Intense pain pulsed through my body every time I tried to move. The agony made my movements clumsy and uncoordinated, which was very unlike me. Needless to say I would be pissed the fuck off I was trying not to pass out from the pain. With a loud grunt, I leaned against the wall, panting heavily, nearly tripping over my own feet as I tried to steady my swaying body, my head resting against the brick wall. The cool breeze tore my clothing, causing my body to shudder from the cold. Cold….so cold. Why? How come I can't summon any fire? My hand pressed against my side, feeling the warm, crimson liquid seep from between my fingers. I was certain that I had left behind a blood trail, but I could care less. The demons were dead, and somehow, I knew I was dying too.
The feeling frightened me, confused me. I had fought many demons before yet this battle seemed tougher than usual. It was almost if my entire body was working at half power, that the strength I always had was sapped away by something. Pushing off the grimy, brick wall, I continued down the alley, the walk seeming much longer. Trudging along, my boots barely making any progress, darkness crept in at the edges of my vision but I fought it off. I had to get to my car. My phone was there and I could easily call for help. But I didn't make it that far.
No longer feeling the brick wall against my side, I stumbled into the road. Light blinded my vision. I tried to raise an arm to shield my face from the brightness but my muscles wouldn't cooperate. Suddenly I felt the cold asphalt against the side of my face. I had fallen. When? Could've sworn I was just standing a few minutes ago... And the lights had grown even brighter. Even when I closed my eyes, I could still see the blinding white.
Tires screeched loudly, and I awaited my death. Honestly, this wasn't how I imagined myself dying. The way I imagined myself leaving this world was with my siblings fighting for what we believed in. I came into this world kicking and screaming, covered in someone else's blood, and that was how I planned on leaving it. Or living to the ripe old age with my however great grandchildren, since you know, immortality and what not. But Fate is cruel, and my life would end with me bleeding out on the street like roadkill. I mean I was covered in blood that consisted of mine and of someone else's so I suppose that worked. Only thing was, I didn't want to be run over. It would be better for a quicker, less painful death.
As I waited for the impact, I soon realized that it would never come. Instead, I felt warm hands against my cold face, something that I welcomed, and people gasping. In my blood deprived state, I could barely make out two voices, both female. And something about 'demons' and 'attack'. I tried to focus on the voice that kept telling me to stay awake, but sleep was starting to feel really nice right about now. Sleep would help me escape the pain, and hopefully the cold. With my vision fading and strength slowly ebbing away, my last glance before finally giving into the darkness that weighed down on my weary body was a face of a teenaged girl with blonde hair and blue eyes.
Tire wheels screeched to a stop just as a body fell before the vehicle. The driver and passenger doors of the car opened quickly, two females with blonde hair rushed out and surrounded the body that collapsed in front of the car. The younger woman, a teenager with bright blues, gasped in horror as she slowly rolled the body over. It was a woman, barely breathing, with black hair matted from blood and clothes torn almost to shreds. The elder woman had run back to the car and returned with a first aid kit, handing it to the teen before walking around the perimeter in search of something to help them identify the fallen woman.
As the teen began to wrap the woman up as best as she could, the woman's body shifted and a groan left her.
"We have to take you to a hospital," The teen urged, closing the first aid kit.
She had done the best she could do considering she wasn't a doctor. But the woman on the ground shook her head feebly,
"No…," She rasped out, trying to stand, "they won't know what to do. In my car...my phone. I have...a friend…," She winced in pain as she tried to sit up, the teen trying to help her, ignoring the blood that had already begun to stain her pink dress.
"Mom!" The teen called out.
Her mother appeared, holding a phone to her ear. The phone wasn't hers, rather it was the woman's. The mother had found it on the driver's seat of the car and had dialed the contact 'Doctor'. Eyebrows creased together, the older woman nodded her head then hung up, walking quickly to her daughter who was holding up the half-conscious woman.
"We are going to take her to her friend. He said that he'll be able to help her and isn't that far from where we are," She explained, moving to the woman's other side and helping her daughter support her.
Carefully, the two maneuvered the half-dead woman to her car. The teen's mother had decided that they would take her car, or she assumed it was her car since her things had been in it. It was better than using their own car since the inside would be covered in blood, and after they dropped the woman at her friend's, they could come back and retrieve their car. Gently the two maneuvered the injured woman's body, placing her onto the backseat of the Mustang. Moving quickly, the teen got into the front passenger side as her mother got into the driver's seat. Luckily for them, the woman had decided to leave an extra set of keys in the glove compartment. And within minutes, they were speeding towards the location given to them by her friend. Fortunately for the trio, there was no one to catch them speeding.
The dark purple Mustang pulled up in front of a private practice clinic. A skeptical look crossed the mother's face, but seeing a figure approaching the car in what seemed to be scrubs made her sigh in relief. Her daughter was already out of the car, opening the door and helping the man get the unconscious woman out. Adjusting his grip on his friend, he slid an arm beneath her legs and wrapped one around her torso.
"Child, I will need you to get the red bag in the trunk of her car. And please do it quickly, I will need to work fast if I want to save her," Worry was clear in the man's voice as he stared down at the pale woman's face. Something was off about his friend, but he couldn't quite figure it out.
Meanwhile, the teen's mother told her daughter that she would return shortly, she was going to get their car. Nodding her head, the teen grabbed hold of the bag and lifted it out of the trunk. The bag was surprisingly heavy, and every time she moved, she heard a faint sloshing sound from within. Shaking her head to rid her wandering mind of the horrid ideas that started forming, she hurried after the doctor, being careful not to trip. Entering the office, she followed the sound of someone speaking. Then saw a nurse exit the room in a hurry, blood staining the pristine white uniform she wore, no doubt to get more bandages. Half running, half walking, she made her way into the room, her face going pale at the sight before her.
The woman they had saved was in worse condition that she expected. Long gashes of varying depth and length covered a toned body painted with different shades of red. The floor was covered in bloody gauzes and the remnants of the woman's clothes. However, she did notice that the coat was hanging on a rack, and beneath that was a weapon. As the nurse took the bag from her hands, the teen moved to the side, blue eyes focused on the weapon that appeared to look like a gun.
'She...she was attacked by demons...does that mean that she's like them?' The teen thought to herself; her gaze slowly moving upwards to watch what was going on.
The doctor had hooked an IV to the woman's arm, a blood bag hanging up on a pole, and was still cleaning the blood off her body. Another nurse had appeared and had brought a trash can near to pick up the gauzes littering the ground, then set to work helping the doctor. Time ticked by as the three of them worked quickly, stitching up the woman and cleaning off the blood. The teen's mother had returned, but the young blonde was too busy worrying and hoping, that the woman would be alright.
In what seemed like forever, the doctor turned to face the mother and daughter. His face was grim, and the spotless scrubs he wore were now covered in the woman's blood.
"Is she going to be alright?" The teen asked, her hands wringing the fabric of her dress.
The man sighed, closing her eyes and running a hand through his brown hair, effectively messing them up, "I managed to stabilize her. I'm grateful that you called me when you did. If you hadn't, I believe she would have died,," he then cast an amused glance over his shoulder at the sleeping woman. "But, Angel's a fighter and I doubt she would have died that easily."
"Her name is Angel?" The mother asked, earning her a nod from the doctor.
"I'm a little late on the introductions, but I had a patient to tend to. I am Raphael," He extended his hand to the mother, who took it and shook his hand.
"I'm Nina. A pleasure to meet you," The older blonde woman with green eyes smiled at him.
"And I'm Patty!" The teen smiled at Raphael, who chuckled and smiled down at her.
"Well, she should be up in about a week. However, you are welcome to stop by anytime. She is in good hands now," Raphael crossed his arms, smiling at the two blonde women before him.
"Well, we should get going Patty," Nina urged, smiling at Raphael once more before ushering her daughter out of the clinic.
The young blonde pouted, but followed her mother's urging. Once the clinic was empty, save for the doctor and his assistants cleaning up, the smile upon Raphael's face dropped, worry etching itself upon his tanned skin. Turning around, he walked over to the bedside where the woman known as Angel laid. Staring down at her sleeping, bandaged face, he sighed.
"Angel, I do not know what you got yourself into, but I hope you will be alright," He muttered, brushing back her ebony locks from her forehead before returning to the task of cleaning the room.
"Hmmm…" A light hum escaped the short haired woman as she inspected the alleyway.
Blood was splattered everywhere and there were visible bullet holes in the brick, but no bullet casings. Uncrossing her arms, she picked her way carefully through the corpse-ridden, and blood soaked passage. Following the trail, she stopped at the entrance of the alleyway, her gaze focusing on the particularly large blood puddle in the middle of the road. Now her curiosity piqued. Someone, or thing, had decided to get rid of the little demon infestation problem near the bank.
"There might be another demon on the loose, or another hunter. Regardless, I should let him know," She spoke out loud, then turned around.
With her bike roaring to life, she headed towards the direction of the ever famous shop, Devil May Cry.
*A/N: Carissima is the female form of Carissimo, which means 'dearest' in Italian.