The Devil Within

Even Archangels Get Cramps

You begrudgingly threw your bed covers off of your body, groaning at the pain in your lower stomach. It was a long time coming but your reproductive organs had finally gotten used to the new situation and nourishment security. You had your first period since your world's apocalypse around three months previously when you first started regaining the weight starvation took from you. It was a light period and didn't really affect you all that much with very light cramping. Now, your reproductive organs were practically screaming at you to get pregnant since you were finally healthy enough to carry a child. 

Yeah, no thank you.

With a huff, you sat up and groaned at the feeling of blood exiting your body. Right onto your nice, purple sheets... What a wonderful life. Taking a minute to fully wake up, you got started on getting ready for the day. You got dressed in some workout clothes for training later that morning, trying not to get any more blood on anything. The room was stocked with everything you could ever need so there was no shortage of menstrual products in your very fancy bathroom. Of course, you were going to need a lot more than some menstrual products that kept your underwear clean. 

"Hey, room?" you questioned, looking around the bathroom. "I wouldn't suppose you could direct me to a heating pad, would you?" There was a thump in the cabinet next to you, making you open it to find a purple heating pad that was warm to the touch. "Yes! Thank you." You were pleasantly surprised to find out that the heating pad also had a strap around it that you could use to tie the thing around your waist. Now, you didn't need to grab a belt or hold the heating pad with one hand while you went about the first bit of your day. 

"Good morning," you said to Diogenes as you trudged down the stairs. "Don't you have a lecture in a few minutes?" 

"There was a gas leak in the building and there isn't anywhere else for me to present my lecture," Diogenes said, eying you carefully. "Class has been cancelled today." 

You were about to ask why he couldn't open a Zoom class before you remembered that Zoom wasn't a thing yet. Needless to say, you quickly clamped your mouth shut before saying anything stupid. Instead, you opted to say something a bit more positive. "I hope they fix it soon."

"I'm sure it won't be a problem in a few days," Diogenes said, confusion written all over his face. "How are you?"

"Good?" you said, raising a brow. "Is there any reason I shouldn't be?"

"You did have a Demon Hunt the other night," Diogenes suggested, sitting down on the couch. "I'm curious if there are any... lasting effects." You were pretty sure that Diogenes didn't believe his own words as he turned away from you.

The Demon Hunt Diogenes was referring to was a difficult one, to say the least. Three demons were terrorizing a small neighbourhood in Pheonix, Arizona by possessing their children and making them go on killing sprees once every night. One couple would die every night for three days, all of them with different causes of death. There were only two things that were similar between the killings, the bodies showed clear signs of heavy torture before dying and the scenes of the crimes always had an overwhelming stench of sulphur surrounding it. You were able to stop the demons before they killed the fourth couple and you did it without killing the children. Raphael taught you how to exorcise multiple demons at once and kill them before they got sent back to Hell. It was really a lot about timing and using a weapon that could piece three clouds of smoke before they disappeared. The three kids were traumatized but would otherwise be okay by the time you packed up and went home. One of the demons did, however, get a good hit on you before you killed it. You came home with six broken ribs and a dislocated shoulder to a frantic Archangel insisting that you don't move an inch until the mark fully heals your injuries. Raphael was trying to show some restraint since there would be times when he couldn't immediately heal you after every Hunt, but he gave in after an hour and healed you completely of your injuries.