Black Winged Angel. Amy Blankenship

spread out around him. He always looked so sweet when he was asleep… it really was a shame they couldn’t keep him asleep at all times. She smirked at her own mental joke. But what the heck, it was true. Toya, as sweet and loving as he secretly was, would be the first one to start a fight with her.

      Pulling herself up and over the back of the sofa so she didn’t have to crawl across him, she got her footing and looked around.

      Kyoko shook her head, wondering why so many of them had made it a habit to sleep in this huge living room, almost every night, when they all had their own rooms with king sized beds. Quickly glancing around, she noted everyone she had been waiting on was accounted for, except Kyou, which was normal, and Tasuki, whom she knew had the night shift this week.

      With Kyou being their boss, she guessed it was too much to ask for him to hang out with the cops, private detectives, and psychics that worked for him.

      A very wickedly funny thought slipped into her head and she smiled. Had anyone been awake to see it, they would have run in fright. These guys had been teasing her so much lately that Kyoko believed it was time for payback… ten-fold.

      She silently walked over to Shinbe, who was asleep on the loveseat. Carefully, she extracted the TV remote control that had somehow ended up lying across his lap. Kyoko froze when Shinbe shifted and muttered something about rabbit fur and chocolate syrup in his sleep.

      Shaking her head, Kyoko got the remote away from him and muted the television.

      Adrenaline rushed through her body, giving her a lightheaded feeling. A very tiny part of her started to feel bad, but she viciously jumped up and down on it, until that part of her conscience was beaten into silence. After Kotaro’s underwear incident, and Toya’s sudden urge to streak the halls and into her bedroom… they so deserved this.

      Besides, they thought of her as the baby of the group. She always had to fight with them to get to do any of the hardcore paranormal jobs.

      Her only real power was the fact that sometimes when she touched something, or someone, she would get flashes of the past that would help them solve the cases. It didn’t always work though. It wasn’t like she could just walk up to a demon and touch it to see if it was going around killing people.

      Maybe by getting the jump on all of them at once, she would be proving to them that she could hold her own. Plus… revenge was sweet.

      With the television still muted, Kyoko cranked the volume all the way up. There was one part in this movie that made her cringe every time she heard it. So, she rewound to that part… the part where everything in the room started laughing at the main character in the most demented of voices.

      Sneaking over to the door, she opened it and took a single step out into the hallway before turning and smiling at the peaceful scene. Hitting the mute button one more time, Kyoko tossed the remote in the general direction of the sofa and ran like hell.

      The loud noise startled everyone into action, and therefore creating a domino effect that would have everyone not involved laughing for weeks.

      Kotaro was the first to react. He’d been sitting in one of the recliners, dreaming about a certain auburn-haired angel, when the loud creepy laughing surrounded him. He bolted to his feet, pulling his Beretta at the same time and shot the television. Being an officer with the local police force, it was instinct that made him react so quickly.

      Yohji, Kotaro’s partner at the precinct, was sitting in another chair. The noise caused him to jump, which in turn made the recliner flip over backwards. He was up in less than a second, using the fallen recliner for cover and pointing his gun at the remnants of the television.

      Shinbe jumped to his feet yelling something about abandoning ship, Kyoko’s and perverts first. He blinked, coming out of his dream and into what might be a nightmare. He tilted his head looking at the TV.

      Because of Toya’s precarious position on the sofa, he’d fallen off the edge, landing on top of a napping Kamui, who had stretched out on the floor with a laptop open in front of him. Kamui’s face went into the keyboard and Toya’s foot went into the screen, effectively destroying the device.

      â€œWhat the hell, Kotaro?” Toya demanded.

      â€œGet your face out of my ass!” Kamui screeched and jumped up, dumping Toya on the floor.

      Shinbe rubbed the back of his neck, thanking any god listening that no one had heard him.

      Yohji slowly stood up and holstered his PPK while frowning at the smoldering television. “You shot the television again,” he muttered. “Isn’t that the second one this year?” He glared at the TV as he added, “And I think it’s laughing at you.”

      Kotaro, for his part, was staring at the broken television that was still blaring the evil laughter, even though the screen was wrecked. The expression on his face was one of utter surprise and he looked down at the Beretta in his hand before very slowly holstering it. He noticed flickering lights and looked behind him to see Suki snapping pictures from her cell phone.

      â€œThree guesses who just did that,” Toya exclaimed and made a mad dash for the door.

      â€œDon’t kill her!” Kamui yelled running out after him. “I get first dibs.”

      Kotaro didn’t move as he was still looking at the television. Shinbe ran out after Toya and Kamui with all intent to ‘rescue’ Kyoko from Toya’s revenge.

      â€œFear not Kyoko, I shall protect you!” Shinbe exclaimed as he ran down the hall.

      Yuuhi, a small albino boy, removed the earplugs from his ears. “Told you,” he whispered in an emotionless voice that held its own creep factor.

      Amni, who was sitting next to the small boy on the same loveseat Shinbe had just vacated, grinned after he removed his earplugs as well. The two of them were the psychics of the group and had foreseen this coming for a few days now. They hadn’t bothered warning anyone because… what would be the fun in that?

      â€œAt least the security cameras Kyou installed will catch everything,” Amni stated. “Instant replay is the best thing since sliced bread.”

      â€œWhat did I miss?” Tasuki asked as he calmly walked through the door, glad to finally be off work for the night.

      â€œToya just left to kill Kyoko,” Amni said in an ominous voice, as if he were seeing a horrible vision. He then busted out laughing when Tasuki ran out of the room so fast he caused a breeze.

      Kotaro cocked an eyebrow at Amni, “Did anyone ever tell you that you had an evil streak?”

      Amni shrugged, “I didn’t want him to feel left out.”

      *****

      Darious leaned against the brick wall, getting a feel for the city. The sounds and smells from so many humans were distorted with demonic echoes that no one else noticed. He could even sense shadows that didn’t belong within the daylight, but he remained calm to keep his powers concealed for a while.

      He had learned a long time ago that his moods had an effect on the weather and so far today, the sky was clear and the temperature was perfection. It was midday and he wanted sunlight more than solitude. He seemed to be getting both.

      Darious smirked as he watched the humans. They were staying so close to the other edge of the wide sidewalk that one misstep would land them in heavy traffic.

      He was used to people cutting a wide ark around him and he no longer cared… not that he had ever really cared. He could have done them all a favor and just remained invisible, but being the same thing as a ghost 24/7 was getting on his nerves. The only reason he was now in the middle of such dense population was because he had followed the scent of many demons to this area.

      He was still trying to figure out why this place had become the center of demonic interest.