1 ❗️1

In the eerie quiet of night, a heartbeat, pounding loudly, was heard.

Not just one, but three people in particular had noticed it.

The sound was as clear as the piercing police sirens a block down the company building they were currently about to infiltrate.

The wind was billowing on the roof, and the skies were dark and dim, like they preferred on late night jobs such as this one.

A girl sitting on the edge admiring the police cars on patrol swung her legs back and forth, humming to herself.

"Do you guys hear it too?"

"No shit Sherlock" an annoyed boy replied.

He was on watch, hovering between the girl and his brother, who was crouched down next to the equipment.

He had short black hair that brushed past his brown eyes, his jawline was sharp, and he had a bit of stubble on his face.

He wore a black t-shirt with the same coloured cargo-pants and air-forces.

The girl stuck her bottom lip out as she brushed her short curly hair away from her eyes, "well I was just checking, neither of you said anything"

The length of her hair barley reached her chin if it was let down, and she had dyed the fronts of it indigo, which mixed with her natural black colour when she put it up.

Her type of hair was thick, and so she kept an undercut all around her head to make it less of a hassle.

"That's because I'm concentrating on gaining control of the power grid and security systems," the boy next to the equipment said, "and Jun is keeping tabs on the cops"

He ran his fingers through his ebony hair as he rapidly typed on his laptop, muttering to himself, the screen being the only thing illuminating his face.

He had dark-brown eyes and an undercut, though the top of his hair was kept long and tended to curl upwards—which of course, he was teased for by the other two.

Jun nodded firmly, "exactly—but, it hasn't taken you this long before" he snickered.

"Okay, do you want to try getting passed like fifty firewalls on top of disabling the alert programs then?"

For a moment, his irises flashed a bright red before returning back to their original colour.

He sneered and lowered his eyes back to the screen once a moment of silence passed, "that's what I thought"

"Jeez, will you stop putting Juro in a bad mood" the girl rolled her eyes, "you're ruining the quietness"

"What quietness?" Juro exasperatedly sighed, "his heartbeat is so loud it's making it hard for me to concentrate"

"Yeah" Jun scratched his neck, "what could he even be doing at three in the morning, scumbag CEO's do nothing but eat their own money"

"Well he must be cozy holed up in there—the wind is nice though, I've been too used to boiling temperatures back home"

"We all have" said Juro matter-of-factly, "we're demons Azrael, our home is hell."

"Wow really, you don't say?"

"To be fair" his brother argued, "you didn't exactly know until you awakened"

"Yeah, and that was five years ago" Azrael crossed her arms, "yknow, when I thought we were all human and killed you both—oh and don't forget, you two knew the entire time that I was a demon and never said anything, I didn't even know what you guys actually looked like until father brought me home"

"Here we go again" Juro mumbled under his breath.

Jun pinched the bridge of his nose, "Az, this again?" He groaned, "how many times do we need to say it? We weren't allowed to say anything, Lucifer would've had you killed, that's why your dad sent you to the surface in the first place. At least now he can't do anything since you're already strong enough to murder the hundreds of demons he sends after you"

"I'm kind of glad Azrael awakened sooner than expected" the raven-haired boy commented as he continued typing rapidly, "while technically she did kill our 'mortal' bodies, I really hated mine so I was glad when I finally got sent back home, possessing a mortal for seventeen years was tiring"

"Yeah, and their stamina is weak.. I'm really glad we're not human" Jun said.

Azrael looked down, watching the cars on the streets pass by with a solemn expression.

"..did it hurt?" she quietly asked.

Her best friend cocked his head, "what did?"

"When your mortal bodies died that day.. when I awakened" she clarified.

"Again, we've told you this" he said, this time with a gentle smile, "when a demon soul possesses a mortal body, they don't really feel the pain. They're just temporarily living in a shell, so they don't get the full experience of being in one because they're eventually going back to their original bodies."

"Don't blame yourself" Juro added, "your demonic side was suppressed for most of your life, obviously you'd go on a rampage when the time to awaken came—why do you think your dad, prince of Hell, came to get you. I mean, he taught you to control the urge afterwards"

Azrael forced a laugh, "yeah.. i guess technically I didn't really kill you two.. but it was still really traumatizing.."

It had been five years, yet the feeling of guilt and distraught still remained somewhere in her heart.

"If It's any consolation" Jun nudged her lightly with an eyebrow raised, "we are immortal and pretty powerful, I don't think we're going to die any time soon"

The girl scoffed and flipped off her best friend, "shut up, I know that"

The two chuckled.

"Guys" Juro abruptly called.

The two looked back at him.

"I'm almost done, start phase A in exactly one minute"

Azrael grinned widely as she hopped down from the ledge and hummed, "mm it's finally my turn huh?"

A sudden heating sensation flooded her eyes.

The outfit the girl was wearing was different from her two best friends (aside from colour).

She wore a black top, black ripped jeans and heeled boots.

The most noticeable feature visible to any eye, was a large dragon tattoo—or so it would seem—on her arm. It reached from the top of her shoulder and wrapped around until it ended at her hand.

On most days, it would stay there.

"You excited?" Jun grinned.

"Yeah, why?"

"Your eyes are gold again so I figured"

"Well, what can I say?" Azrael sighed happily as black flames began to emit from her, "Solano's just as excited as I am"

As if on queue, her dragon mark slowly began to change from black to gold until it began to shine in the darkness.

She spread out her feet and breathed in.

The flames grew larger, Azrael's expression was stern.

She closed her eyes and opened them, the golden colour in her irises almost radiating.

Her senses became sharper in an instant.

The sounds of cars and sirens and people talking from almost a mile away filled her ears all at once, and her sight allowed her to see even the smallest speck of frost on the grass.

She could even smell the pungent scent of whisky from the bar in the company building.

After a moment, she halted her senses from overwhelming her mind and focused. She blocked out all the other possible sights and noises and focused solely on the ones in the building.

In her minds eye, she searched.

Searched in the shadows that came from any object or corner of the building, with her target's heartbeat as a guide.

Anything that created the absence of light was in her domain.

In the dark, behind the counter of the bar, a shadow was created from the luminous chandelier hanging over it.

From it, she saw the CEO of the company, and the bartender.

She clicked her tongue in distaste as she witnessed the two having an affair next to the spilled bottle of whisky on the counter.

Suddenly, the CEO paused, "did you hear that?"