Her Curse

Chapter 15 - Purification

   Her piercing cries reverberated through the air. The once sweet Gracie charged at us with a blazing speed no Fallen should have. Damien held up his branch and stood in front of all of us in a protective stance. "Damien, what are you doing?!" My heart was pounding hard against my ribcage. I can't see his face, but I know his eyes are all black now. "Don't be a hero, you wanker!" Kiel yelled at Damien, yet he still didn't budge, Before anyone else could yell at Damien, Gracie was in front of him. She grabbed Damien with her mangled hands and threw him far away from us. His body was covered in small cuts and stray blades of grass; he slowly stood up and charged at Gracie with the branch. However, it's like she anticipated his attack. In a flash, she twisted Damien's arm around and the branch drove straight through Damien's stomach.

   "Damien!!" Lucas screamed at the loss of our ally. I covered my mouth as I watched Damien's eyes bulge. He stumbled back from Gracie as she watched him fall, arms twitching and low growls coming from her stature. Damien fell to his knees and painfully pulled out the branch. His blood came pouring out and Damien weakly put his hand over his wound, his eyes changing back and glazing over. Then, Gracie attacked again. We watched in horror as Gracie tore Damien apart, bits of him landed in the grass. Teotwawki had to turn away, Lucas had begun to throw up, I was in shock at what I was seeing. But Kiel.. He didn't seem sad or sick. If anything, he wasn't worried.

   As I watched the mauling, a thick black smoke rose from the pieces of Damien and quickly rose to the sky. Gracie looked up from the pieces and shrieked at the smoke. "Gracie! Get the others!" The Vampire had yelled. Gracie snapped her head to us and reached her arms out to Teotwawki. 'She's gonna kill everyone if you guys don't move!' the voice had demanded rather loudly. I think Lucas, Kiel, and Teotwawki heard his voice as well because they snapped their heads towards me. But before we could even react, Gracie had grabbed Teotwawki by his throat and lifted him high off the ground. His legs kicked rapidly as he struggled to pry open Gracie's hand. His choked cries and desperate gasps for air terrified me to my core. I stood there once again, unable to help them because of my own terror.

   Something landed in front of us in a flash of white - it was large wings. Angel wings. I knew those distinct gold trail marks and wingspan after the massive betrayal I felt. Lucas was shifting beside me, he knew who it was too. Gracie glared at Chase and screeched at him as she tightened her grip on Teotwawki's neck, he was slowly going limp in her hold. Chase stood up and looked at Gracie through tears, "Gracie." Almost immediately, she dropped Teotwawki and grabbed Chase. "Chase!" Lucas had to cover my mouth to not make anything worse. I put a shaking hand over Lucas' hand. Kiel backed up slightly before running to Teotwawki's side, who was coughing very harshly and gasping. "Gracie.. I know you're in there. I know you remember me." I've never seen Chase make such a sad expression. Gracie lifted Chase into the air by his shirt and roared.

   "I'm sorry. I'm sorry for what Ginger did to you.. You shouldn't have been thrown into the dark, I wasn't there to protect you. I failed you Gracie, and for that I'll live with my broken promise to you.." Tears fell slowly down Chase's face as he slowly raised his hand to Gracie's forehead. I looked at the mangled monster we used to know from before, and I saw a familiar sparkle in her eye. My eyes widened. 'There's no way that's possible! Is it?' The voice questioned, but even I was just as full of questions as him. "I didn't save you when you needed me the most," Chase's hand began to glow. "S-so let me s-save you now.. Just know, I'll a-always love you baby sis." Chase's tears were falling even faster now.

   'I love you too big brother.. I'm sorry for being so weak.. I'll look over you and Mom..' It was Gracie's voice in my head. If I heard it, then everyone else must've heard it. As I quickly looked around, Teotwawki looked at them in disbelief as tears brimmed his eyes. Kiel looked at Gracie in shock, "Fallen can't talk.. How can she talk?" Even though he showed no expressions, tears were in Kiel's eyes as well. "Chase, don't!!" Lucas had cried out to them. But it was too late. Chase's eyes and hands glowed a brilliant white. I had to look away and cover my eyes to avoid the brightness of this light. Lucas ran to them to stop Chase, but nothing can reverse and Angel's Incineration. The light was gone and I heard Chase's broken sobs. I uncovered my eyes and looked at the scene to see Chase kneeled next to a pile of ashes. Lucas was sitting next to him, rubbing his shoulder in a comforting motion. Kiel and Teotwawki walked over to them with mournful expressions. "No no no! I need to head back to base!" The Vampire cried from across the park. Teotwawki and I snapped our heads towards him. We shifted and sprinted after him as he made a mad dash into the empty streets. The Vampire fell and looked back at us in horror as Teotwawki and I stalked towards him, but Kiel appeared in front of us. "No, this kill is mine." Kiel said coolly as he gracefully stepped closer to the Vampire. The Vampire quickly scrambled to his feet and hissed at Kiel, however Kiel didn't flinch. Instead, he smirked. "You can't get away with harming one of my warriors." Kiel raised his hand with such a deadly grace and snapped his fingers. The Vampire's eyes widened before his body turned into a splatter of blood on the pavement.

   I shifted back before Teotwawki did and I glared at Kiel. "You didn't care that Damien died, so why do you care now," I said as a statement instead, I didn't feel like I was in full control of how I felt. Maybe something else was also in control of me? I'll never know. Kiel only looked at me with a calm expression and held his hands behind his back. "A Demon can't die by a simple stabbing. It takes a helluva lot more than that to kill my kind. Damien is alive, just in search of a new host body." My eyes widened in disbelief, "No, we all saw him die-" Kiel cut me off, "But you all saw the black smoke, yes? That black smoke was Damien leaving his current meat suit because it could no longer be used now that it's a mess of a body." Teotwawki stepped closer to Kiel, "Will he come back?" Lucas ran over to us and stood next to me. I looked at him then looked at Chase who was a mess beside Lucas. "We'll see him again soon, just have patience." Kiel patted Teotwawki's shoulder. I looked at Teotwawki's expression and saw the slightest bit of a blush dust his cheeks. "Now," Kiel turned to us, "we should get you three back to school before people find out you're Naos." Lucas looked at Kiel, "You know the Nao world isn't much of a secret to humans, right?" To Lucas' question, Kiel only nodded. "I do know, I've been a here a lot longer than you two puppies and your flying friend there. Now come, let's get you three back." With that, Teotwawki and Kiel led us back to our school.