A/N

I'm so sorry for the late update but December has been a hectic month. I've taken three tests at school, which I passed ;) So now I can officially drive truck in a professional setting and drive dangerous goods haha. All I have left now is my driving test in a month or two.

Anyway, I hope you all have a had a good holiday considering everything going around in the world.

Chapter 9 Funnel of Love

Here I go,
Falling down, down, down,
My mind is a blank,
My head is spinning around and around,
As I go deep into the funnel of love

...

I tried and I tried, to run and hide,
I even tried to run away,
You just can't run from the funnel of love,
It's gonna get you someday

~ Wanda Jackson

"You let her go!" Ava yelled as the Halo glowed in a threatening manner on her back, but the possessed man just smiled at her.

It was a twisted smile, a manic smile. His teeth were rotted and his eyes were pitch black, even the whites. His face was sunken in and his skin had a waxy look to it. If Ava hadn't been preoccupied with figuring out how to free the girl he held in his arms without hurting her in the process, she would have made a funny quip about how he looked like a zombie. But the person she would have made the joke to was held tightly in the zombie man's arms, so she decided to hold off with her jokes until she had freed her.

Surrounding her on both sides of the narrow alley were more zombie people. She didn't actually think they were real life walking dead zombies, but something wasn't right with them. It was like they were all devoid of life, everything that made them a human. A mere shell of a human who's only purpose was to be a host to a wraith. In a way, that was even scarier than if they had been reanimated corpses.

"Ava." Beatrice's voice, calm as always, drew Ava back to the moment. "Don't do anything drastic. It will be alright."

"The hell it will." Ava was angry. Angry at the situation. Angry at the man holding Beatrice. But most of all, she was angry at herself. She was the god damn warrior nun, so why couldn't she help the girl she lo... ved.

Loved.

The realisation hit her like a sledgehammer to the heart.

She loved Beatrice.

It wasn't a scary feeling. No, in fact now that she thought about it, the feeling had always been there. Hidden in plain sight; just waiting for her to discover it. So instead of feeling scared with the overwhelming need to run away, she felt calm. She felt... happy? Yes, she felt happy.

She loved Beatrice and by god did that make her happy.

Here's the crux though. The girl she loved was currently being held against her will by a zombie man while a dozen other zombie people surrounded them. Ava had no weapons, only the Halo and the knife she bought for Lilith, but that one was tucked away safely into her backpack that she dropped at the mouth of the alley. And there were currently 7 zombie people between her and that.

Beatrice had had weapons, but she had used them unsuccessfully on their attackers. One shuriken was still sticking out of the leg on one of the zombie's but he was unaffected by it. The others had pulled out the knives and shurikens they had been hit with, but the wounds were barely oozing. The blood that trickled out was thick and sluggish like it was already coagulating. They all seemed unaffected by the wounds. So weapons were useless against these super wraiths. Unfortunately, Beatrice hadn't noticed that until she had run out of weapons and then it had been too late.

So now Ava was left with only her Halo and her wit. Awesome.

She could try and blast them just like she had done at the Vatican. The problem was that she had no idea how she had done that.

"What do you want?" she looked around her as she tried to give each zombie people a dose of her glare. One of them took half a step backwards and she smirked in triumph.

"We are here to deliver a message from Padre Vincent." the zombie man standing beside the one holding Beatrice said. His voice was hoarse and it sounded like he was chewing on gravel as he forced the words out of his mouth. Looking at him closer, Ava guessed it was his teeth he was chewing on because they were barely hanging on by a thread. Twisted and bent as they were. She looked away in disgust as one of his teeth popped out. It dropped to the ground along with drool and blood.

"What does that fucker want?" she growled, anger flaring up again at the mention of the betrayer's name.

The man sneered back. "He says to leave him alone or he will retaliate."

"Yeah well, you tell him that I don't take kindly to threats and that he should get here himself and tell me in person. Or is he too much of a coward?"

"He told me you might say that."

"Yeah?" Ava scoffed. "And what did your dear daddy tell you to do then?"

"This." He smirked at her, his demonic eyes glinting with joy; a sadistic and sick version of joy. Then he nodded at the zombie man holding Beatrice and everything around Ava was slowed down as she watched the man pull out a large knife and forcefully plunge it deep into Beatrice's stomach.

Ava held eye contact with Beatrice as the nun fell down onto her knees when the man let her go. She held eye contact with her as she crumbled onto the ground. She held eye contact with her until Beatrice closed hers, breaking it, then everything turned white.

Her vision, her mind, everything.

She came to a few minutes later, lying on her back with a killer headache. She pressed a hand flat against her head as an attempt to ease the pain. It did not work and she groaned as she pushed herself to a sitting position. Spots danced in front of her eyes but she managed to make out the bodies lying strewn around her.

The unconscious bodies of the possessed.

They had been exorcised and the only thing she could think of that could have done that was the Halo. She felt it then, the faint warmth of the halo in her back. It was warmer than usual but fading fast. She must have used it to blast the possessed. Exorcising them in the process. No wonder she had passed out.

She reached out a hand to the nearest to check if she was still breathing. It was a young girl, no older than Ava herself. There was a faint pulse but she wasn't sure how long the poor girl would make it. She needed to alert the authorities. These people needed to go to the hospital.

That's when she remembered. The knife and the blood that stained the light blue blouse she had been wearing all day.

She remembered Beatrice.

Her eyes widened in horror as she saw the nun lying on her side, and she hurried over to her in seconds, crawling on her hands and knees as she tried to reach the nun as fast as possible.

"Beatrice? Bea?" she placed a shaky hand on the nun's shoulder and tried to rouse her. Her voice shook and her eyes started to fill with unshed tears as she took in the growing pool of blood underneath her.

"Ava..." Beatrice opened her eyes to a small sliver as she zeroed in on the halo bearer.

"Ssh, don't talk. I..." Ava looked around the alley as desperation settled over her. They were all alone. Her gaze settled back on Beatrice who was looking at her with half lidded eyes. "This might hurt." Not knowing what else to do, she removed her sweater and as careful as she could, tied it around Beatrice's midriff to stop the blood flow. Beatrice gasped softly at the pressure, but she kept her eyes locked onto Ava.

"I need to, I need to call someone. I can't... I..." The panic was starting to take over.

"It's okay, Ava."

Ava stared down at Beatrice, her panic subsiding for a second as the anger came back. "It's as far away from okay as it can be. You're bleeding out, Bea and I... I... I can't lose you." The tears came and there was nothing she could do to stop them. Beatrice was dying. She loved her and she was dying. It wasn't fair. "This isn't over yet."

Beatrice stayed silent as Ava picked her up, pulling on the remaining power in the Halo to hold her up. She cradled her against her body and walked towards the Cradle one slow agonising step at a time.

Beatrice woke up to a dull ache in her midriff and a heavy feeling on her shoulder. Tilting her head to the side, she noticed that the heavy feeling was Ava's head. The halo bearer was sleeping beside her on the narrow bed with her head tucked into Beatrice neck, all while holding a tight grip around Beatrice's arm. Ava's warm breath tickled Beatrice's skin every time she breathed out.

Memories of the night came to her as she studied the girl by her side. Their day at the beach, and the restaurant visit, and the... the ambush: the reason why she appeared to be stuck in a bed in the infirmary. She had been stabbed by a man with the worst breath she had ever felt. He had smelt rotten and sick. She suspected that he and the others had been possessed, but unlike Ava, she was unable to see the wraiths.

Speaking of Ava, their evening together had been perfect. She felt closer to the younger girl than she ever had been before, and she knew that she would never be able to back away now. She was in too deep, had let her feelings grow too much and now they were uncontrollable.

"No... don't... let go..."

Beatrice looked down at Ava once more as the Halo bearer started to mumble a bit incoherently. Her brow was furrowed and she seemed to be in distress so Beatrice shook her shoulder lightly with her free hand. "Ava?" she said softly.

"Hmm?" the younger girl hummed before cracking one bleary eye open. "Beatrice," she smiled her dopey smile and cuddled deeper into Beatrice's side as she closed her eyes again. Beatrice kept watching her with an amused smile and a few seconds later, Ava opened both of her eyes with an accompanying gasp. "Beatrice! You're awake." She leaned up by using her arm for support, while her other hand instinctually reached out to caress Beatrice's face. Beatrice closed her eyes as she leaned into the touch.

"How long was I out?" Beatrice asked and opened her eyes again so she could look into Ava's. That might have been a mistake because the intensity in Ava's gaze was almost enough to take her breath away.

Ava swallowed once before answering. "Only a few hours, it's still dark out, but Beatrice..." she swallowed again and averted her eyes."I thought you were dying. You almost did." she fell silent, her shoulders slumped and her hand fell away from Beatrice's cheek.

"Ava." Beatrice started and tried to get the halo bearer's attention, but she kept her eyes intently focused on a loose thread on the scratchy blanket covering Beatrice. "Look at me. Please."

She finally looked up and Beatrice took her time to just take her in. Everything from her red eyes; caused by unshed tears; and her dejected expression. To the curve of her lips and the pink tint on her cheeks. Shutting of the part of her mind that always told her to think everything through; she reached out one hand to gently cradle Ava's cheek, her thumb moving back and forth in a slow caress. Her other hand sneaked around to the back of her head, and with a tug, she brought Ava's head down and closer to her while she lifted herself up to meet her halfway.

She was ready to make her boldest stroke.

The feeling of Ava's lips on hers was unlike anything she had ever felt before.

Her body was tingling with electricity which only intensified when Ava started to reciprocate. Every touch they shared magnified everything by a thousand. Her hands ended up entangled in Ava's hair as she tried to deepen the kiss, and she was highly aware of Ava's own hands wandering up and down her sides; frantic but always careful not to touch her wound.

She had no idea who broke the kiss first, but both were panting when they did. Ava had her big dopey smiled directed towards her when she opened her eyes, her face hovering over her as her gaze roamed across Beatrice's face. Beatrice relished the attention but she wanted her closer, so she tugged her down again until their foreheads touched. Their breaths intermingling.

"I ehm..." Ava laughed. "Sorry, I... I'm just so happy right now."

Beatrice chuckled. "Me too." she adjusted her position a bit which made a sharp pain shot up through her stomach. She hissed at the intensity of it.

Ava sat up abruptly. "I'm sorry, you're hurt. I shouldn't have leaned on you."

"No, it's not your fault." Beatrice tried but Ava was already scrambling off of the bed.

"I'll get you some water. That's what you give sick and injured people right?" she furrowed her brow as she looked at Beatrice for confirmation. The whole situation, combined with the pain killers coursing through her system, finally brought Beatrice to the breaking point and she broke down into a fit of giggles. That reaction only made Ava frown deeper. "What's going on? Why are you laughing? Are you in so much pain that you finally went mad?"

"No I..." she drew in a few deep breaths as she tried to collect herself. "The pain is bearable. I was just reacting to this situation." She beckoned Ava to come closer and when she stood beside the bed, she reached out to take her hand. "I am very happy right now, Ava. So happy that I didn't know how to properly react to it."

"Oh." Ava stared at their hands first before looking back up at Beatrice, her expression slowly changing from confusion to a very pleased smile that was bordering on a smirk. "I think I know a way to make you even happier."

Beatrice swallowed once as she took in the growing lust in Ava's eyes. The younger girl started to lean down and Beatrice steeled herself for what was about to come. The anticipation making her toes curl pleasantly. But before Ava had even reached halfway down, she quickly took a step back just as the door opened.

It was Mary.

Beatrice didn't have a chance to greet her before the shotgun wielder said, "Vincent has broken into Arc Tech. The bastard has stolen the arc."

A/N

I hope you all liked it. If you did then please leave a comment telling me what you liked about it.