Barbara had to hand it to them, the children were handling this better than she'd expected...though it might just be from emotional shock that they sat so still in spite of the lykos-haya snapping at the windows or her driving at speeds that were beyond illegal. You might think that her apathy to their immediate situation was unwarranted or inappropriate, Barbara did not think so. Her nonchalance was the perfect response to this recurring, supernatural caper; it happened every other week, truth be told. Part of the down sides to being an Exile and a loner in this darkening world; you became a player of a never ending game of cat and mouse.
But lately, the heat on her had toned down and, rather foolishly, she had thought the temporal reprieve would last. She gazed at the children in the rear view mirror. Evan studying his sword with forged interest in an attempt to ignore the demons and Wynter staring, glassy eyed at her fists gripping tightly at the hem of her pale yellow dress.
...She had thought they'd have more time...before the burdens of destiny crushed what remained of their souls their parents fought to preserve. But life had a way of biting at your ankles.
Barbara turned her focus back to the road. There was no time for mulling over her regrets. She had a job to do. Her beloved Beetle was as fast as it ever was for she spotted the first lights of the city in the distance.
"There it is. We're almost there."
Just as she said that, the car lurched violently to the side. The children screamed as they were thrown off course. Barbara fought for control, pulling the handbrake. The stop was immediate and the car stood on its side for a moment before landing hard enough to spend a jolt up her tailbone.
Barbara glanced around but it was too dark to see so she turned on the lights on the ceiling. What the light revealed was rather disappointing. They had fallen into a large ditch and the demons were cackling at their genius, making their way down to them.
"So, the boneheads do have a molecule of sense after all," Wynter commented.
"That isn't good for us though," Evan countered.
"I'm afraid I'll have to agree," she added grimly, for the first time feeling very disappointed in her Beetle.
"Because we've just ran out of gas."
"Wonderful!" Wynter glared at her from the rear view mirror, "You got a plan B, my knight in not so shiny armour?"
"You know, young lady, your sarcasm might just be the key to scaring the demons away," she shot back.
"Why, aren't you clever?"
"LADIES, not the time or the place!" Evan shouted. He was already out of the car, Mercy grasped tightly in his hand. They exchanged cold glares before climbing out of the car and stood on either side of him, Barbara had her bow in hand and an arrow notched. The horde looked in the fading light like a mass of moving shadows. Their number had doubled, Vlad was clearly not taking any chances. There was no way they could fight them. She turned and narrowed her gaze at the horizon. Phoenix was closer than she thought. They could make it...maybe.
Wynter glanced around and frowned, "I don't have a weapon."
Barbara smirked and pulled a throwing knife from her boot and handed it to her.
Wynter gave her an incredulous look, "What am I supposed to do with this?!"
"You could pick at their teeth," she suggested slyly.
"You know, for a grown woman, you can be quite petty."
"I prefer the term generous, now come. Follow me." She ran towards the edge of the ditch and began to climb, expecting the children to follow. Once over the edge she placed two fingers in her mouth and blew a sharp whistle. The sound cut through the night and a burst of magic burned with it.
"Come! This way!" She led them through the sleek, frost covered undergrowth further away from the main road. She just hoped their ride could get here in time. Though her pride wilted at the thought of asking for help, she wasn't planning on becoming a demon kibble.
The demons were close behind, their pace doubled as the taste of victory neared. Come on, come on!
Something flew overhead, casting a shadow big enough to block the moonlight. They looked up to a sight that had to make even Wynter impressed.
A sleek, metal beast of machinery crafted by True Magic where the runes that translated the magic glowed an eerie green upon its surface. It was neither a bird nor a plane. It was a...
"Flying car?!" Evan exclaimed, his face alight with excitement and awe. The glider was a masterpiece of ingenuity made some time ago by the Seraphim. The overall design was made to look like the modern cars of today for camouflage purposes but it was operated in no way similar to one. Its wheels flared out on either side of the car like outstretched wings, its back was both wider and longer than a Ford ranger so generally it looked more like a military Jeep.
It landed gently in front of them on all four wheels, the doors opened revealing a handsome man covered in tattoos and dressed in his signature bad boy outfit that consisted of black leather jackets over cargo pants and too many earrings to count. He had an Asiatic look to him, his dark hair stylish and short, his dark narrow eyes nearly disappeared under his cocky grin, "Sup, Barb. You called?"
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Personally, Evan did not like nearly dying nor did he like having his life upended by Miss Sparkling Fingers with her too many cats but sitting comfortably in this flying car while a hundred feet up in the air, far from the danger below, he had to say this wasn't all that bad.
"So, what do you call this thing again?" he asked.
Their gracious driver who called himself Niran glanced at him from the rear view mirror, his deep drawl adopting a loving tone, "A glider, kid. One of the latest models. Ain't she a beauty?"
She really was with black, authentic leather on the seats and the walls, there was a tinted screen behind him that separated the back from the back seats but what really caught his attention was the controls upfront. There was no steering wheel but a control panel in the form of a screen in front of Niran where a series of glowing runes set in what he thought was a keyword with too many letters.
Niran was typing away and the glider responded to his silent command. The doors were locked, the seat belts, without the aid of the passengers, stripped them in and the engine hummed slightly as they began to pick up speed towards the city.
Wynter sat beside him, glancing down at the receding mass of darkness, "Funny how we could have ridden this the whole time, eh Miss G?"
Barbara, who sat in the front passenger seat, crossed her arms and scowled. Niran glanced at her and barked out a laugh, "Don't tell me you still have that old thing."
Barbara gave him a cold glare, "Don't you start."
Niran shrugged and shook his head, "You do you."
Evan leaned forward curiously, "So, are you a Seraphim too?"
"What? Me? Ha, no. Though it would be really cool. Magic and all that stuff. But I'm just a bystander of the supernatural world, and have been for some time now."
Wynter arched a brow, "How do you two know each other then?"
Niran frowned, "She never told you about me? Typical. I only saved her life a couple of times but do I get a mention? Nope."
"It was one time," she asserted.
Niran gave her a disappointed look, "Sure."
Barbara rolled her eyes, "We don't have time for this. Just take us to the Sanctum and we can go back to ignoring each other."
Niran sighed wearily and turned back to his screen, "I thought you cooled off after all this time."
"Not a chance."
Evan glanced between as they lapsed into an awkward silence and felt the tension thicken. Now that he looked closely, they both appeared to be the same age, around their mid thirties in he was not mistaken.They clearly had a history. Best friends perhaps? This was unlikely since he noticed a slight flush on Barbara's cheeks and the reddening of Niran's neck.
He cleared his throat, "So, Niran? Where did you get this thing anyway and can I have one?"
Niran pecked up and laughed, "No, you can't, kid. You need to earn it and that's a long process. Besides, the methods I used to obtain this glider were a bit shaky."
"He means he stole it from the aerial fleet," she added with a droll tone.
"Stole is a strong word. Accurate but strong."
"So, no glider. What? Do I have to pass some driver's test or something?"
He merely chuckled, "Something like that."
The rest of the flight went on in silence before Niran announced, "Well, kids. Here we are." Evan looked down at the city below, alight with swirling lights of gold, red and blue. As their driver guided their car down, a thought occurred to him.
"Hey, guys? Aren't people gonna, you know, lose it if they spot a flying car in the middle of the night?"
"Hasn't Barb told you yet? Normies can't see the paranormal."
Wynter frowned at that, "You mean like we're invisible?"
"In a sense, yes," Barbara piped up, "It's called the Veil and separates the supernatural from the natural realm. It's not foolproof. Niran here being a perfect example. It really relies on the state of the human heart. Closed minds can never see beyond it and should they cross paths with it, it appears to them as their minds can comprehend."
"To put it plainly, if someone looked and spotted us, they would think we're a helicopter passing overhead or something like that," Niran concluded. That makes sense, I think.
Honestly, he was surprised that no one was around when the demons were chasing them or that no one could hear them running all through town. Seriously, their death breath alone, which smelt worse than a day old corpse, could have been noticed from a thirty mile radius.
Niran landed them in a park he could see had a small lake and long golf courses. As they got out, he looked around. It was obviously closed, not a soul in sight. After the noise from the demon hunt, the silence of the park was a bit jarring. There was only the biting breeze that shook the palm trees all around them. The adrenaline he had felt earlier seemed to drain out of him, leaving him exhausted. Wynter looked no better.
Barbara was taking back her knife from Wynter when she glanced at him critically, "You might want to put that away."
Evan looked down at his hand still clutching his sword, "How do I do that?"
"Just touch the hilt to the chain." He did as she said and a short bright light later, the sword morphed back to a small silver cross necklace against his chest. He stared then shrugged. At this point, he was not surprised.
Barbara led the way through the park with Niran bringing up the rear. They made their way down the street, the lamp posts illuminating the cracked, uneven road. It was late in the evening so there was hardly anyone around, just the occasional hobo asleep at every other street corner.
They came to a street lined with tall complex buildings with their windows unlit and curtains closed except for one Chinese restaurant further down. They approached it. Its sign spelled out its name in white neon lights both in Chinese letters and in English though it looked like the owner needed an electrician since instead of spelling, WHITE LOTUS what it actually spelled was HIT LOTS. Evan and Niran shared an amused smirk.
"Nice name," Wynter commented drily.
They entered and the first thing he noticed was the smell. Good Lord, it smelt amazing! The tantalizing aroma of warm spices that hit him in the face and had his stomach growling in anticipation. There was nothing much to see, a collection of mismatched tables and chairs surrounded by walls covered with graffiti and compliments to the chef. There was a tiny TV on the far left corner where four Asian grandpas were arguing loudly over a shared plate of soup dumplings. He had no idea what they were saying but he assumed it was about the two very pretty ladies on the TV. Apparently, arguments over 'who's the prettiest girl' were universal.
They approached the counter where behind it sat a stern looking Asian woman in a dirty apron. She paused in her counting over her dollar bills to glare at them over the rim of her square glasses, "What you want?" she hissed in a thick Chinese accent. Evan heard somewhere that if the chef ain't mean then the food ain't good so he was very reassured.
"We're looking to go up," Barbara said vaguely.
The woman paused to assess them with her beady eyes. He didn't need to look down to know the sight wasn't impressive.
"Office closed," she said curtly, "No more visitors."
"The office is never closed and I'm not trying to go up," she nodded to Evan and Wynter, "They are. Have a report the Head might be interested in."
The woman eyed them for a long time before gesturing sharply behind her, "Make it quick. Closing up soon." With that, they made the way around the counter through the back door to the kitchen. At the very back was a large dumbwaiter which they went to. As they passed the three rows of steel tops with closed pots of steaming food, he clocked a plate of cold dumplings and made a grab for one and stuffed it in his mouth. Hmm, that is good.
Barbara lifted the steel door and gestured to them, "In you go." Evan and Wynter glanced at each other.
"That's a dumbwaiter."
"I'm aware. Now in." They hesitated but climbed in. As they did, the walls expanded till they were no longer crouching but standing up straight.
"Oh my days. A magical dumbwaiter?" Wynter said, glancing around in awe. Niran glanced at her askance, "You rode here in a flying car and this surprises you?"
"Honestly? Fair."
"Children, this is where we part ways," Barbara stated and they turned to her in surprise.
"What? Why?"
"I'm an Exile. I can never show my face among the Seraphim again. It is the Law." They exchanged confused glances but nodded.
"What do we do now?"
"Press the button to the top floor," she gestured to the long columns of buttons to the side of the door, "When you get there, ask the front desk to see the Head. Once there, tell them everything. The sword, the demons, all of it then listen to their instruction. They'll protect you."
"What will you do?" Wynter asked. She hesitated, "Whatever I can until they sort the demons out and I'll keep a close eye to the children at the church, Evander. I promise." His mouth snapped closed and he nodded appreciatively.
"Remember, the demons are after the two of you so don't leave the Sanctum till you're told otherwise."
"Basically what she's trying to say is look after yourselves and make smart choices," Niran interjected with an encouraging wink. Barbara gave him an annoyed look and sighed.
"Just...be careful."
Evan eyed her and noticed the genuine concern in her dark eyes and knew even Wynter won't have a snappish remark to that. They gave her a silent nod and the door snapped closed.
What are we getting ourselves into?
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