Chapter 61: A War is Coming

The hot Sunday sun beat down on the demon's head as he watched one of the vampires racing on the back of a horse, the air filled with shouts and laughter. The blue sky seemed to be never ending with fluffy white clouds dotting the horizon, the first event for the day was going off without a hitch! Gretchen stood beside him, leaping up from her seat ever so often to cheer on her team. They were racing against three other horses, doing laps with an announcer talking quickly through a loudspeaker. The bleachers they sat on gave little comfort as Robin watched the animals.

His large cowboy hat gave him a welcoming shade, his mind on Danjal who was sneaking into the other farm with Breaker at his heels.

"If you keep jumping up they'll kick you out," Robin chuckled as Gretchen dropped back down into the cheap plastic seat. She nudged him lightly with an elbow,

"You gotta get into it, Romeo! It aint as much fun when you're all quiet,"

"I'm always a little quiet," Robin pointed out, she chuffed and rolled her eyes. Her dark hair had been tied into two poofy ponytails on either side of her head, her freckled face looked a tad burned but her smile was bright and vivid.

"I bet your minds just on other things," she mused, grinning devilishly at the other causing Robin to shake his head but his smile grew.

"Shut up,"

"We only got one more hour till your event, think you're ready?" She asked, leaning against her friend as the horses stopped running.

"I...I think so," He murmured, glancing down at his tank top and pants combo. It felt odd not to wear his usual hoodie, his arm burned from where the bow string had ripped at his skin the night before but it had been covered with gauze to keep it from being exposed to the dirty air of the farm.

The horses started running again, the announcer let loose a loud cheer causing Gretchen to leap from her seat and throw her arms in the air. He moved his eyes to the few werewolves sitting in the opposite bleachers to them, he couldn't see their leader. In fact. Most of them seemed to have vanished, what were they up to? A feeling of dread fluttered under the skin, whatever was happening he knew it wouldn't be good.

***

Danjal moved like the soft rolling waves on a beach, stealth wasn't usually his thing but he felt himself being extra careful as he and the redhead beside him stood in front of the gates that protected the large werewolves farm. Wolfsbane has the strong stench of pennies as the pair climbed up the metal bars and dropped to the other side with a grunt, Breaker let out a small gasp of pain as his boots met the hard floor below.

"Are you sure you're going to be okay?" Danjal whispered to the vampire, who rushed his strawberry blonde locks from his face and ran his fingers down his tight blue jeans as if he was attempting to get rid of the dirt that collected on the back.

"Homie, I'm more than okay!" He laughed loudly, causing Danjal to put a finger to his lips. Breaker put a hand over his mouth and nodded,

"Sorry, I forget," He whispered, still a little too loudly for the demon.

"It's okay, just try not to be loud," He murmured, silently laughing to himself. He never thought he'd be the one to say that to another person but here he was!

The pair moved quickly through the sharp thorny undergrowth below their feet, he hadn't ever seen these plants before. Their thorns stuck up towards the sky, with crimson red small flowers poking out between the sharp spikes.

"What are these, yo?" Breaker asked, kicking absentmindedly at the thorns causing Danjal to shush the other.

"Some kind of flower," He mused, though he was curious about what it was as well. Breaker pulled his phone out, snapping a few pictures of himself in front of them while he winked at the camera. Danjal gasped, pushing himself against his friend to join in on the selfies. The pair forget their mission for a few heartbeats only to be harshly reminded of the reality at the sound of a painful scream.

"What was that?" Breaker whispered, letting his phone lower as the duo looked past the collection of sharp bushes towards a hole that seemed to have been carved out of a blanket of thorns. They stood like a door over the opening of the large farm as if they were set there to protect it from unwanted eyes.

"Sounds like someone's in trouble," Danjal said back to the other, the pair didn't waste anymore time as they slunk their way through the large hole in the thorns and dropped down a small hill to a pathway made of wood that rolled towards the farm. He could make out a red barn past the trees that dotted the sides of the pathway.

'Odd layout for a farm' he thought to himself.

"You think they can smell us?" Breaker asked, pausing as he inspected the wood under his shoes.

"We are lolo for doing this," Danjal whispered to himself before his eyes moved to the horse droppings that had been neglected for the past few days. Covering the grounds around the back of the red barn, he grinned devilishly as a thought wrapped itself through his mind. Breaker seemed to follow his gaze, shaking his head,

"I didn't volunteer for this so I could bath in horse shit,"

"Do you want the wolves to smell you?"

"I smell fantastic,"

"Me too, but that's the problem,"

Breaker let out a loud sigh, "Gotta do what you gotta do, huh?" He finally said.

***

Danjal grimaced at the smell, the animal dung on his skin made him groan inwardly but he didn't want to be found. The pair had taken to rolling in it a few times, Breaker deciding to video them doing it before posting it on his tiktok channel.

"I got me some freaks on here that'll love this!" He said with a laugh. Now the two were moving through the large, seemingly empty farm. The dirt under his boots didn't feel right, he had a closeness to the Earth due to his previous position in Hell. He had been a warrior in the Rocky regions of the damned and considered himself somewhat of an expert on the planet. The ground under him felt sick, but he couldn't place why it felt this way.

The lack of animal sounds also concerned him, no birds sang, no cats meowed, as if the world had been put on mute in this hidden farm. The two moved from one small building to the other, unlike the Grotto these buildings didn't look as clean and taken care of, they came to a barn with sheep inside but no noise touched his ears as the fluffy animals moved in a robotic manner through their stalls. They didn't touch one another nor stop to eat, their beady eyes fixated on what was in front of them. It sent a feeling of pure dread into his core that he couldn't explain,

"You seeing this, dawg?" Breaker whispered to Danjal, his phone was out as he recorded the oddly behaved sheep.

"Yeah, it's...strange," Danjal agreed, as the pair walked through the barn. Kicking up the hay on the floor that had gone uneaten, the sharp smell of metal still clung to the air like a bad dream.

This barn led to another that, at one point seemed to hold chickens but the two couldn't hear or see a single one as they walked past the wiring and coop that once housed thousands of the loud birds.

"Dang," Breaker whispered, "Y'all seein' this?" He asked the audience that he live streamed to. Letting his phone move from one side to the other as they walked past rows and rows of animal cages without any animals, the only things that could be seen were old scraps of fur or feathers that had been choked in sticky, black substances.

The scream came again, Danjal froze in his tracks. The sound was human, it sounded painful as if someone had been struck. Laughter came only a few heartbeats later as the pair shoved themselves against the wall of a bright red, wooden home. The wood splintered against the Hawaiian's dark skin, the sound of voices touched their ears but the pair couldn't make out what they said.

"I'm going to look around the corner," Breaker squeaked quietly to Danjal, holding the phone out still, the demon nodded towards the pale vampire as he brushed past the warrior and peaked around the building. Holding his phone out to record, Danjal looked into the screen. He could see Bohdi tied to a chair, his back to the two as he sucked in air. A bullwhip was in the hands of the pack leader, her arms crossed over her chest. She was angry, he could almost see the anger billowing off her like smoke.

A couple other wolves stood around him, they cackled loudly but he couldn't make out what they were saying, the dirt under their feet was black as the night sky. He could see bright red blood dotted bright against the darkness below,

"We need to get closer," Danjal whispered as he leaned over the smaller man who shot him an 'are you fucking serious?' look.

The warrior didn't wait for the redhead to reply, moving as quietly as his large frame could. Keeping low in the odd, sharp bushes that dotted the buildings around them.

"Wait wait wait!" Breaker gasped as Danjal ducked behind an outhouse and peeked out from behind it. They were talking but it was still hard to hear, he had to get closer. He had to hear what was being said. He sucked in air, hoping they were too focused on the prophet to notice him, ducking back down to the brush below he moved rapidly towards a small chicken coop that seemed to be falling apart. The red wood of it was black near the bottom, was that normal?

"Hey, big boy, wait!" Breaker whispered, stumbling after the other. At the sound of Breaker's voice the wolves all froze and turned at the same time towards where they hid, Danjal could hear the blood roaring in his ear as the wolves growled among one another. He pushed himself more into the dirt below, wincing at the thorns that snagged at his long, wavy hair. Breaker's face turned white as a sheet as he pushed his body against Danjal, eyes wide as moons.

The wolves took a few steps forward only for Bohdi to speak up,

"Alright, I'll tell you,"

They all stopped in unison, turning attention back to the blind prophet,

"If I tell you, you have to let me talk to Rooster," He whispered

"Fat chance, that's not the deal," The pack leader hissed out, her tail swishing angrily from side to side. Her body looked as if it were halfway wolfed out, with tufts of fur sticking out of the brown skin on her face, one eye was a deep red while the other a soft brown as she glared down at the prophet.

"Now talk," She snarled, getting in the man's face, "Do we defeat them or not?"

"You don't," Bohdi said bluntly, his voice held a hint of pain as she dug her claws fingers into his leg.

"Why not?"

"Because, Born Again is here, and unfortunately for you, they're not pushovers,"

The wolves started to circle him as if he were prey, yapping and laughing like hyenas as they did so. Their bodies were the same as their leader, bulging muscles being covered by raggedy fur, sharp teeth that stuck out of their lips in an unusual manner. Breaker slowly held his phone up over the chicken coop and thorny bushes they sat behind, allowing the pair to watch through the screen.

"Born again!" She snapped at the air, causing the other wolves to let out angry growls and snorts, "They won't survive once Cain's Army rises," she hissed out, "How do I defeat them?"

"You don't," Bohdi scoffed, "You're stupid ass gets kicked no matter how many futures I see,"

She slammed the bullwhip across his face, sending showering blood to the floor causing the man to yowl out in agony, "You must keep looking! I must defeat them!" She snapped, grabbing Bohdi's cheeks and forcing him to look her in the eye.

"Look deep into my soul! How do I defeat them!" She demanded

Bohdi spat blood onto her face causing the woman to howl in anger and stumble backwards.

"You can make whatever army you want," He scoffed, "But Born Again isn't going down without a fight,"

"I'm not worried about them,"

A man stepped from the shadows of the large red barn the group was settled in front of. His hazel eyes wild, with his hair pushed back in a messy manner, the white lab coat dotted in brilliant red blood that matched the building behind him.

"They don't even know I'm making an army," Cain snorted. He leaned down to Bohdi, getting close to his face and inspecting the man.

"Now look at me," Cain snarled, "What do you see?"

Bohdi fell silent, looking away from Cain and down towards the ground causing the doctor to stand up straight, "You see the leader of the strongest army known to man, don't you?" He asked.

"What kind of army are they making?" Breaker whispered to Danjal who didn't answer, watching the screen with fear burning into his body.

"I see an idiot," Bohdi replied after a few silent minutes, Cain snorted at this but said nothing. He turned on his heels and started making his way back into the barn,

"Go back to the rodeo, win the last event. If you lose, it will be your end," He hissed at Jasira who flinched away from Cain. Her tail tucked between her legs as she nodded in response, turning towards her minions,

"You heard the King," She snarled out, "We win this!"

With that the wolves collected themselves together, pelting towards a path hidden by more sharp, thorny flower bushes leaving Bohdi with two other wolves who started to untie and usher him into the barn behind them.

"I'm goin' to get so many views on this," Breaker murmured with glee flooding his voice but Danjal could only focus on one thing. An army. Cain's army. What did that mean? Why did they need an army?

***

Bailey snatched the test from Mishka and shook it as if she could make it change.

"They..they're not always right, we can get another one or maybe go to a doctor who.."

"Bailey, I love you," Mishka whispered, taking the test from her friend and pushing it into her pocket. "But...I think I knew even before I took the test,"

"What...are you going to do?" Sam whispered.

Silence followed this, Bailey put a hand on the others shoulder causing Mishka to give her a light smile.

"Hey, how about...we head back a--" Sam had started to say but someones screaming caught their attention. Sam and Bailey shared a look, terror pulsed through his system as the small group ran up towards the front. Freezing as a herd of people had formed around someone who was screaming like a banshee, their phones all out which caused Bailey to roll her eyes. Sam could see it from where he stood beside her, she moved towards the crowd and started to push herself through them. Sam followed, eyes moving to Mishka who remained where she was.

He turned attention back to the King, she pushed herself to the front and gasped. Sam shoved past a few people who let out an annoyed grunt or curse at the other, he froze in his spot when he saw the terrified expression on her face and followed her gaze to the creature on the floor.

A man sprawled out on the tile, screaming loudly into the air. Everyone froze as if they were watching a movie, black sludge was falling in waves from the larger man's throat. His eyes flooded from normal to black, skin shuttering with every painful movement. Sam put a hand on Bailey's shoulder, feeling the intense desire to protect her as the human continued to scream and shift on the pure white floor turning it to a deep, dark red. The darkness continued to drip from the man's swollen body, pooling around his head.

"S-Sir?" Sam called out, the man turned his gaze on Sam. One of the man's eyes popped from the socket, he let out a loud, low moan that chilled the hunter to the bone. Sam saw this once before, his mind flooded to when he was held prisoner. He didn't know what he'd been looking at at that moment but now he knew.

Quick as a flash he grabbed Bailey and pushed himself in front of her so his back was at the man, without warning he exploded. The darkness smacked into the crowd causing everyone around them to scream in terror, pain burned into his body as the darkness attempted to shove itself into his skin. He glanced down at her with a smile, her amber eyes wide as moons as she looked towards him in shock.

Sam yanked his jacket off quickly and tossed it,

"If it's on your clothes take them out!" Sam shouted, turning back to Bailey, "Did it hit you?"

She still looked completely shocked at him, his hands moved to her face as he inspected her which sent a wave of warmth into his body. What was he doing? He pulled away and stepped back,

"Guys!" Mishka shouted, Sam snapped back into reality. The humans and creatures that had been hit with the sludge screamed in horror as they attempted to get it off. Clawing at their skin, throwing their clothes to the floor, anything to escape the stinky darkness.

"This stuff's getting too smart," Bailey whispered, "It knew people were in here, it knew making a scene would draw people in,"

"Now it can possess all these people," Sam finished, the pair both looking at one another in shock. The loud sounds of another screaming could be heard, causing the duo to turn their attention to the front doors. Sam's heart fell as a few more swollen people charged towards the doors.

"Bailey," Sam whispered

"Are you ready to protect these people?" Bailey asked him, Mishka ran up to the pair with a gun drawn.

"Let's keep these people from getting into the store," Bailey continued, nodding at the doors. The zombie-like people moved swift despite their large frames.

***

Baal had been going back and forth with Hahasiah attempting to find out whatever they could about this key, the kings and anything else. It was a lot of information and though the angel was full of knowledge she didn't have much information.

The pair were seated in a small bar with a man, he looked as if he'd just walked out of an Indiana Jones novel. With his explorer's attire, old sandy backpack and sun kissed skin,

"Unfortunately," He replied, looking around anxiously every few minutes as if he was expecting to see someone he didn't want to see. "I don't know much, I already told everything I could."

"I can give you the basic run down of things but it looks like you both already have a grasp on that," The man continued, pulling out a few pictures and placing them down. The pair leaned forward to look them over but Baal frowned, it was some of Faith's alters and stained glass.

"Look, I'm already an angel," Hahasiah said, picking up one of the papers before placing it down and doing the same with a few others.

"I know most of this," She said with a snort, "Me and Faith go way back,"

"And you said you're Hahasiah?"

"That's me!"

The man hesitated, glancing to Baal and back to the front door.

"Thanks for your time, Laszlo," Baal finally said and standing up, he wasn't any closer to finding answers than they were earlier. Hahasiah said her goodbyes and the pair went for the exit,

"Oh! If it helps!" Laszlo called out to them, grabbing something from his bag and jogging towards the others. He placed a sheet of paper in their hand, on it was a picture recently taken on a Polaroid. A large, old, golden door sitting in the middle of the woods. The front had an angelic language, with a large lion's head that looked up towards a rising son.

"What is this?" Baal asked, Hahasiah snatched the paper from the other and gasped loudly. She practically hopped where she stood, grinning wide she threw her arms around Laszlo and raced for the door. Baal and the explorer exchanged a confused look before the demon followed her out.

"What is it?" He asked again as she twirled towards him.

"This is the door between universes!"

"Oh stop, that's a legion!" Baal huffed,

"Is not, it's right here," She waved the paper at him with a grin. Laszlo ducked into their conversation, watching as the sun started to cast it's brilliant orange lights against the skies above.

"What is it?" The man asked as she inspected the paper and rolled a finger against the address written.

"In Africa, Faith, what a place to put it. I should have known." She laughed, "You don't know what it is?"

Laszlo shook his head at this, "It's basically a place between all universes, lost souls can go there to be brought back to life if the universe allows it. And the soul isn't damned."

Baal grabbed the paper from her, looking at it in awe, "So it's the real thing?"

"Yes!"

"And...it can bring anyone back,"

"Sort of, it's got a lot of little quirks." Hahasiah explained, "Me and Dutch have been looking far and wide!"

"Do you have a soul you want to bring back?" Baal asked, turning towards Laszlo who had vanished from where he stood not long ago. Blinking in surprise he decided against questioning it.

"Why?" She asked, "Do you have a soul you want to bring back?"

"Maybe two," Baal murmured, his mind falling to Bailey. Not that this wasn't unusual for the demon he thought of her often.

"Is this for Bailey?" Hahasiah giggled, folding up the paper and shoving it into the pocket of her skirt.

"Well yes," Baal chuckled, feeling embarrassment flood his body.

"Man, too bad you're not her Lionheart! Would have made things easier on you,"

Baal froze, what did that mean? "What?" He asked, feeling panic spark in his system. Was he really not part of this?

"Well yeah," Hahasiah chuckled, turning on her heels to face him as they started to make their way back to the car.

"You know, Sam being her Lionheart and all!"

"Sam?"

He felt his heart clench, was he really this wrong? He knew Sam had been named one by Hahasiah but he assumed it was for someone else.

"Yeah? I thought the two were already dating with how they keep sneaking out at night,"

Baal looked at her in shock, sneaking out? Was he that oblivious?

"But I'm the Lionheart for her King," He replied dumbly, feeling his heart shatter in his chest. Of course he hadn't expected her to fall for him but he had hoped she would.

"I've never heard of a king having two! And when his third eye opened I saw the string of fate attached to them,"

"Does Bailey know?" He whispered, she shook her head and let her shoulder drop.

"No, Dutch told me not to tell." She fished into her pocket and pulled out the small bit of old fabric paper, Baal took it from her and unfolded it.

"I was given this a few centuries after Faith's death. It was in a notebook that appeared at my front door,"

His eyes danced over the paper as he listened to what she said,

'Five kings will rise on Earth, another in heaven and another in hell. King of humanity will rely on the passion of magic.'

The rest had been torn off, even the small bit of dark colors he could see he couldn't make out. Running his fingers through his hair as glanced from her to the paper and back.

"Are you going to tell her?" Baal whispered,

"Maybe, depends on what Dutch wants,"

"Don't tell her yet," Baal murmured and shook his head, knowing this information was important but he felt a selfish desire burn into his system.

"Whatever you want! I don't think lying to her is going to make her love you,"

"No, but maybe something else will," Baal murmured as his mind moved back to the door between universes.

***

"Heyo! It's your boy! Breaker! I'm breaking into this farm with my homie, Danjal!" The strawberry blonde said to the screen. The child watched this with curiosity sparked over his features, he sat at his table in the lunchroom. His small eyes moved from the phone in his hand to his sister who sat beside him, she was wolfing down a sandwich with one hand and drawing with the other. Her drawing was a man with giant wings, his blonde hair looked more yellow as she scribbled her crayon over the lined paper. The sounds of children rang in his ears as he watched her, he could distinguish between the voices of the children around him and the voices hidden in the world they couldn't see.

"This is Chamuel," She said to her brother, holding up the paper and pointing to it. He nodded slowly, he remembered the angel. He recalled the man saving them from the burning building that still haunted his nightmares. Jasmine took another big bite of her sandwich before the paper had been torn from her grip.

"Hey!" She spat at another child who scoffed at it, his dark hair flopped greasily over his eyes, his shirt a few sizes too small for his frame as he looked over the paper.

"This looks nothing like him!" The man scoffed, tugging the shirt to show the 'Born again' hashtag on the front, "You don't know anything about Born Again!"

"Do so!" She snapped, attempting to snatch her picture back from the chubby child who snorted out a laugh. His friends all egging him on, laughing to one another. The bullies of the school tormented him and his sister often, but he couldn't do much about it as he looked back down to the lunch he hardly touched. His oldest sister had written a cute little note that was attached to the sandwich bag, 'I love you, baby boy! Have a good day!' was scribbled in gel pen on the front.

"Well I've seen them in person," The chubby child laughed, crumbling the paper in his hands before dropping it to the floor and stepping a dirty shoe over it.

"Knock it off! Stop!" She growled, leaping from her seat and standing tall. She was shorter than him, hardly meeting his chest as she glared daggers towards the man.

"You haven't met them before, William!" Another student scoffed, she got to her feet. She towed over the other, her eyes narrowed as she took a few steps towards the chubby William.

"Have so," He snorted, lifting his foot and allowing Jasmine to collect her drawing. Tears in her eyes as she started to uncrumple the piece.

"Have not," The other student replied.

"Yes have! He even told me I could join the team when I get older,"

"That's horse shit, Will," She snorted,

"You can't curse Damien!" William laughed out,

"My names not Damien anymore!" She growled back at the other, "Chamuel wouldn't want anything to do with your fat butt!"

"I'm telling on you for cursing," William snarled back, turning to look at Jasmine and her brother, "Just because you skipped grades doesn't mean you can draw my hero like that!"

With that the bully turned on his heels and stormed towards a teacher that was sitting in the front of the indoor cafeteria, his friends following close behind though they seemed a little less enthusiastic to follow.

"Thanks Honey," Jasmine sighed, placing the picture she drew down on the table.

"You okay, Uji?" Honey asked, putting a hand on her friend's back. He nodded to her, she smiled at him and brushed her dark hair from her face. Uji turned towards his sister, locking eyes with her, he could feel her reading his thoughts. The universe around him swirled, it felt wet under his fingertips as they communicated through the waves of it's being.

"He says he's not upset, and thinks that William is just pissed he can't draw as good as me!" She replied, puffing out her chest. Her ears had started to turn sharp near the tips, he noticed it but no one else seemed to have.

"I think William is just a fat liar," Honey scoffed, settling down beside the two.

"Oh hell no!" The voice on Uji's phone said, causing the man to glance back down at Breakers tiktok, Danjal was glaring daggers at the animal droppings they were forced to roll in, "This ain't my vibe! I'm a celebrity, I shouldn't have to roll in that!"

"It's just Kukae!" Danjal laughed quietly,

"No man, that's straight up shit!"

"That's what Kukae is,"

"Homie, I am no--"

The phone shut off, frowning Uji looked around in confusion as the lights flickered and died out. The children screamed as if in trouble, he felt the universe around him shutter and melt against his skin. Something was wrong. Something was very wrong.

"What is it?" Jasmine asked her brother, he could feel her scanning his thoughts but he wasn't sure either. He looked to her and towards a teacher who was shouting for the children to be quiet, the lights flickered on a few heartbeats later. His phone kicked back awake, the screen flashed as if it had been shut off completely.

"That was weird," Honey murmured, pulling out her own phone and glancing at her friends, "Did the universe say anything about it?"

Uji shook his head, looking back towards his friend and sister, he wished he could say something to sooth the terror that pumped into his body as the students continued eating their lunch as if nothing had happened.

"I hope Chamuel's okay," Jasmine whispered, reaching forward to grab another crayon from her pile that was littered all over the table. Uji moved his gaze to the large bay windows, he could see a storm rolling in. A storm that he felt could shake the very Earth they walked on.

***

If you're enjoying my work please check out the original novel this is being turned into!

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