Chapter One: The Thorns

I became conscious in a burned down bedroom. Poppy and Tom stood center room with their backs to me. I pushed up off the floor and gathered my bearings.

They looked like their normal human selves. Poppy was as tall as my chest, with tanned skin and long dark black hair. Tom was slightly taller than me with pasty skin, glasses, and a lanky frame. I stood at 5'6, with my light brown skin and long black hair.

The last time I had seen my hair there was blood in it. Blood from the fight with my stepfather. It was good to know you came into this world healed.

We all wore the same black t-shirt, pants, and heavy-duty boots.

There were drawers spread out around the room. A bed had been placed in the corner, and a desk rested close to it. The room had an en-suite, of which the top half of the door had broken away while the bottom half remained soot stricken. Despite all of this ruin, the sky shone a crystal clear blue above us, through where the roof used to be.

“Hold it, we’ve got freshies!” a voice shouted.

Goosebumps spread across the back of my arms as I turned toward the noise.

Half a dozen men and woman with guns made their way upstairs and into the room. Their weapons were all matte black, varying in design and the odd splash of colour.

A man with white armour and a pair of black angel wings pointed his gun at us. It took me a second to register that the wings were very real. They were folded against his back and made from black feathers, much like those in the flashback the Imp had shown us.

The more I looked, the harder it was to process that a human could have wings.

He stood a head taller than Tom and his gun stretched half the length of his body. It looked like a sniper rifle –from the ones I had seen in real life. At this range, he could blow through all three of us with one shot.

“Check that they’re thorns, Dux.”

A woman pushed past the other people in the hallway. She wore a black armoured suit similar to the man’s. It reminded me of Kevlar. Her long blonde hair hung past her shoulders and over the sword strapped to her back. The sword dwarfed the length of her body, which begged the question of how she used it, let alone carried it.

Unlike the man, she had no wings.

I held my hands up in defense. Dux grabbed me around the neck and pushed toward the floor. I shut my eyes, expecting her to jam that sword into my spine.

Instead, she touched the area below each shoulder blade. There were knobs in my flesh. Bulges I hadn’t noticed before.

“This one is.”

She moved to Tom, who let her carry out the search without a fuss. "Him too."

When Dux grabbed Poppy, the small girl put up a fight.

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Poppy kicked at her shins and called her a long list of names that any normal twelve-year-old didn't say around adults.

“We’ve got ourselves a rug rat,” the man with the gun said.

The group of people chuckled. Dux clucked her tongue like a mother hen. She scooped Poppy under her arm and checked the spots on her back.

“Unfortunately, this one is one of us too.”

The man grinned. “Welcome to Hell, freshies. The current version of it at least. You would’ve seen the fucked up Heaven above. This world – the real hell – is in the same state. I'm Tag, your thorn leader.

“You, that is to say, each one of you losers, are our latest additions. Your thorns will eventually sprout into black wings --if you survive long enough."

There were snickers from the rest of the group.

"I can’t say that I’m impressed with you lot. But we can only hope the Angels got someone with a finger twitch or a missing leg.”

A sound like a jet plane passing by filled the sky.

The man’s smile dropped and his eyes filled with fear. “First floor, now! Fast!”

I glanced at the sky, but whatever made the noise was still a distance away. There was a moment then, much like watching sharks running away from some greater predator.

Whatever came toward us, it was dangerous.

“Let’s go,” I told the group, grabbing Poppy.

“They’re all assholes,” she said.

“You got it.” I held her hand. “But for now, they’re on our side.”

Tag shoved us toward the steps before following.

Tom raced ahead with the group. We trailed down cement steps and to the first floor.

The group crouched behind walls and hid in cupboards. They held their guns close, fingers on the trigger. The jet sound grew louder.

“Everyone down, now!” Tag screamed.

I pulled Poppy with me and we ducked behind the steps just in time.

Whatever the thing was, it slammed onto the outside street. The ground shook. Bits of dust drifted from the ceiling, twirling through the air.

The drone of a machine powering down, made Poppy's shouts sound like whispers. I could read her lips. The sound hurt her ears. It hurt mine too, making the insides of my head sound like a windy tunnel.

Poppy already had her hands over her ears. I added mine on top of hers. She looked at me wide-eyed. I pressed a finger to my lips. The overpowering noise stopped.

Each footstep shook the house. It sounded like a giant robot stomping across the concrete. It made my body shake as it walked.

Someone smarter than me wouldn’t have chanced a look. But I had to. There’s terror in dealing with the unknown.

I pressed my cheek against the side of the steps and crept forward. Dux shook her head from the opposite end of the hall.

She couldn’t stop me. That would risk the attention of the creature.

The bottom of the third step had been chipped away, creating a peephole. I pushed my eye to it and looked at the street.

The creature stood taller than the tallest man. Its body and face were human and it had long golden brown hair. The armour looked just like Tag’s and Dux’s, only it was golden. The creature wore metal boots and gloves that matched and had a helmet with a turquoise transparent visor.

Two white wings made of feathers protruded from its back, stretching far behind. Below the wings, thrusters were built into the armour. Smoke drifted from them as the jets cooled.

The creature flapped its wings, creating a gust. It drew the handle of a sword from its hip. The sword handle beamed into a golden laser blade. Something like that could cleave through a bus, let alone a person.

I pulled back, my heart racing. It was some kind of fighter angel, there was no doubt about it. It looked like an upgraded version of the angels in the flashback.

It gave a long sigh and then sniffed the air. I held my breath. A few members of the group closed their eyes.

Poppy pressed her head against my chest. I wrapped an arm around her and waited the moment out.

We might have sat there for a few minutes or an hour. Eventually, the angel flapped its wings. Thrusters buzzed to life and a whoosh of air rushed through the house. It blew wood from parts of the structure, sending pieces bouncing across the floor.

The noise died down as the angel flew away. Judging by the faces of the crew, we were lucky to have gotten away with our lives.