Young Writers Society

"Most likely." Damascus countered lightly, though not at all in a convincing way. "It's good reasoning... let's head that way then." Over this little comment, he had convinced himself, and straightened a bit as he trudged brightly through the undergrowth.

Schadel noticed the tone that James was using with Edward, and briefly wondered what had happened between the two of them in what she had assumed was a short time before she had joined the large group of people. He studied James's back as he started to lead the group towards the forest. Had he always been this...irritable? He was starting to remind her of Claire, or even Liz if her living assistant was having an especially bad day, but she couldn't remember him ever really getting like that in the previous times they had met.

Then again, the first time he had been a little kid, and the second time he had been drunk, so maybe that hadn't been the most accurate portrayal of his personality.

But then she turned her attention to Engel and the people he was with. Something about the woman beside him didn't feel right; her tone was off, and the reaction from Engel suggested that it hadn't just been a cheerful, joking tone like Rosa used with Blanx when she was trying to tease him about something. This was different.

And the name. Why did the name sound familiar? Engel must have mentioned it at least once during the time at the bar, but she couldn't remember the context. Boomslang had been someone important. Someone who-

Her eyes widened, and she instinctively checked their souls. It seemed like she could still access every power of hers right now, save for being able to easily change her form. The strands that held Engel's soul back in his chest led directly to the woman. She was the one who had made him like this, and she was the one who made his life miserable.

She immediately strode forward. She knew there was little that she could do to change things, but God just slugging her in the face with a well-aimed punch was sounding more and more appealing. No one ever hurt the people that she cared about and got away with it-

Edward placed his hand on her shoulder. "Schadel," he hissed, "you're not a grim reaper anymore-"

"My soul's still the same," she said. "I can see their souls, and I bet I could even make my scythe appear if I wanted to. My regeneration doesn't come from my body - it comes from my soul."

Edward slowly nodded, and reluctantly drew his hand away.

"You're the one who's keeping Engel's soul in place," Schadel said, looking Boomslang right in the eye as she spoke. "I don't know if I should be thanking you for being indirectly responsible for me being able to meet him again, or if I should be furious about you threatening my friend."


Aquarius gave a little nod. "You can stay with us," he said, casting a glance over at his brother and instinctively scooting a little closer to him. Even though he knew Rose, Zephyrus was the one person he was incredibly close to in the near vicinity.


Grim slipped to the front of the group as Schadel and Edward moved towards the back; he didn't want to deal with the ghost. If he slipped up and accidentally revealed the truth, then things would go horribly with Edward. So he settled for standing near James and Maahes, giving the former a tug on the arm when he realized that they had a very simple way they could track the two missing people down.

"James," he said, hoping the man wouldn't be irritated with him as well, "some of us are angels. We have wings. We could fly and look around for them, while the demons can keep searching the forest floor."

Boomslang's eyes narrowed and she sauntered towards Schadel. Sieben, who stood behind her but didn't advance, put his hand to his gun, and Kratzer moved to grab his when he saw Sieben's movement. He wasn't about to let Schadel get shot, be it by his son or anyone else.

Boomslang was silent for several moments as she gazed down at Schadel, deciding what to make of this. So, Engel had another ally, and one that could see souls.

If only Azrael would reap his soul when she killed him. Then this wouldn't be an issue. But no, he was immortal until Death was willing to take him.

Which brought her back to this.

"It seems that's up to you to decide, Schadel," she said, her unnaturally green eyes looking at her with a calculating stare.

James was processing many things at once as he turned around to Grim, who'd pulled on his sleeve. The moment he turned to the winged man, he also saw Schadel staring down Boomslang, and could feel the tension even from afar. By some miracle, Grim's suggestion still managed to get through his fog of thoughts.

His eyes flicked to Grim. He noted his wings, then looked over to Maahes. Without much thought, his hand went to grab Maahes's.

"You're right. That's a good idea," he said stiffly, admittedly wishing the idea had occurred to him before, but thankful for the suggestion. His grip around Maahes's hand, tightened however. "We can send you out in pairs. If you're to be flying the skies, we can see from below, but I'd like to cut our risks of something happening that we're unprepared for, and someone having to deal with it alone."

Again, his eyes returned to Schadel and Boomslang.

He found it difficult to make decisions when the fragile balance keeping their group together was already being challenged. Depending on how it played out, their numbers could be cut, and he didn't want Kratzer, or anyone else to be among them.

"Just wait a moment," he said quietly.

Noticing Engel and that other guy's reaction to her walking right up to Boomslang, Schadel turned to her brother and gave him a reassuring smile. "Don't worry," she said, "I might not look like myself anymore, but I still can do everything but change my form. A gunshot or two won't harm me."

Edward muttered something behind that suspiciously sounded like, "But you haven't tested it yet." Schadel would have commented on that, but doing so would ruin the whole thing she had going on right now.

She looked back at Boomslang and took another step towards her. "You ruined Engel's life, and you don't even care," she accused her. "You're just treating this as a game right now."

It infuriated her to be dealing with someone like Boomslang; she was just like all of the grim reapers who could care less for humans, and like Lumon, who had been so cruel and heartless that she had tried researching ways she could kill grim reapers on a large scale. That was the type of person that Boomslang was, and it made her furious.


Maahes was surprised by James suddenly grabbing onto his hand, but he didn't question. He gave James's hand a tight squeeze of his own, hoping that it got the message of him being there to support him across. Things were beginning to spiral out of control in their group, and they hadn't even left the church's grounds yet. How were they ever going to find out what happened to them now?

Had water on the surface always been so blue? So green? I had never been one to pine for the surface, but now that it was coming back to me, the reality of the difference was staggering, nostalgic, bizzare.
The surface of the creek rippled with reflections so bright it stung the eyes to look upon them, the weeds that welled up from below were rich and green, it breathed and rustled with life, down to the microscopic.

Movement in the reeds drew my eye, slithering, grey shapes. I pointed them out to Damascus, excited.

"Oh, look at that! There's eels! Now that takes me back."

I stepped forth toward the edge of the bank, leaned in, and patted one, taking in the cold, smooth skin for only a second before drawing my hand away. The eel moved to bite, then shot off, disturbing the patterns of its friends. They all scrambled, before resettling not far ahead.

I gave Damascus a smile. "Have you ever touched an eel?"

Damascus crouched on the bank, peering into the water with a dreamy smile. His eyes followed the eels, and he swirled his hand into the creek, oblivious to the fact that they wouldn't come any closer while he was stirring up the water.

"I can't say that I have." He glanced over at Boris. "How did you get them to come to you?"

With a bit of recklessness, he pulled his hand out again and sat back to remove his loafers and peel off his socks. He slid his now bare feet into the water, muffling a yelp at the bite of the temperature.

I sat down cross-legged by Damascus, on the bank, and watched him play in the water. His sweet wonder never ceased to captivate me.

"You won't get them to come to you, they're not friendly creatures. You have to be still, and surprise them. And mind they don't bite you."

Damascus nodded and kept his feet still with a bit of difficulty, if he was being honest. A couple of the eels swam over to investigate, and he was able to run a hand across the back of one before it had a chance to bite his toe.

He churned the water with his feet and watched, lazily hypnotized, as the eels scattered again. Turning back to Boris, he smiled gently.

"The water feels so nice. It's a bit cold, but it's warm out anyway. Here, put your feet in." With a little chuckle, he splashed in Boris' direction, subtle enough to make it seem like an accident.

Rose rolled her eyes. This whole group was falling apart! She fluttered her wings and rose up from the ground.

Boomslang chuckled. "But it is a game, my darling girl," she said. "This is merely a small piece of it. An important one, but a small one nonetheless. Your...friend came into my employ of his own volition. I have the contract right here," she raised a hand and the scroll appeared in it. "With his signature. Courtesy of der Silberfuchs himself."

Sieben cocked his gun but didn't take it out of the holster, though he was ready to. Kratzer removed his own and kept it lowered, the click of the hammer as he pulled it back audible. Cornyx watched the trio with a metallic, unconcerned gaze.

Zephyrus reached a hand out and grabbed onto Rose's leg before she could get too high up. "You might want to come down," he suggested, giving it a very gentle tug. "James doesn't seem to be in the best of moods right now, and he might get made at you for trying to fly away."

Aquarius gave a frantic nod in agreement.


She narrowed her eyes as she looked at the contract. It was impossible to tell when he had signed it or why he had signed it, but it had to have been long enough for him to change his mind on her. She balled her hands into fists. Don't punch her, she tried to tell herself, but it was becoming increasingly harder not to. "And, what, exactly is that game?"

Her eyes began to glow dimly. "Would you like to fin-"

Bang.

Kratzer's gun discharged and Boomslang stumbled forward, clutching her chest as crimson bloomed across the white of her angelic attire.

Bang.

His finger pressed the trigger again, this time sending the demon to the ground with a hole in her head.

Bang, bang!

Sieben's turn. Kratzer's gun came out of his hand as his son's bullet hit him in the arm and fell as the second nailed hm in the heart. It might not kill him but it was still a vampire's weak point.

Sieben advanced on Kratzer as Boomslang coughed up blood, stumbling back to her feet and turning towards the two vampires, Schadel forgotten.

Rose came down and jumped as the gun went off.

James instinctively flinched and ducked as the gunfire started, and he stared wide-eyed as he saw Boomslang fall to the ground. Just as quickly as she fell, Kratzer was shot, and he and Sieben were going at each other as Boomslang got back up. As panic arose in his chest it was as if all of his emotions shut off. His face took on a cold, blank expression, and he slipped his hand out of Maahes's grip and walked over.

He was fully aware that, unlike the others, he was mortal. He did not have regenerative abilities, and a shot would most likely be fatal even in his altered form.

"Kratzer," he said cooly, his voice clear and demanding. "Boomslang. Sieben. Put your weapons away and stand down. We're only wasting precious time we could be using to find the others, and to figure out what the hell is going on. Pull yourselves together."