Victor brushed the blades of grass and chunks of soil off his jeans. He tried to catch his breath, but his shoulders tensed at the sight of the whistle hanging from Mrs. Kahale's neck. "I'm gonna break that whistle one of these days!"

Mrs. Kahale lowered her sunglasses, revealing her coffee-colored eyes. The whistle attached to her string necklace swung from side to side. "You'll have to rip it from my cold dead hands."

Victor's training went from a moderately strenuous exercise in restraint, to an all-encompassing obsession. That dummy's face was all he thought about at school. It got so bad that Summer caught him drawing sketches of it in one of his textbooks.

That drive rubbed off on Mrs. Kahale—her interest level increasing exponentially as each day passed. So much so that she was spending a Sunday afternoon intently watching a teenager punch a man made of rubber.

Victor rested his eyes on the crumpled piece of paper attached to the dummy's head. He would occasionally imagine it as the face of the demon he encountered at the sanatorium. I choked, he thought as he visualized the demon's lanky build. That's never happening again.

Victor would recall Summer's words at the hospital, soothing him if any sense of ineptitude crept up, but the feelings never truly went away.

His peripheral vision caught Mrs. Kahale raising the whistle to her lips. Its airy, high-pitched blare heightening his focus as he entered his angel mode. It only took him nine seconds. A new record. The drawing's red eyes grew larger as he sprinted toward the dummy. The 'light' punch he threw made it tip over.

Damn it.

"Hold it," Mrs. Kahale said, staring at the timer on her phone. Victor focused on his breath for what felt like centuries, but eventually, the added physical and spiritual weight piled on, signaling that he was back to normal. A brief moment of sluggishness had replaced the exhaustion he used to feel after exiting his angel mode. "Ten seconds," she said.

"Damn it!" he yelled.

"You've been going at this nonstop. Maybe you need a break."

"I've been getting lucky with these one-on-one fights. I can't keep getting kicked out of my angel mode after one punch. No breaks. Let's go at it again."

Mrs. Kahale placed her hands on her knees. "Okay, how about I take a break then?" Sweat droplets dotted her face and arms.

"I'm sorry. Please rest for as long as you need."

She took a gulp of water from her thermos. "You really go all out, huh?"

"My dad prepared me for this."

"I wasn't in the military, so I'll never be able to ride you that hard."

"You could have fooled me. You'd whip any cadet into shape." Victor collapsed onto the grass and stared at the base of the dummy. "Thanks," he added.

"For what?"

"You paid for this dummy out of your own pocket, and you've been here every day helping me. Not to mention the damage I did to your picket fence and flowers."

"You did most of the work. Besides, we can't just sit around and let these demons harm innocent people. You might be our best shot at getting this situation under control. Unless you can point me to another nephilim."

"A nef..."

"That's what they called human-angel hybrids in the Old Testament."

"I think we can come up with a better name than that."

"Okay, Victor the demon slayer." Mrs. Kahale lifted the thermos to her lips.

"Summer told you about that?"

She slammed the thermos down on the table. "Break time is over!"

"Yes, sir!"

***

"Can I open my eyes now?" Connor asked while using his hand as a blindfold.

"Not yet," Summer said. Connor peaked through an opening between his fingers, seeing only her thigh. "Okay, open!"

Connor opened his eyes to the sight of an enormous neon-green water tank. Summer's right hand was wrapped around the light-blue grip, and her left hand was cupping the plastic forestock. A wide black strap was draped across her shoulder.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

"Tada!" she exclaimed.

"What in the world is that thing?"

"My granny broke my last water gun, so I purchased a little upgrade. It came in the mail yesterday. What do you think?"

Connor desperately wanted to question the practicality of lugging around such a large weapon. He wanted to ask her why she spent so much money on something that ridiculous. But most importantly, he wanted to know why she went with such a hideous combination of colors. He looked into her eyes and forced a smile. "It's perfect."

"I love it too! I wish they had some different color choices, though."

"I actually really like the colors." He closely inspected the gun. His fingers brushed across the barrel until his hand eventually met with hers.

The softness of her lips melted him as he went in for a kiss; two cherry-flavored feather pillows resting on a silky-smooth surface. She wore the mango perfume that day, his favorite.

He pulled back and removed the gun from her torso, gently placing it on the floor before continuing their make-out session. He glanced at the nearby bed, guiding her toward it, but he was met with resistance.

"I know what you're doing," she said, her arms wrapped around his shoulders.

"What do you mean?"

"Connor, it's not that I don't want to, it's just..."

"What?"

"My granny is right there. It would feel weird. Besides, I want our first time to be special, which means no interruptions."

Her reasoning hit Connor like a spiked bat. Every time he entered her room and closed the door, it felt like they were the only two people on earth. He couldn't believe that he had to be reminded of her grandmother's existence. "Of course. I keep forgetting."

"How could you possibly forget?"

"It's just... when we're together, everything else ceases to exist." Connor immediately cringed. He did not know why he said that out loud.

Summer stared at him blankly for a moment before letting out a cackle. "I can't believe you actually said that." She used a finger to wipe a tear from her eye.

"I can't believe it either," he mumbled.

"I really didn't mean to laugh at you like that. I used to daydream about my future boyfriend feeding me poetic lines. But now that I'm hearing it in real life—"

"I get it."

Summer pouted and gave him a peck on the cheek. "My granny thinks you're whipped."

"Wha—I don't even—"

"Don't worry. I confessed to her that I'm the whipped one."

Any embarrassment Connor felt abruptly dissolved. "Wait, did you just call me your boyfriend?"

"Am I wrong?"

"Boyfriend is a strong word. We're more like friends with benefits." He flashed an impish grin, but it disappeared just as quickly as it came when he saw Summer's dark face, still as a rock. "Summer, I was joking."

Summer's stone face crumbled as she started giggling. "Connor, you're making this too easy."

"And you're getting way too good at that."

Summer stuck her tongue out. "Hey, wanna see something?"

"Sure. But before that, let me just say that you are a terrible instructor. Every time I tell myself I'm going to meditate, you distract me."

"You're the one that jumps on me the minute we enter my room."

"Let's not act like I'm the only one that does the jumping. Anyway, you were gonna show me something?"

"Oh yeah, check this out." Summer leapt into a fighting stance. "Mr. Au just taught me this, so the form might be a little off." She sharply exhaled before delivering a picture perfect roundhouse kick.

Connor was about to rain her with praise, but her leg buckled and she fell onto a floor pillow.

He used a hand to cover his mouth, holding in a smile. "Are you okay?"

Summer began laughing uncontrollably, prompting Connor to collapse onto the ground next to her, cackling until he was nearly out of breath.

"Hey, Connor," she said after recovering from their laughing fit.

"Yeah?"

"I can see your wings."

"And I see—"

Summer shut her eyes, her body going limp. Connor called her name, but he got no response. His heart raced as he lightly nudged her.

Shit, a vision.

***

"Need another break, granny?" Victor asked.

Mrs. Kahale used a handkerchief to wipe the sweat from her forehead. "Not this time. And that's Mrs. Kahale to you, nephilim."

Victor laughed while turning his attention back to the dummy. "You ready?"

She set the handkerchief down on the table and placed the whistle between her lips. Eight seconds after the whistle's blare, he was back in his angel mode. He leapt at the dummy and tapped it again, causing it to wobble back and forth until it eventually stood upright.

Mrs. Kahale shrieked. Victor was startled by the sudden noise, but he quickly recovered. In his excitement, he sprinted to the old woman, picking her up and spinning her around.

"Victor! Put me down!"

He came to an abrupt stop and then placed her back down. "Oh my god, Mrs. Kahale. I'm so sorry, I jus—"

"You did it!"

"We did it! Alright, let's go again."

"You can punch that stupid thing all day, but I'm going back inside and taking a bath."

Victor checked the time on his phone. "Wow, when did we start again?"

"Four hours. We've been out here for four freaking hours."

"How about we take a five-minute break and then get back to it?" Mrs. Kahale stared at him with squinted eyes. Victor grinned back at her. "Okay, ten minutes?"

The patio doors violently swung open and Summer charged toward them. A large and plastic contraption was in her hand. "V, I got another vision. I let your dad know and he's on his way right now. Do you need any holy water?"

Victor dug into his pocket and presented a small plastic bottle. "No, I—"

"Perfect!"

"Summer, slow down," Mrs. Kahale said.

"Granny, he's terrified, and he needs our help."

"What did you see exactly?"

"He's hiding under the bridge at SooHoo park. The boy looked young."

"It's a kid this time?" Victor seethed.

Mrs. Kahale crossed her arms. "Is he alone?"

"Looks like it," Summer said.

"What else did you see?" Victor asked.

"I could see some sunlight, but he was hiding in the shadows. And he was wearing a backpack." Connor appeared right behind her.

"Is my dad here?" Victor asked.

"Not yet." Connor reached into his pocket and pulled out a bottle of holy water. "Need me to grab you a bottle?"

"I'm good." Victor placed a hand on Mrs. Kahale's shoulder. "Wanna come with us? I doubt I could convince you not to come if you wanted to, so I might as well ask."

"Thanks for the invitation, but I'll pass." She reached both of her arms out and gave Victor a tight hug. "Please be careful. We're not done training yet."

"Get ready, because when I get back, we're gonna go even harder."