Becca’s peace shattered as soon as she got home, and her ice cream lost its flavour without even reaching her spoon.
When she opened her door and entered, she noticed a fat envelope laying on the floor, next to the entrance, with elegant cursive writing that said TO THE SAVIOUR OF A LIFE.
When she grabbed the envelope and read it, she immediately knew who it was from, and started regretting that day.
***
The young girl was walking back home, from an errand she had to run to her mom, Don’s sister, Grace. And as she was about to walk past an alley, she noticed a man squatting on the floor, his face contorted with pain, his shirt, stained with red.
Shadows moved at the end of the alley, probably muggers, the ones who attacked him, but there was no time to call the police or chase them. And even if she did, what would she do? Rebuke them to death? She wasn’t that type of person. If only her uncle Donnovan was there at the moment...
Becca ran towards him to check if he was okay, while attempting to call in the emergency, but her phone was dead and not a single person seemed to pay attention to that side of the street.
Of course the old man wasn’t okay, not with her luck. Blood flowed from a wound in his belly, and he seemed in shock. His eyes were wide open, focusing on her, his lips trying to move, as if wanting to say something, but she urged him to stay still and not to speak.
Becca was lost for a second, laid him on the alley floor, and tried to talk to him.
“It’s alright, sir. You’re okay, you’re gonna be alright.” she spoke, concealing desperation within the stillness in her voice.
The man looked ragged, old, lost and sad. Just like any other living being, he had no wish of dying, yet she didn’t know what to do. The only thing she could think of at the moment, was to press the wound and hope that he went peacefully, knowing at least that he didn’t die alone.
He had a large amount of stab wounds on his abdomen, judging from how many wholes his shirt had. The man’s whole chest was soaked in red, and there was nothing else Becca could do, besides watching him die in her arms.
Helplessness filled her heart, drenched her soul, and she prayed to the skies, to anything that could ever possibly be watching them from up there, to at least take him in peace.
That was when it happened.
A vivid image assaulted her mind, of deep black eyes, staring right into her soul. And a voice speaking right into her heart.
Be kind to them.
Try to save them.
I’m sorry child...
Light emanated from both her hands, soft and warm, but then ice cold and blindingly intense. She saw unaccountable moments of her life, flashes, and bits, and pieces, and then she saw the old man, somehow.
Becca witnessed what happened to him, the mugging, the covered faces of the perpetrators, and the pain of the stabbings. All in a matter of seconds, in a maddening series of events, every single one happening inside her brain.
Her back burned, her head felt as if compressed between the two plates of a hydraulic press...
And as suddenly as it all happened, everything went calm once more.
She looked at the old man, his grey hair soaked in sweat, the shirt still reddened, torn, but underneath it, only dry, whole skin was to be found. His breathing was stable, and the gleam in his eyes was back, as if life returned to him in full force.
After that, she got up, lost and afraid of what just happened, ready to run away.
But there was a man in her way, his eyes wide in shock.
“What did you just do...?” the middle aged man asked. And Becca’s life became a nightmare.
***
She new it wouldn’t be long until he tried to contact her again. The four days of peace were like the calm before the storm, yet she now held his name and address, so she wasn’t as helpless as before, even if she still didn’t know what to do with these information.
Her hands shook unsteadily, as she tried to rip the envelope open. It contained a folded piece of paper and a reasonably sized, white plastic package.
The girl unfolded the paper, her eyes running across the words.
Did you miss me?
I know you’ve been enjoying this time away, but I won’t leave. If anything, I’ll be like your shadow.
Always around.
And if you ever want to get away, how about becoming someone else?
Open the package if you want to know what I mean.
Come meet me at my place.
I want you to tell me everything about the thing you did that day.
I live at 3rd St, 805, Downtown.
I’ll be eagerly waiting.
Sincerely yours
She wanted to puke.
The girl didn’t think he would stop at all, but that didn’t mean she was ready for that.
Nor for what came next.
She opened the package, wondering about what he meant with ‘becoming someone else’, only to drop it on the floor with a loud and sharp scream.
There was a woman’s face inside the package, a bit dried up, but still bloody.
It was a real human face.
***
The alley became bloody, rusty, metal rods spiking up from the walls, bodies hanging from them, flayed and still grunting.
“There will be more.” a female voice spoke behind Bertrand, who turned around, fairly startled.
The detective was about to ask something, but his words were lost as he looked at the woman in front of him.
She was sanding her nails, and was stunningly beautiful. Very long hair, its colour completely indescribable, as if changing from one tone to another every second. Her body, fully naked, though, showed attractive curves, and chubby edges. The skin was a mixture of lizard skin, insect carapace, human skin, and also had a disconcerting changing colour tone.
Down at her back, Bertrand discovered a scorpion tail, coming right from the base of her back.
“I’m dreaming again, aren’t I?” the investigator questioned, as he felt the same kind of atmosphere that was present in that nightmare.
“You don’t know a single thing yet. Still, you seem to be her replacement... I’ll leave you be. But for now, know that my food is running amok, and before the one who’s going to stop him does it, I have to let you know... There will be more. And I’ll help you see it through in time.” she said, approaching him. Bertrand was completely shocked by the whole thing unfolding before him, so he wasn’t able to move a muscle.
His mind was racing fast, his body completely frozen, due to fear or something similar. He wanted to scream, but no sound emerged from his lips.
Warm blood dripped on his clothes, and when the female thing got close to him, she licked him in the cheek, his skin burning in pain.
“Hmm... Tasty... Just as tasty as the one coming your way.” she smirked. “Careful what you run into, tasty thing... I’ll be watching you.” and as she stepped back afar from him, the woman vanished, along with the bodies spiked on the walls, the blood, and the rusty air.
All that was left in the alley, was the dead woman’s body, her innards all around, and a shocked Bertrand, with his pants wet with piss.
After the incident with the thing in the alley, Bertrand went home, thinking of, for the very first time in his whole career, getting a decent night of sleep. Even if it came to shoving a whole bottle of sleeping pills down his throat. There simply couldn’t possibly be a way of the things he’d been experiencing to be real, yet his cheek was swollen and in pain. When he touched it, before getting in the car, he saw blood staining his fingers. And there was a mark across his face when he looked in the rearview. I’m going crazy, right? It’s not real... he thought, while driving. A whole day and night of sleep, I’ll wake up tomorrow brand new, and ready for a cup of coffee. But he didn’t. The detective got home to find that something had invaded his place. The lights were off, and he heard movement in his room. Why the fuck don’t I have a gun again? Bertrand asked himself, trying not to get too elated by
The girl felt her stomach turning onwards and backwards, an indescribable sense of vertigo taking over her.There was an actual human face in her trembling hands, shaking between her fingers, due to the intense trembling. Becca didn’t know what to think, what to feel, how to anything.She ended up vomiting on the floor, but kept herself conscious, even though her whole body wanted to pass out.She was a good person, but it didn’t mean she was fragile. She spent a few good years training with Don and watching him dealing with nasty stuff, after all.She didn’t allow herself to break.The problem was what she was going to do now.There was an invitation to that Rosenbaum’s place, and he ended up turning to be a monster.A murderer.Her mind blurred, and her senses felt like fading, but she hung on to reality, trying to think about anything that felt real. And a memory floated on her mind,
The shot echoed through the room, making Jake’s ears ring. It had been a while since he took part in a gun fight inside a closed space, and his tears were too much, and Bert’s movement was too much.And everything was too much...“J... Jake...” he heard Bertrand’s voice, but refused to look. He would snap if anyone ever made him look at what he’d just done.“Jake...?” his partner’s voice, hollow and lost just seconds ago, was filled with surprise and shock. “What... What is...”Jacob didn’t want to listen to the rest.Gonzales called him four days ago, to check on his reports. He was pretty busy with how to put Bertrand’s intel into believable words, but the deputy chief never called him only to check on his reports, so he listened to her, and asked what it was all about.“Did you tell your freak partner about the Face Murder?” she asked, witho
Becca walked through the streets as if they were a single straight line, and there was no one around her.Inside her side bag, Rosenbaum’s letter, along with the face he sent her, and the crowbar from Don’s spare office. She felt the weight of the whole world over her shoulders, feeling like God Himself was watching her steps, completely aware of her choice. Judging her every move.But she didn’t care.The girl spent a lot of time drifting between the here and the elsewhere, the then and the now. She made a choice, though heavy a choice it was, Becca decided to never turn back on it.YOU KNOW JUSTICE, NEZARIEL! YOU CAN’T TURN YOUR BACK TO US! The fatherly figure told her, when he found out she was trying to leave the Seventh Layer with a page of the Book of Life.She knew justice, that was for sure.And for all she knewJUSTICE ISN’T SIGNED IN LUCIFER’S BLOOD! THAT’S WHY I’M
One year laterNezariel was in a hurry.The hoodie she was wearing, covering her entire face, showing only shades of dark, along with a glimpse of her chaotic coloured eyes.Two more hooded figures followed right behind her.The cityscape revealed tons of buildings and crowded streets. It was the middle of the night, yet there were still dozens of people walking by, to get to one of the many bars and restaurants that existed there, and made the living soul of the district.“So you knew that Azazel was here all along?” Nezariel asked angrily.“Yes, I did. So what?” Aamon answered her, on her left. “He may have become a cook. But still, he’s one of the most powerful Archdukes to ever land on Earth. So what did you want me to do? Snitch him to you, so you could go straight forward questioning him? Or even better! So you could try to do the same thing you did to that sack of shit, Jeremy
Nezariel felt the threat coming from the demon’s aura, but didn’t stand up to confront it. Instead, she only stared at Aamon, with as much indifference in her eyes, as one can gather in a look.Aamon stared back, and the situation persisted for long seconds. Bertrand knew what the angel was trying to do, so he didn’t interfere, even though he would possibly die if he ever tried to.“You’re gonna stand there all night long?” Nezariel asked the demon, as the seconds passed slowly, and the atmosphere changed gradually, from dangerous to awkward.“Uhm... I beg your pardon?” Aamon retorted, uncomfortably. It shifted its weight from one leg to the other, trying really hard not to break eye contact with the angel.“Your food is gonna get cold, and we need to sleep. I’m not gonna play Serious all night, neither are you gonna do anything stupid.” Nezariel’s glare grew even more serious, cold a
The trio entered a spacious lobby, crowded with what could only be dozens upon dozens of rich people. They could see gold, silver, diamonds, fine cut suits and well sewn dresses all around them. Waiters and other workers passed by them hurriedly, holding plates with lots of dishes and cups above them.For a second, they regretted the decision of entering hastily, without devising a proper strategy.The restaurant seemed to be only for the rich, and they definitely weren’t dressed as such. But surprisingly, the three of them didn’t seemed to be noticed at all by the customers, nor by the staff, which made Nezariel look towards Aamon.“You doing this?” she asked.“Not by any chance.” the demon replied, apprehensively.She then looked at Bertrand, who quickly retorted.“I don’t even know how to do this shit, Neza. Don’t even look at me.”But they didn’t have to wait for lo
It was hard for her to describe how she felt, once Don came to her sights, beer in one hand, cigarette in the other, a soft and wicked smile.That was Donnovan, right in front of her. And at that time, she was not the angel.She was nothing but a human, who felt, thought, and spoke like a human.By the time she stared at Don, the angel was just Becca, and Becca hugged her former uncle with all she had.“Oh, wow! Ouch, girl, you got strong as hell!”Everyone in the room was silent, as the reunion went on for a few seconds that lasted an eternity. However, even as the hug was about to end, the beastly-looking man stroke Becca’s hair.He looked down to her, noticing
They talked and dined, laughed and shared moments of silence, and night flew by like a train heading towards its final destination.Aurora was allowed to stay with them for as long as she could stay awake, and surprisingly, she stood there, playing with everyone who wanted. Listening to their stories, drinking juice and pretending to fight with Bert, Jake and Uriel, who still didn’t get used to her features.From time to time, Uriel would go outside, followed by Don.She would cry in Don's arms, remembering the times she spent with Becca, and how it would never come to happen again.“Love...” Don would say. “Do you remember when Becca last said her goodbyes to us?”“What about it?” Ur
Heavy rain started pouring all over the world as Becca spoke, an ominous feeling drenching the hearts of all who heard her.I didn’t put you in here for this.I didn’t create you so that you could surrender to your weakness.I created you to be.Like Me.As she spoke, they felt ashamed of their own weakness, of their will to run and to be guided by anything that could exempt them from the burden of choosing.Becca wanted in her deepest part, to decimate them. She felt angry, disappointed at them. But it was just expected, because She had made them like that, hoping that they could overcome their weaknesses. That they could be able to hold themselves accountable for their own deeds.So she breathed deeply, dismissing her human emotions for the first time since forever.In a snap of her fingers, the storm clouds dissipated, and with it the blood that reddened the earth, and the bodi
Uriel glowed like a bursting star.Her muscles tensed like bow strings, as her whole essence forced itself to assimilate and purify the energy from the Crawling Chaos’ blast.Somehow, the creature’s energy was very similar to that of a nuclear weapon, and as quickly as Uriel noticed it, she jumped under the highlights, stealing the show.However, the energy was so dense, so tainted, that her only choice was to focus everything she had on purifying it during the whole absorption process.A single mistake, if her determination and focus wavered even if ever so slightly, and the Scorching Empress would be no more.Time seemed like slowing down as Uriel put all of her into that task, and little by little, the blast diminished in intensity and size.Until the entirety of the attack ceased for good.“Is that all you got?” Uriel asked with a taunting smirk on her lips.The heinous creature couldn&
Outside the church, Bert’s group fought with their lives on the line, with all they had, in order to buy as much time as they could so that Elleanore and Abby could retrieve whatever it was that could grant them their powers back.So they fought, got wounded, bled, fell, got back up again, and resisted as hard as they could.However, Mathew and the others weren’t doing as well as they wanted to.Because their enemies weren’t ordinary humans, but loyal servants to the Crawling Chaos. Demons once killed during the Forgotten War, but brought back to life by the unstoppable force of evil and destruction that was the Crawling Chaos.It made things way harder to the group than they ever planned for.They had broken limbs, deep cuts, and unimaginably painful wounds. But still they resisted, having even taken down some of their enemies.It seemed that, somehow, their bodies still held some of the former strength they held back in t
They weren’t excited.If anything, they were afraid for their own lives. For their own integrity.It was too high a stake to even dare conceive failing.However, it was also a moment where if they succeeded, history would be corrected, things would go back to how they used to be, friends would be reunited.Evil would be put back to where it belonged.Bert planned, the others gave their opinions when they thought some of it was incoherent, or simply pure blatant nonsense.Days passed by before their plan was completely formed and they were well equipped enough to dare leave Bert’s place, but eventually the time came, and despite the fear they felt, they moved with the sense of purpose.They moved with the will to finish it once and for all.As soon as they set foot outside, they understood the real danger they were walking into.The daylight had faded to a level that even during the
Immediately after Abigail saying that, a crippling headache hit everyone, except for Elleanore and Abby, sending everyone to the floor, while Uri’s voice, in that seductive and unnatural way, spoke in their heads.Do not even think of coming up with a plan or anything like that, my little rats... Didn’t I tell you that I was going to play cat and mouse with you?Their heads felt as though they were about to explode, so intense Uri’s power inside their heads was, but she kept speaking.Inside the maze, I was shackled by that filthy young man’s power. But now that I am free, and that I have the most suitable vessel, I am not only going to follow my mother’s will, but I will also enjoy myself, watching you all slowly wither as you die one after the other...Elleanore and Abby couldn’t hear what was happening inside the group’s heads, but mother and daughter were fine, so they came right at the group
It was hard for Bert and Cam to tell Mathew and Jake that they were basically alone in this now, since Uri disappeared, Don went after her, and Elleanore had resigned herself and Abigail from the fight. It was even worse after Jonah told him what they had to face, despite not even concretely knowing what were their strengths against all odds. They felt as if they were walking in the middle of a crossfire, blindfolded, with their hands tied behind their backs. And while they were at it, researching, looking for gods, searching for more answers, the world kept changing. In the course of the months that followed their first reunion to discuss about the dream, that now seemed to them to have taken place years ago, the world had changed. Weeks went by with earthquakes reshaping whole areas throughout the world, typhoons devastating small towns, crimes happening much more frequently, atop of many more disasters happening all around. And along with that, a new pillar of power was rising
As Jonah approached the entrance of the maze, he took some time to take in everything in his surroundings.Strangely, he didn’t feel familiar with the large desert that unfolded around him. Jonah remembered all about the place as soon as death took a hold of his body, and he wasn’t sure if the domain of Death, his old domain, had always been so bright.It looked as though daylight had been poured over the vastness of the deserted plains, with only the giant maze showing in the centre of everything.Something felt fishy, and even though Jonah felt confident in walking through the land, he also felt as if something was out there, watching him.But when he felt it, his attenti
Just as Jonah had mentioned, the work to build the electric chair took less than three days. That was because finding a water that was pure enough to suit the unicorn boy’s needs was hard enough.But sooner than they expected, the project was completely done.Since Elleanore didn’t want Abby to see the whole experiment taking place, so she strongly recommended him and Cam that they should take the project somewhere else, or else she would, and they wouldn’t like it.After all, she might even be part of that craziness, but she still put her daughter above all else.And Elleanore wouldn’t allow such things near her Abby, not even if her daughter was a goddess or anything of the sorts.Abigail was still Elleanore’s baby, in the end.However, even if Elleanore didn’t want Abby to see what was going to happen next, Elleanore herself went to Bert’s house, along with Cam, Jonah, and Jake, whil