The Chronicles of Koa: Netherworld (26 page)

Al pulled out a cigarette. He lit it and leaned against the wall outside the pub. His dark eyes looked around. Raven stood. She had to talk to him. She began to cross the street when a young woman came out of the pub. She was loud and clumsy. Her high heeled leather boots clinked along the slick asphalt with a deafeningly loud tapping noise that made Raven cringe.

Drunk
, Raven thought with disapproval.
Great
. She willed the girl to go away. She had business to attend to.

The drunk girl stumbled onto the sidewalk and fell against the wall, trying to steady herself. Al gave her a sidelong glance. His gaze lingered on the young woman. She looked to be little more than a teenager. Her pale white skin was illuminated by the bright moonlight. It was a stark contrast to her short pink hair that ruffled in the faint breeze.

Raven frowned.
Of course, things can never be easy
. She urged the girl to move along. There wasn’t much time. The girl laughed loudly, at nothing at all, and fell. Raven could see her panties underneath her short dress. She shook her head in dismay. She hated to think that once, Koa had been that drunk party girl.

Al grinned. He could see her panties too. He looked around, checking his surroundings. Satisfied that no one was looking, he strode over to the girl and reached out a hand. “Need some help miss?”

The girl peered up at him and smiled. “Yes. Thank you.” She was American. Her voice was thick and sultry, with a slight slur from the alcohol. She took his hand and yelped when he pulled her into his chest. He held her by her thin waist. She gave a nervous laugh and tried to pull away.

Raven narrowed her eyes. Al brought his hand to the back of her neck and turned her around. The girl tripped over her own feet. Growing impatient, Al picked her up as if she weighed no more than a child and disappeared into the darkness of the alley with her.

“Whoa,” she said breathlessly. “Where are we going?”

Raven’s eyes widened. She ran across the street. What was Al doing? She peeked around the corner to see him holding the girl by her neck and pulling up her skirt.

Raven was horrified. He was supposed to be good.

Why is he doing this
? Her hopes were dashed and she sat back and sighed. The girl tried to get away, but she was too drunk.

Raven shook her head. If only she could help the poor girl. She turned away. There was nothing she could do. Al was supposed to be a Warrior. She was no match for a Warrior, an angel from the ancient times, created to keep the creatures of the Netherworld from spilling out into the human world. Raven felt her stomach churn at the girl’s pleas. She begged for him to let her go, that she didn’t want any trouble. She pleaded for him to stop.

Raven sighed and began to walk away when she heard a surprising crunch. It was quick and sent a frightening chill through her body. Raven tensed. It wasn’t the
crunch
that surprised her… it was
Al’s
cut off scream.

Raven jumped and turned around. Her eyes widened. The girl was on Al’s back. She had his head in her hands and twisted his neck. The girl held on as Al fell on his face. And then, she did something that made Raven catch her breath.

The girl…
staked him
. A thin, wooden, stake plunged into his back and scraped against the cold stone alleyway.

Al trembled and turned into dust.

Raven stared, stunned, as she watched that girl kneel in the remaining dust of a Warrior’s body. She couldn’t believe what she witnessed. It didn’t make sense.

You can’t stake an angel
.

The girl paused. Her eyes rose to Raven’s. She stared at her through chunks of pink hair. Raven stepped back, her heart thumping with horror.

Who is this girl
, she wondered with panic.

The girl smiled. Raven couldn’t help her curiosity. She leaned in for a closer look, prepared to take off running if necessary. She noticed for the first time that the girl had gray eyes. She finally released her grip on the stake and wiped Al’s dust from her palms.

“What are you looking at kitty?” Her voice was low, yet it felt as if it was tapping on Raven’s mind like a fork tapping on glass. It was unsettling. It was unnatural.

She came to her feet.

Raven began to run away and felt herself held frozen. Raven yelped. She couldn’t move. Something held her paralyzed. The girl laughed and Raven felt the fear wash over her like a cold bucket of water. She felt foolish, thinking she could be of help to Halston and his crew. She wasn’t a Netherworld agent. How could she forget that she was only a cat now?

She had failed, again.

The girl leapt off Al’s back and landed before Raven with such agility and speed that Raven flinched.

She stooped down and picked Raven off the ground. Raven began to raise a clawed paw when the girl gently smoothed her fur.

“Hey now kitty, that’s no way to greet a friend. Now is it?”

Raven perked up. She wasn’t sure if she should reveal that she could speak to this anomaly of a girl. She had after all, just killed Al, once commander of the Warrior class of angels. Al wasn’t a fallen angel, like Halston, but one sent to set things right. And this girl…had killed him.

The girl’s smile widened. “Ah, don’t be shy. I won’t reveal your secret. I know who you are, and I’ve been expecting you. Eunju right? What took you so long?”

Raven tensed at the sound of her real name. She hadn’t been called Eunju, since before the transformation. She looked into the girls eyes. Raven was perplexed.

Then it hit her. She tilted her head. “Al? You’re Al?” she asked in disbelief.

The girl nodded with a grin. “Sure. Al works.” She took her paw and gave it a shake. She laughed at how silly such an action looked. “I prefer friends to call me Alice.”

Raven gasped. “You? You’re a warrior?”

Alice nodded. “Why so surprised?” She carried Raven as she walked deeper into the darkness of the alley.

“You’re so…so young!”

Alice giggled. “Oh, we both know that looks can be deceiving.”

Raven was astounded. “How…how did you know I was looking for you? Halston didn’t tell me much about you. He just said that I’d be led to you…when the time came. But, how?”

Alice peered into Raven’s eyes. “What a good boy he is. I like it that no one really knows about me. I don’t usually leave witnesses, but you can be an exception.” She looked over her shoulder and paused. She listened and sighed, speeding up. “I’ll tell you, since we’re friends. We are…friends, right?”

“I am friends with anyone that can protect my daughter.”

“Splendid. Telekinesis is my secret weapon. Telekinesis sets me apart from the other warriors. This is why I was once commander. They used to call me Metal-Mind.” Alice grinned at the memory. “I do miss those days. There was never a dull moment. I’d scoop up two, three, vamps at a time.” She gave Raven a look. “I sure set fear into those pesky vamps didn’t I?”

Raven swallowed. She felt cold. She couldn’t shake the feeling that something wasn’t right.

Alice glanced down at her. “I know when someone is looking for me. I didn’t become commander because of my looks.” She gave a smug grin. “Although, I’m sure my looks did help.”

Raven nodded. That explained how Alice made her freeze when she tried to run. Alice smiled. “Don’t overthink it. I haven’t been tampering with your thoughts or anything. It’s just that in times like these, a girl has to be on her guard. Recruiting can be dangerous business. Especially with creeps like that guy I just killed lingering on these streets.”

Raven looked up quickly. “He was a vampire, wasn’t he?”

Alice nodded. She didn’t speak. She looked around, scanning their narrow surroundings. She tilted her head, listening. Raven’s ears perked up. There was a faint rustling sound at the back of the alley. Raven felt her heart pound at the sound of a low, growl. It wasn’t a dog.

Raven knew every predator now. Whatever waited in those shadows, was no animal.

Before Raven could speak a word of warning, Alice bounded up the side of a stone wall, clutching Raven to her chest. Her feet seemed light and she ran along the wall of an office building like a spider, in and out of the darkness of the alley.

Raven was speechless. She tried to look back, to see if whatever had growled followed them. She coiled back, seeing eyes in the distance.

They were being chased.  It was big, like a wolf, but Raven narrowed her eyes, it wasn’t a wolf. The creature had no fur, just muscles wrapped tightly around bone. Claws scratched the wall as it ran behind, barely keeping up.

Alice moved quickly, like lightning.
The swoosh
of wind made Raven squeeze her eyes shut. She forced them open. She wanted to see where they were going. She wanted to make sure it didn’t catch up with them. She could feel Alice breathing, it wasn’t labored. Alice wasn’t afraid.

“Hey, listen. I’m going to do something a little… crazy. You’re used to crazy right, with that daughter of yours. You game?”

Raven swallowed. “S-sure.” She craned her neck around. She saw the beast running through the fog, gaining on them. She remembered the night Halston had killed twelve creatures just like the one that chased them. She wished Halston was there.

Alice sucked her teeth. She frowned. “A damned reanimated man. I should have known that guy wasn’t a normal vampire. Those Netherworld vamps are tricky. I don’t think that big guy appreciates that stake I put in his heart.” She reached a hand out and grabbed a pole above her head and catapulted them high into the air. She yelled. “Hold on!”

Raven shrieked as Alice tilted her head up to the heavens and outstretched her arms. Raven clutched to her with all of her strength, her claws firmly embedded into Alice’s shirt. The beast lunged after them, and with a swirl of her arms, Alice turned herself in mid-air to face it.

Raven looked into Alice’s eyes and shuddered. They had turned completely white, as if clouds moved within them. Alice turned out her hands, palms facing the beast and a sudden pop of air exploded from the small girl’s body. It was like thunder, without sound, but Raven could feel her bones tremble and her teeth chatter.

There was a loud howl as the beast was torn limb from limb. Arms disconnected from shoulders, the fibers trailing along like streamers. Legs broke away from knees with a cringe worthy popping sound. He split into a million pieces that flew out in all directions. Blood sprayed into the air and Alice’s eyes returned to normal. Gray eyes glared at the carnage as she landed on her feet. Her boots made a splash in a puddle as they hit the ground.

Alice didn’t stop. She wrapped her arms around Raven again and ran into the shadows. She breathed heavily then, glancing down at Raven.

“You alright, kitty?”

Raven nodded, staring at Alice’s blood stained face. Pieces of bone and broken teeth were in her pink hair. Raven shivered…not from the cold but from excitement. She was exhilarated. She looked at Alice in wonder. This was the one, who could help them stop Greggan.