It's been a hectic two years, for my victims anyway. I'm just on my way to catch up with the little dream team that I tore apart two years ago. I feel light and happy and a smile dances on my lips as I carefully touchdown on the lawn. I walk around the house for a bit, looking for any signs of changes, changes I didn't already know about.

One thing caught my eyes, or rather didn't. The old guy on this little angel squad. There's no sign of him. It seems as though he's just vanished. A week ago from what I can tell. But he's not dead, I'm pretty much the only one sent on those kinds of missions. Well, I always know where the others are that get those missions. And none of them have been in this area in a decade. That is if Lucifer still considers me his right hand. How I do despise that title.

There's definitely something going on here. And I'm going to find out what. The best way to do that? Stick to the kid she was so fond of. Oh sorry, she can't be fond of him, that's illegal, the boy she's so attached to, so protective of. Oh those Righteous little fools, they have no idea how stupid they really are. They think they're so high and mighty, it makes me sick.

But none of that matters now. I'm lucky, I'm not bound by rules. I don't feel pain like anyone else. This makes me uniquely qualified for this particular mystery. I take to the sky and search for the perfect hideout. Humans are so predictable, there are places they won't go, won't think to look for certain things at.

I find a rundown shed on the edge of someone's property. Doesn't look like it's been used for years. It's perfect. I get inside, it was too easy to melt the lock, and get to moving things around. Once I have the space rearranged I quickly go in search for something that could work as a bed. I don't want to get sick from sleeping on the floor while I'm make believing to be human. Without too much trouble I find an old cot and a blanket. I set it up in the shed and sit down on my new bed.

With some effort I pull my wings inside my back. I barely notice the pain anymore. I've done this before and after the third time I've just become numb to it. My body is so used to it now that there's a place in my back that my wings are comfortable in, just under the top layer of muscle. It doesn't even leave a mark. Well not the mark it would leave on a Righteous. I feel the scars close up just below the middle of my shoulder blades, between my shoulder blades and my spine. I'm lucky I'm not a Righteous, I have no halo. I only get irritating scars from this, they get marked, and their halo brands them.

With the job done I lay down. I haven't eaten anything most of the day so I have a familiar ache in my stomach as I lay down and start to clear my head. I'm out in mere seconds.

I wake up before the dawn breaks. It's still dark out, I guess it's time to get to work. It takes me four minutes and I'm outside and starting down the street. A little stroll through the neighborhood seems in order, to gather information. After all, it's been a whole two years since I've been here.

This is the best time of day to do some backgrounding. No people to bother me while I figure out just what kind of poor lost soul these suckers will fall for. And what kind of friend the kid will fall for. Oh humans, with their fleeting lives and their pathetic human emotions, this'll be like taking candy from a baby, only more fun and satisfying. And I'm starting to look forward to that sweet satisfaction.

My lovely morning thoughts and planning are interrupted by an early morning runner. This runner seems familiar though, but what is he doing up at this hour?

Unfortunately my thinking process took longer than I thought and he runs right into me, literally. To keep up appearances I stumble back. He nearly hits the ground from the impact, nearly. He gathers his balance and pulls the earbuds out of his ears.

"Sorry, I didn't see you there. It's still dark out." I force myself to smile and shake my head. "No it's fine, no harm nor foul. I should've been watching where I was going." He's looking at me closely now, I'm glad I don't have any major scars on my face. I know what he sees, my disheveled black hair, my mismatched eyes, grey and hazel, my tanned skin. So many things about me scream for humans to leave me alone, after all every prey recognizes a predictor when they're near one.

"I've never seen you around here before, are you new?" I'm shocked by his sudden question, why was he not repulsed by me?

"Yeah, just moved in yesterday. I'm just taking a walk around the neighborhood, taking in the sights. Getting to know the area." Keeping it dead simple, I stick to the facts right now. Easier to keep my story straight.

"Tony Mathis," he offers me his hand in greeting as if I don't already know who he is. "Raphael Darkwing." I take his offered hand and give it one good shake. This is and unexpected turn of events.