Death Has Wings

Truth Be Told

"Good work. Now all you need to do is collect her soul." Death appeared behind me, making me jump. "Just say the words and it will come to you." I sighed and stood up, the words rolling off my tongue.

"Mors me Angelus nuntius Dei. Veniat ad me, et non erunt in pace." Black smoke rose from Samantha's chest, making the other girls scream once more. The smoke came towards me slowly. It seemed to be alive yet it couldn't have been. Or at least it shouldn't have.

The smoke grew smaller as it dissipated. The pendant that Death gave me began to grow hot and would've burnt me it I hadn't have taken it off. It dropped to the floor with a dull clatter. It was glowing white, with tendrils of black smoke occasionally clawing at the air. It eventually cooled down enough so that I could pick it back up and examine it.

"Aren't souls meant to be white or something?" The tendrils kept trying to claw at my face as I studied the jewels on the pendant. Death chuckled and snatched the pendant from me.

"Only if they are pure. Pure souls are quite common, especially in infants. Samantha's soul is quite a dirty one, considering how young she is." He looked up at me and smiled. "It seems as if your wings have developed rather quickly. You're lucky," He put the pendant in his pocket and came over to me, stroking my wings. "Most recruits don't have their 'adult' wings until they have had over a century in Hell." He clicked his fingers and a full length mirror appeared in front of me. I wasn't surprised by what I saw.

Firstly, I was covered in now drying blood. Samantha's blood that is. I had slit her throat, nice and simple. It hadn't been quick, but it was so satisfying seeing her convulse and spray the other girls with crimson. The blood had crusted, staining my shirt, thus ruining it. I'd spent a lot of money on that. Granted, it was part of my father's money, but it was still money! I have to concentrate. Ugh.

I had blood around my mouth and in my hair, matting it and making it look hideous. My eyes were the colour of ink, the pupil having took over. I had a lunatic's smile on my face. It didn't suit me at all. I focused on the feathery things behind me. They were black and speckled with odd feathers that were grey, white or blood stained. It intrigued me at how I hadn't noticed them until a few weeks back. That reminded me that I had to talk to Death about certain things that had happened to me. I turned to him and my felt my smile disappear.

We were no longer in the room with all the crying girls. We were at home. My home. I was still staring at Death when I heard groaning from behind me. I turned and saw Alice slumped at the bottom of the stairs. I rushed over and crouched down beside her. I could see that she was hurt, just not on the outside. She turned her head towards me and her eyes flew open. She seemed untouched by the way she hugged me.

"Clark! You're safe! Thank God for that!" She pulled back and dropped her voice down low. "Why were you with...him?" I was just about to answer when Death called for me. I helped Alice up and walked with her to the living room, where Death was now inspecting the pictures on top of the fireplace. He turned and smiled when he saw Alice.

"Ah. A Hunter girl. I haven't seen one of you for a while! They've all been boys up until now. It's actually become quite boring." He ran a finger along her jawline. She didn't even flinch. She just stared at him with hatred in her eyes. "Such a strong one. Shame I have to do this."

Death drew a pentagram on Alice's forehead with his finger and her eyes rolled back into her skull. She fell to the floor, blood dripping from her lips. I scooped her up in my arms and a wave of pure rage washed over me. I clung to her shaking body and looked up at Death.

"Why did you do that?"

"Precautions."

"Precautions? For what?" I couldn't hide the anger in my voice. I looked back down at Alice and saw that she had lost the light from her eyes. She was gone. Just like my mother. Confusion and helplessness bubbled inside of me. Alice was my only friend, and possibly the only person I truly loved. She was always so kind to me, even after I had killed Jay. Alice was my only hope at a normal life and now she's dead. My only regret is that I didn't get her when I had the chance.

"I'm going to tell you some very important things, Clark. Her presence would be distracting to the both of us. Now leave her and come with me." He started to leave the room. I was reluctant to leave Alice's body there but I promised her I'd come back. I placed her down carefully and left the room. Death was sitting in the back garden with Timor at his feet.

I entered the garden and Timor sprang up and bounded towards me, excitement in his eyes. I murmured "Good boy." and carried on towards Death. I sat beside him and stroked Timor's head. Death spoke first.

"Clark, you're very special."

"Figures."

"No, you don't understand. Not just any human gets picked to be my recruit. They have to meet specific criteria to even qualify for thought. One of these is to have at least a faint connection to Hell through ancestry. You, my boy, have quite a strong one."

"Huh?"

"You're Lucifer's grandson, Clark."

I couldn't believe it. I was Lucifer's grandson. All this time I thought that I was randomly selected because of my crappy childhood and Grandma, yet it was because I was Lucifer's grandson. One question kept a firm grip on my mind though.

"Where is everyone?"

"In Hell, waiting for you."