Black Winged Angel

Feeling chills going up the back of her neck, she knew she couldn’t run away so she tried to just let her mind roam. She looked across the street toward the row of buildings facing this one… wishing she were in one of them instead… at least until last night's teen-angst blew over.

Her lips parted as she noticed a man directly across the road from her. It seemed like he was looking straight at her, but she knew that couldn’t be because of the tint used on the glass… you could see out but not in. Kyoko stepped closer to the window and placed one hand against the tinted glass just beside her vision of him.

The man embodied stillness, while everything around him moved in a hurried pace. There was a calm serenity to him that was both beguiling and frightening. Somewhere deep inside her mind, she knew it was a lie… he was the one moving and everything else was standing still in his presence.

He was wearing dark sunglasses, with a long black trench coat that was open enough that she could see the sheer tight shirt underneath. He had the body of a Greek God and his face was flawless, even though his long dark hair was shadowing most of it. Something about him screamed danger and sex all at the same time. He looked like he belonged somewhere in the dark ages with the dragons and wizards.

An abrupt vision of him kneeling nude and bloody, with chains around his wrists, ankles, and neck… in some long forgotten underground cavern, burst forward in her mind, making her want to cry out in anguish. Kyoko could feel herself crawling through rivers of blood toward him… wanting to save him. Literally felt it sliding against her skin and weighing down her clothing.

Frowning as the feelings and image faded, Kyoko leaned closer to the glass and had the distinct impression that she was actually trying to get closer to him instead.

Darious felt something invading his space and narrowed his gaze past his own reflection in the mirrored glass, seeing the girl watching him. Usually humans would look away as soon as they noticed him, unless they were innocent… children. He had never understood it, but children never feared him. His dark eyes caressed the girl curiously, knowing she was not a child.

She had long, beautiful auburn hair that was neither straight nor curly, but had a life of its own. As he sharpened his vision, he could see glittering emerald eyes surrounded by sinfully dark lashes. The way she was watching him in morbid fascination made his blood heat up and that confused him.

He growled when the sun suddenly disappeared behind dark clouds. Humans had never interested him… just demons, and then only long enough for him to track them down and kill them. The instant she turned from the window, Darious wrapped himself in power, making himself invisible.

“Kyoko, have you heard a word I have been saying?” Suki asked well aware she’d just spent the last few minutes talking to herself.

Kyoko flinched and turned to look at her best friend behind the desk. “Oh… Umm… Huh?” She blinked, “What was the question?” Seeing a shadow to her right, she glanced at Kyou’s office door and relaxed seeing he had once again vanished.

Suki shook her head, “I said we have the morning meeting upstairs in five minutes.” She picked up a stack of papers and came around the desk as Kyoko turned back to the window. “What were you looking at so hard anyway?” she asked.

Kyoko’s shoulders slumped seeing the stranger was no longer there. She bit her bottom lip wondering at the disappointment. “I’m looking for a taxi so I can escape the meeting.” She winked at Suki.

“Yeah well, if I didn’t love you, I would have killed you when the mother of all fuck bombs rattled the windows last night. Besides, it really gave me some good pictures to post on the internet. You should have seen the look on Kotaro’s face when he realized he’d shot the TV… I’ll show you later.”

Seeing Kyoko’s attention wander across the street again, she placed her hands on Kyoko’s shoulders and turned her toward the elevator. “Come on… it’s time to face up to your terrorism.”

“Terrorism?” Kyoko defended guiltily. “What do you call what they constantly do to me… civilized?”

Suki giggled and pushed Kyoko into the elevator. “Get up there, and if there’s any screaming… make sure it’s them doing it.”

Darious glanced up at the name printed on the glass above where the girl had been standing… ‘Paranormal Investigations.’ He closed his eyes, feeling his way through the building and clenched his teeth as his power came across old souls. He inhaled as he found hers nearing the top floor of the building. She was headed directly into the grouping of souls that were tainted with things not human… nor where they demon.

He opened his ebony eyes just as the rain started, the sidewalk becoming wet, except for were his invisible body was standing.

Was that why she was watching him with such interest, because she was linked to all things paranormal? He let his power ride her soul one more time as he searched for demonic presence within her aura. For several heartbeats, his power surrounded her and he could feel her life force rise up and look directly at him.

That’s when he heard it… an echo of soft crying he could barely remember hearing over the sound of his own tortured screams. The only time he had ever heard that sound was the moment the chains of eternity had broken. He had left the sound behind as he’d fought his way out of the pit and it had tugged on his memory many times. The closer he’d come to this city… the more the memory had begun haunting him.

What was it about this cry that made his chest tighten now and not centuries before when it would have mattered? Why did it suddenly matter now? Darious shook his head becoming annoyed. He couldn’t change the past, so why dwell on it?

Just as Kyoko opened the door to the room where everyone was waiting, she felt like someone put their arms around her and she drew in a sharp breath. Turning to her right, she looked up into darkness. Within that darkness was the same face she had seen across the street… this time without sunglasses. It was his eyes that held her in fascination… they were the strangest color of swirling silver with a hint of icy blue highlights.

Kyou turned toward the door, feeling Kyoko’s approach but the strange look on her face forced him into action. He rushed forward and caught her before she fell. Sensing something uninvited touching her besides him, it was his warning growl that dispersed the supernatural power from around her.

It left her in an angry wave just as thunder rattled the windows from the oncoming storm. Kyou narrowed his golden eyes as he swept her up possessively in his arms and laid her gently on the sofa with everyone looking on. As they all surged forward, he held his hand up, commanding them to stay back.

Darious withdrew and opened his eyes, looking up at the top floor of the building. He could still feel the heat of her soul and it was the first time he had been warm as far back as he could remember. It had also been a long time since he had been shoved by another’s power.

He gave a cold and wicked smile as he vanished. The dry spot on the pavement turned darker as the sky opened up in a downpour.

Chapter 2 “Dangerous Myths”

Kyoko’s hearing came back before she even opened her eyes. When she heard Shinbe’s voice announce that she must be pregnant, her eyes quickly shot open and she pinned him with a death stare.

“I…” she was immediately cut off when Toya pulled her into his arms and half crushed her against him.

“Don’t do that! You about gave me a freakin’ heart attack.” He held her tight till he remembered everyone was watching. A tick started in his jaw, knowing what was coming.

“Aww, how sweet,” Kamui smirked, “Toya’s all lovey on Kyoko. I didn’t know you had it in you.”

Toya let go of Kyoko so fast that she fell back against the arm of the sofa. “You’re gonna have my fist in your face if you don’t shut up, brat.” He growled, but his expression softened again as he stepped back and looked down at Kyoko as she sat up. “What I meant to say is… what are you trying to do, finish the heart attack you started last night?”

“Keep it up and I just might,” Kyoko said with a smirk directed at Toya. “Then I’ll go hide in Kyou’s room.”

“Why would you hide in there?” Toya asked, feeling instant jealousy.

Kyoko sighed and blew a strand of hair out of her eyes. Toya was intelligent, but sometimes if it weren’t for his looks… she’d swear he was mentally five.

“Because Kyou has nerd proof wards on his door,” Kamui supplied without looking up from his new laptop, which he was keeping far away from Toya.

Toya growled and spun around to face the youngest of the group. “Keep it up Kamui, and I’ll bring your whole computer system crashing down on you.”

“This coming from the man that doesn’t even know where the enter key on a keyboard is?” Kamui asked with one eyebrow arched. “I’m surprised you even know where the power button is on a monitor.”

Toya leaned toward him, “I wasn’t talking about the hard drive.” His lips hinted at a wicked smile when Kamui gripped the laptop tighter and cringed.

“Enough!” Kyou said, his voice echoing his authority. “Everyone take a seat. Kyoko, you may stay on the sofa if you wish, and no Toya… she is not sharing it.” He leveled his brother an irritated glare.

Toya started grumbling about certain men with sticks and microchips up their asses before plopping down in Kyou’s chair. Kyou stared at him with the deadpan expression for which he was famous. When the silver-haired man felt a small tug on his hand, he looked down at Kyoko, who moved her feet so Kyou could sit on the other end of the sofa.

Kotaro and Yohji sniggered as Kyou took the invitation and sat down, resting Kyoko’s feet on his lap.

“As you are all aware, tonight is Halloween,” Kyou began.

“Duh!” Toya muttered, trying not to glare at Kyoko’s feet touching his brother.

“Which means,” Kyou continued while glaring at Toya. “Tonight, there will be increased activity. Pagan rituals will go wrong as usual, and the increased paranormal activity will escalate as well. All of us will be on high alert for the next twenty-four hours. Considering that Halloween parties will last longer into the night, being it’s Saturday… I believe you all get the idea.”

“Yeah, yeah, we got it.” Toya exclaimed. “Whoa, watch out for naked women running down the street being chased by lesbian gang bangers, ooh!”

“Where?” Shinbe asked loudly, having not paid much attention to anything since Suki had walked in.

Kyou massaged the space above his eyebrows as he felt a slight pressure building. He and his brothers hid their powers well from the world, but sometimes he wondered if they had not regressed a bit too much. They had been sent here to keep Kyoko safe without her knowledge and to rid the world of as many demons as they could. He’d set up the agency as soon as he had realized what her choice career had been.

Kotaro spoke up, “The police department has assigned my squad to the town square tonight because of the overload on the police force. Other cops will be there off and on because last year, the block parties didn’t die down till dawn and several people went missing that night.”

Kamui nodded, flipping his laptop around to show everyone. “Guys, we have a witch in town.”

“Here’s a news flash kid… tonight we have a lot of witches in town,” Yohji smirked. “Some of them sexier than others.”

“Those witches aren’t sucking the life out of little children,” Kamui pointed to a list of names in the children’s ward of the hospital. “All of these kids are in comas, and it has all taken place within the last week. The doctors are stumped, because in every case, the kids were out after dark and all the tests they have run are showing no injuries. They simply won’t wake up.”

Kyoko frowned as she tried to concentrate on the meeting. It was hard because she couldn’t shake the strange feeling that had stayed with her since she had seen the man across the street, then felt what she could have sworn were his arms around her.

Pushing the memory away for a moment, her face grew sad thinking about all those children in the hospital. She had read once that if a witch took part of your soul, you fell into a deep sleep. Then you would have nightmares forever while the witch fed off your fear. Were all those children now stuck within those dreams, crying out for someone to save them?

“I don’t guess a bucket of water dumped on her head will work but I want to be in on the hunt for something that cruel. How will we know the witch if we see it? Has anyone ever seen one? Aren’t they just humans who have tapped into an overload of magic?” She started firing questions as she tried to sit up, but Kyou placed his hand across her ankles to keep her from doing so.

Kyou didn’t look at Kyoko, hoping she would think it wasn’t intentional as he curled his fingers around her ankles like a bracelet. At the moment, he had a protective barrier around her that was only held in place by his touch… plus, he simply wasn’t ready to lose contact with her just yet.

He’d felt the powerful aura surrounding her just before she passed out. And although he had pushed it away from her… he still felt its presence lingering. That alone was enough to anger him. He had placed demon wards all over the building and in every corner of every floor within the drywall so they would not be noticed.

His golden eyes rose to the huge picture window that sat in the middle of the outer wall. The weather for today and tonight was supposed to be clear and cool, so where had this strange storm come from. As he watched the rain closely, he noticed a silhouette where the rain did not pass through.

Not wanting the apparition to know he had located it, Kyou turned his attention to Shinbe’s overly happy description of a witch.

“A real witch was never human. Their souls are demonic and eternal. They keep their lives sustained by taking the life force of children and feeding off their nightmares. That is their food source. As for what one looks like, since so many children have already fallen victim, by now she should be in rare form… young, beautiful, and even angelic in appearance.”

Shinbe cleared his throat and erased the erotic picture lingering in his mind’s eye. “She will not show her true form until she is in the middle of taking another’s life force or in battle. What she looks like during a feeding is truly hideous.”

“You would know,” Toya stated in a dark voice.

Shinbe sent Toya a look that told him to remain silent and for once, Toya had the decency to drop it.

Yuuhi was standing beside the chair his brother Amni was sitting in, but his eyes were on the rain outside the window when he spoke. “She will be in the center of town within the block parties, near the children’s festival, but she is not the only demon there. She is wary of those with powers superior to her own. That’s why she is on a feeding frenzy… storing power for the fight she knows is coming. She will add victims to her feeding frenzy tonight.”

Tasuki rubbed the chill bumps on his arms. “I really hate it when you do that,” he muttered as he watched Yuuhi’s eyes. The only difference between the boy and a true albino was the fact that Yuuhi had deep black eyes, and when he got a vision, the blackness would grow… and that was just creepy.

As Tasuki watched, Yuuhi turned his eyes on him and the ebony pupils became huge and luminous.

“It will not be a witch that you face tonight,” Yuuhi turned back to stare out at the rain as if he hadn’t just frightened Tasuki to death.

Tasuki clinched his hands into fist, knowing the child wouldn’t tell him just what he was up against. Deciding to ignore the rest of the room, most of which were snorting quietly in amusement, he walked over to the cabinets that held all kinds of demon weapons and pulled out a small bag of sea salt and quickly slipped it into his pocket.

He knew a few things about true magic, and if sea salt didn’t kill the witch or demons accompanying her… then it would at least give him a head start.

Amni smirked as he watched Tasuki grabbing the salt. This was too good to pass up. Silently clearing his throat, he did a very good impersonation of the Wicked Witch of the West.

Tasuki had to have jumped a mile out of his boots, turning around with a hand to his heart, glaring at the blonde psychic.

“Good one Amni!” Toya exclaimed.

“Go to hell!” Tasuki growled.

“Tasuki!” Kyoko admonished. “Do you want me to call Grandpa again?”

Tasuki froze and felt a bone deep chill pass through his body. Yeah, there were things the agency faced that scared the shit out of him… but nothing was worse than a visit from the master of all terror… Grandpa Hogo.

“Not necessary Kyoko, just keep that weirdo away from me tonight,” Tasuki finally managed, hoping the old man wouldn’t show up in the center of town tonight. He had a way of just popping up out of nowhere when they were out on their demon hunts.

Amni grinned at him again, winking suggestively to make Tasuki blanch before turning back to the group. He pressed his fingertips together and closed his eyes as he called on his power of sight. Behind his eyelids time sped up, day turned to night, and he was flying past the vast skyscrapers of downtown. Amni abruptly found himself in the middle of the city after dark and surrounded by humans dressed up in Halloween garb.

Thrusting his supernatural sight out in all directions, he inhaled slowly, feeling for the things that did not belong… there were so many. Distorted shadows writhed all around him, absorbing people from all directions before vanishing from sight. Wraiths that looked like nothing more than filmy spider webs flew around him as if trying to attack, but there was nothing there.

On the very edge of his consciousness, Amni began to hear something sinister, almost like demon claws scraping against metal. Something screamed past him and he was jerked back to the present. He felt a small hand on his shoulder and looked up into Yuuhi’s knowing eyes. That’s when Amni noticed he was on the floor with the chair he’d been sitting in toppled over.

“No one should go out on their own tonight,” was all Amni said as he turned away from his brother and they both looked out toward the rain. The silhouette vanished, leaving the rain to fall within the empty space.

“Everyone will partner up tonight and have their cell phones with them,” Kyou ordered. “Kamui will track everyone from here, so call him if you run into trouble. Whoever is closest to your position will be sent to assist. Yuuhi and Amni will stay with Kamui, so he can relay any warnings if it comes to them.”

Kyou looked at Kotaro, “Kotaro, you and Yohji will patrol the city square for the police department, and wherever they send Tasuki is where Shinbe will follow. Toya and Kyoko will dress up to blend in with the festivities, and possibly keep their identities safe should something unforeseen happen. They will patrol the children’s area, on the lookout for the witch.” He gave a slight nod to Kyoko knowing that was her heart's intention.

“Amni, you and Yuuhi will also be doubling as the ‘clean up’ crew. Should anything get out of hand with too many spectators, you must be ready.” He silently gave them a look to let them know to do a mind wipe of every living being they sense if need be. “Suki will be waiting with the arsenal van for anyone who needs weapons or a pick-up.”

Toya crossed his arms over his chest, completely satisfied that he would be with Kyoko tonight, even if it meant he would have to dress up for demon night. Suspicion crept in when he realized Kyou had not offered his position for the night.

“What about you?” Toya asked suspiciously.

Kyou narrowed his gaze toward the window knowing they were no longer alone within the room. He had felt the air shift from movement not seen and the hidden power within it was staggering.

“This meeting is over,” Kyou kept his voice calm but demanding so as not to alert the others.

At first no one moved, waiting on Kyou to leave as he normally did after meetings. When it was obvious he wasn’t leaving, one by one they got up and vacated the area. Kyoko also took the hint when Kyou released his hold on her ankle. Within moments, the room was empty and Kyou closed the door behind them… locking it so he wouldn’t be interrupted.

He leaned his back against the door as he looked out at the empty room.

Kyou let his heightened senses scan every square inch of the area before lifting his gaze toward the window. He stared intently at a place directly next to the window frame. He knew this had to be the same entity that had caused Kyoko to pass out a few minutes prior. What he couldn’t figure out is why. It obviously meant no ill will… almost as though it was simply visiting.

However, Kyou couldn’t shake the sensation that he’d felt this entity before. Whatever it was, Kyou knew he needed to find out its secrets and why it was there. In the meantime, he actually humored the idea of staring at its hiding place until it either introduced itself or left.

Darious was sitting on the wide windowsill leaning his back against the frame and had one leg propped up in a relaxed position. He had heard everything and it had left him feeling an odd since of belonging that he was trying hard to ignore. He had always worked alone against the demons and here he had found a whole room full of … humans wasn’t the right word for some of them, even though that was what they were pretending to be.

His proof was the fact that the man knew he was there even if he couldn’t see him. However, the stare the man was giving him was challenging to his nature. The silver-haired male wasn’t human… he wasn’t demon… what the hell was he? Darious frowned a bit until a powerful aura swept through the room toward him. It wasn’t threatening… merely stating the man knew exactly where he was.

Darious narrowed his eyes at the man… Kyou, he’d been called. Where had he heard that name before? He froze in mid-breath and his dark eyes became bottomless pits. It was impossible.

When he had gone back to the monastery only to find it abandoned and the statue gone, he had searched the tunnels beneath the rubble and found the lost scrolls pertaining to the guardians. It was within those ledgers that he had heard of Kyou and his brothers. The monk’s writings had indicated that the guardians surrounded their priestess and protected the world from demons.

He had thought the guardians were a myth… nothing more than the hopes of man added to the dire scrolls' foretelling. He searched his mind for what the scrolls had actually said but the memory eluded him because he hadn’t paid the fables any attention. He’d left the scrolls where he had found them, only to return years later to find one more scroll added. It had been about the guardians.

One thing he did recall from the new scroll was that he was older than the guardians and they had abandoned this world the same time hell’s seal had been broken. Even the monks had not understood why they had abandoned him during his darkest times.

Now they were back and pretending to be human… living among them as if they belonged, while he was left out in the cold to fight the demons as if it was meant to be? What made the humans accept the guardians when they had always turned a frightened eye on him? All the humans had ever offered him was loneliness.

Darious stood to his full height as he drew his longings back behind the hard walls he kept them trapped in. If he allowed himself to feel, then he would only find pain… he had learned that lesson the hard way. He’d never needed anyone and he wasn’t about to start now… especially those who were weaker than him. He snarled silently at the man before taking his leave, shattering the window as he went.