2. H O L Y W A R : Target

CHAPTER I

FIFTEEN YEARS AGO

Ten-year-old Cameron Walden gasped in awe as she plastered herself against the glass wall separating her and the cheetahs in the exhibit. "Wooooooooow," she breathed.

"Right? Aren't they amazing?" Cameron's eccentric, nature-loving mother, Cecelia, gushed, putting both hands on her daughter's shoulders. Her wild, frizzy orange-red curls brushed against Cameron's face, making the girl giggle, and Cecelia's rainbow-coloured glasses made her eyes appear much larger than they were.

"I wanna be a cheetah!" Cameron declared as she smooshed her face into the glass, eying one of the cheetahs as it padded over to her.

"If only," Cecelia sighed, bending down next to Cameron. "But alas, we humans are confined to our fleshy, blobby, ticklish bodies"—she broke off and tickled Cameron, making her laugh—"while cheetahs are like liquid muscle, full of fluidity and grace."

"Wish I could pet it," Cameron remarked as Cecelia led her further down the hall.

"So do I, sweetie," Cecelia replied, smiling at Cameron. "But these aren't domesticated animals. They're wild, and they have to be respected. Remember—always respect the animals."

"Always respect the animals," Cameron repeated.

"Good girl! Now, who wants to see the Komodo dragon exhibit?"

"Me!" Cameron squealed.

-

One of the zookeepers outside the cheetah exhibit—a woman with the nametag "KayCee" on her uniform—watched the kid and her mother through narrow eyes, then abandoned her post and slipped into a nearby restroom. She used her key to lock the door and then turned off all the lights before walking over to a mirror. "Alright, lady," she muttered, "the kid's on to the Komodos."

A moment of silence passed.

Then a faint white light appeared in the mirror, slowly taking the shape of a female humanoid with brilliant blue eyes.

"Wonderful," the woman breathed. "Enact the second part of our plan."

"I will." KayCee cocked her head. "Once you finally tell me why we have to do it this way."

The woman in the mirror nodded. "But of course." She began floating between the mirrors in the bathroom, forcing KayCee to pace with her. "You see, dear KayCee," she began, "this girl—Cameron Walden—is a descendant of one of the seven Malakhite Families."

"Who?"

"The Malakhites are a group of people with the blood of the Nephilim in their veins," the woman explained. "They came together in the early 1900s and pledged to preserve the angelic nature of their bloodlines by interbreeding. At first it was only two families, but five more joined in the decades following the initial creation of the group."

"And Cameron...?"

"Is a descendant of them, as I said before," the woman replied in a patient tone. "I've found over the years that those with angelic blood are much easier to possess than those with only small traces—e.g., the rest of the human world."

"Okay. So after she's all scared, you'll take her over, right?" KayCee guessed.

"Not quite yet. This plan will be one of process." The woman put her hands behind her back as she continued to float to and fro. "We'll frighten her, yes—but then we'll let that fear marinate within her. Then, when she is fully grown and primed for possession, I will take her. I will bind myself so powerfully to her that no one will ever be able to remove me from her. And then, when all my power is restored and available for use within her body... my Purge will begin."