As Alicia made her way up the narrow flight of stairs, she drew out her great-sword from the holster across her back though she had to bend over to make space to manoeuvre it. Sometimes angels would draw her kind into enclosed places such as a house or a tunnel where it would be difficult to fight back properly with their primary weapon. But Alicia wasn't afraid. Fighting in an enclosed space was something she had gotten used to, and had secretly hoped that perhaps she would meet a real challenge that would best her in combat.

When she reached the top level Alicia saw a small hallway which had two bedrooms as well as what appeared to be a study. She searched the closest room to her right and saw nothing out of the ordinary. It appeared to be the room of the parents with a queen sized bed in the center as well as olden style wooden furniture placed against the walls. Sensing nothing here, she moved on to the next room which seemed to be the kids room and instantly she felt something was not right. There were three beds despite there only being two children at the dinner table downstairs. A tingle ran down her spine as she felt the presence of an angel. She focused upon a clothing cupboard against the far end of the wall, and tightened the grip of her weapon as she steadily approached it.

Alicia slowly opened the cupboard door and noticed a little girl cowering against the corner with her legs and arms inwards in a fetal position. She shook like she had just emerged out from an icy bath, even though she was incredibly dirty and full of blood. The girl's aura was one of an angel, and she also smelt like one too, but Alicia could never be quite certain, at least from a distance.

"Look into my eyes." Alicia said.

The girl took her time to comply, and when she did, Alicia noticed a pair of ordinary looking hazel eyes that were full of terror and trepidation. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, until she dared to look closer and noticed the signs of what she feared. Realising it had been discovered, the angel morphed out of its human disguise and began to transform into its true form. The bones under its skin twisted and bent in inhumane ways which would make most people sick to their stomaches. The horrid sound of bone snapping combined with the ungodly screams during the transformation made her cringe as it always did. Its body grew in size to about seven feet tall, bending over to its head wouldn't hit the ceiling. Its skin changed to a smooth light grey and across its head there were large twisted horns like that or a ram. Its face was resembled that of a nightmare and resembled some sort of demon with wide amber eyes and a set of teeth that were as sharp as a sharks.

Not willing to waste any time, Alicia attempted to end the fight before the creature fully completed its transformation but the moment she swung her sword, she miscalculated the space around her and accidentally got the tip of the sword stuck in the wood of the roof. She panicked, but luckily for her, the angel didn't decide to attack her, instead it ran away with blinding speed out the room and down the set of stairs no to escape her.

Damn…

Again the same mistake…

Alicia pulled the sword out of the room and ran in pursuit after it. The moment she went down the stairs she noticed the family pleading with her not to chase it but she ignored them knowing full well the angel had them fooled. Sometimes it was difficult for people to believe a loved one was gone, and the smarter angels often played on these insecurities to convince these humans to take care of them as if nothing had even changed. Alicia feared that was what happened here. It was tragic, but it was nothing really new, and she had to deal with it.

She chased the angel through and out of the town, until they were both deep into the wilderness, pushing away tree branches and almost tripping on the vegetation that came across them. Eventually the angel decided to stop running and face her, and when it tried to attack her with a swipe of its razor sharp claws, Alicia dodged and counterattacked by cutting off its arm in its entirely. A torrent of purple blood came out of the wound like a fountain, pronging a high pitch screech of pain from the angel. It staggered backwards and attempted for a second time to run away knowing it was clearly outmatched.

Alicia chased it down a valley where there was a small, clean river that flowed amongst rock pebbles. There was a child there, a boy, playing obliviously with the stones. He didn't even realise the danger coming his way as the angel approached him rapidly. Alicia feared the worst but she was not fast enough to get to him before the angel did. The boy screamed in panic as the angel grabbed him and held him in front it as a hostage while placing its claws over his neck in a threatening manner while staring at her with crazy eyes.

"Put the weapon down, or the boy dies!" The angel said in its ghastly, hollowed out voice.

Alicia did as the creature ordered, stopping only a few meters in front of them, pondering exactly what she should do in such a situation. Hostage situations were incredibly difficult to handle because she did actually care about the lives of the innocent but not so much as to sacrifice her own life for someone she didn't really know.

"Don't listen! kill it. kill it now!" The boy yelled bravely, struggling under its grip.

Alicia guessed he was around fourteen years old. He was crying and yet he still put on a brave face, or at least as brave as possible for someone of his age. The angel drooled across his face as it smiled in an evil manner, exposing its sharp teeth at both him and a wary Alicia.

Normally Alicia wouldn't have complied with such a demand but this time she felt she had to. There was something about the boy and the way he was staring at her worriedly that made her feel compelled to do all that she could, including laying down her own arms to save him. His bravery inspired her, and so after thinking about it for a short while, she decided to take the risk and throw her sword away uncertain exactly what would happen next, whether the angel would run or attack her.

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With her disarmed, the angel chose the latter and let go of the boy to charge towards her and tackle her violently to the ground. Alicia couldn't stop it, and neither could she avoid receiving a massive cut to the side of her face as she struggled to protect herself against its razor sharp claws. The angel only had one arm, but already the other had began to grow back at an alarming rate. Alicia tried to to push the angel off her but her attempts were futile. The angel was just a little stronger than her but it was more than enough to pin her down, especially after being in such a dominant position itself.

Unable Alicia pulled out her knife across from her belt and used it to fight back. Even without her great-sword, she was quite formidable with the smaller weapon as well, and in the ensuing struggle she managed to stab the knife deep into the angel's arm, providing her a window to escape the ground. She rolled away and got to her feet, but as soon as she did that the angel managed to take her down yet again by tripping her legs with a low kick with its own slim ones. It bit into her arm and forced her to let go of the knife which was tossed away to the side.

The angel used its superior weight to once again pin Alicia down against the ground. By now its severed arm had grown back completely and she used it and the other undamaged one to hold down Alicia's arms just above her head, laughed at her mockingly through its teeth.

"You're not so tough after all, woman. I wonder if you like angel cock? I'm going to rip you apart from the inside. Keep fighting, I like it when they fight." The angel laughed in its sickly voice as it licked the side of Alicia's face in a, creepy lustrous manner.

Her anger and frustration grew but the more she struggled the more she came to the realisation that there was no escaping its grip. It was stronger than her and she was completely at the angel's mercy.

Just as she was about to give up hope, something hit the angel against the head with a clonk. Alicia looked to the side of them and noticed the boy holding a big stick he used to wack the angel with. He hit the angel so hard it actually began to bleed, which was impressive considering the boy was so young but still packed quite the punch. The angel tried to ignore him but after falling victim to a series of further strikes from the boy, it was forced to use its arm to defend itself which gave Alicia a chance to fight back. With an arm free she punched the angel hard in the abdomen which caused it to wince a little and weaken its grip of her further, giving her the opportunity to escape entirely from her submissive position against the ground.

She got to her feet a second time and attempted to run for her sword but couldn't quite do so when the angel grabbed her by the ankle to prevent her from moving off. In her desperation she tried to kick it away, and as she struggled she was surprised to see the boy continuing to assisted her by bashing the angel with the stick over and over again which eventually helped loosen the its powerful grip so she could finally reach and grab for her great-sword. The angel realised it was in trouble and once again attempted to use the boy as a hostage once more but this time Alicia was faster. She removed the arm that had just regenerated as it was about to reach for the boy, and as it screamed in pain she took another swing and removed the other arm in an instant.

The angel, now armless, took cautious steps backwards as it bled furiously from both sides. It hissed at her like a cornered cat as its bulging amber eyes shimmered across her with a new sense of fear. In its last foolhardy attempt to live, the angel attempted sympathy as it transformed itself back into form of the young human girl like it was back at the house.

The image instantly struck the boy who seemed recognised her. He dropped the stick in his shock.

"Charlotte?" The boy said shakily.

"Sam, help me. She's gonna kill me!" The angel said.

"You're...not her…you only look like her..." The boy said. He then looked over sadly at Alicia. The both of them knew what had to be done.

"No! please, someone save me! I don't want to die? Where's mommy? Where's daddy? You won't kill a child will you? You can't be that heartless."

Alicia walked up to the angel, paying no attention to the fact that it now began to cry for extra sympathy points. It was a difficult thing to kill something that looked like a child, but Alicia knew that emotions only got in the way of her mission, and so she did the only thing she could. She raised her blade and then swung it sideways to cut the head of the angel without a second thought. The headless body instantly collapsed to the ground, and the moment it did, it instantly morphed back into its original slimey grey monstrous form.

Alicia let out a sigh of victory. She was happy she completed the mission and did so without having any civilian casualties. That was always a plus to her, not necessarily for the organisation but for her it was a moral victory. She noticed the boy next to her break down as he fell to his knees from the shock of what he had just witnessed. The both of them stared at the dead angel that lay decapitated against the river before them, the blood being swept away by the gentle currents. The place was peaceful again and a butterfly or two flew in the vicinity around them as if nature itself was completely oblivious to the previous chaos.

Alicia wanted to, but knew she shouldn't say anything to the boy. It was the organisations policy never to interfere in the affairs of humans unless it was to kill an angel on their behalf. Nothing good can come it it. She wasn't here to make friends after all. She found her dagger amongst the rocks and put it back across her belt. She then washed her blooded sword word in the river she then sheathed it across her back.

She sighed one last time as she began to walk away to return her journey back to headquarters. But she noticed she wasn't alone. The boy had stopped his mourning, pulled himself to his feet and decided to follow her like a duckling follows its mother. Annoyed, she turned around to address him.

"Thanks for your help, but don't follow me." she said in an emotionless manner, her head slightly lowered as to not even look at him.

"But I have no where to go. My family is gone. Charlotte was my best friend, I had no idea she was an angel." The boy said.

"I'm sorry, but that's not my problem."

"...You...You saved my life." He said.

Alicia said nothing. She surprised herself when she sent a half smile his way before turning around to leave once more. As she suspected the boy didn't listen and continued to follow her, but didn't make a big fuss out it it. She figured he would eventually stop following her when she would get further enough from the town. After all, the boy wasn't her problem and she sure as hell didn't want him to be one either.