Piper

Chapter One

There was a girl with hair of reddish copper and eyes that sparkled like clear blue jewels on a fair face of innocence and Cupid-bow pink lips turned up in a satisfied smirk. She crouches low on the slim branch, eyeing the pest of ghost that has been bothering her. It floated just a foot from her location, completely  oblivious to its oncoming fate. Piper cautiously inched closer to the spirit with her Spirit Orb, careful not to make a sound, as she didn't want to lose it when she is so close now. She bites her lip and sucks in an inaudible breath as her Spirit Orb rattles, forcing the transparent humanoid figure into its depth of blackness. The ghost screams, if ghosts could scream; it was more of a high, piercing hiss that shot adrenaline through Piper's veins, terror hitting her heart against her ribs even though there was nothing to be afraid of now, since the poltergeist is trapped for eternity in her Orb. One of the dozen she's caught in a span of a week. New record, she thought, calming herself as she slides down the tree.

    Piper Cleary is sixteen, slim built and braver than anyone she knew. But she's on the run-- not from someone or something, but after something. To be specific, she's chasing the most paramount phantom known to be, formally called Lucius Rathmore, more powerful than Satan himself. Informally, he's Rotty, a nickname she personally gave him. It has been three years from the time Rotty destroyed her family and she has traveled from her home state of West Virginia, catching ghosts that haunted places and locating the spirit; why he spared her she won't question. All she needs is vengeance to appease unsettled rage and sorrow.

    It was a bright blue Saturday in Brodheadsville, Pennsylvania. Piper was heading to Pleasant Valley High School where there were rumors of a wraith-like being residing somewhere in the building. The last ghost she captured had mentioned the place, so it was worth looking into. The school was an undersized, two-story red brickwork building, now discolored, that desperately needed repairing. A decrepit silver steel door towered in a slant as if it could rupture any second in front of Piper as she steps up to it. She twisted the rusted metal doorknob but it did not budge. Good thing I'm always prepared, she said to herself. Piper took off her brown frayed knapsack and rummaged through it for a slim sharpened piece of steel that, paired with the brown-red bobby pin she pulled from her low ponytail, could unlock security devices that used a simple clasp-lock mechanism. It took a full minute for Piper to unlock the door. She shouldered it open, the hinges creaking as the door swung open. Inside the school it was dimly lit, the only source of illumination coming from the sunlight streaming through fractured windows. Piper pulled out her flashlight, clicked it on, and its yellow beam lit shadows in the dense air.

    Piper walks with care, barely making a sound, through the tiled corridor. Many of the doors were wooden and broken. She stops at one slightly ajar. Peeking through the dusty, slim window of the door, a flash of hair crosses her vision. Piper steps back in surprise, her face creasing in confusion and curiosity. She turns the rusty knob and glances in the dark room. As she sets a foot into the room, she closes the door, turning her flashlight on its highest light level to look around the room.

    At the very moment she does so, a slim figure of dark brown hair, paper-white face and black eyes jumps down in front of her. Piper reacts quickly, pulling her switchblade out from her pocket, readying her stance in case of a fight.

"Who are you?" The strange female asks in a silky voice full of danger.

"I could ask you the same," Piper responds, stepping closer.

"Stop, right there. Answer me. Who are you?"

"My name is Piper Cleary. And you are?"

"Galaxy. Galaxy Gravestand." Galaxy assesses Piper. "You don't look like a demon or an angel." She tilts her head. "You're human?"

Piper nods. "What are you, then?"

"A Nephalem. Hybrid. Mother's a succubus, Father's an Angel." Galaxy sighs. "Well. He was, until he was kicked out of Heaven for being a father of an unholy bastard child. I have my father's wings, my mother's eyes."

Piper stares. "I thought Nephalem were a legend." She rubs her eyes as if she's dreaming.

Galaxy let out a chuckle. "Used to be. But then I was born. Escaped the clutches of Grim hundreds of times, much to his despair."

"Grim? As in the Grim Reaper?"

"Yes. Both Hell and Heaven have ordered me dead. But how can you kill something that's already dead? I don't have a heartbeat."

The ceiling crashes through down on them. Both run to the exit of the classroom, narrowly escaping death. Down the hallway, a spirit of Purgatory flies towards them screeching.

Piper jerks her Spirit Orb out. Galaxy extends a black tail as long as her body, spiked at the end, glowing with immense power. Her wings, although white, are tainted red.

Galaxy catches Piper's orb in the corner of her eye. "What is that?"

"It's a Spirit Orb. It catches spirits in the physical world and traps them."

Galaxy doubtfully says, "I'd rather use my tail to kill it."

Piper grins at her. "How can you kill something that's already dead?"

Galaxy scowls back, hissing.

The ghost strikes out at Piper, narrowly missing her head. Galaxy whips her tail, hitting the ghost. It cries out a bloodcurdling howl.

"You have nothing to fight with!" Galaxy screams. "You're useless in combat!" She swings at it again, knocking it down. "How have you survived?!"

"Like this." Piper runs to the weakened once-living being and opened her Spirit Orb. It sucked in the ghost almost immediately.