The moon was bright tonight. Catherine hummed as she stared up at the white orb in the sky. When she was human, she used to stare at it, listening to her father's stories about God. She used to believe it hung in the sky because of God's grace.After she was transformed into a monster that would forever be barred from God's heaven, she cursed the moon. It no longer appeared as a sign of God's endless mercy, but as something to mock her by. The most abhorrent, evil sinner could find redemption and forgiveness in heven, but Catherine d'Arc would be sentenced to an eternity of damnation because of what that devil did to her.. No amount of living a good, honest life would save her now.God declared that she was a monster. A demon summoned from the deepest pits of hell. So be it. If she was cursed to never set foot in heaven, she would become the monster that God wanted her to be. She had cut a bloody path through history, feeding and killing whoever she wanted.That was her father speakin

Morgan Valery hated that bitch and it wasn't because her boyfriend sat next to her in their French class. Okay, it might have something to do with that, but it wasn't the only reason. Morgan had told her to apply for the cheer squad and Erin had ignored her. That was enough for her to make her life miserable and shun her, but she was a friend with Nick.Nick was almost as popular as her. As long as she was his friend, Morgan couldn't ruin her reputation. At least the girl was sensible enough to keep her head down, but with Nick protecting her, how much longer could that last? There was nothing to be done about it and that's what pissed her off the most."Morgan," her commander's voice exploded in her ear. "Target is heading towards you."She had two tests tomorrow and a physical in P.E. and yet here she was. Out in the fucking forest at 3 am, hunting down strix. Bramwell had become a hotbed for the infestation and it seemed like every night she was being called to exterminate them.Mo

The Inspector As he was brought into the room, Inspector Calares watched him closely. The young man sat down with that calm demeanor of someone sure they weren't going to be executed. It wasn't an act and that surprised him more than anything else. If he was in that young man's position, he wouldn't have been able to remain so calm. If this interview went poorly, if the higher-ups decided he was guilty, Sanctus wouldn't just kill him. He'd be subjected to tortore as a tratior to Swordp, a fate arguably as bad as hell. Of course, they would never send his soul to hell. His superior went to great lengths to ensure their people had a frame of reference to what happened to traitors. This man would be made an example of and Inspector Calares sure as he didn't want to be the one to send him there, but he had a job to do. If he failed, they'd turn their sight on him. The young man didn't say anything. He just grinned. Inspector Calares didn't meet his eyes at first. He picked up his note

(Chapters 9 - 15)The next day, my dad woke me up before sunrise. In the quiet of the darkness, we silently prepared. "Follow me.""We're not going to split up?""Maybe once we find their encampment, but you don't know the Redwayne Forest like your old man. Stay close."The plan was simple; we'd search for any patrols or signs of life. If we ran across a patrol, we'd ambush them. Otherwise, we'd follow the signs. The sun had just come up when I first spotted them, but it was still too dark to get a good look. Now that we were closet, I could see three people laying against the thick tree, sitting on their asses."Are they asleep?" I whispered.Pierce readied his sword. "If they are, it's our lucky day. Don't move." My dad could move through the brush a lot quieter than I could. So I waited. I felt sorry for them. They decided to take a nap and when they woke up, they were going to to be in chains.I waited for Pierce to send the signal, but he stared at the bodies for so long that I

As far as the public knew, Sword maintained a clean reputation. The experimentation and borderline torture were all kept locked behind closed doors. Only those with certain security titles were allowed to know.Of course the complete suppression of information was nigh impossible. There were rumors about the black sites and what happened to the strains in them.But that was all there was. Rumors. Nothing tbat could be confirmed.Sword did not operate black sites and neither did it work with criminal filth. That was below them, went the official line.The truth of the matter was different. Sword operated a vast network of informants, of which more than one criminal was employed.Morgan hadn't joined Sword out of some deep rooted respect for the agency. She was a practical sort. She would takeg advantage of what she could.So when a witness report came in about lycans and strix in the city, she sent th3 scum bag money promised.