Haniel coughed and hacked, feeling as if he'd been stabbed through the chest. His abdomen spasmed. He opened the car door, wincing at the pain it caused. He keeled over, gripping his knees where they'd slammed into the dash. Haniel's surgically repaired left knee physically vibrated in protest to the blow. It wasn't anything he wasn't used to, though. He was more worried about why his whole body reeled from some sort of blast sensation. He hadn't flown through the windshield, and the hood of the car was only dented a bit, thanks to his last-minute evasive maneuver. His body had no reason to feel so...weird.
"Haniel, get back in the car, now!" Mavet suddenly barked.
"What? Why?"
"Just do it, quick!"
Haniel perceived the note of panic in Mavet's voice. His heart skipped a beat as he dove back into the driver's seat and locked the vehicle. Right as he did so, a shadow flashed by, quicker than lightning. Haniel turned to see Mavet watching the same spot.
"Someone's out there," Mavet whispered. "I- I think they're the ones that hit us. I think they did it on purpose."
"Why is someone trying to kill us?" Del hissed.
"I don't know, but my gut tells me that this is about Chaya and I, and it can't be good. At first, I didn't want to admit it, but now I think I'm right: we're being tracked."
"Tracked? How?"
Haniel's eyes widened. "Mavet, watch out!"
Without so much as a scuffle of feet, the figure appeared just outside Mavet's window. Irvin yelped in surprise. The guy's eyes were red. Haniel's heart rate spiked. Mavet may have red eyes every one in a while, but his were protective. These were livid. Haniel pushed down a terrified scream when he noticed the claws that sprouted from the guy's fingers. This wasn't a simple matter of finding Mavet and Chaya anymore; these guys were here to kill!
Mavet connected eyes with Haniel. Even in the dark, Haniel could see the meaning shifting within them.
"Mavet, don't you dare– !"
"Stay here! Help Chaya!"
In a single, swift movement, Mavet exited the car and slammed the door behind him. Haniel clapped his hand to his mouth in horror as the figure instantly pounced on him, then another, then another. Mavet's eyes burned red and his muscles tightened as he fought off all three men. Hisses and growls and horrifying screeches ripped through Haniel's eardrums. He'd never been more terrified in his life.
"Haniel, Chaya's hurt!" Irvin said.
"What? Chaya!" Haniel's heart leapt into his mouth. The blonde had a trail of scarlet dribbling down his temple. He was passed out cold, probably from the impact. "No, no, no, he's hurt! What do I do? What do I do!"
"Go help Mavet, we've got Chaya!" Del ordered. She blanched at a strangled cry from outside. "GO!"
Haniel paused for a moment, not wanting to leave Chaya when he was injured like this. But Del leaned over and opened the car door, then shoved him outside, yelling for him to go. Haniel suddenly mastered his scrambled mind. He tossed Del the keys and scrambled to his feet. He whipped around to assess the opposition.
Three on two, Mavet's stronger, he should take two of them, I've got one–
A heart-wrenching scream nearly caused Haniel to have an anxiety attack. Mavet threw a man off of him, blood seeping through his undershirt. As the man landed several feet down the road, a fiery rage swept through Haniel. His nerves steeled. His mind was set. He marched directly toward the figure.
"THIS IS FOR ATTEMPTING TO MURDER MY FRIENDS!"
Haniel bull rushed the man before he could even blink. They went flying across the road and tumbled into the farmfield. Haniel landed on top of the man, and he threw a punch. He gasped with the pain that suddenly assaulted his knuckles. Why did no one tell him how much punching hurt? Haniel balled up his other hand and cracked the man in the nose. This time, it was much worse, and he recoiled with the intensity of the fire burning in his knuckles.
In his moment of hesitation, the man found and opening and hit Haniel in the jaw. Pain exploded in his very bones. He fell backwards, and the man leapt on top of him. Haniel's eyes widened when he saw the man's claws gleaming in the moonlight. He dodged just in time to avoid being skewered. But the man was much quicker and stronger than Haniel had anticipated, and he suddenly found it impossible to dodge the sheer number of blows. He threw up an arm to block and cried out when a claw punctured his skin.
Deep laughter followed. "You'll never win. We've nearly got your friend; after you're dead, we'll kill the blonde one, and all will fall into place."
Fear tore through Haniel's gut. What was this guy talking about? Why did he want to kill them? What was he talking about, all falling into place? And why was he laughing at his pain?
"Don't worry, Haniel. We'll kill them slowly, and they'll feel every – single – second of it."
Haniel wanted to cry and scream all at the same time. Nearby, Mavet was pinned by his two attackers, and his red eyes flickered silver as he found Haniel's. He gazed at him for only a moment, but it felt like they'd stepped into a slow-motion movie frame. Mavet's jaw hardened, his eyes steeled, and his muscles bulged. He gave Haniel an almost imperceptible nod. Then, time resumed, and Mavet was kicked in the side of the head.
All of a sudden, a rage like Haniel had never known passed over his entire body. Adrenaline invaded every fiber of his being. It lit up his nerves, electrocuted his mind, set fire to his veins. His muscles tightened. His senses dialed up to eleven. His resolve hardened.
"YOU'LL BURN WITH US!"
With surprising strength, Haniel's hand shot out to grip the guy around the neck, squeezing so hard that he was certain to have cut off his airway. The man's eyes widened as he clawed at Haniel's arms, desperately trying to pry his hands off his neck. But Haniel didn't let up. He tensed up his muscles as hard as he could, then threw his attacker, letting out a livid roar. The man flew at least fifteen feet before crashing to the ground. Haniel was instantly upon him, throwing punch after punch, so angry that he could hardly feel the pain. The man threw up his forearm in one last, feeble attempt to defend himself, then received a damning blow to the temple, and he was knocked out cold.
Haniel panted hard. He was vaguely aware of a sort of horror at what he'd done, but it was pushed aside faster than it could manifest. Mavet was still in trouble. He had to focus on saving him. Haniel sprinted in his friend's direction, taking in the carnage as he went.
Mavet's eyes raged scarlet as he fended off both of his attackers. He punched, kicked, hit, clawed, and pummeled for his life. Bloodstains covered his shirt, but he didn't seem to care. His opponents sported some flowering bruises and deep cuts all over their bodies. Haniel witnessed Mavet hook his arm around one man's neck and throw him over his shoulder, slamming him into the ground. Mavet was holding his own, but he had a snowball's chance in hell of keeping it up. These attackers were nearly superhuman. Haniel randomly picked one of the attackers and dealt him a stunning blow in the back.
"Double teaming? How is that fair?" he growled.
The man whipped around and caught Haniel on the shoulder with a fistful of claws. He stumbled backward just in time to avoid a blow to the side of the head. Haniel gritted his teeth and allowed his survival instincts to take over. He blocked, dodged, punched, and tackled. The man parried, rolled, jumped, and clawed. They matched each other blow for blow, hit for hit, step for step. Haniel was slowly losing his adrenaline-induced energy. His vision blurred in and out of focus. His muscles were beginning to fatigue. Soon, his punches would be useless.
Haniel palm-heeled his opponent in the jaw and scrambled to his feet. The man wiped away the blood, spitting on the ground. They faced off one another, pacing in a slow circle. Haniel wondered if he should make the first move when the man darted forward with inhuman speed and bowled him over. He landed hard on his back. The air escaped his lungs in a single gasp. The man balled up his first, then dealt a crushing blow to Haniel's abdomen. He heard a sickening snap, then seized up in agonizing pain. Haniel instinctively curled into a fetal position, but his attacker grabbed both wrists and pinned them to the ground, all while constricting the blood flow in his legs.
"You're an atrocity!" the man shrieked. "A pathetic excuse! A waste of life! You should never have been created!"
Haniel hardly heard the man's words. He focused on moving air in and out of his chest. It rushed out of him again when a searing punch caused his shoulder to explode into agony.
"You will look me in the eyes, Haniel! I want to see the life bleed out of them!"
Haniel defiantly spat in the man's face. "Try me, asshole!"
He channelled all his energy into his legs, and in one, enormous effort, he threw the guy off of him. His opponent tumbled into the ditch and let out a strangled cry. Haniel hoped the guy had incapacitated himself. Staggering to his feet, he ran toward Mavet, who was tumbling head-over-heels across the road, his attacker running straight at him. Haniel timed his run and sprinted to intercept the man. He didn't even see Haniel coming. The man was swept off his feet and thrown several feet across the road. Haniel turned to see Mavet already standing behind him.
"You got him?"
"It would be my greatest pleasure," Mavet snarled, spitting blood onto the ground.
Haniel watched as Mavet tore across the road, dove onto the man, then dealt the final, crushing blow to his head. It was lights out for the attacker. Mavet kicked the man into the ditch. Good riddance.
Suddenly, fiery pain spasmed in Haniel's lower back. He cried out when the torment increased tenfold, dragging him backward. Haniel kicked and fought, but it only brought more agony, threatening to send him into shock. He realized through the chaos in his head that the other man must have climbed out of the ditch– and had stabbed him in the back with one of his claws.
"Haniel! Hey, stop– !"
Mavet's voice was cut off. Haniel glanced up to see a fourth man, who'd apparently materialized out of the darkness, wrap his arm around Mavet's throat. He panicked as his friend kicked and fought to no avail. Haniel's own attacker threw him down before he could retaliate and placed a heavy boot on his shattered ribs, effectively pinning him to the ground with his own pain.
"It's been a pleasure, really, watching you try to fight back," the man drawled. "How cute it is to see you, Haniel, the center of this whole mess, try to defend yourself. It's adorable."
Haniel struggled against the man's weight, but he suddenly fell back, overcome by his own agony. He glared daggers at the man's triumphant expression.
"It's too bad you couldn't save your friends," the man continued. "A shame, really. They could have been such an asset...but they chose the wrong side. You'll thank us, someday, for ridding you of the nuisances."
"How dare you!" Haniel snapped. He glanced sideways to where Mavet fought back with all the fury he possessed, then to his car, where Del and Irvin were doing their best revive Chaya. Haniel balled his hands into fists. He would have believed it if electricity crackled between his nerves.
"My friends are the best things to grace this earth, and I hope you're reminded of that when I send you back to whatever hell hole you crawled out of!" he roared.
The man smirked. "You have no idea how amusing that statement is."
"If death is so amusing to you, then, just kill me already!" Haniel shouted. "Finish it before I wipe that ridiculous smile off your face!"
"Oh, we couldn't kill you, Haniel. You're too important to the plan. Just wait until we– "
Without warning, the man was bowled over. Haniel gasped as the air flooded back into his lungs. He rolled onto his side, and his eyebrows shot up at the sight.
Del was kicking the man's butt. A furious expression on her face, muscles tensed to the max, she absolutely pummeled the man, breaking his face with every kick and punch. She kneed him in the groin, finally rendering him useless, then finished him off with a flying kick to the temple. The man barely had time to gawk at Del before he keeled sideways and crumpled to the ground. She picked up Haniel, panting hard.
"You – need to – save – Mavet!" she wheezed.
Haniel nodded. Del helped him to his feet, then ran back to the car. Haniel stumbled toward a very blue-faced Mavet. His opponent had been cutting off his airway for far too long. Much longer, and he'd pass out or suffocate. Haniel gripped his abdomen with one arm and made steady progress toward the fight.
"Ready to watch you friend die?" the man laughed maniacally. "Come to meet your fate?"
Haniel didn't respond. Seizing the moment of hysteria, he flew at the guy with all the strength he had left, then jumped. Haniel soared over the man's head, then swung his leg like he was shooting the soccer ball. The impact sent the man reeling. Mavet lashed out with five sharpened claws. The attacker suddenly crashed to the ground, blood pooling onto the road. Haniel froze. He glanced up at Mavet in shock.
"We...we killed him," he muttered in disbelief.
Mavet's eyes were as big as saucers. "I – What – How – I didn't mean to – Oh my God, I stabbed him – in the chest – he's dead– " He looked down at his scarlet-stained claws in horror. "I don't know what happened. I was just trying to hit him – But then I stabbed him– "
"Mavet, we've got to go," Haniel urged, feeling his strength sapping by the minute. The extra boost in his muscles had all but disappeared.
Leaning on one another for support, they shuffled back to the car. Del helped them get inside. Haniel tried to start his car, and thankfully, it worked. He would need to take it to a repair shop in the morning, but for now, he hightailed it out of there. Haniel glanced in his rearview mirror to see that Mavet was regaining some color in his face, but he still gasped for air. The soccer player's own ribs spasmed in protest every time he moved. He made an executive decision to stop at a gas station instead of go home.
Del and Irvin ran inside to purchase some medical supplies while Haniel situated the back seats to provide a place for Mavet to lie down. Chaya finally regained consciousness, and Haniel explained everything to him just as Del and Irvin returned. The blonde fretted over Mavet's bloody clothing as they removed it. Mavet protested that he was fine, that it was unnecessary to strip him shirtless, but his rapidly paling face said otherwise. His skin was matted with all manners of cuts and bruises. One wound ran so deeply along his collarbone that Haniel worried he'd bleed out.
Del yelled at Mavet to shut up and finally managed to peel his undershirt off. He begrudgingly allowed her to clean his chest with alcohol wipes. When all the wounds were clean, Chaya insisted that he should use his healing powers. Irvin found a blanket to cover the windows with, then gave him the go-ahead. Chaya glowed as he placed his hand on Mavet's shoulder, and to everyone's amazement, the wounds healed a considerable amount. Chaya's wings also made an appearance, but he didn't seem to care. He didn't stop until his powers refused to heal Mavet any further. The tanned boy finally looked much better and was permitted to stand up.
"You're next, Haniel," Del ordered.
He tried to protest as well, but Del shoved him into the back of the car, inevitably making him lie down. Haniel only had a few cuts on his face and chest that Chaya didn't need to bother with. Del cleaned the claw-wound on his back. When Haniel refused to remove his suit and undershirt, Irvin forcibly did it for him, revealing a deep, flowering bruise around his ribs. Haniel winced when Del gently touched it. She apologized profusely for hurting him, then asked Chaya to help. After a few minutes, the glow receded, and Haniel's ribs felt much better.
"Thank you, Chaya," Haniel said. He blushed profusely and yanked his shirt back on. "You didn't have to use all that energy for me."
"I'm fine, I'll just sleep a ton tonight," Chaya yawned. "You're worth it, both of you."
"What even happened, anyway?" Irvin asked. "Who were those guys?"
"I don't know. You said they had claws and red eyes and superhuman strength, Haniel?"
Haniel's heart skipped a few beats as he nodded. "One of them said something to me about a plan. They wanted to kill you two, but I was supposed to stay alive. Why? Why would they kill the two people with powers, but not me?"
"I hate to say this," Del grumbled, "but remember what Trevor Puck said? About bad things happening if we didn't go to Jerusalem? I think he was telling the truth."
"But what if it's a trap?" Irvin pointed out. "We'd be walking into their hands."
Haniel swallowed hard. The guilt ate away at his soul, but the decision had been made for him. He couldn't let his friends die at the hands of those bloodthirsty beasts.
"I don't think we have a choice."