Chapter VI: Ice and Darkness

It was around eleven at night that the building quieted down entirely. The lights were all off, except the table-top light on the front counter that shed a soft yellow light around the large lobby. Roy was in his cat form, curled next to one of the heating shafts along the wall. He seemed to be sleeping deeply. Having worked all day, the djinn now stayed true to his feline nature by wanting a warm place to snug down onto and sleep. Tess had been counting on that when she told Dante about going to check the park out. She was certain that after the last escapade, the only way he wasn't going to get involved and possibly ruin their venturing, would be for them to sneak out. Although Dante honestly didn't care about the djinn, upon thinking about it better he had to agree.

That's all he could discern from the top of the stairs as he peeked downwards to the lobby. He closed his door quietly and making sure he took his keys with him this time, Dante looked out the dark hallway, then gently walked across the hardwood floor to Tess' room. She had told him to walk quietly so that Roy wouldn't know they were up to something and rain any more of his fury down on them. His sword was secured to his back while his trademark handguns were tucked in the back of his pants and hidden by his coat. He was coming fully prepared this time. He quietly knocked on Tess' door. He couldn't wait to get outside. Normally he might not have cared whether she came or not, but he needed her to take him to that park and she seemed to become aware of certain things sooner than he did.

Besides, things somehow seemed to become more interesting with her around.

Tess opened her door suddenly and quietly and stepped out. She was wearing sturdy, slightly fitting jeans and a thick, baggy black hoodie under a denim jacket, a deep red and black scarf and her hair was tightly tied in a ponytail high on her head.

"Come on. Let's get out before Roy or Grams catch wind of us. I got something to tell you too," she said lowly and made for the stairs, on her tip toes. Dante noticed she was pretty stealthy and knew exactly which steps and boards creaked and avoided them. "We can't use the fire-escape; it's covered with ice. We'd either just fall right off and break out necks or wake everyone trying to thaw the ladder enough to go down."

Dante just shrugged and followed close behind as she led him downstairs. He was very careful not to make any noise and watched carefully which boards she avoided. He couldn't wait to get out to the park tonight, especially, because he was almost guaranteed a good fight. Besides, it might be a good chance to test what he'd learned from Roy during their little spar.

The djinn in question was still sleeping in his corner. He shuffled and bellowed softly in his sleep, then twitched his ears as Tess made her way lightly down the stairs and past the sleeping cat, on her toes almost. Dante stared at the cat a little warily as he made his way past him too, very quietly. She headed for the back door leading to the back yard and gestured to him to follow.

"Not the front door, the draft will wake him up," she whispered to Dante and opened the back door gently and pulled him out before shutting it quietly.

The weather outside had turned to the worse; it was windy, cold and in fact, it had been snowing heavily since dinner-time as well. The snow had settled in a thin layer, but was growing thicker. The flakes drifted to the ground in clusters, without melting and the wind made them dance a little.

Dante was pretty relieved to be outside. The cold was refreshing, but he knew that unless they started moving, it was going to turn uncomfortable. He looked at the dark, cloudy sky, chuckled and opened his mouth, catching several flakes on his tongue. Seeing him do that, Tess chuckled and held out her hand to watch some flakes land softly on it.

Soon he was following Tess again, still muttering "What did you want to tell me?"

Tess unlocked the back fence door and held it open for him to go through so she could lock it up again. She seemed frustrated as she bolted it from the outside.

"I tried to tell Grams about what's going on and what we saw the other day. I'm convinced something is wrong and that people are being killed because of it. We've got to do something while it's still early. But she wouldn't listen to a thing, stubborn old hag. She keeps insisting that we should stay out of all this. How can I stay out of all this when I keep getting these...these visions? I don't care if everyone thinks I'm just going crazy. I want them to stop. I want her to stop calling me crazy," she said, and locked the fence with a loud snapping sound. "Unless you think I'm crazy too."

Dante smirked. "Of course I think you're crazy. I like it. Now let's go! Where's that park?"

She let a small laugh at his attitude but she seemed to appreciate that he took her seriously. They'd barely reached the main street when suddenly, a very strong and cold wind caught up with them. Dante just frowned but Tess blurted a little yelp and shrugged against her jacket and scarf. She muttered something about underestimating just how cold it was.

"No time to go back inside. I'll just have to tough it out," she said and Dante thought he heard her teeth chatter. "Come on-"

Dante put his hand on her shoulder to stop her. "Wait."

She stood, puzzled, as he took his sword off his back and stuck its tip into the ground. He removed his heavy coat, already warm from his body heat and draped it over her stiff shoulders. He was wearing a thick black sweater with a snug turtle-neck, warm pants and gloves. He figured that being a fire-related witch, cold was just naturally bad for her.

Before she could object, he secured his sword to his back and with a small smirk said: "Too late. My sword's back on and I'm not taking it off again. Lead on."

Tess was left staring at him in surprise and then she blushed. She turned so red that her face seemed to be trying to match her hair.

"Uh...I-" she stuttered, a bit overwhelmed at his kindness and at how huge the coat was and didn't realize that her face was turning so red. She held up her arms and the sleeves trailed beyond her hands comically and she stared at them, perplexed.

Dante, amused by her look and her blushing, smiled widely. "Oh, I'm sorry, did I make you blush?" he chuckled. "Don't read too much into it, Twig. I know you love me, but I just don't wanna hear you complain."

Of course he was lying, and whether or not it showed, he didn't care either way. He held his arm out toward the street as if to say 'After you.'

She stared back with wide eyes, struggling to overcome her confusion and probably trying to control all that blushing. Then she squinted at him in contempt about his teasing and opened her mouth to say something, but she shut it immediately and shook her head in frustration.

"Thank you," she muttered.

She stomped ahead, pulling the coat on properly. It was way too big on her and her hands were still well into the sleeves while the bottom end dragged a bit on the snow as she walked. Her ponytail blended almost entirely against the coat. It was funny to see her walk angrily with that thing on…and kind of cute.

Dante laughed to himself as he followed closely and, wanting to add some fuel to the fire, suggested: "Just roll up the sleeves if you need. And it zips up if you're still cold."

He laughed again to himself. Doesn't she know you can't be taken seriously in over-sized clothes? Man,she really is puny.

He wasn't really cold enough to need his coat, as his regular clothes sufficed for him. Besides, he was so certain that they would get into a fight, he knew he'd get warmed up as soon as that started.

She frowned. "You don't have to make fun of me because I'm short. I could still kick your ass if I wanted," she huffed, as the next blast of wind made her hair whip around.

"I know. But I was serious about the sleeves and zipper," Dante said as they rounded another corner. Of course, he didn't buy into her confidence, but he let that slide. "So how much further?"

"A few blocks ahead," she replied. Her cheeks were still pretty pink but it was hard to tell whether it was because of the cold or whether she was still embarrassed. "Tell me something," she went on, hesitantly. "What's…what's the worst demon you've seen? If worse comes to worse, I'd rather know what I should be prepared for."

Dante was startled a little. Her question hit him harder than he thought it could've. Memories of the worst experience were still far too raw and came flooding in. He remembered everything so vividly, as if it was yesterday. He remembered his mother in panic, hiding him and his brother in a secret alcove of the wall. Then came the loud crashes and blinding light. Dante had peeked through a crack of the hiding place and saw three floating red orbs. His mother had resisted and then there was another blinding light, and his sight was filled with a horrible red. He had closed his eyes and resisted the urge to scream, paralyzed from fear. He'd tried to drown out the awful sounds from outside by focusing on Vergil's panicked breathing.

They didn't dare venture out for a long time—Dante actually had lost track of time. He thought they were trapped in there for years and years when it was likely no more than a few hours. It was well into the night when they emerged to a sight that no kid should ever see: A few strands of their mother's hair and blood were spattered against the wall, the floors, everywhere. Their home had been pretty much destroyed around them. He'd actually fought to wipe from his memory the goriest details of the event.

He shook his head briefly to snap out of it. His expression had instantly slipped into a very depressed look and he simply shrugged off the question, silently. He hadn't realized the flashback had made him stop walking. Tess was standing in front of him, looking upset. She had a strange expression on her face, as if she realized she'd triggered something bad. She hesitated and then her hand reached out from in the trailing sleeve of his coat and gently touched his hand, as if she was trying to shake him out of his daze. It was surprisingly warm and delicate.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say something to upset you. That was really tactless of me," she said quietly and stared at the ground, looking embarrassed.

He got the impression she wasn't just empathizing; she knew that kind of feeling. Somehow that bugged him, but he couldn't put his finger on it. He wondered whether she realized what she made him think of. Probably not.

Dante just shook his head and shrugged, taking his hand away from hers while feeling his face get a little hot. Was she getting all sentimental on him? He shut his eyes and walked passed her, saying "It's fine," in a completely cold manner.

When he was sure his back was facing her and she couldn't see his face, he quickly raised his hand to wipe his eyes before Tess caught up. The cold was excuse enough for red eyes and he slowed down his earlier strut so she could catch up.

Tess jogged after him. She sounded a little upset still about what her question caused. "I just wanted to know if you've seen anything like this. I'm starting to think there's some kind of pattern. Bloodgoyles like appearing where a lot of bloodshed has taken place and there's been quite a lot of violent crime that peaked all of a sudden around here. It's been pretty awful stuff, too. Any time they find someone who did these things, they're usually deemed mentally unstable--completely crazy. I just don't know what to think anymore."

Dante had recovered enough to reply in a deep but not hostile tone. "I think that there's only one big loony demon. He's probably using hosts or puppets to do his bidding so he can stay out of the fray. But I see the pattern too, with the Bloodgoyles. I think the perpetrators being possessed or turning into demons sort of act like beacons for them. Sounds like some kinda ritual to me."

Tess nodded. "Yeah, same here. But what would a rite like that be for? The manner they're conducted in doesn't fit with any ritual sacrifice rite, even the most 'gorefest' ones I know of. There's no method. There's no order. It's like the whole purpose is-"

"-to just end up with as much pointless carnage and mayhem as possible, right?" Dante finished her thought.

"Yes. I don't get it. I checked those runes and glyphs we saw, but they just don't make sense. Then there's the issue of that guy. I can tell when a human is possessed and he wasn't. But it was weird; his aura…was all screwed up! I don't know what that means, but it gives me the creeps to remember how it even looked. It's like he was turning into a demon."

Dante shrugged. "None of that really matters. Glyphs and runes, crazy lunatics, causes and excuses… All that matters is what is and that's all to it. If a fight's in order tonight, all the better, I'm lookin' forward to it."

The look in his eyes was harsh and cold, with a vengeful glee. He always felt good when he killed demons and he wasn't afraid to admit it. Though she saw it on his face and she looked a little taken aback judging from her frown, Dante quietly thanked her for perking up his motivation that evening.

"Still… I can't help feeling worried," she huffed. "Demons might be everyday occurrence for you, but in this case, it's the first time they've popped up around here in years."

Dante chuckled a bit. "You worry too much. We can deal with anything that happens."

She gave a lopsided smile, a bit embarrassed. "I guess. I'm not too sure about what I'll be able to do."

"Well you can always just duck for cover when the action starts…" Dante shrugged and she growled at him a little. "My target's that park, for now. I wanna see what you talked about for myself. Who knows, we might meet the big cheese tonight."

Another gust of icy, snow-filled wind attacked them. He put his head down to keep his face from it as best he could. Tess shrugged her shoulders and clutched his coat on herself, looking grateful he had let her have it. The cold wind lashed at their faces, the snowflakes hitting like needles. They finally reached the park, a large area normally full of green and trees, now mostly bare and barren, covered in snow. It was pretty large and surrounded by a handsome iron fence and low brick wall. There were a lot of trees, taller or shorter, some bare and others with leaves, all covered in a layer of snow, while a natural lake could be seen in the middle.

Tess smirked. "No Central Park, but it's actually kinda cool to hang around when the weather's better."

Dante took in the rather good-looking site. "It's better than that grocery store," he chuckled.

His mind wasn't really on the park; he was looking the place over for any signs of demons. He could almost feel their presence and taste the blood of the ensuing fight…and then it suddenly hit him. He was looking forward to some carnage a little too enthusiastically.

This is what Roy was talking about, he thought. Lose your temper and you lose your head.

He shook his head and brought his hand to his face for a second, composing himself. "Whoa. I should give that crazy familiar of yours more credit," he muttered.

"Yeah well, he is a gazillion years old," Tess replied absently, checking the fence for an easy place to climb over since the gates were locked. "Why, what'd he tell you? He likes to go Yoda sometimes."

Dante didn't want to admit that Roy actually had done so and sort of blew off the question. He jumped the short brick wall, climbed over the fence and dropped down into the park. The lake was dark and calm and a thin sheet of ice had begun forming over it.

Nothing unnatural and he huffed a bit. "So where do we start?"

Tess pulled back the sleeves of Dante's coat and climbed the brick wall, a little bit awkwardly because of the heavy clothing. "Starting from the lake and going around for a cursory look," she said as she jumped down. "It's right in the middle so it's a good starting point."

"That'll take ages!" Dante groaned. "Can't you use your freaky radar thing to narrow the field?" His hair got messed up at that last gust and he looked like he had just rolled out of bed.

"Try telling that to it directly, because I sure as hell can't," she replied, frustrated. Before she could say something more, she looked at the lake and then turned to an old structure that stood next to it, the remains of an old cathedral. Only a crumbling wall with some arched windows and an arch door remained standing from the old building. She frowned, looking at it.

"What is that?" Dante asked her.

"Roy told me once that the cathedral that stood there burned down in a big fire. Well before the Second World War, I think," she replied, backing up to him. "But something looks off." She shivered suddenly. "I can almost feel it. It's an awful, cold feeling…" she blurted.

Dante felt something too, but he wasn't as affected. It was a chilling sensation that crept up their spines, a cold fear that tried to force its way into their hearts. Trying to keep the situation from getting tense, Dante gave her a sideways look. "Hey, I gave you my coat. I don't care how cold you are, I'm not stripping! We're supposed to be hunting demons, not getting me naked!" he chuckled, taking the lead toward the old ruin.

He didn't understand what got her so upset. Things looked a bit fishy, but she seemed to be downright nervous. And then the wind died down suddenly.

Tess forgot about the cold and the bad feeling and just glared at him. "Wh-what! This is not normal cold, you dolt!" she snapped, stamping her foot down angrily but it looked kind of ridiculous with her arms in the trailing sleeves. "Who said I want to see you naked! I'm talking about cold that hurts and you know what can do that? Demons!" she called, following him with an angry pace. "You can't feel it because you are half-demon, but I sure as hell can!"

Dante spoke over his shoulder, amused. "Yeah, yeah, whatever. Keep denying your undying love for me and your plots to get me naked."

He smirked as he pressed on. It was amazingly amusing to pick on her like that, even if he didn't know how she really felt about him. Besides her occasional blushing, she never gave any signs to confirm such a thing, but she didn't show any signs to particularly deny it either. She was right about now though. Something definitely felt like it didn't belong. He just couldn't pin it down.

"I tell you, I feel like we're being watched!" Tess growled between her teeth and followed.

As they moved closer to the lake, a distant flapping sound suddenly got their attention, growing louder by the moment. Tess stopped and looked up. She let a gasp, rushed ahead and grabbed Dante's arm.

"Look!" she said, pointing to the sky.

Figures of red zipped about above them, diving down and flying over their heads with a deafening noise of shrieks, flaps and hurling wind, in one massive flock. The flying creatures were so many and so dense that they looked like one huge creature, with hundreds of mouths and claws.

Dante looked up as Tess blurted a sound of fright, seeing the creatures come in fast. He looked ahead and saw the dark red figures emerging from the ruins they had already zeroed on. As the swarm of red drew nearer, the true size of the flock became apparent.

Dante smirked. "Bloodgoyles!" he laughed and popped his knuckles. There were more of them than he'd ever seen. The amulet he wore awoke to a light pulse as the hellish birds drew closer and his excitement soared. He smiled in a twisted way and muttered "Let's rock!"

He detached himself from Tess, who still looked a little worried, but determined to hold her ground herself. As the flock swarmed overhead, Dante drew his handguns. He shot at them feverishly, the shots passing right through their bodies and blasting small holes in the masses of blood, spattering down on the snow-covered ground. A couple of Bloodgoyles came hurling down, weakened, and his sword flashed in his hands and cut the demons in halves as they came. He fired a couple more shots directly into the face of one approaching him from the side, then literally threw the sword in its face. The Bloodgoyle was knocked backwards, the sword impaled in its body and the stone demon crumbled to pieces.

Tess lagged behind a little and for a moment stared in disbelief at the sheer amount of them. She pulled back his coat's sleeves, in a rather determined fashion.

"So many of them…" she muttered then called to him. "Wait! Don't just shoot at them, it's not—Dante, you're just making them come at us!"

She frowned as he ignored her. He was actually trying to make them come at him. The mass of the Bloodgoyle flock swerved towards them, shrieking and snapping their bloody beaks, yellow eyes flashing with malice. Some headed straight for her. She stood her ground and threw her arm ahead, causing a 'wall' of fire to suddenly burst from the ground in front of her. As Bloodgoyles came in contact to it, foul-smelling steam was the result, with the distinct sound of liquid sizzling on a burning stone. Some of the creatures pulled back; smoke was coming off them as the blood burned, exposing their solid rock bodies. Some lost so much of their bloody cover that they reverted to stiff stone completely. That made them unable to move briefly, and they could just grind and groan, trying to part from the ground again.

Dante kept shooting the Bloodgoyles and taking advantage of the immobilization of the ones she'd gotten, he smashed them with a few easy swings of his sword. He smirked at the heat from her flame wall.

"Oh, but you're so cold to me!" he chuckled, grinning at the bitten-off cuss she fired back at him.

Three Bloodgoyles broke off from the main group and went directly for Dante, shrieking. The one at the forefront of the attack dove straight for him and when it came within reach, he took a single step forward, pointing Ebony ahead and shot the crimson flier square in the forehead. The Bloodgoyle was knocked back and turned to stone, struggling to move. The other two passed by him, shrieking and broke off their attack, making for a second round.

"Tess, go for their heads!" he called to the witch, while smashing the stone with his sword.

She kept repelling the Bloodgoyles with fire. She had to create a new wall after every attack that came from another angle. Whenever they touched the fire, sizzling sounds indicated that blood was burnt off. It was hard for her to maintain the fires without a fuel source. They just hovered and kept burning out of her seer will. The snow under them was melting and turning to water and slush, mixed with the soil underneath making the ground muddy.

"I know!" she snapped. "Taking the blood off exposes them! But there's just so many!" She caused a petrified Bloodgoyle to erupt into pieces with an explosive burst of fire.

Pulling back at the coat's sleeves yet again, she aimed for an incoming fleet and jerking her arms as if she was hurling something at them, two arches of flames manifested in the air and collided into them, hitting several at the same time, knocking the rest out of a formation and into one another. The Bloodgoyles just seemed all the more angered at the two and flocked together more densely to attack them.

With his senses now on high alert, Dante suddenly felt uneasy. Tess' earlier warnings that they were being watched came to mind. He started to feel pinpricks along his spine. The mass of Bloodgoyles was throwing him off, but he felt that something else was there too. He could feel it in the unnatural cold that was getting stronger and was chilling him.

Dante dove to his right, dodging a demon, did a barrel roll and came to a stop on his knee. He shot another Bloodgoyle and twirling his sword up, brought it tip-first down into the petrified creature just as it hit the ground. Then he darted at another one that Tess turned to stone and forced the blade through it. Shards the hell bird shot in all directions. Two more came at him; one flew faster than the other and Dante aimed and fired. He made a direct hit to the head, then side-stepped to avoid the demon flying into him. Its speed on impact with the ground crushed the stone. Again, he aimed and fired at the last bird attacking him. Bullets peppered the creature and blood went flying off it, exposing the stone beneath. As it barreled at him, Dante took up his sword and thrust it through the stone, saving himself from being taken out by a very heavy stone statue. The debris flew around him, hitting the ground.

He had a pretty savage smile when he jogged over to Tess, who had been taking out more of the demons than he had, because more of them were attacking her than him. It was as if they sensed she was the weaker of the two. With the flame wall, he expected her to have fewer problems, but the truth of the matter was that the most she could do was get them to back off or just petrify them. She didn't always have enough time to make the fire shatter them, because others attacked her again and she had to turn her attention to them, besides sustaining those walls up.

"Doing alright?" Dante called over the roar of the fire.

"No, I'm not!" Tess panted. "There's hundreds of them! I don't even know if we're doing real damage!"

He noticed that her fires were getting substantially weaker, probably because she was getting tired.

"And I can't help this feeling that there's something bigger around! These stupid things are just…playing with us!" she added, hurling another arch of fire towards a cheeky Bloodgoyle.

Dante cringed, because he felt she was right, again. He had been feeling his amulet reacting for a while now. Something indeed was around, but where? His focus stayed clear though and he shattered the petrified Bloodgoyles she couldn't keep up with, while she hurled fire at them, to burn the blood off. He had to admit that for a rookie, she held up her own pretty well and for the least, she had guts and determination.

"Keep it up!" he called to her, when he saw her beginning to falter a little.

He moved around the wall she had created to get covered and catch his breath and chuckled at all the stone piled up around them. As he moved out of the wall's protection again, a Bloodgoyle moved in to attack him. His gaze on the rest of the Bloodgoyle pack retreating for a new charge, Dante didn't notice it immediately. He hardly knew what had hit him when the hellish bird collided onto him, plunging its claws into his back. Right after he felt like being lifted off the ground and struggled as it lifted him off the ground, its talons jammed into his back. He even dropped his sword from the sudden shock. It hit the melting snow near Tess, making her look up.

Dante struggled as the Bloodgoyle climbed to a dangerously high altitude while trying to tear him up with its beak. He jammed his hand against its head, pushing its beak away as much as he could and pulled Ivory, stretching his arm as much as he could and shot the bird in the head repeatedly. An ear-piercing shriek later, the bird turned to stone and the two were left plummeting toward the ground. Dante realized his mistake all too late: He'd turned the bird to stone while it still had its talons jammed in a grip on him, and now he had no way of breaking free. He couldn't even reach behind his back!

Tess watched the whole thing with wide eyes and her mouth slightly gaping. Seeing he couldn't get out of the Bloodgoyle's grip she panicked, and did the only thing that occurred to her: She sent a bolt of fire to hit the petrified bird. As soon as she did so though, she realized the danger of it hurting Dante and not knowing what else to do, she made a desperate plea in her head.

Don'tburnhim!Don'tburnhim! she thought, frantically praying the fire wouldn't hurt Dante, but not knowing if it would obey her or not.

The bolt hit the side of the statue, shattering it to pieces and sending bits flying about and hitting other Bloodgoyles that were flying too close, trying to attack the trapped teenager.

Meanwhile, other Bloodgoyles took advantage of Tess' distraction and attacked her again. She ducked to avoid a dive-bombing demon and sent a small torrent of fire to another, trying to drive it back but it only swerved, striking her raised arm that was protecting her face with its wing and knocking her on her back. She shouted, tumbled on the snow from the momentum and a streak of blood flew from a cut on her arm.

Dante had shut his eyes just before Tess' fire bolt shattered the statue and released him. He was glad he wasn't going to be squished but without time to turn over he was still falling faster and faster until he landed with a loud thud. A mere few feet away from Tess, right as she got up on her feet again, Dante collided with the frozen ground, sending up a cloud of powder snow that gently fell to the ground again. His sudden contact with the frozen ground was forceful and hard and he landed back-first.

Tess let a small scream of fright when he hit the ground like a stone. She wanted to dart over to him but the Bloodgoyles were still circling her persistently and attacking her.

Oh my God. Is he still alive? Could he survive that kind of fall? Please don't be dead! Please don't be! she thought, but her throat was too dry to even attempt to say something.

"Dammit! Get away from me you flying freaks!" she blurted, creating a sweeping wave of fire that chased them away for just a few moments and gave her an opening to move towards him.

She was glad to see Dante groan and move. He was alive still but in a pretty bad shape. He heaved himself up to his elbow and fired several rounds from his handgun into the face of a Bloodgoyle that dared to fly too low to check him out. It flew backwards, turning to stone. A couple more shots blew its head cleanly off. He heaved himself up again, hollow cracking sounds coming from his limbs and she cringed. Holding his ribs, he slowly walked with a slight limp towards her as she came to meet him, putting up walls of fire to fend the Bloodgoyles off. He shot down another one, before holstering the gun and bending with a grunt to pick up his dropped sword and with an abrupt move, bring it down on the petrified demon twice and smash it to pieces.

"Tess!" he blurted in a rather drone-like voice as he shook his head to get out of his daze.

Tess frowned in concern and fear. She was surprised, scared and relieved all together to see him alive. She was getting very tired and the walls of fire she was creating between her and the Bloodgoyles were starting to weaken. She got close to him and sent smaller bolts to the demons that still circled them.

"Dante! Are you okay?" she asked him, grabbing his arm to keep him from charging back into the fray.

I can't believe he survived that! she thought. But man, am I glad he did! I wouldn't want to be left alone with these things!

Dante shook his head and as she got closer, she saw blood oozing from his mouth as he breathed. He spat and the crimson mess painted a red spot in the snow. He took a deep breath and pushed the air in his lungs out, but at the same time, kept it from escaping. She heard a sound like rock grinding against rock coming from his chest and grew pale, giving him a pained look when he coughed up another glob of blood.

Another crimson flier made its way for them and as it shrieked, he noticed it. Drawing Ebony and pushing Tess aside with his other hand, he turned to the side and opened fire. He hit the head and the demon turned to stone before making it to him. It hit the ground hard, a piece of it breaking off. Dante swung his sword at the rest of it, hacking off bits where it struck. Tess almost bumped her back on his as she fended off Bloodgoyles coming from the other side.

Although she'd started confident, the size of the situation was now terrifying her. "Just too many of them—"she panted. "Dante, we can't take them! We need to get out of here!"

Before either could say anything further, a strong gust of piercing cold wind blew past them, chilling them both and making the Bloodgoyles pull back, shrieking in indignation. The old ruin shook a little from the heavy flapping of something big that descended from over its walls and landed heavily. The demon stood before an arch of the old ruins, giving them a good idea of the sheer scale of this beast.

It was tall, lean, shaped roughly like a lizard standing upright with a sort of distorted, stretched physique, massive leathery wings and a long tail like a whip. Its human-like head was small compared to the rest of the body and had impressive horns, a pair jutting straight up with a single jag and another pair curving out and to the side from its face. He stretched his wings and bitter cold came flowing from them, freezing the night.

Its body blended with the aged rock surrounding them but for the solid white, glowing eyes, hard as steel. The ground it touched froze over instantly, crackling as ice formed.

It shuffled its massive, leathery wings and its breath froze and hung in the air. Frost came off its skin as it stood the ground on lanky legs staring at the two teenagers with his dead, blank gaze for a long moment, during which they stared back in awe and fright. Then it snarled softly, suddenly flapping his wings and rising up into the air. Massive icicles formed around him and with flicks of the hand he hurled them in their direction, while the Bloodgoyles circled the greater demon and prepared for another attack.

Dante was left staring at the huge, glorious demon with eyes peeled wide, his face a mask of disbelief. Fear cracked his earlier determination. He felt the amulet pounding against his chest like his heartbeat. Tess gaped in terror at the demon and started shaking. He weighed the situation: he was injured, exhausted and too shaken to think of taking this thing on and having Tess with him didn't help, he'd be too distracted looking after her to concentrate on fighting. In a very stern and rather frightened tone, he said something he never thought he'd say when confronted with a demon:

"And now we have to run."

She didn't even argue, they both just turned and bolted as fast as they could, Dante holding his ribs and sheathing his sword in a hurry. He pushed her ahead of him and followed. She ran ahead and they both started frantically going in zigzags to avoid the icicles hurled at them by the demon. She even briefly outran him and leaped over an icicle that landed ahead of her. For one thing, she was lighter on her feet than he was. He had no idea where they were heading and followed her, praying they could find a way out—but how far could they run?

The icicles pelted at them were like shards and one was accurate enough to lodge itself through Dante's calf. The slayer fell to his knees with a shout but recovered quickly. Tess came to an abrupt stop when he fell and turned back to help him stand up. She kept holding his hand tightly as they ran again. His limp slowed him down but he gritted his teeth and shouted at her to move. Bloodgoyle shrieks filled the air and they still had no way of escape.

"This way!" she shouted suddenly and pulled him through a cluster of leafless trees, following a path strewn with snow.

The Bloodgoyles frantically flew after them, some smacking into the branches and getting tangled and others flew over the trees entirely. Icicles hit the ground still, some impaling trees with loud thudding noises. Tess half-turned and sent a small bolt of fire to hit a Bloodgoyle that got too close and it reeled back in a hurry. As they broke through the trees, Dante saw a church with a couple of old gravestones sticking up through the snow. It looked quite deserted but in better condition than the ruins they'd seen earlier.

"There!" she said, urging him on.

Dante, still dazed and with a shard of ice still impaled in his leg, had no say in the matter of direction and was forced to follow. What am I gonna do to object, anyway, bleed on her?

The ice shard in his leg hurt and his limp caught up to him again, making him wince and almost tear up. He hadn't hurt this much in years! She pulled him through the graves and he eyed up the church she was heading for.

What's she thinking? he groaned. "You know, it doesn't matter if it's a house of God, it's just a man-made building and if that thing wants to, it'll just plow right through it!"

She looked over her shoulder at him. Her eyes were wild from fright and determination together and her hair had pulled free and flying madly in the wind and snow like a red torrent.

"Will you shut it for once and just trust me?" she shouted at him.

As they covered the last few yards with the Bloodgoyles hot on their tail, Tess stretched her arm ahead, opening her fingers in a wide and commanding gesture and frantically called at the doors, as if they'd obey her. "Open, open!"

Miraculously, or in Tess' case, magically, the twin heavy wooden doors slammed open with a thud and waited for them as they bound up the stone steps. A set of different shrieks started to echo, but these didn't belong to Bloodgoyles. They were deeper, low pitched and more like throaty calls, as if they were coming from the bottom of a well. They seemed to come from the top of the church.

As Dante looked up, he could see the stone gargoyles that decorated the ledges and columns of the church were moving slightly, their gaping mouths screaming and snarling in anger and they shuffled in place as if they were alive. His eyes widened in surprise. He could actually see the stone creatures, hunched reptilians, grotesque imps and snub-faced, four-legged creatures with craggy faces and gaping mouths animate themselves and begin to scream, snarl and shriek.

The Bloodgoyles' reaction to the cries of the gargoyles was impressive: They shrieked in confusion and stopped abruptly, even bumping into one another and pulling back in haste as if they wanted to avoid the screams of the gargoyles at all costs. The icicles even stopped coming and the greater demon seemed to hesitate then jerked his head and raised his horrible hands to it, obviously irritated. The bell of the church suddenly rang in a slow, ominous pace. The Bloodgoyles were driven back even further and the demon let a deep growl of irritation and pulled back too. And yet they kept circling the church, even though they were held at bay for now.

Once they rushed inside the church, Dante felt impressed at this display of near-miraculous protection. Before he could breathe out though, a chill ran down his spine. An unexplained, if mild, terror overtook him and he felt flighty, like he needed to leave this place. He tried to compose himself, but he ended up getting even more confused. He couldn't understand what was giving him that claustrophobic sensation. The shrieks of the gargoyles pounded in his ears even more than the cries of the Bloodgoyles had. He looked up at the vaulted roof of the church and saw more gargoyles in the inside of the church. They too were animating themselves and began to scream. At him.

"H-hey…what's this shit?" he said, and was surprised to hear his voice crack.

Tess had shoved him inside and was hurriedly shutting the heavy doors behind them.

"They're gargoyles; they're common in older churches. They're powerful guardians that don't have anything to do with the church's religion necessarily. Their shrieks drive demons away. Humans can't hear them or see them for what they really are. Don't underestimate them, they'll keep us safe for a while…I think," she said, trying to be heard above the shrieks and the still ringing bell. "And the bell—it's a guardian too. They're still outside, but they won't touch the building, fornow."

The gargoyles that decorated the interior began to move more intently, actually turning their heads to glare at Dante and shuffled in their positions and their stone figures crackled and crumbled a little as they screamed at him. They were actually giving him a very unpleasant feeling.

Dante, confused by this sudden terror, gulped and backed up into the doors. "Newsflash, Twig, I'm half-demon," he groaned.

That feeling was overwhelming him. It was just so impossibly bad; he suddenly felt seasick, dizzy and disoriented. These gargoyles' screams were getting to him, making him feel ill.

Tess looked at him, realization dawning on her. She blurted a small curse and then turned around, quickly walked further into the church and looked up at the gargoyles. Dante actually gaped at what she did next.

"Listen here, pipsqueaks!" she called shaking her fist at the gargoyles. Some of them actually stopped screaming and stared down at her. "I know you're meant to safeguard this place but you're dumb as the rock you're made of! Quit yelling at him!" she said, pointing at Dante. "I know he smells funny but he's alright! You want to yell at someone, yell at me! I'm a witch and I've set my dirty feet," she said mockingly, pointing to her shoes, "in the house of God but I don't hear you whining! So I'm gonna say it one last time…SHUT! UP!" she shouted louder, stamping her foot down as well.

If he wasn't so confused and rattled up, Dante might have doubled over laughing with her look. She was glaring, her long hair wild from running and the wind that it stuck up and around her head in gnarls. Bits of snow and twigs were caught in it, and in his over-sized trench-coat she actually looked like a mad, shrewish witch in red that had stepped out of a folk story.

Oh, the irony.

But the gargoyles inside the church responded and grew silent, shuffling back into stillness, turning their gaze away from both and resumed their inanimate forms. The ones outside kept driving the demons away, without disturbing the half-demon within. They must've been so startled by her rant that they obeyed.

Tess breathed out in pants, looking around at the now silent gargoyles and then let a tiny sigh and turned back around to him, to see him staring in slight disbelief.

She shrugged and held out her arms in a gesture of discontent. "Sometimes you have to be rough with the little dipshits," she said.

Dante still felt a little dazed but that uneasy feeling subsided and he composed himself. He muttered a word of thanks under his breath and limped further inside the church, taking in the surroundings. He could actually see some of the Bloodgoyles outside, in the distance, through the windows. He could also see a nasty snowstorm that had built up and was now pounding the silent and rather dark church. No doubt the demon was behind that snowstorm. Dante could hear shingles from the church's roof being torn off and chunks of ice hitting its walls and windows. He could also hear the demon growling and breathing angrily outside. It sounded pissed.

Tess walked over closer to the front and with tired flicks of the hand she made a couple of half-melted candles light up and then finally collapsed on the steps leading to the altar, sitting down and exhausted. She ran her hands over her face.

"Did you see that thing outside there? It scared the life out of me," she uttered, hanging her head. "I think he's been behind all this awful feeling I've had, and the weather."

Dante repeated "Outside…" in an airy, drone-like voice. He came round suddenly and replied: "Yeah. Told you we'd meet the big cheese tonight. I just didn't think it'd be so huge," he grumbled.

He paced back and forth, slightly straying from his original back-and-forth track. He thought hard, while checking every corner and trying to figure out a way to flee or counter attack without getting killed by that thing.

"I don't know," Tess started, pulling twigs out of her hair. "That's the first time I've ever seen a demon like this and…and-"

She suddenly stopped, trailed off and seemed to blank out, as if a memory kicked in. Her arm stood still as well. Dante stopped and looked at her. Her hand dropped on her thigh idly and her face froze. He knew that look; this wasn't the first time. She frowned and her eyebrows almost came together as she brought her hands up and pressed the balls of her clenched hands against her forehead.

"No…no, I don't. Don't need to go there now," he heard her mutter shakily.

Dante winced. She looked so scared suddenly. He sat beside her, grunting as he slouched, breathed out and tried to take out the ice shard from his leg. It had frozen there and it hurt to tug it. He couldn't help noticing her look though. He'd never seen her that anguished and pained before. He decided that a direct approach would be best.

"So it's not the first time, is it?" he asked dryly.

His curiosity was only surpassed by his bluntness. The church was cold and rocky, kind of abandoned, but somehow it felt safe still. But he suddenly found himself worried about her. The way she talked surprised him further. It was a bit…lifeless and quiet, like whatever memory she had recalled sucked the life out of her.

"No. When I was little…they came again. I don't remember too much. I try not to," she started, tugging at some of her hair in a mechanical fashion. "I was…I was small. We lived in the outskirts; I remember the rain. It rained the night they came."

"What happened?"

She paused and stiffened again, but this time it was a lifeless hesitation. "I woke up, from the screams. Mom burst in my room, her hair was such a mess. She dragged me out of bed, said I had to hide." She put her hand up and nervously fiddled with a silver cross that always hung on her neck.

Huh,makes sense. When you cross demons they always come back for you. That's what her old man did, Dante thought. He crossed them and they went back for him.

Tess meanwhile continued her rambling. She was probably frightened from the whole ordeal and it was only now showing through her earlier composure. He thought she might've been telling him this a little too easily, but knowing her, Dante felt it might've been entirely possible she had never opened up to anybody else about what happened to her. He could easily imagine Roy trying to coax her to talk to him and not always succeeding. And yet here she was, talking to him. Maybe he caught her off guard, or his dry manner had something mildly comforting to it, or she just took comfort from the knowledge that he knew what it felt like.

"Then I—I heard dad shout. They're coming. Dad had a workshop in the back of the house; he made things, like—like jewelry."Her voice trembled. "There was a hatch in the floor, he stored things he worked with there. Mom hid me there. I hated the dark in there and I hated the dust. She told me to hide. And she told me to run."

Her eyes seem to drain of any emotion beside regret. She wasn't crying, but her eyes were wide, scared, like a deer caught in headlights. She stared ahead of her blankly.

"She said 'You have to run,whatever happens you have to run'. She left me there; I hated that hole and I started crawling along the ground under the floorboards to escape. I was so small that I just…fit through every nook. I heard what happened. They told my father to go back to them; that Hell was where he belonged. Dad knew they were going to kill mom anyway because she was in the way. They said he could save me because—because I could be like him," she said and shivered. "Dad—Dad refused, said he would die than let me end up serving demons. I could see through the floorboards… He fought but they killed him…"

Her voice got shakier as she carried on. "Dad's blood dripped through the boards. I knew he was dead. Then mom—I heard her screams. Oh God, her screams…" she paused and gulped. "Then…those things, they searched," she mumbled, shuddering at the memory. "I could feel their footsteps all over me through the floor…and –and-"

Here she paused again and took a shaky breath. "One of them found me, broke through the floor and pulled me out like a rat," she said with a pained look. "But the scary thing is…I can't remember what happened then. Just…just-" She had to stop entirely to compose herself and was already shaking. "I can't remember a thing after that," she said with a slightly panicked tone, as if the lack of memory scared her.

Dante just stared at the floor while listening and for a rare time in his life, he didn't mind listening to someone going on like that.

How alike can we be, Twig? He thought.

He suddenly draped his arm over her shoulder softly. "Hey, it's alright now," he said in an almost soothing manner. "You and me, we're a lot alike. Sure, you may be a little uptight, but you're okay. Not everyone gets through demon attacks like you did. You got guts, gotta give you that. And now you got me around. Sucks to admit it, but you're stronger than everyone thinks you are."

Tess looked up and stared at him in surprise, probably uncertain that he was being so casual. His tone hadn't been insensitive, just very realistic. He wasn't entirely without sympathy, but he wanted to shake her out of the miserable state she'd gotten into now.

"I mean, it's past. What matters is what's going on now. Sulking about your parents' death won't help us out of this mess, so let's save it for our spare time, alright?"

Dante finally pulled the ice shard out of his leg with a very squishy sound, blood pouring from the wound.

Come on Twig, don't you give me that soppy crap. I know how you feel. But it just doesn't suit you. I like you better when you're a hissy little wildcat, he thought.

Tess seemed affected that someone was, for once, giving her credit, but she winced and shrugged when she saw him pull the icicle out of his leg, and started scolding him, as if she had suddenly snapped back to her old self. "Ugh! Would you mind not doing that while I'm looking? You know it's disgusting, right?" she said, somewhat angrily, and got up. Taking it off, she held out his coat to him. "Put it back on, you're going to need it more than me."

Dante took his coat back, replying: "Then don't look!"

He threw his coat on, enjoying the wooshing sound it made and replaced his sword on his back over the coat. "Hope you got some plan about getting out of here, Twig, otherwise we're boned."

Tess frowned at the name. "I can't decide whether I like you or whether I want you to eat shit and die," she sighed.

Before Dante could issue a witty and amused retort, a tremor shook the church, making them back up against each other from surprise. Then, a loud sound came from outside, like a mix of cracking thunder and an animal's roar and the ground shook again for a brief moment. The gargoyles silenced all together at once. Both teens stared at each other for a moment, then at the doors. Dante reached for his guns. Then there was an eerie, long silence. A scream was suddenly heard, followed by the sound of something flapping away hurriedly, and again silence.

The next moment, the doors of the church unbolted by themselves and one of them opened, making Dante point both his guns at it. But he lowered the immediately when Roy's figure appeared there, panting, and looking like he'd run a mile or gotten into a fight of sorts. His wrinkled face was contorted, while his hair was all messed up.

"Why are you two out here? Come on, now, we're going back home. Now!" he said loudly. He didn't shout, but had a very commanding tone to his voice that warned the two to not even dare to argue or object.

Dante smiled widely despite Roy's tone and was pretty eager to obey the familiar's command. In fact, he was downright glad to see him. His leg hadn't healed yet, for some reason; blood still trickled from the wound and he left a trail of it behind him as he half-limped ahead with Tess in tow. "Holy shit, am I glad to see you, Roy!" he blurted.

Roy raised an eyebrow at the blood coming from his leg, then on Tess' startled look and the cut in her arm.

"Yes, I can see that. Come on, move it; I don't feel like sticking around this cold for long," he said, gruffly, but his look and the way he placed a hand on Dante's shoulder showed how relieved he was to find them both safe.

Tess looked a little hesitant and regretful as she followed. "Roy…" she started, awkwardly.

"Not a word Tess, and just be happy I won't tell a thing to Magda, or she'll have you both hanged. Home, now," Roy interrupted her, quite politely.

She was too tired to retort and just let Roy pretty much usher her out of the park and back to the building. Dante just followed closely behind Tess, in minor disbelief that Roy had come to the rescue. He raised an eyebrow at the smashed open park gate and the scene around the church, which looked almost like some bulldozer had rammed through part of the snow-covered ground. It couldn't have been the work of the demons and they were nowhere to be seen. He gulped awkwardly; just how strong was Roy after all?

Dante felt better as they moved away from the church, the gargoyles silent for a while now. His sense of vertigo left completely and he made a mental note that whatever was animating those gargoyles was some pretty potent protective power. The cold air had never made him feel more alive and grateful to be so. His wound hurt, but was not intolerable and the fall he took was almost forgotten. He hoped that by the time they were back at the building, it would have gone completely and he would be ready to return to the park to pick a proper fight with that massive demon.

He was left wondering though, whether Roy would punish them somehow. He didn't know about Tess, but he was prepared for the worst.