Chapter 1

*Two Years Later*

"Oh, God, five months of this." A soldier in the United States army told his fellow soldiers as the Osprey flew over the desert. "I can't wait to get a little taste of home. A plate of Mama's alligators etouffee."

A black man in a red army beret sighed exasperatedly. "You've been talking about barbecued gators and crickets for the last two weeks. I'm never going to your mama's house, Fig. I promise."

"But Bobby, Bobby, gators have the most succulent meat."

Bobby Epps rolled his eyes as Fig rambled off in Spanish. "I understand."

A man with brown hair spoke up. "English, please. English." Captain William Lennox smiled at his team. "I mean, how many times have we… We don't speak Spanish. I told you that."

"Why you got to ruin it for me, man? That's my heritage." Fig motioned to the dirty blonde nearest to the opening. "Mike understands me. Mikey gets me."

Michael Parks rolled his eyes. "I understand you. Doesn't necessarily mean I enjoy listening to gibberish."

Lennox shrugged his shoulders and groaned as Fig rambled off again. "Go with the Spanish. Whatever." A nerdy soldier with glasses popped his gum and everyone glanced at Donnelly.

"Hey, you guys remember weekends? Huh? The Sox at Fenway." He leaned back in his seat and smiled. "Cold hot dog and a flat beer. Perfect day."

Fig pointed at his superior. "What about you, Captain? You got a perfect day?"

Lennox grinned sheepishly, suddenly very interested in his boots. "I just can't wait to hold my baby girl for the first time."

"Aw… that's adorable."

The Captain blushed and playfully growled at his teammates. "Shut up. Besides, you haven't asked Parks over there yet."

Michael stuck his chin up and proudly stated, "Can't wait to be back with my family hunting down sons of bitches and gank as I can."

Bobby slapped him on the shoulder and laughed. "Oh yeah. I forgot you were a hunter. What's your favorite things to catch?" Michael smiled and soon the Osprey filled with the joking soldiers landed at a base in Qatar.

Michael and Lennox split up with Epps as Epps took off towards the basketball court. "Hey, any of y'all grow some balls you can see me on the court, man." He ran up to the net and shot. "Watch this crossover, baby. Just like Jordan in his prime, pushing through the front line."

Will and Michael smiled at each other and sat down on a makeshift bench, as a young boy ran up. "Lennox!"

"Hey, what are you doing?" The boy held up a bag of water and Will took it graciously. "Thank you."

Michael slapped the kid on the shoulder. "Are you gonna help with the gear?"

A few hours later found Michael outside a tent waiting for his captain to finish his own video call. Since he and his family had crash landed on earth, he found they could condense their bipedal forms into a human form, that looked eerily like their holoform. They assumed it was because of one of Alex's abilities, but didn't question the gift. "Michael." Lennox exited the tent looking confused. "The signal just went out. What's going on?"

The lieutenant shook his head and the two grabbed their guns. As an unknown helicopter touched ground on the airbase, the team was ready, but Michael's stomach was knotting up. Something wasn't right.

His suspicions were confirmed as the blades stopped spinning and jerked back. The rest of the chopper broke apart and reformed into a taller shape. His team began to fire on the decepticon. Michael tapped the edge of his sunglasses twice and a visor whirred to life, scanning the surrounding chaos. Lennox, a young boy, Fig, and Donnelly were hiding behind a tank, and Epps was below Blackout, getting an infrared photo. Michael saw Blackout lift his arm towards the tank and blow it up, leaving his team defenseless and without a way to get away. In a split second he made a decision and transformed.

His body exploded, and he quickly stood just as tall the decepticon, with pale green and tan camo armor. He saw his team's shock for a split second before he was on the 'con. It was like slipping into a seamless dance after years of forgetting it. The rush and adrenaline. How he missed this.

Blackout dropped something from his chest and bid a quick retreat. Michael quickly transformed down into his GMC sierra form and opened his doors for his team. "I'll explain as soon as we're safe. Just get in."

*Alex's POV*

"Red, I'm heading out!" Cade grunted and tossed me my backpack as he walked out the door to his new alt mode, a mustang police car, which suited his day job.

"Alex!" Red Alert stuck his head into the room and called. "Do you have your project? I had to help you write that thing."

I nodded, still nervous about the family genealogy report. Since hunters were recognized two years ago as soldiers fighting a different kind of war, we had to be careful. There were a couple of people – such as my close friend and his family – who knew what we did, but today I would tell my class.

"Good. You coming back here after school?"

"Yes." A green Porsche honked from in front of the house and Ron and Sam called. "Coming! – See ya later, Red. Say hi to Hardwire when he calls!"

I ran down the steps and jumped into the backseat, smiling at the other passengers, and plugging in my headphones. Sam and I split up at first period, with me going to AP calc and him trig. For the most part, I ignored my teacher, already knowing this information. Instead, I listened to my music as it blasted over my earbuds.

Don't tell me that it's over when I'm just getting started
I'm done with waiting for them 'cause my ship has departed
And I can't slow it down, no
No I can't slow it down, no

First, second, and third period went by well, and lunch approached. I smiled at Ms. Rene as she handed me my tray, complete with homemade spaghetti and a piece of bread. She always made the best food. Miles joined Sam and I outside under a tree for lunch and we joked about the latest TV show updates. To soon for my liking, the bell rang, and Sam and I went to fourth period – Physics.

Mr. Stoner wasn't here yet, so we quickly grabbed two front seats near the edge of the classroom. There was only six kids in this class, everyone else choosing to take AP bio, chem, or anatomy. Devin, a fellow archer and senior, started rambling and two of the other kids – whose names I didn't bother memorizing – began a fight in the back of the classroom. When Mr. Stoner walked in fifteen minutes later, he broke up the fight, wrote each boy a demerit, and sent them to office, leaving no time for a lesson. I spent the entire fifth period drawing. I could feel myself growing nervous as I walked with Sam into sixth period.

"Relax, Alex."

"Don't tell me to relax." I hissed at the poor boy. "That's the last thing I can do."

He sat down and smiled. "It's not anything that'll massively screw up your life – no biggie."

I gawked at the brown-haired boy. "No biggie!?" I dropped my avengers bag next to the desk beside Sam. "I'm revealing to my classmates what me and my family do for a living and telling the world that I am basically the daughter of the Devil!"

"It's not like you don't act like it anyways." I growled, and Sam audibly gulped. He was saved, however, as the biggest douchebag in the school, Trent DeMarco, tripped me and I faceplanted on the floor. I froze, and the rest of the class laughed.

"Asshat." I hauled myself up and forced myself to sit in my seat. "I'm so gonna scrap him one day. Use him as a mop for my toilet bowls."

The bell rang, and Mr. Hosney lifted his 'Quiet' sign. "First up for presentation is… Alexa Travers." He set his paper down and sighed. "Make it quick."

I brought my bag to the front of the room and wiped my sweaty hands on my jeans. "Hi. I want to start off by saying that everything I brought has been checked out by the school first, so you're safe." About a third of the class laughed at the joke. "Seventeen years ago, a girl was born in a small hospital room with no father. Her mother wanted nothing to do with her but took her home anyway. Her life went normal enough, until her fifth birthday. In her dreams that night, her father visited her, told her about abilities she would gain over time and began to train her, take care of her.

So, every night, Alex would visit her father in her dreams, in a cage made of the bones of a monster, dripping with the blood of thousands of souls, in the deepest parts of hell. But the girl never felt any of the malice of the Pit. No, her father protected her. Lucifer kept her safe, and the fallen angel, once a part of the heavenly host, loved his daughter." I could see the class was doubting my story. "However, life grew harder for Alex in the waking world. Her mother grew angrier and Alex, more desperate. Finally, at the age of ten, she found an outlet. A neighbor moved in down the road, and through trial and error, began to train the young girl as a hunter of the supernatural."

Someone in the back scoffed, but everyone else looked interested, on the edge of their seats in anticipation. "At the age of twelve she met three men, who would later become her family, and together the four are able to rid Alex's mother of the demon that possessed her – but at the cost of the mother's life. The thee men took care of Alex, giving her a home and the family continued in the hunting life. Lucifer ended contact mysteriously with his daughter at the age of fifteen and hasn't been heard from since. Two weeks ago, seventeen-year old Alexa Travers approached her history teacher, Mr. Hosney, - "The class laughed, and Mr. Hosney held up his sign. – "And said, "I don't know anything about my mom's side and my dad is a fallen angel – can I do me instead?" to which he replied, "as long as it's in third person." And here I am now." I spread my arms, and everyone was quiet. Reaching into my bag, I continued. "I have a couple of the weapons we use as hunters, such as a demon knife, my 9mm – unloaded, of course, - and wooden stake. I also have my angel blade given to me by my father before he stopped calling and a small vial of dead man's blood. Any questions?"

Three hands shot up right off the bat, and I called on the one closest to the front. "The hunter thing is easier to believe because of how the government came out last year, but is father really Lucifer?"

"Yes, but there is no way to show you for sure unless you want your eyes burned out of your heads. An angel's, or even half angel's, true form is too large and bright for the mortal eye." I called on the next person.

"Do you really love your dad? He is the devil."

"Misinterpretation. He hates that name. I do love him, because he cares for me, but I do not condone his attitude towards humans. Next."

"What is the blood for?"

"Easy – vampires. Nothing you've heard about them are true. They don't sparkle. They do sleep in the day, but they can be easily woken. They don't get hurt in the sun. Garlic, stake to the heart, none of it will kill it and it looks like a normal human. The blood incapacitates it long enough to cut off its head."

I packed my bag up, releasing a deep breath I didn't realize I was holding and smiled. Mr. Hosney handed me my paper and I choked. A+.

Sam grabbed my arm as I sat back down at my desk. "They may not all believe your story, but hey, they aren't rioting."

I snorted. "I should have brought my sign with me – it says, 'no pitchforks allowed'" It was a white sign that Barricade gave me for my sixteenth birthday. It had an image of a pitchfork and a torch with a black line through them and the words 'no pitchforks allowed' written below. Sam smiled and grabbed his own bag, making his way up front.

As I expected, Sam caved in the first five minutes.

"So, for my family genealogy report, I decided to do my great-great-grandfather, who was a famous man, Captain Archibald Witwicky. In fact, he was one of the first to explore the Arctic circle," Sam held up a map. "which was a big deal. In 1897, he took 41 brave sailors straight into the Arctic shelf."

A headache started to form as my vision flashed and I saw snow and ice and I heard voices. "Move faster, men… Chop faster… No sacrifice, no victory!" And as fast as it came, I was back in the classroom. I rubbed my eyes and wondered if I was going crazy.

"So that's the story, right?" Sam smiled and set down his map. "And here we have some of the basic instruments and tools used by nineteenth century seamen." He began to point out all the junk on the table. "This is the quadrant, which you can get for eighty bucks."

I rolled my eyes as he went off on that tangent. We talked about this, Sam.

"It's all for sale, by the way." I debated throwing my pencil at him to get him to shut up. "like the sextant here. Fifty dollars for this, which is a bargain." He set those down and lifted his grandfather's glasses and looked through them. "These are pretty cool. These are my grandfather's glasses. I haven't quite gotten them appraised yet, but they have seen many cool things."

"Such as a giant ice man, apparently." I muttered into my hand, having already heard this story.

Mr. Hosney had had enough and snapped at Sam. "Are you going to sell me his liver?" He would if he could, buddy. "Mr. Witwicky, this is the twelfth grade. I don't think your grandfather would be particularly proud of what you're doing."

"I know. I'm sorry. I just, you know, this is all going to my car fund." Shut up, Samuel. "You can tell your folks. It's on eBay. I take . Cold hard cash works, too."

"Sam!"

"Sorry." He held up two older pictures. "Unfortunately, my great-great-grandfather, the genius that he was, wound up going blind and crazy in a psycho ward, drawing these strange symbols and babbling on about some giant ice man that he'd discovered." The bell rang, effectively cutting off Sam's presentation.

Mr. Hosney swung his seat. "Okay. Might be a pop quiz tomorrow. Might not." He pointed at the disappearing students. "Sleep in fear tonight."

I swung my bag onto my back and slapped Sam on the shoulder, pointing outside. "I'll be going now. Call me when you get the car." He gave me a thumbs up. "And you're taking me to that party tonight. I don't feel like pulling up in a police car again."

I paused as walked out the door and turned back. "No failing, Sam. The weight of the world is on your shoulders. Don't blow it." My straight face fell, and I started chortling. Sam was so easy to mess with.

I stepped out of the school doors and ran a few steps before I threw down my skateboard and rolled down the sidewalk. I plugged in my earbuds in my earbuds and smiled, by board bouncing with every crack it ran over.

I'm gonna make you bend and break
Say a prayer but let the good times roll
In case God doesn't show

I bobbed my head as the beat picked up and I waved at couple of kids from the archery team. Colby was leaning against his girlfriend and Jason called out. "You coming to practice tomorrow morning?"

"Wouldn't miss it!" I laughed.

One night and one more time
Thanks for the memories
Even though they weren't so great
"He tastes like you only sweeter,"

Coming up on the stairs exiting the school's campus, I pushed down on the back of the board and hung in the air. I hit the ground and whooped loudly. Hardwire would be back this week and we could find a couple of ghosts to go after this weekend.

One night, yeah, and one more time (one more night, one more time)
Thanks for the memories, thanks for the memories (thanks for the memories, thanks for the memories)
"see, he tastes like you only sweeter." (oh)

Smiling, I nodded to the music. Yep, I couldn't wait till Hardwire got back and we could go for a hunt this weekend. I missed it.