Endlessly // h.s.

Prologue

The woman cooed to the newborn baby in her arms. Drifting off to sleep, the baby was content laying in her mother's grasp. The man sitting beside the woman was also fawning over his daughter in between placing loving kisses on his wife's cheek. It was a serene, beautiful picture.

Until he walked in, loudly banging the door. The baby whimpered, not yet fully crying.

The couple's heads snapped up, and the man immediately stood, taking on a protective stance.

"Harry, what are you doing here?" the man asked anxiously.

"What, I can't visit my friend and his wife after they've had their first child?" Harry chuckled, slowly moving closer to the couple. 'Friend' was an extremely loose term. Yes, once upon a time they had been closer than brothers, but that was then. A lot had changed.

"We both know you're not here as a friend, Harry. So start talking."

"Fiiinne. God, why are you always such a buzzkill, Jonathan?" Harry started pacing around the room with a casual air, hands clasped behind his back. His attitude was a huge contrast to the tense one that befell the couple. "If you want the short version, I sense something... special, if you will, about your baby, what was her name?"

"Genevieve." Jonathan gritted through his teeth. He didn't like where this conversation was going.

"Ah. Beautiful name, but I'll call her Evie. Genevieve just seems like a bit of a mouthful, doesn't it?"

"Just get to the point, Harry." The man was visibly irritated. The woman cradling her baby was anxious also, but her main concern was on the baby softly whimpering in her arms.

"Yes, yes, the point. I guess the point is, I'm pretty sure your little Evie is my dimidium. So I came here, to be certain."

Jonathan lunged at Harry, wrapping his hand around his throat and shoving him against the wall. The woman looked on, fearful, but still she remained quiet.

"Aggressive, are we?" Harry maintained his bitterly jovial mood, even when in this compromising position.

Jonathan tightened his grip on Harry's neck, ignoring the last comment. "Do not lie to me about so serious a matter."

"You think I'm lying?" Harry shoved the man off of him with ease. Jonathan was astonished. He has always been stronger than Harry for as long as they had known each other. "I can physically feel myself getting more powerful, and that's just from being in the same goddamn room as her. I can feel the solatium. Don't tell me I'm lying!" Harry yelled the last sentence, his voice booming through the room and startling both mother and baby. Little Evie started to cry. Harry's head turned to her, and he began moving towards them until Jonathan stopped him, shoving him back once again.

"It's impossible, Harry. You know how rare that is. I won't let you anywhere near my daughter!" Jonathan snarled at Harry.

Harry just chuckled. "You want to tell me it's impossible? Her conception should have been impossible. Last I checked, your wife, the beautiful Isabel that you fell in love with, is human. A baby that's half human, half Salvator? There's only been one before her, and that was thousands of years ago!"

Just as he said the last words, and inhuman screeching echoed in the room. Harry, Jonathan, and Isabel all looked out the window fearfully. "Fiends," Harry whispered, immediately becoming scared for the safety of his dimidium.

The fiends were rapidly approaching, their gruesome wings flapping through the night sky. Jonathan was filled with confusion at the sight. He hadn't encountered any Creatures like that for years.

Harry and Jonathan shared an anxious look, almost communicating through it. In that one look, they decided that they had a common goal: protect Genevieve at all costs.

Jonathan rushed over to his wife and child. "Isabel, listen to me. You need to get out of here. Take Genevieve, take the car and just drive, as far away as you can. I'll catch up with you later. I'll find you." He stroked his wife's cheek, staring into her eyes. He leaned closer to her ear, whispering so that Harry was not able to hear. "Whatever happens to me, don't let Harry get to her. Do whatever you have to do." He gave her a long kiss. It felt almost like a final goodbye.

"But Jon, what will you do?" The woman spoke for the first time since Harry had entered the room. Her voice was shaking with fear.

Jonathan looked back at Harry, who was staring at them curiously. He turned back to Isabel. "We're going to fight them."