Mortals (Devil may Cry book 2)

Limbo

Dante was very much alive when we arrived. He was fighting a couple of SWAT members near the end of Brook's drive way. I glanced quickly around the yard  for Brook. She was nowhere to be found. Vergil ordered me to stay in the car as he helped Dante. But Vergil should have known that I wasn't going to listen to him. 

I slipped out of the car when he wasn't looking, dashing madly to the house. I cautiously looked in the open door, scanning of the feds. When I didn't see anyone. I slipped in and began searching for Brook. Everything in the building was overturned or broken, and it really looked like a figh had broken out. Why was I even looking for Brook here? Of course, my brain grasped the idea that perhaps, maybe just maybe, she was here.

I opened her bedroom door as I searched for her, "Brook?"

There was no reply. I scanned the gloomy darkness for an unconscious figure or something. Something to reassure me that she was alright. But I didn't find anything. I even checked under her red-sheeted bed. The only thing I found was a couple pairs of shoes.

The other bedroom were the same thing. Nothing but darkness, dust, and shoes. I felt my eyes refocus as I stepped into a more lit part of the underground house. I decided to check the cellar. I pulled up the hatch, poking my head down into the crawl space. 

"Brook? Are you here?"

Nothing. Silence, dust, dirt, and spiders greeted. I shivered at the large arachnids as they crawled around in their webs.

I stood back up, pulling cobwebs from my hair and off of my face. Where in Oblivion was she? The sound of glass shattering behind me caught my attention. I spun, my eyes scouring the darkness, "Brook? It's me, Cassi."

I did not here her, but I did hear a metallic clank. What was that. I took a step forwards. Suddenly, a form popped up from behind the upturned table. It was one of the SWAT members.

"Hey, you! Hands on your head!" He pressed the button of the radio on his flak jacket, "I got the girl."

I raised my hands above my head as a sense of vertigo hit me. The atmosphere turned orange-ish, and the house seemed to morph, as if it were being transformed into some make-shift playground. I watched as the walls crumbled and folded into it selves, before swirling away to reveal a never -ending drop into nothingness. There was a swirling storm all around the building, and it made me dizzy to look at it.

A tall, child faced silver thing stood ahead of me where the SWAT member had stood. There was no doubt in my mind that the SWAT member himself was that thing. A blood chilling thought crossed my mind as I stared at the beast.

This was Limbo.

It looked like one of my night mares come true. The demon itself did not scare me; the giant, danger-filled world of Limbo  scared me. I took a shaky step back as it let out a weird screech and raised its blade-infused arm as if preparing to attack.

I looked for a way to run.I was cornered where I was at. The wall behind me offered no help in my panicking state. Think! What would Dante do? Dante would kick the demon's ass. Vergil? He probably would too. I was unarmed, so that option was out the giant hole in the wall. As the beast began stalking towards me, I knew I had to make my decision. I noticed a light fixture above the demon, and decided that that was my escape route.

I jumped, praying that the fixture would hold my weight long enough to swing over the demon. I jumped and swung, feeling a stinging sensation where the demon's sword arm had caught my lower calf. Ignoring the pain, I dashed out of the door and into the yard where Vergil was.

"Vergil!" I cried, racing up to him. 

He was faded, his grey figure pulsing as he faded slightly into Limbo, "Cassi? I thought I told you to stay in the car!"

"Help me get out of Limbo! Open the gateway!"

Vergil killed another of the SWAT demons and pulled his sword fess, "I can't Well I can, but it won't help you. You are not a Nephilim. Only the Nephilim can cross through the gateways. You are a demon. You are physically unable."

I threw my hands into the air, "Then how do I get out?"

"You have to kill the demon that dragged you into Limbo. It will send you back."

I growled, "Can't you help me?! I'm completely unarmed!"

Vergil shook his head, "I can't. There are more coming. Hurry Cassi!"

I turned back to my demon, "Cassi, use your claws."

Vergil's voice reminded me of my claws. My "deadly weapons." But I had no other choice. My claws lengthened, and  raced at the demon in front of me. My sudden assault took the thing off guard, and I slashed my claws across its throat. It collapsed, convulsing.

I stared at my blackened hand as the vertigo hit again, and I returned to the real world. That was so easy, it was almost unbelievable...

I stared down at the dead SWAT member at my feet. It was not the first person I had killed, and it certainly would not be the last. What intrigued me the most was that this SWAT member, and all the other ones I had seen, were not human. They were demons.

Vergil watched the life drain from the eyes of the man below him as I approached, "I never want to go to Limbo again."

He chuckled, "I would understand that, but you will have no choice. More likely that not, you will visit the place again, as you are a demon."

I groaned, "Vergil, I searched the entire house. Brook isn't there."

"What made you think she would be? Dante lost her on the other side of the town."

Dante scowled, "Don't blame this on me. It's not my fault she ran off when I was looking in the old houses there."

"In any case," Vergil stared at Dante, "it is a must that we find her. No dawdling. She is in danger."

~o0o~

"Vergil, why are we at the supermarket?" 

"Because Brook might be here."

I sighed, "I highly doubt that she would be at a place where there are many seeking eyes."

"If she was being hunted down she would."

I considered it. I supposed that it was possible. I scanned through the isles as we walked around. I did not see any familiar faces - Thank God - which did not help our search for our friend. 

"She isn't here. But you will find someone worth your while."

I hope so, Jasmine.

Vergil shook his head as he scanned the last isle.

"She isn't here, Vergil. Jasmine said so."

"At this rate, we'll be too late."

He turned around, freezing suddenly.

"What is it Vergil?" I turned to see the person I had left my dog with. Juliette. Her eyes widened as they locked onto Vergil. They briefly lingered on me, before she turned and dashed out of the store.

"Wait!" Vergil yelled and tore after her. I followed, my mind spinning with hundreds of possibilities of why he was chasing her. We ran down the alleyway, and past a couple of houses. Juliette stopped long enough to glance both ways down the highway.

"Wait! I can tell you about what you are!"

She froze, turning to face him, "What I am? I'm crazy, that's what I am."

"No," Vergil said quietly, "You aren't. You are a medium. a psychic."

She stared at him, "That's why..."

That's why you can see the demons."

She walked slowly back to us, "The demons..."

"Yes."

She nodded, "Can you help me?"

"Only if you help us in return."

Juliette nodded, "I have your dog... again. Brook handed her to me when she left."

"Left for where?" I asked quickly.

"Left for him."