The girl was burning to death. In her frenzy, she'd set herself on fire and now she was burning and screaming in agony as she tried to extinguish the flames that were eating up her body. She only managed to make it a few metres away from the collapsing building she'd emerged from before collapsing herself. Her body twitched a few more times, then she lay still on the sidewalk. Nicholas turned away. He couldn't bear to look at her any longer.

'Ah, don't be such a sap.'

The blonde woman he was working with had approached him and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. Even with the soot stains on her face and white coat, she looked more angelic than most Celestial angels Nicholas knew. Perhaps it had something to do with her posture; she carried herself gracefully, even when surrounded by the death and destruction they had caused, with seemingly not a single care in the world. What was her name again? Nicholas couldn't for the life of him recall how she'd introduced herself, but he thought it was something with an E ... Ellen perhaps? Eliza?

'Do we have to torture them so much?' he asked. They're just demons, Saira had said. Remember what they did to you. And he did. Daniel and Layla never really left his mind. He focused on them as much as he could, like he'd been ordered to do over and over again during his training, and replayed their deaths in his head so many times that he feared he might explode with anger at any moment. He'd been told this would make his work easier. It didn't. It was required, even though it made the pain a hundred times worse, but the job was just as hard. The demons, they looked so ... human. Heck, they were human. Don't let their illusions blind you. Don't let their little performances get to you. They don't feel the way we do. His instructor had talked him through this countless times, as had Saira.

'We want to be seen. Didn't you hear what Saira said?' Nicholas' accomplice replied in Esperanto. She was intent on making sure no one understood them, even now. Even though there was no one around to listen. Nicholas prayed that they would resume their conversation in English soon, his racing mind making it almost impossible to find the right words in another language. His lack of proficiency in one of Heaven's official languages embarrassed him, especially since his female companion had acquired it with such ease.

'A few hand grenades would have had the same effect.'

A memory crept into Nicholas' mind, of Daniel's piercing scream as he was met with the same fate as the demonic girl on the sidewalk. He clenched his fists and tensed every muscle in his body to the point of physical pain, unable to fight the images that appeared before his inner eye. Perhaps Saira was right. Perhaps only monsters were capable of committing such atrocities. But what did that make him?

'That wouldn't have shortened their suffering. Besides, grenades don't have half your range and no one would even question them. Saira specifically said - ' She was interrupted by her mobile phone buzzing and stepped away to take the call. For a moment, Nicholas was alone with the images that tormented him. He remembered Layla's laugh, but it sounded hollow and unreal. The memory wasn't enough. When his accomplice returned, some of her haughtiness had disappeared and, thankfully, she was speaking English again.

'Nicholas! The airport's a mess. All flights to Beelz City have been canceled 'cause half the staff's unable to work.' She was excited, almost awestruck. 'You're ... can you believe you did that? That's amazing!'

'How far away's that then?' Nicholas asked and rubbed his temples. He was exhausted and his head was ringing. His heart raced at the thought of having to do this regularly from now on.

Regardless, the attack couldn't have had such a huge effect on the airport, otherwise, there would have been a stampede, not just a few frightened air traffic controllers.

'Three kilometres. Most people I know can only do one.'

'Huh. I can do better than that.'

'I'm impressed. You up to one more?'

'Do I have a choice?"

'Naw, not really.' The young woman laughed. Something inside him was repulsed by her nonchalant, not-a-care-in-the-world demeanour, but he shoved those feelings aside. He nodded and she took his hand. Her grip tightened as he finally let go of any resistance he'd mustered up against the images in his mind and let them flow freely. The crash behind him blended in with the noise in his head. The hand pulling him along was suddenly Daniel's and he thought everything would be okay, they would be safe, they could make it, just a few more steps and they would be sa- then Daniel screamed as he was consumed by flames, and Nicholas could do nothing but stare in terror. The smell of burned flesh made him gag, and the once beautiful man was rendered unrecognisable.

Suddenly, he felt someone shaking him repeatedly and managed to return to the present and end the attack. They'd reached their car and were ready to leave. Breathing heavily, his head spinning, he leaned against the vehicle and closed his eyes. His nameless companion waited patiently, without saying a word.

'Let's go,' he then said and forced his body to stand on its own. He unlocked the car and opened the door for his accomplice before collapsing onto the passenger seat. 'Would you be interested in a drink? My treat.'

'You mean alcohol? I wouldn't have expected that from you.' Nicholas smiled.

'It is legal here, after all. To be quite honest, I really need it now. But not too much, my head's already pounding as it is.'

'That bad? You'll need coffee in the morning.' Maybe it wasn't an E after all. Maybe it was something with an I ... Irene or Ivy chuckled. Nicholas wondered if she would be offended if he asked her about her name. Of course, he could just search her mind for any information he wanted, but he was so tired that was not an option, and he knew that not too long ago that would have gone against his morals. He wouldn't even have considered it.

'It'll get better. I'll just have to get used to it. Still, we need more people next time.'

'You might be right. We should let Saira know.'

Nicholas nodded but didn't give a verbal reply. They were both not in the mood to talk right now, he felt. Eliza or not-Eliza, who looked a little tired herself (albeit not as tired as he was), had to concentrate on driving and he was desperate for some peace and quiet. Provided he was able to calm his agitated mind. Through the window, he could see perfectly intact residential blocks. They'd left the danger zone. Everything was okay. This time, they were the stronger ones.

'Exciting, isn't it?' his accomplice said after a while.

'Huh?'

'This. Everything we just did. It's the start of something grand.'

'I guess,' Nicholas replied curtly and turned his head back to the window, showing her that he still wasn't up for a conversation.