A.H.I.G. (closed)

"I wasn't talking about you and Will, Jackie. I was talking about this one," Matias said and gave a meaningful look at Vanya. Over the three years, he still hadn't grown to care for her. "To be honest, I didn't agree with Lani going to get her at all. Technically, Vanya isn't considered angel enough to be in heaven. Lani was the only one who ever saw her as a sister. I just went along because I love Lani."
Vanya knew it made him sound cold and heartless, but she understood. Angels were like WASPs. They were deeply prejudiced against anything different from them or pure-blood humans. Anything in between was seen as unnatural. Matias didn't hate her, she knew. He always made sure she ate and he would tell a stupid joke to make her laugh if the days dragged on too long. But he didn't love her. Deep down, Vanya knew the only one that did was Lani. But she would never forgive her for what she had done.


Lani bit the inside of her cheek to keep from smiling and shook her head, her expression changed slightly. Her expression was warmer, softer. Her eyebrows weren't drawn together and her mouth wasn't set in a hard line. This foolish demon was the only person in months who had gotten her to relax somewhat. She hoped this reaction wasn't permanent. But she slowly raised her eyes to his face, looking into his eyes. They were the only thing that looked the same as he had before. The corners of her lips pulled up before she forced them to behave.
"Yeah. It's my favorite shade of grey," she said softly, a sarcastic lilt to her voice so he knew she was joking. "You know, apparently there are fifty of them."

(Im coming up with cool things that can happen in this. It wouldnt be for a while i dont think, but i have plans for jackie)

It seems weird for an Angel to have so much frustration and anger in them." Jackie says idly, looking back at the children playing and having fun. "Just a lot different than what I feel, i guess." Maybe he just didnt understand what full angels felt, or perhaps it had something to do with Will taking care of him for as long as he could remember. "Will says i care about everyone. care too much. says its a bad thing. But i dont think so"

Will made a small face, "That joke gets a big thumbs down from me." He says with a small chuckle, before turning back to look in front of him out into the crowds. "At least youre not emotionally dead. I saw that smile," He says, breathing out slowly. "Nice to see every once in a while. everything is so negative around here. Well, except my overly joy filled brother, but ive learned to phase that out.. What are you guys going to do now?" He asks, glancing back again. "We are probably going to leave the city soon. Thinking of going to, i dunno. Tenessee or something."

"Oh, come on. It wasn't so bad," Lani said and bit her lip. She went back to looking away, her cheeks slowly growing pink. "Oh, shut up. You know I - I just... I don't smile much anymore. And if you want... you can come with us. We're staying in this hotel in the city. I warded every flat surface with sigils so it's safe. And in two days, we're picking up an RV. We thought it would be easier if we wanted to get away, you know? You don't have to, I just - I thought... yeah. If you want."
Lani fidgeted with the hem of her shorts, where the cheap lace was starting to separate from the denim. It was easier not to smile when she wasn't looking at him.


"As far as we're concerned, Vanya or you don't have a right to exist. So they want to exterminate you. Demons, on the other hand, want to use your flesh and blood and bone to create a gateway to heaven. Pick your poison. I don't have hatred in me, I have indifference. I've lived far too long to have such an emotion as -" Matias stopped, Lani catching his eye from the window. Although she tried to hide it, he could see she was smiling. It had been so long since she had and he missed that expression on his sister's face. He only wished a demon hadn't been able to put it there.

(( like what? ))

Maybe." Will replied shortly, sinking his hands into his jacket pockets again. That would be something he would have to mull over. They all were being hunted. being together would just mean double the people that were after them. But it also meant they were stronger. How many creatures could stand up to a group of that caliber? "Maybe." he said again, biting his tongue in thought. "Id have to talk to Jack- oh who am i kidding he would go for it immediately. Need to empty out that house we broke into then. I have my stuff there." He rambled on, eventually speaking under his breath as he sort of spoke whatever went through his head. "Anyway. Whatever we decide to do can wait till tomorrow. Im beat." Will reached behind him and cracked the door open, "Jackie, lets head back."

Lani met Matias' eyes through the window and couldn't tell if she had made a mistake. She knew personally, she had. But together, they could be stronger. Vanya could help Jackie read auras and they could practice their abilities together. It would be easier to protect two curious, innocent kids with three people. She just hoped she hadn't made a mistake.
"Will. Wait," she said and wrapped her fingers around his wrist, not touching his skin. She pulled out a pen and wrote the address, hotel floor and room. "If you want to come, come by tomorrow night. We're leaving in the morning to pick up the RV."
Lani could feel Matias watching her but she ignored it. She often ignored him so it wasn't difficult this time.

Will looked over the address and room she had written, nodding once. "Cool. Sounds good. If we are going to come by for Sure, we will be there by 7 tomorrow." He still needed to think about it. He wasn't sure how much tension he could deal with. And being around Matias for long periods of time may not be the best. 

Jackie nodded and said goodbye to all of them before joining Will outside. Will also gave a parting nod before they started walking back to the projects they were holed up in. "Jackie," Will started with a frustrated sigh once they were fat enough from the group. "Why do you have to wander off? You know how much danger we are in."

"Yeah... but I found lani and vanya! Arnt you excited? They are still alive." He said with a proud smile, missing wills point entirely. 

"Yes. I'm excited they are alive. But now we may be in a whole other situation."

The minute Lani was left alone with her siblings, she wished she had gone with Will and Jackie. Matias' stare was ice.
"Why, Lani," he asked, just sounding tired. Lani looked over at Vanya then back to their brother. "I don't know."
She wasn't startled to find that she told the truth. Lani never lied, but she told the truth when it suit her and even then, there was a good chance it would come out wrong. So "I don't know" was her go-to answer for most things.
"Look, I know you trust this demon and his brother, but is this really what's best?"
Lani rubbed at her cheek, not looking at Matias.
"I don't know yet."
Matias sighed and nodded. "Let's just go back, okay? get some sleep."
The two angels and the half-angel made it out of the store alive, purely by stroke of luck. They had been living in the hotel for a month now, for free. Matias was very good at being charming and when an angel charmed a human, they would always obey. Maybe they could teach Vanya how. She was pretty, but not angelic. Matias and Lani were otherworldly, someone others would stop to stare at on the sidewalk. But that was because there wasn't an ounce of human in them. But Vanya could pull off the cheap trick of charming easily if she had any sort of confidence.
Vanya had none. She was a grown woman in the body of a young teen. There was nothing more unfortunate than that, at least not to her. Vanya wished she aged quicker, like Jackie. Instead, it would probably take her another two decades to look sixteen or seventeen. Vanya knew that was too long to wait, but what choice did she have?

Once the brothers made it back to the abandoned house they were currently hiding out in, Will took a glance around the perimeter. Mainly to see if anything had looked like it had been tampered with. After checking everything for 10 minutes will nodded to Jackie and they went inside, closing and latching the door behind them. Home sweet home. 
It was a wreck. Floorbpards were ripped up in some areas, there were holes in the walls all over the place. There was a faint smell of death in the air. This may have been a drug house before. It wouldn't have shocked either of them.  Will collapsed on the pile of blankets he had gathered into a bed like mass on the floor. He glanced over at Jackie who was looking around with a small concerned look on his face. 

"What's up? Everything o-" will started but froze, following Jackie gaze up to the corner of the ceiling across the room. "Jackie. Move very slowly back to me. Now." He spoke in a low voice. On the ceiling was a large creature, with spiderlike legs and stinger tipped tendrils coiled around it's blackened body. It had pincers like a centipede and one large eye on its face. He wasn't sure if it had noticed them or not. It wasn't in a defensive, Or offensive, stance. It was a demon. But not like will. It was a creature, a demon equivalent of something you would find in a cave on earth. These things were usually sent by someone. They weren't very common to be seen on their own.

Lani helped Vanya wash her hair, finding it difficult to do on her own. Vanya's mother used to do it so she never learned. She was a mixed race girl with nappy hair she didn't know what to do with. So Lani, in the same situation, helped her out.
"Thank you for my lamb," Vanya said softly. Lani nodded. "Matias said you used to smile... why don't you smile anymore?"
"Will. I - we just... then I just... couldn't cope. A demon and an angel? Ha! No... even though we joined forces... it would never - we could never stay friends. It was against everything I believed in."
"Why change that now? Feel guilty," Vanya asked.
"Yes. Always. I couldn't even look at his face as we left. I guess I have a weakness for pretty boys with blue eyes," Lani joked. Vanya didn't laugh.
"I will never understand why you betrayed them. They were our friends. They almost died because of you."
"I know."
Lani finished and dropped her hands, starting straight ahead. She had been so stupid, as often was the case with her.

Jackie backed up behind Will slowly, as Will told him to do. "What is that?" Jackie whispered, staring with a little fear in his face. Up until now it was mainly people coming after them. Or what you could call people. Vaugely human looking. Sometimes they were actually humans who were aware of their existence, most of the time it was a hunter of some sort. could have been an angel, vampire, werewolf. This was the first creature that they had come across.

"Demon of some sort. Listen. See this address?" Will asks, showing Jackie the address Lani wrote down for him. "go there. Leave through the window.Quietly."

"What are you going to do?"

"I imagine I'm going to have to kill this thing. Not like I can call the human police. Why are you still here"

Jackie took the hint and left, crawling through the window outside of the creatures view, if it was even awake. Will guessed it had been waiting for them, may have failed asleep in that perch. Will picked up a broken chair leg that was on the ground, sharp on one end. If he could take care of this without phasing out of his human form, it would be amazing. if there is one thing that will attract attention, its a full demon presence in the middle of new york.

Jackie didn't walk to the hotel. Instead, spreading out his wings for the first time in ages, took off in the back of the house, rocketing up fast enough that he was sure humans wouldn't see him. He made it to the hotel in a short amount of time. Landing on the outside patio of the room they were staying in, a few stories up, before knocking on the door, not thinking that they would freak out or anything.

Vanya screamed.
She had kicked Lani out so she could shower and had just walked out in a towel. It wasn't as if she had planned for any boy to be in the room. Even Matias had left to get more ice. Instead of calming Vanya down, Lani rushed over to Jackie, placing her hands on his shoulders. Vanya slowly walked over to the bed and pulled a jacket around her shoulders, her blush visible under her light brown skin. Lani knew this couldn't be good. She was an inch shorter than him so looking into his face was easy. It was also easy to read his fear.
"Jackie, what happened? Stay here with Mat and Vee, okay? The place is heavily warded so you both will be safe while I'm gone. Matias should be back any minute. Where is Will," Lani asked. Vanya sat on the bed, her eyebrows wrinkling.
"Vee, tell Matias what happened. Neither of you are to leave this room, understand? I went through hell and back and I will find you and kick your ass."
Lani put her canvas shoes on and tossed a jacket over her shredded tank top, figuring the fly would be cold.

"He's at this house we were staying in.. like 5 minutes east at full speed. Its in a rundown part of town." Jackie said, stuttering a little bit as Lani practically shoved him inside the hotel room, and trying to think of how to describe the house. "Its one story, lots of graffiti. Blue, i think. boarded up doors and windows. We got there and were about to settle for the night when I saw this... thing." he said, shaking his head, looking between Lani and Vanya. "It was like... a spider-centipede-squid thing the size of an alligator hanging in the corner of the house. Will made me leave and come here."

It was surprisingly difficult to dodge this thing, Will thought, swinging his weapon like a club, even though it was much more suited to stabbing. He had awoken the creature by running up and trying to stab it in its big eye to blind it. unfortunately, it woke up before he stuck it and swiped Will through a wall with one of its tendrils. He was batting away tendrils as it crawled along the wall, making awful clicking and gravely noises.

"Can. you. talk." Will tried, managing to pin a tendril down and stabbing it with his broken chair leg. Sometimes these creatures could. sometimes they couldnt. It was worth a shot. Before he pulled the chair out of the tendril he stabbed, another wrapped itself around his legs, swiping him off his feet, his weapon spinning away across the room

Lani gagged, hand covering her mouth. She hated bugs, absolutely hated them. But she had to help him.
"Both of you, stay here. Do you understand me? You will not leave this room," Lani repeated, squeezing his arms. "Just listen this one time. Matias should be back soon. There's leftover takeout in the fridge. And Vanya? Put some clothes on."
Lani rubbed her eyes, smudging her makeup.
"I can't fly, Jackie. The wings were ripped off my back three years ago... I'm going to have to take a taxi. I'll find it, don't worry."
With that, she ran out and hoped she could get there in time.

Vanya slipped back into the bathroom with her clothes and got dressed, still feeling a bit exposed when she stepped out.
"I... I didn't know you could fly..." Vanya said softly, her hands clasped in front of her on her lap. She could only read auras. She still hadn't learned to fly.

Will was hanging upside down, currently, in the middle of the room with the demon looming above him. "You know if youre going to eat me you could just get on with it." He said through clenched teeth. The tendrils wrapped around his entire body up to his neck, now. At this point he was trying to phase out of his human form, but something was blocking him from doing so. The tendrils, he guessed.

"I cannot eat. Not what i was commanded to do." The creature hissed out. "Told to trap and wait for my masters return."

"Ah so you can talk." Will was looking around trying to find something to help get him out of this. "Thats nice. May i ask who you serve under, then?"

"No."



Jackie sat on one of the beds, obviously a little shaken. He was fidgety, unable to sit still. He looks up at Vanya when she spoke, "Yeah. you cant?" He asks, a puzzled look on his face. "Will and I both can. He's better at it though. We dont fly often. mainly because Will thinks it will attract attention."

"No... I can't. I... Lani's wings were ripped off her back when we returned from hell. They were beautiful. They were shimmery and shone like pearls... they had a gold aura around them. Then the angels tore her wings right off her back and made her watch as they burned... so she can't teach me. And Matias... after having to nurse her back to health after losing her wings... there was blood and soft downy feathers everywhere... he never flew again in solidarity. So my wings are fairly useless," Vanya shrugged, trying to make it seem like it didn't bother her. Flying was such a fundamental angel ability and she couldn't do it.


Lani got there nearly ten minutes after leaving, hands shaking. She could still fight and use her powers but what could she do if she couldn't fly? A huge spider-centipede creature - okay, no. She forced herself to stop thinking about it or she would chicken out. She was supposed to love all of God's creatures but she just couldn't believe that bugs were anything but the work of the devil. She just had to decide which mattered more: her fear of bugs or Will?
"Here. Here! Pull over. Thank you, bye," Lani got out of the taxi without paying and ran into the house, the hair on her arms standing up and her dinner threatening to re-enter the world when she saw the lesser demon. Oh, this was certainly going to be an interesting night.

Its actually not all that hard to learn to fly" Jackie said, looking away and back out the window toward where he flew from, biting his cheek. "Will taught me in like, a month. And that was in secret in Hell. I bet he could teach you pretty quick if we are all teaming up."


"I'll have you know I am an incredibly feared member of the demon lineage." Will said, mainly rambling to keep from wigging out. He couldnt move at all, and was looking around the house from his upside down viewpoint. He spotted movement from the back of the house, shortly realizing it was Lani. He didnt say anything, continuing his improvised speech. "I bet I could be of great service to whoever youre serving."

The demon almost cackled, its pincer mouth clicking. It nudged the tendrils holding Will suspended, causing him to start swinging in a slightly nauseating way. "Feared. Thats why I could trap you with no assistance."

"i didnt think you could do sarcasm. your kind are usually too dumb to form complete sentences. Must be a unique specimen"

Lani forced her dinner back down and pulled out her blade. There was nothing she wanted to do more than run, so she stood there, sword out, shaking. It was even worse than Jackie had said and she just couldn't get herself to move. She needed some kind of provocation to get the courage to do something. But, first, she had to save him and one thing she was good at was being impulsive.
"Will! Watch your head," Lani said, sucked in a deep breath, and swung at the creature's tentacle that was holding onto him. The only problem was that her sword didn't go straight through because her hands were shaking so much. Oh, this was a very bad idea, Lani thought as she was knocked back into the wall by one of it's legs.


"It just... it sucks. I feel like I got the worst protectors. Lani is an angel who can't fly with a fucked-up sense of morality and Matias has too strict morals. They constantly clash and we never get anywhere. Sometimes, I wish Lani had just left me to die. Everyone's life would be easier, you know? What good is an angel who can't do a damn thing? You have an excuse, you're young. But me? No, I don't. This body might be little and young but I've been alive for seventy years longer than you, give or take. And what do I have to show for it? Saving me was a mistake," Vanya sighed and shrugged then turned on the tv, flipping through the same twenty channels until a cartoon caught her eye. Matias walked in, a bucket of ice in one hand and a box of desserts in the other. He took in Jackie, Vanya, but he knew he was missing a sister.
"Wait... where's Lani?"

While the sword didn't go through the tendrils entirely, it did manage to cut enough that, with some effort, Will managed to thrash around enough to get the last few strips of tissue to tear. He braced himself as he fell but still landed on the back of his head with very little to protect himself. The tendrils surrounding him gave slack and he wiggled free, immediately grabbing the sword Lani had dropped. The demon wasjamming it's leg against her chest, keeping her at back as it tried to  get Will again. Will slashed at the leg of the demon holding Lani with an expertly placed swipe, cutting it clean off. Now it was down 1 leg, and most of its tendrils had been cut off in the initial attack by lani. Good turn around. 

Jackie winced a little looking at Matias. "So... long story. Well. No it isn't. Um. When we got back to the warehouse we were at, there was a lesser demon animal thing hanging in the corner like a spider. Will told me to come here.. lani left to go help him.." he said quietly, not knowing how he was going to react. "She told us to stay here with you."

Lani coughed and got back to her feet, wiping the fluid that came out of the creature from her eyes. She could feel the vomit in her throat again, disgust and agitation making her feel like she was going to vibrate out of her body.
"You get the head, I'll keep it's legs occupied," Lani said, her face growing pale as more fluid poured out of the open wounds. Once this was done, she was taking a very long shower.

"Well, at least you two are safe. That's good. Lani is a good fighter. Kind of. It's more like she doesn't know when she's losing so she doesn't quit until she's won. Your brother will be fine. Have you eaten dinner yet," Matias asked, placing the box down. He wasn't pleased, but he knew Lani could be impulsive so he knew there was nothing that could be done.

Right" will called in response, dodging the legs as he made his way closer to the center of the room where the demon was still operating from. Will ran and jumped, using a small table as a boost. He flung himself toward the demon and sunk the blade right in the middle of its face. It sunk just through the middle of the head, killing it instantly. The unfortunately meant the creature fell from its perchat the same time Will fell back to the floor, ending up falling directly on him, knocking him to the ground semi pinned beneath the creatures lifeless body. Will groaned , "even when I win I still lose." He mutters dragging himself out from under the demon. He wiped his face off, getting the blood away from his eyes, then idly pressing on a small wound he received from earlier where the demon tagged him with the claw end of its tentacle, to stop the bleeding. He was breathing slightly heavy from the ordeal, trying to catch his breath. "You alright? You're pale as a ghost. Acting like you've never fought a demon before"


Uhh. Yeah. We ate before we ran into you three at the toy store." Jackie replied, watching them idly. He was semi shocked Matias hadn't reacted a bit more negatively. But he guessed that Matias was used to this sort of thing. He glanced back outside before finally resting his eyes on the tv. Watching the show vanya had on

The minute Lani got sprayed with the creature's internal body fluid, she threw up on the floor. She didn't stop until she was dry heaving, holding her hair out of her face with one hand and holding her stomach with the other.
"Bugs. Slimy. Noooo..." Lani groaned and gagged again at the memory. The colour did not return to her face and she felt shaky. "You better feel grateful. I have a huge fear of bugs that I all but ignored to save your ass."
Lani could feel heat on her skin and looked down. She was starting to smoke as the fluid burned through her skin like acid. For a moment, she had forgotten that the fluids from lesser demons had an acidic affect on angels - another reason to stay away from those bottom-feeders. "Is there a bathroom around here?"


"Okay, good. If either of you want snacks there's some in the box," Matias said before sitting on the couch and pulling out a book he was halfway into. He didn't mind Jackie's presence nor Vanya's and as long as they stayed in the safely warded room, they would be okay. Now, all he had to hope was that Lani and Will came in one piece.

Will pulled the sword out of the demon and set it on the table. The damn thing should be evaporated by morning. Not much clean up should be needed. "I am quite grateful. Only complaint is I didn't get the name of whoever sent it." He muttered and looked back at Lani, wincing as he saw the smoke. "Yeah. I think the shower here worked. It's down the hall to your left. I'll see if Jackie has some spare clothes. Should fit you. I don't think the ones you have now will ever get the blood out." He kicked all the severed parts of the demon over into one like and went to go find Jackies stash of clothes

Lani didn't even bother to get undressed, just turned on the hot water and sat under it. She ignored the pain mostly because it was inconvenient. She just wanted to scrub at every inch of skin on her body but knew that would only result in scarring because of the demon's slime. The short fight played in her head over and over until tears welled up in her eyes and slid down her face. It was indistinguishable from the shower water.
She slowly stripped down from her clothes because the demon's slime wasn't coming out and it just continued to burn her skin so she stayed in a bra and underwear. The clothes sat in a pile in the corner of the shower, Lani's back to them. Although she had helped Will, nothing could make up for what she had done.

Will had found a shirt and a pair of jeans that would probably suffice for her to wear. Probably be too big, but that's better than slime covered. He waited out in the even more wrecked living room for a good half hour. After that he bit his lip and walked to the door of the bathroom, well if there was a door he would have. He knocked on the door frame gently. "Lani. You ok?" He asked, not looking inside respectfully. "I found some clothes you can wear for when we go back to the hotel."

Lani laughed a bit and shook her head a little.
"Leave it to a demon to be more respectful of boundaries than angels. It's okay to come in, Will. Back in heaven, women trained alongside men. There wasn't a lot of opportunity for maidenly blushing," Lani said, her voice shaky from held-back tears. She had never fought anything bug-like before being that she always tried to avoid it. She guessed her cowardice finally caught up to her.