Since being spooked by a shadow, the little seraphim was paying much closer attention to their surroundings. She had thought they were alone out here, but she was wrong, very wrong. They were being watched, and she was pretty sure it was by more than one party.
Every other street corner they passed seemed to have a camera on it, they all whirled quietly as they followed them.
She could swear she could hear the buzzing of a drone, but every time she looked up to where she thought it was it would disappear, ducking behind a building.
There was also the all ravens, siting silently, glowing ruby eyes, watching them from their perches. One cawed menacingly as they passed by a rickety looking pole covered in loud speakers, the black feathery birds coveting every single space available.
She hadn't seen the shadow again but she was convinced it was also still there, almost like she could feel it's pleasance... stalking them… hunting them.
Peter held her hand tightly, he was clearly just as unnerved as she was.
Rather suddenly, the landscape changed yet again. The young seraphim thought perhaps they were in yet another different demon's territory now, fascinating, she was rather keen to learn how it all worked.
If only they could just find Charlie, or at least someone who knew her and could take them to her. She was sure her new friend would be able to explain everything, and being the Princess she would also be able to calm everyone down.
This new area of town was just that, new. Or at least it appeared that way at first, at a glance it appeared all shiny and sleek, much like Heaven. But it was also terribly cold, unfeeling, and… fake. The fancy gadgets and bright gizmos were all just facades poorly attached to crumbling buildings. The whole thing looked like it could collapse at any moment.
The young angel felt the need to avert her gaze from some of the billboards and neon lights that covered these streets. They were very naughty and made her feel uncomfortable. Peter on the other hand couldn't help but stare at them, his face flushing bright red.
Much like the previous territory, this one was deserted. And also like before, video cameras followed them relentlessly. But there was a lot more of them this time, they where on every building, every pole, even every tree! Every move they made was being documented by whoever had control over them. It was all very creepy.
There were also televisions absolutely everywhere, in almost every shop front. But she couldn't see what was on any of them, heavy security doors screaming shut, seemingly by remote control, as soon as they drew near them.
With the exception of one.
A giant screen on the side of a building, flickering between advertisements. Why in Heaven would demons want to drink Holy Water? Her confusion was interrupted when the display suddenly shifted to a fiery logo bearing the name '666 NEWS', a loud jingle sounded and a pair of demons appeared sitting at a desk.
There was a tall boney creature in a red pantsuit, it reminded Emily of a praying mantis for some reason. The other demon looked like a man in a suit wearing a gas mask, she was just thinking how he looked surprisingly normal when she realised the mask was actually his face. Oh dear gosh! How horrific!
"Terror grips Pentagon City this Morning, as two of Heaven's Angelic Legions return for revenge!"
Emily watched in dismay as the reporter in red showed heavily edited footage of them walking through the industrial sector, destroying the embassy, and burying people in golden sand. Oh dear.
She and St. Peter shared and apprehensive look, this diplomatic mission was not going well at all. She felt a squirming sensation in her chest, one that was twisting into a painfully tight knot. When she'd woken up this morning she was so full of hope, how could everything have gone so wrong?
Mr Gas Man spoke up. "That's right Katie! Many have speculated that the yearly purges were over after the Princess Morningstar's valiant stand in response to the new extermination schedule. But it turns out they were all full of shit!"
Emily tried to ignore the commentary running along the bottom of the screen, it was absolutely filthy!
"Yes indeed Tom! Heaven's genocide is back on and worse than ever! Now is the ideal time to invest in Voxtech's 'Angelic Security'! Pre-Order Now and get a free keychain! Voxte…"
The news segment descended into a bizarre ad, showing clips of what the pair of divine beings could only assume was stock footage of previous exterminations. Emily recognised the scenes similar to those she'd witnessed during the trial.
She felt sick to her stomach as she again watched Heaven's Legions chasing demons down as they fled screaming. The uncomfortable feeling in her chest wound itself even tighter, it was so painful she was having trouble breathing. Every little gasp felt like a stab with a knife, a stab in the back, a stab in the back by Sera.
Just as she thought the knot would surely snap, her periwinkle eyes flew wide as the screen clearly showed an angel's spear skewer a child right from shoulder through to hip. Blood and gore splattering the screen.
She threw her hands to her mouth as it filled with something awful, vomit, she noted in shock. She had never vomited before, but she had read about it. But how was that possible? Behind her she could hear Peter being sick into the gutter.
In her disgust she realised the Edwardian corpse lady's actions suddenly made perfect sense. And what was worse, they were justified.
The young seraphim fell to her knees as the broadcast continued, her chest feeling like her heart had been ripped out of it.
"Perhaps our Angelic Overlords will show mercy if we hand over the Princess? Throw in the rest of her little band of freaks for good measure. I for one…"
Ignoring the horrible insect creature's words, Emily turned to her friend as tears swelled her eyes, stinging her cheeks as they fell. "Peter… I... I think we are the monsters down here."
The pair exchanged looks of horror and despair, both unable to bring themselves to say anything more. But their moment of woe was interrupted when an overhead electrical pole suddenly popped in a loud shower of green sparks, knocking out everything in the immediate area and plunging them into the near darkness of Hell's daytime.
Even the drone fell from the sky, clattering to the pavement in front of them and breaking apart into a hundred pieces of cheap plastic.
In the silence that followed a condescending voice chimed in from just behind them. "Well, well, what a miserable display of self-loathing."