Chapter 8

It had been simple enough for him to do. The blade slipped across his skin with relative ease, the blood flowing outward in its wake. In the darkness, he watched the blood pool across his wrist, eventually becoming too engorged of itself and dripping down his bare arm.

And even as he sat there, allowing the life to flow from him, he was surprised to find that he no longer felt anything that had come before the blade. The tears upon his face had dried against his skin, an unnatural calm replacing his previous pain and fear.

The possibility of his own death seemed almost surreal, as if he was watching himself from a dream. His vision began to darken, the world blurring around him. He didn’t even hear the Sister enter, only realizing her presence when she began to scream.

“Raphael!”

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‘Raphael…’

In response, the blonde man simply rolled over, ignoring the noise that would wake him up. While he was glad for the interruption from his dreams, he did not wish to leave the comfort of his bed just yet.

‘Don’t ignore me. Wake up.’

Slowly, Raphael opened one eye as he yawned. “You’re worse than an alarm clock, Byakko…” He pulled the covers over his head in a futile attempt to hide.

The white cat, previously sitting next to the blonde man’s pillow, now moved to jump upon his bedridden form. Her paws stepped lightly, walking up his frame.

‘You were dreaming of the past, correct?’ Her voice was soft and luxurious, a kind of purring sound most appropriate for a feline. Though she did not speak, her voice came to Raphael through a telepathic link.

“No,” came the answer, muffled through the bed sheets.

‘Liar,’ Byakko purred in response. She sat, her fur smooth as silk, and idly licked a paw. ‘You really ought to rouse yourself. You may miss breakfast at this rate.’

“Ah…” This caught the man’s attention, and he sat up briskly, pushing the covers from himself with a grand flourish. “And what a crime that would be…”

Byakko, having been rolled off along with the blankets, crept out from underneath them. Her golden eyes showed the slightest of annoyance, but she managed to compose herself quickly. ‘Why is it all of a sudden that the mentioning of food will get you out of bed? I don’t recall that tactic ever working before…’

Raphael stretched, a smile coming to his face. “Ah, the pleasures of the rich. Gabe’s cook is second to none, it would appear.”

The feline stared back at him, narrowing her eyes. ‘Is that your only reason, then?’

“Why, of course, By. But you should know that already…”

Golden eyes looked away from him, following a pattern in the faded wallpaper of the guest room in which Raphael currently resided. ‘I am a part of you, true, but I am separate from you. You know this. Often times, the motives behind your actions are incomprehensible to me.’

Raphael smiled slyly. “Then why doubt what I tell you? Have I ever lied to you before?”

The cat eyed him. ‘Never.’ Byakko paused, washing her face with her paw. ‘And that boy…?’

“What about him?”

‘You seem interested in him, that’s all,’ she replied. ‘I’d like to know why.’

“Why, indeed,” Raphael answered, resting his chin in his palm. “He’s one of the four angels, and as the other two are currently absent, why wouldn’t I focus my attention on him? It would be awfully dull here otherwise.”

‘Is that all?’

“Besides,” the man smirked, “he’s fun to toy with. Quick to emotion, that one is. Wears his heart on his sleeve.”

‘You mean, the opposite of you,’ Byakko stated. Her tone then changed to that of concern. ‘That’s dangerous, Raphael. Don’t become too attached to him. To any of them…’

“I know, I know,” Raphael said, sliding out of bed. “That’s what you always tell me. My little guardian, Byakko, here to protect me.”

‘You know how I feel,’ she answered, following him. ‘I am the only one that you need. I will never let what happened in the past come about again. I promised you on that day…’

“Yes, I remember.”

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Michael yawned, blinking sleepily in the sunlight. It was far too early for him to be awake, let alone standing in the middle of the street looking for anything ‘curious.’

“Gabriel,” he called. “There’s nothing here. What are we looking for?”

“Nothing here, my ass!” The voice came from behind the boy, and he turned to glance briefly at the woman who was now squatting near the ground with what appeared to be some kind of hand-held scanner. Michael had met this woman, Alex, the night before, but she still seemed very strange to him. “Just because you can’t see it with your eyes doesn’t mean there’s nothing here.”

“OK, so what, exactly, are you finding?” Michael asked, bored.

“Every fight involving celestial or demonic powers leaves behind a residue,” Alex explained. “This scanner is programmed to detect those residual particles and give us a vague understanding of what might have happened and where those individuals might have gone.” The scanner in her hand began beeping.

“What have you found?” Gabriel asked, approaching the two.

Alex whistled. “Unbelievable, Chief. I’ve never seen so much dark matter in one place before. Whoever that fallen angel was, he was wielding something pretty damn powerful – excuse my language, kiddo.”

“Like I care?” Michael answered.

Alex continued. “This is purely conjectural, but…”

“Don’t tell me,” Gabriel interrupted. “Lucifer again, correct?”

“Why can’t you believe that it could have been him?” The woman asked accusingly.

“What makes you so sure that it was him?” he retorted.

“Who else would it be? Samael is still sealed, and we know that he never carried one of the Dark Artifacts. No other Fallen Angel is strong enough to cross worlds, so who is left?”

“If it was Lucifer, there would be nothing left here,” Gabriel answered. “Besides, why would Lucifer be fighting with a demon? They’re supposed to be on the same side…”

“Maybe because that demon was loud and annoying and thought he knew everything and refused to be wrong! I’d say that’s a pretty damn good reason to kick his ass.”

“I’ll agree, that is a marvelous reason for attacking someone, madam.” He glared at her, and she glared back at him.

“Either way,” Michael interrupted, hoping to calm a fight before it started, “which way did this guy go? With that much dark matter floating about, he had to leave a trail, right?”

Alex smiled sweetly. “Well…”

“Well?” Gabriel prompted.

“Well,” Alex continued. “This is where the spike of dark magick occurred and…”

“And?” Michael repeated.

“Poof!” The woman made a hand gesture resembling an explosion.

Both Michael and Gabriel stared at her. “Poof?”

“What the hell does ‘poof’ mean?” Michael asked.

“Meaning,” Alex went on to explain, “that he was here, and then ‘poof!’ He disappears.”

“Disappears?” Gabriel said loudly. “He couldn’t have just vanished, what do I pay you for?”

“Sorry, Chief,” the woman shrugged. “The scanner can’t pick up what’s just not there. There’s really no sign of much of a struggle, so I doubt the guy was obliterated. And even if he was, he would have left something behind. This is more like… he turned his power off.”

“You can turn off power?” Michael asked.

“Not really,” she answered. “But you can mask it pretty well, if you know how. This guy is topnotch to be able to hide that much power… Still think it wasn’t Lucifer?”

Gabriel turned his nose up at her. “Your evidence is inconclusive.”

“Your face is inconclusive…”

“Children! Please!” Michael said, raising his voice. “How about the demon? Can you tell where that went?”

“One moment,” Alex answered, turning back to her work. “I have to reset the scanner to pick up demonic energy…” The scanner beeped a few times as she fiddled with the dials. “There… well, the demon was kind of powerful, but not the most powerful I’ve seen. Do we follow it?”

Gabriel shook his head. “No, I don’t think it’s necessary. A demon of inconsequential power levels is not worth our time. We should check out the second incident.”

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Uriel sat across the table from Raphael, glaring at him. He was starting to find the older man’s presence to be tiresome. It didn’t help that from the mantle-top, the white cat sat staring at him with her creepy, golden eyes.

“I think she’s starting to like you,” Raphael said cheerfully, tilting his head towards Byakko. In return, the cat shot him a dirty look. Uriel simply gave him a dry stare. “I take it you don’t believe me.”

“Don’t you have something better to do?” Uriel asked.

“Not particularly,” he answered. “Besides, we haven’t had breakfast yet.”

It was at this moment that Cecily entered the room, followed by a few servers. “Your meal, gentlemen.”

Raphael stood, approaching the young woman. “Ah, but your brother has poor taste, allowing such a beauty to serve such undeserving males.” As he spoke, he took her by the hand, kissing it gently. Uriel watched carefully, feeling strangely displeased.

“Lord Raphael, you flatter me,” she spoke, a blush coming to her face. “I shall have to take your word on my beauty, as I know not of it.”

Raphael smiled. “That, my dear, would be a simple thing to fix. You have but to ask it of me.”

“Fix?” Uriel repeated. “Fix what?”

Cecily chuckled softly. “I have been blind since birth.”

Uriel’s eyes widened. “Really?”

“You are quite skilled at hiding your handicap, my lady,” Raphael said. “However, if you wished for sight…”

“You would heal me,” she finished for him. “Your offer is quite kind, but I currently have no desire for it.”

“If you ever change your mind…” Raphael said, releasing her hand. “You know where to find me.”

“Yes, thank you,” she responded, leaving with the servers, who had placed breakfast upon the table as they had been speaking.

Raphael reseated himself, glancing over at Uriel. The boy was giving him the same dry stare as earlier. “A problem?”

Uriel shrugged, taking a fork to the pile of eggs on his plate. “Nothing.”

Raphael smirked, doing the same to his own eggs. “Ah, I get it. You’re jealous…”

“I am not!” Uriel said loudly. “I just don’t like your little fake act, that’s all.”

“Fake, you say?” Raphael said, sounding like he was genuinely interested. “How so?” He pushed a strand of his long, blonde hair behind his ear before resting his chin in his hand. Uriel felt uncomfortable being watched with those green eyes, and even more uncomfortable being put on the spot like that.

He really wasn’t sure what he was going to say, but struggled for the words anyway. “Well, when there are other people in the room, you act all friendly and happy, even obnoxiously so.” Uriel paused to gather his thoughts, but he felt confident as he went on. “You always sound like you’re some kind of gentlemen, like you’re trying to get people to like you. But when anybody tries to get to know you personality-wise, you brush it off and don’t answer. Like last night, I want to know why you’re always on your own, but you won’t tell me.”

“Well, that’s fair enough,” Raphael interrupted. “But it goes the same for you. I don’t know anything about you, other than a few things. You don’t seem to think of me in high esteem, yet as you’ve said, you don’t really know me. Thus, I can conclude that there are some past occurrences that cause you to reject me upon sight.”

Uriel glared at him before dropping his gaze to his plate. “Maybe I can just tell who I shouldn’t trust.”

Raphael tilted his head slightly, smirking again. “Or is it something more subconscious?”

Uriel glanced up at him. He felt his face getting slightly warm. “No, definitely not.”

“OK,” Raphael continued, picking up his fork. “So, you tell me something about yourself, and I’ll answer one of your questions. You mentioned you had a sister. Any other siblings?”

Uriel flinched. “Well… I had an older brother too, but…” The boy shut his eyes, trying to block out the memories that had started flooding back. He could see his brother clearly, coming through the door, the loud bang, the smoke…

“You don’t have to…” Raphael’s voice was soft. Uriel looked up at him, but he didn’t return the look. Raphael was staring past him, seeming to find the wall far more interesting. “You had a question for me?”

“I, um,” Uriel paused. “It doesn’t matter.”

“No, a deal’s a deal,” he replied. “Ask me anything you want to know.”

Uriel squirmed. Though Raphael was no longer looking at him, he still felt put on the spot. “Er, ok. Well, do you have any family?”

“Not really,” he answered. His voice had become a bit gentler and more subdued as he spoke. “Well, if you don’t count those bastards from the main family. I’ve never really had a father or anything; I spent most of my childhood traveling with my mother, actually.”

“What was she like?” Uriel asked, momentarily forgetting that he didn’t like talking with this man.

Raphael smiled. “Beautiful. Gentle. Stubborn as hell, but I suppose she was also fragile at the same time… She died when I was thirteen.”

“Oh, I’m sorry…”

“That’s all right, it was eleven years ago, I’ve gotten over it. I was at a boarding school at the time and stayed there for awhile afterwards, but…” He paused. “After that, my grandfather took me in, but as I’ve said, they were all bastards in the main family. As soon as I was old enough, I ran away from that house and haven’t seen anyone from the family since.”

“Oh,” Uriel answered, a light bulb going off in his head. “So that’s why you’re always traveling. You don’t want them to find you…”

Raphael glanced over at him, laughing lightly. “Something like that.”

Uriel felt the heat returning to his face and averted his gaze down to where he was now pushing a bit of egg across his plate with a spoon.

“Oh, and,” Raphael said casually, “don’t use the word ‘bastard.’ It’s vulgar…”

Uriel laughed. “I know…” The blush had now crossed his face and deepened as his gaze on his eggs intensified. “I… think I like it better when you talk like that, though.”

Raphael blinked, tilting his head. “Like what?”

“Just, like… that…” Uriel responded. “You sound more natural.”

The blonde man smirked as he ate his eggs.

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“This street…” Michael started. It was familiar to him; a memory from the other day stirred through his mind. Rachel, walking home with him, had pointed down this particular street.

“See? That’s where my house is!”

“Rachel, all these houses look the same…”

“That’s because they are the same, but see that one? That one’s mine!”

“This neighborhood is awfully quiet,” Alex said. “You’d think there’d be people out and about, going to work, going to school…”

Michael felt a growing pit in his stomach.

“The second incident happened in one of these houses?” Gabriel asked.

Alex nodded. “The second power surge occurred shortly after the first, we can only assume that the incidents were related.”

The trio walked down the street, Alex leading with her face in her scanner, before stopping in front of one of the houses. “Here we go. Looks like both targets entered this house…” She pointed without looking up.

“I would assume that that would have been obvious,” Gabriel remarked dryly.

Alexis looked at him. “Why?” She then looked at the house. “Oh…”

The door lay off its hinges, broken in the entrance, and many windows were broken, glass shards scattered among the grass.

Michael could only stare at it, the foreboding feeling he had felt earlier taking full effect now.

“…but see that one? That one’s mine!”