Late autumn cold fronts tore through the city of Houston at an alarming speed. The deluge seemed to come down in buckets. The empty midnight streets were reflective wet and aglow with the street lights and traffic signals.
Madeleine padded up and down the street, pacing and soaked to the point her clothes adhered to her skin. The chestnut colored tendrils of her hair clung to the side of her pale cheeks. Her lips void of color from the cold now.
Reclining back on the wall nearby, Dee held a droopy rain soaked cigarette in her mouth. Her hair had curled from the moisture. The maroon dress clung to her pale skin and was slightly illuminated by the lights.
For all that had happened in the past day the duo was finally back in their hometown. Only a few blocks from where they stood was the loft that they called home and all of the places that they loved to eat, the places where they shopped were right around here.
Upon getting back into the city they’d told Brandon to meet up with them—they’d needed to tell him some of the things they’d come across. They more than anything wanted him to know what they faced.
Dee spoke as Madeleine passed close to her, “Time like this Mom always told me to pray—God hears all prayers…”
“Do you think that’s any less true when we can just talk to him face to face?” Madeleine said.
“I never doubt that he loves us,” Dee started, “But he’ll only give us the strength to float on through this, and I don’t know if any amount of strength can prepare us for—everything.”
Madeleine folded her arms across her chest, trying to fight back some of the rain, “It feels like the weight of the world is on our backs and we’re on the eve of something too big for us.”
“I don’t think I ever told you,” Dee started, “When I was in North Carolina a while back I saw the Child.”
“What?” Madeleine froze in her tracks, “Why didn’t you say.”
“I kind of wrote it off as me hallucinating,” Dee paused now, “But if she’s really involved in this—we’re in trouble.”
Madeleine rolled her eyes, “Yeah—trouble with a capital P,” she paused, “Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten the prophecies.”
“I’d rather forget them,” Dee said. “But one thing is for sure, we need to find this Charon bastard and off him before he gets any more power.”
“It’s going to be best if we just sneak up and do it assassination style,” Madeleine said.
Dee just stared at her, “Sounds a little bit gritty for your tastes…”
Madeleine sighed, “The times dictate such action.”
Down the street there was a slight splash and Dee looked up. Over the sounds of the pouring rain and the running water down the gutter this small sound stood out. Dee stepped off from the wall and glared down the empty road, “Brandon?”
From what she could see there was nothing of interest down the road. The water poured down into the street from off of the curb and there was splashing all around. Naturally she wrote off what she heard as some of that.
Madeleine looked back, “Something the matter?”
Something skirted across the water, just in the corner of Dee’s eye. She whipped her head around to see it and felt someone grab her by the shoulder and shove her back sharply. Dee’s glance shot up and she spotted Madeleine shoving her back as a long metallic flash cut between them.
When finally she stumbled back Dee stared at Madeleine. Only a few feet back with the rain water pouring over her body, dragging the blood out of the shoulder wound she’d received, Madeleine stood clutching her arm.
In between them a sword had been dug into the pavement, rain coursing down its shimmering blade. Gripped tightly around the hilt of the blade was a muscular hand with an arm to match. A man with a long brimmed hat held the sword there, his white blonde hair drenched and hanging around his face.
A devilish smirk spread across the mysterious man’s pale lips. A lightening flicker caught his pale blue eyes as he began to speak, “At last…we meet face to face.”
Madeleine winced, “Why are you doing this?”
“I think you both know,” his voice was soft, almost none threatening, “Dee, we’ve even met before—although you might have been unconscious.”
Dee stepped back a little, “How do you know my name?”
“You really don’t remember,” his tone was nonchalant as ripped his sword from the concrete, “North Carolina—the dragon, any of it?”
Dee’s eyes went wide with shock, “You’re…”
“Charon—but you two have been doing your research on me, haven’t you?”
Madeleine let her shoulder go and checked the wound, the blood still poured down her arm, “You—bastard.”
“Do you think me cruel?” Charon said as he slung the sword back over his shoulder. The shadows seemed to follow him, his face was almost always darkened out. “This isn’t me in cruelness—no—this is me indifferent. Indifferent to those who are below a rising god such as myself.”
In a sudden surge of energy Madeleine rushed, “Even a god can be killed on this plain—as someone once proved!” She twirled a knife out into her hand and came in for the attack.
Before she could even reach him he retaliated with two small throwing knives flung at her, the one nearest her chest was deflected off by the quick moving wall of rock that she summoned up, but the one near her neck was just fast enough to jab into her.
When Madeleine reached him she grabbed him by the neck and kicked her feet up into his chest flipping off him and trying to force him back. Without missing a step Charon kicked Madeleine in the center of her back sending her careening over the ground and rolling into a puddle.
Dee darted in behind throwing a hard punch only to have a it dodged. Charon spun to face her and when she punched again he caught her arm and dragged her in, jabbing out at her with a knife. In a fleeting moment Dee kicked off the wall and broke his grasp only to roll out into the street, her hair matted down with water and trash.
Her purple eyes flashed with fright as he dove for her, sword in hand. She pounced up into the air bringing her wings out to take flight. It was pretty taboo to reveal one’s wings at ground level but she had no choice.
Madeleine was up again slinging the knife from her upper chest and dashing at Charon to catch him off guard. She slammed into him full force tumbling over the flooded streets like a rock over a ponds surface. His hat slide across the water and he and Madeleine grappled and rolled trying to gain control or do anything to get a leg up on the other.
Charon negotiated himself so that she was on her back, underneath him and he stabbed through himself pinning her behind him, “You can’t keep this up, dear Madeleine, you’re already tired.”
She cried out as he twisted the sword, it seared inside of her body cavity and she prayed and begged for it to end. He granted her wish as he yanked the sword free and got to his feet leaving her lying on the ground.
Dee called to her friend, “Hang on!” and sailed downwards with her wings out to rescue Madeleine.
Almost instantly Charon grabbed Madeleine by the end of her hair and swung her up into orbit around his body and then released her directly in trajectory with Dee. Madeleine screamed in horrid pain before he let go and when she smashed into her partner it knocked Madeleine nearly unconscious and sent Dee rocketing back as she fought to steady herself.
Like lightening Charon was upon her back, forcing her down through the rain as she struggled to fly. He knelt into her back, just above her butt with the base of her wings in hand.
“Get off, asshole!” she hollered.
He ignored her cries and tightened his grip around her wing’s base and began to pull. She flailed her arms over her back to no avail as her feathers began to fall away and be beaten down by the rain. She was nearing the level of the building tops, Madeleine lay below in the streets writhing and trying just to move.
Blood poured fresh and warm onto her back, sticky despite the rain. Her voice reverberated like thunder from the buildings as she let out a shrill cry. Charon ripped her wings from her body and drove her down into the street with his weight on her back. The impact demolished a car and smashed her down through the roof of the car. The vehicles alarm sounded as Charon stepped off of her back and strolled around the rubble of the crushed car.
His hair seemed whiter than it did blonde now as it glinted off the street lights. He drew his blade and in a clean motion slide the sword down through Dee’s chest and into the car itself. She rasped and gurgled in pain now. Her face was scarred and marked with blood, bruised from the impact. Charon brought his face down on the side of her head and spoke over the alarm, “This isn’t mercy—I could end you right here, but I find you too amusing.”
Madeleine rasped out, “Get away from her!” she was pressed to the ground with her hands poised below her like she was doing a push-up. “I’ll level this whole city if I have to!”
The ground began to shake violently, cracks started to form in the street, alarms went off and street lights flickered. Charon placed his sword away and stepped down off of the car retrieving his hat despite the quake.
He walked right up on Madeleine and stopped down as he placed his hat back on. Still from this angle she could see his face so well, his wild blue eyes, pasty skin and evil smirk.
With a touch more gentle than she would have thought he could manage, Charon lifted her chin from the ground in his palm, “Until we meet again, sweet Madeleine.” He let her head fall back into the puddle and the quake ceased.
There were no more words to speak to them where they lay bleeding profusely and worked over. He moved off down the street into the hellish deluge, never glancing back, never showing remorse.
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