After probably an hour, we found a resting place at the Downtime City Police Department. Inside the precinct, it was soulless and cold. Tables flipped, some were on others and some either against a wall, pinned someone against a wall, on someone or someone laid lifeless on one table. Some of the lights were on, others flickering and some weren't working at all. The bodies, blood, guts and lights didn't make disappoint in making the precinct eerie.
It was horrid to witness all of this but we needed a place to rest. Fortunately, the windows were boarded up, well most of them. The others were broken. We closed the doors behind us and Donny carried Tarius over to a wall nearby on his shoulder. Donny sat him down and Mary rushed over to him with a med kit in hand to aid Tarius's injuries.
Tarius groaned in pain while Mary cleaned up the wounds with alcohol and used the laser gun to close the wound he acquired. He was in agony but it was entertaining for me. We had made a bet between each other. It was whoever got injured during battle or combat, the other would have the liberty to humiliate them until they have healed. It was slightly justified but do not get me wrong, watching a strong angel gritting their teeth to a minor pain was hilarious.
Mary had scolded me and said I was childish. My smile vanished from my face and was replaced with a neutral look. She stopped speaking to me and her attention on dealing with Tarius's wounds. I heard whispering voices coming from the east wing of the precinct. The words from where I stood were unintelligible gibberish. However they didn't seem to be calling neither Donny, Tarius nor Mary.
So I followed the voices to the source of their origin. The precinct was not a place I found unfamiliar to me. I have been here several times, years prior to these events, helping a friend out. Now it was the mess it is. I hope that he isn't in this mess.
I carefully tread through the east wing' hallway. It was littered with body parts, guts and blood all over the floor, doors and walls, even some on the ceiling. The smell was suffocating and unbearable. The deeper I moved into the east wing the stronger the smell became. It was still fresh. I took the electric pistol from my suit and clenched it tightly in my hands, ready to use.
The voices became louder and clearer, I began to understand every word said. Pain, agony, fury and regret is what each voice expressed. I tried to listen to them one at a time, but there were too many to give my attention to. Instead it became noise to me. Annoying at best. I tsked at the voices and they all stopped.
"You did this to us," they spoke in unison.
I stopped in front of an interrogation room. A message, written in blood, read 'You betrayed us, Captain'. I was confused. What does it mean? Did I fail them? Or are they referring to their captain? I asked myself.
I heard a giggle, left of me, coming from the end of the hallway. I looked and saw another demon. She slowly walked toward me, swaying her hips provocatively, her arms swinging rhythmically with her hips. I turned my body toward her and took a few steps back. I raised my gun and aimed at her. She was a succubus coming for her next prey.
She disappeared in front of me, her arm wrapped around me one side of my neck. She carefully moved her hands around my abdomen, so that she doesn't get harmed by the suit. She knew how it worked. I quickly turned around with my gun in hands. She wasn't there and I slowly took a step back. I then took another step back and another, before I walked into her.
"Well I believe I caught myself a feisty man," she spoke arousingly.
I turned back and she disappeared again. She was toying with me. I played along with her until I got my moment to shoot. She was clever and swift. She was trying to slowly take my suit off of me, but I wouldn't let her get her way. So, she ept at her cumbersome game.
"Hmm, I believe I am going to enjoy you," she said excitedly.
"That's never going to happen, Rennaira," I spoke sternly.
She stopped right in front of me. She came toward, not to seduce me but, out of curiosity. I shot her but I missed. How? I tried again and had the same result. I looked at my hands, she held them. She lifted my arms and my feet left the ground.
She took off my helmet and smelled my scent. She didn't recognize it. She looked me dead in the eye, trying to hypnotise me but it had no control over me. She grew impatient and took off my eyepatch. She was surprised she had me in her hand. I smirked and gave her a wink. Then I kicked her in the breasts, so that she would let me go. I landed on my back and got back up on my feet.
"You! How are you still alive?" Rennaira asked me.
"Well, that's a very long story and I don't wanna bore you with the details. Long story short, I cannot stay dead. I want to know something. Do you miss me?" I said playfully.
"If you are here, then it means Lazorath must be dead. You are quite the worm, Ravedos. I almost wasted my body on yours," she uttered disgustedly.
"Aww come on, you definitely miss all this. That night you weren't disgusted. Why now of all times?"
Before our chat proceeded, she launched herself at me. Screaming in hatred and loathfully. I guess she took it personally. then she halted in her tracks, she looked down the hallway and ran away. I was about to enjoy the duel this time. Donny ran up to me.
"Hey Captain, is everything alright. I thought I heard you talking to someone,"
"Yeah, everything is alright. There was a demon here and I confronted it,"
He stared at me dumbfounded. I looked at myself. I then realised that my voice caught him off guard. He looked me in the eyes and walked back to Mary and Tarius confused. Not eve to asked what happened during my confrontation. However, it begged the question of why Rennaira ran away. She was alone, wasn't she? So she didn't want to fight when she is outnumbered. Maybe.
I got back to my team and briefed them on what transpired. Everyone was as confused as I was, "A demon just ran away?" they asked. "Was it afraid?" they asked their second question. I didn't know how to approach their questions.
Maybe she doesn't want anyone to intervene, maybe she wants to isolate me from everyone, I thought. Did she pull that off to everyone in the precinct. If so, she was good, very good.However I have a plan for her, although she wants to fight me alone. She will become my slave and I will use her to crumble her lover. After all this war never a fair fight to begin. I am forced to played dirty.
I told them to rest for the night because we have a big problem ahead. Tarius and I remained awake. The are where his wound was, was covered over by some bandages but it was unnecessary, Mary wanted it done either way. We had discussed what was next to come on the mission. Rennaira knew I was alive and she surely would have told the others.
"Brother, we are no longer operating in secret, since the enemy knows of our presence," Tarius reminded me.
"I know and that will not change our objective. We shall re-strategize our next course of action well,"
"What is it that you have in mind brother?"
"I do not know how it will go. Knowing her behaviour, she will not inform the others until first light. In the meantime that will allow us the chance to move onward toward our objective,"
"Wait, she will not tell the others until dawn? Are you certain of this brother?"
"Yes, she will occupy herself for the night hunting victims. She has always done that. She has never told us about anything then, before she hunted prey,"
"Your past never ceases to amaze me, brother,"
I looked at Tarius. He was right. He still didn't know what I had done before the day I met her. I understand that my history with the demons still leaves a bitter taste in his mouth, so I don't speak about it much.
Something flew through the doors and landed by our feet. Well, that something was Dante. He was injured and had bloody cuts on his face. They slowly disappeared because they were healing. He opened his eyes and greeted us.
"Hey guys, it's good to see you,"
"What happened to you?" I asked him.
"Well, you know, looking for my sister, fighting demons, the usual,"
"So, you brought your fight to us?" Tarius asked him.
"No, it just happened that I was punched so hard, that I flew all the way here. So, I am going to leave and let you guys continue what you have going on here. This is gonna be a long fight,"
Dante stoop back up, dusted himself off and ran back out to fight through the door. Tarius and I were left speechless. It was bizarre. We looked at each other and back at the open doors. Dante attacked the demon with his sword, grabbed it and threw it away and jumped toward it. I closed the door and spoke a bit with Tarius and went to rest.