"Waaahhh!"
"Angie."
"I'm going to die!"
"Angie! Please calm yourself!" Jasper barked as they descended farther down into the depths below the church. "I told you, you're not going to die!"
Angie clawed at Jasper's shoulders and her trembling legs clung to his waist. "I don't want to fall!"
"I'm not going to let you go," Jasper said. "And it looks like you aren't letting me go anytime soon either."
Angie whined at him. "How much farther down are we going?"
"Not too much farther. Although, if you keep asking, I'm going to go slower."
"No!"
"Then quit asking."
As they descended, Angie could see people popping their heads out of the doors on the walls; wondering what was going on. Some of them nodded with a grin to welcome her and some others scoffed with a shake of their heads and went back into the rooms. It was probably a young versus the older demons dynamic that Angie would learn later on. At one point in their descent, Jasper started to pry her legs from around him and Angie squealed, trying to re-wrap her legs around him. Jasper snorted and pushed her away from him, and she landed with an 'oomph' on to a concrete surface. As she looked up at Jasper to give him a scowl, her stomach dropped. She couldn't even see the top where they had come from. It was just dark hole.
"You know, I was trying to do it gently, but you made me push you."
"You could have just told me that we were landing!" Angie huffed, rubbing her back with a whine. "Geez. Damn demons."
Jasper sighed and shrugged. "We're demons. We're not particularly nice, you know." He stepped over her legs and started away into the darkness of a hall. "Come on."
Angie rolled her eyes and mumbled a couple of choice words under her breath, but still followed him down the hall. Her eyes couldn't adjust to the darkness. It didn't seem ordinary, more like… a paranormal darkness. The only way she knew that she was still following Jasper was by the sound of his loafers on the floor. There weren't walls close enough to hold on to either as she walked along. Her hearing was all she had to rely on and, if she was being honest, her hearing was complete shit. It wasn't that she couldn't pass a hearing test. It was because she was always thinking about something else besides what she was supposed to be focusing on. That's why she went into art, not business management.
"Angie? Did you hear me?"
"What? Hm?"
Jasper heaved a sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose out of annoyance. "Are you even listening to me?"
"Obviously not if you have to ask me," Angie huffed, puffing out her cheeks.
"I asked if you felt any different yet."
Angie cocked her head and raised an eyebrow. "Different? Like, how?"
Jasper paused for a moment, pondering how to answer. "Like… tingly at first… and then like you're burning up with a high fever. Then, you'll have muscle cramps for a couple of hours."
"Well… I don't really feel tingly," Angie said, flexing her hands into fists repeatedly. "And I'm not running a fever."
"Hm… interesting."
"Why?" Angie asked, then began to giggle. "Is this little walk supposed to turn me into a demon?"
"Don't laugh," Jasper huffed, crossing his arms over his chest. "You're walking on a piece of hell."
"WHAT?! WHAT?! I'M WALKING INTO HELL?! WHA-?!"
Jasper clamped his hand over Angie's mouth and growled menacingly into her ear, "Do not yell. This is a piece of hell, yes and just because this is only a piece does not mean dangerous things did not come with it."
Jasper could feel a sly grin creep onto Angie's lips from under his hand and he was hesitant to remove the hand from her mouth.
"So, you mean like demons?"
And that was why he was hesitant.
"Smart ass," Jasper grumbled and moved in front of Angie again. "Just tell me when you start to-."
A high-pitched whine came from the woman, setting Jasper on high alert. He whipped around to find Angie on her hand and knees, breathing heavily. Her cold breath hit the floor, creating steam that went back into her face.
"It's hard to move or even breathe," Angie cringed, twisting her face up to where she supposed Jasper was. "And it feels like my flesh is melting off my bones."
"The process has started," Jasper confirmed and tried to help her to her feet. "Come on. You have to continue walking. It's dangerous to stop."
"But I can't move!"
"I'll help you. We just need to get out of here now and the process will be complete."
"It kind of hurts to move if I try," Angie whimpered, taking her first step. "No… it doesn't really hurt. I just feel really sore."
Jasper put her arm around his shoulders and, without any trouble, was able to lift her off her feet and speed towards the exit. "Standing up straight is the best for your body at the moment, or else I would be carrying you in my arms."
It felt as though needles were pumping warm alcohol throughout every inch of her body. She felt woozy and her head lulled around on her neck a bit. Every muscle pulsed under her skin. She could feel the strength growing within her. Her heart raced with excitement. Her eyesight pulsed with alternating darkness and bright light. She could hear everything from her loud, heavy breathing to Jasper's gently beating heart to the blood running through both their veins.
"How are you doing?"
"I… I don't know," Angie said. "I'm dizzy."
"Don't worry. That's normal," Jasper said. "We're almost there. Can you see?"
Angie rubbed her eyes and blinked a few times before trying to see what Jasper was talking about. Up ahead, there was a dark, misty fire that they were headed straight towards. Angie sucked in a breath and her hold around Jasper grew tighter. Although, she didn't feel any hotter or smell the burning of fire as they got closer. Was it a illusion or magical fire that demons can summon?
"Awesome."
"Hm?" Jasper looked at Angie; curious about what exactly was awesome.
"Oh-," Angie smiled as they passed through the wall of fire unharmed. "Nothing."
Jasper put her feet to the floor and unwrapped her from around his neck and shoulders. "Feel better?"
"I feel…," Angie squeezed her hands into fists then relaxed. "I feel…," She rolled her neck and stretched her shoulders blades. No aches. No pains. "I feel amazing!"
"A hunter must feel in tip top shape in order to track down and fight these soul stealers," Jasper told her, wiping off some dirt that got on Angie's coat. "Now, let's go get you fitted with your weapon."
Angie hummed thoughtfully as she followed Jasper. "You know, I thought that was going to be more��� dramatic I guess… the transformation I mean."
"I mean, I could have killed you and did this whole ritual thing to transform you, but you didn't want to do that!" Jasper laughed.
Angie made a face and mocked Jasper silently.
"You know I have eyes in the back of my head."
Angie stopped her mocking and her face went pale. "Uh… are you serious or…?"
Jasper cocked his head over his shoulder and grinned. "No."
Angie smacked his upper arm and grimaced. "Tell me about these weapons you ass."
"Well, I can certainly tell you about them, but you don't pick the weapon-."
"The weapon picks you, blah blah, how cliché."
Jasper snarled at her. "Hey, it may sound cliché but it's important that you say nothing while in the weapons room." He sighed and mumbled something under his breath.
"What was that?" Angie asked, getting closer to him and putting a hand behind her ear. "I didn't catch what you said."
"You watch too many movies and shows," He repeated a little louder. "And probably too many books. 'The weapon picks you, blah blah,'" He said mocking her with a slightly higher pitched voice. "How annoying."
"Hey! I am a famous artist! I get to go to plenty of movie premiers! It's not my fault they're all the same!" Angie puffed out her cheeks in a pout and jabbed him in the back. "And while I'm in a rut with my art, I have to do something to entertain myself so shows and books it is!"
"You should get a hobby like gardening."
Angie scoffed and folded her arms across her chest. "Gardening? I live with a big time CFO. I do not have the luxury of doing my own gardening until I move out… Well, until he moves out since only my name is on the deed."
"Humans now-a-days have such a complicated life," Jasper said. "I don't get it."
"At what point were you a human?" She asked, poking her head out to the side so that she could see his face. "Or were you always a demon?"
"The only demon here at the moment that has never been a human is Mother herself," Jasper said, then looked at her with a smile. "I was a human back in the 1700's… I believe anyway."
"You don't remember?!" Angie said with a high-pitched squeal at the end.
Jasper shrugged with a deep chuckle. "When you've been doing this for as long as I have, time is something of an illusion." He stopped and turned to her with brows raised and a finger pointing in the air. "Oh, I should have said earlier that when you eventually do die, you'll become a demon in the afterlife."
"I kind of figured that," Angie said, shrugging her shoulders.
"And if you die by a snatcher, your soul will be lost forever, just wandering the universe for all eternity."
"You didn't tell me that!"
Jasper gave a hearty laugh and then continued to their destination. "Just kidding!"
Angie jabbed her finger in his shoulder. "That's not funny!"
As they finally made it to their destination, Angie didn't know what to expect, but it wasn't this. Weapons flying around the room. Some fighting each other. Some talking to each other as they sat around a table like they were having a tea party. Yes. They were talking. They didn't have mouths or even a face, but some how Angie could hear voices coming from them and they all had their own distinct tones. Some lay motionless in their cases, but she could hear light snores coming from them. She's seen many movies, shows and have read many books but nothing described anything like this.
Jasper clapped his hands twice and cleared his throat. "Ladies and gentlemen! Swords and hammers! May I have your attention please!"
"Ehh, what do you want, Jasper?" A rapier who had been sparring with a long sword hissed at the demon. "Can't you see we are busy?"
"Hey, who's the broad?" A dagger asked, making its way up to Angie and poking its sharpest point at her. "New recruit?"
"Yes, actually. That's why I wanted your attention," Jasper frowned at the rapier who just scoffed and proceeded with his spar against the longsword. "She's here for her weapon."
"My, my! She is a pretty one!" A flail said, hovering in a circle around her. "I don't mind taking her for a spin!"
"Preposterous!" A whip, who had been one of the weapons gossiping with others around a table, huffed. "You haven't been used in ages! What makes you think she'll connect with you?"
"Here we go," Jasper sighed and shook his head. "They can never do this properly. They always have to fight."
"You would to if you were only used once in 500 years!" A club cried out then started to sob.
Jasper nudged her into the room a little more than nodded his head at the weapons. "Go on. When a weapon connects with you, you'll know."
All the weapons badgered with each other as Angie walked feebly through the room. She ducked under a mace that was chasing after a morning star. She squished herself between the wall and the table that the whip and a bunch of other weapons were around that were now watching her every move. She slid past the rapier and the longsword who seemed to completely ignore her as they continued to spar. None of these weapons seemed too interested in her and she wasn't interested in them. She looked into the cases at the weapons who had been sleeping. A battle axe and a lance slept close in the same case. A pike tossed and turned in its sleep. A short sword growled at her and turned away. Angie frowned and looked at Jasper who just nodded, telling her to keep going. Angie pushed out her lower lip then turned back to the weapons in the room. She spotted a case in the way back in the corner, and she could feel herself being drawn to it.
Inside the case, was a sleek black horseman's pick. At one end, the bludgeoning part seemed to sparkle with small pieces of diamond. At the other, the hook looked like it was made of refined quartz. She cleared her throat and knocked on the case wall and the weapon made a yawning sound and turned towards Angie.
"Hello there dear," The pick said getting up into a vertical position. "What's your name?"
"Angie," She said and nodded at it. "What's yours?"
"You get to name me, my dear," The pike, who sounded like an elegant old woman, said. "Just know that you will be stuck with me for the rest of eternity."
"What happens when I connect with you?" Angie asked, wringing her hands. "I can't exactly carry a weapon wherever I go in this little town or like… anywhere in the world… except maybe Texas."
The pick laughed and twirled in place. "Ah, Jasper is not one to mention many things, huh?"
Angie looked back at Jasper who was trying to calm down the fight that had broke out between the rapier and the long sword then looked back at the pick and shook her head. "No."
"I will lodge myself into your chest and connect myself with your heart." The weapon laughed when Angie's face turned from curious to shock and anxiety. "Do not worry my dear. It won't hurt in the slightest. I am not a real weapon. I am a soul that was crafted into a weapon to fight the supernatural."
"Oh… okay," Angie gulped, gazing down to her feet then back up to the pick. "A name… you need a name… What should I call you…?" She hummed to herself and thought for a long while then her eyes widened and snapped her fingers. "Cordelia!"
"Then Cordelia it shall be."
Cordelia went horizontal and gently touched Angie's chest. Where her sternum was located seem to gleam with a bright, red light then slowly, the weapon sunk into her body. It was an uncomfortably feeling; like having a corset tied tightly around her body. Angie shivered once the weapon was in all the way. The light dimmed then went out completely and she felt something like a small, butterfly needle pierce her chest. With a hand, she rubbed the spot that she felt the slight inconvenience then turned back to Jasper who was grinning from ear to ear on the other side of the room.
"Ah, I see you have successfully connected with a weapon."
"Yeah, thanks for not telling me how connecting actually works," Angie huffed and crossed her arms over her chest. "So, what's next? Are you going to train me in how to fight? Or see these things that we are trying to get rid of? Maybe a little magic?"
Jasper yawned and stretched his arms over his head. "Nah. We're done for right now. I'm tired. You'll probably conk out once you get home. Your body has been through enough today."
"But I feel fine," Angie said.
"You'll feel it soon," Jasper said. "I'll come get you to begin your training in a couple of days."
Angie nodded, then looked around and frowned. "Uh, how do I get back to the outside world?"
Jasper mumbled something under his breath then snapped his fingers. "Think of the place you want to go and snap your fingers."
Angie cocked n eyebrow. That was too simple. He had to be fucking with her, but she sighed and proceeded to try it. She closed her eyes tight, thought of the backyard of her home with the vegetable gardens in bloom and the tree swing slowly blowing in the wind. She snapped her fingers and opened her eyes.
"Woah," She gasped as the wind blew her hair into a wild state along with the tree swing. "He wasn't fucking with me after all."
She slid open the back door and slowly closed it with a quiet pop into place. She didn't know if James was home or not, but she was hoping not. She felt tired and didn't really want to deal with him and his nonsense. She tiptoed into the kitchen where she got some leftover Chinese food from the night before and chowed down on it while it was still cold.
"Where have you been all day?"
Angie rolled her eyes as she slurped up a forkful of lo mein and turned towards James who was reading some type of contract she guessed. She shrugged and leaned against the counter. "Around town. What is it to you?"
"Nothing," He said. "Absolutely nothing."
"Wow, what a bastard."
Angie screamed and gripped the edge of the counter.
James looked up from his reading and cocked an eyebrow. "What the fuck was that?"
"It's only me dear; Cordelia."
Angie sighed heavily and turned ack to her cold food. ��I thought I saw a spider."
James rolled his eyes. "Right." Then he went back into his study, closing the door and locking it.
"We can talk to each other?" Angie whispered, putting another forkful of lo mein in her mouth.
"Yes, we can," Cordelia replied. "You'll have to get used to it. To remind you, I am a soul that was crafted into a weapon. I once lived my own life although, I cannot remember it. I have my own thoughts and even feelings. You'll have to get used to my interjections and comments… Oh, you don't have to actually talk in order to communicate with me. I am a part of you now so you can just think what you want to say to me."
"Right," Angie nodded and finished her food. She yawned, threw her dishes into the dishwasher and slumped up the stairs to her room.
"Tired?" Cordelia asked.
Angie nodded. Opening up her bedroom door, she closed it behind her and jumped on to the bed, immediately falling into a deep sleep.