"

 

 

"Two visits in less than a week.  That's two more than last century, Lucifer," God said as she stretched her legs against the marble fountain.  "Did hell freeze over?" she asked jokingly.  "Victor and Link have gone after Uriel," Lucifer said, ignoring the barb.  "Uriel's alive? I would've thought those barbarians killed him off millennia ago."

"You know as well as I do that Uriel is still alive.  But you told your angels that he died in battle, his soul at peace again," Lucifer said.  "What did you expect? He allowed himself to get captured.  Uriel was an archangel and yet he was captured.  I don't need someone that weak in my army," she replied calmly.  "Allowed himself? You sent him alone, against Ka'za demons.  I was surprised he lasted as long as he did against them."  "What's your interest in this, Lucifer?  Why do you bother telling me what I already know?"

"You sick fuck.  You know why," Lucifer said, kicking the fountain hard enough to move it from its foundation. "If those two find a way to break Uriel...I'll free you from your bonds, Lucifer.  Then we'll see who has the true power," God said.  "I guess we'll see, won't we?" Lucifer asked.  God inclined her head, waving cheerfully to Lucifer before disappearing.


Link flew backwards through the air, pushed back by the force Uriel had managed to create.  "You've got some nerve, Vampire," he said, getting to his feet, "to believe that I'd question my Lord's decision." Link righted himself in mid-air, landing on his feet next to Victor. "I remember you, Vampire.  I was hunting you and your brethren down.  I would have had you too had my Lord not called me off for more worthwhile enemies."  "You consider them worthwhile for being captured?  Tortured for thousands of years?  God has you all wrapped up around her finger, doesn't she," Link said.

"Don't you dare to speak ill of our Savior, Vampire," Uriel said, igniting a blazing white broadsword from thin air.  "That soul-sucking bitch is no savior of mine," Link countered, his palms holding the energy fire at the ready.  "You are no brother of mine, fallen, you too shall die," the archangel said, pointing his sword at Victor.  "Stay out of this fight and I'll make your death quick and painless."  "You are not..." Victor started to say but Link put his arm out in front of Victor.

"No, I'll handle this, Victor.  I need to cause a little pain," Link said, laughing mirthlessly.  "Who am I kidding.  I plan to pulverize the piece of shit."  "Strong words for a coward," Uriel said, flexing his wings.  "I wonder...will you last longer than the bitch that sired you?"  Link cried out in anger, the flames dying as he charged the angel.  "Predictable," Uriel said, swinging the broadsword effortlessly into the oncoming vampire.

 

 

Link rolled under the swing, the broadsword barely missing laying open his back.  He tackled the archangel, knocking him backward.  Uriel kicked Link over his head, sending him flying hard into the wall on the far side.  Link turned himself in mid-air, kicking off against the wall and back onto the ground.  "Nice moves, Vampire," Uriel said, his broadsword thrumming with power.

Link took a few steps forward, gesturing at Uriel's sword.  "How about we fight without weapons...for now."  Uriel shrugged, casting the energy-made sword aside, watching it disappear in mid-throw.  "Honorable words.  Let's see how well you keep to it."  The two rushed forward and there was a harsh crack followed by a sharp thump as Link's fist met the archangel's head.  Uriel kicked back, striking the vampire's side.  The two powerhouses shrugged off the blows, their movements a blur.

A human would never have seen the exchange of blows.  Even Victor had a hard time keeping track of who did what and what landed.  Uriel grabbed Link's arm and tried to break it but the vampire twisted himself around, flinging Uriel over his shoulder.  Link grabbed the tips of one pair of Uriel's wings.  The sudden force from his momentum and being stopped nearly ripped the wings from Uriel's back.

The archangel cried out in pain as he fell heavily to the floor.  Before he could move, Link had grabbed Uriel's head within his hands, holding him tightly as he dug his fingers into the angel's skull.  "One wrong move and I'll..."  "You'll what?  Kill me?" Uriel asked.  In answer, a blinding pain shot through his head, triggering the millennia-long torture into play again.  It was as if he was reliving what had happened to him but all at once, with no preparation.  The one jolt alone was enough to let him know it could be repeated.

"You survived because the demons wanted to keep you alive.  I won't hesitate to send you over the edge before I kill you," Link said, sending the memories and pain through Uriel's head again.  "You'll...have...to kill me...first...Vampire," Uriel said between ragged breaths.  "Have it your way," Link said.  Uriel's screams echoed into the night as Link forced the memories back into the archangel repeatedly.  Victor watched, unable to turn away but unwilling to ask Link to stop.

 

 

Link and Victor walked out of the abandoned building.  There were no humans around despite the screams that should have broken every window within a three-block radius.  But the demons were smart.  They wouldn’t keep prisoners in a place without setting up barriers to keep the sound in and homeless humans wandering in where they didn’t belong.  The pair was silent as they moved a good distance from the building that had held the captive archangel.

 

As they walked, Victor seemed about to speak then changed his mind.  On the third attempt, Link spoke instead.  “We have to do what we can to survive, Victor.  It’s either them or us and frankly, this is our planet.  They messed with us.  Sometimes, bad things have to happen in order for others to live.”  Victor nodded hesitantly, rubbing his arm as if he was cold.  Except there was no wind, it was a warm night; even humans could have been out without a jacket or a sweater and not be bothered.

 

“I know, Link.  But…”  “Why did I let him live?” Link finished.  Victor nodded, holding his left arm close to his body as he kept his eyes on the ground.  “Uriel and his kind…are like humans…like you were.  The victim’s of a power-hungry being who doesn’t care who she destroys in order to succeed in her goal.”  “What goal is that?” Victor asked.  “What most humans hope to achieve.  Immortality.  Why do you think she tried to wipe out demons, vampires, and the magic folk?  We were immortal…and she changed that; made us mortal.”

 

“What God didn’t count on, was that vampires would evolve past the weaknesses she gave us.  We can stop here,” Link said, not bothering to look around.  “So I have to protect your body?” Victor asked.  “No, I’ll still be able to respond.  I just need to check on Sarah.  I don’t know if we’ll be able to make it back.”  “That’s reassuring,” Victor muttered.  Link smiled, shrugging his shoulders as he closed his eyes.

 

 

Jessie felt something tug within her mind.  It was a soft tug, almost imperceptible but there all the same.  “Sarah’s still alive Link,” she thought at the new presence within her mind.  Her vision shifted slightly and she could see Link standing in front of her, looking at the tank that held his beloved.  Jessie knew Link wasn’t actually there; no one else could see his aura except for her…for now.  “I had to make sure.  Her pulse isn’t getting stronger.”

 

“No, it hasn’t.  Give it more time, Link.  I’ll take care of Sarah as best as I can.”  Link’s aura turned to face her and he nodded sadly.  “I don’t think she’s going to make it.”  Jessie smiled gently, shaking her head.  “Look at your aura, Link.  If you can still see her energy with yours, then know that she still lives.  And from what I can see, she’s staying strong.”  Link laughed, the sound hollow and disheartening.

 

 

“You ready, Victor?” Link asked, opening his eyes.  The world had seemed muted, not as many voices could be heard as there should have been.  Even the humans seemed able to sense something in the air.  Victor nodded, rising to his feet from where he had sat down.  He had watched a part of Link’s aura leave his body, traveling faster than the eye could see to Witch’s home.

 

“Link…what happens if the barrier keeping the demons imprisoned dies if God dies?” he asked, looking at the buildings around them.  Link smiled wryly, taking in a shuddering breath of air.  “Do you really have to ask?” he asked finally in return.  Victor shook his head, “Let’s just do this.”

 

"How are we supposed to get down there exactly?"  Victor asked, staring out over the ocean water.  It was early morning on the coast of Guam and the two had stopped at the water's edge. "What's the matter?  Afraid of getting a little wet?"  " It's not that," Victor replied.  "It's at the bottom of the freaking ocean.  How do we know we can survive that?"  "You'll survive.  You're built like the other angels."

"What about you?  Don’t you know how you'll do?"  Victor asked, turning toward Link.  The vampire shook his head, the ghost of a smile on his face.  "If you're going to survive the times, you're going to have to get rid of your human fears.  At least the ones like drowning.  It's not going to help you get down there." 

“You’re crazy, Link.  Completely out of your mind,” Victor said.  But he followed after Link into the ocean, not bothering to take a breath as he dived under the water.  They swam steadily, heading deeper and deeper.  The farther down they went, the less fish they saw, and the less light that let them see where they were going. 

 

 

Time had ceased to exist.  The light was long since gone.  A part of him knew the water was freezing; the pressure should have killed him already.  Yet Victor buried those thoughts.  Concentrating on moving downward, hoping that it would be over soon.  “Don’t bother seeing with your eyes,” Victor heard within his mind.  “Use the auras, it’s better.”  The ocean seemed to illuminate suddenly.  There was Link, just ahead of him, moving purposely.

 

What surprised him more were the other auras around him.  Even here, thousands of feet below the surface, there was life.  None of the creatures came close to them.  They swam undisturbed, kept away either out of the fear of the unknown or by Link.  The vampire was proving to be more complex than Victor would have given him credit for.  Or maybe it just boiled down to how far he was willing to go to protect his love.

 

After what might have been hours, maybe even a day, they saw the brilliant white aura of Heaven.  They paused for a moment, each lost in their own thoughts.  There was no question that they would continue.  That either of them would offer a chance to go back was out of the question.  There was only forward.

 

 

The inside of the ship was white.  As soon as they swam through the door, their clothes had dried out immediately.  There was no sudden pressure loss from leaving the water.  Link was unsurprised to see Lucifer standing a few feet from the ship’s entrance.  Across from him stood two female angels, Alicia and Vicky, the angels who had saved Victor.

 

Vicky had a sleeping baby in her arms, cuddling the boy close to her as she kept a watch on Victor.  To his credit, Victor did not make a move toward the angels though his aura betrayed him.  It was shifting colors rapidly, his emotions a swirl.  Alicia waited with her arms crossed over her chest, daring the two to move forward.  As yet, there was no sign of God.

 

“Where’s the boss?  Hiding out?” Victor asked instead of attacking.  “She’ll be here,” Alicia said.  “Don’t worry your pretty head.  You two will get what’s coming to you.”  “Yeah, if you’re lucky, this little guy won’t have such a hard time of it,” Vicky said, giggling as Link restrained Victor.  “Ease up, Victor.  They just want you to give into your anger.”  Victor fumed, shrugging off Link’s hands who finally let go after Victor had stopped trying to rush forward.

 

“The ship is protected against violence, Victor,” Lucifer said.  “All either of you would end up doing is frying the hell out of your brains.”  “Not if we turned off the security protocols,” Vicky said in a sing-song voice.  “With God coming here, I doubt she’d let you do that,” the archangel responded.  Alicia smirked, shifting her stance slightly as she kept her eyes on Link.

 

Now that he thought of it, none of them had taken their eyes off of him.  Link had their attention as if he was someone to fear.  Not that he could understand why.  Victor was the half-breed.  Part vampire, part angel, he had the strengths of both races and few of the weaknesses.  Not that angels had many weaknesses to begin with.  Yet that Link was being treated as the more dangerous of the two was obvious.  Why?  What did he do that put the three angels on edge?

 

“Is the she-bitch going to get here already or is she too scared to fight?” Victor asked through clenched teeth.  Alicia’s sword burst into view, the flames scorching the floor of the ship.  “Watch your mouth, you filthy half-breed!  She made you what you are and she can easily un-make you,” she said.  Link’s eyes rose at the violent outburst.  Alicia was hiding how uneasy she was.  They all were in spite of what their auras showed.

 

The auras…Link looked at the baby in Vicky’s arms.  There was no aura…none at all.  He felt more than saw when Victor noticed the same thing.

 

 

Victor’s aura sword blazed into view, meeting Alicia’s fiery sword as she rushed forward.  The force of the two blades connecting sent the others staggering backwards.  There was no clang of steel but rather cackling from the energy as the swords connected again and again.  Link watched for just a moment, his eyes registering every blow and counterblow from each one.  Then he moved, dodging a wild swing from Alicia, rolling under and to his feet again.

 

Vicky giggled, jumping back a few steps with the ‘baby’ still in her arms.  “Now, now, Linkie-poo.  We don’t want anybody to get hurt now, do we?” she asked, holding the baby out slightly towards him.  “No, we wouldn’t want that.  Except that…is no baby,” Link replied.  “This is a baby,” Vicky said, pouting her lips.  A ball of silver and maroon fire ignited in Link’s palm.  “And this…isn’t fire,” Link said.

 

The ball shot out from his hand instantly, heading straight towards Vicky.  She turned, her wings coming up around her like a shield.  Link groaned as Lucifer struck him, the ball of energy glancing off the tips of Vicky’s wings.  Link crashed into the wall, throwing up a shield of the aura flame.  But Lucifer did not move forward after his initial rush.  “I’m sorry, Link.  She lied to me so even now…”

 

“You still serve her,” Link finished.  Alicia cried out, back flipping out of harms way with a grace no human could hope to achieve.  She came up with the sword slashing upwards, blocking Victor’s sword as she kicked out at him, forcing him back.  Victor let his sword disappear, rushing forward, ducking under Alicia’s swing.  He rammed into her, forcing her own sword to vanish as they crashed to the floor.

 

The sounds of their struggling ceased instantly.  Lucifer’s eyes never blinked as he stared unmoving at Link.  Vicky was frozen in mid-movement, reaching for the tip of her wing with one hand as if to stroke the singed feathers.  For a moment, Link believed that he too was frozen in place with only his mind free.  But then he moved forward, breaking whatever power or spell placed upon him.  “You’re a persistent vampire, I’ll give you that,” a woman said.

 

“And you’re a meddling bitch,” Link said.  He watched as a light formed around the baby in Vicky’s arms, appearing suddenly a few feet from Link.  A woman’s form materialized out of the light, becoming that of a slender, beautiful woman.  But Link wasn’t fooled by her appearance.  She was no true God…if there was such a one out there, she wasn’t it.

 

“Do you really think you can kill me?” she asked, shaking her long, golden locks to make her hair look fuller.  She was wearing a gown that just barely hinted at the flesh that lay beneath.  She pursed her full, apple-red lips together at him.  Her eyes were a deep mauve.  “I can give you the world, Link.  You only have to ask.”  The aura flames appeared again in Link’s palm.  Out of the corner of his eyes, he could see the slight widening of her eyes, the way her body tensed up defensively.

 

The maroon had faded almost to nothing now, it could barely be seen among the silver.  It faded completely, the flame solely silver now.  When he looked up, she took a startled step back and he knew then what he thought was right.  “You can’t give me the world,” he said, taking a step towards her, “because you killed her.”  He caught her before she could flee, the aura flames completely surrounding her body.  Her mouth opened up in a soundless scream as the flames seeped into her very being, scorching everything in its path.

 

 

Vicky was the first to cry out as she realized what had happened.  She dropped to her knees, pulling at her hair as she wailed.  Alicia was still on the ground and rolled her eyes upwards to see what had happened.  Her hesitation had cost her life as Victor formed his sword again, skewering her through the heart.  Lucifer stumbled forward, looking for all the world amazed by the sudden turn of events.

 

“She needed the energy people provided,” Link said.  “She discarded her natural body to become a god.  And while she was immortal to nearly everything, she had made herself vulnerable to the one thing she needed to survive.  That was why she enslaved the angels who could harness this power.  That was why she imprisoned the demons who would see her weakness.”

 

“That’s why she was afraid of you,” Lucifer finished.  Link nodded then decked Lucifer.  The archangel was on his feet again only to be knocked back down a second time.  He stayed on the floor, rubbing his aching jaw.  “I know you kept the other angels busy, Lucifer, inciting the demons to try to escape.  That’s why I’m not going to kill you,” Link said.  Lucifer smiled sardonically, “Oh thank you good sir.”

 

After a moment, Link helped him up to his feet and in spite of himself, Lucifer let him.  “The demon barrier…?” Link began to ask.  “Will be kept up so long as there are enough humans on this planet,” Lucifer answered.  “The other angels?” he asked.  “My brethren will do as they please.  I think most of them will leave here soon enough.  Except for the ones who will want to kill you,” Lucifer said.

 

“Of course,” Link said.  Victor looked between the two, still lost as to the whole thing.  “Is that it?  God’s dead?” he asked finally.  “She called herself a god, but she was not the god…if there is one,” Lucifer said.  “What of my son?”  “Safe, with the witch you two visited with Sarah.”  Almost before he had finished speaking, Victor was gone.  “Manners are lost with the kids in this generation,” Lucifer said.  Link grunted noncommittally.

 

Link started to walk away, pausing near the catatonic Vicky.  “If any of you…come near me…”  He let the threat hang in the air, not bothering to hear what Lucifer would say before disappearing as well.

 

Epilogue

 

Victor had gotten his son and left with little problems by the time Link arrived at Jessie’s house.  She was waiting with Sarah’s body laid flat on a stone table.  Jessie bowed her head, not bothering to ask if the angel’s master was dead.  That the two were back was proof of that.  She left him alone to his grief, slipping through the portal to her coven’s haven.

 

Link clasped his love’s hand in his own, letting his tears run free as he buried his face in her arm.  Only the knowledge that she would want him to finish things had kept him from breaking down when her aura had faded from his while in the ship.  As he cried, he felt something on his head; a hand running through his hair.  He looked up instantly, crying out in surprise as Sarah looked at him weakly, smiling at him.  He pulled her to him, lapsing into an ancient Egyptian dialect, thanking the gods for her return.

 

Though, in doing so…Link failed to notice Sarah’s eyes change to mauve for just a moment before returning to normal.

When he was done, Link was silent for a moment.  "You're an oddity that's for sure.  The fact that your body was kept alive somehow makes me believe they used a vampire's blood to do this."  "A vampire...Sarina?" Victor asked.  "The likely source.  For now, let's go.  We have other more important things to do."  Without checking to see if the angel was following him, Link moved over to the edge of the rooftop, leaping over it with ease.  "We'll take things slow," he said as Victor landed easily beside him on the ground.  "You'll be able to feed on someone who deserves it," he said, his eyes taking on a faraway look.  "Not like my first," he muttered softly, mostly to himself.

 

 

"Come back to me."

 

The voice in his mind, where did it come from?  Was it a memory?  Was it the present?  Or maybe some trick of his mind.  His body was pain, his life was pain.  Nothing else existed.  He was an unknown.  The only constant was the pain.  Was he even alive?  The pain told him he was.  Would he live?  That he did not know.  Within him, he saw a face, such a lovely face.  He would live for her.  Whoever he was, whatever he was, he would live to find her...

 

 

It wasn't until the baby was asleep that she left his side to stand by the window.  The room she had rented was silent.  There was no noise from the rooms on either side of her.  It was a cheap motel though she could have afforded better.  Link was the one who opted for the best.  When she had been human, Sarah had known a modest life.  That part of her had not left even now when she didn't have to.  But for Link, she went with his indulgences.  Like the baby.  She had never had one herself.  Even though in her time, girls younger than her "age" were married and on their way to a third or fourth baby.

 

Link had taken her before that could happen.  She had been about fifteen.  Maybe sixteen.  Keeping track of her age was not something she had to do; cleaning and learning how to be a good farmer's wife was.  Her parents had already picked out a suitable husband for her.  In return they were getting land and livestock, something of which they had needed.  She had thought her life would be so grand, to be the wife of a farmer.  Then Link came.

 

His name had been different, as her name had been different.  Because he had been able to walk in the sunlight, even then, the truth behind his nature had been kept secret until the night they had fled.  Link had been so afraid to reveal his true self to her.  But she hadn't cared.  Sarah loved him deeply and the fact that he had to kill in order to live was just the tragic nature of his being.  For the first few years, he let her live as a human.  She was too young, he would tell her.  She needed to be older, stronger.

 

When Sarah had turned nineteen, Link told her that he would love to spend his days with her.  He asked her if she would become as he was, to be a drinker of blood, a vampire, in order to be with him.  She had laughed and though a human might have taken that the wrong way, Link could hear the note of cheerfulness in it.  She told him that she would die a thousand deaths to be with him.  Link had smiled sadly at that, telling her that only her first death was necessary.

 

The pain of her death was something she wish she could forget, but vampires had a better memory than most humans could ever hope to have.  That Link was there with her throughout the ordeal had helped.  But even he could not stop the pain from wracking her body.  When it was over, she had been held spellbound by the change in her senses.  She had wept that first night, seeing things in a way that, as a human she wondered how she could ever miss.  That night they had made love for the first time.  After she had feed...

 

That had been a new experience.  The rush of the kill, the blood that tasted sweet, not the metallic taste she had remembered as a human when she had once pricked her finger.  Sarah sighed, letting the memories rush pass her as she listened to any change in the baby's breathing.  She hoped that they would be able to keep the baby but that didn't seem likely.  If things went well with Victor, he would want his child back.  But maybe it wouldn't be for a while.

 

Or better yet, maybe Link would finally want to have one of their own.  She didn't know why he was against the idea.  When she had asked if vampires could have children, he had said yes, but it wasn't something that happened often.  Better to make a vampire than to have one.  He wouldn't say why despite her begging.  And boy had she begged that night.  Later on, when things settled down, she would ask again.  Maybe he would say yes.  Or at least tell her why not.

 

Sarah found herself kneeling down by the bed, watching the baby sleep.  They would be apart only for a while.  It was the third time they had done so...and the fact that he would be back soon didn't help.  She slipped next to the sleeping baby, crying softly to herself as she hoped Link would stay safe, believing that somehow, he wouldn't be.

 

 

There was a body on the floor.  It took him a moment to realize he was on the floor as well.  Dark red blood pooled around the prone body.  The man inched forward and turned the body onto its back.  For a moment all he could do was stare.  It was not the same man who had come to visit him.  The memory of it was still his, despite the other's claim that it would be gone.  An urge struck the man to drink the blood but he suppressed it, feeling ill at heart.

 

The man's throat had been ripped open, his eyes had a look of surprise in them.  He stood up, leaving the body there.  The door to the room was open, he had to get away while he had the chance.  The man glanced back once at where he had been kept but saw no chains there or on his wrists.  There was a scream from the doorway and he turned to see a girl in a nurse uniform.  He needed to get her, quickly.  Almost before he had thought it, he was there, trapping the girl in his grip before she could take a step.  "Let me go!" she yelled, struggling to break his grip.

 

He wanted her to stay quiet and opened his mouth to speak but returning memories of blinding pain stopped him from doing so.  Instead he shook her in the hopes of getting her to be quiet...and she did.  The snap of her neck caused him to stop shaking her.  She was dead...because of him.  Pounding footsteps were quickly approaching where he stood and he fled down the opposite way.  He had to get away, he had to get out.  The eyes of the girl haunted him as he made his escape.

 

 

The girl was trying to plead for her life but it fell on deaf ears.  Victor had seen her stab the homeless old man and take what she could find in his pockets.  She was a killer, even if circumstances brought her to the point, it was still her choice.  Link looked on, glancing up and down the alley in which they stood.  Trash littered the ground and the rank odor of urine enveloped his senses.  Link wrinkled his nose in disgust, kicking an empty can away from him.

 

Victor felt the fangs in his mouth, not as big as the fangs Link had shown him, but still plenty sharp.  Before the girl could say another word, he bit down and she gasped, struggling futilely to escape.  The blood was sweeter than Victor would have believed, not the metallic taste that he had always read in books.  The beat of her heart filled his hearing and when it began to slow to a crawl, he pulled away.  Her eyes glazed over with death and he dropped her body in shock and horror.  Feeding on her had been bliss and it shouldn't be like that.  He had killed her.

 

"For some the remorse they feel for killing a human, never leaves them.  Others make peace with it in some way and there are some who enjoy it," Link said as he picked up the body as if she weighed nothing.  He made his way away from the alley entrance, moving farther into the darkness it provided.  "Do you still feel remorse?" Victor asked, feeling the question to be important.  When Link returned, his hands were empty and Victor did not want to ask what he had done with the body.  He was silent for a moment and Victor thought he wouldn't answer but finally he said, "I never used to...until I met Sarah."  Link led the way out into the night streets and started walking down to their next destination.  After a moment, Victor followed him.

 

 

He came across only one other person on his escape from his prison.  Intense hunger filled up within him and instinct overruled his actions as he leapt upon the man who turned to flee.  The man's screams as his throat was ripped out filled the hallways.  Within moments, the man lay still and revulsion welled up in the escaping man.  He didn't know how he knew, but the man could feel the exit was close by.  He took corners at random continued onwards before finally coming to a hallway with only a door at the far end.  As his hand touched the handle of the door, alarms began to ring throughout the complex.

 

A part of him wondered at the speed he was going from when he had first walked out his door to now but pushed it away.  Escape should be his only concern now, not his supernatural abilities.  The night air was a nice change from the filtered air inside and he paused for a moment as the door slowly closed behind him.  Without checking to see if anyone was around him, somehow he knew there wasn't, he took off into the trees.  He had no set location in his mind, but let instinct guide him.

 

 

Joey felt the early rays of the sunlight on his face and groaned as he got up.  It was another day of school and he didn't want to go.  He could hear the sounds of his family already moving around downstairs.  He was always late to rise.  Thankfully his sister was already done with the bathroom and he went in to get himself ready for school.  By the time he was ready and downstairs, his mother had already finished cooking and had his plate on the table.  It was almost like clockwork, his sister talking excitedly to no one in particular about the day she was going to have at school.  She was two years older than him but unlike other sisters, didn't mind hanging out with him now and then.  Kelly was among the smartest seniors, right up there in the top ten percent.

 

Joey wasn't all that good in school but his parents didn't get mad at him for that like some other parents he knew.  His friends were always complaining about how their parents rode them on making good grades.  His mother took a cup from out of his baby brother's hands.  Bobby was only two years old and, as his parents loved to joke, a devil when it came to getting into things he shouldn't.  His father glanced once or twice at the family before going back to reading the paper.  "The police found a couple beaten and murdered not too far from where I work at," his father said to his mom.  "Oh Larry, you know I don't like you talking about things like that in front of the kids.  They don't need to know about things like that," his mom said.

 

"Sorry Mary, I forgot about that," he said, taking a sip from his coffee.  Joey looked around the table at his family as he ate his eggs, thinking that his family must be weird.  Few of his friends had breakfast with their family.  They would always tell him how lucky he was to have a family like that.  Looking at his family, he couldn't help but agree with their comment.  "Hey mom," he said.  As she turned to look at him, they each heard the piercing whistle at the same time.  Before any of them could move, their kitchen exploded as something large crashed into the earth.

 

 

"At this time, police have no idea what caused the private plane to crash.  After hours of fighting the blazing inferno that erupted in this quiet suburbia, firemen were able to put out the flames.  In what can only be described as a freak of nature, only one house was destroyed...the victims, a family of five.  Names have been withheld..." the news report faded as Link and Victor walked away from the displayed TVs.  On a spur of the moment, they had chartered a plane to Chicago.  Victor had his doubts about flying, something about the pilot had unnerved him.  Link was quieter than usual.  Victor thought it was guilt because the elder had pushed taking the plane trip.

 

The pilot of the plane turned out to be a demon hunter, the equivalent of a Machiavelli assassin.  The demon had been killed, but not before he had sabotaged the plane's controls, sending them into a steep dive.  Link had ordered Victor to get out of the plane and despite his misgivings of the survival of the other, had finally left moments before the plane struck the ground.  Somehow, Link managed to survive the intense heat, somehow keeping the fires from spreading to the neighboring houses.  Only a few hours had passed and the news stations were covering the 'accident'. 

 

Victor walked in silence with Link, unsure as to what to say.  They continued to walk aimlessly, unaware of those that followed.

 

 

Samuel Lexington had to be going crazy.  There was no other explanation for all the things that had been happening.  It had started only a day ago, when, as a joke, he had pretended to have Jedi powers, focusing on a can of Pepsi in order to try bringing it to him.  When the can had flown through the air into his hands, he had dropped it in startled surprise, spilling its contents on the floor of his room.  Even as he hurried to clean up the mess, his mind was racing with what had just happened.  His mother was a fanatic about keeping his room clean.

 

When he finished cleaning, he stared at the can of Pepsi again, willing it to him, daring it to do its magic trick again.  Like before, it flew through the air to his waiting hand and he stared down at it.  How did he have this power?  Was he a freak of nature?  Or were those movies true, did he have something like the powers of a Jedi?  He had to test this.  Just then, his mother came into the room.  "Samuel Lexington!  Why aren't you ready for school?  And what are you doing with that soda?  You know you can't have any sugar this early in the morning."  Samuel waved his hand in front of his mother and said, "Be quiet, mom."

 

Surprisingly, she did and he started at this newfound power within him.  "I'm not going to school today.  I think you should let me do what I want."  "You should do what you want, Samuel," his mom said.  Samuel laughed, watching as she left his room.  He got dressed quickly, bounding down the stairs and out the door.  Before he could stop himself, he ran into what felt like a brick wall.  Samuel landed on his butt, looking up into the ugly face of Brock, a kid from down the street.  "Look where you're going, idiot," Brock said.  Brock had been the bane of Samuel's life since he had moved into the neighborhood.

 

The ugly brute would follow him to school no matter how early he tried to leave, throwing pebbles or rocks at him.  For years now, Samuel had been subjugated to the bully's torments.  By reflex, Samuel imagined being able to light the boy on fire and to his horror, he watched as Brock burst into flames.  The screams were horrible and all around the neighborhood, doors were opening as the people came out to see what was causing all the noise.  There were screams of terror that erupted up and down the street as Brock tried desperately to put himself out.  Sirens could be heard approaching fast and Samuel felt rather than heard his mom come outside to stand next to him.

 

Samuel hadn't truly believed he could set the boy on fire and now he wished he hadn't thought of that happening to Brock.  "Just stop it...please," he muttered to himself.  The screams that came out of Brock rose to a horrific pitch, a noise that shattered windows from houses and cars before mercifully dying.  A fire truck came speeding around the corner and pulled to a stop near a hydrant.  They labored to put out the flames and when they were done, nothing was left but the boy's charred bones.  There were police cruisers too and soon, Samuel was taken into their custody to be questioned.

 

 

Samuel was bombarded by questions.  What happened that led to Brock's body exploding into flames?  Did Samuel have some kind of weapon that did it?  Was there anyone else who could have done harm against Brock?  And on and on.  It came to be too much that at one time, as he was being questioned by another pair of police, that he screamed, "Leave me alone!", pushing himself away from the table.  One of the cops had been sitting on the other side, smoking a cigarette.  The table slammed into him, pushing him up against the wall.  There was a crunch and blood spilled out of his mouth.  The second police had taken out his gun, unsure as to what to do.

 

"Don't you move a muscle or I'll shoot you!" the cop yelled.  He moved back to his partner and from outside, more cops began to come in.  Samuel began to cry, wondering what had happened to him.  By the end of the day, he was under heavy guard in a holding cell.  He began to hear voices, whispers from the men who kept guard.  Who else could they be from?  He cried softly, hugging his knees to his chest as he rocked himself back and forth on the hard bed.  His bed began to float into the air and he cried for the guards.  But when they had looked into the room, he was back on the floor.

 

When it happened a second time, he cried more to himself but didn't call out to the guards.  At one point, his mother was allowed to see him.  She couldn't come into the cell, but at least he could see her.  She told him that they weren't going to allow him to go free, that they were going to study him.  When he asked who "they" were, she wouldn't say.  He began to grow desperate, begging for his mom to find some way to get him out.  He was only seventeen, he had a life to look forward to.  Not to spend the rest of his days locked up because he was some freak.  His mother said she was sorry and started to walk away.  "Come back!  Don't leave me!" he called out to her.

 

Samuel watched as a force took hold of his mother and slammed her into the door.  Seeing her head crack open from the force of the blow was the last straw.  Samuel's mind had snapped from the awful sight.  Instead of being studied, he was kept locked up.  No one wanted to come near him, and they hoped that only time would finally kill the strange human.

 

 

"Robert?  Robert, you awake there?" Nessa asked.  Robert looked away from the window, looking up at the assassin.  "I asked you if you had any other instructions for us."  He shook his head.  They had called in for more reinforcements.  They had found Victor and Link again by a pair of demon hunters.  It seemed that Katherine wanted more insurance and had hired another group; demons of all creatures.  At least it hadn't been a rogue angel.  His thoughts turned back to the not-so-human boy, Samuel.  It wasn't often that Robert came across a bastard son of a vampire.

 

Most fledgling vampires had weak mental abilities.  The most they could do was charm humans into doing what they wanted.  But the boy, he was part human and yet he had created a fire so intense it had burned another boy to nothing but his bones.  His power was unstable and would consume him without the proper training.  It might help, having that kind of power under his control.  After this was done, he would break the boy free.  Robert went back to looking out the window, watching as the plane slowly descended back to earth.

 

 

Night had fallen across the city again.  The entire day had been spent walking around aimlessly.  Whenever Victor asked where they were going, Link would not answer.  At one point Victor almost left the despondent vampire but stopped.  Link was the only one who could bring his son back to him.  He had no where else to go and wouldn't do what god wanted him to do, not now.  Maybe never.  For now, he would follow Link and wait for the elder vampire to deal with whatever inner demons he had.

 

The pair stopped in front of a church.  Victor knew now, that these places had no power over him and wondered why Link would bring them to one.  He remembered that Sarina had often gone to night masses herself, though he had always thought it was for other reasons.  To feed or to just hunt, not to pray.  She had confessed to him later on, a couple days before she had killed him, why she would go to church.  It had come as a surprise, to hear of a vampire going to pray.  With the way Link looked at the moment, it seemed that he was one who went to church to pray as well.

 

The door was locked but that didn't stop Link from breaking the lock and stepping in.  The church was empty though not as run-down as the neighborhood it was in.  Link sat down in one of the pews, kneeling down.  He did not make the sign of the cross, which Victor had expected him to do but instead began to whisper beneath his breath.  It was an old language, one that had not been uttered in thousands of years.  The information came unbidden to Victor's mind, it was just something he knew.  He sat down in the pew, trying to get comfortable on the hard seat.  The back was so rigid that he had to sit sideways to feel just a tiny bit comfortable.

 

It wasn't until he had sat down that he thought of his wings and hurriedly stood up.  They were gone and at this, Link paused in his archaic praying to say, "Your wings are there when you need them, gone when you don't."  He went back to his whispered praying as Victor sat back down cautiously.  It made sense, sort of, in a strange way.  After a few moments, Victor realized that most of what Link was saying was making sense, but the vampire was still speaking in the older language.  He was asking for strength and guidance, for protection for his wife, and to ask for forgiveness for the betrayal.

 

It was this last that made Victor stand up again.  The doors to the church burst inward and ten vampires came storming in.  Among them, Victor saw the vampire Robert, who was allied with the assassin duo.  He felt another group of vampires enter from behind and he turned, seeing fifteen more, Nessa and Anaya among them.  "You're not going to escape us this time, Victor," Anaya said.  "Even an angel can't take on twenty-five vampires," Nessa added.  Robert glanced at Link, who was still kneeling despite the arrival of the others.  When he finished, he stood up slowly, not quite looking at Victor.

 

"I'm sorry," he said, in a voice that would have been too low for a human to hear.  Victor had a moment to see Robert's puzzled expression when Link placed his hands on Victor's shoulders.  He tried to fight back but couldn't move Link's hands.  Victor was dimly aware of the movements of others before suddenly, the pressure on his shoulders and noise disappeared.  What replaced it was the howling and screeching of what sounded like hundreds or thousands of others.  The world had a reddish tint to it and he saw that demons surrounded him completely.  The place was flat for miles all around...and the sea of demons went out farther than even Victor could see.

 

 

"Where the hell did you send him?" Robert demanded, throwing the vampire across the room.  In the few seconds following Victor's sudden disappearance, the vampires had attacked Link.  He had stood his ground for only a moment, breaking arms and necks of half of them before their combined power overwhelmed him.  He could barely see out of one eye, the other had closed completely.  Blood flowed from a dozen wounds, his left arm dangled uselessly, broken in multiple places.  He crashed into a pew and dust and splinters flew up into the air.  A lesser vampire would have been killed already, but Link still stood.

 

"He's somewhere you can't follow," Link said with a broken smile; his mouth was a bloody mess.  But neither can he escape, he thought to himself.  "Tell me where!" Robert said, lifting up the battered vampire off the ground.  Link shook his head.  "You won't get it from me."  Robert smiled cruelly and said, "That's what you think."  Link was knocked out before his brain registered the punch.

 

 

The man stumbled into a clearing with a small creek running through it.  There was a bear there with two cubs near it.  Somewhere within his mind he remembered something about mother bears and the ferocity they employed when protecting their cubs.  There was no way he could survive an attack by such a large creature.  The bear was on him before the man could move, rearing up to over tower the man.  It swung a massive claw at him and he ducked, feeling the wind of it pass over his head.

 

The bear roared, swinging another claw at him and this time it struck him.  The force of it should have killed him but he only staggered back a few steps.  He caught the next blow with a hand and at this the bear let out a roar of confusion.  He swung his own fist back, feeling foolish but the punch knocked the bear farther back than its own claw had done.  The man backed away, not wanting to kill the bear who was only trying to protect its cubs.  He took off and the bear, perhaps unsure as to what kind of creature could actually fight back, did not give chase.

 

The man ran easily, never seeming to tire.  He wanted to go towards somewhere, civilization, and without thinking about it, started to switch direction.  Maybe he might find someone who could help him.  He hoped that the people who had held him captive, would not be able to find him.  A part of him knew that they wouldn't give up so quickly but, he could always hope otherwise.

 

 

For the first couple seconds, no one moved.  Then a shrill shriek filled the air and the demons were converging on the lone angel.  Victor flew up into the air, just escaping the grasp of the first of the demons as they leapt up to get him.  Up and up into the air until he was well out of the range of the demons who could shoot at him.  From the ground and in the distance, demons began to take to the air.  Some were female in shape and had feathered wings and talons for feet.  Others were like winged snake creatures but human from the waist up.  There were more than a dozen flying towards him and he knew he couldn't take on so many at once.  These things survived from battles with each other but they all had one common enemy...him.

 

There was no place he could go to.  He couldn't keep traveling forever, he'd get tired eventually and the flying demons looked fast enough to catch him.  Suddenly he felt something strike him above, grabbing onto him.  "Don't fight!" a man said as he held onto Victor's back.  Before the first of the demons could reach him, they were gone, back in the real world.  Looking down, he could see the roof but it wasn't the church.  They had appeared somewhere else.  The man who was on his back let go, dropping down on the roof with ease.  Victor landed down next to the man.  "Who are you?  What was that place?" he asked.  "The name is Christof.  And that, was the place your god put all the demons.  Think of it as another realm," he said as he stretched his arms.

 

"Are you a demon?" Victor asked.  Christof only smiled in response, showing his fangs.  "So who tried to kill you, angel boy?  You didn't get into the demon realm all by your lonesome," Christof said.  "No one was trying to kill me.  Link sent me there to get away from Robert," he replied.  The vampire was silent for a moment, seeming to look at nothing.  Christof was taller than him by a couple inches and looked a little bit heavier as well but it was muscle not fat.  He reminded Victor of the Greek statues, perfect in every detail.  Especially now since he wasn't moving.  After a moment, he seemed to come out of whatever trance had taken a hold on him and shook his head.  "I can't find him.  Those vampires must be working with demons to keep him hidden."  "You mean they took Link?" Victor asked.  Christof nodded, sighing as he did so.

 

"You're not like the others, are you," Christof asked but continued on before Victor could answer, "No.  Link wouldn't risk himself over an angel unless you're one of the fallen.  Like Lucifer."  "You know him?" Victor asked.  "Unfortunately or fortunately, depending on the visit," he said with a wry grin.  "Come on, angel boy.  We've got some talking to do, you and I, and frankly, I don't want to be here when the Urakiel get here."  Victor followed the vampire, not bothering to ask what a Urakiel was.  He'd find out eventually.  Right now, he just wanted to get to a place he could rest.

 

 

 

If it wasn't for the baby, Sarah would have broken down weeks ago.  Almost a month had passed since Link had last talked to her.  The last thing he had said was "I'm sorry" and then nothing.  She had tried to find him as he had taught her, but it was like he had disappeared.  She wouldn't let herself believe he had been killed.  Link was one of the oldest vampires out there, it wouldn't have been so easy.  So instead she spent her time searching for him when the baby was asleep.  She would send her mind out through the world, focusing on the thoughts of weaker vampires, looking for clues.

 

Finally, a few days ago, she had gotten her first peek at Link through the eyes of a human close to him.  Sarah had almost broken down then after seeing the multiple scars that laced his body.  Whoever held him had access to weapons that made it hard for a vampire to regenerate.  She felt rather than saw the death of the human she was looking through.  The movement was too quick for Sarah to see what happened, but she felt an elation within her at the thought that it was Link, getting free.  It had to be him, it just had to.

 

She looked back once at the cozy-looking home of the human, Marie.  She didn't want to leave the baby here but Sarah had to go search for Link.  There was something wrong with Link, something to do with his memory.  Why else would he not contact her.  The link that was forged between them was weak but there.  She shouldn't have to rely on a human to care for the baby but she couldn't help it at the moment.  Few other vampires were as tolerant of human children.  They might try to eat it after getting bored, no matter how many promises they made.  So few of them had the morals of the older vampires.  With one final look at the closed door, Sarah sped off into the night, unmindful of the rain that began to fall.

 

 

"How much longer are you going to keep me away from my son?" Victor asked.  Christof didn't answer.  He had a habit of doing that.  Victor had no choice but to follow him.  Try as he might, he couldn't locate his son's aura no matter how long he tried.  He figured it had something to do with the vampire Link had left him with.  Sarah, Christof had told him.  It had been a surprise, somewhat, to learn that Christof was the sire of Link.  There were many things he had learned since Christof had saved him from the demon realm a month ago.  And so many deaths.  Unlike other older vampires, Christof still drank blood on a nightly basis.  He knew of the duality of Victor's nature and so made sure that Victor learned to control the lust for blood.

 

"Are you sure you've never met that dog before?" Christof asked, glancing back at the collie that had started to follow them.  "Not before the night I was reborn, I told you this already," Victor replied.  Christof dropped it, ignoring the dog as they made their way through the shifting crowd of people as they made their way home.  "Why do you care so much about the dog?  Maybe it's just magical," he said to the vampire.  "If I didn't know any better, I'd say it was god keeping an eye on you.  But it doesn't look like it's trying to make you finish what you're here to do."  "And what am I here to do?" Victor asked.  "Wipe out the demons and vampires so that we won't keep taking away his humans," Christof stated matter-of-factly.

 

"I still don't get how that works.  What does it matter anyway.  It's not like humans are in a short supply," he mumbled.  Christof looked at him but didn't say anything, which only caused Victor to wonder more.  There was so much about this whole business he didn't get, so much that was just confusing.  Everybody seemed to have their own agenda and no one looked to be playing it straight.  It was enough to make a guy just want to go away and never come back.  "So what are-" "What we are going to do, if you'd stop asking questions, Victor, is we are off to pick up Link.  It took him longer than I thought it would for him to escape but the poor fool doesn't know where he is," Christof said.

 

"Link?  What does he have to do with all of this?" Victor asked.  His only reply was a look and silence.  He should have expected that.  With a sigh of resignation, he followed Christof, forgetting about the collie as it trailed after the two.

 

 

It wasn't long before he heard the sounds of pursuit.  Whoever was following him wasn't going to make any attempt to hide their progress.  Every now and then he could hear taunting laughs and threats coming from all around him.  A part of him knew though, that they weren't close to him.  He was moving too fast.  The trees were only a blur as he ran through the forest.  Finally he came out the other end, arriving at a long stretch of road.  There was nothing to tell him where he was, if he was even close to a city or a town.

A pair of lights appeared on his right and he turned, hearing the low rumble of the engine of the car as it made its way toward him.  He wanted the driver to stop as he approached the road, waving his arm.  Surprisingly, the car did pull to a stop and the window of the passenger seat rolled down as the man approached the car.  "Strangest damn thing I ever noticed before.  Didn't want to stop but knew that I should," the driver called out.  "Where you heading to, buddy?" he said.  The man got into the beat-up Chrysler.  The name came to him as other things did, unexpectedly but he shouldn't have been surprised.  It was his personal memories that wouldn't come back.

"Wherever the closest city is," the man said, settling into the seat as the driver pulled back onto the road.  "Name's Earl," he said, holding out his hand.  "Hi Earl, I'm Matt," the man said.  He wasn't sure if the name was of someone he knew or maybe it was his name, but it was as good as any to use.  "You know Matt, feels like I've met you before, ever had that before?  One of those, day-ja vu things," he said.  "Maybe we have Earl," he replied, looking out the window.  With a little prodding, he got Earl to talk about his life, unaware that this wasn't the first time he had come across this person.


Sarah couldn't sense Link's exact location, but a gentle pulling showed her that he was still alive.  She wondered briefly at calling Christof, asking for his help.  But she had never gotten along with her grandSire.  The vampire was too secretive for Sarah's liking.  He was one who answered what he felt like answering...which wasn't much.  She knew as much about him as she did of god, which wasn't much.  Even the two centuries they had spent traveling together millennia ago hadn't opened him up.  Link said it was something about Christof's daughter that kept him from wanting to talk.

She had a feeling that Link knew more about Christof than he let on but why he didn't share it with her was confusing.  There was little about Link that she didn't know about.  But something about the elder vampire kept him from talking more.  She had only learned a couple centuries ago that they had some sort of agreement.  Link wouldn't talk about Christof and Christof wouldn't kill either of them.  So it was a win-win situation in her eyes.  Link said it was just her nature to want to know things, especially about others.  It was what had attracted him to her in the first place.

Sarah had lived in a time when women were nothing more than property, there to look pretty.  She hadn't yet been forced to marry though she was well on her way when Link first came to her.  He had saved her from a short life of child-bearing and required sex.  He had given her the strength and power to live her own life.  But she had instead chose to follow him, staying with him.  He had later admitted to hoping she would turn down his offer to leave on her own but hadn't wanted to keep her against her will.  Link was big on allowing a person free choice.  Not so much with other vampires but with humans he was.

The rain had slowed down some and she stood up slowly.  She would start off in the direction that Link was and hopefully she'd be able to sense him if she got any closer to him.  He wasn't supposed to have been gone this long.  She could only hope that they would soon be together again.

 

 

 

She was waiting for him as soon as he got out of the car.  His love, the one who was always in his dreams and still there when he woke.  She smiled at him, smothering him with hugs and kisses as she asked him to promise her never to leave her alone again.  "I won't...I won't ever leave you again," he said.  The human, Earl, looked on, embarrassed and unsure what to say.  Finally, they pulled away from each other to glance over the car at Earl, who was staring past them to something else.  He turned and saw Robert, the same one who had imprisoned him from before, standing a few yards from them.  "You didn't actually think you could get away from us, did you Link?" he asked.  He was surrounded by ten others, vampires all of them, with solitary demon among them.

 

"I was hoping I could," Link replied.  He heard Earl scream once before following silent and a second later, he felt the car pushed against him, hard enough to make him stumble forward.  The vampires rushed in then, pulling Sarah from his grasp and she cried out in anger and fear, trying to fight her way through.  Despite her age, it meant little against the swarm of vampires that appeared, moving with unnerving speed as they converged on her.  Link fought for as long as he could, kicking and punching and biting his way to her.  There were so many of them all around, some scoring hits on him, others falling to their deaths as he decapitated them or ripped out their hearts.

 

After what seemed like ages, he made his way to his beloved but it was too late.  If it was just the blood loss, he could heal her by feeding her, her own.  But they had taken her heart and that could not be regrown.  Her vacant eyes stared up into the night sky, empty of life.  The primeval roar of pain that escaped his throat shattered the windows of buildings and cars for miles around; car alarms shrieked throughout the neighborhoods and the dogs howled along with him, drowned out by his solitary voice.  Fire danced out from somewhere deep within him, striking at the vampires one after another until nothing remained of them but ashes...and Robert.  Some tried to escape but none got farther than a few steps.  Robert himself had been enveloped within the flames but he came out badly burned, his features all but unrecognizable.

 

Robert was a walking black mass of ruin; his throat made an ugly sound but it was the sweetest music to Link's ears.  The walking corpse took one step and left his foot behind him.  He stumbled to the ground, breaking off more pieces from him, eliciting cries of pain that were garbled.  Link crouched down near the vampire, bringing his head up to look into the other's eyes.  His mouth opened and closed, his tongue a charred thing that crumbled in his mouth.  But still he tried to say something.  "We're almost there," Link heard in his head.  "What?" he asked, leaning in closer to the vampire.

 

 

"I said we're almost there," Earl said, looking over at Link.  He was back in the car, his memories had returned to him during the dream.  Link nodded, thinking back to what Earl had talked about.  The meeting with the stranger so many years back, when he had been a teenager.  The trembling that passed through his body was too quick for the human to notice but Link felt it all the same.  He could only hope his dream had been just that, a dream, and not one of the prophetic dreams he sometimes had.

 

 

Earl had always known that his life would be different.  His mother was a beauty pageant queen five years running.  Then Earl had come along and that had been over.  Something his mother had been one to remind him off.  He had never known his father or as his mother affectionately called him, the good-for-nothing-son-of-a-whore's-bitch.  Earl had grown up with his spinster mother who had more gentlemen callers than some of the girls that worked the corners Friday nights.  His life had known a multitude of idiot men who never stayed long enough, especially once they learned Miss Margaret A. Thatcher was a momma.

Some of the men had stuck around long enough for Earl to learn their names followed quickly by their habits.  There was Karl, a coke addict; Luke, a smoker; Garth, a guy who thought everything he said was funny and that Earl should learn to get a sense of humor, nevermind the fact that putting live spiders in a boy's bed was in no way funny.  The guy Earl had feared the most was Mark, a man who believed sternly in not sparing the rod.  He was also the guy who stuck around the longest, much to Earl's dismay.  It was with that last monstrosity that Earl had learned the meaning of dead-beat.  He became known as a clumsy fellow, always last to be picked for teams because he would come to school with a new bruise because of some other thing that "only Earl" could have happen to him.

In those times, it was better to keep your mouth shut even if your eyes were open; what happened with neighbors was something to be talked about over hanging clothes out to dry, not as dinner conversation (not that those times had changed much now, Earl had added to Matt).  It was here, that a passing couple had entered their small town, creating a stir in their entrance.  The men wanted the girl, the women wanted the guy, and each side argued and spread rumors about where, what, who, and why they had come to their town.  Earl couldn't rightly tell Matt just what they looked like because as he put it, "It's like trying to remember the feel of your first woman, eighty years down the road of life...but they sure did have the darkest set of blue eyes I ever saw," he added, almost as an afterthought.

The other thing that Earl remembered about the pair was the words the man had said to Earl when he was a teenager, one year after arriving there, while they two were waiting in the check-out of the grocery store.  "There are worst things in life then Mark (and was there a glint of some unspeakable horror behind those eyes...years later, Earl believed there was).  Respect your fear but don't live your life by it."  That night, when Mark had tried to lay his hands on Earl, Earl had fought back hard, urged on by some unseen strength to him.  It was the last night he had seen Mark and the last night his mother had ever brought any men home.

He worked out from then, gaining muscle and mass, turning from a sickly, stick of a boy, into the man he was now.  His mother, god bless her misguided heart, had died the day after he graduated from high school.  Surprisingly, he had come into a small wealth, more than he thought could have come from his mother's...habits.  Earl looked back over his life, his wife who he had met in college, his three girls, one in college, the other two in high school, and knew it would have turned out different had he never had those few words with the strange, blue-eyed man.  "Eyes a bit like yours," Earl said, glancing over at Matt.

The thought briefly passed through Earl's mind that Matt might be the man from long ago but that had been forty years old and Matt looked to be barely in his twenties.  "It looks like your life turned out alright, in spite of your upbringing," Matt commented.  "Yup, it looks that way," Earl replied.  An easy silence fell between the two, each content in their own thoughts.

 

 

Link, who had once gone by the name of Matt years ago, watched as Earl drove off.  It had started to snow and it looked like it wouldn't let up anytime soon.  Earl had tried to take Link even further but he had declined, saying the gas station was far enough.  Besides, he had to get home to his family.  Earl had reluctantly agreed after making sure Link went in to call a friend.  As soon as the helpful human had driven off, Link had hung up the phone, walking outside.

 

He ignored the stare from the gas attendant as he started to walk north.  It was as good a direction as any.  He could have traveled in the demon realm but he didn't relish the thought of having to fight his way through the mass of demons that would be sure to be there.  Link had tried contacting Sarah, using the mental link between them but found no answer, not even a sense of her direction.  By now she was probably half-sick with grief and worry, wondering where he was.  Link slowed to a stop as he neared a church.

 

It was larger than the one he had been captured in, better managed and funded.  He felt rather than saw the feather as it drifted lazily in the air, mixing in with the snowflakes that continued to fall at a more rapid pace.  The door to the church was open slightly and he headed to it.  The inside was warm and he closed the door behind him to keep it from getting cold.  The church had a beautiful grand piano.  There, with his black wings stretched out to either side of him, was Lucifer, playing the Moonlight Sonata.  The music echoed through the empty church, haunting in its solitude.

 

"To think that a human wrote this," Lucifer said when the last note was played.  He looked up, watching as Link came closer.  "What do you want?" he asked, stopping a few feet from the fallen angel.  "So many things, Link, so many things.  But it's not what I want, that I'm here for."  "Or really?" Link asked skeptically.  "I come here on behalf of your loooovvveee," Lucifer's voice rose in surprise as the vampire lifted him off the ground, his voice calm despite the fear that showed in his eyes.  "What's happened to Sarah?"

 

Lucifer cleared his throat, dusting himself off as he appeared away from Link.  "Really now, were you raised in a barn?  I wasn't going to keep you in suspense but if you touch me again then I won't tell you what happened."  Link glowered at the angel, restraining himself as the other waited a few moments.  When he was sure the vampire wasn't going to grab him again, he continued.  "Sarah went looking for you after waiting a month for you and couldn't sense you.  So she left that child you two saved and went searching.  Well, seems that she heard that the family was killed and the baby captured by those Machiavellian vampires."  "She went after them," he finished.  Lucifer nodded, showing his palms face-up at Link.

 

"You can't find her because she's already with the Preacher Woman...or at least in her territory.  And Robert's back there as well."  Link swore under his breath at the news.  "You should wait here for Christof.  He's bringing Victor with him and you'll need them if you hope to get there in time."  Link shook his head," No, I'm not going to waste any time.  I can get there just as fast going through the demon realm."  "You can't.  They've been massing up around the same area.  You wouldn't get there in good shape," Lucifer said.

 

"You won't have to wait long, Link.  Just trust me," the angel said.  Link let out an angry sigh, nodding.  "Alright then, I'll wait."  Lucifer smiled, half-saluting Link before disappearing.  The silence felt burdensome as Link moved to the piano.  Sitting down, he began to play, waiting anxiously for Christof and Victor's arrival.

 

 

In the Middle Ages, fire pits had been used more for survival than for any artistic purposes in the winter time of present-day England.  It was refreshing, in a way, to see all that whiteness.  Viktor and Alice (as Link and Sarah had once gone by) were moving north after a run-in with Egyptian vampires.  The two were staying with a nobleman and his family during the time of Yule.  It wouldn't be for centuries until it was called Christmas but the concept was still the same.

 

The night had started out well enough with Alice singing to the family, much to their enjoyment.  When dinner was announced, the feeding had begun.  Neither the family nor the servants were left alive.  Their bodies had been laid out in the snow and the now-fed couple lounged near the blazing fire.  Alice had never heard about the Yule festival before unlike Viktor.  But then, there was much about the world that Alice didn't know about.  To her, she only cared about being with Viktor and when they would next feed.

 

Alice stretched cat-like and as she did, Viktor slipped an emerald necklace shaped as a cat around her neck.  "What is this?" she asked with a gasp, holding up the little cat to the light.  "It is a present for you.  A Yule present," he said, sitting down on the rug.  It wasn't tiger-skinned like he had seen used in India, but the Saxons made do with what they had and so far, it was only deer fur.  It was a shame though but not something Viktor could fix.

 

The necklace had been made by him after he had seen artisans in Egypt turn bronze, silver or sometimes gold into beautifully works of art.  He had come upon the emerald and took the trade further, crafting the cat emerald over the course of a few weeks.  For eyes, he had used two pieces from a ruby he had garnered from a race of dark people down south past Egypt.  "It is beautiful, Viktor, I'll keep it always," Alice said, scooting over to give him a kiss.  The fire played shadows across the walls as they made love by the light.

 

 

Sarah reached into her blouse, taking out a cat made out of a necklace.  She had kept it clean over the centuries, replacing the chain as the old one wore out when needed.  It was probably worth a fortune but she would never part with it.  It was the first gift she had ever received from Link and because of that it was her most cherished possession.  She held her knees close to her chest, looking out the barred window at the moonlight.  For now, she would have to wait for her love to come.

 

 

"What is it with you vampires and churches?" Victor asked irritably.  It felt like every vampire hung around churches or went to visit them or lived in them.  Well, none of them had said they lived in a church but he didn't think he'd have to wait long before coming across one.  "What, afraid that one of these times you're going to get struck down by holy lightning?" Christof asked back.  He held the door open for Victor, gesturing him in.  "Ladies first," he said with a laugh as Victor walked past him inside.  "How mature," Victor said, rolling his eyes.

 

The music that had been playing came to a stop as they entered the church.  "What took you two so long?" Link asked as he met them halfway down the aisle.  "Angel boy here didn't want to fly," Christof said, pushing Victor ahead of him.  "What?  That's a lie.  You never said we..."  "He's just messing with you.  I would've thought you'd learn this already with how long you've been with him," Link said.  "So how are we getting to the Preacher Woman?  Lucifer said the demons are there en masse."  Christof gestured to Victor, rolling his eyes in exasperation.  "There isn't a witch or demon yet who could keep an angel from going where they want to," he said.

 

"True but they can hide themselves well enough," Link countered.  There was a light smack followed by an indignant "Hey!" as Link rubbed the back of his head where Christof had smacked him.  "What was that for?  I'm right aren't I?"  "Yes, but sometimes you need a good smack to get that tiny brain of yours working.  Of course they can hide from angels but that's only if you don't know where to go already.  And I do.  Now come on, hold your boyfriend's hand and get ready."  "Fuck you," Victor said.  "Go to hell," Link said.

 

There was a hard crack and cries of pain as Christof smacked their heads together.  "You think I enjoy teaching you two a thing or two?"  "Yes," Link said, rubbing the side of his head.  "Well, you're right.  Now quit complaining and grab his hand.  How else are we getting to the Preacher Woman?" Christof asked.  "Fine, just quit hitting us," Victor said as he grabbed each of their hands.  "Hey, I didn't know you had such delicate skin, angel boy," Christof said with a laugh.  "We don't all spend our time pleasuring ourselves like you do, Christof," Victor countered.

 

"Ooh, nice one, angel boy.  But I don't do it myself; it's what I have your mom for," Christof said.  "Shut up already and let's get going.  We don't have all night," Link said.  "Sorry gramma," Christof replied with a smirk.  "I don't even know where we're going," Victor complained.  "Jesus, angel boy, how long have I been talking to you about the klan leaders.  The Preacher Woman is in New York City now hurry up and..."

 

"...Take us there," Christof finished.  "At least you're not as slow as you look."  Victor flipped the older vampire off, letting go of their hands.  "Uh, guys.  We've got company," Link said as the lights flashed on.  The trio looked around the room at the assortment of demons and vampires that surrounded them.  "What did I tell you Katherine.  Like flies to honey, they'd be sure to come here," Robert said, stepping out from among the others.  "I didn't think they'd be stupid enough to challenge me in my own haven," Katherine said, moving past her Children to stand next to Robert.

 

"Don't flatter yourself sweetie.  I could wipe out your klan faster than it took the doctor to slap your mother when you were born," Christof said, stepping in front of the two.  Katherine scowled as she tossed something over Christof.  Link stiffened as he caught the object before it could touch the floor.  He held it up but knew what it was even without looking at it.  It was the Christmas present he had gotten Sarah centuries ago.  There was blood on it...fresh blood.  Christof looked away from Link, back toward Katherine.  "Oh...you're in for it now, Preacher Bitch."  The windows around the warehouse exploded as the two opposing forces collided together.

 

 

"Do you really plan on letting them destroy each other just to save your stock of souls?" Lucifer asked, swirling the stir stick in his drink.  "Come now, Lucifer.  You and I both know that these creatures don't belong.  They taint the natural order of things," God said, sitting across from him.  "Don't try to weave the B.S. around me.  We're the ones that messed up the natural order of things.  You came here and almost wiped out an entire species all because you found the genes necessary to prolong your life.  And for some reason, the "unnatural" beings on this planet are a threat to you."

"Watch your mouth, Lucifer.  You may not be under my power anymore, but that doesn't mean you can speak so to me.  I can still hurt you in other ways."  "Or what?  You'll send a half-breed after me?" Lucifer asked.  "That half-breed is more powerful than you know.  But we didn't come here to talk of such things," God said in a carefree tone.  She smoothed down her skirt, enjoying the human imperfection in her clothes.  "What did we come here for?" Lucifer asked after taking a sip from his drink. 

"I wanted to propose a bargain with you, Lucifer.  Help Victor to wipe out these demons, vampires, werewolves and witches...and in return, you can save a choice few.  I'll give you a ship and you and the other Fallen can leave from this planet."  "You're serious about this?  You'd let us leave, just like that?" he asked.  God nodded, placing her hands together in a steeple.  "How many will you let me save?" Lucifer asked after a moment.  "You can pick the vampires that have aligned themselves with Victor along with any vampiric offspring they may have and a family of werewolves.  As for the demons...you can only choose two.  The same goes for those witches.  And of course as many of the Fallen who choose to go with you." 

God leaned forward, placing her hands flat on the table, a strand of hair falling across her right eye as she did so.  "If you decide to not take this offer...I will send the rest of my angels down onto Earth to wipe you all out."  Lucifer blanched, knowing that there were more angels now at God's disposal.  One of the reasons why the vampires and others had survived for so long was because God had not sent her full force down to Earth.  "I'll give you until sunrise to decide.  Until then, why don't you go help your little friends out.  I'm sure they could use the support," she said with a smile.

Lucifer watched the empty seat and only until after he was sure she had gone, did he leave the cafe.  He had learned long ago how to shield his thoughts and movements from God but if he wasn't careful, she could find a way.  He took off into the air faster than the human eye could follow.  With his powers, he could have been there instantly but he needed the time to think.  The whole thing felt wrong.  The one major thing was that after all these millennia, God had finally decided to talk to him.  What's more, she was offering amnesty and freedom.

In all the millennia of servitude, he had never seen her show compassion.  The fact that she was now was a cause for alarm and caution.  Maybe it was desperation on her part.  There was something about Christof and his klan that unnerved her.  If he wanted to strike against her before she could mobilize her angels, he would have to find out what was it about the vampire she didn't like.  The death of a 'god'; it would be something this world would remember.  Lucifer doubled back, striking the angel sent to follow him before disappearing with just a thought.  He arrived into a battle, fending off the demons attacking him as he made his way to the center.  There, among a pile of dead and dying bodies, was Christof, Link and Victor.

"Glad you could make it, Lucifer," Link called out as he stumbled under the blow of a Kaiser demon.  He struck back, ripping a hole in the Kaiser's stomach.  "Now how about lending us some angelic might?"

 

 

Nessa pushed Sarah ahead of her.  The blood had finally stopped flowing from the bruises she had received from the two vampiresses.  They had taken her necklace forcefully and now they were going to kill her.  She tried to reach Link with her mind but the whole haven was protected by witch magic.  The only consolation she had was that they had sent fifteen vampires to get her along with the two assassins.  Now there were eight of them, including the assassins.

"Your boyfriend and his little friends are going to die tonight," Anaya said tauntingly.  "But don't worry, you'll be dead before them."  Sarah ignored her, keeping her eyes on her feet