Heaven and Hell

The flight to New York took a little over an hour. Once there, the crew had decided to split off into two teams. Serena, Maria and Rene headed toward Central Park to see if they could find clues to the one responsible for the attacks while Li Yung, Dalton and Colleen investigated the disappearances to find any possible links to the victims. They agreed to meet back at the motel they checked into in two hours time.

It was late evening and the sun had nearly set into the horizon, giving the sky an orange-pink hue. The sounds of traffic could be heard all around them, mingled with indistinct conversation of the people all around and the laughter of children playing nearby.

The park still had people in and around it going about their business. Occasionally someone would stop and stare at the three of them for their unusual clothing choices but otherwise they pay them no heed. The park had a tranquil air to it that Serena liked. The trees were plentiful and the leaves a beautiful bright green, rustling gently in the breeze.

The three of them followed the winding path towards one of the more secluded areas of the park and into one of the many forests. They finally reached their destination where several of the victims reportedly had disappeared. Serena looked around, they were alone.

“Alright, fan out, lets see what we can find here,” Maria ordered. The three of them combed the area searching for any clues that would help them confirm what they were investigating. Serena tried to see if should could find the triangular symbol that had been left on the scenes back in her hometown, but to no avail.

“Over here!” Rene shouted waving his hand to her. He was standing by a log and he pointed at it as she drew closer to the taller man.

“What is it?” she asked, but the answer to her question was on the log. Four large scratch marks were left on the log, as well as some dried up blood. Maria approached the two of them and knelt down closer to examine the blood stains.

“Couldn’t have been more than two days old,” she reported standing up straight. Rene ran his hands through his dirty blond hair and whistled.

“Whatever left those marks was pretty damn big,” he stated. The two women nodded in agreement.

“It was definitely a feral demon,” Maria said.

“How do you know?” asked Serena. Maria shot her an exasperated look.

“Because I have been in this a lot longer than you police girl. You can tell by the way the log has decayed where the claw marks are,” she answered indicating to the deadwood surrounding them. “The log reeks of death and decaying flesh, no other animal can cause that by a mere scratch.”

The sound of a snapping twig caused the three of them to jump and draw their guns in alarm. They looked around to try and find the source of the unexpected noise. At the corner of Serena’s eye she saw something move, she whirled around but found nothing. Her grip tightened around her two weapons. She felt as if there were piercing eyes staring all around them. The three were back to back, searching, tension running high in the air. A gentle breeze rustled the leaves on the trees. Just as they were about to relax and dismiss the noise as nothing threatening, the sound of giggling could be heard all around them.

“It sounds like a child,” Rene hissed, clutching his rifle tightly.

“Who wants to play with me?” a voice echoed around them.

It sounded like a little girl. Serena thought. They could not tell where it was coming from, they were completly alone. Fear began to grip at Serena, she took slow deep breaths to keep herself calm.

“Who are you? Show yourself!” Maria demanded.

“Lets play a game,” the eerie voice replied. “A game I like to call fetch!” Suddenly a huge red furred creature the size of a bear seemed to have materialized from the shadows on Serena’s left and bounded towards them. It ran on all fours, snarling at them wildly. Serena leapt out of the way of the creature as it ran passed. Maria and Rene likewise avoided the creature and began shooting at it as it disappeared into the darkness.

“Did anyone get a shot?” Maria asked.

“It’s hard to tell” Serena replied.

“Where did it go?” Rene asked in a panicked voice. Before anyone could respond the creature reappeared behind him and grabbed his arm in its maw causing him to shriek in agony and drop his gun. The creature continued to run, dragging a screaming Rene. Before either woman could fire a shot it had disappeared, along with Rene. Silence soon followed. The two women were back to back trying to figure out where it was going to strike at them next. The giggling intensified and echoed all around them.

“I got your little friend,” the voice echoed, taunting them. “He is my new toy!” The giggling turned into laughter. Serena was looking around frantically for the creature.

“We have to get out of here!” Maria yelled over the laughter. Serena nodded in agreement.
“Oh you’re not going anywhere,” the voice said. “I’m going to keep playing with you and then when I’m bored, I’m going to kill you.”

“I’d like to see you try!” Maria shouted in response. The creature appeared right in front of Serena and bounded towards her. She channelled her chi into her guns and shot at the creature twice, managing to hit it on its left shoulder. It yelped in pain and veered off course and disappeared again into the shadows.

“I’m surprised you were actually able to hit something,” Maria exclaimed. The creature reappeared again snarling viciously, blood spurting out of its shoulder. The two women separated from each other as the creature ran by yet again and shot at it. This time, instead of disappearing into the shadows, it turned and charged towards Serena. Serena fired her guns twice, but the creature dodged each shot with surprising agility for its size. She didn’t have enough time to avoid the creature. It raised its paw to strike her with its large claws when something struck it in the throat. Serena noticed what looked like a silver star imbedded in the creature’s neck. It snarled in agony, but was cut short by two more stars striking it in the neck. It fell to the ground with a thud, dead.

Serena glanced over at Maria standing behind the creature’s corpse, looking just as confused as she did.

“Behind you!” Maria shouted, firing her gun at a tree brach behind Serena. A figure had leapt from the branch and descended to the ground behind Serena. She whirled around to see someone slightly taller than her dressed in all black, wearing a mask that covered all but the eyes, which were green. Around his head was a thin red band.

“I am not your enemy” a slightly muffled man’s voice said. “Follow me if you want to survive Serena.” He beckoned the women to follow him and he sprinted off before receiving a response. The two women exchanged puzzled expressions, then sprinted off after their saviour, the sounds of a girl wailing could be heard all around them.

“You will pay for killing my pet!” the girl’s voice shouted, her voice filled with rage and despair. The voice seemed to be further away than before. The wailing resumed and grew fainter as they continued fleeing. When they were out of the forest and in the middle of a field the figure in black finally stopped. Serena collapsed on the ground, panting heavily. Maria had crouched over and placed her hands on her knees also panting. The man before them however showed no signs of fatigue. He stared at the forest, his arms crossed and allowed them women to catch their breath.

“Who are you? And how do you know my name?” Serena finally asked the mysterious masked man. He looked at her but remained silent, he seemed to be studying her. Serena stood up and returned the man’s gaze. Finally he spoke,

“My name is Azriel, I am an agent of Abraham’s Shadow.” Maria snapped her fingers and pointed at the man.

“I knew it!” she exclaimed. “What the hell are you doing here assassin?” the man faced Maria.

“I am not an assassin,” he replied cooly. “I am a Shadow Agent for Abraham’s Shadow Organization. We have been around a lot longer than you and your Order of the Holy Light and we will be here long after you are gone.”

“Oh don’t give me that whole Judaism versus Christianity crap!” Maria angrily shouted. It finally dawned on Serena as she realized that this was a member of the Jewish demon hunting force. She had run into a brief mention of them in her studies, but very little information on them was available. They kept well hidden and very few had even seen a member, let alone have a conversation with one. They preferred to operate independently and in the shadows. Many superstitions surrounded their organization. They were said to be able to appear or disappear out of thin air and move faster than thought. They slew demons single handedly using their signature weapons, the Star of David Shuriken. Based on what she had seen of Azriel, the exaggerations weren’t too far off the mark.

“Many people know who you are Serena Johnson. We have been watching you since you were fifteen. And you know why Serena.” Serena’s eyes widened. Could this have something to do with my father’s death? she wondered, thinking back to when her father was killed in the line of duty when she was only fifteen.

“Did you know my father?” she asked. Azriel did not answer her, only stared at her intensely.
“This is our case, not yours!” Maria shouted, seemingly oblivious to Serena’s question.
“This area is under our jurisdiction, not yours. Go back to your monastery and pray little nun.”

“LITTLE NUN?!” Maria exploded. She opened her mouth to say more but a voice calling to them caused her and Serena to turn around. Li Yung, Dalton and Colleen were running towards them as fast as they could.

“Where have you guys been?” Colleen asked, her long blond hair trailing behind her as she ran.

“Where’s Rene?” Dalton chimed in. Maria explained to the others what went on in the forest. Serena turned her attention over to where Azriel had stood to try and get some answers out of him, only to find that he had vanished. She searched for him but she could not see where he went. When Maria finished explaining the events to the others, she to realized that the man who had saved them had vanished. The two exchanged puzzled looks.

“I guess he had more important things to do than stand around here all night,” Maria suggested.

“Did you find a link to the victims?” Serena asked, returning her attention to the other three. Li Yung shook his head.

“There doesn’t appear to be any sort of link between the victims, other than the fact that they disappeared here in Central Park,” he responded.

“So now what do we do?” asked Dalton.

“We need to find some sort of weakness that the witch has and exploit it.” Maria replied.

“There’s no point in standing around here,” Colleen said.

“We are not prepared for a confrontation with the witch as Serena and Maria have demonstrated.” Li Yung pointed out.

“Maybe Azriel can handle her alone?” Serena suggested. Maria shook her head and said,
“Impossible, witches are extremely dangerous and unpredictable. There’s no way an assassin like him can take one down by himself.” Serena sighed and stared back at the forest. She felt compelled to enter it again, but she couldn’t figure out why, it was like something was calling to her. She felt a chill run up her spine. She knew something bad was about to happen, and soon.