It was a full moon night, a night just like any other in the eastern part of the Celestial Realm.
A young maiden walked alone upon the cobblestone streets, relishing every tap of her shoes on the ageless rocks, tasting the cool night air upon her lips and admiring the luminous sheen that constantly fell over her city.
The Celestial Realm looked beautiful tonight, the towers bathed in soft light, located in the center of the domain, surrounded by white stone buildings reminiscent of traditional Greek houses that are framed with pale blue woodwork and accents of light yellow, the distinctive colors of the East.
Beyond the buildings are forests, rivers and lakes that spanned the entirely of the rest of the East domain, each one larger and more majestic than the first. The waters in the realm are crystal clear, the beaches white, the cliffs tall and chiseled, containing one or two waterfalls that looked as if they came right from the skies when they are already in the skies, the fall white and thunderous as they churned the clear pools down below. The numerous trees are painted in wondrous colors, from red to yellow, white to pink and green to blue. It was like the plants are tailored to display themselves in the seasons where they looked the best, where blossoms covered their branches in its entirety, or their leaves are gleaming, trapped in the dawn of fall forever, each one just on the cusp of dropping to the ground.
In the middle of the city, the numerous gold and white towers stretched up as far as the eye could see, along their sides are balconies and windows that led into the houses of the Winged Ones. They make up half of the entire populace in the Eastern side and could easily be seen during the day, going about their business as they soar high above in the air. Some of them preferred to walk among the streets as the maiden did, enjoying the sights as they make their way to their destinations.
Time is not usually a concern in the Celestial Realm, they do have all the time in the world, maybe more.
She smiled, a spring in her step as her silken dress fluttered in the wind, the steady hum of energy right beneath her feet, the heartbeat of the city. It surrounded her and thrummed through her in a pleasant way, the endless orbit of the city happening right before her eyes, just like the mechanisms within a clock, the cogs and gears in constant motion, the movement unseen to the naked eye.
All four cities in the Celestial Realm operates in exactly this way, the different areas shifting just like tectonic plates in the Human Realm below. Only the inhabitants of the specific domains are familiar with the movements, where the beings in the East would know when and where a building would be at any point in time while beings in the North would not be aware of it as much as the natives, nor would any other kind of entities know about it.
It was somewhat of a defense mechanism, created precisely to protect the heart of the city from undesirable creatures, hidden in a location only the natives would know about.
The maiden could not see what all that secrecy was about, no demons or creatures with darkened hearts have appeared in the inner parts of the city for decades, thanks to the warriors that patrol the cities day and night. They were either warded off or killed before they could make their way into the domain, making it the safest place there could ever be.
Besides, nothing could bother the maiden knowing that she'll be married to her soul mate in the morn.
It had been a long courtship between the two of them, the four years of sweet romance etched into her mind for eternity, with the promise of much more to come.
She smiled to herself, mind drifting, imagining their future together when a sight that's not usually associated with the city prodded at her vision.
She paused, turning to regard it, only to gasp at the horror of it.
In the darkness of the cobblestone street stood a figure dressed in black.
At its feet, she realized, were bodies, five of them in total. Their necks were twisted and their eyes a mess of pink and gray glutinous mess, their white wings were shredded, stained with red and pink and feathers and bones.
The figure held one of them in the back of the neck, tearing at a wing on the limp, lifeless body.
A gurgle sounded as the body shook and she realized that the winged one is still alive and at the complete mercy of his captor.
The figure had its back to her as the maiden also realized that the bodies belonged to the angels that patrolled the realm in the night.
She backed away from the muttering figure that ignored the pained grunts of its victim as it continued to pull, the delicate skin connected to the wing stretching and stretching until-
"ARGHH!"
The maiden choked at the sudden burst of red, paralyzed by the horror that's happening in front of her.
It heard her.
The monster turned and spotted her, a young woman frozen in terror at the sight. It dropped the torn wing and the body, both flopped to the ground like broken limps.
"Hello there…"
She stared, transfixed as the monster began to speak.
It stepped into the glow of the distant light and the monster that revealed itself to her turned out to be a creature that possess terrible beauty.
He, the monster, was tall and slender, his dark, silk-like hair has the color of blood. He looked upon her with bone-chilling red eyes that seemed to glow like the predator's. He was pale, his skin white and harsh like cold marbled statues. He wore a black, long sleeved shirt and a pair of black pants. There are iron chains wrapped tightly around the forearms of his sleeves. The monster's hands are stained dark red and wore no shoes. His pale feet are also covered in blood.
Behind him, the largest pair of jet black wings she had ever seen on any being, angel or demon, were fanned out, the tips of his feathers are stained red, as if he had dipped them into blood.
Her knees shook, threatening to collapse in front of this beautiful, terrible, monstrous creature.
He seem to read her thoughts and smiled a terrible smile, his eyes glowing brighter than the light from the city.
"What's a young lady doing out in the night all alone," he smirked. "Don't you know that it's… dangerous?"
She flinched as the murderer laughed at his own joke, the sound harsh and grating.
His eyes were wild, his fingers twitched as he stopped laughing, the terrible smile melted from his face.
"Young and clueless," he sang to himself, "So young and clueless…"
The monster laughed again and she knew that he was mad. Utterly, irrefutably mad, his mind just as darkened as his heart.
The choking laugh finally died down and he regarded her seriously, his eyes glowing all the while.
"Crazy, you must think that I'm crazy," a giggle bubbled up from his throat, "Crazy, crazy. I wonder whose fault that was."
The fallen body grabbed onto his ankle, eliciting a snarl from him and a shriek from the young maiden.
The monster growled as he reached down and ended the angel's miserable as he tore his head off his neck.
The maiden screamed.
The red-eyed man turned, realizing that it had awakened the slumbering angels in the area.
He turned to her, his mind made up.
The girl seemed to sense his thoughts and begged, "Please, please don't hurt me."
He tilted his head, the action disturbing as he crooned, "Oh you poor, sweet, unfortunate little angel." The monster managed to hold in his laughter, "You're just in the wrong place at the wrong time."
She shivered, staring at him with baleful eyes.
"It happens," he shrugged and smiled, "Don't you worry…"
The demon stepped towards her slowly, his bloodied fingers extended while she gasped, backed away and fell, all her strength had left her as she watched the monster approached her.
"This won't hurt a single bit."