Purgatory

Introduction

Prolonging the inevitable was one of her specialties and she definitely was not envied for it. She worked hard and fast, stuffing the last few scraps that held any sort of semblance to normality into her already full duffel bag. A mismatched pair of socks and a bottle of lemon-scented lotion that she had never used topped off the bag. She had done some research before packing and she had found that most people were not very good at making preparations for new environments. People tended to have trouble trying to bring all of the necessities and all of the optional items with them, something she was glad she hadn't skimmed over in her research.

She checked to see if her bag was indeed able to close and, upon testing the zipper, decided it wasn't full enough. Throwing a couple more random objects in, she began to recite a phrase she had worked out in her head several times in case anyone asked if she needed any help carrying her stuff. It wasn't too long, no more than several words that she had worked on to make sure she wasn't too uptight or too friendly. She would have preferred not to talk to anyone but she knew that would lead to complications for her when she began spouting some more random questions into the supposed conversations she would need to have with her new neighbours. Things like "I haven't met the guy that lives next to me yet, is he friendly?" Or "I was talking to the landlord and she was spouting things about the graffiti and the missing people. I was told this was a safe neighbourhood, whatever happened?". She also was expected to make friends and fraternize with the more friendly and extroverted tenants. Rather, the ones with the looser tongues that had made it their goal in life to know everything about everyone. This did not help with her nerves.

Lugging her duffel bag behind her, she stole glances at the walls around her and at the scuffed floor under her feet. The apartment hadn't been cozy and she refused to miss the mildewy smell that had never left no matter how many cans of febreeze she had wielded or the thin walls that hadn't kept much more than a breeze out. Yeah, this place had not been worth the four months she had been trapped in it.

"See you in hell." She muttered to the four walls encasing her.

And with that, she left. No note to the landlord who had been stuck with a fake name and a stolen credit card number or a word to the tenants she had befriended. Just the way she liked it.

○ ● ○ ● ○

"Kai. You know, like hi but with a k. My parents had this thing for some actor in this Asian country at the time." She laughed.

The guy merely shrugged, probably wishing he hadn't pronounced the stupid name wrong just so I would shut up.

That's the thing, she was good at getting rid of people and she could tell this guy was wanting to dart as soon as she had pulled out the cheerleader.

He fumbled with the keys a little longer, trying desperately to open the door. He pulled away a little and then slammed his shoulder against the door catching her off guard.

"A little rusty, huh? My old door was like that too but it had been this ugly orange colour, like cat puke orange, and I kept meaning to paint it but my landlord was like 'no, it matches the other doors' and I kept telling her to paint those doors too." She yakked on some more, spewing some more random shit, and made a mental note of which pocket he had slipped the ring of numerous keys into.

He interrupted her quickly. "Here we are. Your keys are on the counter, no noise after 11:00 and rent is due bi-weekly."

With that, he scurried away.

She slammed the door shut and locked it.

She blew one ginormous sigh of relief and let herself relax into her usual slouch.

This was going to be an interesting job.

"Did you miss me?" Appearing out of thin air, a man strode towards her leisurely. He wore a smirk, a navy blue robe sinched at the waist with a beaded belt and perfectly sculpted blonde locks.

Fuck.

She sighed and redirected her path to walk around him, giving him a wide berth. The smell of dust and age filled her newly furnished apartment.

The man reappeared like fog suddenly taking shape right in front of her.

"Kisos." His mouth formed a grim line but his eyes burned with unkempt rage. The kind of eyes that would have made any normal human cower.

Her eyes watched the movement of his hands running through his hair exasperatedly and carefully eyed the inside of his forearm, at the veins that should be there. The skin remained a milky tone, his entire body rippling softly like a mirage making him more fluid than solid, unlike the floor beneath her or the handles of her duffel bag clenched in her palm that felt very real and very sturdy.

Crossing his arms, he repeated her name. "Kisos-"

"I don't have what you want. Leave." She spoke up. A not too unusual greeting for her.

"I'm not going. I am under instruction to hurry this process along, He has sanctioned for all Etherals to keep a close watch on their Vessels."

She shrugged at this news. This was something she had been expecting for awhile after the sudden shift their enemy had taken. This was only proof that they were not wrong in thinking that something was going on beneath the surface and that, for once, the Etherals may not have the upperhand in this battle.

She walked around him again, growing used to the smell of dust that had perferated the air around him. She threw her bag down onto the single bed in the next room.

"Is this about the Malignants?" She asked, her eyelashes fluttering innocently back at him. "And their lack of presence recently?"

His eyes narrowed.

They weren't just disappearing. They were hiding. They had something up their sleeve, something they didn't want the Etherals to find.

He decided to ignore her indirect stab at his dignity. "You have a new assignment."

She blinked.

"It got away?" Her voice was quiet and she seemed more stunned than confused. "How?"

His eyes glanced away nervously. "The Malignant was here. Five days ago."

"So you lied to me." She said with very little surprise. The Etherals tried to keep all pf the other human vessels in the dark as much as possible. It probably just simplified things, no stupid human sentiments interfering or something. Not that they would have taken their feelings into account either way.

"Yes. The Malignant was disposed of five days ago." He opened his palm and a talisman appeared in the center, the features and details coming lazily into focus as the fog-like talisman solidified. "You are here for something else."

He held his hands out further for her to take the object. It sat, nestled in his palm, covered in tiny engravings in a language that had never been spoken by a human tongue. The language of the angels.

Kisos scooped it up and took a closer look at the markings. It was a deep dull bronze colour in the shape of a circle about the size and width of a penny. A much heavier penny. Adorned with long chain at one end, it was meant to be worn like necklace but she could also imagine it being worn as a collar.

Not many Vessels were given talismans by their prospective Etherals and this only worried her more when she realized this was only given to her because of her assignment.

"You had better be joking, Uriel."

The Etheral cocked his head.

Right, she thought, these guys don't have a sense of humour.

"Sorry, thought you had finally taken that stick out of your ass." She laughed for her own benefit, knowing full well he was not going to get her joke.

Uriel barely reacted, used to her weird human sayings by now.

"Get your knives, we have a hunt to go on." Now the beautiful man smiled, his halo of blonde hair making him look like a vengeful angel of death, which, she supposed, he wasn't far from.