Dark Angel (more to come)

Prologue

I ran through the woods. I almost had him. Finally, after so many years, I would have him right where I wanted him. No longer will I let him hunt me. I jumped over a log and ducked in time to not hit a low hanging branch. I darted around the trees with so much ease a cold laugh escaped my lips. He was about ten feet away and I could see his eyes, red and glowing, made darker in the early morning light. I gripped the hilt of my sword as I slowly caught up. When the woods started to thin, I knew the edge was near. He was running towards the city and the sun was starting to peek over the horizon.

“I don’t have much time,” I said to myself as I relaxed my shoulders, a difficult maneuver when chasing a much-hated enemy. There was a small weight between my shoulders and it was harder to run. I sighed as I stretched out my eighteen-foot wingspan. My white wings glittered in the light as I jumped up and soared over him. I'd drawn my sword and had raised it to strike him, when my cell phone rang. He looked up and dodged out of the way as I brought my sword down. I threw my phone away from me and I landed hard on the ground. I turned and raised my sword in time to block his attack. I shoved him away as I swung my sword again, this time nicking his shoulder. He growled viciously and returned the attack with an uppercut, with his sword. It's very cool to see but it's easy to block. Our swords were knocked out of each other's hands to the ground. I shoved him away and roundhouse kicked him in the chest. There was a satisfying ‘oomph’ and I punched him in the face. I tried to kick him again but he jumped back and grinned. I glared and bared my fangs. His eyes glowed a fierce red and with a bloody grin he asked,

“Do you really believe I’m Dante?”

“I’ve known you weren’t Dante the moment you ran. You're also way too short. I just figured you’d be great to take out my anger on,” I said as I slowly circled him.

“What's the matter? Did you and Daddy have another fight?” He asked mockingly. I glared and said,

“Shut the fuck up! I don’t care if you’re my half-brother. I will kill you and I will enjoy it.”

“Ooh! Scary words for just a girl Angel, but wait, that’s right, you’re not even an Angel! You’re just a stupid hybrid caught in the middle. You’re so pa...,” I'd thrown my dagger and it had lodged itself in his throat. As he collapsed to the ground gasping and gurgling, I walked over and crouched next to him.

“You know what? You are the biggest pain in the ass I have ever met. It’s no wonder why Dad sent you out as bait,” I gently caressed the hilt of my dagger with my fingertips, “Now listen; I’m not a girl anymore. I’ve grown up and I just proved that by kicking your 500-year-old ass without breaking a sweat. So, tschüß, brother, I’ll see you in Hell.” I twisted the dagger as I pulled it out quickly. The blood spattered and got all over my shirt. I wiped the dagger clean on the grass and watched as he turned into a pile of ash.

I heard my phone ring again so I walked over and picked it up.

“Natascha,” I introduced when I answered it.

“Finally! I have been trying to reach you all night.”

“What do you want, Michael?” I asked tiredly.

“You need to come see me. I have your new partner with me right here.” I could feel my shirt get heavy as my brother’s blood started to soak in.

“I need to clean up first. I’ll be there as soon as possible.”

“Yes well, hurry up. I do not really have all eternity you know.” He hung up.

“Good-bye, Michael. Thanks for being so patient. I promise to be there soon. You stupid prick,” I muttered to the dial tone before I hung up. I shook my head and flew home.

I quickly showered and changed. As I walked towards the front door, I saw the picture of my half- brother Victor. We looked a lot alike except that his eyes were red; mine are a strange shade of purple. He was the only one of hundreds of half- brothers that liked me. He’d be the only brother and Demon that respected me. His smiling picture always reassured me that I would never be alone. Who knew? Tough, kick ass hybrids get lonely. I smiled at the thought as I walked out the door and went to the garage. I pulled the tarp off my black motorcycle and pushed the garage door opener as I sat on the bike. The engine roared to life and I drove to the city.

As I sat in the Detroit traffic, I remembered how much I hated it. Luckily, Michael's huge corporation was only a block away. At about 8 o'clock, traffic started to move, so I was finally able to pull into the parking garage and quickly find my spot. I practically ran to make up for the lost time. I skidded to a halt as I almost passed the elevators. I pressed the button and waited for the painstakingly slow elevator to reach the ground floor. I bounced on the balls of my feet as I tried to distract myself. I should have brought my MP3 player with me. I was finally able to keep myself content by counting the little squiggles in the black marble floor. When the elevator doors finally opened, I looked up and saw the most handsome guy I'd ever seen. His light blonde hair fell in his eyes and completely covered his left eye. His eyes were a strange green color that I'd never seen before. He was tall too. As we passed each other, I saw that the top of my head only just passed his shoulder, and I'm six foot two inches. He had to be at least six foot eight. I watched him walk away as the elevator doors closed. I shook my head and took a deep breath. I listened to the boring elevator music praying that it would suddenly turn to death metal, normal rock, or something that didn't make me want to kill myself to end the boredom. But sadly, nothing happened. I leaned against the elevator wall and waited. When I looked up, I saw that I was only two floors from the top. I sighed.

"I really don't need a partner right now," I muttered to myself as the doors opened to a huge reception area. I saw my friend Violet behind the desk and smiled.

"Hello, Natascha! You had better not stop and talk with me. Michael has been waiting for a long time," she said. She always sounds polite when she talks. I almost forget that she couldn't speak English at first.

I looked at the tall oak doors and sighed. I wasn't in the mood for another possible argument with Michael. I really should work for a different Arch Angel. I wonder if Raphael has an open spot. It'd be nice to live in the west. Colorado has all those cool mountains.

  "Thanks, Violet." I said as I pushed open the enormous door. I walked into an office that was the size of a large one-story house. Behind a large desk, sitting in a very large chair, was a not so large man with brown hair and eyes. He had an obvious holier-than-thou air to him. It didn't help that he was the most important Arch Angel. I guess he got major brownie points for casting Satan into Hell.

"You are late," he said, his tone arrogant as usual. I nodded and sat in a chair that was significantly smaller than his own. I looked at him before responding,

"Traffic's a killer. So where is this partner that I had to meet immediately?"

"He just left to get something out of his car. Just be patient." I rolled my eyes and wondered if my partner was the man I saw. I mentally shrugged and looked around. I had only been in Michael's new office five times so far, this was my fifth, and other times I was getting yelled at, so my vision was always filled with the floor or the view outside the window, which isn't really that great.

I was thinking about my brother and father. Both fathers actually. I looked up at Michael, the man who had raised me as his own for as long as I could remember and wondered at what had tied his knickers in a knot. “What’s up with you today?” I asked.

He looked at me and raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean by that?”

I rolled my eyes. “You seem to be in a bad mood, I was just wondering why. You don’t have to get defensive.”

“I am not being defensive,” he snapped. I gave him a pointed look and he sighed. “I am sorry. You are right. I am being defensive and I am in a bad mood. I just do not really want to talk about it,” He looked at me for a moment. “But I will tell you that Sakura is being very stubborn…again. I tried to assign her a partner, one that would compliment her stubbornness.”

I snickered, “He’s a complete pansy, isn’t he? He probably can’t handle Sakura’s dominant personality.”

“Correct, he came into my office, crying like you did when you were three and broke your arm. Sakura had only broken his nose when he tried to tell her that he was going to “run things.” It’s very sad. You had barely shed a tear when you got your nose broken by that awful boy down the street when you were seven. He was very lucky that he was human.”

I smiled at his fatherly protection. “Yep, he was very lucky. I only broke his leg a week later. It could have been his whole face, but then the other villagers would have had a fit and try to declare me a witch. Like it’s not possible for a girl to beat up a boy.”

Michael nodded and then paused, “I thought he fell out of a tree?”

I tensed, suddenly remembering that he didn’t know about the power I’ve had. I had been naïve and assumed that telekinesis was a power of a witch and thought Michael would hate me. Later I learned that my father, my real father, had the same power and I was afraid that it meant that I was evil. I’d suppressed it for two hundred years and had almost forgotten it was there, hidden just underneath my skin. Metaphorically speaking that is. “Well, I may have helped him a little. A poke in the back, or maybe it was a kick. I can’t remember.” I smiled innocently.

A small smile appeared and I thought I heard him murmur, “That is my girl,” before looking over at the door at the sound of the doorknob turning. I turned my head and saw the very handsome, very tall man from the elevator. I saw no sign of recognition on his face when he looked at me. I was somewhat disappointed. Then I remembered to not take too much stock on assuming what strangers will or will not do. I was usually wrong anyways.

I stood as he walked towards Michael and I. Michael stood as well and said, “What took you so long, Daniel?”

“Sorry, my phone had fallen between the seats so I had a hard time finding it.” He sat in the other chair and I sat down again as well, a little ticked that he didn’t introduce himself the way I thought everyone else on the planet did. I looked at Michael and he shook his head at my expression. I sat back trying to not look like a little kid having a temper tantrum, though I was about ready to have one. Not introducing oneself is extremely rude. I stopped hoping he was my partner. I didn’t want to know who he was. I didn’t want to have anything to do with this man. I looked at the two men as they talked and I realized I’d be there for a while. I sighed inwardly and took off my hot leather trench coat. I looked at Michael again, almost ready to ask if I could go talk to Violet, when I realized that he was starting to introduce me to the tall man.

“Daniel, this is Natascha Dante. Natascha, this is Daniel Cavanaugh, your new partner.”

I glared at Michael before standing, turning to Daniel, and extended my hand. He shook it; giving one of those, “I don’t want to hurt the little woman with my strong male handshake so I’ll just give her a little wimpy one that she’ll take as a real handshake.” I gave a knuckle-grinding handshake that surprised him at first before he finally decided I wasn’t like most women who fall for the wimpy handshake. He nodded his head and I nodded back, though I had no idea as to why we were nodding. I felt a little bit better but I wasn’t going to forget the insult. Suddenly he smiled and said, “It’s very nice to meet you. I look forward to working with you.” I was momentarily stunned. His deep voice had run over my skin like water and the sensation was so strange. All I could do was nod before sitting back down. So many emotions were running through me and I was completely confused by it. My head started to pound with the onset of a migraine. Michael and Daniel were talking again and I was trying to make the pain of my headache less obvious so that Michael wouldn’t be worried. My eyes filled with tears at the pain and I tried to blink them away but it was too late. Michael looked at me and asked, “Natascha, are you alright?” I shook my head and he stood, going around the desk before walking towards me.

Suddenly, my fingertips began to tingle and it was as if my consciousness was drawn towards the window. All I remembered was standing, running past Michael towards the window, and seeing the glass shatter before I even touched it. I also remember the bliss of falling, and then flying.



  Chapter 1





When I got home, it was raining hard. The rain seemed to always wash away my rage. I can’t believe I lost control like that. It had been so long since I last lost control of that evil power.

The rain was so heavy I could barely see the house twenty feet away. I had just landed when I saw my new black Irish wolfhound puppy running towards me. I had held out my arms to catch him, when I saw the Demons that were chasing him. Nuh-uh. You little fuckers aren't getting the chance to kill this dog. I drew my sword and ran at them. I cut them down quickly but saw there were even more coming towards me. I saw Wolfe safe under the house in the crawl space, so I turned my back on him and faced the Demons. I quickly counted over fifty of them, so I drew my blade's twin. With one sword, I was a badass fighter, but with two, I'm unstoppable.

I ran at the Demons and slaughtered them. I watched some of them run away. Most Angels just didn't run into a huge crowd of Demons. I heard someone yelling and didn't recognize the voice until I saw him.

"Leave her! She's mine," yelled a tall Demon. I looked up from the Demon I just killed and stared into eyes exactly like mine. His hair was as light as mine was dark. I sheathed one of my swords.

"Hey, Nicolai, back already? I didn't know you missed me that much, or have you come to apologize for killing Rex." He glared and retorted,

"Shut up, Natascha! And quit whining about your stupid dog. I'm just here to end this once and for all! I'll kill you and then I'll be father's favorite!" I laughed.

"Whatever, Nico. First, good luck when you try to kill me, 'cause you'll need it. And second, if you think I'm still Dad's favorite after all the half brothers I've killed, then I must have kicked you in the head a couple too many times." He growled and drew his sword as we slowly circled each other. He quickly lunged forward to attack, but I was faster. I dodged to the side and hit him in the back with the hilt of my sword. He fell to the ground and the Demons started forward but he yelled,

"Stay back!" He staggered to his feet and if looks could kill, I'd be roasting in hellfire. I just smiled, raised my sword, and waited. He moved to attack again when he and I both noticed the surrounding Demons looking at something behind me. I turned to see a black vehicle in the distance. It was all I needed to see, this would all be over before it got here anyways. I turned in time to watch Nico deliver a hard kick to my side and it sent me flying. I landed hard on the ground even though it was soft from the rain. I had dropped my sword when I fell and I saw it where I had been originally standing. I cursed under my breath and watched Nico as I slowly rose to my feet. Nico had an evil grin and I smirked. He actually believes that he'll beat me. How cute. His grin faltered when my smirk turned into an evil grin that rivaled his own. I laughed and he yelled,

"What the fuck is so damn funny?!"

"You are, brother. It's so damn adorable that you think you can beat me. Do you know why I'm father's favorite? He told me why himself," Nico glared in anger but did nothing. "Alright, I'll tell you. I'm his favorite because I'm his only daughter, also because my rebelliousness against him reminds him of himself. I'm not proud of it, but no matter what, I'll be his favorite. If you kill me, it would only make him angry, brother. So either way, you cannot win. Not even if you succeed in killing me.

"Leave, Nicolai. Leave and don't come back. I don't want to kill my only blood brother." I watched him think it all over. I saw moments of disbelief, confusion, anger, sadness, and finally end with hatred. Without a word, he started to turn and I relaxed. Suddenly he turned and attacked me. His sword pierced my shoulder and sank in deep. I pushed him away and knock his sword out of his hands. I growled and knocked him to the ground as I picked up his sword. I pressed the tip of it against his neck and said,

"Twins forevermore." I plunged the sword into his shoulder, the same place he stabbed me. I yanked it out and broke the sword over my knee. I looked at the Demons and growled,

"Take him home to father." I walked over and picked up my sword. My arm was going numb but I didn't act as if Nico had done any damage. The Demons would take the chance to kill me if they thought I was badly injured.

I watched them pick Nico up and shimmer. I growled at the last remaining stragglers and they quickly shimmered away. I saw the truck pull up and I saw Daniel get out. I cursed under my breath. I can't deal with this right now. The world was spinning a little more obviously and I shook my head to clear it. I felt the blood drip down my fingertips as I sank my sword into the ground for some stability. I asked him,

"What are you doing here?" His green eyes unintentionally bore into mine and he said,

"You’re the one who left in the middle of the meeting, Michael sent me to make sure you were okay," he looked at my bleeding shoulder and asked, "Are you okay?" I started to say that I was fine but I started to sway and I murmured,

"No." I collapsed to the ground and as I fought the darkness as it closed in, I saw Daniel say something before I heard him say,

"You're going to be fine. I'll take care of you." Then everything went dark.



I picked her up when her eyes closed. There was blood everywhere and she seemed to grow even paler as the seconds ticked by. I rushed into the house and laid her on the couch. I found a towel and put pressure on the wound. As I looked around to see if the first-aid kit would be in plain sight, which it wasn't, I thought about going to look for it, but decided against it after seeing her wound. I remembered I had one in my truck but I knew I wouldn't get back in time. I started to call Michael when a man sauntered in, calling Natascha's name. He looked at me and then at Natascha.

"What happened? What have you done? Who are you?" He yelled with a horribly fake Spanish accent. I glared.

"I haven't done anything. I'm her new partner. I just got here. So stop shouting at me and get the first-aid kit out of the black truck outside. It should be in the center consul." He glared, obviously not liking to have to take orders. He quickly left and my attention returned to Natascha. She was just about as pale as before so it was somewhat of a good sign. I applied more pressure to the wound before gently lifting the towel to examine the wound. It wasn't bleeding as badly but I could tell it would need stitches. No one, not even the divine or damned, could just heal this kind of wound. The man came back and tried to hand me the first-aid kit.

"You wrap her up, I'll keep pressure on the wound," I said as I moved to give him room. I regretted what I said because of the almost happy look he had. It was similar to the look of a child when he wakes up Christmas morning and sees all the presents. It was almost hungry. I kept a watchful eye on him as he wrapped up the wound. I looked for other wounds and I saw the bruises forming around her ribs. I gently pressed my fingers to the bruise and Natascha hissed in pain, though she was still unconscious. "I think she has a broken rib or two," I said. The man nodded and wrapped up almost her entire torso. I stood and stretched. My six foot eight bone structure hates having to crouch. I looked down at Natascha and I saw that she wasn't much shorter than me and I guessed the couch would be uncomfortable to sleep on. "Where's her room?" The man pointed to a door and as I carried her there, I couldn't help but wonder what kind of relationship she had with this man. I mentally shrugged as I laid her on the bed.

For the first time today, I got a good look at her. She looked peaceful as she slept, almost ethereal. Her long blue-black hair looked like silk in the sunlight and I had to cross my arms to keep myself from running my fingers through it. She had a heart-shaped face and I remembered her eyes. The shade of purple was deep, almost blue. I’d done my best to not gawk when we were in Michael’s office but I knew I must have been staring when I spoke with her outside. Someone could get lost in those eyes. I shook my head and covered her up with the blanket.

I walked back to the living room and I saw the man sitting in one of the chairs. I looked at the couch and saw that it, miraculously, had not gotten any blood on it. I sat down and was surprised that it was more comfortable than it looked. I looked at the man in the chair and asked, "Who are you? Why'd you come?" He chuckled and responded with that fake Spanish accent,

"That's my line, amigo. But, I will answer. My name is Gabriel and I came to see Natascha. Now, who are you?"

"I'm Daniel, and like I've said, I'm Natascha's new partner." Gabriel nodded and seemed to be thinking something when he said,

"Well, now that I know Tascha is in good hands I will leave." He stood and just left before I could say anything. I relaxed when he was gone though. Something about him just bugged me. I sighed. Damn, what a start to a day. My partner collapses, I already don't like a guy I just met, and Michael will probably be pissed when I tell him what happened. At least all I know that happened, which is nothing. Hmm, I'll have to ask her when she wakes up. I'm too damn old for this stuff. It doesn't help that I haven't had any sleep for the past week. I should fix that, but it's unlikely due to what's happened so far. I'm guessing life's going to be pretty busy living with Natascha Dante. I shrugged and after exploring the house, and nearly killing myself when tripping over a huge bag of dog food, I settled back onto the couch where I eventually fell asleep.

...

When I woke up my shoulder ached and I felt like I was hit in the side with a truck. I remembered what had happened before I passed out and I sat up. I saw that my shoulder and entire torso were both wrapped up in bandages. I grabbed a shirt off the floor and put it on as I walked out the door. The bandages covered everything but I still considered it indecent to walk around without a shirt. It was dark outside and when I looked at the clock, I saw it was early morning.

I quietly walked into the living room and saw Daniel asleep on the couch. I couldn't blame him for it though; it's a really comfortable couch. I walked to the kitchen and started to get something to eat when I remembered Wolfe. I quietly called his name and looked around for him. I looked out the window and saw him waiting outside the sliding door. I opened it and he ran inside. I saw him head for the living room and I winced when I heard him bark at Daniel. I walked in and saw Daniel trying to avoid get his face licked off.

"Wolfe, no! Bad dog, get down!" I said. It hurt to breathe so I couldn't yell, and Wolfe didn't consider it as a reprimand. Luckily, he got down anyways.

"I'm so sorry, Daniel. I didn't think he’d get so excited."

"It's alright. He just surprised me is all. I wondered why you had dog food when it didn't look like you had a dog. I guess he didn't train well as a puppy," he said sleepily. I chuckled,

"Wolfe is a puppy. He's an Irish Wolfhound." Daniel looked at me in disbelief.

"That monster dog is a puppy? Wow. I haven’t seen one that big since I was human." I smiled. In his half-asleep state, he had a faint Scottish brogue.

"Yeah, me too. I got that big guy from a friend of mine in Germany," We were both silent for a moment and Daniel asked,

"So what made you decide to go base jumping?" I frowned.

"I don’t know why that happened and I’d rather not talk about it.” Daniel nodded,

“I’m not sure if I understand why but I’ll let it go, for now.”

I studied him a moment, not quite sure of whether or not it was a threat, nodded and sat down in one of my chairs. "So, what compelled you to work for the only Arch Angel who's managed to create Hell on Earth?" Daniel asked. I gave a small smile,

"He's raised me from birth, he adopted me. He's a strict Arch Angel but a good Dad," Now that we were sitting, face to face, the fact that he was good looking became more apparent as I looked at him. His eyes almost glowed as he looked at me and the color was so different. The green seemed to have a little yellow in it and they almost swirled together. His blonde hair was silver in the early morning light and it fell in front of his eyes completely covering the left one. I resisted the urge to brush his hair out of his face even though I was so far from him. Damn, I can’t decide if I like him or hate him. The feelings confused me so I broke the momentary silence. "Why did you join?"

"I didn't know you could work under a different Arch Angel, though we had to work for Michael along time ago. The newer Angels got lucky." I laughed but coughed afterwards.

"Are you okay?" I nodded and reached under my shirt to undo the bandages.

"What are you doing?" He asked.

"These bandages are too tight. I can barely breathe. Who fixed me up?"

"Your friend Gabriel came by right after you passed out. He wrapped you up." I sighed.

"Did you stay nearby?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Gabriel is not my friend. I can't stand him and he has the biggest crush on me even though he's dating my friend Violet. He must still be pissed because I threatened to kick his ass and tell Violet when he hit on me."

"So what happened? How did you get hurt?" He asked.

"A bunch of Demons came around and one of them was just tougher than I thought they were is all. No big deal." Daniel looked at me,

"Yeah, it was a big deal. You almost died. If I hadn't been there, you probably would have died. I wouldn't have needed Gabriel's help after a little bit but still." I nodded sheepishly. The tension started to run a little high so I asked, "How long have you been an Angel?" He shrugged and said,

"About 1000 years."

"Damn, you're old," I muttered, hiding a smile. He grinned,

"Ow, that was mean." I shrugged no longer able to hide the smile.

"So how long have you been an Angel?" He asked. I tensed and started to say that I wasn't one when Gabriel sauntered in. I looked at the clock and saw it was only six. I was never awake at this hour and Gabriel knew it. I sighed. What is he doing here?

"Good morning! Tascha, I came to change your bandages. I was so worried to see you so severely injured." His fake Spanish accent mixed with his arrogant tone always managed to piss me off. Hell, the man pissed me off in general. He brushed his shoulder-length dark brown hair back and waited for my reply.

"I don't need you to change my bandages Gabe. I can do it myself. What are you doing here this early anyways? You know I'm never awake this early." I did my best to not bare my fangs at him. I didn't want to scare Daniel; he’d saved my life, though his somewhat cocky attitude needed to disappear. Gabriel smiled, taking the lack of fangs as an invitation, sat in the chair across from me, and said,

"My dear, Natascha, I only wanted to come and check up on you. I was surprised that you were awake though."

"So you were coming to see me even though you thought I was sleeping?" He nodded, smirking. "Get out, Gabriel. I don't want you here."

"Are you tired of my company already? I have missed you dearly and, as I said earlier, I was so worried about you. Is this how you are going to repay me for saving your life?" I glared.

"Shut up! You didn't do shit. I don't owe you anything. Now get out and shove that fake Spanish accent and your stupid attitude up your ass before I shove your head up there." He glared.

"Do you realize who you're talking to? I'm older than you are. You should respect me!" I stood, glaring.

"You're a nobody! The first Angel named Gabriel would kick your slimy ass for even thinking you're important. And if age mattered, which it doesn't, Daniel here has you beat. Don't you ever come into my house and demand my respect ever again. Otherwise, you'll get a steel-toed boot shoved up your ass. Now, do not make me tell you to get out again." He tried to say something else but Daniel stood and looked intimidating as all hell. Gabriel looked like he was going to try to fight Daniel but he realized how much taller Daniel was. He stormed out and slammed the door behind him. I sighed, glad that that was over. I guess Daniel’s not all bad. Having him around has some perks. I also have something good to look at now, besides my own reflection of course. I’m not vain, I promise.

Daniel sat back down and said,

"I don't like him." I chuckled.

"Join the club. We meet every other Saturday," I paused for a moment as I began to sit, stopping when I felt a tingling sensation in my shoulder. "Thanks for helping me get rid of him." He shrugged.

"I didn't really do anything."

"Well, still. You helped by being here. He wouldn't have left if you weren't." He gave a slight nod. My shoulder still felt tingly and I wanted to see for myself how bad it was so I walked around the chair to go to my room.

"Where are you going?" Daniel asked.

"I'm going to go change my bandages."

"Will you need help?" I shook my head and walked to my room. I sat on the bed and stretched, stopping because of the sharp pain in my shoulder. I growled in frustration as I unwrapped my shoulder. I looked at the wound and was surprised to see that it hadn't healed yet. What the hell? I remembered that my brother polished his sword with Angel's Bane.

Damn. Now I have to go to Michael and have him heal it. That means I'll have to go through the whole apology bullshit. I sighed. I'll just give it a few more days. Let the Bane pass through. I grabbed the first aid kit from under the bed and pulled out the bandages. I saw that none were missing so I guessed that Daniel had used his. I pulled out the stitches and rewrapped my shoulder before setting the kit on the side table. I pulled my shirt back on, stood, and a wave of nausea suddenly hit me. My vision swirled as I stumbled to the bathroom. After losing my non-existent breakfast, I leaned back against the tub. I'll have to go to Michael earlier than I thought. I started to take a deep breath when I started coughing; it was a savage cough and I couldn't breathe. I heard a knock at the door.

"Are you okay?" It was Daniel. I continued to cough and Daniel walked in. He crouched next to me and put a hand on my back. He said something but I couldn't hear him over my coughing. After a minute it stopped. As I caught my breath I said, "Wow that was weird..." I looked at my hands and saw blood on them.

"What's wrong?" Daniel asked. I showed him my hands. "We need to get you to Michael." He handed me a towel for my hands as he helped me up. I stumbled and he caught me. I couldn't think, stunned by the blood. My head was spinning as we walked towards the garage. When we got to the kitchen, I stopped.

"What's wrong?"

"I..." I started to sway, "I think I'm going to pass out." I would have fallen if Daniel hadn't been there. I was barely conscious as he carried me to the truck I'd seen before. I hated being so helpless, but for some reason I was comfortable in Daniel's arms. I felt nauseous again and I muttered, "Why does my stupid brother have to polish his sword with Angel's Bane?" Daniel looked at me questioningly. I sighed in frustration at the nausea. The sigh barely left my lips when I cried out in pain. It felt as if my whole body was on fire. Daniel quickly put me in the backseat.

"What's wrong? What's happening?" Worry was etched into his face.

"It hurts," I cried as I writhed in pain.

"What does?" He did his best to hold me down to keep me from hurting myself.

"Everything!" I sobbed at the agony. Daniel quickly opened the garage and drove out. As he was speeding back to Detroit, my painful world went black.