A Sacrament for a Devil

By: FeatherWings

"Run, Vinny!" Toi shouted over the voices of the other devils intent on capturing them. Much of what the devils yelled was unrecognizable. "I'll hold them off! Run!" Toi pounded the persistent devils into the ground one by one. With each punch there was a crack from bones splintering. Blood poured from the mouths of his fellow devils and it spilled onto Toi's fists.

"Toi...!" Vinny gasped not wanting to abandon the only one willing to help him.

"Go!" Reluctantly, Vinny turned away and ran. He ran as fast as he could to get as far as his legs would carry him. He had to get out of Hell and away from all the other devils. An infinite amount of possibilities ran rampant through his head. Either one of them could die or become victim once again to the years of torture. And there was no torture quite like that given to by a devil. Every devil knew that because every devil went through it when they had died as humans.

He was tired and beaten. And for the first time in a long time, he was scared; scared beyond words or expression. It was a mystery how he was even still running; the other devils could have caught him by now and he was almost completely engulfed in fear. He knew once he was out of Hell, there was no turning back. He could no longer return to Hell after this or the punishment would be grave.

For some reason at that moment as he left Hell, he thought of two particular angels. He knew no one could save him now. It was inevitable that they would find him. So why was he thinking of them?

He wished that they could help him but they couldn't possibly be able to. He lost his chance a long time ago, back when he was human. Human...how long has it been since he was a human? He preferred not to think of those times; they were too painful. All the memories from then were ominous and morbid. What his fellow devils wanted to do was worse than oblivion just as reality had been back then.

They wanted to torture him again like they had when he had fist fallen to Hell. Why? Because he was starting to believe in the angels and they were the enemy; they were pure. They weren't like Vinny. But somewhere in the back of his mind he had come to believe these particular angels could save him from eternal darkness and pain.

Vinny liked these particular angels. They were different. Even though pure, which Vinny despised, somehow they had reached him by touching a painful scar. No one had ever done that before. It was as if they knew something; something very important or at least suspected something.

"But don't forget, Vinny. Both you and I were once humans ourselves." Renji had once said...and it hurt. The words echoed in his head. He couldn't get them out! Louder and louder, on and on, day after day! There was no stopping them!

And now he felt himself drawn to them, especially Renji. It was as if he wanted them to save him. But how could they? That, he believed, was impossible. And why would they save a devil? That was unheard of.

There were footsteps behind him. Had they caught up already? Was Toi dead? He hoped not. He was the closest thing he had ever had to a friend. The footsteps were getting closer and louder. Vinny turned to look but no one was there.

He looked around at his surroundings. A forest? When had he gotten here? He must have been too distracted by panic to notice where he was going. She noticed now that a fog loomed all over the ground and it was impossible to tell if it was day or night. His breath solidified in the cold and rose away from him. He searched the ground with his eyes for anyone.

Soon voices emerged from the fog and he found himself enveloped in them. He couldn't tell where they were coming from, who they were, or what they were saying. Vinny found himself looking every which way as panic continued to rise within him. He was taking gulps of air now unable to calm himself. He was exhausted and worn down to point of near insanity.

So he turned around once again and ran. It was true that he had no idea where he was going but if he stood there waiting for someone to show up, he'd be dead all too quickly. He had too much pride to go down easy.

The world became one big blur. He couldn't see where he was going and now couldn't remember why. All he felt was the terror of whatever was fallowing him. He repeatedly looked back to try and get a glimpse of the predator but to no avail. All signs of the predator were the noises and voices behind him trying to catch up. He had a feeling they were all around him now and there was a realization that there was no escape this time.

The numerous leaves on the ground crunched under his feet with each step and gave away his location as he ran through the woods. He could feel eyes watching him. They knew where he was and he was too weak to get away now. He couldn't even find the strength to summon his wings.

Vinny couldn't breath anymore as he wished for more air but if he stopped now it would be over. As he ran in terror and turned back to look one last time he heard, "Vinny! Wait!" before the world went pitch black.

"Vinny!" Renji called out into the fog. He and Kaito had seen the devil rush passed. It was unusual; usually he would be attacking them with Toi by his side...but he wasn't. It was beyond unusual. He seemed too scared to even notice them. What was he running from? Where was Toi? Why was he so scared? "Vinny!"

"Stop it, Renji." Kaito said. "If he's running from something or someone then do we really want their attention?"

"Good point..." They stood and just looked at each other for a moment focusing on the footsteps of the devil. They tried to determine the direction of where Vinny was headed since they had lost sight of him. There was a rhythm to the footsteps; a steady yet frantic pace. According to the sound, the two angels had been headed in the right direction.

But then there was a loud crash of leaves and the rhythm was no more. The angels looked in that direction then bolted off to find the devil who had now stopped moving. Afraid of what they would find, they hurried with caution.

It wasn't long before they could see the lone devil sitting at the base of a tree. His back was turned to them but they could tell something wasn't right. They approached slowly. "Vinny?" Renji called but got no response. He looked to Kaito who shrugged his shoulders. He wondered to himself, why did he care so much about a devil?

Renji touched Vinny's shoulder and Vinny, adrenaline still pumping, jolted his body so he was now facing them. They must have surprised him. Another odd occurrence. How could he not hear them coming with all the noise from the leaves?

Vinny still didn't say anything. Neither did the angels. The forest remained quiet but upon close and further listening there was one sound; that of something falling into the leaves over and over again. Renji turned to Kaito. "Do you hear that?"

Kaito kneeled down so he was now face to face with Vinny. "Are you hurt?" Vinny said nothing. Kaito inspected the devil with his eyes. He had cuts and bruises on every inch of his body as if he had been in a fight. Was that what he was running from? That didn't sound like Vinny.

"What the hell is that noise?" Renji had been looking around the forest while Kaito tried to talk to Vinny but he still couldn't find the source of the noise... until he looked back at Vinny. He saw blood drip from under the other boy's hair which hung over his left eye. "Aw shit!" Renji pushed Vinny's hair away from his eye to reveal crimson liquid spilling from an injury on his forehead.

"Whatever happened to him before must have worn him down. See? He's having trouble staying awake. That shouldn't happen from one little injury." Kaito pointed out, noticing Vinny struggling to keep his eyes from closing; they fluttered closed then open again.

"Is he even aware that we're here?"

"Maybe not." Kaito stood up then grabbed Vinny's left arm and tugged it upward. Renji grabbed his right arm and they helped him to his feet. They were more or less holding him up rather then just helping him stand. "Come on." Kaito said and motioned in another direction that would hopefully lead them to the next town.

-To be continued-

FeatherWings- Hi everyone! Here's the first chapter! Please review!