Young Writers Society

Prologue

“Why the hell did the job have to be here? I’m freezing my ass off!” I asked the question knowing no one would answer. No one else was in the stupid, dark alley with me.

The Demon I had received the job from said there would be a back door I could use to get into the club. It would have been impossible to see anything in the alley if I had been completely human. Good thing I wasn’t.

I saw the grime covered door out of the corner of my eye, I sighed in relief at finally being able to get out of the dank and cold laneway. I rushed over and tried the knob on the door. The opening creak of the door resounded throughout the abandoned backstreet. I slipped through the slightly ajar door and spun quickly to make sure I hadn’t been caught, and found the room empty of anyone else.

I crept slowly through the dimly lit room, avoiding the precariously stacked boxes. The loud music seeped into the otherwise silent storage room, engulfing the room in sound. The storage room had a heavyset entry into the main club on the far side. I was surprised when I opened the door to find the music could still increase significantly and I had to fight the urge to take a step back.

I made my way surely into the club itself and was surprised yet again by the sheer capacity of it all. There were people everywhere, on tables, in corners and velvet curtained alcoves, on the bar and littered all over the large room – if you could even call it that. I moved through the thick throng of people, their bodies jolted me slightly as they all danced around me, their body’s slick with sweat, sticking to mine.

The air was thick with all the auras, Angel and Demon alike, very few humans were detectable. Though to my knowledge I was the only Hunter in the bloody place. I continued to make my way to the back of the room where I knew I would find my target – an Angel. He had apparently turned away from the war after causing all sorts of trouble.

The Demon said his aura would be dimed slightly; that it would look misty after committing all the ‘sins’ that he was responsible for. I scanned the back alcoves and corners, knowing that he would try to keep out of the way as much as possible.

And there he wa –wait! What?! A girl? Why the hell is there a chick here instead? I cursed under my breath and looked back at her.

She was tiny! She really was only a kid and she looked like a typical Angel. She had the round face and big baby blue eyes accompanied by the classic golden corkscrew curls that bounced around her face and fell just passed her shoulders. If I didn’t know any better I would have said she was a Cherub Angel. Only I did know better, so I knew exactly what she was. An Archangel. A delicate laugh bubbled up and spilled passed her petite rosy mouth.

“I see Leviathan finally sent someone to end my ‘pitiful existence’ – as I’m sure he put it.” Her melodic voice floated around me, holding a note of innocence – it was almost angelic. I couldn’t help it; I let a quiet laugh pass my lips.

“That’s exactly how he put it. Congratulations.” Talking to her was a stupid idea. But what was I supposed to do? This was the best part for God’s sake! Goading and mocking them.

“Oh goodie! Do I get a prize?” Her sweet as sugar voice was dripping with sarcasm and disdain. I smiled sardonically before I launched myself forward, aiming a hard kick at her thin waist. Before I could even land my kick she shot forward so fast all I could see was a blur before she smashed me in the chest with the heel of her hand. Her precisely placed hand sent me flying into the opposite wall with a loud crack; she began to walk towards me with slow, calculated steps. She shoved her forearm against my throat and pinned me their firmly with her skinny little arm.

“Aw, this is going to be way too easy! I was hoping you were going to be a little more fun than that. But oh well, we don’t all get what we want, now do we?” Suddenly her arm dropped away and she skipped away, twirling around and nodding her head once. A standard signal for anyone and everyone.

I looked around frantically – looking for an escape route – as my heart began to drum painfully against my ribcage, almost as if it was trying to shatter it. I suddenly noticed a familiar aura light up the room in a choking red mist – another Hunter was now in the room. A door that I hadn’t noticed before opened on the furthest wall and someone stepped out, their foot-falls non-existent on the cold concrete floors. I could define their features as their fluid movements brought them to stand in front of me. Dark hair, tan skin, coffee brown eyes, broad shoulders, a faint scar on his temple.

A knife in his hand.

A knife in his hand. I couldn’t take my eyes off the knife. My stare was firmly glued to the sharp, steel blade and Blackwood hilt that was trained on me with his no-doubt accurate hands. Blood pounded loudly in my ears, my breaths became gasps – short and fast – my eyes began to sting with my lack of blinking.

Fear had successfully worked its way into my blood stream like the disease that it is, for the first time ever. It coated my tongue thickly and pricked at the back of my throat uneasily. My hands shook ever so slightly – though it would have been clear to the Hunter and Angel before me.

I was going to die.

I knew that.

I had taken a decent job from a high paying Demon. It would have provided me with the money to continue with my one real job. To keep my sister safe and healthy. And now I was going to die and leave her with nothing – with no one. Our parents were dead; they had died doing the same thing as I was now. Why does everyone have to fail her? Why can’t we just provide for her? She deserves to just live. I’m so sorr –

My thoughts were cut short as the knife got lodged into my stomach, sinking all the way to the hilt. Pain lanced through my limbs and thoughts of anything but were a thing of the past. The Hunter twisted the knife once before pulling it out, a sucking sound following.

“Still not as fun as what I hoped. Oh well, as I said before, ‘we don’t always get what we want.’” Her syrupy voice was the last thing I heard before I dropped and the world went black for the last time.

Authors Note:

Sorry it took so long to post this.....