I am having some sort of a flow. I hope you don't mind me sharing it with you.

Have fun!

AG

Chapter Three

»Tom!«

He'd been already on his way to the stairs, but when a well-known female voice called out his name he jumped around startled and stared at the ghost. At least he hadn't seen any trace of Alex for 25 years.

»Geez, you've aged!«

»Sure I 'ave.« He angled his head. »I'm mortal.«

Alex ran to him and embraced him. He stiffened slightly not really being used to that anymore. »I was scared that I can't find you. That you…« She grabbed his head and forced him to look at her. »That you have… died. When I decided to stay with Hal, I didn't know that it meant imprisonment, too. That I would have to be there forever.«

Tom only nodded and stepped away from her. »Bastards told me after. I could 'na get you back, for they did 'na tell me where you are. But you found…«

»I need your help. You have to be quick. I don't understand it. I always thought vampires can't go to church.« Tom frowned. »They came. They took him. They want to bring him back.« She took hold of Tom's arm. »You know what that means. HE will come back too. We have to stop it.«

»It's too late for that«, someone said.

Both turned to face Ainin. She stepped down the stairs, appearing stable. Simon came down behind her, a big question mark on his face. He secured the gun and put it back into his holster.

»He was brought back already. I saw it. Though I fear it wasn't one of the usual dreams I have of him.«

»You dream of Hal?« Alex asked perplexed.

»Is that his real name?«

»Actually it's Henry of York. But he prefers to be called Hal«, Tom explained.

»What is this all about?« Ainin frowned. »You know him?«

Alex lifted a brow. »That so calls for a house meeting.«

Hal stared at the I-Pad Loris had handed him. He wasn't that far lost not to know what to do with it. He scrolled down the folder.

Ainin Grey

Born on the 1st of November 2006 in London. Her parents Joseph and Natasha Grey. Elder brother Elijah.

He had killed them 25 years ago. Lucifer had made him kill them to get to the child, hadn't he?

Hal knew that he could only 50 percently stick to that. The bloodlust was always there; would always be there. But it broke free easier with someone kicking the chains in your head you've built to keep that hunger at bay. But could someone really be starving oneself? A never-ending question. Even after more than 500 years Hal wasn't certain about the answer. It was in everyone's nature to stay alive. So maybe the the solution lay somewhere else. He'd caught glimpses of it in the past, but always misused it. The thrill of the hunt. The thrill of the kill. Being God. Deciding who was allowed to live, who had to die. Maybe the bloodlust was just a freaky substitute for another addiction. A heavier one. The one that had been built throughout his live. The addiction to power.

Having been born as the son of a whore with an unknown father. Back in the 15th century not a very good start for a child, down at the bottom of social society. Pushed around. Mocked. Hurt. Very early little Henry had learned to fight. If he could not suppress them with his status, he'd still been able to do it with his fist. Blood on his knuckles, the opponent laying on the ground and the satisfying emotions along with it, exploding in his head.

Hal remembered what Fergus had once said, though the other had not known that he'd heard it. The only demon worse than him was the one he ran away from. Sometimes Hal had even chased him. And now they found each other. The one who wanted to rule and the one who knew the how.

Hal exhaled. Maybe everything wasn't coincidence after all. He turned back to the screen.

After the tragic death a family friend had taken Ainin in. Brendan MacAran. A cleric. The child had been raised in a convent. Finally converted. She had taken the veil with 21. A servant of God. A nun. 5 years ago her steps became hazy.

Hal scrolled down the list. She had killed a lot of his kind. A fierce she-warrior she was. That attracted the vampire and the devil. Perfect unison. Was it really that simple? Was he so easy to read? Did it always repeat itself? The liking for the strong? The defiant? All the women… a radiating strength. Something that had always caught his interest. Chasing them, seducing them and finally breaking down the potential to a whimpering heap of madness.

Lucifer kept quiet. But Hal knew he listened in. That gave the term: conversations with my inner self, a complete different meaning. Another sigh. This time it wasn't Hal's. He opened the other folder.

Thomas McNair

There was less in it than in Ainin's. Hal knew more. The memory somehow calmed him. But Tom had left that path. Finally he had revolved again. He'd become what his father had not wanted him to be. A shadow. Lying low. Always primed. A hunter. A killer. Ainin's protector? He'd been with Alex back them. He must have known. About the house. About the murder. Had he sought Ainin to watch over her? Hal liked the idea of it.

He closed the folder and opened up the web. As Lucifer he was eager to know how the world had changed and how he could use it.

»What did I miss?« An audible pause. »Oh, Hello, there… ghost girl. I am Nate.«

Alex turned to the man that spoke. Mid-Thirties, tall, muscular, handsome and way too pale. A ghost, too. God, he had eyes to drown in and his voice had the vibrating tune of a lover's igniting caress. When she became aware that she gaped, she closed her mouth and stretched out her hand. »Alex Millar. I've been proper dead for... damn, what year ist it?«

Nate frowned. »Uhm, 2038.«

»Geez…« Alex was shocked. »That sometimes happens when you're caged in. I am astonished I didn't lose my mind. Though I am already dead. Could that happen to me at least?«

»What's this fuss about?« Spencer entered the library. »Something going on?«

Tom sighed. »Get the rest. We need ta talk.«

It didn't take much of time until they all were gathererd in the library. Alex noticed that Nate stood close to her. Well, he just newly ghosted. She must be quite an attraction to him.

»Out with it now!« Ainin insisted and looked at Tom. »Tell us. What is going on? And what makes me a part of it?«

»We lived together in this house in Barry.« It was Alex who spoke, for Tom didn't make any sign to start. »Tom, the werewolf, me, the ghost and Hal, the vampire. He is old. Counting the time I have missed about close to 540 years now. He'd been on cold turkey though he fell back again. None of us can actually know about that struggle, the temptation of blood.« She lifted a hand when Tom wanted to say something. »You only go bonkers once a month. The rest of the time you are normal. So don't judge. Plus that's not the point.«

»And what is the point, Alex?« Nate asked.

»The point is motivation. Back in 2012 we had a quarrel with the devil.«

It took some time until she could speak again because of all the others comenting whether to believe that or not and some different thoughts, too.

»I spare you the details. But least it ended up with Hal binding the devil to himself.«

»He thought he could take on Lucifer?« Geoffrey the monk asked. »This guy definitely has ego issues.«

»He was my friend«, Tom eventually said. »He still is. So shut it.« He got up and walked around. »Hal could not walk free so we made a deal.«

»A deal with whom?« Simon wanted to know.

»Heaven.«

»Or something alike. Doesn't matter«, Alex stepped in. »Hal was locked in a coffin made of ebony and drenched in werewolf blood. Some crazy symbols were carved into it too. Never understood that anyway. He was held away from the world. How it should be.«

»And you?« Nate looked at her.

»I stayed with him. How could I not? He was about to face eternity with the devil rummaging through his head. I could not abandon him. Unfortunately the lock down meant exactly that. Lock down. I was trapped with him for the past 25 years.«

»But he is free now. That's what you say. That's why you are here.« Spencer faced Alex.

»They broke the spells. But how?«

»The world has changed, Alex«, Nate turned to her. »The vampires have risen out of the dark. They are part of the world now and tearing the layers of belief into shreds. The balance is shifting.«

»Oh my God.« She gaped. Then her expression turned to anger. »I really wish we could have killed freaking old Nick back then.«

»You can't kill the Devil«, Simon said. »That's like you'd try to kill God. It is just not possible. It doesn't mean that what you did was for nothing. It always comes down to the ones who dare to look and take the stand.«

»So narrowing it down«, Geoffrey mused. »We can't hurt this Hal. Least of all kill him, because that sets the Devil free again to roam along and find another host, a weaker one to fall to his charm. But we have to do something. He might be able to restrain the evil, but for how long can he cope? You said…« He looked from Tom to Alex. »That he's a 540 year old vampire. You don't get that old by playing nice. What if he starts to enjoy it? What if he decides to embrace the Devil?«

»That's why…« Tom spoke. »We have to lay Hal ta rest again. We have to get the coffin. I doubt t'was destroyed. He can't walk free.« He rubbed his face, fighting exhaustion and sadness.

»That's not the only way«, Ainin sighed. »We can still try to save your friend.«

»Why would you?« Alex asked her.

»It's somehow there. You care.«

»An excorsim?« Geoffrey eyed her.

»A have spent a lot of time in the convent's library. I have red a lot of books. We can banish the devil and sent him back to hell.«

»And how are we supposed to do that?« Nate frowned. »He definitely won't walk right trough this door.«

»Perhaps you're wrong. Perhaps he exactly does that. There is a connection between me and him. I can't say if it's the vampire or the devil part in him. I saw him. He saw me.«

»But how, Nin?« Spencer glared. »How ist hat possible?«

»I don't know. And I admit it scares me.« She looked at Simon. »And sorry for the attack. It just happened in that moment. I was there. I saw him rise. I saw the nun he killed to feed. And then he looked at me and smiled. I know I'm not going crazy.«

»You said you dream about him«, Alex pointed out.

Ainin nodded. »Yes, I do. The dreams are weird. The images shift as reality shifts. It's not that I am just standing there watching what happens. I am in it. I feel everything. I feel him.« Ainin hesitated and took a deep breath before she went on: »We have met before. I've just been a child. All the blood. The house was covered in it. I was covered in it when I fell. Someone came. Someone saved me and… Tom, what's it?«

»T'was you. T'was always you. Why d'ya think I came to you? I have followed your life. Hal was it. He killed your family. I am so sorry. We did' na know why he went to your house. Why he choose your family. So maybe t'was na him. Maybe t'was Lucifer. You mean something. You are important. Some sorta freaky bond.«

»That would explain your dreams«, Geoffrey said.

»So you're implying what I'm really seeing and feeling is the devil hosted by your friend?« She drew in a heavy breath. »But what kind of interest could the Devil have in me?«

»Maybe he's afraid of you«, Nate just said and smiled wearily. »Evil always seeks to avoid you. And when it decides to collide it always gets the short end of the stick. You are pure light. Forgive the cheesiness but you are. So he wants to pull you in. You are a nun, Nin. You love God. You serve him. So what kind of slap would that be in the face of his? Think of it, Nin.«

Ainin closed her eyes. »I saw Hal being brought back again. He knows I saw him. And now he'll come after me. I have faced vampires before. But the Devil in tow?«

»A tiny advantage we have.« Alex smiled voraciously. »I am rooted in Tom and Hal. Being Devil struck or not I can find him everywhere. So let's get prepared, boys. Let's get the coffin and then kick Lucifer's ass. And this time for real. I am not losing friends anymore.«