Chapter 5 "Awakening"

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The sun illuminated the ransacked apartment in which Michael and Meredith took shelter. Neither of them slept, due to the noise erupting through the city surrounding them.

"This is really it, huh?" Meredith interrupted the still air within the room. "Hell on Earth..."

Michael looked at her for a moment, not sure about what to say. He was sitting next to the window of the apartment, occasionally glancing out onto the streets, keeping a steady watch. He then lifted himself up off of the floor and crept around the apartment. Meredith watched him with weary eyes. She still had not fully recovered from whatever had sapped her energy the night before.

"Nice!" Michael said excitedly. He had made his way into the apartment's pantry and found a fairly significant stash of protein bars. "You want one?"

Meredith still seemed distraught over the ongoing loss of human lives throughout the city. She was lost in a daze as she zoned out, muffled screams and carnage still echoing within her mind.

"Hey!" Michael snapped his fingers in front of her face, trying to grab her attention.

She blinked and regained focus, "What?"

"Do you want one?" Michael waved a handful of protein bars in front of her.

She hastily grabbed one from him, a vanilla, caramel flavored bar, and unwrapped it. As she finished the bar, she seemed to be revitalized as the echoing in her ears had been silenced, if only for a moment.

"You alright?" Michael asked. He was concerned for her wellbeing. "This is a lot to deal with, and I don't think there's any precedence for this kind of disaster. It IS the end of the world after all, and... I'm not making it any better... I'll shut up now."

Meredith still had not said anything back to him she just stared into his eyes for a moment longer. Finally, "There's something, awfully familiar about you."

A puzzled look appeared on his face, "How do you mean?"

"I mean, from before... before all this, turmoil, before you ever being on trial for murder... as if I know you on a deeper level, almost, spiritual..."

"Meredith, I'm gonna get you a water, you need to stay hydrated." He rummaged through his backpack and offered her a bottle.

"I'm fine, thanks." She politely declined. "Sorry. I'm just lost in thought. There's so much going on right now in my head. I'm fine though, I promise." Meredith let out a smile to assure Michael she was telling the truth.

An hour crept by as Michael searched throughout the apartment for anything useful. He found nothing. He silently paced the rooms, desperately trying to form an organized plan of escape for he and Meredith. Where would they go? And how on Earth would they get there? His mind was flooded by the chaos of everything around him. But he knew that he would have to remain clear-headed for Meredith. Their survival depended on it.

Meredith took the time to focus on clearing her mind of the noises she continued to hear. She knew that she could not allow herself to be driven insane in the midst of all this current madness. She had to keep her composure in front of Michael. She could not afford to seem weak.

Then, suddenly, a knock at the door invaded the silence between Michael and Meredith. He looked at her and held his index finger to his lips, and Meredith nodded in understanding.

He eased his way to the door which was still barricaded with furniture. He was able to reach the peephole on the door and looked outward into the hallway. As far as he could see, there was no one outside the door. Then, as he continued to peer outside, the knocking continued. He jumped back and reached down to unsheathe his knife. As he readied himself, the door flew open, and the furniture barricade was cast aside effortlessly. In the open doorway stood no one, until out of thin air, a figure materialized.

A man, dressed in a suit, clean cut and shaven, appeared in the doorway, with a cloud of smoke and ash. He appeared human. Michael began to feel the burning, piercing sensation in the back of his mind again. The man stood in the doorway for a moment and surveyed the apartment. He then let out a grin. "So, this is who I was sent to find..." the man's voice was followed by a wisp of smoke through his teeth.

Suddenly, Meredith clutched her ears. "Who.. are you!?" She exclaimed. Her ears began to bleed and she started to yell out in pain.

"Meredith!" Michael tried to get to her but was stopped in his place by an unseen force.

"Hold it right there, Michael..." the man then swiped his arm to the side, and Michael was pinned against the wall by the invisible force.

"What... the... fuck!?" Michael could feel a tremendous weight against his body.

"Now what is this...?" The man hovered over the floor and swayed over to Meredith, who was still clutching her ears.

"Get away from her!" Michael cried.

The unidentified man looked up as Michael yelled and the ceiling shook slightly. "Hmm. Interesting." He then turned his attention back towards Meredith who had grown a horrified look upon her face.

"No." She muttered. "Get... away!"

"This truly is interesting..." he studied Meredith meticulously running his fingers across her face. "What exactly are you doing here, my dear?"

Michael struggled using everything within him to break free from whatever was holding him. "Listen here... you son of... a bitch. I said... get... away from her!" The ceiling shook more, and the wall that Michael was pinned against began to crack.

Now the man seemed much more interested in Michael. He left Meredith and walked over to him. "You know, at first I wasn't very impressed. But this..." He placed his hand on the wall, "This is something... what are you, Michael? Why are you so important?"

"What do you want, bastard?" Michael asked.

"Oh it's not about what I want. It's about what they want. I mean, regardless, I'm going to get what I want in the end let's face it." The man chuckled and spun around. "I was sent here. To find you. This one is unexpected, but welcome all the same." He gestured to Meredith.

"What are you getting at? Who are you?"

"Oh! How rude of me! I know you but you don't know who I am." The man let out a wild grin and laughed. "This is so fun, being up here again! I am what you would call 'Collections'. A purveyor of souls if you would. The big man tells me what he needs and I oblige. And you... oh you are at the top of his list. It was difficult spotting you at first, otherwise I would've found you before this ever started, but you're quite the sneaky character."

"What do you want with me!?" Michael hissed.

"You don't know...? Hmm." The man rubbed his chin. "Well that makes so much sense, no wonder I couldn't find you... you were dormant!"

"What-what is he talking about?" Meredith said weakly.

"Listen, I don't have too much time left so I'm gonna have to take your soul now!" The man reached out to Michael's chest and as he came into contact with him, a bright, blinding light shone between the two of them and threw the man back.

The force that had been holding Michael against the wall vanished and he slumped down onto the floor. He got back to his feet slowly, as the man regained his own footing. "Shit." He uttered.

"What was that!?" Michael demanded an answer, "What are you!? And what the fuck is going on!?"

"Sorry, but I really am running late for an afternoon appointment!" He then snapped his fingers and began to dematerialize, but something forced him back, and a panicked expression appeared on his face. "God dammit!"

"What the fuck are you!?" Michael reached out to the man's throat and grasped it firmly. "Answer the fucking question!"

Then, the man started screaming as Michael's hand caused the skin it came into contact with to sizzle at his touch. The same bright light now shone through the man's eyes and mouth as he disintegrated into nothing more than ash and a shadow burnt into the floor. Michael was awestruck. "What- what exactly am, I!?"

"Michael..." Meredith mumbled. She had been rendered unconscious.

"Shit, Meredith!" Michael exclaimed. He fell to the floor where she had passed out. "Are you okay!? What the hell is going on!?"

Meredith awoke seconds later with a gasp and she frantically looked all over, unsure of where she was.

"Hey hey hey..." Michael said quietly. "You're all right, it's okay." He held her head in his arms and was inspecting her for any injuries.

"What happened?"

"That, man... I think he's dead..."

"Dead?!" Meredith questioned him. "How could he be dead...? He was a demon!"

"A what!?... actually, you know, at this point, I don't even know why I'm still questioning the shit we've come in contact with... but, how do you know this?"

Meredith explained to Michael that whilst that man, or demon, was in their presence, she could hear voices echoing in her mind. Voices that emanated from the man. They told her who he was in his mortal life, and also what he had done to earn his place in Hell. The voices and whispers were so intense though, that they had caused her to pass out.

"He was a soul collector... he was meant to bring your soul back to whoever is in charge." She paused and grew terrified. "Does this mean, Lucifer is on Earth?"

"You know...? Prison sounds so nice right about now..." Michael pondered how his life would be going if none of this had happened. "Can you tell me why exactly you were hearing these voices and I wasn't? Also maybe explain to me why your ears started bleeding?"

Meredith had been plagued with what was believed to be a form of schizophrenia since her early childhood. She took medication for it, although it didn't always work. Anytime she began to hear these voices, bad things usually were not far behind. As a matter of fact, the last time she had heard these voices was on the eve of her family's demise. Now that Armageddon had begun, it became clear to her that it was not schizophrenia, but some kind of sixth sense bestowed upon her to detect the presence of evil.

"How exactly did the demon die?"

"Your guess is as good as mine. One minute I was pinned against a fucking wall, the next, I had him by the throat and he disintegrated..."

"Michael... do you- this is gonna sound stupid, but do you have powers?"

"No... well, no."

But as fate would have it, Michael suffered from a "sixth sense" as well. Growing up with the abuse from his father, Michael realized at an early age that he could sense evil. He could see it around people, like an aura. It allowed him to see people for what they truly were. The aura would distort peoples' faces, and the severity of the distortion would tell Michael just how evil someone was. It was this very "sixth sense" that allowed him to choose his victims during his killing days. Michael knew in his heart just how bad someone was before ever choosing to enact his justice upon them.

"So you do have powers? And you somehow vaporized a demon!" Meredith didn't know how to make sense of the situation.

"I wouldn't say 'vaporized' cause I mean, he wasn't turned into mist... he was 'disintegrated' into ashes... right?" Michael seemed detached from the entire situation.

"Michael, listen to me!" She grabbed him by his shoulders. "Are you... I can't believe I'm asking this... are you an angel?" Meredith realized how preposterous her question sounded.

"Meredith... no. I don't think so. I mean if I was an angel, I would hope that God, in all of his infinite wisdom, would at least allow me to know that I was and what my purpose on this forsaken planet was meant to be!!!"

"Okay, maybe 'Angel' is the wrong terminology? I'm sorry, I've never dealt with any post-apocalyptic situations before! I'm seeing things that I've only ever read about in books, or seen in movies! How am I supposed to cope with that? How am I supposed to know what's going to happen next?"

The two of them were both in situations that neither believed could ever be true, or at least not in their lifetime. What Meredith said did make some sense to Michael though. Obviously, they did possess some kind of abilities that would seem beneficial in this situation. Angel? Michael questioned himself. That couldn't be true, he was born human. He was raised human... he even bled like any other human. Michael had to figure out what was going on with himself and Meredith. And it seemed that the only people who knew anything about it, were the demons who could be after them at this very second.

They decided that the only way to get any answers would be to find another demon. They also both knew how idiotic of an idea that might be. So the two of them proceeded with extreme caution.

Michael and Meredith left the apartment with their things and continued on their original path. The monsters from last night had rampaged all through the streets and destroyed mostly everything in their way. Cars were overturned and crushed or ripped apart, street lamps were torn down, and building windows were shattered.

The screams and chaos from the night before had died down also. The city was relatively silent now, aside from the many fires still raging on.

Michael and Meredith made their way north towards interstate 15, which would be the easiest, most straight-forward route to reach Colorado. They could reach it quicker, but their current path kept them away from as much of the trouble as it could.

They moved through residential and commercial areas alike; ducking into alleyways and behind corners. It was broad daylight so it would be easier for anyone or anything to see them, but Michael realized that no matter where they were or what time of day it was, they were under constant threat. Which meant it was best for them to be moving constantly.

As they came upon a large retail area in the city, Michael and Meredith could hear gunfire and shouting. Michael's first instinct was to turn back and circle around, but for both he and Meredith, something pulled them in closer.

They crept up to find a small group of Rapture survivors wielding firearms fighting off various creatures. They were taking cover behind cars and inside the stores. The beasts were continuously charging the small, militia-like group, but for some reason, we're not using their full force to wipe them out.

Michael looked over at a distant store that the group of survivors had their backs to and saw three people appear out of thin air, onto the roof, just like the supposed demon from the apartment.

"Shit." He whispered.

Meredith then began to clutch her ears as she saw them as well. "Oh no. Not again!" She exclaimed.

"Meredith, calm down." Michael clutched her shoulders. "I need you to keep it together. Stay here, I'm going to see what I can do." Michael realized what he intended on doing next was entirely foolish, but the virtuous part of him pushed him towards the danger.

He stealthily moved forward, whilst keeping his sights on the demons up above. When he neared the building he crouched behind a dumpster and looked out to the current conflict amongst the parking lot. Monsters charged repeatedly towards the survivors, who had been continuously firing into the horde. The monsters collapsed as they charged into the barrage of bullets. As hellish as they seemed, they died like any mortal creature. Their bodies piled up in the streets and the survivors stood strong. Michael hoped that these men and women were less like the last group of survivors that he and Meredith faced. In all the turmoil, his "sense" couldn't make out whether they were corrupt or not. He knew he was risking a lot trying to prevent their deaths.

Michael turned around the back of the building he had approached and found an access ladder leading up to the roof. With the bottom portion of the ladder covered and locked, he stepped back, and got a running start to jump and use the leverage of the building's wall to lift him up high enough so he could grab onto the nearest rung. Then, with ease, he pulled himself up and began climbing the top portion of the ladder. As he neared the top of the building he peeked over and found the demons, surveying the battle down below.

It was two men and a woman. One man was dressed in a suit like the demon beforehand, and the other two were dressed in plain clothes. Michael wondered if there was some form of hierarchy within the demons' ranks, or if it was just a conscious fashion choice amongst themselves. They did not speak, just merely observed the scene below. Then the woman glanced back towards Michael and he ducked down as quickly as he could to not be noticed. When he looked up, she was gone. "Oh no." He muttered.

Then, the other demon in normal clothes vanished in front of him as the well dressed demon watched on. Michael could now hear the screams of the survivors as the demons apparently were wreaking havoc amongst them. "Son of a bitch" Michael sighed. He had no choice but to act now, hoping to lower the loss of life amongst the survivors. Gunshots continued as did the screams. Monsters screeched as they continued their assaults as well. Michael crept up to the demon still on the roof and readied his knife. He was unsure whether or not it would work but it was all he had.

Michael then lifted his blade and drove it downward. Only to be stopped by the other male demon, who grabbed his wrist mid-swing.

"Ah ah ah," the demon spoke, "Let's not do anything too hasty there, bud." The demon had a raspy voice, and was stained with blood. He then turned the knife around and pierced Michael's abdomen with the blade. The demon's strength was inhuman and far surpassed Michael's own.

As Michael gasped in pain, the other demon turned towards him. "Hello Michael." This demon was well-kept. "I was beginning to wonder whether you'd show up or not. But here you are." His voice was deep and clear.

Michael worked through the pain and stood up, with the knife still in his body. "Why is it that the second one of you that I come into contact with, is also wearing a damn suit?"

"It's a personal choice." The demon responded. "Now, since you killed one of the other collectors, I've been tasked with gathering that precious soul of yours."

"Precious...?" Michael groaned. "Really?"

"Yes... Michael you poor bastard. You have no idea what you are." The demon smiled. "Or what you're worth..."

Then the female demon appeared, covered in blood. "They're all dead." She reported.

"Good work, Lindsey." It was apparent that the well dressed demon was in charge.

"So what are we doing with this, thing!?" The other demon spoke up.

"Patience Jacob. Extracting a soul as powerful as this takes extreme patience. My idiot brother should've known better!"

"What are you talking about, what is so goddamn special about it?"

"Michael, Michael, Michael. Your soul just so happens to be the single most powerful soul on the planet. I probably shouldn't be saying this, but you'll be dead soon anyway." The demon leaned in closer up to Michael's ear, "Your father, your real father, was an angel."

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