Chapter 49
On the journey to salivation.
The three walked with one eye on their path and the other watching each other’s backs. Stillness of the forest set the three on edge. Sister Cara, after much persuasion from Hanna, revealed the name of the Angelic her family were currently hunting. General Gemini, Reya’s second in command and according to Michelle, the worst of the lot. Blood Hunter, was the Angelic’s common nickname and Cira Sandra’s face harden at the mention of this name. Hanna noticed, but didn’t question it, she only gave Cira a comforting squeeze. Sister Cara didn’t notice and continued on.
Sister Cara led the pair short cut to the camp. Along the way, Sandra suddenly stopped, pointing her gun to their right. Sister Cara and Hanna followed suite. Hanna lifted her head to that direction and frowned for not noticing. Sister Cara, looked past the pair and frowned confused. “What’s wrong?” the Sister Aunty asked.
“it’s coming, get down!” Cira Sandra ordered. She dragged the girls running to the nearest bush, then dropped them to the ground on her knees. She primed her rifle, pushed the nozzle through the bush and waited.
Sister Cara hopped off the ground and turned to the girls “stay here, I’ll take flank”. She gave them a last reassuring smile and fled before Hanna could protest. Skipping light footed across the ground with body crouched low and rifle in hand.
Hanna struggled to push herself upright. Her wings felt like dead weight handing off her back and dragging in the ground. She managed to hold back majority of the wings, forcing them back inside her flesh, but still the dead weight and the searing pain made sitting up a struggle.
Hanna paused to catch her breath, then pushed herself up on her knees. She flopped back onto her feet and almost back on the ground. Cira spotted the struggling girl and immediately helped her back upright. Her hand lingering on Hanna’s back until the girl was stable. Hanna looked over to Cira’s concerned gaze and smiled “thanks”
“you need a doctor” Cira stated.
“we can worry about that when we get out of here”
“you’re friend said it takes only one dart” Cira Sandra advised, full of dread. “how come you are not dead?”
Hanna sighed, then scrunched her bottom lip. “I feel like I’m half dead”
“keep it that way!” Cira Sandra ordered. “I want you alive, so don’t you dare give up now”
Hanna chuckled. “ah, you’re going to miss me Cira?”
Cira smiled as she stated “my darling, don’t get full of yourself!” she turned back to the forest and took aim.
Hanna grinned, her eyes illuminating gold. “you’ll miss me”
“maybe I will, now shush!”
The creature was nimble for their size. They felt the creature’s steps echo against the ground before they saw it. Hanna pulled out her sword as it walked into view. Cira and Sara, aimed their guns higher.
The Angelic was not like the others. They had a body of a fury centaur, six agile legs and human head with melted spiders face. Eyes blazing purple. The Angelic weaved themselves through the woods, eliminating the chance of the others hearing their approach.
“Gemini”
“that is no angelic” Cira scoffed.
Hanna sighed, shaking her head. “angelics come in many shapes, this is angelic”
Cira Sandra frowned and she turned to Hanna confused. “how can you know this?”
Hanna frowned, equally confused. “how can you know this?” she retorted back.
Neither girl had the chance to answer. Sister Cara let loose a full round on the Angelic. The divinium bullets tore into the angelic fur, but did not cut them. The Angelic howled. Their fur ruffled and out crawled an army of those spy creatures.
Cira Sandra and Hanna raced into action, moving to Sister Cara’s side. Cira provided the cover while Hanna forced her body to move. Welding the sword with both hands. The three fought admirably, slicing through the horde of spy creatures without getting hit by another dart. Gemini watched on, fascinated.
Soon the fascination drifted to boredom, Gemini growled threateningly at the group, then charged with blinding speed. Hanna threw both girls out of the way, barely in time, then herself. Gemini sprinted past them, made a wide turn and then sprinted back to them. Hanna scrambled to her feet, she lifted her sword and was tackled immediately by Gemini.
“No!” Cira Sandra shouted before she started shooting Gemini.
Gemini carried Hanna away from the group, then slammed her back first into tree trunk. Gemini lent close and growled “so you are the half breed”
“Yep” Hanna quipped. “You must be Gemini, my name is Hanna, pleasure to meet you. Would you mind letting my family go?”
Gemini laughed, shaking their face. “No” Gemini stated with a snap of their pincers.
Hanna sighed, disappointed. “Shame, I hopped you will say yes”. Hanna flexed her hand, her angel wing dropped off her wrist. She flung the wing up and dragged her wing across their hands, slicing through flesh. Gemini howled with pain, dropping Hanna to the ground. Hanna hit the ground on her side and yelped. She turned to the others and started crawling for them.
Sister Cara kept shooting the Angelic while Cira Sandra sprinted for Hanna. Picked up the woman under the arm and dragged her away from the Angelic. Hanna picked up her sword as she went, clutching the weapon with one hand. “Go get out of here!” Sister Cara ordered. “I’ll hold them off!”
“We’re not leaving you behind” Hanna stated.
Gemini howled at the offending bullets, trying to push through to the group.
Sister Cara shock her head. “You don’t have a choice, now Run. I’ll be right behind you”
“No” Cira Sandra declared. She turned to Gemini and glared. “You take Hanna and run, I’ll hold the fucker off”
“You?” both girls stated surprised.
Cira Sandra huffed, rolling her eyes. “Yes me”
“No, I’ll do it, you two run and I’ll hold them off” Hanna ordered.
“Absolutely not” Cira Sandra scoffed. “You can barely lift that hunk of metal, now get out of here!”. She lifted her hand and cupped her face. “Don’t worry I got this, promise you can fight the next one. Now go” she dropped her hand. Cira removed herself from the brunette’s grip. She took Cara’s gun and took her place. She began shooting the beast, before she twisted her head and faced Hanna. “GO GET OUT OF HERE!”
Hanna walked forward, but not too far. Sister Cara rushed Hanna, picked her up by her side and started dragging her away. “NO! CIRA! CIRA!” Hanna shouted as she was dragged away. Thrashing in her Sister Aunty’s grip, her desperate pleas for Sister Cara echoed through the trees as the distance between them grew.
Cira didn’t answer. She turned her back on Hanna and continued to shoot. When her gun ran dry, she tossed the rifle aside and cracked her neck side to side.
Gemini snarled, crawling forward two steps then darted forward sprinting.
Cira ran to meet them, sliding under snatching hands and under their body. Cira grabbed Gemini’s back leg with one hand, stopped sliding and pulled the leg back. Gemini fell faceplant into the ground. Their body dragged backwards across the earth before lifted into the air and flung across the forest. Colliding with a tree and smashing straight through. Collapsing on the ground again.
Gemini crawled to their feet and glared at Cira. Surprised a girl her size can attack like that. “what are you?” Gemini asked.
Cira pulled back her head and laughed, she looked up at the Angelic and sneered “wouldn’t you like to know”. With one hand she pulled off her glasses and shoved them into her pocket. They both sprinted forward and the fight began.
Fleeing through the forest, Hanna gave up calling Cira’s name. Gave up on struggling in her Sister Aunty’s grip. The poison coursing through her body was strong, the burning in her back made her wings drop like dead weight and it was starting to spread. It became a struggle to stay awake, her vision faded in and out.
Suddenly the sounds of a fight echoed through the trees. The girls stopped in place and turned back the direction they fled. Hanna’s eyes widen with concern. “We have to go back” Hanna reasoned.
“We can’t” Sister Cara stated with a shake of her head. “We have no more weapons and we need more sisters”
“We can’t just leave her there to fight alone, what if?”
“We’re not” Sister Cara interrupted. She gripped her niece’s shoulder with both hands and informed “I’m getting you to safety and then I’m heading straight back for your friend. No one gets left behind tonight, not now, not ever”
Hanna gulped and nodded slow. Her mind torn between following her Sister Aunty and running after Cira Sandra.
Neither woman had the chance to move. Gemini charged towards them, throwing both girls aside. Sister Cara hit her back against the tree with a sickening crack and fell to the ground. Falling unconscious. Hanna cracked her head and her world started to blur.
Gemini sprinted back and started to stride straight for Hanna.
Hanna struggled to get up, her eyes flashing red and silver. The angel within was restlessly and pushed every nerve to stand, but the poison made her weak. Soon her world went black and she collapsed back to the ground. The last she saw was a human’s shadow crossing her right side, heading straight for her and Gemini.
Hanna woke with a jerk and a long gasp for air. Eyes open she was greeted with the sight a cave roof. She took a moment to collect herself. Breathing in and out slowly as she stared up at the roof. Allowing the gentle sounds of someone’s unsteady breathing nearby and the crackle of campfire.
“Look who’s awake” Cira Sandra spoke softly from her side. Hanna turned to face her and frowned at her friend. Her friend sat across from her, a small lit fire between them. Her body bathed in shadow and the fire’s light danced on her skin. Barely touching her friend. “you been out a while, how do you feel?”
“heavy” Hanna sighed, even in near pitch darkness her friend refused to take off those red glasses. She couldn't help but wonder, if there will be a time she will ever remove those glasses. To speak the truth, those glasses just made Hanna more curious about Cira's eyes. “can’t keep my eyes open” she admitted.
“Then rest” Cia Sandra informed, turning back to the fire. “I’ll keep watch”
“not yet” Hanna rolled herself onto her side, facing Cira. She studied her friend and found, relieved, her friend had no injuries. Just stains of Angelic blood on her clothing and skin. She frowned confused “how did you survive?”
Cira’s lips curled into her iconic smirk, Hanna’s smile glowed at the sight. “It will take more then that to put me down”. Cira watched her for a few moments, then dragged herself off her spot and took a seat by Hanna’s side. She pressed the back of her hand to Hanna’s forehead.
Hanna unwillingly sighed at the touch. Her eyes dropped for a moment, then snapped open, her eyes flushed embarrassed by her reaction.
Cira smiled, but didn’t react much further. Her smile dropped as she drew her hand back. “you got a fever”
“No you got a fever” Hanna laughed
“Pfft and delirious too” Cira chuckled. She dragged her hand down Hanna’s forearm and down to the angel wing on her forearm. The rebel touched the feather wing by the tips and it moved. She ran her fingers across the wing and the wing fluttered, then expanded to full size. Dragging itself across the ground and moving away from it’s owner, to Cira. "what else can you tell me?"
Cira Sandra grinned at the wing’s movement. She wondered how this was possible and then she realised. Her smile faulted to a look of horror. It lasted only a moment before she quickly regained her composure, dragging her serious eyes to meet Hanna’s silver. “You’re not like any other girls, aren’t you” she pulled her hand away.
Hanna gulped, she let out a shaky breath. “I-I-I don’t know what you mean”
“I think you do”
“I’m…” the words trailed off in her throat. She wanted to tell her friend who she was, what lies in her blood. Cira’s hand drifted to her face and she sucked in a sharp breath. “I’m not like anyone else” she stated. “I’m different…I can’t…I can’t tell you yet”
“ah”
“I’m sorry”
“It’s okay” Cira smiled. “Really, it’s okay, tell me when you’re ready and I will be here”
Hanna smiled and she breathed out a relieved “thank you”
“Until then, get some rest” Cira declared. She jumped up and marched for the entrance door. Hanna watched her leave. Cira walked to the edge of the cave. Where the sun was setting and storm clouds were fast approaching. Cira looked back at Hanna and stated confidently “Those girls are still out there and your Sister Aunties too. Stay here and rest, I’ll be back before you know it”
Hanna wanted to throw herself up and chase after her, but her body was too desperate for sleep. Instead she declared “don’t be long”
Cira Sandra smiled, she gave Hanna a confident smirk and a wink. “Get some sleep” without any further delay, she turned and walked out of the cave.
Hanna watched till her friend disappeared from sight. She followed the sounds of snoring behind her and soon found the curled form of Sister Cara by the fire. Bandaged and facing the flames. Cara’s rifle and Hanna’s sword laid before her.
Hanna took a deep breath, then dragged herself towards the sword. Picking up her weapon and then using the weapon to help her stand. She moved around her Sister Aunty, then hoisted herself half upright against the wall. With weapon in hands, she drifts off to sleep.
Next time Hanna woke was to a crack of thunder.
The fire was dying out and outside was pitch black. Her body felt stronger, not like this morning, however it was growing. Her Sister Aunty was still fast asleep, but Cira Sandra had yet to return. Fear sparked her nerves and she threw herself up onto her feet. Then sprinted out of the cave.
Hanna used all her strength to run through that forest. Using her angelic senses to follow Cira’s scent. Soon she found her friend, in a tangled fight against Gemini. Hanna stumbled to a halt, watching impressed her friend take on the Angelic with bare fists and a devilish grin that spoke of unwiring confidence. Confidence that her enemies will die by her hands and her hands alone, no God can change that. That admiration disappeared the moment she saw something crawl in the corner of her eyes.
Gemini’s spies were crawling through the forest, closing in on Cira.
The hybrid gasped and before any thought of plan could be made. She sprinted forward and tackled her friend. The Spy creatures let loose a rain of darts and they strike the Hybrid’s back. The Hybrid held on, using her body to protect Cira.
When the darts stopped, Hanna looked up and howled with pain. She clenched her eyes, fighting her angelic side for control. The hybrid let loose a roar and flames flooded out of her body and burned the enemy. The spy creatures were reduced to ashes and Gemini fell back, withering with pain.
By the time Cira pulled her hands from her face, the fire disappeared and Gemini’s cries ceased. She looked up to Hanna and watched her whimper and struggle for control. “Hanna?” she whispered concerned.
Hanna opened her eyes and turned down to face Cira. “Cira?” she gasped.
The Angelic roared, suddenly closing the distant in seconds. She picked up Cira and tossed her aside. Throwing her into darkness. Angelic turned to Hanna, grabbed her and slammed her back first into the ground. Gemini lifted Hanna up, slammed her back first into the ground, then tossed her opposite direction of Cira. Chased after her. Caught her mid flight and slammed her back into the ground.
“Look at you” Gemini sneered. “You think you can stop me?” they laughed wickedly. “You are nothing and no one is coming to save you now”
Darting through the trees and behind Gemini. Cira Sandra sprinted up the Angelic’s spine, leapt up onto their shoulders and slammed Hanna’s sword through their head. The Angelic howled, shaking with anger. Cira tried to stab her again, but the shaking threw Cira to the ground.
Cira scrambled to her feet, throwing herself in front Hanna. With sword raised to strike and body positioned protectively.
“Cira” Hanna spoke softly.
“just hold on” Cira stated. “it won’t be long”
For a moment Gemini’s back was turned and revealed a dent in their back. The beast turned back and howled. A sound that only encouraged Cira to dig her heels into the earth and brows tighten. The beast darted forward with blinding speed. Cira sliced off the front two and dodged the rest. Dropping to the ground and shielding Hanna as the Angelic lurched forward, fell face forward and tumbled along the earth. Cira jumped over Hanna and prepared her body for another attack.
The beast rose up and stalked to the girls on hinge legs. It’s spider pincers snapping angrily.
Cira Sandra stayed firm, welding Hanna’s sword in her hand, as if she didn’t carry anything else before. As if this diviniam blade is the most dangerous thing in this room, second to Cira and the Beast.
The Beast suddenly lurched forward snarling. Then threw its head back last moment and let out a painful cry. The Beast dropped to the floor before Cira’s feet and started to convulse. Screaming in terrified agony.
Cira watched the Beast confused. Then stumbled back to Hanna.
“Cira...run” Hanna urges a final time before she passed out.
“Not without you” Cira declared. She roughly forced the sword in her belt. Quickly picking Hanna in her arms, bridal carry. She turned back to the Beast and started walking backwards. Then turned and sprinted into the woods.
The Beast howls chases after her. The storm thundered overhead and the rain belt down on the girls. Cira ran like the Devil. Her feet barely touching the ground as she carried Hanna to safety.
Soon the last of the howls faded. She only stopped when she could no longer hear the beast’s cries. Cira turned back to the direction of the monster. Making sure they weren’t followed before focusing on Hanna. The sweet sick angel passed out in her arms. Her strong friend never looked so fragile and scared in all the time Cira knew her.
Cira wasn’t afraid of anyone and anything, she prided herself with this strength.
However seeing Hanna this way broke her strength in clean sweep. She was terrified for the girl’s safety and such a feeling of fear was alien to her.
Cira took a deep breath and focused ahead. Pushing down her fear, she choose a new path and continued to run through the woods. Returning to the safety of the cave.
Meanwhile on the other side of the woods
Although free of danger, the girls gathered inside the large orange tent. With a daunting feeling haunting the group. They peered through the doorway into the darkness and the storm. Hoping with every lighting flash the faces of their friends would appear.
“Where the fuck could they be?” Kit question aloud.
“Right now, shelter from this. Hanna wouldn’t let the two of them out in this weather. But they should have been here long before the storm” Addams observed.
“Something’s wrong” Persephone stated. Full of dread and terror.
“Why you say that?” Addams asked.
“Cause I’m right, I can feel it like a prickle at the back of my neck. I feel it every time Cira is close and now with those two vanished. It’s like needles are pricking my skin”
“You think Cira has something to do with this?”
“I won’t be surprised if she does”
Addams sighed, she shook her head, turning back to Persephone. “We can’t be Sure that’s what’s going on”
“I am”
“No” Kit insisted loudly, forcing the girls to focus on her. “This isn’t the time to fall down rabbit holes. We’ll track them down in the morning. If they are stupid enough to find us in the dark then that’s what they can do. We wait and we keep our minds clear”
Persephone turned back to the door.
Addams nodded with her girlfriend. “She’s right, lets get some rest”
“Not tired” Persephone stated bluntly.
“Fine keep watch” Addams retorted. She crawled past her friend and lead her girlfriend to the back of the tent. The two gave each other an ominous look as they settled in for the night.
Persephone stated still and watched the door. Flinching at every slight movement she saw. When the lights dimmed and their snoring filled the tent. Persephone dragged over her bag with one hand, to her side. She pulled out a flashlight and handgun. She checked the clip, then clicked the full clip back in its container.
She focused back out into the woods and watched the storm rage on.