Chapter 10

Hope watched from the shadow of the statute of the Virgin Mary, her eyes going wide at all the police activity that was going on around her. They couldn't see her, as she was hidden from the eyes of the nonbelievers, but she still didn't want to deal with any people at the moment.

Especially since they were looking for the murderer of a priest.

Hope's heart went out to the poor man who had helped her when she had been running from Mazdikeen. He had, with her directions of course, helped tend to her wings, sorting through the feathers and pulling out some splinters that had found their way into the flesh of her wings. He had given her shelter in the back room, allowing her to stay there as long as she like.

She was the one that found his mutilated body in the confessionals that morning, though she wasn't the one to call it in.

Hope sighed as she moved to the back room, sitting down on the little cot that was shoved into the corner. Her wings still ached a little but it wasn't too life threatening.

Anger coiled inside her like a snake. Everything was going wrong and Hope knew she had to get out of here. Out of the city as soon as possible. It was hard to tell who was actually in control here, whether it be the demonic influence of Satan himself or humanity's own fickle nature. Whatever it was, it was too much for a single Messenger to handle.

Even one as skilled as Hope.

Hope wanted to go the minute Hell's Torturer found her, and no doubt informed her master of her location. But a brief, and frightening, reminder from Gabriel had her staying put. The Messenger growled angrily as she pulled at her hair in frustration, unsure of the path that was laid out before her. Two paths, each holding their own shares of dangers, consequences and payoffs, were her choice.

One was to leave this Los Angeles, damning all the consequences, head back to SoHo and deal with the wrath of the Archangels with her guardians.

The other…...the other was stay and figure out how to get Lucifer back to Hell without discorporating.

She had already had a taste of the former Light-Bringer's power, and even with her own budding abilities, there was no way she could take him on a head on fight…...

…...So maybe she would have to be a bit sneakier. Blitz attack him when he wasn't suspecting it. Hope ran her tongue over her teeth, listening to the police men finish up with their investigation of the scene and interviewing witnesses. When they left, Hope decided, she would leave the protection of the church, and enter the chaotic boil of sin that was Los Angeles. In order to find him though, Hope would have to open herself to attack from demons if she would want to locate the Devil Himself accurately.

She sighed, feeling it was worth the risk. Once taken care of, she would be able to return to England, to her friends and to her guardians. Hope sighed again, feeling horribly tired of all this. She reclined back against the wall, her wings out and limp against the ground.

Her eyes slid shut, the sounds of the busy police becoming drowned out by the world of exhaustion. Hope didn't know how long she slept, but it was long enough for the day to mature and the police to leave. When she poked her head outside the door to her hidden chamber, Hope found that all evidence of the murder had been cleaned away. Hope turned around, her eyes lingering on the small cot in the hidden alcove, before darting out and heading deeper into the church. It took a while for her to find an alcove that led to the roof, but she found it, and took the winding stairs upward. She pushed the door open with all her mind, jolting a little bit at the strength of the wind that blew through the little area. Tears were pulled from her eyes by the cold wind as she stepped out onto the uneven roof.

Hope licked her lips, unsteady and suddenly unsure. She willed the air to wrap her in a hug, willed it to smell like Mr. Aziraphale's bookshop and Mr. Crowley's cologne. Tears fell from her eyes, as she sensed her guardian's presence. She allowed the scents and the strengths to surround her as though in a hug, dredging up the new and much more potent power that she had. She pulled it into her center, pulling and pulling like a seaman pulls at the riggings of a sail. When she had felt a ball of white-hot power that was as big as a small watermelon, Hope, after a one briefer second of hesitation, pushed that ball outward. It exploded outward, leaving her breathless.

But she could feel the entire city, the good, the evil and everything in between. Her legs gave out and if she hadn't been clutching a buttress, Hope would've tumbled to her death.

Her fingers clutched the cold stone, breathing hard as she sifted through the feeling that bombarded her harshly. Hope sorted through the feelings that bombarded her, searching for the evilest feeling among them.

Hope's breath caught in her throat as she located the feeling, zeroing on a location. Wings spreading outward, Hope launched herself from the rooftop of the church and flew towards the feeling, the evil pulling at her like a fish on a hook being reeled inward. Night had long since fallen on the City of Angels, so the location she came to was hopping with activity. Landing in a filthy alleyway, Hope poked her head out. She watched carefully, closely, as lines of women, and some men, tried to get inside a dark green and black building. Neon signs glowed in the night, reading, 'LUX'.

There…Hope thought, shifting her sword a bit. That's where I'll find Satan. Tomorrow, when the sun rises, I'll either be on my home to London a victor, or won't exist any longer.

And there Hope waited.