(This book is being partially rewritten and heavily edited. The old version will no longer be available. I am slowly going to start working on it because I've had many requests to bring it back, so please be patient, I work... too much.) 

The hooting of an owl echoed in the quiet night as a little boy walked hand-in-hand with his parents. They were strolling through a small trail in Central Park, off the normal cemented paths though it ran almost parallel to them. When the boy looked up his father looked down, waiting for the question he knew was coming.

"Papa, have you ever sawed a demon?"

The young man chuckled and shook his head at his son's odd wording.

"No, Hanna, I haven't."

The boy looked to his mother, but she was already shaking her head with an amused smile.

"No sweetie, I haven't either."

They were quiet for a few minutes until a loud screech of surprise came from the previously calm owl. The family turned at the sound, hands breaking contact with each other to be able to change direction quickly.

"What was that?" the boy's father asked in a hushed voice. There weren't many things that could kill an owl in the area, or really want to risk an attack from its claws or talons. So, when a sound akin to one you might hear from a raptor in those old Jurassic Park movies sounded from one of the trees overhead, the group immediately looked up.

"What the...?" before his sentence could be finished a large dark object dropped down onto his body from above, audibly crushing bones with a screeching roar. The little boy's mother began shaking as the black creature started to tear her husband apart. 

It looked like a cross between a giant wolf and a velociraptor. Its front legs thin and slightly overextended, while the back ones looked strong and made to allow for the creature to jump with ease. Its head, though, was not comparable to much of anything. It looked as if a wolf's muzzle had been stretched and pulled while its teeth resembled more or less an alligator's. The last odd characteristic besides the lack of a tail, was the fact that it looked as if the creature had no eyes.

"Hanna, run!" The mother whispered as she pushed her son away. The little boy stumbled but his eyes were still on what remained of his father. The demon was swallowing pieces whole. 

"Daddy?" 

The demon turned towards him and shrieked, snapping the child back to the present.

"Run!" His mother gave him another hard shove, and this time, with a great amount of hesitation, the little boy took off through the dense forest. The scream of his mother spurred him on faster, but he soon heard the heavy thuds of the creature's feet as it began to catch up. He pushed as hard as he could, squeezing his eyes shut for only a second before he slammed into something solid that knocked the breath from his straining lungs. He slid down the object and fell into the leaf litter, stunned and shaking. There was no way he could escape now. He would die, too, just like his parents.

The sound of the creature skidding to a halt in the dry leaves made the child whimper and curl in on himself, but as the demon that had come after him roared, it was interrupted by a much deeper sound from right above him. Hanna realized that there were two now, but when he opened his eyes and looked up, he saw something that surprised him.

The thing he had run into was the creature that had attacked the owl, as the bird's carcass lay only a foot away, half eaten. Now, however, the demon was standing over him, its body incredibly large compared to the other. He watched silently as the two had a yelling match, but the smaller demon was quick to back down, then retreat.

Confused but relieved, the boy say up as the creature took a step back, then turned around, mouth opening slowly to reveal thick, sharp teeth. Its eyes were slowly becoming visible, too, glowing a bright gold in the darkness.

Hanna was squeezing a handful of fabric from his dirty shirt as a wet spot slowly spread through his pants. He knew he was going to die, even for a two year old, that much was obvious, but thankfully he fainted before the demon could attack.

"Chesh!"

The quiet sound of sobbing brought him out of his sleep. 

"Yes yes," he said groggily, "I am coming."

Sitting up, he shook out his messy hair and looked over at the clock on the nightstand.

Well, at least I got an extra hour this time... but still, three in the morning?

"Chesh!" 

Hearing the panic in the little boy's voice, Church gave a quiet sigh, yawned, then forced himself out of bed. He had never intended to have a child, let alone a human one, but when the little boy literally ran into him in the middle of the forest, he just couldn't let him be killed. 

He hadn't said much since, besides his name, and even that was butchered pretty badly. Of course, he wasn't expecting a whole lot after what he had witnessed. It was unfortunate that he remembered it all, too, especially for his sleep schedule. The kid awoke each night screaming and wouldn't quiet down until Church was up and tending to his fears. He don't understand why, though, because he was exactly what the boy feared.

Stepping into the large spare room, he saw the little boy shivering with a huge comforter wrapped around him on a bed that was much too big.

"Monsder!"

When he first said that Church thought he had been talking about him, so he'd left, but the second he had the door shut the boy started screaming for him again. It took a good amount of charades to finally figure out that he thought there were monsters in his closet... and under his bed... and just about everywhere else. As soon as Church got close enough the boy threw the blanket off and jumped into his arms.

Church was definitely not great at comforting, but thankfully the boy was always content to just be in his arms. Once he was decently relaxed, Church carried him back into his room and leaned sleepily against his pillows, then turned on the news. Human news didn't really interest him but it never hurt to know what was generally going on. Though, of course, the first story that came up was for a missing two year old boy named Hanna. His eyes lowered to the little boy leaning against his chest. He was watching the television with teary eyes. Thankfully the story switched to one about a local church in town, a pretty big one, from the looks of it. When the newscaster began speaking about it the boy's head jerked up so he could stare at him.

"They says you!" 

Church raised an eyebrow and looked at him like he was slightly crazy.

"What?" 

"Chesh!" 

"Oh, yes. My name is the same as that building." 

"Can go Chesh?"

"Uh, you want me to take you to a church?"

He smiled widely and nodded.

"Alright then, I suppose we can go tomorrow... or well, later today."

Hanna's smile widened before he snuggled closer against his chest, making Church roll his eyes. Demon children never showed affection to their parents. Humans were so strange.

"Come on, Hanna, hands up."

The little boy was pouting about something, though he had no idea what, and of course, the boy didn't want to tell him.

"Do you want to go to church or not? It will end if we don't hurry."

Well, it wasn't going to start for another thirty minutes but he didn't need to know that. His face quickly changed from pouty to worried, right before his arms flew up.

"Good boy."

Church tugged the little red shirt over his head and pulled it down, then helped him step into his pants. Being the not-so-good church-going demon that he was, the only thing he really knew about it was that you were supposed to look nice and he couldn't touch anything possibly holy... fun. Once Hanna was completely dressed he followed Church to his room where he quickly pulled on a pair of black dress slacks and a white dress shirt.

"Alright kiddo, you ready?"

Hanna reached up toward him, his little hands opening and closing.

"...fine."

Hanna's little mouth turned up into a smile as Church scooped him up into his arms and they headed out.

The walk was thankfully short, the large brown and tan building two blocks from the apartment. Church carried Hanna most of the way, but as they approached the building h carefully set him down, taking his tiny hand in his own before they walked up the stairs. A young man was greeting guests at the door and the moment he saw Hanna his face lit up and he knelt down, offering his hand to the little boy.

"Hello there! What is your name, cutie?"

Hanna did exactly what Church expected him to do... he ran right behind his pant leg and peeked out at the strange man. Well, he wasn't exactly strange, but Hanna probably thought that most people besides him were. The man actually looked quite handsome with a mop of dark blond hair and chocolate brown eyes. Church hadn't realized he'd been staring until the man stood up.

"Good morning, welcome! You have such a cute son there!"

"Ah... thank you."

The man quickly offered him his hand, which Church stared at for a second before hesitantly reaching out. Their hands touched, but separated immediately, his snapping back to grab at the cross around his neck while Church hissed and shook his own. The bastard must have had holy water on his hands or something of that sort in order to make his darn flesh burn.

"Get out of here now, demon!"

The young man growled the words so others walking by couldn't hear, but Church wasn't one to take orders very well. Instead of doing as told, he gently picked Hanna up and smiled.

"Hanna really wanted to see what a church was like."

The man's eyes glared at the little boy in his arms. When he reached a finger out towards Hanna the boy grabbed the finger and shook it like one would during a handshake.

"Want do see Chesh!"

Hmph. Excited little thing.

"He's a..."

"Human, yes."

The man immediately reached out to try and snatch Hanna away from him, but he should have known better than to even try. Church stepped aside and turned, his back to the inside of the building while the man was one step backwards from falling down the stairs.

"How long have you had him?"

"About a month."

"Wait a second. He's the lost child from the park!"

Raising a brow, Church nonchalantly shrugged.

"Will you let him go inside or not? I don't have much patience today." 

"What's your name, demon?" 

That made him chuckle. 

"Church." 

The man blinked, as if what he had said had been a very poorly timed jest. 

"My name is Church, and Hanna would like to see what one is like. Now then, will you deny him access?" 

The human stuttered but shook his head after a moment. 

"I will be watching you, Church." 

"Enjoy the view, human." 

The man stalked after him as they stepped inside the large building. 

"My name is Michael," he said abruptly.  

"I'm sure it is, human."

They turned and Church pushed open the main doors to the prayer room. Hanna squealed with delight in his arms as he saw all of the stained glass windows and bright colored paintings. Church couldn't help but pause for a moment and look down at him.

"Do you like it?"

Hanna looked up, nodding his head vigorously before going back to staring. Church shrugged and began walking down the isle, eventually taking a seat right in the front with Hanna plopped down on his lap.

Michael stopped in front of them and leaned over, whispering by his right ear, "if you cause any commotion I will not hesitate to douse you in holy water." 

"I have no intention of causing any issues. As soon as Hanna gets bored we will be leaving." 

He pursed his lips as if he wanted to say something else, but was then called away by one of the other preachers. 

The service started shortly after and, surprisingly, Hanna was enthralled the entire hour and a half it was going on. When it finally came to an end he was staring up at him with excitement in his normally-scared eyes. 

"Can go Chesh again?" 

Of course. Because that's exactly what murderous demons do on their days off.

"I guess."