Prologue

The Angel of Death resides within us all...

The suffering she brings shall rip children from their mothers, lovers from each other’s arms and
nations from their very foundations.

And she will come to burn the world, in a wheel of flames...

Part One

Chapter 1

One Week Before All Things Die

The evening drew in. The sky, already streaked by the painted watercolours of dusk; deep reds,
vibrant pinks and dark blues across the horizon.

Small creatures began to settle themselves within the trees for the night. In contrast, the night
predators stirred from their own slumbers to begin the hunt for prey.

Flocks of birds darted quickly back to their nests, frantic chirping and singing filling the air as they
went… some small relief, for Cassandra Davis sitting at her desk.

The birdsong was pleasant, unlike the paperwork that had swamped her relatively small working
area. Front of house, in an acute psychiatric hospital. An open reception, just waiting for someone to
jump across it one day.

“Bloody Hell,” she swore as she scanned the page before her, blinking several times in her attempt
to decipher the awful handwriting, “Well, what the Hell is that supposed to be? It doesn’t look like
anything!”

She sighed in defeat, put the paper down and began typing again.

Five years; five long years she’d worked here. Still a receptionist. Still a dogsbody. Expected to
untangle the atrocious scribblings doctors and nurses alike called handwriting. It looked more like
spiders scuttling across the page than basic English.

At twenty-seven years of age, this was not how she’d foreseen her life.
She looked at the clock, her grey eyes peering over the top of thick, dark rimmed glasses. Another
thirty-three minutes before the evening receptionist came to take over the desk. Just time enough
to get this done, hopefully; but the day had been a hard one.

Although she wasn't a clinical member of staff, she still had responsibilities to keep the patients safe.
Today had been a day to test the Saints in that respect.

Someone had decided to play ‘silly buggers’ and attempt to escape the hospital while under Section.
It had quickly become violent.

Cassandra had been left with the aftermath, and the gruelling task of contacting maintenance. A
broken security door could not be left overnight.

Phone call after phone call, everyone running about like blue arsed flies, empty promises that
someone would be there ‘shortly’ to fix the door. Five hours later, and a rather irate manager finally
made her presence known.

The words ‘piss up’ and ‘brewery’ sprang to mind.

Cassandra removed her glasses and pushed her swivel chair back from the desk. Stretching out her
legs, feeling the blood come back into numb toes and placing her head in her hands. She brushed
the stray dyed black hairs away from her cheeks. She just wanted to go home, get undressed and
have a shower to wash away this utter travesty of a day.

A loud buzzing sound shot past her ear and she shook her head to rid herself of the pest. It came
again, as if purposefully this time, past her other ear.

“Bloody fly!”

It had been bothering her all afternoon. She’d dared to hope for a moment it had left through the
open window. No, this was the same fly, she was certain of it.

Her eyes followed the seemingly uncoordinated movement of the insect until it settled on the desk
beside her.

Cassandra grabbed a pen and pointed it at the ugly creature, “I’m warning you, you little bastard...
stay away from me if you know what’s good for you.” She threatened.

It cleaned its eyes with its arms. Creepy... Imagine rubbing your arms over your eyeballs, she thought
as she turned.
She put her glasses back on and resumed typing. Unconsciously, her eyes kept tracing back to the
insect to make sure it hadn’t moved.

The fly took flight, as if blatantly ignoring the clear threat given to it. It retraced its path, turning at
the last moment but getting caught in Cassandra’s hair before freeing itself and landing with no
cares on the wall.

It should have heeded the warning given to it.

Cassandra turned sharply, slamming her palm on the desk. Her dark hair flew wildly, in stark contrast
to eyes that glowed white, empty and without colour. Fury burned within them, searing white
flames dancing out of the sockets and up to her hairline. Her top lip curled back, and a heavy growl
erupted from her throat. Those eyes narrowed and focused on the wall where the fly casually
cleaned its wings.

Suddenly, it twitched and then spasmed, falling off the wall to land on her desk where it flailed
painfully on its back. Cassandra’s eyes stared angrily at the fly as with one final attempt to beat its
wings, it curled its legs and died.

As quickly as the flames appeared, they died and withdrew back into Cassandra’s pale grey eyes. The
smouldering look remained.

She spotted the body, shifted uncomfortably but kept that same spiteful stare. She glanced back
anxiously as she spun in her seat, wondering what had happened to the tiny black corpse.

“You had it coming.” She spat in a whisper to the dead insect. She brushed a strand of hair trapped
in her glasses, behind her ear. With a heavy sigh, she tapped again at the keyboard, determined to
finish what she’d started. And ignore what just happened.

“Cass?” A hand grabbed her shoulder.

She spun round with a start to see Stacey, the evening receptionist, stood behind her. A kind but
concerned look in the older woman’s eyes.

“It’s five ‘o’clock hun. Unless you wanna do my job and I’ll go home instead.” She joked with a voice
that betrayed her long smoking habit.

Cassandra looked at the clock behind her in bewilderment, then to the monitor for confirmation. Oh
God, it was five o’clock. How on earth had she lost a whole half hour? Best not think about it.

“No, no, I’m done. There’s not a herd of wild bloody horses that could drag me here outside nine to
five.” She rubbed her face, nearly knocking her glasses off.
“Bad day then?” The older woman smiled as she sat her bag down and began looking for her own
glasses.

“No. Yesterday was a bad day. Today can only be described as an arsehole.”

Her colleague laughed at the observation, and a defeated Cassandra found herself laughing too.
More out of exhaustion and relief to be at the end of another day.

With a sombre goodbye to her colleagues, she headed for the exit, stopping by her locker to grab
her belongings and put her piercings back in. Lip and septum.

Kicking off her work shoes, she took her New Rocks from the locker and put them on. She slammed
the locker shut as she left for the day.

She’d walked to work this morning, but regretted that now. The day had been too much of a
bastard. She could’ve driven to work, but it seemed a waste. That’s what he’d said anyway. Besides,
walking meant it took longer to get home. More time by herself.

She kicked the small stones as she went, her head down so she didn’t have to look at the sky above
with its dark clouds, swollen with rain. Summer was definitely gone.

Smoking a cigarette as she went, it did nothing to relieve her stress induced stomach ache. God, it
better not be an ulcer. Her appetite was gone; but that was nothing new.

At least the voice had been quiet today. Perhaps it was just as exhausted as she was.

Breathing deeply, she tried to calm herself, fearing what would happen if she didn’t. The fly had
crossed a line, she dare not let anything else tread it. The consequences weren’t worth thinking
about.

She rose her head to exhale a jet of smoke when she spotted the bus heading over the crossroads
ahead of her. Straight towards her stop.

“Oh... fuck!”

She ran as swiftly as she could in her enormous boots and a rucksack overladen with her self
confessed ‘nothing’ bashing into her spine. She prayed her phone didn’t fall out of her pocket.

Inside her head, the voice began to giggle.

She could make it; she could catch the bus if she tried. She chucked the cigarette and bolted as fast
as her legs would carry her. Turning left to cut through the hedges and towards the main road that
pumped traffic slowly out of the city centre.
Her boot became unlaced. The back scraped painfully against her heel, taking a slice of skin with it.
She felt the rip immediately; that was all she needed. She swore and bit her lip, trying to avoid the
tears.

Ouch… the voice jested at her pain.

Just another ten feet.

The bus stopped to allow a passenger to disembark, and Cassandra thanked the entities of Heaven.
It gave her more time.

Just one final push.

The bus doors closed, compressed air squealing as they shut and the engine revved up again.

“No!” she yelled. She tapped her hand lightly against the doors once, twice, a third time. But the
overweight, balding driver didn’t even look in her direction. The traffic moved onwards, and so did
the bus.

“No! Please!” She cried, but her cries were ignored, and the bus pulled away.

Cassandra lost her balance. She fell, only catching herself at the last minute by pushing again at the
vehicle beside her.

The passengers glared at her with judgemental, malicious glances. Each one a cut into what pride
she had left.

She heard a crack, and a sharp pain came from her wrist. Unfortunately, for the unsuspecting, it was
not her wrist that cracked.

It was the breaking of the boundaries in her mind.

The dark mist clouded her vision. Her breathing heavy and deep, every breath venomous. Spittle
came from her growling lips.

Yes, sweetheart… The voice applauded.

She rose her head sharply to once again reveal eyes that contained the burning white flames. She’d
broken the barriers. The rage and injustice of her own pitiful situation fuelled her. It pulsated
through her veins to her very fingertips.

Punish... Every little nuisance of the day and every major catastrophe coming together into one mass
of fury. Too powerful to contain, too strong to keep imprisoned.
Destroy...

Bleeding, tired, and her mind on the edge. The burning fire inside spread and billowed out of her
very eye sockets.

She screamed. A scream that rang with absolute anger, reflected in her empty eyes but from her
mouth emerged no sound. The scream came from within.

Vengeance!...

No one saw the flames as they flew from her being and spread towards the transport full of
commuters. Enveloping it entirely, snaking its way through the open windows and the rubber of the
doors. The carnage ensued as the glowing white, blue hued flames ripped and tore at the mortal
souls within without so much as a scream. The only screams heard were those of the people in the
other cars.

The bus with its already dead driver slumped over the wheel, sped towards the oncoming traffic. The
passengers, all dead, bleeding profusely from their orifices. Even fingernails decayed and fell from
bodies. So severe and sudden was the cut of soul from flesh.

The driver in the first car didn’t stand a chance as the greater vehicle mounted it, crushing the
windscreen with a shattering cry. Rolling onto its side with a deafening crush against the uneven
pavement. The shatterproof glass of the bus smashed and fell within the metal coffin, like flesh
cutting snowflakes.

Further collisions, in all directions. One after the other. The screeching of brakes and the crash of
vehicles impacting. The smell of burnt rubber filled the deathly cold air an instant before the sounds
of hysteria.

Sobbing. Wailing. Pained and shocked; all gripped the chilly breeze.

The ethereal, white flames retreated, back across the road, avoiding the wreckage around them.
Crawling along the ground that now became spotted with drops of rain, they slid back to the girl
who summoned them.

The girl herself, had neither seen nor heard the carnage. As her eyes regained their metallic blue,
grey colour once more, the anger subsided, replaced with a sickening sensation of dread. Already,
tears crept from her eyes and spilled over her cheeks. For she knew what she would see, when the
blackout lifted.
“No...” she whispered as she beheld the scene and swallowed painfully, “Oh please, no... Not
again...”

The world spun. The surroundings were incomprehensible and strange through a veil of tears. She
could still feel that burning inside her. Fearful confusion dominated all other emotions.

Why stop now?... Keep going...

She cried out, clenching her eyes shut and stumbling forward into the road while she tried to ignore
the echoing voice in her head. The traffic at a standstill, she forced herself across. Holding onto the
beaten bonnets and shattered windows for support.

One onlooker, not noticing Cassandra was there, flung open their car door almost into her face.

Cassandra clenched her teeth together, determined not to let the fire surface again, not yet. She
struggled on.

Already the sounds of emergency vehicles approached, but that was overshadowed by the explosion
of a petrol tank. It ignited and went up in a ball of flame and mushroom shaped black clouds.

Cassandra did not turn back to watch. Instead she began to run, pushing her way past the
bystanders already emerging from their posh houses. She bit her tongue in an attempt to halt the
rising tide of rage focused on those who stood in her way.

She kept going. Past the bustling crowds and on, running almost blindly down the road. Turning right
down a small alley and further. Tears stung her cheeks with their heat and the contrasting onslaught
of the cold winter rain as it began to fall heavily on her skin.

Injustice fell with every drop and every fresh tear, but she kept running, past the decreasing
numbers of houses.

You’re just going to run from this? Turn back and finish it!!...

It was no use to cover her ears, the voice was not external. She yelled as a wave of agony swept over
her and she knew that she didn’t have long, not with the voice awakened again.

She kept going, stumbling down the streets. There was only one place she could think to run, but
had no idea if she would make it there in time. She had to make it, she just had to. Who knew how
far the impact would reach?
The sun had set, the cold bit through her coat and the rain beat down even heavier as she reached
the park. Her legs were weak and her chest ached. The burning in her eyes intensified. She closed
them as she ran towards the centre.

The park was empty, or at least it appeared to be, she couldn’t tell in the darkness. She slipped on
the muddy ground, nearly falling to her knees but she regained her balance with a wince, her boot
now filled with blood. She finally threw her bag and made one final push to the centre of the empty
expanse of land.

At last she stopped. The pull on her, too strong now to control, the voice too clear and forceful.

Let go, sweetheart… Make them suffer...

She threw her head back. Her eyes opened so much they strained to allow the ice white flames to
escape.

The scream echoed across the empty landscape. A wave of intense rage, hatred and pain that spread
out from her. The force of powers she had no control over bent the grass blades and made the
ground tremble slightly.

The earth echoed her scream as though it too felt her pain.

The birds shrieked and fled from the sanctuary of the trees.

The flames darted, danced and twisted from her mascara stained teary eyes for an age, lighting up
her personal darkness momentarily and then all too quickly they receded again.

Cassandra fell to her knees, panting heavily and shaking from fear. Had it been okay? Had she made
it in time? Oh God, had she hurt someone? Had anyone been in the park?

It was too dark to see, and her eyes were clouded with moisture.

There was nothing. No sounds of distress, no bodies met her gaze as her eyes adjusted to the inky
darkness.

She sighed. Relief came.

Very quickly, that relief was wrenched from her.

Something fell with a heavy thud to the muddy soil before her. She saw it fall and she jumped.
Whatever it was, it didn’t move upon hitting the ground.

What the-? The thought was interrupted by another thud, and then another. All around her that
same sound echoed, sometimes lighter than the first and sometimes heavier.
She reached for her pocket, retrieving her phone. She pressed the first button that came to hand
and shone the illuminated screen at the ground.

She gasped. She gagged, but nothing came up.

They fell from the sky one by one.

Birds...

Their hearts ceased to beat, and their lifeless bodies plummeted around her. Their souls and very life
force ripped from them in the middle of their flight for escape.

Pigeons, sparrows, a robin, two magpies and several crows. And still more came crashing from the
sky.

They landed awkwardly, at hideous angles, some possibly snapping their necks in the descent. They
were already dead before they hit the soil. In the descending darkness, the blood glistened black
against their wings and continued to dribble from their eyes and beaks.

Cassandra rose to her feet as quickly as she could, using her phone to light the way and avoid
stepping on the bodies.

She grabbed her discarded bag and quickly wiped her eyes to better her sight. She took one final
look back at the carnage and destruction she caused. This was the worst yet; the most lives she had
ever taken.

Well done, sweetheart.... She limped away from the scene, You’ve made me so proud...