Heaven and Hell

“Hey Princess wake up!” Maria shouted as she threw a bag on top of Serena. She grunted in shock and opened her eyes. It took her a moment to realize that she was in their motel room that they had purchased the night before. The women shared one room and the men the other across the hall. Serena gaped at the small black bag that had landed on her stomach.

“What’s this?” she mumbled tiredly, scratching the back of her head.

“Open it!” barked Maria. She did as she was told and inside was a small rectangular box. Curious, Serena opened it to reveal an emerald the size of a quarter. Attached to it was a long, thin golden chain. She took the necklace out of the box and examined it.

“What’s this for?” she asked.

“It’s been blessed,” Maria replied as she sat on the bed adjacent to Serena polishing her gun. She was already fully dressed in her customary black robes with the white sides. “Ms. Henslenger sent a convoy over and gave us each one similar to that one.” She held up a ruby necklace that was draped around her neck.

“To protect us from what? The witch?”

“That’s right. She’d been working on them since we left. They should protect us from the types of spells that would normally effect our minds.” Maria explained. Serena nodded and threw off her covers and began changing into her uniform. Unlike Maria’s, it was a tight fitting all black robe. It allowed her more free movement than the customary loose fitting robes favoured by many of the Order of the Holy Light.

The bathroom door opened and Colleen stepped out with a towel wrapped around her slim figure and another wrapped around her head. She had obviously just gotten out of the shower. She greeted Serena with a smile, which she returned. Unlike Maria, Serena found that Colleen was much more pleasant to talk to. She didn’t talk down to her either like Maria tended to. In fact, she was one of the people who thought she was the one that could save the world. It was nice to know that someone on this mission other than Li Yung believed in her. Maria and Dalton openly disapproved of Serena, saying she was unfit to serve the Order of the Holy Light, let alone be the Bellator Dei.

It had been two days since the incident in Central Park and no further disappearances had occurred. Since then, they had investigated the scene in which the Witch had attacked them, as well as the rest of Central Park, interviewed the friends and family of the victims and researched as much as they could on witches, but so far they had no solid leads. For all they knew the Witch had already fled.

A knock came at the door, Colleen, now fully dressed, answered it, revealing Dalton standing there looking impatient.

“There’s been another attack,” he said brushing passed Colleen and into the room. Behind him, Li Yung stood at the doorway, his back to them.

“Is it safe to look now?” he asked quietly.

“Yes Li Yung, we’re already dressed, come in,” Colleen giggled. She found Li Yung’s shyness adorable, which caused Li Yung to be even more shy, his cheeks turned a bright crimson. He turned around and bowed in his customary fashion and stepped into the room. Colleen shut the door behind him and sat in a nearby chair. Maria had stood up, loaded and holstered her weapon.

“What happened?”

“A body was discovered in the forest in Central Park by what appeared to be a campfire,” Dalton replied. “Reports say that the body has a huge gaping hole in it.”

“Can we examine the body?” Serena asked.

“I’ll look into it,” Colleen volunteered.

“Can you take us to where it happened?” Maria inquired. Dalton nodded.

“It’s been sealed off, but thanks to our contacts we can get in no problem.” he answered. Maria pointed at Li Yung and said,

“You’re coming with us.” he bowed in response and followed Dalton to the door. Maria pointed to Serena. “You go with Colleen to examine the body. We’ll meet back here in an hour.” And with that the three of them left to the scene.

“Well it appears we have our orders,” Colleen sighed. “Maria always did like being in charge, even when we were students back at the Monastery.” Her eyes glazed over, reminiscing in old memories. She soon snapped by to the present and stood up. She pulled out a cell phone from her pocket and used it to call the Monastery to arrange an inspection of the corpse.

Serena however hesitated, in thought about the recent events that had occurred. She had an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach, but couldn’t quite place why she felt this way. She was so immersed in her thoughts she jumped when she felt a hand on her shoulder. It was Colleen’s and she was looking at her with concern. She asked what was on her mind but Serena simply shook her head and headed to the door, Colleen trailing behind.

As they left the building Serena kept her hands close to her weapons that were concealed inside the coat she now wore. She payed close attention to her surroundings, drinking in as much details as she could. She noticed the way people walked, talked, distinct features, and what they wore. She was very good at taking in her surroundings, having a photographic memory also helped.

The skies of New York were grey and dreary, a slight drizzle of rain greeted them as they walked down the street. Serena made a note of landmarks along the way to the hospital such as a vendor selling his wares along the street, a certain café that had a green door, the names of the streets as she passed them.

A man in a suit bumped into Serena, jarring her to the side. He made no move to apologize, nor did he stop, he just kept walking. She turned and glared after him, noticing he carried an attache case in his left hand and a cell phone in his right, which he was speaking into. She couldn’t make out what he was saying, nor did she care.

“Well that was rude,” she commented to Colleen who nodded in agreement. She looked like she wanted to yell after the man but thought better of it.

“Come on, we’re almost there,” she said. After another block they had arrived at the hospital.
At the front desk they found a short portly, middle aged man by the name of Doctor Chance Cunningham waiting for their arrival. By his outfit he was clearly one of the many doctors. Hanging from his neck was a surgeon’s mask. He shook the hands of both women as he introduced himself. As a cover he believed that Serena and Colleen were cousins of the deceased victim, Jared Morris.

“It’s nice to meet you Doctor Cunningham, I am Sara and this is my sister Carey Anne” Serena said using the fake aliases they had agreed to use before the mission had begun. It was a common practice among the Order to keep their identities and true purposes a secret. Not many people would believe that they were really members of a secret society of Christians that hunted demons.

“I am so sorry for your loss,” he said, his voice heavy with grief. “It is always hard to lose a loved one isn’t it?” Serena swallowed hard as the thought of her father being killed sprang unbidden into her mind. She held back her tears and focussed on the task at hand.

“Indeed it is,” she replied in a slightly strained voice. She hadn’t meant for her voice to sound as such, but thankfully it helped keep the ruse in this situation. Colleen patted Serena on the shoulder gently.

“Sara and Jared were very close,” she lied.

“Say no more, I understand completly.” Cunningham replied sympathetically. “When you are ready I shall take you to see the body.” Serena took a deep breath and released it. She then nodded her head and he led them over to the morgue, which was at the far end of the hospital.
It was a large room rectangular room with three surgical tables in the centre which were used for autopsies, two of which had blanketed corpses on them, the third was empty. Along the far wall was where the rest of the bodies were stored, kept at a cold temperature to keep them from decaying.

“Here we are,” Dr. Cunningham said indicating to the second of the two covered bodies. He walked over to the body, preparing to uncover it. “This will be quite gruesome I’m afraid, I’ve never seen anything quite like this in my fifteen years of working here.” He removed a pair of rubber surgical gloves from his pocket and placed them on his thick hands. He pulled the mask on to his face and cast a quick glance at the two women. The three of them huddled around the table, staring at the sheet.

“Brace yourself ladies, this might come as a bit of a shock to you,” he said as he lifted the sheet to reveal the body underneath.

The first thing Serena noticed was the large hole in the body’s abdomen. It was so deep that she could see the table through his back. At closer examination she noticed that the flesh appeared singed, as if he was burned right through. The aroma of burnt flesh stung her nose but she made no move to cover it. Beside her Colleen let out a small gasp as she turned away from the horrifying sight. Serena studied the body as much as she could, trying to find any indication of what may have caused this. She was also looking for any symbols upon the body, triangular or otherwise, but there weren’t any that she could see.

What could have done this? she wondered silently to herself. She cast a glance over to Colleen who dared to take another look at the body, their eyes met and Serena motioned slightly for her to distract Cunningham. She must’ve understood what she meant because the next thing she knew Colleen had fallen to the floor. Doctor Cunningham immediately rushed to her side.

“Carey Anne! Are you alright?” he asked, his voice shaking. He tapped her on the shoulder but no response. Serena took that as her cue, she pulled out her cell phone and took some pictures of the body as well as taking a skin sample using nearby tweezers. She placed the samples into a vial she found and hid it inside one of her coat pockets.

“She must have fainted. Do something!” she exclaimed. As she spoke she tapped Colleen’s foot with her own, and she “awoke.”

“Are you alright?” Cunningham asked. Colleen slowly nodded her head.

“I guess I don’t do well with corpses,” she murmured. Cunningham helped her back onto her feet and covered the body once more.

“We should get going. My sister just needs a good walk, it helps her relax.” Serena said. “Thank you for your time Doctor Cunningham.” And with that they left a rather baffled doctor.

****
When they had returned the hotel they found that Maria and the guys were there waiting for them. Maria was lecturing Dalton about being lazy while he was lounging on one of the beds watching television. Li Yung sat in the middle of the room, meditating. When Serena closed the door he opened his eyes and stood up.

“Did you discover anything Miss Serena?” he asked. Dalton shut off the tv and sat up into a sitting position, Maria turned her attention to her and began chewing on her tongue as Serena recounted what she had seen of the body. She passed her phone around to show the others the pictures she had taken.

“I also managed to get some of the burnt skin tissue,” she added taking out the vial and handing it to Maria’s outstretched hand. She studied it for a moment then handed it of Dalton.

“What do you make of this?” she asked. Dalton appeared intrigued by the sample. He hurried over to the counter and placed the sample carefully on it and began examining it closely. He withdrew a magnify glass and a pair of gloves from his pockets.

“This appears to have been burnt by hellfire,” he explained.

“How can you tell? And what’s the difference between hellfire and regular fire?” Serena asked.

“Simple actually, for those of us who have been studying for several years,” he chided. “First of all, hellfire leaves a much stronger singed smell than ordinary fire. Really attacks the nose, irritating them greatly.”

“Furthermore, based on the pictures you showed us and this skin sample it’s easy enough to deduce that this is indeed hellfire. You see, hellfire is more controlled than regular fire, at least by demons mid level and above. Many of them enjoy using it in a variety of ways that you can’t even imagine. They have such control over it that they can make it spread however far they want and wherever they want on their targets, whether it’s a person, building or even other demons.” Dalton continued. “By the looks of the pictures you took, a demon literally burned a hole right through this Jared Morris fellow. Different from most demons who like to make their victims combust seemly spontaneously, when really they’re not.”

“So demons cause people to spontaneous combust?” Serena asked.

“I believe I just said that, yeah.” he replied.

“What does this have to do with the Witch though Dalton?” Maria asked impatiently. “Or can witches shoot out hellfire too?”

“No, witches can’t control hellfire, they’re only human. Powerful humans, but still human.” He answered. “No, I think our witch friend has summoned a more powerful demon to replace the feral one that was killed during your last encounter.”

“This mission just keep getting better and better!” Maria sighed. She sat in a nearby chair and began to rub at her temples muttering silently to herself.

“So the Witch has a new pet” Serena commented. “What do we do now? We can’t just wait around for her to claim another victim.” She leaned up against the wall with her hands in her pockets, cursing silently to herself. She felt something strange in her left pocket however. She grabbed it and pulled it out, revealing a small piece of paper. She unfolded it and realized that it was a note meant for her.

Your life is in danger Serena. I believe you may be the Witch’s next intended target. We need to work together, we have a common enemy that must be stopped, neither of us is powerful enough to take her on alone. Meet me at the Synagogue on East Street at midnight tonight. Knock three times. Come alone.

-Azriel

Serena folded the note and put it back in her pocket. She noticed Li Yung watching her and he gave her a quizzical expression. She shook her head to tell him it was nothing, but he seemed unconvinced, but did not voice his questions.

“We need a plan of attack. We need to find where the Witch is hiding and stop her once and for all!” Maria declared.

“And how are we supposed to find her?” Dalton asked. “It’s not as if she’s been waving a neon sign telling us where she is.”

“We’re not getting anything done sitting around here Dalton!” Maria huffed. The two continued to argue, with Colleen trying to break them up. Li Yung had slid his way over to Serena.

“What was that piece of paper you were looking at?” he asked in a low voice. Serena glanced at the other three who were still bickering and handed the note to Li Yung, who read it to himself.
“You’re not actually thinking of meeting him alone are you? It could be a trap by the Witch.” he said.

“I don’t think so, she would’ve used some sort of enchantment or something. I don’t think she’d use a note like this.”

“You never know, witches are very tricky.” Li Yung handed the note back to Serena. “If you’re going, I’m going with you.”

Serena opened her mouth to protest, but Li Yung held up a hand and she closed her mouth.
“I can stay in the shadows and follow at a distance. If there is any danger I can be there to help you in an instant. I’ll be able to sense everything that goes on around you.” he assured her.

Serena thought about it for a moment and agreed. She took comfort at the fact that she had someone she trusted watching her back, just in case. Trap or no trap, this meeting could be very important. She just hoped it was really Azriel and not the Witch.

“I’ll meet you out front of the hotel at 11:00.” she whispered.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be there.”