Hellion’s Heart

Chapter 1

It was an otherwise perfectly dark alleyway, with barely anything there save the typical dumpster and a few rats. Unusual however was the sound of a body crashing into said dumpster, a mild hint of bones cracking accompanying the crash. There, slowly recovering from being tossed several feet with immense force was a pale skinned man in a business suit. He dusted himself off and loosened his tie, approaching the young teenage girl in front of him. He had an angry scowl on his face, as if agitated by the person in front of him. He let out a low, primal hiss as he revealed the fangs and red eyes that marked him for what he was. A blood lusting, light hating parasite often called a vampire. As soon as he made another step towards the girl however, he was reduced to dust, his body struck by a bolt of lightning.

My name is Elise, Elise Miller. I was an ordinary girl, until a couple of months back. You see, I have a brother. Well, step-brother actually, since I’m just adopted. His name’s Alex. A couple of months back; he got caught in a street fight between rival vampire brood-gangs. Now, he’s in a coma that the docs say he may never wake up from. That’s when…she…came to me.

A swirling black flame began to burn on the moist ground of the dark alley. It wasn’t giving off any heat but it was certainly a flame, a flame that was ebony black and almost dreadful in the way that it danced in the air. Slowly, it rose up; reaching a height that was only slightly taller than the girl it was beside. The girl took a step back, allowing this mystical presence some room. Rapidly, it took the shape of a young girl, roughly seventeen, with tanned skin but chalk white in some areas, her eyes light blue and void of compassion or soul, the blonde hair running along her back as if a foreboding, powerful cascade. This girl, the girl from the black flame, stretched her arms a little, examining the fading pile of dust that was, until just now, a vampire. She smiled at her companion.

“Not a bad night’s work, Hellion.”

“Please don’t call me that, Celeste.” The girl said shyly. “You know how uncomfortable I am with that nickname…that title…”

I am Celeste, Demon Guard of Vengeance. I caught the scent of Elise’s desire for vengeance, the need to bring the vampire race to extinction and, quite frankly, it awakened me. I had been lying asleep and idle in the depths of the ninth circle of Hell itself far too long. When I found her just a few days after Alex was sent to the hospital, I was enthralled by her potential and her beauty. I had to make her my…

“Hellion’s not good with you? Fine then, I’ll just stick to calling you by your given name.” Celeste sighed in agreement. “Elise.”

Celeste smiled; the Demon Guard leaned close to Elise’s face and caressed the smooth, milky white skin of her Hellion. She ran her thin, nimble fingers along her Hellion’s long, beautiful brown hair. And as her brown Demon eyes looked at those lips, she sighed. Yes, it was her beauty more than her thirst for vengeance that brought Celeste to this girl. Yet, there was nothing inherently physical about their relationship. Like all Demon Guard, Celeste provides her Hellion with powers that she carries but cannot use. In return, the Hellion’s actions using those powers feed the Demon Guard’s power and existence. The beauty was simply a plus for Celeste; her main purpose was to once more roam the human world freely. Elise’s soulful green eyes looked at Celeste, barely remembering the fact Celeste wasn’t what she seemed.

“It’s kind of hard to imagine that Demon Guards like you aren’t…well…” Elise muttered as she slowly walked out of the alley, Celeste by her side. “That you and others like you aren’t…engendered.”

“We Demon Guards, unlike other demons, are neither female nor male because we don’t need to be. We are reborn with every new Hellion that is worthy of our powers.” Celeste sighed; she hated having to explain this part of her nature again. “What is it with humans and sex anyway?”

“Well…it’s…well…err…some people say its fun.” Elise answered nervously.

“Honestly, I don’t understand what’s so important about it. It’s a means of reproduction, that’s about the gist of it, really.” Celeste said, tucking her hands in the pockets of her large black coat. “Yet, over the centuries, humans like you have used it more as a pleasurable pastime than anything else.”

That’s Celeste for you. She’s really powerful when she has a Hellion, like me. She’s pretty knowledgeable on virtually anything relating to demons, black magic and the undead but if you ask her something relating to basic human relationships, she’s got nothing on the subject. I guess being a Demon Guard can do that to you, being asleep in Hell until someone’s emotions summon you and all. Poor thing…

“You don’t understand.” Elise sighed. “You can’t experience it, after all.”

“You forget, I can choose to experience what you experience, Elise.” Celeste smiled patiently. “So, if you’d be so kind as to find yourself a man to screw, I’ll be happy to see what’s so good about it.”

She can be so bothersome sometimes. She forgets details about me and I have to constantly remind her of them. That I can meld with her body to grant her further access to my powers as well as experience and physical or emotional stimuli that she does during that time, that I am capable of physically participating in a battle and other such things. Yet her potential…she’s the best AND worst among all of my Hellions.

“I’d rather not do that.” Elise lowered her head slightly. “I’m not really good at it.”

“I’ll take your word for it.” Celeste raised an eyebrow.

Near the rooftops that surrounded them was another figure. The figure was female as well, wrapped in a black cloak that was tainted with several blood stains. The girl was roughly seventeen as well by appearances of her face, her skin smooth that was pale and almost lifeless and her lips chalk white, her eyes a shade of elegant blue and her hair as black and cold as obsidian. She observed them, the Demon Guard and her Hellion with a careful eye, as she had done since the two met. As her two targets faded from view, she faded into the moonlight. She was observing the two for her own purposes, she was acting alone and she had no visible allies. She kept some distance between them and herself so they wouldn’t sense her presence but not enough that they should disappear from her sight. She looked on and scowled.

My name is Kanako. I am one of the Tainted, an Angel cursed to have been born of one Angel and one human parent. I have my powers, taken from my Heavenly mother but I am also mortal, as was my father. As one of the Tainted, I am condemned to wander this mortal world, to observe and to wander aimlessly. Neither the Light nor the Darkness wants me. I watch these two because they…fascinate me.

“She’s following us again.” Celeste noted the seemingly living shadow that was following them. “Not that we should really worry about her.”

“Just who is that person who’s been following us around anyway?” Elise asked curiously.

“I honestly don’t know.” Celeste answered, her voice making it seem like she didn’t have a care in the world. “Something has been troubling me about you humans.”

“What’s that?”

“Well, you have ages worth of wonderful, almost god-like composers, wondrous lyrics and positively divine symphonies and yet…what more than half of you sing to your children is ‘You put your left foot in, you put your right foot out, you put your right foot in and you shake it all about. You do the hokey pokey and turn around and that’s what it’s all about.” Celeste sang sarcastically, complete with actions. “It positively makes no sense.”

“You’ve got a lot to learn about humans.” Elise answered nervously before she turned her head towards a nearby street corner. “Blood…”

“I smell it too.”

That foul, putrid, salty smell of blood…I’ll never forget it. My mind memorized and ingrained that smell into memory when I saw my brother’s bloodied body that fateful night. You’d think that vampires would have the good sense to use their powers and not typical human weapons like guns. I don’t even need Celeste’s powers to detect it though those powers do make it a lot easier find vampire victims.

Elise ran towards the poorly lit street corner, her hands charging up and ready to attack. When she arrived, she found not one but three of her bestial enemies, all feeding off of a young man. They had only begun and if she acted now, the poor boy would live. As Celeste faded into the shadows, content to simply watch Elise do all the work, she charged. Leaping into the air, she sent her foot flying directly at the jaw of one of the parasitic bloodsuckers. Grabbing the arm of another vampire, she twisted it and forced him down to her knees, thrusting her fist, covered in powerful blue energy and thrust it through the vampire’s heart. As the first one was reduced to dust, she twisted the neck of the second. Suddenly though, the third vampire shoved her fangs into Celeste’s shoulder. She had begun to feed on the Hellion, bringing her to her knees.

“Damned…bloodsucker…” Elise muttered as the vampire feasted on her blood. “I’ll…kill…you…”

With the force she could muster from her body, Elise grabbed the vampire by the head and threw her to the nearby brick wall. She covered up the bleeding wound on her shoulder, which was bringing her much pain since it was an injury from an old battle a few weeks back. She heard the vampire she thought she killed earlier rise up and try to attack her from behind with a lead pipe. She looked on at Celeste, who was standing there in her non-material state, simply watching what was going on. Whatever passed between the two as they stared at each other, it was enough for Elise. Just a second before the second vampire would have knocked her down with the lead pipe; Elise leapt into the air and flipped herself over, landing behind him. With a smile, she grabbed him by the neck and disintegrated him with a blast of lightning

“Want some of this?” Elise asked, her eyes flaring with power, her left hand charged up with a powerful electric charge. “Well?”

“What are you?” the vampire hissed.

“I’m your executioner.”

Elise suddenly became reduced to nothing more than a blur on the street, a blur which was headed for the vampire. Suddenly, the vampire made contact with an elbow thrust driven with so much force it drove her through the brick wall behind her. Elise was enjoying this little battle, or more appropriately, a slaughter. The lightning was starting to cackle violently in her hands as the vampire crawled away from her in fear. She jumped on top of the running vampire, stomping her feet into the spine, cracking it in several areas. Not that it mattered, the vampire’s powers would heal it quickly anyway. With hardly any effort at all, she tossed the vampire into the air and swiped her hand downward. In a flash, the vampire disintegrated into ashes, a lightning whip in Elise’s hand. Then, Elise dropped to one knee, finally remembering her wound.

“Damn bloodsucker…” Elise hissed in pain, holding her bleeding wound. “God that hurts…”

“You should know better than to mention God in front of a Demon Guard.” Celeste said as she picked the groggy and weakened Elise up from the ground. “You’re bleeding.”

“I think that’s rather obvious.” Elise grunted maliciously. “You are so dense sometimes.”

“I’m a Demon Guard, Elise.” Celeste answered matter-of-factly. “It’s natural to me.”

To Be Continued