Hunter's Legacy

Piper

They had no idea how long they’d been walking.

The tunnel was long and wide, tall enough for one person to walk through comfortably. So, with Piper leading the way, she and Eddie walked along, their flashlights being the only light that they had to see by.

“What do you think this is?” Piper asked, breaking the eerie quiet that had settled around them, as she gazed at the packed-in dirt walls.

“Old mining shaft?” Eddie supplied, walking behind Piper, partially crouched so that his head didn’t hit the top of the tunnel.

“It’s definitely a possibility,” Piper muttered. A few more feet, and the tunnel opened up a bit; this section was taller, so Eddie could stand up straight. There was nothing that they could see in this chamber, either.

“Wait, what is that?” Eddie asked, shining his flashlight in front of him. Piper looked to where he was pointing, and noticed that there was a steel structure that looked like an elevator. Shining the light up the length of it, she noticed that it hung into the chamber from a rope. Piper shone her light up, but she couldn’t see an opening of any kind.

“Do you think it still works?” Piper asked.

“I highly doubt it,” Eddie said, pushing against the steel frame. It swung back and forth, it’s creaking echoing throughout the chamber, “Even if it did, we don’t know how to run it; it’s probably been hanging down here for a little over fifty years, it’s rickety at best.”

Piper stepped over to the structure and shook it, it squeaked and creaked, looking as though it might fall apart any minute.

Lifting her flashlight, Piper shone the light into the structure; an old backpack lay in the corner. Setting down her light, Piper reached into the structure and hooked a finger through the canvas strap of the bag, pulling it to her.

After shaking off collective dust and dirt, Piper opened the bag to find a few pickaxes and a couple of hard hats with lights strapped to them. Reaching inside, Piper took out a couple of hard hats and handed one to Eddie.

Eddie looked at Piper with a raised eyebrow, before he placed the hat on his head. Eddie leaned forward and retrieved two of the pickaxes.

“Ever been rock climbing?” Eddie asked, looking up above them.

“Once or twice,” Piper responded, shrugging her shoulders. She reached up and pushed a small button on the side of the light. It flickered once, twice, and then came to life.

It was just another wall of impacted dirt; Piper knew that they had to get out of there, and there was no other way to go, but up.

“C’mon, let’s go,” Eddie said. Piper watched as he used the pickaxe to create footholds at the bottom of the wall. He put the ball of his foot on it and, seeing that it accepted his weight without giving out, used the pickaxe to grab at the impacted dirt, as he made his way up the side. Piper followed his trail, and, soon enough, they made their way to an opening. Now they had come to some kind of cave; their only light source, now, were the hats on their heads.

Together, Piper and Eddie followed the rocky path until they came to the mouth of the cave. Surprisingly, they walked into, what looked like an abandoned construction site. What would an abandoned construction site be doing set up by an abandoned Mine? Sawhorses and tools lay about, some covered in rust and so eroded from the elements that Piper would have been surprised if they could still be used. The lights on their hats seemed to give out, so they took them off, setting them on a nearby sawhorse.

Now, their only source of light was the full moon above them, in the inky night sky.

“Do you know where we are?” Piper asked Eddie, although she knew he probably didn’t have any ideas either.

“Beats me,” Eddie shrugged his shoulders, “Looks like we’re in for a walk, though.” Piper nodded once, before the two of them set off along the empty stretch of road.

They had been walking for a while, when Eddie finally spoke.

“I think we’re close,” he said.

“How can you tell?” Piper asked, with a raised eyebrow.

“This run-down barn, here,” he responded, nodding over to their right. Piper turned her head and saw the dilapidated structure, “Besides the Bunker, it's the only building for another half an hour.”

“How far from the Bunker is it?” Piper inquired.

“About a mile,” Eddie replied. Piper nodded, and the two picked up the pace, hoping to get back as soon as they could, so that they could figure out what happened.

Sooner rather than later, the two came to the vacant lot that served as the Bunker’s home.

Piper walked to the set of steps that led to the entrance; the barrier wasn’t put up. That would’ve concerned Piper, if not for the fact that, as she stood by the door, she smelled smoke. She reached out, touching the handle, and then immediately recoiled, clutching her hand. The handle had been burning hot, as though it had been sitting under a flame.

“Eddie,” she called, feeling frantic. Adrenaline rushed through her, as she clutched the door handle again, ignoring the searing feeling on her hands. With a Viking-like cry, Piper pulled open the heavy metal door. After releasing her hold on it, Piper stumbled back as a thick grayish-black smoke flooded out of it. Not smelling any sulfur, a little bud of relief blossomed in Piper’s chest, when she realized that it wasn’t demons. The relief was short-lived.

“Are you okay?” Eddie asked, running down the staircase. Distractedly, Piper stood up and walked, slowly and carefully, into the entryway.

The smoke had mostly cleared, the room was left in a haze; being as careful and quiet as they could, Piper and Eddie made their way down the staircase. They had to jump the last few steps, because they were reduced to rubble. The tiled floor was broken, as was the security feed; some monitors were shattered, and the ones that weren’t displayed fuzzy screens.

As they moved through the main rooms of The Bunker, they noticed that there were several small, smoldering piles, broken furniture.

In the common room, Piper wrinkled her nose at the smell of burning flesh; she walked further in to find that there were several dead bodies lying about. The worst thing was that it looked as though they had all been taken by surprise.

Not one of them had a chance.

“This wasn’t an accident,” Eddie muttered, looking around at the destructed common room, “I thought that this place couldn’t catch fire.”

“It can’t,” Piper said, shortly, “Not by natural means. This fire was magical.”

“How can you tell?” he asked.

“The signature,” Piper responded, standing up, “Each witch has their own signature after casting a spell. Judging by how many signatures there are, more than two of the Witches cast this fire. That, and the fact that the burning piles are isolated in certain spots. Natural flames eat up everything in its path, whereas magic fire will stay contained in one area, if the caster allows it.”

Piper pursed her lips and turned, walking with purpose, in the direction of the armory. The farther she walked, the more bodies she passed by; she gritted her teeth together, so hard, she thought that they might break.

Surprisingly--or unsurprisingly--the armory and its weapons had been left alone. She couldn't really imagine what powerful witches, with access to deadly spells, would want with manual weapons. Piper grabbed every weapon that she could get her hands on; she shoved handguns into the holsters that she had strapped to her sides, and knives in the sheathes that were strapped to her thighs.

“Piper…” Eddie’s voice trailed off as she walked in the direction of her office. The walls had holes in them, the floor was cracked…it was in less disarray than the rest of the place.

Piper made a beeline for the filing cabinet, letting out a sigh of relief when she realized that her stowaway bag was still there.

Pulling out the medium-sized carpet bag, Piper picked it up and carried it to her desk, where she opened it.

She pulled out a dusty tome, some corked bottles with various liquids and pieces of plants, and other miscellaneous items, a pestle and mortar, and an item that was wrapped in a leather cloth.

“Piper, are you okay?” Eddie asked.

Piper looked up at him, her eyebrow quirked; Eddie was usually a man of few words, choosing rather to sit back and observe his surroundings, rather than jump to conclusions. He also wasn’t one to, normally, ask stupid questions. So, the question that he asked her, kind of caught her off guard.

“Great,” she snipped, and was grateful that Eddie didn’t ask any more questions.

Piper unfolded the piece of leather cloth and took a look at the items inside. One was a silver ring with a clear stone set in the middle of it. The other was a simple monkey-shaped keychain.

The items still remained in the cloth, Piper set them aside, moved the carpet bag out of the way, and picked up the Tome, setting it where the carpet bag had sat, previously. She flipped to a page about three-quarters of the way into the book, and, after her eyes scanned over the old Latin words, she closed them. She took a deep breath to calm the raging sea of emotions swirling inside her. After a minute, she opened them, and then started grabbing the ingredients that she took out of the bag, and taking an ancient-looking stone bowl from the closet behind her desk.

It didn’t take her long to mix up the ingredients, muttering words in Latin as she did. Her final step was to drop the items from the piece of cloth inside the bowl. She watched the items disappear beneath the liquid, and then she pricked her finger with one of her knives, adding a bit of her blood to the mix. She spoke a couple more words in Latin, and there was a small explosion from the bowl. When the smoke cleared, all the liquid from the bowl had evaporated, the old keychain was gone, and all that was left was the ring.

Piper picked it up, and took a look; the clear stone now had hazy magenta-colored smoke swirling inside of it. Feeling proud of herself for performing the spell correctly, she smiled and slid the ring onto her finger. Packing everything back into the bag, she grabbed a few more ingredients from the closet and then zipped up the bag.

Piper grabbed the phone and turned it on.

“Son of a bitch!” she exclaimed, as the busy signal blasted through the speaker.

The lines were down.

Even though they were underground, the use of telephone lines had, somehow, been run throughout the Bunker; whoever had designed the place had been a genius.

Piper’s blood boiled, and she, in a fit of rage, threw the receiver at the opposite wall.

Her eyes flicked over to Eddie, who had stepped back a bit. Sliding her arm through the handles of the carpet bag, she picked it up, and walked out of the office.

Together, they made their way out of the Bunker; Piper walked, with a determined stride, back in the direction of the property with the run-down barn on it.

With the moon being their only source of light, it was hard to see if anyone lived there, or if it was abandoned.

Both Eddie and Piper made their way to the barn; Eddie opened the door, the hinges creaking in protest. He felt along the wall, his fingers coming into contact with a switch. He turned it on, but there was no light.

“Look for a lantern or something; this place looks old, it should have stuff like that,” Eddie said. Piper nodded once, and started feeling around the walls and shelves.

A few minutes later, Eddie called out that he had found a lantern.

“I found some matches,” Piper said, pulling an old book of matches down from the shelf, “Is there still oil in it?” she asked, walking to where Eddie stood in the doorway.

“Looks like,” Eddie responded. Piper struck a match and proceeded to light the lantern. When their small space was illuminated, Eddie held up the lantern, and walked back into the barn. The place was dusty and covered in cobwebs, the old horse stalls were empty, and there was an old 1970 station wagon taking up space in the center.

“Do you think it still works?” Piper pondered, out loud.

“Only one way to find out,” Eddie responded. He opened the door and slid into the driver’s seat. Piper walked over to the door and peered out at the house that stood quite a bit away from the barn. She was sure that the inhabitants of the house were gone; but she kept watch anyway, just in case.

It was only about another couple of minutes before she heard the engine roar to life. Piper turned around and saw that the headlights of the car were now flooding the whole barn with light.

“What about gas?” she asked, striding over to the passenger side.

“I have it covered,” Eddie said, “I found a full gas can, so I put it in the back, and it looks like we have a half-full tank here.” Piper put her carpet bag in the back, and then slid into the passenger side. Eddie closed the driver’s door and then pulled out of the barn.

They drove for forty-five minutes, before pulling into the semi-full parking lot of a bar called “The Bull.”

“We’ll get some food, and then we’ll get back on the road. Maybe we can even reach out to Camille and some of the other Hunters, tell them to steer clear of the Bunker,” Eddie said.

Piper chewed on her thumbnail--an old habit that she turned to when everything was proving to be too much at the present moment. She knew that they should take a break, they were still dirty from climbing out of the mind shaft; her stomach growled, signaling that it was, indeed, time to eat. She nodded her head.

“Let’s be quick,” she said, getting out of the car, as Eddie turned it off. Piper grabbed her carpet bag and they walked inside.

She knew that she looked like an idiot, and probably suspicious, carrying her giant bag, but she didn’t care. Piper had to keep these items safe, so they stayed with her, at all times.

Everyone in the bar was watching them, as they approached a round table, Eddie slid into one of the seats, while Piper, ignoring everybody in the vicinity, dropped her bag and nudged it under the table, with her foot.

“Would you keep an eye on that?” Piper asked.

“You don’t even have to ask,” Eddie said, as a waitress walked over.

“Excuse me,” Piper said, “Do you have a payphone available?”

“Right over there,” she pointed with the tip of her pencil, to the door, where there was a line of payphones.

“Thank you,” Piper said, before walking back towards the door. She stepped up to one, dug a quarter out of her pocket, inserted it, and then dialed Camille’s number.

It rang and rang, and, when it went to voicemail, she hung up and inserted another quarter, dialing Natasha’s phone.

Natasha didn’t answer either.

Next, he called Alexander.

When Alexander didn’t answer, Piper found her patience running thin. She slammed the phone on the receiver, took a breath, inserted her last quarter, and dialed Natasha’s phone again. After leaving a brief message, she put the receiver back in its place, before going back to the table.

Piper sat down, just as their food arrived. They ate in silence, for a few minutes, before Eddie spoke.

“What’s going on?”

“What do you mean?” Piper asked.

“I mean, you look like you’ve been ready to tear someone’s head off, ever since we walked inside the Bunker,” Eddie responded.

“I’m sorry that, seeing more than half the Hunters I know, dead, doesn’t make me want to dance with joy,” Piper snapped, and then she immediately regretted it. Eddie was just trying to understand why she was reacting the way that she was, “Look, I’m sorry, it’s been a tough day.”

“I agree, it has,” Eddie said, taking a bite of the burger in front of him, “But this…it seems to get to you more than the others.”

“That’s because this one is personal.”

Camille

“Angels? Really?” I couldn’t rein in the laughter that burst from me. When I saw that the rest of them didn’t find it funny, I feigned a cough to cover it.

“That’s where you draw the line?” Alexander scoffed.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked, folding my arms over my chest.

“You believe in demons, vampires, a myriad of monsters and angels is where you draw the line?” he said.

“I can’t believe you’ve seen demons, you work with a vampire and you still doubt the existence of monsters,” I shot back.

Alexander was about to make a comment back when Natasha cut him off.

“Maybe we should get out of here, before we have to explain why we’re here in the first place.,” she said. I nodded, and we both helped Seraphine up and we all made our way out of Margot Porter’s house.

We all scrambled into my car--Seraphine and Alexander sat in the back--and we drove, being as inconspicuous as possible, away from Peachtree Drive.

By the time they pulled up to the motel, the sun was already setting. We went into the room, Seraphine sat on the end of the bed, while Natasha and I took the chairs from around the table, and sat across from Seraphine.

“Would you like anything?” Alexander asked.

“Water, if you have it,” Seraphine whispered, her voice hoarse. Alexander nodded.

“How did you get here?” Natasha asked.

“Well, we got into your vehicle and--”

“No, no, what I mean is how did you get here? To earth?” Natasha reiterated.

“I was sent out of heaven,” she said, her voice cracking, though I didn’t know if she was saddened from the events or not, “I was sent here, to find a reason for the other angels not to just obliterate human kind.”

"A reason not to obliterate humankind...Did you find one?" I asked, propping my fist under my chin.

"Camille, not now," Natasha chastised. All she needed was to wag her finger at me, disapprovingly, and she would make a great mother-type figure.

“Do you remember what you were doing when Margot captured you?” she asked, turning to attention to Seraphine.

“I was at a park,” Seraphine answered, taking another sip of water, “I was…feeding the pigeons.”

“And you were held in her basement, all this time?” Natasha asked, disbelievingly, “Do you know what the date was, when she took you?”

“No, I tried to keep track of the days with the News reports that she watched, every morning, but, eventually, all my days blurred together,” Seraphine shook her head.

“Do you know, at least, how long you were on earth before that?” I asked.

“Two months before that,” Seraphine answered, without missing a beat.

Natasha and I shared a look.

“If you would like to clean up, the bathroom is there, and, when you’re finished, we can get something to eat…you do eat, don’t you?” I said.

“Camille,” Natasha groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose and squeezing her eyes shut.

“What? It’s a real question, I’m not trying to be an ass,” I responded.

“Not trying, but succeeding,” Alexander muttered, under his breath, but I heard him anyway.

“Don’t you start,” I growled, in his direction.

“Yes, I eat,” Seraphine said, bringing an end to the argument that had been about to begin. She took a breath and pushed herself up off the bed. Using the objects around her, she moved to the bathroom, shutting the door with a soft click, behind her.

“Is she for real?” I asked.

“I’m sure she is,” Natasha responded, confidently.

“Why wouldn’t she be?” Alexander asked. I narrowed my eyes in his direction. Since we rescued Seraphine, Alexander had been on her side, as though he'd known her all his life.

“Aww, Alexander has a crush,” I taunted. I didn’t know what had gotten into me, but I felt a grin spread across my lips, just as a scowl took residence on his face; reddened cheeks were added to his scowl, which only made my grin wider.

“Camille,” Natasha’s tone was chastising. I watched, as she went over to her bag and started to rifle through it; she pulled out a stack of clothes, and then knocked on the door, letting Seraphine know that she had clothes for her. A second later, the door opened and Natasha passed them through the small crack, before it snapped shut again.

“All I’m saying is, it’s cute,” I continued.

“Camille, enough is enough,” Natasha said.

“My only question is, what does she have to do with you?” I asked, looking at Alexander.

“That is a good question,” Natasha said, zipping up her bag, “We were looking for answers about you, and the answer we were given just seemed to lead to more questions.”

“Did you bring your computer?” I asked Alexander. He nodded, and retrieved his laptop out of his bag. I connected to the internet, effortlessly.

“What are you doing?” Alexander asked, watching, from behind me, as I navigated my way around his computer.

“Did Margot mention Damien’s last name?” I asked.

“No, she didn’t,” Natasha said. Thinking quickly, I typed Margot’s name into the search engine. I got her info--birthday, graduation date, high school--and then I used the same high school, year of graduation.

“How many ’Damien’s can there be in this small town?” I asked.

“His name was Damien Vorman,” Seraphine’s voice made its way to us. We turned to face her, as she stood there, in a light orange peasant top, and a pair of faded blue jeans.

“I thought you didn’t remember anything,” Natasha said, in an accusing tone.

“I remembered, when I was cleaning up,” she said, weakly.

“What do you know?” Alexander said, “And what does this Damien guy have to do with it?”

“Everything,” Seraphine sighed out. She sat on the bed, flattened her palms over her jean-clad thighs, and ran them over the material, “Damien Vorman was a vessel--more like the vessel.”

“Vessel?” Alexander asked, with a furrowed brow.

“A vessel is someone who is being possessed. We usually use the term when speaking about demons; and the demon’s preferred term is meat suit,” I explained, the image of the man in the tailored suit, who had killed my parents and then set my house ablaze.

“That doesn’t sound…”

“What? Nice? Pleasant? I assure you that it isn’t,” I said, cryptically. Alexander looked over at Seraphine.

“So, are you--?”

“Yes. This woman is my vessel. But she gave her exclusive permission. Angels can’t enter a human and use them as a host, unless the human complies,” Seraphine explained.

“Is that what happened with Damien? He gave his permission?” Natasha asked.

“Yes,” Seraphine answered without hesitation, “Though, the coupling between the two wasn’t supposed to happen for another few years, Margot was a legal adult…” Seraphine trailed off and shrugged her shoulders.

“Wait a second, if Damien was possessed by an angel when he and Margot slept together…what does that make me?” Alexander asked.

“A Nephilim.”