Chapter One
I can hear my heart pounding in my chest, feel sweat beading on my neck despite the cold weather, and fear raging throughout my body. Every fiber of my being wants to stop running; my feat ache, I can't breathe, and I'm about to collapse from pure exhaustion, but I can't stop. Not until I get away from the thing that's chasing me.
Generally speaking I don't run. My parents taught me what really lies in the shadows of night and how to kill whatever comes my way. Up until this very night I thought I had seen everything, but the creature chasing me was more powerful than anything I'd ever encountered.
It looked like a normal, human man. He had short brown hair, blue eyes, and stood around six foot tall. If I had seen him on the street I wouldn't've thought twice about him. But whether it was on purpose or out of sheer necessity he had shown me he definitely wasn't what he appeared to be.
Even if I ran as fast as I could for as long as I could I realized that whatever was chasing me was faster. I couldn't hear or see the monster while running, but the second I stopped or even paused to catch my breath he was right next to me, as if he'd been there the whole time. The moment I felt him appear beside me I would be off, blindly sprinting down different alley ways and streets.
Partly because I could hardly breathe, and partly because I ran directly into a brick wall I collapsed next to a dumpster. I could feel a warm liquid, which I rightly assumed was blood, streaming down my face. Still breathing heavy, and barely able to move, I managed to lift my hand to my forehead and felt a rather large gash in the center.
"Perfect," I sarcastically whispered.
I felt a cold wind blow and the creature was standing over me. He spoke with a deep, entrancing voice,
"Would you like for me to fix that?"
I looked up at him, he was wearing a tan trench coat, a dress shirt, and a blue tie. I'm not sure why but his outfit stuck me as inappropriate, he looked too innocent.
"That's an odd way for a demon to dress," I noted, "You guys are usually more provocative with your attire."
He tilted his head and gave me a soulful look. I knew the chances of him actually being a demon possessing some poor bastard was slim to none. On the off chance he was a demon he was the most powerful one I'd ever met, as he'd managed to walk directly through a devil's trap without even slowing down, he also didn't sizzle and wither in pain when I doused him in holy water.
"Rest assured I am not of demonic possession," he informed me.
I rubbed my aching head and tried to push myself to my feet. About halfway up the pain seemed to amplify ten fold and I crumpled into a heap on the ground. Without asking permission he hoisted me to my feet. I quickly backed away from him. He continued to look at me with a blank expression. I nervously coughed into my hand and a tooth came out.
"Son of a bitch!" I mumbled. I dropped my tooth, and looked back up to the man who was slowly advancing on me. When he got close enough to touch me he raised his hand, index and middle fingers pointed towards my forehead. I yelped and jumped back before he could touch me. He spasmodically backed up.
A flash from earlier that night emerged:
I had just gotten home from work, it was almost midnight and I was trying to wind down before bed. On the couch, in my pajamas, I was flipping through the channels looking for something to watch when the rotten egg stench, which I knew as sulfur, filled the room. Having been very well trained I knew exactly what to do and as quietly as I could I darted to my bedroom where I pulled on a pair of jeans and my boots. Grabbing my essentials and stuffing them where they belong I quietly crept down the hallway. There was a woman standing in the middle of the room. She had walked right into my devil's trap, rendering her powerless and proving she was a demon. I stood there for a moment, analyzing her and wondering if the poor girl she was possessing was still alive.
"I can smell you, Bitch! Stop hiding. Come and get me!" she screamed.
If I had blinked I would've missed what happened next; the thing in the trench coat appeared behind her and walked directly into the devil's trap. I foolishly breathed a sigh of relief for I believed I had captured two demons and could easily exercise them. I realized my naivety when the man grabbed the woman from behind, turned her around, and stuck the palm of his hand against her head. Bright white light came out of her every orifice, and her entire body went limp. The man dropped her body onto the ground and strolled easily out of the trap. We locked eyes and with a swift and determined, but graceful walk, he headed my way. That's when I ran.
The flashback ended when I noticed him coming towards me again. Whatever he was I had never even heard of, and I sure wasn't letting him anywhere near me if I had a choice.
"Get back!" I spat at him.
He stopped in his tracks, looking rather annoyed. Lowering his hand he spoke, "I mean you no harm," he explained calmly, "I am trying to help."
"Yeah right," I snarked, "and you weren't just about to blow my brains out like you did to that demon," I paused, "What kind of monster are you to have enough power to smite a friggin' demon?" slowly I reached behind my back and got my silver knife ready, in case he came too close.
"My name is Castiel, I am an angel of the Lord," he insisted.
I let out a sharp laugh.
"Sure you're an angel, and I'm the damn Pope!" I replied dramatically.
He looked and sounded confused as he spoke,
"Yes, I am an angel, but the Pope is a man- you are no man, Alexis Collins."
My heart skipped a beat and my voice came out shakey,
"How do you know my name?"
I guess it shouldn't've been so worry-some that he knew my name, a lot of demons called you by name, even if you had never met them before. These creatures have their ways of getting information- it's worse than the Internet.
"I'll explain later, right now you need to come with me," he ushered.
I rubbed my aching head with my free hand.
"The Hell I do! I'm not going anywhere!" I barked.
He ignored my protest and tried once again to touch me, I jumped back, this time into a wall. I silently cursed myself for being cornered. Instead of stopping this time he just kept coming. When he got within a foot of me I whipped my knife out and with as much force as I could muster I stuck the blade into his abdomen and twisted.
Unlike most monsters he didn't wither at the touch of the silver, flinch, or show any indication that there was a sharp blade sticking out of his body. Instead he grabbed my arm and held tight, I started to struggle and pull away, but he was stronger than me. I glanced down at our hands and back up to his face, he didn't look mad or annoyed, but indifferent. Then I noticed we were no longer in the ally, instead we were inside someone's home. There were red walls, a fire place, and piles of books everywhere.
I let go of my knife, he let go of my arm, and I stepped back. The image of him pulling the knife out was a rather disturbing one. In one fluid movement the knife was out of his body and dropped to the ground. I looked down to his stomach to see his white shirt was ripped, but instead of it being soaked in blood like it should have been, there was only trace amounts along the edge of the rip.
"What the Hell are you?" My whole body shook with the fear I was desperately trying to conceal and I continued to back up until I hit something warm and very solid. I froze.
A man's voice came from behind me,
"Yeah, he wasn't lying about that angel business."
I flipped around to see a very tall man with dark, medium length hair, directly in front of me, so naturally, I started swinging.
"What the Hell?" he shouted, while effectively dodging my punches, but not swinging back.
Suddenly, he grabs both of my arms and forcefully pulls them down to my side, painfully twisting them behind my back. Facing away from the tall man and towards Castiel, the so-called angel. I struggle as Castiel glides my way, arm raised, and touches my forehead. I heard faint whispers and everything goes black.