floor 1

[kashim]

"God. I'm such a miserable wretch of a creature..." Gabriel was smiling, but his words were thick with malice.

'What do you mean?'

"I've no reason to live, I simply exist to kill, I have no other reason for being..."

'What's wrong with that? At least you have a purpose.'

"Some purpose. I don't care about anything, I only care about killing."

Gabriel laughed as he thought about what he was saying, he got up and set his knife on the table, he pulled his pants on and walked around a bit.

'Killing isn't so bad.'

"There's just nothing else I care about."

'What about Amanda?'

"What about her?"

'She still loves you, when you heard her voice earlier you almost looked like you were in pain.'

Gabriel hid his face a little.

"That was...that was nothing."

'I think you still feel.'

"Nonsense! I feel nothing!"

Gabriel stormed over to his knife and picked it up quickly.

"This blade alone has been with me from the beginning, it's first taste of blood was that of my father and almost every one of my victims since that day."

'Why'd you kill him?'

"I wanted to, he annoyed me, besides I couldn't kill with him around, he would've found out for sure."

'You didn't do it for vengeance?'

"Nope..." He smiled.

'You know, if your so f**ked up why don't you just kill yourself?'

"I don't know, I guess it's because I'd just end up an immortal angel with manic deprerssion. I never want to go back to that prison."

'You'll die in this body eventually.'

"So? I might as well make the most of my time."

[kashim]

Gabriel walked out of the bathroom, having washed the blood from his previous excursion off and changed his clothes, he had placed the girl he'd brought with him in the living room and bound her to a chair, he was still puzzled as to why she behaved the way she did. Gabriel had examined her a little before he'd washed up, she was healthy, no physical markings of abuse, nothing to indicate to him abnormalities. Gabriel sat down on his couch and eyes her curiously, he'd washed her a little and soaked up all the blood he'd thrown onto her, she was wearing some of his clothes since he didn't feel comfortable conversing with a naked person. It was amazing she still hadn't woken, it had been almost 4 hours since he'd brought her here and she was still fast asleep, every now and then she'd stir as if about to awake but for the most part she didn't move.

'I still don't understand why she acted that way, I mean what could compel someone to do that?'

'Why is this eating at you? I mean what does it matter?'

'I must know! No normal person would react that way! Maybe she's a little off?'

Gabriel sat still contemplating her behavior when she awoke, the girl looked up but didn't speak, her face still didn't show any sign of fear or shock.

"Little one, your awake I see."

She didn't say anything she just sat and looked at him.

"Look, what's you deal girl? I mean your not reacting the way a normal person would given your situation, I mean why would you just sit there in the middle of a massacre and stand with your arms open, I drenched you in blood and still you just stood there and then you hugged me! What is it!? Are you happy I killed someone there you hated? Do you want to die? What is it!?"

The girl just sat there with an innocent look on her face and didn't speak. Gabriel had a flash of anger sprout up in him but it died away and left nothing but cold.

"Fine, if you won't tell me willingly, then I'll just have to force it out of you." Gabriel said with a smile.

Gabriel grabbed the girl's throat lightly and brought his face down to hers, she hadn't changed at all, Gabriel decided it would be more fun to take her down to the lower chambers and play around with her for a bit, so he cut her bindings but before he could grab her she was hugging him again.

'What the f**k is with this girl!? I don't understand it!?'

Gabriel pushed the girl to the ground and started to pace around the room ranting the entire time.

"What the f**k is wrong with you!? God d**n you humans to hell! None of you make any sense, why!? Why!? WHY!? Why do you act this way!? Tell me, tell me now!?"

Gabriel grabbed the girl by the throat and pulled her to her feet, he thrust her back into the chair and sat down on the couch.

"I don't understand..."

'Who knows, maybe you remind her of someone, maybe she views you as a savior, or maybe there's something wrong with her.'

"It's just so mind boggling! What in the world is wrong with her? I mean she hasn't said anything to me and yet she hugs me every chance she gets, I slaughtered more than 50 people in that station and half of everyone's blood ended up on her, yet still...maybe I should just kill her and let it stay a mystery."

'But maybe she wants to die, then you'd be doing her a favor.'

"I don't care anymore! I just want to know what's wrong with her!"

Gabriel got to his feet and grabbed his knife, he pushed it to the girl's throat and spoke in a deep, serious tone.

"Tell me..."

For the first time she looked as if she was frightened, or maybe that she was sad, she almost looked as if she was going to cry.

'So she's human after all.'

Gabriel slowly drew the knife away from her throat and sat down, he looked at her intensely and folded his arms across his chest. The girl got out of the chair and sat next to him, her arm was touching his and she felt warm. Gabriel laughed to himself as he thought of all the different interrogation techniques he could perform to get her to talk. The girl still didn't say anything.

'I'm getting tired of this game, if she doesn't talk soon I'm going to tear her throat out.'

'Why wait?'

'She might speak up soon and this behavior is still intriguing me.'

'I see.'

Gabriel looked over and realized the girl had fallen asleep again, he got up and furiously stabbed his blade through the air making swishing noises as the razor sharp blade cut the air like butter, Gabriel tied the girl back into place and walked around the room a bit contemplating his next move.

'If I had my angelic body back I could peer into her mind but then I'd be back on the grid and the others could just destroy this body and trap me inside the other one forever.' Gabriel shuttered as he thought of how long forever was.

'Like I said you should just give up on this, or torture her for the information.'

'Yeah that would be easier.'

Gabriel laid back on the couch and closed his eyes.

'I need a vacation, a nice place, in the middle of nowhere, where I can be alone for awhile, with no voice in my head bothering me...'

[kashim]

Gabriel opened his eyes to find the girl he'd brought to his home was standing above him, he tried to speak but his voice wouldn't come, his throat wouldn't utter a sound. The strange girl looked down at him with a smile on her face and her hair splayed about wildly, her amber eyes had a twinkle and her smile had a gleam. Gabriel was puzzled at first, he thought he'd tied her down but couldn't ask her how she'd gotten free from her bonds, he looked down at her hand and saw his prized blade tightly clutched in her fingers, he tried to move, to defend himself but he couldn't move, his muscles lay limp and useless, no matter how hard he strained to move them they wouldn't obey, just as she was about to bring the blade down onto his chest everything went black. Gabriel awoke to the couch where he'd fallen asleep, the girl still safely tied to the chair and his blade still lat where he'd left it.

"What the f**k..." He said in a trembling whisper.

The girl still lay motionless, breathing shallowly. Gabriel bent down toward her and placed his hand on her cheek, she had soft, smooth skin and beautiful features, she looked almost different in her sleep, when she was awake she almost looked desperate, pleading and yet she never showed signs of fear or shock, it was as if something deep down...

Gabriel shook the thoughts from his mind, he was still trying to find out what this girl was all about and these sudden nightmares only served to fuel his desires to learn about her, maybe she was brain damaged, maybe she was traumatized or in shock, or maybe there was something else, whatever the case he was determined to figure out what it was, it wasn't natural for any person to act this way. Gabriel got to his feet and paced around the room a bit, he'd been brooding over this for awhile, he couldn't place his finger on it, it was as if the answer was right in front of him, right under his nose and yet he couldn't grasp onto it, the more he thought about it the more questions he had, but no matter what he did the girl wouldn't speak, the thought of extracting the information from her by force was starting to look more and more appealing. The most puzzling thing about her was that he hadn't dreamt at all until he brought her here, he started to have nightmares and he couldn't explain why, was she attacking him telepathically, was she attempting to force her way into his mind, what could it be? Gabriel had kept her here about a week by this time and he still hadn't resorted to torture, every time he thought about it, it just seemed to slip his mind once she awoke, he'd put his blade to her throat and his hand would tremble. At first his dreams started off as nothing more than mere bouts of fright but now they terrified him, he couldn't explain it any other way, he'd shake uncontrollably, he'd become nauseated, and he'd feel as if he was in danger but the girl seemed to be the opposite, the more time she spent with him the more relaxed she seemed, it wasn't as if he was afraid of her, he knew if she ever came near him with the intent to harm him he'd methodically kill her and not think twice about it, he just couldn't explain it, he'd find himself some days just watching her sleep, as if she was going to do something miraculous or reveal some kind of secret to him, he even went so far as to move out of his bedroom and sleep here in the living room to observe her. Gabriel found himself gazing at her as she slept, he breathed in her scent and twitched a little, he was behaving rather unusually and he couldn't explain why, the more he thought about it the more paranoid he became, maybe Makiri had sent her as a spy or an assassin, maybe Christian had some under handed scheme he was putting into motion by exposing her to him, maybe his old lover was playing some kind of game with him, as he thought of the possibilities he became furious.

'How dare they try and trick me!! How dare they try and break me down!'

Gabriel was losing himself to his rage and his blood lust, his eyes sparked into a reddish glow and his hands balled into fists, his fingers punctured his palms and he started to bleed, he clamped his teeth down hard and he was ready to kill. Gabriel tried to calm himself and his eyes returned to their golden state, he opened his hands and watched as the crimson liquid spilled from his fresh wounds, he licked the blood and laughed as he thought about how reckless he was becoming.

'Calm down, they wouldn't put that much time into something like this, but I can't help but wonder, if they don't have a hand in this, then what is she?'

[wolf]

Along the streets he patrolled, scouring everything for a fresh scent to follow. Liac had turned into his form as a necklace and dangled from Makiri's neck, a stark contrast to his white fur.

'found any trace of him yet?'

“not yet... No wait.”

He pushed his nose into the snow and inhaled deeply. His eyes lit up with savage excitement.

“yes! That's him!”

He began to follow the trail, slowly but surely making his way closer to the house.

After a while, Liac spoke up.

'you do realize I will not condone you killing Gabriel, right?'

Makiri smiled. Rows of needle-like, white teeth glistened in the light, making him look like he was going to rip someone apart.

“who says i'm going to kill him? He obviously turned into a human to hide from something. Wouldn't it be nice to find out why he turned into something he so blatantly despises?”

'so you're just going to torture him then. Drag him out to face his fear.'

“of course. Killing is just a bonus. The fear, the anguish, that is what I want.”

'do I even have to remind you of what a sick bastard you are?'

“go ahead. Remind me. It's not like I care in the least. Hatred is just a sign that, if you were in his position, you would not like it. That means if you were in his position, you would be scared...”

Liac didn't want to say anything. He just couldn't. After a moment of silence, he was able to force out a question.

'how did you get this way? You weren't always like this...'

Makiri skidded to a halt. Snow fluttered everywhere, and Makiri's head was hung low on his shoulders. His golden eyes were glazed over in deep thought.

“i don't know....”

After a second, he laughed bitterly.

“and I don't care!”

He continued his hunt, as Liac wondered. Why did that stop him? What was it about that question that stopped him? He was insulted and spit upon by every known race. Why did that simple sentence, above anything else, cause him to falter? Maybe something in his past... He had to look into this further.

[kashim]

It had been weeks now and Gabriel hadn't left his home, everytime he tried it was as if there was something keeping him here, his nightmares got more and more frequent and he still hadn't answered any of his questions, He couldn't find the answers within him or the girl. Gabriel had let the girl out of her bonds in the hope that making her more comfortable would make her reveal the information he desired but she'd still kept her silence, lately the voices in his head had been silent as well, they ceased to talk to him, to coax him into doing their deeds, on any normal occasion he'd welcome their silence but now he missed them, he was trapped here with silence, he needed them to help answer his questions and yet they wouldn't speak. Gabriel started to curse himself and the girl, cursing himself for his weakness and the girl for being alive at all.

Gabbriel tried to move but found the girl had gotten up during the night and was laying on him, he was aggravated but he couldn't bring himself to strike her.

'What the f**k is wrong with me? A couple weeks ago I was free, I'd do what I wanted, when I wanted, and how I wanted to do it and now I can't even force myself to go out of my house. It can't possibly be this girl, can it?'


Amanda hadn't been able to find Gabriel, she'd been scouring the city from top to bottom and couldn't find any real trace of him, her only clues were murders and massacres which were left in his wake. Everytime she tried to devise a plan it would fall through, her first plan was to catch him in the act of murdering someone, he showed up, killed the guy, and vanished without a trace, her second plan was to stake out a spot where he liked to hang out for potential victims, he showed up and somehow got wind of her. After awhile she thought of enlisting Christian's help but he was too busy with his own agendas, she still didn't even know what she'd do once she found him, he was obviously training and getting better every moment he was free and she knew she was no match for him in one on one combat. Eventually she thought of an interesting idea, what if she were to create some kind of situation that would peak his curiousity and then she'd find some way of subduing him, keep him someplace long enough so she could get Christian there and maybe drag him back to the sactuary where they could put him back into his old body, but how?

[wolf]

Makiri approached the house. It was no more or less conspicuous than any other, and it was just one in many along the avenue. He sniffed again to make sure.

“this is it.”

The scent was so overpowering. What made him stay here for so long?

'now. We go in and talk to him. We don't threaten or maim.'

“sure. I'll talk to him, and then i'll maim him. What-”

he sniffed again. Someone was in there with him. He didn't smell any fresh blood though, so it couldn't be a victim. Was it Christian? no. Amanda? no. who was it?

'what is it?'

“dunno.”

'then let's find out.'

Makiri nodded and pushed his flat head against the door. It didn't budge. He shrugged and kicked the door down. He peeked his snout in and looked around. For the moment, his murderous intent was stifled by childish curiosity.

[kashim]

Gabriel opened his eyes to a vast expanse of nothingness, he was standing in the middle of a desert and the sun was hanging high in the air, there was no wind, there were no trees or wildlife, there weren't even any clouds in the sky, and no matter how hard he tried his skin felt no warmth. Gabriel looked around in all directions and only saw the rolling dunes of the white sand, he looked down and found he was wearing his angelic body armor, with zweihander hanging from his hip, he turned his head and saw his white wings were stretching out wards. Gabriel felt a shiver run up and down his spine, there was something wrong with this place but he couldn't figure out what it was. Gabriel walked forward through the sand but still there was nothing, he strained his ears to listen for anything but all he heard was his own breathing and his footsteps in the sand. Gabriel started to notice something strange, zweihander was silent, it's low, comforting, melodic hum was silent, he drew the blade and felt nothing from it, every time Gabriel drew zweihander it would hum, it would vibrate in anticipation for battle but it was silent. Gabriel sheathed zweihander and continued his trek, after awhile something foreign reached his ears, it was singing, it was a beautiful chorus, the sound of his brethren. Gabriel ran in excitement, he jumped off the ground and tried to fly but he was brought back to the ground, as Gabriel ran the singing grew louder and louder, he looked up into the sky and all around but found no traces. Gabriel kept running and soon he found a circle of angels, singing hand in hand, he approached them slowly, bloody tears in his eyes. As he gazed at the wonder his heart filled with joy at the sight of his brothers and sisters, but soon his joy turned to dread. All the angels turned to face him as he approached and he realized who they were, they were the hunters, angels designated to hunt down and destroy rogue and heretical angels. Gabriel stumbled back a bit as they drew their swords.

"Archangel Gabriel you are accused of heresy and crimes against the heavenly order, you are accused of insubordination, abandoning your post, and interfering in the affairs of mortals without benevolent intent or permission, you are hereby sentenced to be executed and your holy light be extinguished forever. How do you plead to these accusations!?" One of the female angels said, her voice was comforting and soft, yet the words she spoke filled him with more dread than anything in his life.

Gabriel couldn't speak, his hand reached for his sword but he couldn't do anything, his voice was mute and his body numb.

'I'm done for...'

[wolf]

'can you see anything?'

"yes."

'anything of interest?'

"no."

Makiri squeezed through the splintered opening where the door should have been. Once he had gotten his entire body inside, he realized it would be quite hard to maneuver if Gabriel decided to put up a fight or run. He could fix that later though.

The room was small and cramped with the various objects that humans placed in their houses, and the interior was made entirely of wood, seemingly worn in with much use. A couch and several chairs crowded around a single television, and a woven rug kept the furniture from scratching the floors. The walls were bare, and the room had minimal lighting. Makiri frowned. With this much wood everywhere, he couldn't use any of his fire, or the whole place might go up in smoke and flames. He would have to resort to bashing Gabriel's skull in if he gave him any trouble.

'that would kill him.'

"what?"

'bashing his skull in would kill him.'

"who said you could listen to me think?!?"

'i don't ask with you. i think of it as protecting civilization as we know it from destruction, rather than an intrusion of privacy.'

"well, what the hell should i do if he tires to fight me?!? humans are so weak that a single blow from this body can kill them instantly!"

'since when has this been a problem for you?'

"since i need to know who he's in here with! don't you find it odd that he hasn't killed them yet? their scent is as strong as his is, so whoever it is has been here as much as he has."

Before Liac could say anything, Makiri spotted something odd. He bolted over to it and stopped. It was a wooden chair with severed ropes hanging from it. He sniffed it inquisitively.

"there! you see? it's got that scent all over it! i'll bet he was going to kill them and they got out and...."

'and what?'

"i don't know! i'm just guessing!"

'well stop guessing! you're waisting both of our time when you should be looking for Gabriel or this person you keep insisting is here! focus, you idiot!'

[kashim]

Gabriel felt as if he'd been struck in the head, he dropped to his knees and looked up into the sky, bloody tears streaming from his face. Gabriel couldn't move, he used all of his will to try and move but no matter how hard his muscles strained they wouldn't budge. The female angel who'd spoken before walked over to him with her sword drawn and a cold look on her face, she looked down into his eyes and they burned him. Gabriel could feel himself slipping, his muscles relaxed and he was calm, images from the past few days streamed across his mind and he smiled. Deep down he was probably glad they were going to kill him, he'd be thrown into nothingness, he'd cease to exist, that wouldn't be so bad. Zweihander ceased it's silence and started to hum loudly, the woman grabbed the blade and pulled it from it's sheath.

"Do you see Gabriel? Even your prized sword, the one which shares part of your soul rejects you, you've become far too tainted to be saved."

The blade grew louder as she touched it's handle.

"I can hear it's cries. It's sorrowful because of your disgraceful behavior and yet it pleads with me to let you live. You are far too dangerous to keep alive and so I must destroy you in every sense of the word."

Gabriel's eyes followed her arm as she brought the blade up high into the air, Gabriel closed his eyes as he thought of it, death, it wouldn't be so bad, nothingness, cessation of being, utter annihilation. Gabriel opened his eyes and rose to his feet, a horrid red glow in his eyes. Gabriel smiled as the shocked huntress stumbled back and fell to her back.

"But...How?"

Gabriel smiled and spread his wings out, his golden armor glinting in the sun as he moved. Gabriel took his sword and walked past her, as he moved forward the other hunters drew their weapons and lunged to attack him. Gabriel dispatched his assailants with ease, his blade rending their flesh like a knife through butter. As Gabriel cut through his assassins a thought leaked into his mind, how much blood had stained his armor and his sword, how much of it covered him? Gabriel realized just how far he'd fallen, Gabriel was taking the lives of his own, he was no longer an angel or a fallen angel for that matter, no now he was a demon, he'd become one of the very creatures he despised and he liked it, the feeling of tearing through a living creature, it was like one endless ecstasy, a glorious drug. Gabriel pulled out of his thoughts and found he was holding one of the hunters by the throat, he smiled as he crushed his throat and blood and gore pushed out from in between his fingers. One of the angels dropped to their knees and clasped their hands together, he had a desperate look on his face.

"Why brother!? Why!?"

Gabriel laughed madly and looked him in the eyes. "You tried to kill me, I'm a demon and your no brother of mine."

Gabriel brought zweihander down on the man's shoulder hard and laughed as the man cried out in pain, the blade sawed through him and left nothing but two stripes of flesh. The whole scene was gruesome to say the least, Gabriel was standing in the middle of the gore covered in blood and chunks of flesh, his beautiful white wings stained a deep crimson. The commander of the troupe was still on her knees where she'd dropped, she was crying and looking off into the distance. Gabriel walked over to her and put a gentle hand on her shoulder, she flinched under his touch.

"Well now it looks like my transformation is complete, the last piece of the puzzle was for me to kill some of my own kind and bathe in their blood and you've given it to me, now I'm a true demon."

Gabriel sheathed his sword and started walking off into the distance.

"Don't even think about trying to get revenge, you'll just end up dead."

Gabriel vanished as a sand storm started to pick up, all he had to do now was tear off his own wings and he'd be a demon for eternity, as long as his wings were attached their was still a chance for him to go back and become an angel again. Zweihander started to glow a dark red.

'Don't worry zwei, soon we'll be free.'

[wolf]

Makiri growled deeply and ripped the necklace off of him.

“ya know what?!? you can just get your own ride because i'm not ferrying you around any more!”

He stomped off, making a considerable amount of racket, and Liac turned into his fox form and followed him.

He sniffed all the various things that people leave scents on. Handrails, sofas, the remote, and found Gabriel's scent on all of them.

“he's just been hiding out here all this time...”

“can we just find him already? Let's check the lower levels.”

“the what?”

Liac went over to a staircase and pointed down into the next room, Makiri looked confused.

“you walk down the steps, moron...”

“oh...”

This was the first time Makiri actually had seen something like stairs. He was so used to going through things that it never occurred to him that humans couldn't do that, and made other ways of getting from higher to lower, or going from room to room. He stood at the top of the staircase and looked down into the next room.

“i think i'll just go my usual way....”

“haven't you ever even been on stairs before?”

He didn't answer and melted through the floor. He waved to Liac from the lower room and Liac smiled and went down the stairs to meet him.

“you are so pathetic.” He laghed.

[kashim]

Gabriel ran into the kitchen and started to pull food off the shelves. He was looking frantically for something.

"Where is it!?"

Gabriel pulled open a pack of thawed steak and devoured it.

"Mmmmm, that hit the spot."

[wolf]

'why is he eating raw steak?'

'i love steak.....'

'what happened to you NOT being obnoxious?'

'oh yeah...'

[kashim]

Gabriel perked up a bit, his new powers were starting to come in. Gabriel clasped his hands over his ears and shut his eyes tightly.

"What the f**k is that sound!"

Gabriel ran over to the window and looked out through the boards.

"Jesus, shut up!!!"

Gabriel ran back over to his fridge and pulled out another chunk of steak. He poured some of the blood into his mouth.

[kashim]

'So, are you finally going to take my advice and go on a killing spree?'

"Ah, and the voice returns. Nope I'm turning myself into a demon!"

'What!? No! You can't do that!'

"Ooh, did I strike a nerve?" Gabriel laughed.

The voice calmed itself. 'It's just you can't do that.'

"Like hell I can't, I'm about to, I always wanted to have this feeling of pure joy and now's my chance."

'You just can't...'

"And why not!? You know your not giving me much incentive to stay this way, I mean you aren't even telling me why I should stay an angel or human, so why should I listen to you?"

'...'

"Out of words finally? Now you don't want to speak? Well it's about bloody time!"

[wolf]

'cool! i've never seen someone turn into a demon up close!!!!'

'Makiri shut up and help him!!! how do you reverse it?!?'

'i don't know...'

He watched Gabriel happily. This would be neat!