Agnes groaned as she felt herself flat on her back. A pain radiated outward from her posterior and she moaned as she slowly moved herself into a sitting position. Her world tilted for a second and Agnes gave herself a breath to get her bearings. The floor around her was extreme dirty, filthy even, and dotted and lined the outside of her clothes. She utter displeasure as she patted the dust off her clothing and looked up to Rebecca to make sure she was okay. After all, that little move had sent a lot of dirt and debris flying.

Then she watched her as she began to hold back her laughter. Agnes narrowed her eyes and smirked as she shook her head. How dare she laugh at her misfortune! Agnes would have played on the girl’s sympathies if she herself were not struggling to keep from laughing too.

>> "Dae ye wanna open it here, ur shoulds we head back?"

Agnes looked at her quizzically. It was then that she looked down and remembered the cracked, brown leather briefcase that she had managed to rip out of its hiding place. It was still there. Just the sight of it sent a pang of hope up Agnes’ spine. To think that after all this time, her parents still had not found it. Dante certainly had the right idea when he told her to hide it there.

Anxiously she tested the weight of it. It still felt full! But…she knew she just had to check.

She turned her gaze back up to Rebecca. “L-Let me…just…um…double check. Okay?” she whispered as she stood up, holding the briefcase up by its handle.

Silently she drifted over to the bed, past Rebecca, and placed the case on top of the mattress. Fingers on the rings, she momentarily held her breath, before she pulled the straps free from their rings and flipped open the top. Eyes closed, she slowly, cautiously opened them and peered down into the interior. In that second her heart rang out. From just a cursory glance, it looked as if absolutely everything was inside. She breathed in relief. She would look through it all, piece by piece, but not until she got home.

Until then, she sated her curiosity by reaching in and pulling out a small piece of paper. She patted the dust off of it and tears began to well up in her eyes. Upon closer inspection, it was obvious that it was not a small slip of paper, but a photograph. She felt her heart skipping and hand to press her hand to her chest to calm it down.

Once she managed it, she sighed as she looked at the photo again. At least her parents had never found it. She then turned to Rebecca and held it out for her to take.

“That’s Me and my brother, Dante,” she said as she wiped happy tears from her eyes. She was so happy the picture had not been discovered. She remembered how hard it was to get him to agree to take her to that party, she dressed as an angel and himself as a football star. “We went a Harvest Party about a year before he left. Before…everything happened…”

As time passed, with her memory on her brother waning just a little, piece by piece, Agnes was glad to finally have a piece of him to always carry with her. Something her parents could never rip away from her.

>> “L-Let me…just…um…double check. Okay?”

Rebecca was almost surprised that Agnes would ask as though she were requesting permission. "Well, sure, o' course. S'yoor quest." Rebecca looked on as Agnes unclasped the case, now increasingly curious about what trinkets meant so much to Agnes that she would return to her place of betrayal and damnation.

Within the briefcase, there was a plethora of small objects Rebecca was sure she might hear about later, but there was one particular possession Agnes could not help but pull from the depths of her past.

>> “That’s Me and my brother, Dante. We went a Harvest Party about a year before he left. Before…everything happened…”

It was Dante... after hearing about him, it was surreal to have a face connected to the name. The face was strong-- lantern-jawed. She half-expected Dante to be thin and lanky like his sister, so he was surprisingly muscular. Unsure what to say in response, she quietly stammered out, "H-he's handsome... Attractiveness runs in yer family." She heard the words escape her lips, somewhere between lighthearted and sincere. "Ah wish Ah coulds 'ave met him."

Agnes sighed as she looked at the picture that she had shown Rebecca. Her brother, Dante. He had the appearance of someone who was always up to mischief, someone who loved to thumb his nose at any type of authority. And in all honesty that was exactly the type of person that he was. Agnes could not remember how many times she had witness Dante get into trouble with those he rallied against. But he was different when he was around her.

She saw a side of him that she doubted that anyone else truly saw. He was sweet, caring, understanding, just absolutely everything a good big brother was supposed to be like. She could remember how many times he helped her calm her down after bad dreams, or protected her from bullies, or snuck food or comics to her that her parents had deemed unfit. He was absolutely everything to her.

Her eyes began to well up a little again as she realized she was staring at a picture. That was all Dante was to her now…a picture; a memory frozen in time. Would she ever really see him again?

A sigh and she blinked away the tears. She prayed she would see him again. But…if she didn’t…well…at least she had this photograph.

>> "H-he's handsome... Attractiveness runs in yer family."

Huh? Agnes suddenly found herself shaken back to reality. She turned her gaze to Rebecca and suddenly she began to blush. In some roundabout way, did…Rebecca just say that she was...”attractive”? Again she could feel those confusing thoughts trying to punch their way back into the back of her mind but she fought them off. She had to stop overanalyzing every little thing that the girl uttered.

It was a compliment, that was it.

>> "Ah wish Ah coulds 'ave met him."

Suddenly that pang of pain prodded at her heart again. She nodded mutely as she glanced to Rebecca with a sad smile on her face. “Me too.” Taking a breath she wiped the tears from under her eyes and turned to place the photo back into briefcase. Once that was done, she replaced the straps and made sure that they were secure. She then hefted that up onto her shoulder and gave Rebecca a small, sad smile. “I…I guess that’s it. Are you rea—“

SLAM!![/b]

Agnes squeaked and jumped as she turned her attention to the door to her room. That sound…it sounded as if the front door to the house had been opened and then slammed shut. Panic washed over her as she began to creep forward, her ear aimed directly at the door. As she crept closer, the sounds of voices could clearly be heard as they drifted up from the ground floor, channeled by the stairway. She held her breath as she listened…

“Why here of all places! The cops know about this place!!”

“I know that!” a very familiar voice rang up boldly from the living room downstairs. “But we need to lay low until we gather the rest of the followers.”

“What?” A third voice added in, this one female. “What do you mean ‘gather’? We’re all that’s left! Once you and the Nicolas’ got put away, the fellowship broke apart! Nobody wanted to face that kind of heat!”

Suddenly there was the sound of air sizzle and a blast of warmth could be felt issuing forth from down below. Agnes covered her mouth as sensation of heat and white light on the walls, mixed with the sound of the voice painted for her the picture of who she was listening to.

“Don’t. Test. Me.” the stronger voice whispered. “Or I WILL so you the heat. I didn’t break out of prison to be questioned. Now, strip the house down and look for supplies. The Nicholas’ were not stupid. They always had back up stores in case they needed to leave in a hurry. So FIND THEM.” he growled. “And check upstairs too!”

Agnes stifled a gasp as she turned her attention back to Rebecca. From her quivering lips, all that came out was a name. “M-M-Malachi…”

The moment was a powerful one for Agnes, but it was necessary. With the photograph back in her possession, Agnes's aura was melancholic but it seemed like she was now ready to leave her old home for a final time.

SLAM!![/b]

It seemed like they were going to leave, but before Rebecca could even motion to the door, sounds from downstairs were proof that they were no longer alone in the house. The slamming door and footsteps were accompanied by voices: two normal voices and one that sounded like what she imagined a vengeful titan would speak with.

Rebecca turned, startled, to try and get some hint of what was happening from Agnes. As though the voice itself weakened her, she trembled out a name.

>> “M-M-Malachi…”

She was not sure who Malachi was, but from what she heard, he was in jail with Agnes's parents. This was clearly a group of followers, and Malachi was either more respected or more dangerous than the first two. Not sure of what to do, Rebecca thought on her feet. The bedframe was close to the door, but it was heavy...

The weight was just about within her limits, but she was going to have to lift it off the ground, lest she give them away with the groaning of dragging metal. She focused around the bed, taking a deep breath. Slowly, the bed levitated, just an inch over the ground, but it was a start if she could maintain it.

Carefully, straining mentally at the weight she was maintaining, the bed moved an inch every other second or so, until it was placed in front of the door. Cautiously, she lowered the metal, cringing when it made contact with the ground, but it was thankfully nothing more than a stifled thud. She reached over the frame and turned the lock.

She slowly stepped to Agnes, speaking quietly. "Hopefully they jist pass up thes room, but if nae, Ah'll protect ye... whoever thes Malachi is..." Rebecca faced the door, slipping a bag of metal balls out of her pocket. They levitated around her like hornets waiting silently, not showing the anxious nerves of the trembling Rebecca. Ah wish there was more metal in th' room...

The second that Agnes had heard Malachi’s voice, she felt herself being pulled back to that day at the mansion; the day that her parents came with Malachi to remove her from the premises and complete their exorcism. Just the thought of that day alone made her shiver all over as the claws of the past gripped her spine in an attempt to pull her back down. As much as she did not want to give power to her past, it was hard to ignore. Malachi’s voice tore through her like a hot knife.

Shaking she began to back away from the door, her mind racing to figure out her next move. Malachi was in the house, at least two other followers of her parents were in the house, and they were trapped upstairs. Agnes was not liking these odds in the least.

Her arms hugging close to herself, she tried to warm herself up from the fear that wanted to encase her. She turned to Rebecca to make sure that she was okay, but before she could say anything, she saw her friend already jumping into action.

Mutely Agnes watched as the metal bed frame was actually lifted from the ground , only an inch or two, and levitated towards the door which was now closed. Agnes watched in awe; Rebecca really was quite impressive. Once the door was barred, Rebecca turned the lock then focused her attention back to Agnes.

>> "Hopefully they jist pass up thes room, but if nae, Ah'll protect ye... whoever thes Malachi is..."[/color]

From her pocket Rebecca produced a small bag. At first Agnes had no idea what the young Scot was doing. But that was quickly changed when from the confines of the bag, several metal marbles came floating out. They hovered and spun around Rebecca as if she were some heavenly body and they were tiny planets. Agnes could only gawk in awe. The girl was extremely impressive and seemed to be far more useful with her powers than Agnes was.

Then again Agnes thought that about everyone’s powers.

She clenched her jaw as she nodded to Rebecca and then turned to face the door. She could already hear footsteps as they begrudgingly stormed up the staircase. Agnes whispered between her clenched teeth to Rebecca.

“W-We need to be careful…and get out of here as soon as possible. Y-You don’t know what Malachi is capable of,” Agnes muttered. Instantly images of the young man with the destructive powers coursed through her mind. “Rebecca he can cover himself in fire, white fire. He nearly burned down the mansion when he showed up there to get me.”

Agnes hazard a glance to the window. Could she leave by that means again? She didn’t see why not. She was about to direct Rebecca to the window when suddenly—

RattleRattleRattle[/b]

The door handle was being tampered with. Agnes immediately felt her heart skip a bit. Her blood coursing, her panic rising, there was no wonder that the familiar buzzing began to emanate from her chest. She realized then that Rebecca had never actually SEEN Agnes’ powers in actions. She knew about her wings…but the insects in her chest, Agnes had kept the young Scot blissfully unaware of. Unfortunately, with her fear rising, she was unsure if she could control the swarm.

RattleRattleTHUMP…THUD!![/b]

Agnes jumped as the door seemed to be being shoved against. A glance to the window and she knew they she and Rebecca wouldn’t have enough time. And as brave as her friend was, Agnes was not going to expose her to those people. Across the room she spied her closet and realized that it would be their best hiding spot.

Rushing / tip toeing over, Agnes carefully opened the window just enough to make it look like someone squeezed through, then rushed over to Rebecca’s side. Careful of the marbles, she grabbed her friend’s hand, gave it a squeeze, then dragged her with her to the closet.

“Come on,” she whispered urgently as the door was rammed against again and against. It was nearing splinters now. “We’ll hide in the closet. When he leaves, we’ll go out the window!”

>> “W-We need to be careful…and get out of here as soon as possible. Y-You don’t know what Malachi is capable of. Rebecca he can cover himself in fire, white fire. He nearly burned down the mansion when he showed up there to get me.”

...

So Rebecca was prepared for dangerous cultists and even possibly guns, (at least she could manipulate those,) but she was not anticipating a mutant acolyte, much less one who almost destroyed the mansion. She tightened her trembling fist, facing the door as--

RattleRattleRattle[/i]

The knob was rattling, and even with it locked, it unnerved Rebecca. Her eyes were cast on the door, not wanting to look anywhere else, even with a buzzing sound coming from Agnes. Dismissing it as her wings, Rebecca ignored it, attempting to remain silent, in hopes that the room would be ignored.

RattleRattleTHUMP…THUD!![/b]

It was obvious that they would not leave a room untouched, even if it meant breaking the door down. Rebecca was willing to foolishly face the door down, but her friend was smarter and cared too much about Rebecca, taking her hand and pulling her toward the closet.

>> “Come on. We’ll hide in the closet. When he leaves, we’ll go out the window!”

As much as Rebecca did not want to resort to hiding, sticking with Agnes was most important. "Okay..." Rebecca called the marbles back into her hand, magnetically pulling them toward one another until they were a sold mass of spheres in her palm.

The girls entered the closet and closed it, waiting silently. Rebecca focused on the knob, hoping to lock it in place. In the dark closet, she was able to sense one or two disruptions in the magnetic field... hopefully it would not come down to it, but if the door was opened, she would be prepared.

She would defend Agnes.

>> "Okay..."[/color]

Thankfully Rebecca had decided to not put up that much of a fight. She knew that Rebecca was sweet, that she was brave, and her powers were far more useful than her own, but Agnes knew how brutal these people could be. She faced off against them on three different occasions now and that was an experience that she surely did not want for Rebecca. To face the threat of her parents’ fanatical religion was definitely not something that she wanted any of her friends to go through.

Just imagining Rebecca in the same position that she herself had been in over a year ago, well, it chill her down to her core. But instead of being overtaken by fear, it made her want to get angry. But Agnes stifled the feelings long enough for her to pulled Rebecca and herself into the closet.

They squeezed close, trying not to make too much noise as Agnes closed the closet doors and remained in fearful silence. She could hear the door being pounded against, the rush of voices that attempted to figure out what was going on, and finally the heavy footsteps that belonged to the one man who ironically make her skin grow cold…Malachi.

A small slit of light brushed across their eyes and both Agnes and Rebecca could look out into the room that they had abandoned. Outside they could hear the sounds of grunting and pounding before finally there was a resounding CRASH that make Agnes hold her breath fearfully. She attempted to get a better look outside but only ended up brushing her cheek against Rebecca’s. Normally such an action would have been cause for embarrassment and blushing…

She paused as she turned her worried gaze to Rebecca. Silently she watched her before she nodded her head and mouthed a voiceless “I’m sorry” before she turned her gaze back outside.

One man, a dark skinned and wearing a beanie and baggy clothes, shook his head as he stepped into the room. Around his neck was clearly visible a metal necklace of a cross with an eye in the middle of it. Agnes felt her breath catch her throat again. They were definitely followers of her parent’s church.

“What the…?” he muttered. He then turned back to the door. “Yo! Malachi! Come check this out!”

Seconds later she heard those heavy footfalls again. Soon afterward, the tall and familiar stature of Malachi stepped into the room. He was dressed in a cheap olive suit with a colorful, button up shirt underneath. It looked like the type of suit a criminal would wear to his trail. For all Agnes knew, that’s exactly what the suit was. She tried to shake the image of him off but it was hard to forget him, especially after what he had done back at the mansion.

”What?!” Malachi asked impatiently.

The dark-skinned man nodded to the broken door and the bed frame. “Can’t you see? Someone was in here. They tried to block the door.”

Malachi arched a brow as she turned to face the broken door and the skewed bed frame. He took a pair of steps over and looked around the rest of the room; his eyes went past the closet door but thankfully they didn’t stop. Instead he kept turning until he reached the window. His eyes narrowed.

“Get Mary and check outside. It looks like that window was recently opened today.” he muttered. When, out of the corner of his eye he saw that the man still had not moved, he sighed. ”Am I talking to myself, Jeremiah?! GO! NOWW!”

Instantly this forced the man to jump up and head out of the room which was followed by a copious amount of cursing under his breath.

Once he was gone, Malachi sighed as he turned on his heel. But as he turned, his foot stumbled across something that thudded against his toe. A glance down, and he looked at the plank of wood with a black knot in it curiously. Following the length of the floor, his eyes then settled in on the large black gap in floor that was once covered by the bed. A very small grin slipped across his features as he slowly turned his gaze up to survey the room.

”Pestilence,” he whispered. “You’ve been here, haven’t you?” he asked to nothing in particular as he began to stroll around the room. “Just couldn’t stay away. Maybe…you really do want your soul saved? You should have said so sooner,” he grinned. His fists clenched and suddenly his hand began encased in a burst of flickering and hot white fire. “I would have been happy to BURN the demon out of you.” He continued to strolled until his eyes rested on the closet door and he tilted his head. “You just gotta…show yourself…Agnes…”

The darkness of the room was only split in half by a sliver of light between the closed door and the wall, where Rebecca could barely make out bodies entering the room. The one she assumed was Malachi wore no metal, but the other man had something metal around his neck. The encounter between the two men was tense, and Malachi was clearly in charge, ordering the others around with a short temper.

There was a brush against Rebecca's cheek. Already rather jumpy, her head jerked to the side to barely make out Agnes's mouthed-out apology in the darkness. It was a momentary accident.

Returning to focus, she watched as the man named Jeremiah left Malachi alone. And then, the terrifying voice dropped from a shout to a whisper without losing an ounce of unholy righteousness. He knew they were there-- or at least, that Agnes was there. He would find them...

But he was not expecting someone else... not expecting Rebecca... or her mutation.

If she waited-- if they did nothing, he would eventually find the door. He smashed a door and a bedframe already, so this door would mean nothing.

She sensed the knob, her marbles, door hinges, the clothes pole, and something next to her on the ground that seemed larger... she wrapped her hand around it. It was heavy for its size. She only had once chance at this, and if she did it right, they would get away.

If she got it wrong... well, Agnes could get away.

She got close to Agnes and spoke in the softest voice she could. "Get tae th' window immediately. Ah'll follow." Ah hope.

This could be the last thing she ever did. She thought about the brush of a cheek against hers... accidents happened in the dark. There was no time left to think. About anything.

She lifted the heavy metal object next to her close to her chest, leaned forward.

And in the dark, her lips touched Agnes's, and the adrenaline that was already rushing through her body sparked and ignited. She quietly muttered a, "Sorry. Slipped," before she turned to the door.

She focused as much magnetic push as she could against the handle. There was a splintering sound.

And then the knob launched at Malachi.

Rebecca kicked off the ground into the door, which flew open without its knob mechanism. She tossed the object in her hand, (an ironic one at that,) and willed it directly toward the large man's head. "RUN NOW!"

And now Rebecca prayed for the best.

The words were teasing, malevolent, and Agnes knew that they were directed straight to her. Somehow Malachi just knew that she was in there. Maybe her parents had informed him that this was her room, maybe he saw her come in, maybe he just was talking to the air in the middle of some delusion, whatever it was, it was enough to make the pace of Agnes’ heart quicken. If she were alone, fine, then maybe she could have forced herself to face him. But with Rebecca here, all the runaway could do was imagine scenarios in which the pair of them were captured and subjected to the same cruelty that she had barely managed to lived through before.

Those thoughts alone were enough to distract her and force her into a paralysis that she had no way of escaping.

Shaking throughout, she clenched her fists and felt the weight of the briefcase strap digging into her shoulder. She sacrificed not only herself, but Rebecca as well? All for the sake of a few old trinkets that she should have left to the dusts of time? That was not fair of her. Rebecca could be safe back at the mansion, but no, Agnes just had to ask her to come with her.

Another few steps shook her from her depressed thoughts. She looked up through the gap in the doors and she held her breath. Malachi’s malicious eyes were locked directly onto to doors to the closet while his fist still flickered and glowed with the crackling white flames. Just seeing the fire brought back the scents of the burning carpet, clothes, and furniture that Malachi had ignited back at the mansion. She really and truly had no idea what they were going to do next.

Then she felt Rebecca shift and reach for something that was somewhere down at the bottom of the closet. Too dark to see, Agnes was about to ask in a hurried whisper what she was doing when Rebecca and cut her off.

>> "Get tae th' window immediately. Ah'll follow."

Agnes eyes widened as a new sense of panic enveloped her. She was not about to let Rebecca fight someone like Malachi just for her. No! There was just absolutely, positively NO[/b] way that she was going to allow that. Malachi was not her problem, not her issue, at all! She had to be absolutely insane to think that Agnes would just sit back and let her do something that—

Her heart literally stopped the second that she felt Rebecca’s lips brush against her own. In that one second, absolutely everything around Agnes melted away. She felt her lungs stop breathing, her heart stop beating, her skin crackled with electricity. Her mind was an utter blank as she tried to make some sense of what happened.

When the gap between herself and Rebecca widened again, the shocked runaway simply stood there unable to comprehend anything. What…was that…?

>> "Sorry. Slipped,"

Agnes nodded. Sure. That seemed like the most acceptable reason. Right? But because she could muse on the event more, suddenly Rebecca had made her move.

>> "RUN NOW!"

“No!” she shouted. But her voice was drowned out. There was the sound of a door knob being ripped off the door and large, heavy, metal cross being thrown through the air. As well that of Rebecca running out from the closet.

Agnes quickly rushed out behind Rebecca. If anything she would grab her hand and drag her straight to that window with her. No one kissed her and then sacrificed their life without talking about it first!

Malachi’s attention snapped to the spunky redhead just as the doorknob went flying. He barely had the time to register what it was because just as he caught sight of that vision of pale, freckled skin, suddenly he felt the metal doorknob drive itself into his gut. Doubled over, anger flashed over him and this was further driven home by the fact that white flames began to encase his entire body.

Angrily he lifted his gaze to this newcomer, eyes white and boiling over. But before he could lock eyes with her for too long, suddenly his field of vision was eclipsed by that of a huge, metal cross. Malachi barely ducked his head, but not before he felt an edge of that monstrosity strike the top of his head.

”ARRRGGGHHHH!!!!” he screamed as he clutched his head painfully. His ears rang and though the cross drew blood, it quickly evaporated due to his flame engulfed body.

Agnes ran out of the closet just in time to see Malachi leaning down, clutching his throbbing head. With him distracted, Agnes’ wings fluttered nervously as she ran forward and grabbed Rebecca by the hand in order to pull her towards the window.

“Come on! We need to go! Now!!!” she screamed.

The voice was what shook Malachi from his daze. Eyes wide, he snapped his head up to see Agnes, now sporting bug wings, and pulling the redhead away. Shaking all over, Malachi growled as he stood up, grabbed a large piece of broken wood (which immediately lit into a blaze of white fire), and hurled it with all his might towards Rebecca.

“NO! NOT THIS TIME!!!” he shouted as the blazing debris was sent flying towards Rebecca.

All of Rebecca's hits landed, and each was a decisive blow, but Malachi was still standing. Howling in pain and rage, but standing. Quickly, his body was within a mass of raging white flames. The sight sent a pang of fear in Rebecca's heart, but she would not let Agnes suffer any longer.

>> “Come on! We need to go! Now!!!”

Unfortunately, Agnes had no intention of leaving without Rebecca. The frail winged-lass pulled at the Scot, dragging her toward the window. Frustrated, even if she understood her friend's concern, Rebecca groaned, "Ah told ye Ah'd follow! Stubborn!"

>> “NO! NOT THIS TIME!!!”

Complying with her friend, she turned to the window before catching something in the corner of her eye. She turned and saw a flaming chunk of wood flying at her. With no piece of metal near enough to shield herself with, her instincts focused on the bangles on her wrists, under her sleeves.

The wood hit the bangles that she managed to intercept the attack with. The impact still hurt, and the searing wood hit the back of her hand and scorched her sleeve. Rebecca shouted in pain as the impact coursed through her arms.

Rebecca looked at the man who just tried to incapacitate her, maybe even kill her, and torture Agnes to death. Focusing on a large, heavy chunk of warped metal that was once part of the bedframe, Rebecca pulled it toward Malachi.

She did not look to see what happened, instead focusing on helping Agnes out the window so she could follow suit. The constant use of her powers on heavy metals was starting to get to her, (on top of her emotional stress,) and she was feeling light-headed. She just hoped she could escape with Agnes before it got to her.

Adrenaline burst through Agnes’ system as she focused on one thing, and only one thing, getting Rebecca out of here. Malachi was distracted and in visibly in pain, so it was the absolute perfect time to get the pair of them out of this extremely dangerous situation. That was why she gripped Rebecca’s hand and forcefully pulled her towards the window. There was a ledge directly outside that was partially slanted. They could just scoot their way down, they could leap onto the grass besides the house and make an open run for it.

It was not a sound plan but it was the absolute best one that Agnes had at the moment.

>> "Ah told ye Ah'd follow! Stubborn!"

“You can yell at me later!” Agnes shouted a she pulled her towards the window. “But for now, just ru—“

Malachi bellowed just as they made it to the window. It was loud and rage-filled enough to pull Agnes’ attention away, just in time for her to watch as huge chunk of fiery debris flew towards the both of them.

Agnes barely had time to blink. She would have shoved Rebecca out of the way. She would have taken the full force of that flaming debris all to herself. But Rebecca was faster. Arms were quickly raised, and like some kind of superhero, her metal bangles took the full force of the fire. And in that same instance, Agnes watched as the back of her friend’s hands were scorched. Angrily, she turned back to Malachi but again Rebecca beat her to the punch.

Metal hovered and twisted and suddenly went flying into the back of Malachi’s leg’s, effectively knocking him flat on his butt. Sprawled out on his back and still bursting with flames, it was not long before the dirty wooden floor actually caught fire. Caught in a momentary daze, he barely noticed that Agnes was crawling out the window.

Aided by Rebecca, Agnes climbed out onto the ledge. Immediately he cool air of the night brushed against her skin but she barely felt it. The adrenaline that pushed through her veins warmed her body considerably. It was only once she was half hanging out of the window that she actually looked at Rebecca’s hands. Definitely burned. But superficial at best…and they could at least be healed.

“Come on, Rebecca!” Agnes said as she leaned in and began to pull Rebecca out the window by her arms.

For whatever reason, Rebecca was looking more and more exhausted. And this was definitely not the time for that. With Rebecca tiredly hanging halfway outside and halfway in the room, Agnes stood and leaned inside the window. Her thing fingers curled around the top of Rebecca’s jeans tightly. But just as they did, she looked in and watched as an inferno actually began to fill the room. With wide eyes, she watched as Malachi stood up, snarling in their direction.

Malachi, now looking like little more than a burning effigy of a man, sneered as he glared daggers at them.

“Devil Spawn! THE BOTH OF YOU!!” he screamed as he picked up an already fiery chair. It was engulfed in even more flames as he raised it above his head and aimed it at Agnes.

“No, no, no!” Agnes said as she gripped Rebecca’s jean’s tightly with one hand than scooped her other hand around the rear end that Rebecca always claimed was too flat. She held tightly as she pulled towards her just as Malachi sent the flaming chair hurtling towards the window. On the ledge, Agnes ducked down and held Rebecca close as she heard the chair SMASH!![/b] against the empty space of the window. Bits of flaming chips and debris flew down past her .

Knowing that she had come so close to dying, that Rebecca had come so close to dying, that Malachi was in the room, all of it had sent Agnes over the edge. The buzzing in her chest was deafening as she heard those thundering footsteps storm closer to the window. She could no longer control the Swarm that bounced angrily inside of her chest. But she held her mouth close, looking like someone who was going to be sick to their stomach, and waited.

THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!![/b]

Malachi stormed towards the window. His feet thudding against the burning floorboards until he arrived at his destination, he growled as he gripped the edge and began to lean outside.

The heat from Malachi’s body warming the air, Agnes suddenly took her opportunity. Standing up she faced Malachi directly. The suddenly appearance of the runaway caused the fanatic mutant to startle himself partially back to his human form. That was all the opening that Agnes needed. The swarm bristling and sensing danger shook within her chest until she finally opened her mouth wide, directly towards Malachi.

BBBbbuuuuuuuuuuuuzzzzzzzzzzzzz!!!

The Swarm was released. The nearly solid dark cloud of black flies, yellow hornets, and roaches fell from her mouth and threw themselves directly at the one creature that posed any sort of threat: Malachi.

“Wha--?! NO!!! ARRGGHH!!!” he screamed momentarily as the pestilence swarmed over his features and he stumbled back, screaming so loud that the depths of Hell itself could hear him as he was bit, stung, and buffeted…

Rebecca's hands were stinging and her arms were sore, but most of her pain was being dealt with by the adrenaline numbing her body. The real effects of this fight would be evident later on when the threat had passed, but at the moment, the threat was very much a present factor.

Her surprise assault knocked Malachi down, but once again, she only seemed to anger him. Still, it was an opportunity, and Agnes took it to slip her thin frame through the window. Now that she was one step closer to freedom from the threat, Agnes helped Rebecca.

Both girls were panicking, the imminent flashfire growing behind Rebecca. Now was not the time for shyness, and it would seem Agnes begrudgingly agreed, yanking Rebecca through the window by her butt, and the freckled girl stumbled to her feet on the ledge.

Hit with a burst of crisp, open air, freedom seemed within her grasp. Unfortunately, she turned back to feel herself buffeted by the overwhelming heat of "righteous fire" approaching them. The heat became so intense, she was sure her bangs were singed, and her face would look like it lost a battle with the sun when this was all over.

BBBbbuuuuuuuuuuuuzzzzzzzzzzzzz!!![/b]

Rebecca watched in amazement as a collection of very angry insects emerged from Agnes's mouth, peppering Malachi, who was not prepared. (Rebecca was not ready for it either, but thankfully these insects were not concerned with her.) Wide-eyed, slightly scared, but impressed, she nodded. "Tha'll do."

Unfortunately, despite the swarm being more than what Malachi deserved, it was unlikely to incapacitate him, and Rebecca wanted to take no chances. There was one fixture in the room she had been ignoring due to its size: the ceiling fan. It was probably well within her weight limit, but it would take some exertion to remove it from the ceiling, and she would have to make it count. She closed her eyes, and with a, "RAH!" the ceiling fan jerked out of the ceiling, wires snapping, as the large fixture dropped violently toward Malachi.

Rebecca tried to focus on watching and making sure it found its mark, but everything started going dark as her eyes began rolling back. Slipping out of consciousness briefly, her knee buckled and she lost her footing.

Rebecca tumbled off the ledge, but managed to remain conscious, at least just enough to exert any strength she had left to pull her bangles upward. It was not enough to stop her descent, but it slowed her slightly. The bracelets pulled violently at her skin, cutting into the flesh of her arm.

Even with the slowing, she still hit the ground harder than she would hope, tumbling from her knee to her shoulder. She ended up on her back, coughing, hoping she avoided breaking anything.

What was worse, Rebecca knew Malachi sent the other cultists outside. It would be a matter of time before she was noticed, and all she could do was assign all her focus to keeping her eyes open, despite her mental strength already being over-exerted.

Agnes narrowed her eyes as she stood there, watching as Malachi screamed and tried to swat away the swarm of insects that had thrown themselves at him. She knew that her swarm sometimes had a difficult time of judging friend from foe. Though she could not outright control them with her mind, Agnes did her best to at least direct their protective anger by forcing them towards Malachi. She watched through unsympathetic eyes as Malachi swatted, screaming and attempted to ignite himself once again. But the constant barrage of the swarm was proving to be far more difficult to achieve. Already Agnes could see his face swelling up from the attack and it was obvious that he was not at all pleased with being attacked in such a manner.

“Pestilence! Worm!! I am God’s angel!!” he screamed as he lashed out against the insects and finally found enough focus to reignite himself into a blaze of white fire. Nearly every single insect that was in his vicinity burst into tiny, crackling sparks of fire. “Your plague is not greater than my light!!”

Caught up in a fervor of righteous fire, Agnes watched as Malachi began to burn all the brighter. He growled, snapped and shook as the fire that engulfed him ignited everything in the room. It was becoming so hot that Agnes could scarcely keep her eyes open in the face of the impenetrable walls of fire that pushed out towards her. The house was going to burn down and there was absolutely nothing that she could to about it.

Good.

But as she stood there, watching as Malachi burned so fiercely, she feared how they were going to get out of here. His goons were still somewhere down below, and in a matter of seconds the entire house would be engulfed in flames. They were going to have to jump for it but how far behind would Malachi be? He was mad and he looked like a bull ready to charge. They would have seconds at most and even that would not be enough to give them enough distance between themselves and Malachi.

It was then that suddenly Rebecca decided to jump in on Malachi’s punishment. Agnes saw the concentrated look on Rebecca’s face and then heard the creaking of something metallic in the room. Her gaze snapped back to the interior and she watched as the very large ceiling fan that had adorned her room creaked and pushed down until it ripped itself free from the ceiling.

Malachi, too distracted by his rage, but the bristling fire that engulfed him, barely had time to register that something was happening at all. It was only when the debris began to fall around him that he looked up; by then it was too late. The fixture eclipsed his vision fully until he felt it fall, hard upon his shoulder and send waves of pain throughout his body. Soon blackness was all he saw as he stumbled to the fiery ground.

Agnes watched, wide-eyed momentarily but soon a cold anger filled her eyes. He deserved far worse than that. She turned away, back to Rebecca in order to get them the hell out of there. But when she looked, all she saw was the limp body of her friend. Agnes barely had time to call out her name as she reached out to grab her before she fell but it was too late. Rebecca stumbled and was gone from the ledge.

“No!!” she gasped as she scrambled over to the edge.

She peered over and watched as Rebecca sank onto her back, completely wiped out. It was obvious that Rebecca had pushed herself far too hard and was not paying the price for it. But before she could think about admonish Rebecca for that later, she gasped as she heard more rushed footsteps. Two people were running along the length of the house and had made their way to the lawn. One of them was clearly Jeremiah, the man she saw earlier in the room. The second, a female, could only be Mary. Both of them wore the metal necklaces of her parent’s church.

She was not going to allow them to capture another…

“Hey! Who’s that?” Mary screamed as she rushed over. “Why is the house on fire?!”

“That stupid freak!” Jeremiad exclaimed. “He probably got worked up over nothing. Come on, let’s see what this one kno—“

Buzzzzzzz…[/b]

Both followers blinked as they stopped in their tracks, not far from Rebecca but far enough away that they wouldn’t realize that her eyes were open. They stood up straight and looked around in a confused manner. They knew that whatever that buzzing was, it was not natural. Terrified, they looked left and right but it was not until a shadow passed over their eyes that they gasped in terror.

Hovering above them, none too far from the blazing house, as Agnes. She glared down at them with menacing eyes as he insect wings beat hard and fast to keep her afloat. Once she got their attention, Agnes opened her mouth and unleashed a primordial, insect-like shriek that tore through the area. Immediately a massive amount of tiny speckled dots began to surround her protectively, flying in from every house, bush, and trashcan in the surrounding area. The multitude of flies buzzed and hovered as they flew around her like tiny planets circling a sun.

Her face a grimace of rage and masked in shadows due the fire erupting behind her, she looked truly demonic. She pulled embraced her vision as that of the Horseman of Pestilence.

“Leave. Now.“ she growled.

Rebecca was thankful that she landed in the lawn instead of the walkway. That was where her good luck ended, since the ground was hard and frozen due to the winter chill. She groaned, scraped and bruised, unable to move her right arm without pain, and her vision steadily growing darker. She could only hope she succeeded in putting Malachi out of business... for Agnes...

She could hear footsteps coming, and the metal crosses entered her field-vision, but she had nothing left in her to even attempt manipulating them. She did her duty... it was all she could do...

Buzzzzzzz…[/i]

>> “Leave. Now.“

Her hearing was growing muffled, but she was able to make out the voice of her friend. She must have said it with authority however, because Rebecca could sense metal necklaces moving away from her at a quick pace.

Rebecca's strength was fading fast, but she felt happier knowing Agnes was alright. When the black haired girl appeared in her (diminishing) field of vision, Rebecca barely managed to speak. "Ah'm... Ah'm happy Ah p-protected ye..."

The last word left her lips, and her eyes closed, and she sank into dark unconsciousness happily.

Agnes watched as the pair of followers looked up at Agnes in shock and then turned to glance at one another. Though they had not been present to ever see Agnes, they knew her reputation, they knew why her parents and Malachi feared her. And hovering above them, frame in the flickering glow of an inferno, their good “Christian” hearts immediately began to waver. Before they could help themselves, the duo was fleeing for their very lives, around the corner of the house and out of Agnes’ sight.

Once she was sure that they were truly gone, Agnes finally allowed herself to breathe again as she slowly hovered herself back down to the ground. But right before she could touch down, her wings skipped a beat and she felt unceremoniously onto her rear end.

THUD!![/b]

“Ow,” she groaned. Her tailbone had been through far too much today. But she immediately sobered up from that feeling as she looked over to see that Rebecca was still unmoving. Concern swept over her mind as she quickly moved onto her feet and dashed over. She then slipped onto her knees the second she was close to her friend and reached down to stroke her red hair from her eyes. “Rebecca? Honey? Are you okay?”

Agnes watched the smile that appeared on Rebecca’s face and instantly tears sprang into her eyes.

>> "Ah'm... Ah'm happy Ah p-protected ye..."

“Rebecca?” she squeaked. “Rebecca…?”

***

Agnes stood outside of Rebecca’s room at the mansion, shaking her head as she spoke with the very tall, imposing figure of a very familiar detective. She nodded her head as he explained to her that it was dangerous to go back to the house and that he had been trying to contact her here at the mansion about Malachi’s escape. Unfortunately the message had never made it to Agnes on time. She merely nodded again that she was fine and agreed that she was indeed lucky to escape with her life.

But the house…

“There was nothing the fire department could do to save it,” Jorge Cervantes explained. “It’s down to just the foundation now.”

Agnes nodded and coldly replied. “Good.” she whispered. It was then that she glanced back into Rebecca’s room. Rebecca was still unconscious, lying in bed as DocProf sat next to her, healing her burnt hands. Her heart skipped a beat, just watching her friend sleeping so soundly. “Malachi?” she asked without looking at Jorge.

The detective sighed. Then he merely shook his head. “We’re canvassing the area. He couldn’t have gone far. It…may be better if you say in the mansion for a bit. Just until he find Malachi again. Understand?”

Agnes mutely nodded. She barely heard the rest of what the detective said, especially concerning the need of statements and such. She could focus on Rebecca lying so sweetly in her bed. The young redhead risked her life to save her own, without a second thought. She really did not know how she would ever repay her. But god, she just wished that Rebecca would wake up…