A Little Piece Of Heaven

Night touched off chill and the stars shone now that the rain had finally passed.
The small garrison had moved on from the destroyed farmhouse and taken up residence in the small town that gave the area its name. Abbeville had stood for a thousand years, seen many wars from the English to the current invaders and still remained a ramshackle mix of small houses around a central main square. The residents were measured and polite to the invaders while working behind their backs and several waiters now moved back and forth serving the victors as they sat in the evening air.
There was a sense of false cheer, a certain nervousness that radiated from the men and had begun to rub off on the villagers. This latest mission was different, the man now conversing somewhere with their captain was frightening in a way that even the gestapo were not. None of them knew what it was, the raid this afternoon had been a case in point. There had seemed to be little reason to it, all of them seeing the farmhouse explode but not what they had been looking for. They had all experienced nausea and headaches which had made this small chance at relaxing with alcohol even more welcoming.
Small talk filled the evening air, some of the officers sitting inside and even they were relieved that the Major and his mysterious young friend had not joined them. They knew a little more than the men but not much, simply told to follow whatever order they were given without question. Nothing new in that but the tasks they had been given and the targets had seemed random and with little sense. Worse, some of their own men had disappeared.
“More wine!”
Another cheer went up as the waiter tripped over an outstretched foot and the pretty blon boy in uniform giggled, his gaze widening as he looked across the square. He tugged on his friends shoulder, the laughter dropping as they all looked in that direction and a few whistles and calls came up. The blond boy, Hubert Mannstein had less than twenty minutes to live but unknowingly now called out to the ones that would kill him.
“French whores ! Come and party with us !”
His friends cackled and all of them summed up the three women coming across the cobbles. A blond in green, icy and beautiful like the girls from home, a stunning redhead in the middle in pure white, her face pale and the lightest smile on her lips and the dark haired girl on her other arm, mysterious and silent. There was something bold in the way they walked across the square, no fear there like the soldiers were used to and it was captivating. The girls stopped about three feet away from the men, the blonde whispering something to the redhead who smiled and looked at Hubert. The gaze made him swallow a little nervously, her question even more so.
“Where is Arin ? Tell us and you may live.”
The men laughed, the whole situation was surreal and ridiculous.
“Who cares ? Party with us pretty ladies, we have money and big cocks.”
The dark haired on smirked and winked at Hubert.
“Not for long. We want Arin.”
Two of the older men decided enough was enough, they had got used to taking what they wanted and no french bitch was going to play games with them. A taller man, bald and ugly but strong pulled the blonde away, enjoying her shriek until it turned into laughter as the redhead simply rolled her eyes and silenced them all.
“The four that have the mark. Keep them and kill the rest.”
Dani giggled, plunging her fingers into the man’s eyes and pulling his head free, letting it drop and bounce along the bricks as all hell broke loose. They all went for their guns of course, not understanding when the bullets didn’t touch the women or the men that were now inexplicably in their midst. Zacky pulled up the unfortunate restaurant owner from his position under one of the tables and pulled him aside roughly. The man could do nothing but stare at the fearsome knife in his hand that already dripped with blood.
“Get all of your people inside and stay there. You will remember nothing of this tomorrow and it will be like the garrison had never been here. Do not fear retribution from these men, they are nothing and will leave no trace. Now RUN.”
The man obliged, all of the townspeople knowing on instinct to stay well away from the windows and the burgeoning screams even when pleas for help began to ring through the hammering on their doors. Soon the peaceful sleep that Claire gifted them all took effect and the reapers were left to walk through the square unhindered.
Four men could do nothing but run, unable to see the markers over their heads that would temporarily save their lives. The girls herded them into a corner of the square, killing those closest as Matt and Jimmy used sheer strength, sliding among the screaming men to crush skulls and bone at a frightening rate. It was more than just a lesson, this would show whoever had their friends that force would be met with force. Matt in particular had enjoyed letting Johnny off the leash, the short man armed with an axe and all the ferocity of a devil.
“He’s not happy.”
Jimmy grinned, wincing slightly as Johnny buried the axe clean through a screaming man’s skull. A dull thud and chips of bone flew as he and Matt headed in the direction of Claire’s voice. Jimmy liked that the gnome hid behind nothing and no one when his temper was up.
“He’s not getting any. It’s not good for you.”
“Imagine what Syn is gonna be like.”
“Fuck. Good point.”
Hubert had found a machine gun, blood pouring from a wound in his chest where Raven had buried the blade that sung to its twin. She was stalking him, enjoying his fear and the adrenaline of finally being allowed to exercise her power. It felt good after seeing her friends rocked by the attacks on them and she loved the power that coursed through her system. She smiled as he ran into the square, spraying bullets at Matt and Jimmy who merely cocked their heads and smiled as she landed on him from behind.
“Stupid, stupid boy. You should have stayed sucking on your mothers tit rather than come out here.”
Hubert gasped and screamed as the blade in her hand opened him from hip to hip, steam rising as the gun fell from his hands and he tried to scoop up the organs that now protruded from his body. Raven smiled, placing the blade against the jagged wound and pointing it upwards as he started to beg in German, French and English.
“Please, please. I never hurt anyone, I don’t even aim to anyone. Please !!”
“You are complicit in mass murder. Your boy took our friends.”
He looked puzzled, his eighteen years snuffed out as she simply pulled the blade upwards towards ribs and sternum. His screams died away, Raven feeling Jimmy appear beside her and offer his hand. His eyes were wide and loving, she was glorious and his. Any fears that he had about her joining them were gone and together they made their way back across the square to where his friends had herded the four marked men. The square was red with blood and bodies, the night air still rent with the cries of the dying as Claire set it all alight in a mass of spectral flame. The bodies writhed and burned in a crimson and green light that touched only flesh and bone, the rest of the square left undamaged and unburned.
“These ones know more. Not a lot more but they can be useful.”
Claire blew out the flames dancing on her fingers and looked at her lover. Zacky had no hair out of place, calmly cleaning the blade in his hand as the four men grovelled at his feet. Dani joined them, a little breathless and pleased to see Matt, Jimmy and Raven heading their way.
“Where’s Johnny ?”
“In some house over there, really wouldn’t disturb him right now.”
Claire smiled slightly, knowing exactly what that meant from the picture in her head as Jimmy arrived beside her. He checked that all of them were accounted for in the now silent square and then pulled two of the men to their feet. Matt pointed to a bakery across the way and hauled the third up, Zacky taking the last as they headed in that direction. The night had gone back to being silent and peaceful, no trace of the men or violence that had bloomed her so abruptly.
Once inside Zacky threw the man onto the big wooden table where bread was normally baked every day, Jimmy putting a conversational arm around the Sergeant that Claire and Dani had picked out as knowing most. Of course it would have been easier if they could just have tuned into his brain but the presence of magic had locked that down and so it would have to be done the more traditional and messy way.
“You need to talk, tell us where Arin is.”
The faultless German made the man blink, his reply faltering.
“I…I don’t know that man. He talks to the Major, he’s an advisor.”
“The Major ?”
The man cringed and gripped his head, his friends moaning as Zacky balanced the knife an inch from the eye of the victim on the table. He held it lightly between two fingers, the blade poised and lethal as the man below held his breath.
“From Berlin ! He is looking for relics and artefacts for the Fuhrer.”
Jimmy nodded to Zack with a cheery grin and Zacky flicked the blade up, catching it easily and slamming it through the man’s eye and into his skull. There was a nasty crunch of bone and the faint smell of urine as Matt patted the Sergeant on the shoulder.
“And ?”
“He wanted something here, I don’t know.”
Johnny arrived in the door way, out of breath and still holding the axe. The blade was twisted and warped, the remaining men shrinking back and away as he joined his friends at the table. Dani placed a calming hand on his shoulder, the hurt and fear at still not finding his Stefanie were pouring out in bloodlust.
“He took something from us, something very precious and he has started something he will never finish. Now, where is Arin and this Major ?”
The man shook his head, struck dumb at the sight now before him. Claire had decided that true fear was now required, showing the reapers in their true form for the girls and in hunting mode for the boys. The four horsemen of the man’s catholic upbringing had nothing on seeing the demonic figures swathed in smoke and fire, the unearthly women almost angels apart from the icy stares, He started to moan.
“They went to the châteaux, north from here.”
Jimmy nodded, the flames around his eyes dying down a little until Raven appeared at his shoulder.
“He’s lying. There is nothing north of here. The only chateaux is due south.”
Jimmy tutted, glancing at Claire. A nasty smile crossed her face and the Sergeant started to shudder and moan, Matt’s hand on his collar the only thing holding him up as blood began to pour from ears, nose and eyes. The two remaining men huddled further back from the dying man, trying to sink into the wall. Jimmy turned his gaze on them as there was a sickening squelch and the man’s head imploded.
“Can’t stand liars. One of you best tell me the truth.”
The smaller man raised his hand, he had survived one war and badly wanted to live through this one. He had seen strange things, nothing like this but enough to know that whatever these creatures were seeking was something more similar to themselves than him. He looked at the tall man, relieved to see that he looked like a handsome young man again and not like a biblical nightmare.
“They are there. The Major, he is like you…..not human.”
“In what way ?”
“He is never seen in the day. He looks so young but too pale, too dead. When you are near him you can’t think, he seems to cloud the mind.”
Jimmy nodded, at least it confirmed that they were facing a demon or a powerful mystic.
“Go on.”
“I overheard them. They are building a machine in the fatherland, to help us win the war.”
Claire nodded, this one spoke truth and could be used. She spoke to Jimmy and the others telepathically, keeping silent to the living.
“We can use him to get us inside information. I can link with him.”
Matt nodded and addressed the man, absentmindedly dropping the corpse at his feet.
“You’re going to go back there, say you ran into partisans far from here. We will leave the bodies at a convenient location. You will give us location and a mental picture of this Major. Do that and you will be spared.”
The man nodded, he had no doubt that they would know if he betrayed them.
“Yes sir. I want to live.”
Matt nodded towards the door and the man fled, leaving his remaining compatriot behind. This last man was a fanatic and glared at the reapers. He was sickened that the man he had fought beside had caved so easily and accepted the death to come.
“We have God on our sides, the Fuhrer will give us victory with the creature that the Major will raise.”
Johnny raised the axe and buried it between the man’s eyes, annoyed that it wedged in the wall with the force of the blow. He and Zacky pulled at it as the girls began to tidy up and put the bakery to rights. Jimmy slung an arm around Matt and rested his head against his friends, amused and feeling a little better now they had at least some answers.
“A creature from hell. Well won’t that be fun….”

Notes