The silence disturbed Fatima immensely as she came into the room when she first saw the rest come into the apartment; she flipped out and began to ask if there was anything, she could do to help. After several times being shut out, she pursed her lips and tried her best not to bother them. Instead, she started to prep for dinner.
"Kate won't be here tonight; neither will Jasmine," She softly spoke to herself milling through the kitchen for ideas on what to make. She decided on something simple, spaghetti with a chicken stir-fry. She put on the water and started to preheat the skillet, but when she went to mince some vegetables and dice up the chicken, she found her knife drawer barren.
"Now all of my knives couldn't have just disappeared for no reason!" She shot a glare at the boys.
"You're the blond, misplacing items should come naturally to you," Chris called back from the couch. He laid in such a way that required minimal use of his right arm and just so that it would set properly enough since there wasn't anything they could use to keep the break aligned. "By the way, should you be cooking with that hand?"
Fatima glanced down at her still bandaged hand. "I'll manage."
"To hell you will," Dia stated. "Sit down; I'll make something."
She glanced at her friend quickly, up and down. "No, I got this. Thanks for offering, though." Dia stared at her hard waiting for the blond to back down. The boys all turned to watch this altercation with more interest than whatever they had been doing before. Dia slowly stood up and walked over to the other girl.
"I wasn't offering."
"I know you weren't, but I'm not just going to let you cook when you're my guest." Dia snatched Fatima's wrist and twisted it, Fatima's eyes widened for a moment as she had moved in a blur. With a slight twist, she angled and forced Fatima out of the kitchen and into the living area.
"Protest again, and you'll have your wrist broken as well as burned," a promise Dia intended to keep as she shoved Fatima onto the couch. The boys all snickered and laughed, as they all knew she let her off easy this time.
Fatima glared for a moment before casting her gaze away and in a low voice, "fine." Dia smiled and patted the girl on the head before proceeding back to the kitchen and took over where Fatima left off.
"Chris, what did you do with all the knives?"
"I hid them from this one." He pointed at Fatima, who peevishly grumbled to herself, "And the attitude is back. She was doing so well too."
The wind howled and harshly rushed past, causing a wind tunnel between the buildings. Sarah observed the deep red and orange of a setting sky, scanning the heavens only to see the tops of the buildings and the skyscrapers of the inner city. The horizon was hidden from view, but the sky was currently clear, the sunset must have been a nice one as well.
After a moment, to ensure Dark was nowhere close, she turned back to Mark and Steve as they inspected the old building. Her blazing eyes scanned the side, and they proceeded to enter the alleyway. She knelt by the brick and softly muttered words of power, feeling the power as magic surrounded the building to keep things inside it. She muttered a few more words and another shield was set to keep things out, specifically Dark.
"Alright, which floor is she on?" She demanded, glaring up at the fire escape stairs. The rickety metal steps looked as though they barely qualified under safety regulations. Mark hoisted her up by the waist so that she could grab onto the ladder and pull him up as well.
"Fourth floor on the other side of the building. I'll meet you inside." Steve walked through the brick wall.
The two continued up the ladder and quickly ascended the stairs. The shadows cast down by the surrounding buildings submerged them in darkness as they stepped with muffled steps to the fourth level. The fire escape wrapped around the back of the building and ended at the corner. Sarah peered around and saw Steve sitting on the windowsill closest to her.
"Move your bitch ass; you're in my way." She jumped the railing and stepped onto where Steve sat. She crouched down, balancing on the balls of her feet, as she pulled out a couple of picks from her back pocket. After a moment or two, she angled the picks to move the lever keeping the window shut.
The window refused to open at first but after a small readjustment of strength, the window abruptly opened halfway before getting stuck again. Another attempt later, she got it fully open. She stepped onto a desk, scattering beads and small hand tools on the ground. She crept down and lurked to the door. Mark climbed in after her as she slowly opened the door.
Steve shoved past her and proceeded down the hallway, knowing his sudden appearance will provide enough distraction to keep the attention away from Sarah. He stepped into view and Tommy immediately glared at him from across the room. He shoved Jacob slightly to get him to pay attention as well.
Everyone fell eerily silent so that the only sound was the television. Fatima noticed the shift and turned to see what everyone was suddenly focused on. With a tilt of her head, "Oh yeah, you were the other one." He gave a curt smirk with all the glares and hate filled looks he received.
"Pretty daring for you just to walk in here like nothing's wrong," Leonard told the man in a low dark raging tone. Fatima got chills, and it wasn't even remotely directed at her. Steve merely laughed in turn. In a blink of an eye, Leonard was on his feet and slamming Steve against the wall. "You think this is funny?"
"Hilarious," Steve spat in a solemn voice. The rest watched with various degrees of interest. Andrew and Jacob would have jumped in against Steve for being forced to fight amongst themselves, but they were still recovering from the burning sensation within them. Chris hoped they both beat each other senseless.
Silence rang in Fatima's ears; she tilted her head curiously, seeing everyone all focused on Leonard and Steve, who were no doubt growling at each other and on the edge of fighting. Something had caught her attention, as her pulse began to gain pace. She began to zone out staring at it wondering what it could be.
Sarah angled herself around the corner, aiming straight at Fatima's head, the demon was curiously distracted with something in the window, but she paid no mind to it. It only made it easier to be taken out before anyone could react. A knife embedded itself into the wall right in front of the barrel of the gun before Sarah could pull the trigger. Sarah drew the gun back and pointed it in the direction the knife had come from and hesitated to see Dia just as she threw another knife, dislodging the gun from the girl's hand. It fell to the floor in a clatter, drawing the attention from Steve to the two girls.
The Twins, Chris, and Andrew immediately stood up to confront Sarah and aid Dia. With a wave of her hand, she halted them before they could move forward. She peeked at a glance at Fatima who edged towards the window, whatever it was held her attention for the most part.
As she turned back to Sarah, "What do you want?"
"I'm a busy person Dia, but when I turn around and hear that some low-level demon has come along and tried to claim you as her own," her voice faltered slightly, as her eyes drew away to glare at the blond who was still not paying any attention. "Why is she still alive, Dia?"
"She is interesting."
Sarah attempted to push past Dia, but she grabbed the redhead's wrist and pulled her back, separating her from Fatima.
Fatima stared down at a black mass of slick oily feathers rasping against the window. It seemed desperate to get inside. It's beady red eyes, and sharp beak seemed horribly familiar to her as it attacked the glass. On its back there was a small harness and a capsule; her eyes widened in horror as it finally clicked in her head what she was staring at. She felt something loom over her from behind and noticed the creature flew off.
With the impending dread, she turned around and looked up at some strange man in her apartment. Over his shoulder she saw, Steve fending off Leonard while slowly being cornered into the kitchen. Dia was holding some girl in a death lock grip.
"This is my luck I swear," She whined helplessly. The man just shrugged in response, gripped her by the neck, and towed her out into the middle of the floor. He tossed her onto the floor before summoning an enchantment to keep the demon stuck in the place she stood.
Leonard wasn't moving as fast as he usually did, the previous fight finally caught up to him. Steve noticed and increased his barrage of fists, using his strength so that one good punch took him out. He scanned the rest and saw no one was going to attempt fighting him either. Leonard caught him off guard with a right hook to the jaw sending Steve in a half circle. He followed it up by grabbing Steve's arm and slamming his wrist back against the counter. With a sickening snap, it was clearly broken.
Steve yelled frustrated, taking several steps back. Kicking Leonard in the gut so that he could gain some distance between them. His left wrist hung limply at an odd angle. With a nasty smile, "you think this is doing anyone of us any good? Look, she'll be gone and out of our lives within minutes, and then we can go back to the way things have been before this disruption."
Leonard chuckled darkly, "Then we should have received the same treatment, don't you think? After all, why should you deserve to be around Dia, why should any of us, when we all know we deserve to go the same place, we have been threatening to send her back to. So far, she hasn't given any reason to send her there, but you, Steve, have many of the times since I had the misfortune to meet you." Steve gave a dull stare mulling over the thought before he exhaled with contempt. Leonard gave a curt nod, and they both turned their attention to Dia and Sarah as they stared each other down.
"Why protect something as pathetic as that?" Sarah pointed to where the demon who was now trapped, and watched on wide-eyed and quite visibly afraid. "It can't even break free from a basic holding spell; surely there are better things to waste time on." Dia wordlessly continued to stand in her way. "Dia, please move, if you won't put it down, I will."
Sarah waited a moment more, before accepting that her friend wasn't going to comply. She rushed forward, hoping that charging her would throw her slightly off guard. It didn't, and Dia thrust her palms forward into Sarah's gut knocking her back and cutting short her breath. She glided forward and meticulously dodged and countered each of Sarah's attempts. The girl did manage to get on the other side of Dia, but she twirled around and shoved her against the wall. Sarah gripped the knife that was still embedded in it and whipped it around. Dia took a step back, so there was a small gap of distance between her and the edge of the kitchenware.
Sarah reared it up and quickly enchanted it with a spell to send whoever was struck to hell. Dia caught her wrist before the knife could be thrown. With a slight twist, the knife fell out of the girl's hand and with another, she was able to knock Sarah to the floor. She scrambled to get up, picking the knife up as she rose. She flung it straight at Fatima. Dia rushed to snatch it out of the air, but it was beyond her reach.
Fatima's eyes narrowed as the knife sliced through the air. An instinctive reaction hit her as her arms raised up to protect her face. With them, a small wave of energy knocked the knife back and between her wrists she watched as it fell back to the floor, the enchantment on the knife dispelled, as well as the one holding her in place. She lowered her arms slightly, looking around bewildered as to what exactly happened.
Dia smirked and slammed Sarah against the wall. She held the girl's face against it tightly so that she couldn't move without risking being put in a more compromised position. "'It' is a She and her name is Fatima." She released Sarah with a shove and took a step back. Sarah glared at the floor remaining silent.
The sound of wings disrupted the small moment of silence as something small and black barreled through the hallway. The creature Fatima was transfixed on earlier had discovered the open window and dived into the apartment. Fatima immediately raised her arm for it to land on her wrists. The claws digging into her flesh made her wince slightly, as she brought it down and awkwardly moved to open the capsule. She pulled out a small rolled up note. Her face grew hot as everyone stared at her, but she shook the bird off her wrist. It screeched angrily at her.
"Go to my brother for your payment; I didn't send for you," she hastily told the birdlike creature. It gave her a heated gaze before flying off again. She peered down at the note that was coiled up and bound by a ribbon. "Who's Sarah?" She asked confused after reading the name inscribed on the outside.
Sarah sneered and briskly stepped forward, snatching the note from her hands. She gave a callous look at the boys and began to read the message. Dia approached Fatima and dragged her over to the table, and they both sat down. Mark attempted to follow, but Dia's deadly glare told him it was best to do otherwise.
"Are you alright?" Dia asked briskly checking the girl.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just overwhelmed again, but I'm fine." She hesitated for a moment, "Was that you who knocked the knife back?"
Sarah slammed a hand down between them before Dia could answer. She held the note in a tight grip and her hard stare cut into Fatima. "Who exactly are you, Fatima?" She snapped her name, as she handed the note to Dia, who began to read it. Fatima slowly stood up, and Sarah backed her into a corner, "Before those idiots fetched me I was on a mission, a quite important mission. To send a powerful escaped demon back to hell, on the Greater Demon Bryan's orders. He didn't tell me why, or why she escaped in the first place, but now the order has changed from sending her back to hell to protecting you. So who are you." She jabbed her finger into Fatima's shoulder pressing her tightly against the wall.
Fatima looked away refusing to speak.
Sarah shouted in a hostile voice, "Answer me!"
"Not anyone you would know or care to find out, that's for sure."
"I just received a note that was written personally by the one who hired me to kill a demon to spare your life; that reckons an explanation." Sarah dragged her out and tossed her into the middle of the room. "Show us your true form."
Fatima looked insulted as if she said something vulgar, "I will not!"
Aggravated, Sarah muttered a spell and cast it upon Fatima. Energy flowed around her engulfing her momentarily before fading and taking the glamour with it. Large horns wrapped around her head like a crown, black like obsidian with a glassy luster. Wings almost of equal height had sprouted from her back and extended knocking everyone back. Her fingers twisted into claws, and her legs resembled more of a lizard than humans. Her eyes turned completely black with white slits for pupils. Her face grew hot from embarrassment, as everyone expected her to transform into one of the vilest creatures that were lower demons.
Dia approached her, "A greater demon, what is wrong with your magic?" Fatima backed away evading everyone's onlooking eyes.
"Can you guys stop staring, it's really creeping me out." The twins, however, ran up and began to inspect every detail of her demon form. They focused their energy actually to be able to touch the wings and horns. She responded to the sudden attention by pulling herself in tightly, so she felt she wasn't there anymore. They kept poking and prodding her before she had enough and whipped her tail around to slap their hands. "Stop it; I had enough of this."
Sarah snatched her wrist and twisted her arm around to slam her directly into the near wall. "You still haven't answered my question, demon." Fatima felt she had cast a protective shield around herself to prevent any demon magic from affecting her since the majority wore their magic like a cloak.
Through her teeth, "I could care less why Bryan finds me so important, he never seemed to care before, after several murder attempts on me, himself. Perhaps he thinks this will be initiative enough for me to owe him a favor now. Ask him if you really must know." Sarah wordlessly skewered her with her eyes a moment longer, before releasing the demon and storming down the hall.
"Mark, come with me." He complied giving the demon a heated glare, himself, before following Sarah.
"Now if you don't mind, I'm putting back the glamour." Fatima snapped her fingers trying to call upon her own magic. Dia tilted her head, as she watched the demon struggle to evoke the spell with very like magic.
"Ha, a greater Demon with no magic, that's even more pathetic than a regular demon with weak magic!" Steve guffawed in blatant mockery. Her face flushed red, as the familiar feeling of growing heat flooded through her once again.
"Stop, Fatima stop."
"No, I got this."
"You should listen to her before you hurt yourself," Andrew casually called over. She snapped and glared at him, as a surplus of demon magic condensed in her hand, which dispersed almost as quickly. The burst of magic startled her. After humiliating herself further, she leaned against the wall Sarah had pinned her against and slid down to the floor.
Dia sat down in front of her, examining everything, "It doesn't make sense for you not to have any magic at all, who stole it from you?" Fatima gave a small snort at the notion and smiled shaking her head annoyed.
"I would find that reason to be a lot easier and simpler to fix than this one." She lightly traced a circle on her chest opposite her heart. "Oh, I have magic alright. Plenty of it that has been sitting here festering, growing, and I can't call upon a drop of it." She swept to her feet and briskly crossed the room in an aggravated manner.
"Show me what's blocking it then." Fatima froze, her face flushing red again.
"Not with all them here!" She gave up on just telling the girl no because she was just going to do it regardless.
"Scram," She whisked to her feet as the boys reluctantly did as told. "Okay, show me."
"Are you sure they're gone?"
"Fatima!" She flinched and smiled awkwardly.
With a sigh, she shrugged off the left shoulder of her blouse and pulled it down slightly revealing scorched markings just below her collarbone.
"Oh come on, you didn't even take the shirt off," Tommy's complaining voice sounded through the room.
Fatima's face twisted, "good thing." She peeked at Dia and took a step back immediately. A dark shadow loomed over the Angel's face so that her eyes glowed from the darkness. Her face was that of stone and in a moment was right next to Fatima and slammed her to the ground. Fatima's green eyes paled and widened with shock as she suddenly found her back crashing against the floor. Her wings stung, and Dia pinned them to the floor with her knees and one hand against the girl's throat with just enough pressure to ensure the girl knew she could simply crush it right there.
Fatima coughed slightly while breathing frantically as her friend had just attacked her. "Make sure that there isn't another angel lurking around," Dia ordered with a dangerous tone to the boys. She felt relieved as they all scurried away from the vicinity. She rounded back onto Fatima after ensuring they all left, "You're working for Dark? Was this all just a clever ploy to lure me into a trap so that he could take me?"
Deliriously, "Who? What, What are you talking about?"
"Don't lie to me."
"I'm sorry, but I'm confused. Who's Dark? Why would you think I would be in some elaborate trap against you?"
Dia jabbed a finger into the marking etched into the blonde's skin. "This seal was done by him. Somewhere down the line, he placed this on you. Normally, he would send someone like you down to hell before you were even aware of his presence." She pulled her up by the neck and leered face to face, "did you make a deal with Dark?"
"No, and I'm not lying." She took a breath to steady her breathing, "look, I don't know this Dark person or whatever. I always had this mark, I don't remember receiving it, I don't remember anything before waking up in hell one day. Bryan, Joan, and a lot of demons have tried to remove it from me, all painful attempts. It's why I essentially became one of the most useless demons when it comes to using magic. As Joan always cares to remind me, wasted potential hers for the claiming." Dia assessed her for a bit. She sounded tired and drained. No hint of a lie was detected in her face, and slowly she released her.
"I'm sorry," She offered a hand to Fatima.
"Just forget it happened." They stood there in silence for a while. Dia walked back to the kitchen and finished cooking. Fatima stood off to the side thinking for a moment. "Is this Dark person the reason you haven't gone home?"
"He'll be expecting me there, yes. It is too dangerous to go back to places I am familiar with right now."
"You're running from him."
"Yes."
"Is he your lover?"
Dia gave her a look of disgust, "He's basically my older brother."
"Oh, so an angel."
"Yes, an angel." Dia hastily replied getting tired of the questions.
Fatima pondered some more, "but why would an angel attack another angel?"
"He wants to drag me back to heaven, okay." Her tone was final, and Fatima then kept her thoughts and questions to herself. The rest of the evening was quiet as well. Fatima finally managed to don her glamour as the boys reported back with no signs of Dark or any other angel within fifteen blocks of them. Some of the boys were disappointed upon seeing Fatima eating dinner with Dia at the table. Some hoped that Dia finally came to her senses and dispatched the girl. Now that Sarah couldn't do the job, Steve began to calculate a new plan to be rid of the demon.
