Above & Below

Freezing, burning rain snaps at her skin, the ferocious wind whipping through her golden hair, tearing at her gown as its torn apart around her. Falling, the dark night sky that engulfs her not offering a sense of direction until it lights up with angry, bright lightening and roaring thunder. Alexandra has been cast out; thrown from the only home she’s ever known. Banished. Stripped from her place among the Overseers, thrown into the world she watched for centuries from above.

Overseers are what humans would mistake as Angels, beings that live high in the clouds in their marble palace, keeping watch over all that transpires on Earth. But in reality, Overseers aren’t there for humans. They are there to keep Beings in check. To keep them from revealing their nature to humans and dishing out punishments when they go rogue. They are the ultimate judge, jury, and executioner. Taking orders only from the Council of Titans, they are trained weapons of stealth and ferocity, no one that lays their eyes on them ever lives to tell about it. Obedient soldiers. Well, most of them were.

Alexandra wasn’t.

She had started questioning her missions, after being sent to destroy countless seemingly innocent Beings. Disobedience was not something the Overseers were meant to be capable of, they were programmed from birth to be nothing but unquestioning assassins. Alex never really fit their mould. She always thought a little more independently than others, and that got her in trouble a lot. She was an outcast, just as deadly as the rest, but too free-spirited and unimpressionable to rise through the ranks.

Her commander, Orion, had tried to keep her under thumb, sending her on the most brutal of tasks, hoping it would dull her spirit. She had killed many young Beings, for the most minor of crimes, under his command. But it only fuelled her determination to change her future, she didn’t want to be the good little soldier anymore.

The hard ground grew closer as she tried to scream, the air being ripped from her lungs. She hit the pine branches as she fell, shards of wood slicing and stabbing into her skin, throwing her harshly between the trees until she hit the ground. The impact sounded like thunder, ringing through the wall of trees the surrounded her, her body creating a small crater in the wet ground. Alex couldn’t breathe, the feeling of pain as most of her bones shattering within her was blinding. Sure, she’d sustained injuries and broken bones during training and practice, but this was something else. Hopefully she’d be able to heal before she bled out.

Blood dripped from her mouth, nose and ears as she lay naked on the forest floor, gasping for air slowly closing her eyes and succumbing to darkness.

--

Alex woke to the sound of chirping birds, leaves rustling in the wind and the trickle of a stream. Slowly moving her stiff joints, she closed her eyes and checked for any lingering damage but luckily, her enhanced healing had taken care of her many injuries. Even all of her bones had set correctly. She rolled from her side onto her back, staring straight towards the sky that peaked between the tall trees.

“Finally free,” she whispered, grinning to herself, “better get moving.”

The sun was high in the sky, indicating it was around noon. Alex was too content to move in a hurry, but she didn’t know how far from any civilisation she was so she sat up, looking down at her lean body to check for any evidence of her battle with the tree branches.

Clothes, she needed clothes she thought to herself.

Even though she didn’t get to interact with Beings and humans outside of her missions, she had taken upon herself to learn all she could by reading or observation. And she knew she could not just wander around naked. Especially if she wanted to remain under the radar for a while.

As she got to her feet, she heard the distant sound of leaves and twigs breaking under foot. Holding her breath, Alex closed her eyes and extended her senses to locate and identify the cause of the sound.

3 males, Shifters. Wolves.

2 females, Vampires.

Shifters and vampires never work together, so it’s safe to say that they were not hunting together. If anything, it’s more likely that the vampires are trying to track the shifter males. Alex hoped that they wouldn’t start heading in her direction, she didn’t really want to have a confrontation on her first day of freedom from the Overseers.

But unfortunately, she heard the rushed foot falls drawing closer and closer, until they suddenly skidded to a stop in front of her.

There stood 3 large wolves, two grey with bright amber eyes, and one dark chocolate and auburn with deep green eyes. They seemed to size her up, the greys prowling towards her, low to the round with their teeth bared. The brown wolf however, kept his head up, maintaining eye contact with Alex as he stood his ground. She could sense the strong aura around him, he was probably a Beta and they were currently in his pack’s territory.

She tilted her head at the shifters, letting them know their intimidation was not working on her. One of the grey males tensed to lunge at her but was cut off as the 2 vampires jumped from the trees and landed behind them.

“Well, well. Looks like you mutts found us a snack,” the raven-haired vamp mocked, her black eyes never leaving Alexandra. She couldn’t help but roll her eyes. Vampires were way too showy for her liking. Always playing with their food.

The other vampire, a blonde girl that didn’t look a day over 16, hissed and circled behind Alex, ignoring the wolves that slowly stepped away into the bushes. She knew they were still watching, but it wasn’t their fight if they thought she was human. She would be a witness and they couldn’t let her live.

“Some big bad wolves you are,” Alex muttered, shooting a glare towards where she knew the green-eyed wolf watched intently.