Chapter 1: Welcome to The Order, Alexis

Alexis sat outside of her assigned testing room, hastily reading through her notes one last time. At least she wasn't alone. Waiting with her was an entire group of grim-faced juniors and seniors, counting down the seconds until the exam proctor let them into the room so that they could take their final exam – waiting for the exam, the anticipate, was always the worst part. It sounded, from the murmurings of her classmates, that none of them felt truly prepared to meet their fate, but as the proctor arrived and let them filter into the room, Alexis hoped that she was more prepared than most; otherwise, the countless hours spent both in study groups and at home had been for nothing.

Faced with the exam itself, she began to feel jittery, her head pounding in time with the ever-present tick of the clock at the back of the classroom. Maybe she'd had too much coffee that morning? Maybe she hadn't had enough? She tried to ignore the frantic beating of her heart as a voice in the back of her head reminded her that a handful of wrong answers could mean the difference between four more years at Limbo University or a top-tier medical program.

She breezed through the multiple-choice questions – turns out that the study groups had been worth it – and was half way through the written portion of the exam when the headache that had been brewing since she work up became unbearable. She placed her pencil down and drew a shaky breath; in her nose, out her mouth. Running her hands over her face, she brought her fingers up to massage her temples and zoned out, concentrating on each swell of pain as it gradually melted away to a dull, non-distracting ache.

That was when she noticed the proctor's eyes on her. Self-conscious, Alexis grabbed her pencil and continued her written answers, successfully losing herself in the test and ignoring the proctor's attention. The sooner she could wrap up the exam, the sooner summer could start.

Only a smattering of test-takers remained when Alexis convinced herself that staring at her own finished exam wasn't going to miraculously improve her grade. She silently gathered her materials so as not to disturb anyone and made her way to the front of the class. The unwavering gaze of the proctor was on her again. She offered the woman a small, kind smile before averting her gaze and handing over her exam.

The sudden steel grip on her wrist almost made Alexis jump out of her skin, a startled sound escaping past her lips as her head shot up.

Black. The proctor's eyes were black, droplets of dark blood spilling past lashes to drip down her ashen cheeks. Around them, tables and chairs launched into the air as the linoleum floor roiled and cracked into odd angles. The hair on the back of Alexis' neck stood on end as a disembodied voice growled and the visage of the proctor faded away to reveal the smooth, grey face of a monster.

FOUND YOU!

Alexis screamed, wrenching her arm as she fell backwards over the uneven floor. The creature jumped on top of the desk as Alexis scrambled to her feet and ran out the door, yelling for help in the uncannily deserted hallways of the university. She could feel the monster hot on her trail as she raced through the once-familiar halls, their appearance mutilated and ever-shifting as she searched for the nearest exit, finally hurtling through a door and making it outside. Alexis sputtered and let loose an ear-splitting scream as more monsters clawed their way up from the concrete of the courtyard

What the fuck was going on?

Kat yelped, grabbing her head in both hands.

"What is it?"

She looked up at her boss, wincing. "I don't know. A cry for help? I've never felt anything like it before."

"From Limbo?" Vergil pressed; his interest piqued. He hadn't heard anything.

The medium nodded as the pressure in her head increased. Whatever it was, it was clearly in distress.

"Is it a demon?"

"No," Kat was certain it wasn't, though she couldn't be sure how. "There's nothing demonic about it. I'm not sure what it is, I've never-," another cry rattled her. "We have to go."

Vergil grabbed his keys and followed Kat to the car, starting it up as she gave him directions through the city streets. They didn't drive far, Kat zeroing in on a spot close to the university when she suddenly yelled at Vergil to pull over and threw herself out of the car, dashing across traffic and down a side street. Vergil followed, beginning to pick up the sounds of an otherworldly scuffle and the wails that Kat must have picked up on.

"She's trapped," Kat dropped to her knees with a spray can, "I'm sending you in."

Nothing but smooth concrete was behind her now. Alexis was well and truly backed into a corner. This was how she was going to die, and she didn't even understand what was happening or how she ended up there. A monster raised its blade and she turned to over her face, yowling as metal ripped through her clothes and sank into her flesh. She let loose another cry for help, hoping that someone, anyone, would hear her.

Her prayers, it seemed, had been answered. Before her stood, well, the monsters, but behind them there now stood a man. He moved effortlessly as he cut down each of the monsters before he turned his blue eyes on to her.

"This way."

Around her, the world faded from technicolor back to normal as Alexis swayed, lightheaded as she tried to follow the strange man with the katana. A gloved hand gripped her shoulder, holding her upright, "Are you alright?"

"I…"

A gasp sounded from over her shoulder, the man wasn't alone, "Vergil!"

Alexis let the man – emVergil/em – turn her around to inspect her back and she became keenly aware of the wound there, as well as the blood caking her clothes and sticking to her skin. Pain assaulted her all at once as the adrenaline began to wear out of her system.

"We're going to patch you up, okay?" Vergil said as he steered her out of the alley. She was silent as they sat her down in a car, her back staining the leather interior red. As the car began to move, she was hit by a wave of nausea.

"I need to go to the hospital," Alexis murmured, blinking heavily as she brought her fingers to her temples and wishing away the nausea.

The unnamed woman shared a look with Vergil before he addressed Alexis calmly, "We can't take you to the hospital."

"What? Why?"

"It's not safe. We'll patch you up once we get to-."

"Not safe?" Alexis balked, body singing with worry as her nausea was forgotten. Why wouldn't the hospital be safe? "I can't go with you. I don't even know you."

Before Vergil could say anything else, the woman interjected, "My name is Kat. This is my boss, Vergil. We just want to help," she soothed. They seemed to be communicating without saying a word, and at Vergil's nod Kat continued, "Those things that attacked you, they're not from this world. They know that you're hurt. If we take you to the hospital, they'll find you."

…and finish what they started. She hadn't considered that, hadn't considered much of anything since the pain had set in and her world began to spin from blood loss.

"Let us help you."

Words escaped her, so Alexis closed her eyes and nodded, taking a deep breath – it wasn't like she had been left with much of a choice once the car slowed to a stop outside of a dingy garage.

Alexis was led into a building, Kat immediately taking her to a bathroom and shutting the door. Grabbing a first aid kit from the medicine cabinet, she scrubbed her hands clean before turning around, sheepish as she motioned toward Alexis' ruined clothes, "I'm going to need you to take those off for me. Do you think you can get it?"

The jacket came off easily enough once it was fully unzipped, but the shirt had been another story. Alexis hissed through clenched teeth as she tugged the fabric free of her tender skin and slid the in-tact strap of her bra off of her shoulder. She lowered the toilet lid and sat facing the tank so that her back was exposed.

"We didn't get your name back there," Kat spoke as she rummaged through the first aid kit.

This will need stitches. "Alexis."

Kat gave her a half smile to try and comfort her as she disappeared behind her back. Alexis watched what she could of the woman in the mirror, thankful for the help, but uneasy around the strangers after such a freak encounter, "What were you doing in Limbo, Alexis?"

"Limbo?"

She hissed when Kat pressed a disinfectant wipe to her skin.

"Sorry, I know this part hurts," Kat apologized as she continued to wipe away at the blood before another packet was ripped open. "Where you were. We call it Limbo. It's a parallel dimension to the human world," Finished wiping at Alexis's back, Kat moved to throw away the blood-stained wipes. A feather-soft touch brushed tender skin; the bathroom silent for a beat too long.

"What?" Was something wrong? Had those freaks done something to her?

Kat hesitated. "I need Vergil to see this. Stay here."

Alexis shifted uncomfortably in her spot, suddenly aware of the chill that pricked her revealed skin. She didn't have much time to think about it. Kat was back in a couple of seconds with Vergil in tow, the three of them now crammed into the small bathroom.

Vergil took Kat's previous position at Alexis's back, his gloved hand light like Kat's had been at first, but then prodding at the sensitive flesh. Lexi hissed, but the sharp pain she had been expecting had been replaced by a dull throb.

"Fascinating."

Alexis stood, forcing Vergil backwards into Kat as she turned so she could look at her back in the mirror. Where the gash should have been there was now only a red line, but even that was fading before her eyes. Her jaw dropped; her mind unable to wrap itself around the smooth skin where there had been a gaping wound not even thirty minutes ago. If it weren't for the bloody clothes on the bathroom floor, Alexis might not have believed that she had ever been injured in the first place.

"It's healed itself," Vergil supplied as he turned her back towards him once again, holding her shoulders to keep her still as his eyes studied the expanse of smooth skin carefully.

"Do you even hear yourself right now?"

"Has this ever happened to you before?" Vergil questioned as one of his hands ran between her shoulder blades, his brow furrowing as he ran his gloved hand over two identical scars – they were easy to miss, smoothed and faded by time, hardly noticeable except for how they caught the light above the bathroom mirror. "How did you get these scars?"

"What do they have to do with anything? Why is my back in one piece?"

"Where did you get the scars? Please, it's important."

Alexis shrugged stiffly as her mind raced, "I don't know. I've had them for as long as I can remember."

"And how log is that?"

"What?"

"Did anything ever happen to you that made you forget something? Car crash? Sickness?"

"No! Why would-?"

"And this has never happened to you before?"

"I've never had my back sliced open before, so…"

"It could have been anything. Sprained ankles, paper cuts, headaches?"

Alexis paused. Her friends had always joked that she had magic fingers, some sort of healing touch, but she had never thought too much into it. It was a placebo effect. But there had been that god-awful headache that morning during her final, and the nausea in the car…

Vergil found an answer in her silence. "I think it's best if you stay here."

"Thank you for your help and all, really, but I need to go," she responded, awkward and rushed as she ducked down to grab her ruined shirt and pulled the sticky fabric over her head.

"Please," Kat piped up from the doorway, "It's not safe for you out there."

"And why the fuck not?"

"The demons have your scent now," Vergil explained, "They'll be after you."

Alexis chuckled humorlessly, "Demons? If demons were real – which they're not – why would they be after me?

"You don't know?" it was more a statement than a question as it left Vergil's lips.

She rolled her eyes, "But you clearly do, so please, Vergil, enlighten me."

"You're not human, Alexis. You're an angel."

Stunned silence took the small room.

"Now I know you're crazy," she mumbled, but the looks on Vergil and Kat's faces told her that they were not joking. "…You're serious."

"Like I said. It's safest if you stay here."

"We just want to help," assured Kat.

Alexis looked between the two before she nodded, trying to wrap her mind around it. Demons were real. Angels were…

"Kat will bring you home so you can grab your things," Vergil started, meeting Alexis's sea green eyes, "And maybe once you're settled, I can teach you to defend yourself."

Still in shock, Alexis found it best to agree for now, "I think I'd like that. Thank you, Vergil."

On the ride to her small apartment, Kat had filled her in on some of the basics. They worked for an organization called The Order, which Vergil had founded to combat the demons' tyrannical rule over mankind. There was more to it, but when pressed, Kat had said that it wasn't her place to say. When they had returned to what Alexis now understood to be The Order's headquarters, Vergil greeted them and offered to carry Alexis's bag as he walked her to her new room.

"Welcome to The Order, Alexis."

Exhausted, she mustered up the best smile she could, "Vergil, if we're going to be roommates, you're going to have to stop calling me Alexis."