Chapter 4

I woke with a start to being rocked violently and the sound of gunfire. Springing up I saw a hoard of Nephilim above us, surrounding us. I had never seen so many at once. Liam and Jason were already up, Liam's katana currently removing a head from the body of one Nephilim, Jason's guns blazing, hitting their mark each time. Todd was standing on top of the truck, his sickles already slick with blood; Devon behind him picking off the ones further out one by one. Fucking hell, no wonder I had a bad feeling. Their wings pounded, sending a thrumming throbbing into my head, I reached behind me to pull out my scythe. It felt alive in my hand, tingling with actual energy, light as a feather and deadly. The cool metal warmed in my hand as I leapt to stand next to Todd, our weapons glinting in the light.

    "How long?" I asked, my back against his.

    "Only a few minutes" he grunted, blocking an attack "they all came at once." Devon fired a shot and I felt the air move as the bullet whizzed by my head. In the distance I saw a Nephilim fall, his shot hitting the mark. Yet for every single one we killed there seemed to be five more, just where were they coming from?

    "Is this it?!" I yelled back to Liam, "you think these fuckers are the nest?!" He swung his katana, efficiently chopping off a wing, blood sprayed his face.

    "Has to be!" He shouted back, jumping in front of Jason. Jason aimed his pistols over Liam's shoulders and continued shooting as Liam tried to cut a path through the Nephilim. Their voices shrill in my ears, and the throbbing of their wings; it seemed so much worse than normal. Usually we had a small headache, their voices half angelic half human only bothered us a little bit; but this was on a different scale. If I was being honest with myself it wasn't looking good for us, we were going to tire sooner or later despite being in great shape, and it didn't seem like the onslaught was going to stop ever. 

    Then I saw it. And I say it because I couldn't tell if it was male or female. A Watcher angel. I pulled down my goggles and saw the rest of the team do the same. We had no idea which Watcher we were dealing with and it was best to be prepared. In my ten years as a Hunter I had only ever encountered two Watchers, and it was from a distance; this one however was closing in on us rapidly. My head began to pound and my movement felt slower, a normal reaction to being in the presence of divinity, even though they were fallen. I quickened my pace, and let out a grunt and my sickle connected with the skull of a Nephilim. It burst open like an egg and sprayed my face with the dark crimson ooze. Todd and Devon moved to the ground, Jason, Liam and I followed, making a circle facing outward. Weapons in hand we knew we would have to stand our ground here, or be taken. I heard Jason curse and reload his guns, taking the ones closer out while Devon continued to pick off the ones further out. Leaving the immediate threats to Liam, Todd and I. The Watcher came closer, its long golden locks flowing, long around its lithe body; wings outspread. The wings were a sight to behold, while the Nephilim's wings were dark, the Watchers were the purest white, in perfect symmetry with each other. I couldn't make out its face, the radiance of its skin muddling my vision even with my goggles. 

    "Earplugs NOW!" I heard Todd yell above the mayhem. I groped for mine and shoved them in, the noise levels immediately becoming manageable, I saw a look of horror cross Jason's face as he turned to me. The Watcher screamed and then I did as I saw Jason fall to his knees; clearly affected by the angelic burst. A trickle of blood trailed out of his ear, I grabbed Liam whose eyes went wide. Where were Jason's earplugs? I knelt down and grabbed his face, locking eyes with him. He just shook his head and smiled, opening his vest pocket and I saw it was empty. Where the fuck were they? He shook his head, clearly as dumbfounded as us. His pupils were blown, no doubt the effect of the scream, his blue eyes had become glazed over. I felt my throat get tight. NO! Liam's face was drawn, sadness in his eyes. We pushed Jason to the center of the circle, Todd looked back to see what was happening then his eyes went wide as he took it in. No questions asked, we just needed to protect him and get out of here. We needed to get back, now. He nudged Devon who quickly took in the urgency, and he began targeting the approaching Watcher. Even as his shots were hitting the mark they were not doing any damage or slowing it down, it was almost as if the bullets ricocheted off the angel. Fuck, we had to get out of here now, this was going to get dangerous. I saw Todd lean in and sling Jason's arm around him, lifting him. We closed the circle tighter and started to make our way toward the truck as quickly as possible, only defending when necessary. The sooner we got out of here the better, each scream reverberated through my head, I could only imagine what Jason was feeling. Both of his ears had blood coming from them, as well as his eyes, which were glazed over and completely white. He already wasn't long for this world and if we didn't leave soon he wouldn't make it. He never left his gear, what had happened?!

    Finally we got to the truck, Todd started it up while the rest of us continued to fight off the flurry of wings. The Watcher angel was on us now, its attention laser focused on the truck. Yet it didn't get any closer, hovering right above us. Then instinctively I knew, it wasn't attacking, it was sizing us up. It opened its mouth and another scream roared from its angelic throat; the sound deafening even with earplugs. Jason tried to move his hands to his ears, but the scream had rendered us motionless. The Watcher came closer; then grasping Jason with both hands lowered him to the ground. Almost lovingly he cradled his body, letting it slowly slide from his hands; Jason unable to function anymore lay there hardly moving. His eyes were glassy and white, blood trickling further and further from his ears, I felt tears sting my eyes; no this can't be happening. 

   I couldn't move, couldn't even make a noise. A name burst into my head, Kokabiel.

            Fuck.