I woke up to the sound of soft snoring and the inability to move. Opening my eyes, I realized the reason for this was due to Derek holding me in place. His arm was wrapped securely around my waist while his leg was tangled with mine. It was quite uncomfortable since we had fallen asleep on the couch, but at the same time, it was satisfying. I was facing his chest and couldn't help but lean forehead against him. A small smile crossed my lip as laid there and felt Derek’s chest rise and fall with every breath he took. Pulling my head back and looking up I saw how at peace he looked as if he didn't have a problem in the world.

My eyes trailed across Derek’s face until it landed on his lips, I bit my own softly as an urge slowly grew in me. Derek’s head was tilted downwards, so my head lined up perfectly with his. The longer I stared, the more the urge grew and led to thoughts I haven't had in a long time. I was tempted to run my hand through his perfect midnight black hair before pulling his lips in mine. The urge grew greater as my thought continued to go down the path of Derek satisfying a need I have put aside for far too long. I was thrown out of my thoughts by Derek moving the arm that was holding her in place. Taking this chance, I got up from the couch making sure to not wake Derek up.

“I need to make sure not to fall asleep in the bed as him, or I don't know if I'll hold myself back next time,” I thought to myself.

I stood there for a moment, contemplating the idea of laying back down on the couch with him but threw out the idea. I can't get involved with people in this kind of life, it just ends with disappointment. Resisting the urge, I walk towards the front door to grab some extra clothing and get ready for the day.

Thirty minutes later and I was walking out of the bathroom with a new set of clothing and feeling refreshed. Derek was still laying down on the couch passed out as if he didn't have a worry in the world. I walked past him, heading into the kitchen to find if there was anything to eat. Going through the cabinet proved to be meaningless, it was all empty.

“What the hell do you eat?” I mumbled under my breath

I jumped up in surprise when a voice came from behind me “There’s so cereal in the fridge.”

Derek walked into the room while rubbing a towel on his head to dry his wet hair. I couldn’t help but inwardly groan as my eyes raked over his body. He was wearing a light blue shirt that was hugged his frame perfect, showing his toned muscles. My mind went entirely on overdrive as I imagined him without a shirt. The way his muscle would feel like on my body as he pressed himself against me. Have his hands run up and down my body as he would softly bite my neck.

“Want me to do it?” Derek asked getting closer

“Do what?” I responded hoping he read my mind

Derek looked at me weirdly “If you want me to go get breakfast?”

With disappointment evident in my tone I responded: “No, cereal is okay.”

Derek just kept on staring at me as I grabbed the bowl and cereal. He shrugged, deciding not to question it anymore and followed me, grabbing the box.

“How’s your shoulder doing?” He asked before taking a mouth full of cereal.

I rotated my previously injured shoulder “I don't feel as much pain, just some discomfort. Thanks to my magic, I should be good by tomorrow.”

“I have not seen you use magic.”

“You are not one to talk, I only saw a small glimpse of it.” I retort

He chuckles “I don't like using it, but ill cut you a deal, tell me about your magic ability, and I will tell you mine.”

I think about for a moment “alright deal.”

We walked into the living room to the couch.

“I can amplify my aura to enhance my body, now you,” I told him.

Derek was about to respond, but all the hair on my body stand up, and I instinctively released my aura just moments before an explosion sent me flying across the apartment and into a closet. I tried moving, but an intense amount of pain surge through my body that made me rethink the option of even moving again. It had taken a few painful moments and deep breaths before I convinced myself to start moving slowly to stand up. I pushed myself up with my right arm to try and maintain balance but felt a stinging pain surge throughout my arm that caused me to fall back down to the ground. I looked at my right arm and saw a chunk of wood had pierced it from when I crashed through the closet door. I grabbed the piece of wood, earning myself more pain from the wound as I pull it out. I let out a grunt as I tried once again to stand up and to manage to this time.

“Great, now both my arm are technically injured.”

I grabbed onto the edge of the closet and came out, the smell of gunpowder was in the air. It was getting harder to breathe, with every breath inhaled, it felt like my lungs were burning due to the dust, smut, and smoke in the air. I saw Derek and some guy talking to each other, but I couldn't hear anything over the loud ringing sound in my ear.

“Fuck, what the hell is going on and who is that?” I thought to myself.

The man took a glance at me before turning to look back and grabbed a distracted Derek by his throat. The man easily throws Derek in my direction, unluckily for me, my body is in no position to dodge. Derek crashes into me, sending both of us toward a wall and smashing through it.

“Ugh seriously? If I knew this would happen, I would not have stayed here” I said while slowly getting up.

Surprisingly at some point, my hearing came back since I was able to hear Derek groan as rose from the floor. I looked around to what was now an apartment filled with rubble; the strange man had left. ‘Damn, I couldn't see his face. Who was he?’

“So now what now?” I asked enraged by the deaf inducing explosion.

“Go.”

“What?” I asked

“GO!” he repeated

Without a second to waste Derek grabbed my hand and began pulling me towards the windows. He jumped through the window dragging me with him, right before I was entirely through I saw one last explosive stuck on the wall, two seconds before detonation. While I have jumped from greater heights, it has never been as such speed. The explosion that occurred moments ago propelled us forward with immense force. More explosions went off completely destroying the upper floor of the apartment complex. Derek rolled as he landed, but I was not as lucky since I was pushed further into the street and onto the roof of a car.

“Emily, are you okay?” I heard him saying.

I kept quiet, unable to respond due to a headache that was raising my head, and I attempted to stand up but failed.

“Don't get up yet, you crashed pretty hard,” Derek said.

I ignored him and got up, immediately regretting it. My breathing became labored and difficult to maintain while pain shot through my entire body with every small movement made. Dizziness and nausea overcame me the moment I stood upright.

“I said don't get up!” Derek exclaimed once again

It was too late since unconsciousness rushed in and took over.

Derek P.O.V

Quickly stepping forward, I caught Emily before she fell to the ground. I carried her in a bridal position before taking a look back at my now destroyed apartment, it's a shame I really enjoyed living there.

Sirens could be heard in the distance from what I can assume are ambulance and fireman in the distance. Deciding it was time to take my leave, I walked down the road towards my car in a rush to get away from the madness that just occurred. Finally reaching the car, I walked over to the passenger side and opened up the door and placed Emily inside. I walked over to the driver side and got in calmly and started the car. As I was driving down the street, I looked in my rearview mirror and noticed Marty had been following us the entire time.

“You have got to be kidding me? Can't let me off with a warning or something,” I muttered annoyed.

In the time that I have worked as a hit for Michael, he has never made anything easy. Once again I saw four more Ford Escape closing the distance.

“Can you not make it simple for once Michael?” I thought to myself.

One of the SUV had managed to catch up with me and violently started bumping into the back of the car. The hit caused me to momentarily lose control of the car and drive onto the sidewalk. The pedestrian jumped to the side, missing the car by a hair length. Michael’s men started to shot at my car, hitting bystanders.

“Dammit,” I said to myself.

Gaining control again of the car and sped up the car, throwing away any consideration of civilians on the sidewalk.

'don't want to be hit, then move out the way' I said to myself.

Finally managing to get back on the road, two of the SUV’s pulled close next to me. Each one had started to push up against me, imagine the back would be an exit would be too much to hope for. Marty came up once again and began hitting my back bumper again, not letting me get out of this situation quickly.

'crap, what am I going to do?' I said to myself.

“Well, you can use magic” I heard a familiar voice from the back seat.

“Eleena I'm not going to use magic” I responded.

“Aww, why not? It will get you out of this much faster than anything” Eleena said to me while running her finger along my jawline.

“I told you before Eleena. I'm not doing it unless I have to.”

I leaned towards the right and open the glove compartment to reveal a pistol inside. Quickly taking ahold of the gun, releasing the safety, I did something I rarely had to do. Shoot and drive at the same time. Taking my eyes off the roads momentary, I aimed the gun towards the SUV to the right side of us. The driver noticed what I was attempting and swerved the SUV to bump into us causing me to misfire. The bullet broke the window of the SUV and went out the roof of their vehicle. Letting out a slur of curses, I retook aim and let out shots escape the barrel of my gun, managing to hit the man sitting in the passenger side, instantly ending his life.

“See I am more than capable enough of accomplishing this without magic” I retorted to Eleena.

Without the pressure of the SUV pushing into me, I managed to speed up and get ahead of the SUV. The entrance ramp for the highway which I took.

Michael’s men were able to quickly catch up to me before I heard more gunshot coming from them. “How the hell are they able to catch up to me.”

Realization dawned on me that I was currently driving a car provided by Michael, meaning that it was probably wasn't modified to the point theirs were. I instinctively ducked my head as one bullet hit the rear windshield, thankfully Michael had at least given me bulletproof windows.

“Thank you, idiot,” I said

I swerved into the right lane and slowed down the car enough to be side-by-side with the other SUV. Holding my gun in front of Emily’s unconscious body and taking a good aim shot that hit the tire of the SUV. Michael’s goon lost control of the van from the sudden eruption of the tire, causing him to swerve and crash into another of his companions.

“Well done, killing two birds with one stone” Eleena praised me.

I faced back to aim at the driver of the last SUV but soon came to realize that I had used the last bullet on the gun. Cursing to myself, as I looked through the glove compartment, not finding any ammo clips. Not knowing what I should be more pissed about, not having any more ammo clips, or carrying a gun without a full clip. Eleena looked in my direction, a gleeful smile currently present on her lips.

“Dammit,” I cursed. “Only this once!”

I had no other choice, it was either to use it or attempt to get away and the way things are looking, I prefer the former. It's been a while since I had to consciously use my power for anything. Usually, it would happen out of instinct, but I figure that was more because of Eleena acting behind the scene. Slowing down the car until I was beside the last SUV with my hand outstretched out, trying to throw out that oh familiar ball of fire from my hand. My concentration broke when the SUV rammed into the side of the car making me hit the concrete wall of the highway.

“Derek you are not doing this correctly,” Eleena said to me

“I'm trying, but it a bit hard to concentrate, drive, and aim” I retorted to her

I attempted again, but it ended the same way. The SUV ramming the right side of my car causing me to crash into the wall of the highway yet again. Unlike the first time, the goon went ahead and kept himself on top of me and forcing the car to scrape against the wall.

“DEREK! Get your head together!” Eleena scream

“You see that I am trying, and it's not working” I yelled back at Eleena

“NO, what you are trying to do is get yourself killed. Now do it again, and I will walk you through this because you obviously forget how to do it on your own”

I listened to Eleena and brought my hand back up and aimed it at the SUV.

“Relax, and calm your mind Derek. Remember that being in distress can cause you to not grab on to the actual power.” I heard Eleena whisper in my ear “The power comes from your soul, if your mind can't be calm and feel its presence then you will never bring it out.”

I did what she said and let my mind drift from everything that was going on around me. It was surprisingly easy, letting the feeling of relief go down from my head and cover my whole body, calming my racing thoughts and rapidly beating heart. Eleena said the power came from my soul, so all I have to do is grasp it. My surrounding started to slow down as I let my mind wander further and further. Without realizing, I had begun to feel a warm sensation arise from the middle of my chest that slowly but surely increased.

“There you go Derek, now direct the sensation to your hand and will it to erupt” I heard Eleena voice even when I did not see her move.

I did what she said and moved the sensation out of my chest and up my arm. The warm feeling to get stronger until it goes to the point where my hand felt as if it were on fire. I grabbed the sensation and willed it to erupt out of my hand to shoot forward. All my thoughts, worries, and even rapid beating heart returned in an instant, but I was still able to hold on to the feeling of fire on hand and aim it straight at the SUV. The fireball flew out and crashed into the driver’s door with enough force, the whole left side of the car to lift up the ground and flip on its side.

“Woah that was amazing, I forgot how this felt,” I said to myself

“Does that mean you will be using magic more often?” Eleena asked

“Hell no.”

After rejecting Eleena’s question, she sat in the back seat of the car and practically pouted. I ignored her and kept driving forward, disappointed about the fact that there wasn’t an explosion to make everything seem cool. As if something was listening to my thoughts, there was an explosion off in the distance from the direction I came from.

Emily P.O.V

Waking up with a splitting headache is not part of my to-do list, nor will it ever be. My body was sore, and my arms were burning but felt constricted. Usually, I would have checked, but sleep was too tempting to ignore, so I kept my eyes closed, and attempted to fall back to sleep until I heard someone speaking next to me. It was a girl's voice, not a familiar voice from what I can recall. A male voice followed, Derek's voice, he seemed annoyed at the other person from the sound of it.

“No Eleena, I will not abandon her,” Derek said.

“So the girl's name is Eleena?” I thought to myself

“Derek what if she betrays you?” the girl said “haven't thought of that, have you?

“Yes I have, and I can take care of myself when the time comes. It's not like I was trained to be easily killed by one person” Derek responded to her.

I let out a mental scoff at hearing Derek words, I could have easily killed him back in the apartment but chose not to.

“who decides to go after demons? Michael has probably amassed an army in Chicago, and one church made up with a hand full of people will take them down” Eleena said extremely irritated. “Honestly I am surprised that she even got as far as she did. All Emily and that priest, Francis, are doing is courting death.”

“Okay that's it, I had enough,” I said, getting up quickly and looking back to see who Eleena was.

Derek looked over at me with a confused expression before letting out a grin that oozed mockery.

“Had enough of what?” he asked with a grin plastered on his face

“Don't play stupid with me, I know that there was a girl Eleena here,” I said to Derek with a grave expression on my face.

“I think you hit your head too hard on the fall earlier. There is no one here, and I don't know anyone with the name Eleena.” Derek replied with a blank face.

“I didn't hit my head on that fall, and you’re lucky I am too tired to put up with your bullshit,” I said, slumping back into my seat and looking out the window onto the road.

“Wait where the hell are we? Where are we going?” I asked.

“Well for starters, your welcome for saving you earlier, and two we had to leave the city. Michael decided to hunt us down” he responded

“Oh, I am not surprised, we probably pissed him off after that apartment complex stunt” I sighed

I looked down at my forearm and saw bandage wrap around it. Confused for a moment, I remember the chunk piece of wood that had taken residence in my arm. Not wanting to continue talking, I leaned my head back and closed my eyes.

“Thank you,” I said before letting my unconscious slip.

I was on my knees, overlook a giant hole made into the hole that led outside. A whole city was visible from where I was positioned, It was beautiful, but it wasn't at the same time. Fire and destruction were evident throughout the city, building were crumbling and falling while loud booming sound could clearly be heard in the distance. I attended to stand up, but I found it impossible to move.

“No…” A male voice came from some across the room “we trusted you, and this is what you do to us?”

“Oh please...don't get ahead of yourself, you were nothing but a tool,” Another male voice came from behind me.

I felt the tip of something sharp being pressed against my back before it went through my body. I looked down at a blade that was drenched with blood, my blood. A foot pressed against my back and pushed me forward.

“NO!”

My body went to limp as I fell through the hole and down to a lake of fire waiting for me at the bottom. I knew my skin was burning as the smell of burnt flesh invaded my nose. The heat of fire gradually grew the closer I came to the ground, but it went away as quickly as it happened.

I shot up from my seat, sweat covering every inch of my body, and my heart was beating quickly. Derek was looking in my direction with a concern expression.

“You okay?” He asked

“Yeah” I responded while letting my body calm down “let’s switch.”