It was night time when they got the next call. Kurt was up and already out the door by the time Rachel had managed to get up off the couch and grab shoes. It had been a restless night, and she had been up and down. Not even the greatest redheads in comedy on TV had been able to make her relax enough to sleep. Now she understood why. The packs had gotten worse. Demons at night were hard since they had the ability to meld in with the shadows. And while Kurt had the powers of the earth at his disposal, he didn't have the ability to make the moon brighter.
Or the streetlamps.
Rachel went out to the rooftop and took off to the skies, the night wind slicing through her feathers with an icy knife. She could tell by it's nature that Kurt had summoned it. For a demon, he enjoyed the cold more than the heat. She had often wondered if somehow he thought he could freeze that part of him, to turn it off somehow by burying it in the cold. She tapped the bluetooth device by her cheek and called for Kurt.
"Please tell you've got sight on them so I'm not up here just freezing my balls off."
"Not yet," said Kurt tiredly. She could tell he had been running. "You see anything?"
Rachel frowned as she flew, looking as hard as she could around her. Dodging towers and lightning rods on top of buildings made it a little hard to pay that close attention, but it was better than risking being seen in the neon lights of the city. Although most people would write off an angel sighting as their imaginations running wild.
"Nothing," she said. "Maybe they got a kill and headed back underground. You are trying to freeze them to death."
"It doesn't make sense," said Kurt. "What-"
But Rachel heard screams that chilled her to her bones as she dived down.
"The Children's Hospital Kurt!"
She landed on the roof and waved a hand over the lock on the rooftop access door. Like her own residence, there was a sitting area for patients to come have a look at the city through a glass enclosed balcony. She ran down the stairs and put a hand to the wall. There was definitely demonic activity within the place. The feeling of evil settled along her skin and it just made her burn in righteous anger. She pulled out her sword and pulled open the fire safety door.
The heat hit her quickly. They had set fire to the place. There was people scrambling everywhere. She folded her wings around her as best as she could, whimpering. While she did have a great healing ability, charred feathers were not something she wanted to deal with.
"Kurt, hurry up and start the rainshower!"
The sound of thunder rumbling overhead made her feel better. She needed to get through the building and look for the demons, but with the fires, she couldn't chance it. She made her way back up the stairs and took off. She found Kurt outside, breathing hard.
"They've already taken off," he said. "I ran through the building. I think... 15 kids... I don't know." He pointed to the group of nurses and children being guided away from the building surrounded by doctors and firemen. Rachel shook her head.
"They had a head start," she said with a sigh, feeling the rain dripping down her neck. She wiped at it in disgust.
"Innocent children," muttered Kurt.
"Sitting ducks," said Rachel, shaking her head.
"Is there nothing-?" said an exasperated Kurt. Rachel shook her head. There was nothing else they could do.
"They don't know compassion Kurt."
"Fuck it. Fuck hell. Fuck them!" he growled. She took his arm, rubbing it gently. She was angry herself, but there was nothing she could do but try to calm down and focus.
"Come on, I'll buy you an egg cream."
Rachel knew Kurt was agitated still as she steered him back to the apartment. There had been one more call before sunrise, which had been a little more successful. But the idea that 15 or more children had been taken by the devils had been enough to make her feel ill. Fury burned through her veins, but there was literally nothing they could do. Neither one of them could follow the demons into hell. She sat on the rooftop with a sigh, a cigarette hanging out of her mouth as she thought.
She hated knowing. She hated the game. Because that was all it was. God had created light. God had created dark. God created heaven and hell. The whole damn thing. Everything was God's and everything was of God. It made no sense to her if she tried to think about it. It wasn't until she had been sent to Earth that she had to think. Before she had just been. One of many entities among the fold, singing praises unto him. He manipulated everything, everything was just a pawn. It made her sick to even try to fathom it, knowing full well she was still on her mission. His strength was her own.
And she needed that strength. To protect Kurt from heaven and hell. Even from herself.
She sighed, taking one last drag from the cigarette before putting it out under her heel, making sure not to crack the cement and brick beneath her.
She needed bacon and eggs for this. She was not even ready to see the news of the city waking up to the lost children.
