13. Loyal SoldierCassius

13

LOYAL SOLDIER

CASSIUS

H ow much longer must I put up with these fools? This is supposed to be my way to something greater. But no, I'm trapped with a group of humans trying to be something they could never be and worshiping a fallen angel that has manipulated so many with false promises. Their worship is aimed at a feathered failure who lost his place in the White Kingdom because he felt he could be stronger than his almighty father.

Samael was a great commander in the largest celestial army. He was responsible for over two million warriors. His strategy techniques were unmatched by any other creature army created. And the angels that followed his instruction were also formed from the best. We followed every order to his exact direction. The goal was to be an unbreakable unit and we were. That is until three quarters of those who originally followed him and fell from grace repented and found themselves once more in God's loving light.

Humans know Samael as Satan, but he wasn't always the tempter of sin. In Heaven, he was the angel of death. As our commander. The leader of one of Heaven's most powerful armies, we followed him blindly. Our wants became more important than our creators' design for peace and happiness. Now, after all these centuries, our leader has sent us on a new kind of mission. He expects me and my brothers to bring back the female that has slipped his grasp. As his best trackers, we have been on her trail for the last two years. This is why we've found ourselves stuck in the middle of a want-to-be-cult.

All we had to do was follow the trail of blood from the chests of the men she had ripped the hearts from. It took us some time to figure out her signature, but once we did, it was simple to find her.

Pinpointing the place she calls home was a little trickier and took us more time. As we searched, she seemed to bounce between New York City, Seattle, and Boston, but she always came back to a run-down brick building in the heart of North Philly. So we took up a post here and came up with excuses to follow her on her adventures.

Lately, it seems as if she is taking a break from her serial killer ways. Shut up in the abandoned building she calls her home, we watch from the shadows as her silhouette taunts us from behind the partially boarded up windows.

The only people I can trust, no matter the place or position I find myself in, are Ash and Creed. My two best friends. My brothers in all things, but blood. We weren't born, but created by the Almighty. Through our creation, bonds were created and emotions muffled. Only allowed obedience and happiness, we never understood the wide variety of feelings that assaulted us once free will was shoved down our throats.

Samael showed us freedom, but it has slowly become a cage. Existence was simpler without feelings. No need for maneuvering through shit that had no part in the lives we were meant to live. Even worse, we, as the fallen, live forever with these meaningless emotions, that is until we let our guard down and some lucky bastard gets away with shanking us with an angel blade.

We served in Heaven, fell to Earth, battled our way through Hell and now we are dogs who do our master's bidding. We do it in order to feel important and to find pride in our ability to get the job done. If we didn't hunt, we would have no purpose. Nothing holds us here except our willingness to survive and keep ourselves off Hell's soil.

We never thought to search for any other purpose. To find something else to live for. It was bred into us that God was our king and Samael our teacher and guide. Now all we have is Samael and his directions.

Love was a concept we understood well. But the other emotions were foreign and because of that fact, none of us wanted to be tempted or trapped by them. Instead, we find comfort in one another's company. We are each other's companions. The reason to move forward and stay breathing, but we all feel the same; we wronged our creator by following a prideful angel, that in the end cares for only himself.

I have been the key to our good fortune. My dreams are what guide us from one city to the next. Some type of ability that allows me to scent the demoness's location since I touched one of her victim's empty chest cavities. Ash's past in Samael's army has bolstered his strategy skills. His unique gift allows us entry into the unusual situations we find ourselves in, without anyone knowing we don't belong anywhere on Earth. Creed's gift is that of the shadows. He controls them as if they were a part of him. Allowing us to blend in and stay under the radar of sensitive humans and hunters that have sworn to wipe the fallen from Earth. It also shrouds us from the man above and the demons running wild around us.