Chasing Angels

"Shall thou feed on death like death feed on man.

 Death once dead there is no more dying then."

-Shakespeare 

PROLOGUE

I may appear young to the eyes of the naive but I am older than the word itself. There is no blood in my veins but there is still love in my heart, despite the forever hovering cloud of death that surrounds me. 

I am a planet. Death is my orbit and he is my gravitational pull. 

My life is to destroy other's and yet I'm still just a girl. 

CHAPTER ONE

"You're late," Alexis said bluntly. I didn't bother coming up with an excuse because I didn't have the strength to handle any punishment. Alexis's sinister eyes glowered, seeming to darken a shade, watching me take in my surroundings like a rookie. I had to appear much stronger than I was. Fear was my worst enemy. 

"Cyberus will be here any moment, stop your quivering."

Realising that I was indeed shaking, I propped back my shoulders and cleared my throat looking at her sickly pale face. A crow flew overhead and landed on the statue Alexis was leaning against. It began to cry out loudly breaking the silence that cursed the fields. 

"I've always hated God's creatures," she mused reaching a hand out to the bird and stroking it. With a chuckle that raked claws down my spine, she, in one swift inhuman movement snapped the neck of the crow leaving it to fall to the dirt. 

Hiding my shock and disgust, I swallowed loudly. "How many this time?"

Before answering she turned her back to me and bent to pick at the remains of the dead crow. I forced myself to keep my attention on her even while she wiped the blood with her finger and slid it along her tongue seeming to marvel over the taste. A menacing smile revealed her red stained lips and teeth, standing again. "12 catches today. Master will be happy." 

My heart sank hearing the amount but I could not show my empathy otherwise it would be the last thing I did. 

I glanced around the graveyard noticing the growing number of headstones then to the darkened skies. Dawn was drawing near. Light was slipping through the gaps in the overcast clouds like sunshine through branches in a tree. 

A cold breeze made leaves dance around my ankles and an involuntary chill run through me. 

"He's here," I announced even though Alexis already knew. 

"She's a quick learner this one," a voice said. It was the voice of nightmares, of the darkness between the stars, the promise of pain. I turned to see a tall man with dark hair and vibrant red eyes. Devil eyes. He was young. A few years my senior, I guessed and although he appeared to be joking, I knew not to fall for his dangerous tricks. 

Alexis made no comment, simply stiffened. Cerberus inhaled smelling the scent of death, his thin lips curled at the corners as his glare slid from me to the bird carcass beside Alexis. 

"Are they not feeding you in the Pitt?" He asked slightly amused. But like I said before his sadistic humour was only a tool to show his authority. Cerberus was not one to make friends. 

Alexis remained composed. "Enough fooling around, Master is waiting. The girl needs her orders." 

Cerberus bared his teeth. "I give the orders, you simply report back." 

I felt like a third wheel standing there while they fought over who was higher up in the food chain. But Alexis was right, the sun was beginning to show itself from behind the imagery line that is the horizon, time was running out. 

Finally he sighed and casually slipped his hand inside his black coat to reveal a silver envelope. 

"You are needed in Alaska." 

"Alaska?" I repeated but he ignored me.

"Take the midnight flight from here to Fairbanks, Alaska, then a man and wife will pick you up and take you a short way to Healy. You mustn't open the envelope until you are ordered to and then you know what to do next."

I nodded taking in each of my instructions trying my hardest to make light of the situation. I of course failed. Nothing is light about murder. Alexis seemed to be growing impatient watching as the sun began to grow in brightness.

"The man and wife are your new foster parents, you will attend a local high school to blend in while we arrange the rest."

Alexis hissed sunlight burning her skin. "Give her the package, we must leave. Now."

Cyberus once again wasn't pleased with her tone but he knew she was right. Time was running out. He reached out his hand and placed the silver envelope on the top of a head stone. Yellow beams lit the dewy grass alight.

"Do not disappoint, otherwise the deal is off," he said finally before he and Alexis disappeared into the forest fog. 

I didn't wait long after they left, it was still cold despite the rising sun. With the envelope tightly tucked in the back pocket of my jeans I left to pack up my apartment that I had been hiding out in for the past 4 months. It's been a long time since I've had a job this serious. Alexis was going crazy giving me errands to run at hospitals or local retirement villages so I wasn't surprised by how animated she was when Cyberus summoned her for  such an important hunt. 

Glancing down at my watch I noticed I had less than 12 hours left in this life before heading off to create an entirely new one. And if all goes to plan it will be the last one I will be forced to live. 

The ferry took me all the way down the river bank where I got off at a random boardwalk. I stopped at a cafe near the museum and watched an elderly couple walk hand-in-hand on the footpath beside where I sat. I wasn't sure whether to be disgusted by the thought of humans thinking they were 'in love' or the thought that the whole concept gave me hope. People like me don't feel the same emotions humans did but somewhere along the line, I got left out of the Hate-everything-that-lives pile. 

Finishing my coffee and scone, I left without paying before finding myself following the elderly couple inside the museum of human stuff, that was supposedly art. I've always found it so interesting to watch people look at different forms of artwork. The way some seemed so mesmerised and the way others couldn't care less. I was more in the first group. Alexis had brought me here one time after hours when she stole some items to sell on the black market but while she was busy destroying and spitting on all the 'worthless junk' as she put it, I was staring at the way one painting had the most unique brush strokes I had ever seen. 

I have been many places in the world but never have I seen anything more beautiful art than Picasso's landscape paintings. I was pulled from my thoughts when the couple pulled a left turn when I tried to follow them they had blended into the crowd and all my hope had gone with them.