Chapter 41: The Boy with the Black eyes

Bailey held the steering wheel tight in her hand, despite the sharp stabs of pain she felt every so often from the Howlers claw marks. Her hand was nearly healed, only hurting when she twisted it a specific way or held onto something tight. The burning sensation near her palm ached as well but she was thankful for it. The idea of being marked by the devil sent a cold shiver through her system. She glanced at the mirror that hung from the large window, a pair of fuzzy dice dangled in front of her face. They drove past a large high school which caused her heart to shatter lightly in her chest, recalling her times she'd have to pack her sons lunch boxes, walk them down to the nearest grade school.

"Where are they going?" Baal's voice cut into her daydream, she glanced over at the large man. Looking back to the mirror just in time to see the Impala do a quick turn.

"Probably off to be gay somewhere," she mused, a smile on her lips.

"I still have my money on them getting together this month," she said with a new energy to the tone of her voice. Baal laughed softly, typing away on his phone.

"Donnie has it set for two months, I have mine for February,"

"Ah yes, the most predictable month," Bailey grinned, pushing her sunglasses down on her nose to give him a playful wink. He laughed at this, shaking his head.

"Yeah, well, we all know you're gonna be right," Baal said, nodding to her. She wiggled her shoulders, pushing the dark glass back over her eyes.

"Hey, route me back to Norms. I can't remember what road to take,"

Baal nodded, fiddling for a few seconds with the phone in his hand. Placing it on the popsocket holder that stuck out from the vent,

"Love this popsocket," he grunted.

"Yeah I'm not sure how anyone survives without one. I owe those things my life,"

The two continued to drive for a short way, the GPS seeming to want to avoid an accident on the freeway. Guiding them down a large agricultural road, corn popped up on either side. The lack of other cars made the woman a little uneasy,

"Corn, far as the eye can see," she snorted, "reminds me of when I lived in Kansas."

"I didn't know you lived in Kansas," he said, the map on the screen of the phone seemed to glitch a few times. Bailey tilted her head at this, pressing on the screen with a finger with a shake of her head.

"Yeah, when I was little. My dad was a military guy, we moved a lot,"

The screen glitch again, Baal watched her poke the map a few more times as the app on the phone closed completely.

"What the hell?" She whispered,

"Bailey!"

Her head shot up, standing in the middle of this long, winding road was a child. His paper colored skin practically glowed in the sunlight above, she slammed on the break just before the front met the child's tiny pair of overalls.

Baal and Bailey shot each other a look as the two unbuckled and hopped out of the car, she pushed her sunglasses up as she stared down at the dirt covered road. The child was gone, the only bit of him that remained were muddy footprints that seemed to lead towards the corn.

"Did...he run?" Baal questions, Bailey crossed her arms over her chest. Frowning deeply as she looked from the muddy footprints and back to Baal, his eyes troubled.

"Not unless he's the child of the Flash," Bailey replied with a shake her head the two didn't utter another word as they made for the van.

"Wait!"

They stopped, both turned to the voice of a woman. She was running towards them from a small gas station that settled not too far from her, Bailey closed the door of the van. Making her way to the woman who looked exhausted, Baal followed without question. A puzzled look settled over his features.

"Are you okay?" Bailey asked, noticing the messy hair, tearfilled eyes and terrified expression. She practically collapsed in Bailey's arms,

"Are you Born again?" She whispered, pulling her phone from her large red purse, shakily holding up the video of Bailey and Baal in the coffee shop.

"That's us, are you okay?" Baal said this time, placing a hand gingerly on the woman's shoulders. She was trembling violently,

"I need help," she whispered, her rust colored eyes wide. Bailey and Baal shared a quick look, nodding to one another.

"You're talking to the right people," Bailey grinned. The woman gave her a small, broken smile.

***

"So he just...vanished?" Bailey asked, picking up the picture that had been settled on the fireplace. They stood in a small, one story home in the middle of a tiny Town that hardly got visitors. The woman sat on the couch, sobbing into Baal's chest.

Bailey felt a shot of irritation, though she couldn't place why. She attempted to shove this towards the back of her mind as Baal awkwardly attempted to comfort the crying woman.

"He just disappeared!" She wailed.

"And he's not the only one?" Bailey inquired, examining the picture of a little boy with dark skin, a bright smile and seashell colored eyes.

"No," she sniffled, "his older brother went missing a month ago. Not just him, but the kids down the street too."

"Is that why this town is so...empty?" Baal asked softly, she nodded at him before turning her attention back to Bailey who pulled out her phone. She scrolled through a few news reports from the tiny Town, eyes tracing over the pictures of the handfuls of missing children.

"We've set up a system, children can't leave without an adult. But still. They keep going missing," she murmured, "some families have the privilege to leave,"

The woman got to her feet, her dark hair falling in her face as she moved up to Bailey, fiddling with a small, circular amulet around her neck.

"What do you think we can do?" Bailey asked her. She shook her head,

"That's the thing," she murmured, "I messaged your Twitter but it hasn't been answered yet,"

Bailey nodded slowly as she started going through the apps on her phone before finding twitter. Amber eyes dancing over the messages in their inbox, seeing Sam had sent nearly every single one a

"We will get back to you" message causing her to roll her eyes.

"Sammy you're not that good at this, are you?" She whispered with a click of her tongue. Opening the message that was sent from the woman before her.

It was a short video, showing the inside of the woman's house. There, standing right where Bailey stood, was the boy with the straw colored hair.

'what do you want?' Abigail asked him, the kid tilted his head and looked at her with pure black eyes. The blackness rolled down his cheeks like tears. When he suddenly vanished causing the woman who held the camera to scream before the video cut off.

"That's not the only sighting of him," she murmured,

"Wanna know something weird," Bailey said, glancing towards Baal and back to the terrified woman.

"We saw this kid,"

"Where?" She practically spat at Bailey.

"By the corn field,"

A tense silence hung over her suddenly, Baal got to his feet. Clearing his throat, he placed a hand on Bailey's shoulder.

"Hey, shiny pokemon,"

"By the car?" Bailey arched an eyebrow at him.

He nodded, Bailey turned to Abigail with a small smile.

"We'll look into that, we have some important stuff to take care of."

The woman swallowed hard, "I...suppose you do," she murmured. Taking a few steps away, Bailey still held the picture of the little boy in her hand, she carefully shoved it into her back pocket. Covering it with the leather jacket that stretched a little too far down her back.

"Well call you if we find anything," she assured the mother before Baal and her turned to walk out the front door. Eyes dancing over the pictures on the walls as they went.

"Poor woman, she's all alone," Baal whispered as they stepped into the sunlight.

***

The pair had gone around the town as the afternoon sun dipped behind the trees, asking questions, writing things down and attempting to understand what they could.

"Yeah, we'll be back tomorrow," Bailey said into her phone, the duo had settled in a small family owned diner in the tiny town. They sat in front of a large window at the bar top of the small restaurant, the stool under her wasn't comfortable and her boots didn't touch the ground but she couldn't complain. She had her back to the bar, eyeing the people who walked around as the darkness of the night settled in. The reds and pinks of the sunset above cast ominous crimson light over the still cornfield that circled the town.

"Alright, I'm almost back to Norma's," Sam said into the phone, "You said it was a kid with black eyes?"

"Yep, little blonde kid." She said with a sigh, "Not sure if the hair color matters, it's just the first thing I notice about-- people, you know? How people notice like...eyes or hips maybe I no--"

"Yeah, I know Bailey '' Sam laughed, she snorted. picking up the iced coffee on the counter that a waiter dropped before her, taking a few drinks from the straw.

"Anyways, sounds like a black eyed child,"

"Are they demons?" She asked, "I know demon's eyes turn black."

"No, they're...more an urban legion but I guess they're real. At least, now, maybe next we'll find Mothman,"

"How do we gank it?" She asked, trying to keep her voice low as their server mulled about the diner. She could hear he was listening to some sort of podcast as he went, the sound of a man babbling about Jesus.

Sam sighed his usual over dramatic sigh, Norma was in the background of the call singing to herself. The sound of pages being flipped could be heard,

"Uhh, probably the same as a ghost, honestly," He said after a short time.

"It's kind of new territory. I'll make a few phone calls and see what I can find out though, right now just treat it as a ghost. I know that they're some type of spirit,"

Bailey turned back to the counter now, picking up a flyer that was settled on the table. A smiling pastor was on the front, waving an american flag.

'Make your mayor, pastor and friend the new president! Pastor Bill for president, I'll make you a BILL-ionaire!'

"Thanks Sammy, you're the best," She folded the paper up and shoved it into her pocket.

"Yeah," He sighed, "I know! Anyways, we're home. Cain just drove up too, I need to talk to him, I'll call you when I find out more. Keep your phone on!"

"Got it, Boss," She hung up after a few seconds, groaning as she leaned on the counter. Pushing the cold glass of coffee from one hand to the other.

"What'd he say?" Baal asked, looking up from the text message he was sending. She turned her attention to him, glancing at his phone. He was texting something to Abel which picked up her attention.

"Black eyed kids might be ghosts but he doesn't know, he's going to call a few people I guess,"

The phone rang again, she blinked down at it in surprise. Answering it by the third ring,

"Sam? you already figured it out?"

"Uh no, I just thought of so--" His voice was cut off by the sound of a loud, eerie howling.

"Sam? What was that?"

"I don't know," He said.

"I'm not going up there," She heard Cain say after the silence between them, Bailey strained to hear anything else.

"Hello?" She said into the phone, only to hear the howl again.

"I'm going to have to call you back,"

He hung up on her, she looked at the phone bewildered.

"What happened?" Baal asked, tilting his head. Bailey glanced up at the other, "Not sure," She admitted.

"Should we head back?" Worry flashed in the demon's pale blue gaze.

She thought about this for a few seconds, their food was placed before them just as she went to speak.

"No, Sam's a big boy," She said with a shrug, though she saw Baal hesitate.

"He's got Cain with him, probably Donnie and Israfil," She continued, wanting to ease the other's anxiety, popping a fry into her mouth.

"Yeah, that's true," Baal said with a nod, "Okay," With that the man got his hand sanitizer out and cleaned up his hands. She rolled her eyes as he handed her some of the sanitizer but she didn't argue, silently though she worried about Sam. She wondered what could have possibly made such an ear splitting sound.

She shook off the worries the best she could before picking up her food and starting to eat, the burger was easily one of the best she had! Enjoying it as she and Baal made light talk, she rapidly found that the demon was easy to talk to. He was good at listening, mellow. It reminded her to slow down, to relax as well. She was used to men attempting to talk over her or gain control of the situation she normally had to come out fighting, but with Baal he seemed genuinely interested in everything she had to say.

Sometimes she wondered if he actually listened but she found him bringing up stories or small things she mentioned, which gave her a sense of being heard.

"You know," She said as she finished off her food, "For a demon, you're not too bad,"

Baal chuckled, "Yeah well, I know you're thinking all us demons are these...terrible beings, and it's mostly true, but there are exceptions to the rules."

Bailey nodded, tilting her head in curiosity, "Are there others? I mean, Rooster's a good demon, I assume they have more,"

"Reformed demon, not good. No one is only good after all,"

"Oh sorry Aristotle,"

Baal laughed at this, waving a hand in the air as though to dismiss the playful insult, "But yes, there are. Most of 'em need to stay hidden. If other demons find out you're reformed they'll beat you bloody, but my long time friend Danjal has a secret bar, he helps demons, monsters, anything and anyone reform themselves."

"Why aren't you being beaten then?"

Baal gestured to himself, "I was a king! My level was high,"

"Do you have, like, powers or something specific for your level?"

"Oh yes," Baal leaned back a bit, humming to himself "In hell, just like in heaven, we're elemental. Basically, we can use certain elements to our advantage when strong enough. The darkness made it so we can do it up on earth now too, at least, for higher level creatures"

"So you can control fire?" She asked with wide eyes, he took a drink of his soda and shook his head, "Not control, I can create! But nothing can control fire. My friend Danjal, he can move Earth, rocks, soil due to his nature in hell. As were a smaller demon like that little guy who's always around Obizuth, he can only grow some claws. Maybe Matilda something, but I'm not incredibly sure what his level is,"

She smirked at the word 'Matilda', it was a phrase Abel used often to describe levitation and it rapidly made its way through the group. Something about the Hunters' insistence to reference movies was almost charming to her.

She nodded, taking in what he said with a small hum.

"Is that all for you two?" The waiter asked from behind the counter, placing the check down between them.

"Yes, sir," Baal replied, putting a few twenties down.

"I'll get the gas for the way back," Bailey said, swallowing the last of her coffee.

"Hey-- Boris?" Bailey arched an eyebrow at him

"Brandon," The waiter corrected,

"Right, that's what I meant, what's with this guy?" She nodded to the poster behind him, the pastor was on the front giving a thumbs up. With pale skin, wrinkles covering his face, hair pushed to the side and styled though she could see he was losing it rapidly near the front, and beaming blue eyes he reminded her of the old men she would actively try to avoid talking to.

"Oh! That's Pastor Bill, he's our savior! Soon he'll be president,"

Bailey tilted her head at this, grimacing "Savior?" She repeated. The man nodded, his eyes wide.

"He's amazing, he healed my broken arm. I'd follow him to the ends of the Earth,"

Bailey eyed the man on the poster until they moved to the amulet around his neck, her heart stopped. She pointed to it, grabbing Baal by the arm. He didn't need her to say anything as he followed the woman's gaze.

Sitting around his neck was an Adinkra. It looked like an upside down capital E with a three planted on top of it.

"Actually, we do want to see the dessert menu," Bailey said quickly, the man nodded a glimmer in his eyes, he turned on his heels and vanished into a door that led to the back. Bailey didn't wait to hear what Baal had to say, she leapt over the counter and pulled out her pocket knife.

"Hurry up!" Baal whispered, she cut a quick square over the Adinkra in the picture and ripped it out. She leapt back over the counter and the two raced out of the restaurant. Baal made sure to leave a good tip due to them stealing a part of a poster.

***

"So he has an Adinkra?" Abel asked, Baal leaned against the wall just outside of the small door to their shared motel room. Fiddling with the paper in his hands, having sent a picture to the hunter on the other end of the phone.

His eyes tracing the giant cross of the church that stuck out in the ever ominous storm clouds above. It glowed in a heavenly light, his eyes moved to Bailey who stood beside him. Her gaze narrowed as she held her phone out to the other, a video of this Bill pastor performing a miracle was shown. The title 'the new Jesus?' was written over the video.

"Seems like it, he's using it to heal people." Baal grunted out, Bailey flipped to another video with a grimace.

"That shouldn't be possible," Chamuel said into the speaker, "unless he's one of the king's I guess?"

"Cain used his own Adinkra," Abel pointed out.

"So...is he one of the king's then? Is Cain?" Bailey asked.

"Maybe, we're still trying to figure out the Cain thing," Abel mused, "I've never heard of an Adinkra being black though, you said it was gold until he uses it?"

Baal watched the video with narrowed eyes, something about the way the man's hands glowed didn't seem right as he rolled them over the face of a burn victim. Taking the deformation off the man with a broad smile.

"Looks like it," Bailey murmured, she shivered and pushed herself against Baal to steal his heat. Baal's heart skipped a few beats at this, turning his chest to a smoldering flame.

"Well, I did hear that a pure soul can use an angel's Adinkra if the angel isn't dead, but...most of the time adults don't have pure souls. Just children," Chamuel said, he sounded tired. The noise of a radio being fiddled with could be heard, Sam shuffled in the background.

"Or me," Abel grinned

"Abel, you actively showed me porn the other day because you liked the guy's haircut. There's nothing pure about you," Chamuel laughed

"So...the theory is that a child could make the Adinkra work? And an angel has to be dead to pass on their Adinkra?" Bailey asked, Baal was a little confused but if Bailey got it that's all that mattered he would follow her lead until he understood it himself.

"That's the question!" Abel mused, "we can ask Israfil. He'd probably know--"

The hunter's words were cut off, the sound of a police siren exploded from the speaker as well as a loud bang.

"Holy shit!" Abel gasped

"What?" Baal asked, he could hear the group scramble inside the car.

"We gotta call you back," Abel replied as the sound of the car's engine roared awake. The phone went dead only seconds later.

Baal and Bailey shared a quick look, "what do you thinks happening over there?" Bailey asked, her eyes wide with worry. He shrugged lightly, his mind raced to Sam or Abel being attacked by something and him not being there to help them. The tips of his fingers tingle with the need to race to his friends only for Bailey to have a hand in the air as if to dismiss the fear that rampaged inside her.

"I'm sure they're fine," she mused, "if they needed us to come and help they'd have said something, right?"

That made sense, after all, it's not like Abel's foolish enough to run head first into anything without backup of some sort. At least, he hoped.

"I suppose," Baal whispered, still feeling that anxiety prickle through his system. She punched his arm lightly, grinning wide at the other.

"Come on! Tomorrow we can hit up the church," she turned on her heels and ducked back into the room as a few drops of rain started to fall. He eyed the storm clouds for a few more seconds, it was as if the rain was only falling on the tiny town.

His eyes moved to the cross once more before he followed the other's lead and ducked into the warm room. The pair settled into their separate beds for the night, but Baal couldn't seem to sleep incredibly well despite the cloud of exhaustion that sat above his head.

He dreamed vivid, wild dreams of the child with his straw hair. Watching him turn and run into the cornfield, Baal followed after the child before coming to a clearing in the field. The corn was all dead, rotting from within. In the middle of the grotesque crop was the church, standing high against a red sky. As he stepped up on the holy Land more children started to show their faces. They stepped from the corn stalks, their eyes black as night. He took a few steps back as the straw haired child pointed at him, his jaw unhinged as he screamed an inhuman, gargled scream.

"Baal,"

His eyes shot open, it was still very dark and the room was cold. The sound of rain falling could be heard as he glanced over to Bailey, the crack of lightning flooded her face with light showing tears running down her cheeks. His chest clenched, he'd never seen her cry, she looked absolutely devastated at something.

"Bails? What's wrong?" He whispered, pulling himself up to inspect her. Wanting to show her comfort but not knowing how.

She pulled herself into the bed beside him, brushing the back of her palm over her eyes.

"I keep having these dreams of my sons," she whispered, her voice shaking as she wrapped her arms around herself.

"They're...being held by this...evil man," she murmured, "they're screaming for help but I can't get to them." She shivered lightly and pushed herself against the demon.

"Do...you think that bitch was right?" She asked him, looking up at him now with wide, tearfilled eyes.

"That...my son's...souls are being held captive?"

Baal thought this over for a few seconds, he didn't have an answer for her. If the devil marked her there was a chance he would go to other lengths to get to the woman.

"Maybe," he whispered, "I don't know," guilt filled his veins, was Lucifer after her because of him?

She started to sob to herself, trembling as she did so. He hesitated before placing a hand on her shoulder, a shock wave through him as she pushed herself onto his lap and buried her face into his chest. His heart pounded against his ribs turning his chest to a warmth that couldn't match the hottest of fires.

"I-its okay," he murmured, wrapping his arms carefully around her. He was shocked at the level of trust she was showing him, after all, she hated him not long ago. He let his fingers run through her hair like he'd seen Chamuel do for Abel, he didn't know much about comforting but he wanted to learn.

"It's not though," she whispered, refusing to look at him as she cried, "they were tortured before they died," her voice cracked, "and now they're still be tortured because of me,"

Baal held her tighter, he felt the burning guilt drowning the warm emotions he felt for her. He'd tormented so many souls, what if he harmed her children's souls too? What if this was all his fault?

"I'll help you find them," he murmured, she glanced at him now with wide eyes.

"Really?"

He nodded, grunting, "if...your dreams are true, I'll follow you to the ends of time to find their souls and release them,"

She gave him a small smile, resting her head on his chest again with a soft sniffle.

"I'm sorry, Baal,"

"For what? Cryin?"

"No," she chuckled, rubbing her eyes with the bottom of her palms.

"For hating you so quickly, I...I guess I just assumed all demons were evil, but you're not."

Baal smiled at this, chuckling "it's okay," he murmured, "I'd have thought the same thing too,"

They sat in silence for a short time before deciding to sleep. Bailey curled up beside Baal in the bed, her back to him. He smiled big, his heart beating so quickly in his chest he could hardly breathe as sleep took him back down into it's comfort.

***

The sun shone high in the sky, drenching the town in it's vast warmth. Baal and Bailey were up early despite the comfort of the warm motel bed, Bailey rolled her makeup on as Baal loaded up his shotgun with salt bullets.

"They're not answering," Bailey called to Baal from the tiny bathroom, sticking her head out with a worried look on her face.

"They're probably still asleep," Baal pointed out.

"Even Sam? The guy's the definition of 'early bird gets the worm'!"

Baal nodded at this, not replying as he tugged his boots on. His mind troubled, she was right Sam was pretty big on being awake as early as possible.

The pair finished getting ready only for a knock to catch their attention, they shared a look before Baal got to his feet. He made way to the door and opened it up slowly, standing before them was a nicely dressed man in a suit. Tan skin glistened with the first light of the morning, his suit recently pressed, lava colored eyes burned into the demon.

"Hello, sir!" He said with a smile, "I was asked by Pastor Bill to deliver this to you,"

The man pulled an envelope from the briefcase he carried with him. Holding it out to Baal who made no move to grab the paper. Bailey walked over to him, slapping a hand on Baal's shoulder before snatching the envelope. She eyed it for a few seconds,

"Cool, bye," she said, closing the door on the man who looked a little shocked.

"What is it?" Baal asked, cranking his head to get a look at the paperwork. She tore open the fancy envelope, letting the paper scatter to the floor,

"Welcome honored guests, I'm inviting you to meet me at my home. The church! I want to clear up any miscommunication about myself. Love, pastor Bill," Bailey read, flipping the paper over then back again. She reached into her pocket and fished out the poster of the man,

"I don't trust him," Baal snorted, getting a deep feeling of dread passing through his chest.

"Yeah, a guy with a comb over that intense can't be doing any good," she agreed.

"Wait," Baal said, pointing to the poster. Bailey tilted her head, looking to we're the demon was pointing. There, in the background, where the large corn field stretched wide was the straw haired child. You could just barely see his face peeking out from the dense corn, black eyes wide, a finger to his lips as if he were shushing them.

Bailey looked at the face of the child in shock, "I think it's about time we give Pastor Bill a visit."

Baal nodded at this, he felt his phone buzz in his pocket. Pulling it out with a sigh of relief as he saw Sam's name and picture pop up on the screen,

"Sam! Is everything alright?" Baal asked, with a smile at hearing his friend's voice.

"Hey! Well...not really? Sorry, I just woke up. I think Abel and Cham are still asleep,"

Baal pulled the phone from his ear and pushed the speaker button, Bailey leaned closer. Placing her hands on his arm as she did so to kept herself balanced,

"What happened?" She asked,

Sam sighed, she heard him kick as something.

"Well, you know how Donnie got bit by a werewolf?" Sam started, Bailey shot Baal a look of horror.

"Did he…?"

"Yep, he wolfed out, broke the red couch,"

"Aw, that was my favorite one," Bailey said with a huff,

"Yeah, mine too," Sam laughed, "but he and Israfil are still missing. We drove all over the place but couldn't find them. We got back and fell asleep, but I do have more information on your black eyed kids,"

"Do you need us to come back?" Baal asked,

"Not anymore," Sam murmured, "I was going to ask that originally until I found out more information."

Bailey blinked a few times, "so...it's bad?"

"Oh yeah,"

Sam shuffled the phone around a bit,

"So," the sound of paper could be heard, "I wrote it all down, but according to a friend of a friend of a friend,"

"This sounds credible," Bailey murmured to Baal who gave the woman a smile.

"Do you want the information? Or not?"

"Just tell us!" Bailey replied

"According to her, black eyed children are spirits of already deceased children. They gather in places with great evil, especially if children are involved somehow."

"So a bunch of missing kids?" Bailey murmured

"They're probably not missing," Sam replied with a sigh, "they're...probably dead,"

A shiver rolled through Baal at the others words, it was something he considered but was too afraid to believe.

"So someone's...killing kids?"

"Maybe," Sam whispered, "I'd look into that Adinkra you sent me a picture of."

"That's exactly what we were going to do," Bailey replied.

"Thanks Sammy,"

"Be careful...I...don't want to tell the others, but when I went to visit my family I saw that darkness for myself. It's...guys it's getting stronger. I can't describe it, but I feel like it's a matter of time before the worst is to come. I even went and got my son his anti possession tattoo, I just don't see this getting any better,"

There was a cold silence between the three as the weight of it all collected on Bailey, "I didn't want to tell Abel, a lot of people are dying around the area. It's like the air is poisonous. I just don't want him to race down there to try and stop it, we just don't have enough information to fight this thing yet,"

"No I get it," Bailey murmured, "be careful, Sammy,"

"You too, be careful today guys. That eclipse...I don't know what's going on with it but everyone in the hunting community seems pretty on edge." She could hear Norma's voice in the back, her usual cheerful demeanor didn't seem phased by Donnie's transformation.

"And Norma wants to know what kind of fruit you like. Just text it to me,"

With that they hung up, Bailey glanced back down at the note given to them before looking back to Baal.

"Let's go check out this church," she whispered. He nodded, his mind flashed to his nightmare from the night before but he didn't mention it as the pair left the small motel room.

***

The town felt empty today, though the day before they spotted a few handfuls of people today it was as if the world held a silent breath for them. They walked towards the church, making sure to stay close to one another. Bailey felt her small handgun brush against her skin, though she wasn't sure they'd need it she wasn't about to take that chance.

The large building towered over the rest of them, it's blue tiled roof reflected the sun. The large cross sat above a beautiful golden bell that went off every hour during the daytime, it was seated in the heart of the large corn field that sat behind the town. This field felt less open, almost dark despite the white and blue building.

"This place is fancy," Baal murmured, glancing around at the old, beaten up town.

"Yeah," Bailey snorted, "nice church in the middle of this dirt poor town? Sounds about right. Probably have stacks of money to keep that blue color as vibrant as it is,"

The pair stepped into the cornfield, a long pathway had been cut out of the stocks of green that lead to the church. The closer they walked the more anxious Baal got, he knew he couldn't enter holy Land but he didn't want to seem weak in Bailey's eyes as they moved towards the front. The area surrounding the church was cleared off in a perfect circle, a small gravesite was settled beside the large building though it didn't look incredibly clean with a few headstones broken. It looked exactly like Baal's dream, minus the brilliant sunshine. He eyed Bailey for a few seconds, hoping she'd remember his inability to enter the grounds but she didn't even look towards him as she walked onwards.

Baal hesitated before stepping down on the holy Land, wincing a few times but nothing happened. He felt no burn in his soul as the two made for the door, surely he'd feel it when they got inside? Confusion rolled through his body as Bailey made for the large, blue wooden door. She grabbed the handle and shoved it open, it let out a low, loud Creak as it swung inward. Stained glass rained beautiful colors to the room, falling over the rows of hard, wooden pews.

Baal watched Bailey step into the room, her shoes brushed the red carpet below. In the front of the church was a large, wooden altar with another cross standing high behind it.

"Hello?" Bailey called, her voice echoed before she turned to look at Baal who stood in the doorway of the church with wide eyes.

"Are you coming?" She asked with a smile, "I can't really talk to this guy without my attack dog, can I?"

Baal felt a rush of warmth at her words, he nodded at her with a thumbs up. She arched her eyebrows before turning in her heels and making her way to the front. Baal hesitated as he placed his shoe on the carpet, no burning came as he took a few more steps in. His body was on high alert but nothing seemed to happen, he didn't hurt anywhere, didn't explode into flames. Nothing. Was the land not holy? He imagined even if the pastor was corrupted in some way the land itself would still be considered holy by angels standards.

"Hey," Bailey called to him, she was standing by the wooden altar with her arms crossed over her chest.

"There's a kitchen over here," she pulled out her phone, "I'm going to take some pictures of it. You take pictures in here, who knows what'll be useful,"

Baal nodded at her though she didn't need to look at him to know he'd do as she asked without question. The demon pulled his phone from his pocket despite his trembling hands and started to snap pictures of the pews. His eyes narrowed when he noticed something had been carved into the wood of one of the many, long, wooden benches.

The demon king made for the bench, sitting down to get a better look at the markings. He couldn't place where he'd seen it before, but it was familiar. He took a picture of it with a nod, flipping open his Pokemon app only a second after.

"Any good Pokemon over here?"

A voice caught him off guard, he practically dropped his phone as he stared up at a dark skinned man with a broad smile. His hair curly, greying in the front. His eyes glittered with a warmth Baal couldn't place, it wasn't the pastor but he was dressed as if he were one.

"N-not a lot," Baal stammered, the man nodded, pulling his phone out and sitting beside Baal.

"Yeah, I have a hard time finding any good pokemon here too. You'd assume such a big church would have a pokestop," the man's voice calming, he spoke to Baal as if they'd been friends forever.

"Yeah," Baal whispered, "uh, father…?"

"Just call me Fran," he said with a smile, eyes glowing.

"Fran. Is this land holy?"

Fran sighed, leaning back in the wood with a small chuckle.

"You're wondering why you haven't burnt up yet! Is that right?"

Baal looked at the man in shock, "how did you…?"

"Oh, when you get to be my age things are just obvious sometimes. Baal, first king of hell,"

"Who are you?" Baal wanted to feel fearful, anxious, or angry but he only felt a calm presence beside the other.

"I'm a friend," he said simply, "this land is holy," Baal watched as the man spun the pokeball on the screen of his phone and tossed it at the monster.

"Then why...can I be on it?" He murmured. Fran looked towards him with such a bright smile he felt as if the sun lived within the other's face.

"God isn't about hate, Baal," the man replied, his eyes back to his game, "They loved unconditionally with that love comes forgiveness."

Fran looked at Baal now, his rich golden gaze locked with Baal's pale blue.

"God sees you, Baal. They see all you're doing, all those you saved,"

Tears rolled down Baal's cheeks as the man continued to speak, "They forgive you," the man placed a hand on Baal's arm.

"Just like you should forgive yourself, you were created to do awful things but that doesn't mean you're an awful creature. You did what you thought was right at the time, now, you've come a long way. They are proud of you, I am proud of you, you should be proud of yourself,"

Baal choked back the urge to sob as a weight lifted from his shoulders, he turned away to rub the tears that raced down his cheeks from pure joy.

"Yes, Baal, this is holy land. You deserve to be able to walk on it,"

Baal felt the man pull his hand away, he shook his head as if to clear the oncoming tears and glanced back at the man.

"Ah! A shiny," the man chuckled, throwing another pokeball at the creature.

"Hey, Baal I found another door," Bailey shouted as she made her way back towards the pews with her face in her phone. Baal looked from Fran to Bailey, then turned to look back at Fran but the man was gone. The only thing that remained of him was a small, beaded necklace with a cross on it. Baal hesitated before picking up the beads, they didn't burn as he held it in his palms.

"What's that? Are you okay?" Bailey asked as she came up to the other.

Baal nodded slowly, sniffling as he got to his feet and shoved the cross into his pocket.

"Yeah, sorry, just allergies,"

Bailey arched an eyebrow at him, "sure, we'll go with that for now," she snorted.

"Oh! You came!" A voice boomed, the two turned to look at the man that stood in front of the altar. His Geneva gown stark white with purple cloth around it. A cross of pure gold etched into the middle of the purple, his smile wide as he made his way slowly towards the two.

"I'm pastor Bill! I heard you two were sniffing around and wanted to answer any questions you may have."

Bailey tilted her head to him, eyes dancing over his being before she glanced at Baal and back to him.

"Erm, yeah we're looking for a kid," she said after a few seconds, pulling the picture out from her back pocket.

"We don't have any kids in here," he replied smoothly.

"Yeah, we figured." She eyed the golden Adinkra around his neck. She could hear it's harp, but it was so faint she wasn't sure if she imagined it.

"The loss of the children is terrible," he continued, stopping in front of them with a smile.

"But be assured, we're trying to find them,"

"You don't look like you're trying to find them," Baal grunted.

He frowned at this, blinking a few times, "do you expect for me to don a police uniform? Carry a gun? I am a holy man, not a detective,"

"Yeah, we saw those 'miracles' on YouTube," Bailey spat, using her fingers to make quotes in the air.

"I assure you, those are a gift from God,"

"Or a gift from that Adinkra," Baal snorted,

"How'd you get it, Bill? The Adinkra." Bailey demanded. The man's frown deepened before letting out a low, raspy laugh.

"I assure you, it was given to me. It was a gift,"

Bailey hesitated, maybe they were in the wrong place.

Her eyes grew wide as she noticed the black eyed child, he walked from behind the altar with a frown on his lips, his black eyes glittered in the lights of the stained glass.

"If it was a gift," Bailey challenged, the child nodded at her slowly, "Why can I hear it's harp?"

The man looked shocked, Bailey put a hand on her weapon. Baal narrowed his eyes, feeling heat bubbling in his palms.

"Tell me, Born Again, do you know anything about the Adinkra?"

"We know that doesn't belong to you," Bailey spat.

"It belongs to that of a pure soul," he continued. As if on cue the sound of a child's cry echoed around them, exploding into the still air and causing electricity to spark in the wind between them.

"Unfortunately, I don't have a pure soul,"

Bailey pulled her gun from its hiding spot, it clicked as she held it out.

"Give us the Adinkra and tell us where the children are," she demanded.

The man shuttered with rage, his eyes flashed to black.

"I was hoping you'd just leave,"

He held his arms up, darkness slowly started to rise up from the floor causing the ground to quake. Bailey shot, the bullet stopped only a few centimetres from the man's forehead. He smiled wide, tilting his head as he grinned down at the other. The Adinkra around his neck glowing black against the man's chest, her eyes fell to the white that glowed beside it. Next to the Adinkra was a small vial with a pure red liquid inside.

"Now," the man laughed as the bullet fell to the ground, the floor under the pair heaved and fell. Before either could react they met the hard, concrete earth below. Bailey felt her head collide with something sharp, pain exploding through his brain and the taste of iron filled her mouth.

She opened her eyes to the light above, they had been standing on a trap door. He was smiling down at the two with a glint in his gaze,

"I have a service to get ready for," the door slowly closed up leaving the hunter and demon in the darkness under the church. Bailey struggled to stay awake but unconsciousness dragged her down into its embrace.