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There was something seriously off with this guy.
Anytime Nuru had even the slightest inkling in her mind that somebody in her life was quote on quote off, she did whatever the opposite of taking something with a grain of salt is. With good reason, considering her gut instinct on reading people was almost always scarily accurate. Being a hunter has definitely upped her radar on suspicious people.
The thing is, she can't pin point what specifically is wrong with him. Sure, he showed up randomly and practically invited himself on any cases she and Varian investigated, which in itself wouldn't be a major issue, but he's awful at everything. He can't use a gun for shit, and by the way he acts while questioning people you would think he's never seen another person before.
Aside from that, technically speaking there's nothing else to rationally mistrust him for. At first Varian was on the same page as her, they were both equally suspicious of him, but now he doesn't seem to think anything of him. Not a major surprise, Varian's always been the 'innocent until proven guilty' type.
The case they were on should've barely counted as a case. It was just an anonymous tip about some apparent suspicious activity in an abandoned town. She and Varian only agreed to check it out because they had nothing else going on. An innocent quick pop by to make sure nothing their level of weird was going on.
She really needs to stop expecting things to run according to plan in her life.
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"I'm serious, we need to get out of here." Hugo hisses, eyes darting around the area. God knows where he even came from. Neither she or Varian told him they were on a case, let alone where. He's like an annoying rat that can sniff them out wherever they are.
"Look, whatever you think is happening here, we can handle it, trust me." Varian replies plainly, not bothering to look at him. Hugo huffs an annoyed breath, running his hand through his hair. He looks more shifty than usually, shoulders ever so slightly hitched, and the usual cocky smirk he wore is no where to be seen.
Nuru decides against asking why he looks like he's seen a ghost, (That phrase really doesn't give the same effect as it used to.) He almost never gives a straight answer to anything, despite the questions he always conveniently has for them about their lives.
They've looked around everywhere for anything out of the ordinary. No sulfur, no cold spots, nothing jumping out and attacking them. Everything seems pretty normal as far as mysteriously abandoned places go. Everything aside from Hugo.
Shocker.
"I'm gonna do one more walk around, don't let him spook you." Nuru says with a simper. Varian snorts.
"Oh yeah, great idea sparkles, wander off by yourself while I'm telling you It's dangerous." Hugo scoffs in disbelief. "Here's a crazy idea, don't."
Nuru rolls her eyes. "Just because you're incapable of defending yourself doesn't mean I am."
"Oh my god, why do you two insist on being so difficult all the time? Could you just trust me on this?" Hugo exasperates.
"Trust you? You won't even give an actual explanation why it's so dangerous here. How did you even find us?"
Hugo rolls his shoulders in discomfort, looking away. Nuru glares at him.
"Alright, let's not do this right now." Varian says with a groan. "Hugo, Nuru and I have been doing this a lot longer than you have, we have everything under control if you want to leave."
Hugo opens his mouth like he wants to argue that, but seems to ultimately decide against it for whatever reason, shoving his hands into his pockets. Varian flashes a grin.
The silence is very short lived. A sudden low growl sounds from somewhere a ways away from the group. Nuru shoots Varian a concerned glance, who looks just as confused as she feels.
"Shit, we're too late, he's here." Hugo says in a hushed tone, stepping in front of the two.
"What do you mean too late? Who's here?" Varian asks demandingly. Nuru pulls her silver knife from her belt, scanning the area around them. The sight of nothing is more concerning than comforting, because there is definitely something here.
"You guys need to get in your car right the fuck now, if you hurry you'll probably be able to-" Hugo's explanation is cut off by a loud growl, much closer than the one before. If Nuru didn't know any better, she would think the thing was right in front of them.
"Heel, Socrates." A man's voice booms from around the corner of the house in front of them before stepping out into view. He's tall with slightly longer than shoulder length brown hair and a beard. There's a weird ambience about him, making a pit of unease form in Nuru's stomach.
His face falls pleased when he sees the three of them. Hugo shoves them backward.
"What are you?" Nuru questions blatantly. The man raises his eyebrows in amusement.
"My name is Andrew. You humans never were good with manners." He chuckles, eyes falling onto Hugo. "What a pleasant surprise seeing you here. Can't believe they haven't kicked your ass out of the almighty committee yet."
"What can I say, they know a useful thing when they see one." Hugo responds casually, not leaving his protective stance in front of the two.
"You do follow orders like a dog, I'll give you that." Andrew titters, ringing his hands. The back handed compliment drips with venom. "Unfortunately, this won't be a successful assignment for you. Send Donnie my regards."
"What is he talking about?" Varian asks. Hugo's shoulders hitch, causing the man to bark out a loud laugh.
"Oh, you mean he hasn't told you? That's golden, can't say I'm too surprised though."
"Told us what?"
"Just that you've been galavanting around with one of heaven's bitches for the last few months. An angel." Andrew replies slyly, taking an advancing step forward. "Honestly surprised he managed to keep his trap shut for so long. Alas, all good things must come to an end eventually, isn't that right, Hadraniel?"
Hugo snarls, pushing them back even further.
The world feels like it's stopped spinning.
An angel.
One of heaven's angels.
Out of any theory she had, any little thought or prediction, this was so not in her pay grade. The existence of angels was something she never even thought twice about. Sure, she had her doubts they didn't exist, but now there was one standing a foot in front of them.
And it's Hugo.
Varian catches Nuru's eye, to which she shrugs panickedly. Technically, the guy could be lying, but considering Hugo hasn't said a word, that's looking really unlikely.
"As fun as this hasn't been, in case you haven't realised, you're sorely outnumbered. I suggest you leave." She says firmly, ignoring the previous revelation.
"Huh, is that so?" Andrew asks rhetorically. There's a tilt to his voice that sends shivers up her arms. "Socrates, speak."
An ear piercingly loud bark sounds from a few feet in front of them. The issue is, there's nothing there. Unless whatever's there is somehow invisible-
Nuru's stomach drops.
"It's a hell hound." She says grimly. The words feel foreign, like she wasn't the one to speak them. Varian's head whips over to look at her, before his gaze returns back in front of them, eyebrows pinched.
"Bingo." Andrew replies with a toothy grin before looking back to Hugo. "Now, here's what's going to happen. You're going to hand over whichever one of them is the prophet, and I'll let you and the other one go out of the kindness of my heart. Or, I'll just kill you all, win win for me either way."
"Please, I've dealt with scarier things than one of hell's mutts." Hugo scoffs, keeping his gaze set on him. The man hums.
"Yeah, maybe. But something tells me you wont feel the same way about this."
He pulls out a small silver blade. As far as daggers go, this one was pretty plain looking, but it makes Hugo's breath hitch all the same. Andrew smirks.
"My patience is beginning to wane. Either hand over the prophet or you're all going to be shredded in the next 5 seconds. Tick tock people."
Nuru doesn't even want to guess what the hell a prophet is, and why this guy thinks one of them is one. This is the first time she's actually regretting not listening to Hugo, even though this is probably 100% his fault.
As far as options go, they're pretty screwed. They've never fought a hell hound before, and something's telling her it's going to be pretty fucking difficult to kill something they can't even see. The only thing they've got going for them right now is the knowledge that this guy is a demon, considering he owns a hell hound, but that fleeting hope quickly dies when she realises the hound won't let them live if they so much as scratch him.
Before she can even begin to think of another plan, the sound of wings flapping sounds before Hugo's suddenly vanishes in thin air, no indication he was ever there to begin with.
"Oh that fucking flake." Andrew grumbles. He sighs dramatically as he ties his hair back into a bun, looking mildly inconvenienced at most. Nuru squints her eyes at him, gripping her knife tighter.
"Look, whatever you think you've heard about us is wrong. We're both just hunters." Varian says in a leveled tone, though his stiff posture suggests anything but ease.
"That's adorable. I have no doubts you're both unaware of the situation at hand here, but that's not my issue." The demon responds with a shrug. "Since our little friend ran with his wings between his legs, I'll have to take you both with me. Apologies for the inconvenience."
Nuru holds her blade up defensively. It's times like these where she really wishes she invested in travel sized holy water. This cocky bastard wouldn't be so giddy then.
Before their low odds fight can begin, the demon suddenly screams in agony, causing Nuru to flinch. He clutches his middle as black smoke begins to pour out of his mouth rapidly, leaving as quickly as it came. His body topples over with a loud thump.
Behind his crumpled form stands Hugo, holding a blade of his own.
"GET THE KNIFE." Hugo shouts out before he's sent violently flying backward into the ground, being pinned down by the hell hound.
Nuru takes no time to hesitate, scrambling forward and dropping her own dagger in favor of grabbing a hold of the demon's knife, the metal handle feeling oddly cool in her grasp. She quickly rushes forward, blindly plunging the blade down onto the area above Hugo.
The hellhound lets out a loud yelp, followed by silence. Hugo groans.
"Are you alright? Is it dead??" Nuru asks frantically, ripping the dagger out of the beast.
"Double yes, can you guys help push this piece of shit off me please?" Hugo asks, voice strained. Both Varian and Nuru quickly begin to help shove the hellhound off and onto the ground next to him. His upper chest has multiple large claw wounds from when the thing lunged at him.
"Fuck that looks bad, do we need to take you to a hospital?" Varian asks wearily, holding a hand out to help Hugo up, which he takes hesitantly.
"Oh yeah, that'll go over well." Hugo snips. "It's fine, it'll heal soon." Varian rolls his eyes, but doesn't argue.
"Right, because you're an angel. Almost forgot about that." Nuru huffs in annoyance. Hugo winces, having the audacity to look guilty.
"I swear to god I'll explain everything, but we should get out of here first. I wouldn't doubt he has reinforcements."
Nuru and Varian share a look, but decide to heed his warning this time. Neither of them are exactly eager to run into anymore of those things. Plus, there has to be a rule somewhere out there about angels using God's name in vane.
Nuru helps Varian guide Hugo to their car, slinging one of his arms around her shoulder. Normally he would refuse the assistance, but he kind of owes it to them to not be a pain in the ass for two seconds.
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Once they get him comfortably situated in the back seat, Nuru flops into the passenger seat, leaning her head against the cool glass of the car door's window. Varian doesn't turn the radio on, and she doesn't ask him to. He begins to type in their motel's address into the gps before Hugo speaks up.
"We shouldn't go back yet, could be demons camping out there."
"Okay, well all of our stuff is there. What exactly do you suggest we do?" Varian asks aggravatedly, leaning his head back on the headrest.
"When I'm healed up enough I'll go grab everything, but we need to be smart about this." He replies pointedly. "Do either of you know anyone we can stay with? Preferably one who knows the creepy crawlies exist."
"Don't Raps and Eugene live in state?" Nuru questions, turning her attention back to Varian. His face lights up.
"I completely forgot we're in Louisiana! I'm sure they won't mind if we pop by for a bit." He says eagerly, quickly sitting back up as he types in their address.
"And they're hunters?" Hugo asks.
"Yeah, they've been doing it way longer than us. Their place is probably our safest option right now." Nuru replies thoughtfully before her face falls slightly, remembering the major predicament they're currently in. "Uh, maybe don't bring up the whole angel thing right away though."
"Wasn't going to." He says cheekily before slumping over more. Nuru furrows her brows at him before turning her focus back to the window. She's too tired to think deeply about this situation right now.
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A feeling of existential dread had been clawing at her for the last 2 weeks. At first it was mild, a slight anxiety that she could push into the furthest back corner of her brain, never to see the light of day, but as time went on, it just got more and more difficult to ignore.
Anxiety was a thing Nuru had long grown used to. It only took one appointment with a psychiatrist when she was 11 to determine she had a severe anxiety disorder. Which, as shitty as it was to manage, was just that, manageable. For the most part she could talk herself down, convince herself that whatever non existent thing she was so worried about was just in her brain.
This was a different feeling. She tried so hard to shove through the feeling like she normally would, but she couldn't shake it. Something bad was going to happen, and it was right around the corner.
She told her father about her worries, and as worried for her as he was, there was nothing he could do. He tried to comfort her, tell her everything was going to be okay, that he wouldn't let anything bad happen to her, but nothing eased her conscious.
Everything happened so fast.
One minute, she was at the dinner table eating with her father and older sister as always. The next there was screaming coming from everywhere. Glass shattering from the window next to them, impossibly black eyes that were definitely not human, followed by a blinding light that devoured her entire surroundings, she couldn't think, she couldn't breathe, she wanted her dad to hug her and tell her everything was going to be okay and she wanted him to be right like always.
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She wakes up with an unnoticeable startle, thankfully. The last thing she needs is Varian to barrette her with questions of concerns.
Because she's perfectly fine.
She drags a hand down her face, glancing at the car's digital clock. About 45 minutes have passed, and they're finally pulling to the stretch of property. It's a large lone standing house by the water, warded to hell and back. If anything managed to follow them here, there's no way they'll be able to step for than 3 feet anywhere near the place.
It's honestly one of the nicest houses Nuru's seen a hunter own. Granted, maybe not a majorly difficult thing to achieve when almost no hunters own houses, let alone live long enough to save up for one, but a nice house all the same. The build of it reminds her of her childhood home before her life went into a downwards spiral.
Wow, she really needs to stop thinking about that.
Hugo seems to be doing a sizeable amount better, now able to walk on his own and no longer looking like he'll be needing to sign his will and testament within the next 10 minutes. And by the looks of it they weren't followed, wins all around.
When they reach the entrance of the home, Varian raps on the door with the back of his knuckle with a series of knocks he agreed to use to alert it was in fact him.
Only a few moments pass before Rapunzel swings the door open, a bright grin on her face.
"Oh my gosh, it's so good to see you guys again!" She beams, pulling Nuru and Varian into a tight bear hug. Nuru pats her back in return.
"Thanks for having us. Sorry it was so last minute, something came up." Varian responds sheepishly once she releases them from the hug.
"Don't apologize, you know you guys are always welcome here." She says, painfully sincere. Her eyes fall onto Hugo, who looks like he wants to be anywhere but here. "And who might this be?"
"Friend we made on the road." Nuru replies. That's about the most simple way she can think to word that right now.
"Friend's a strong word." Varian mumbles jokingly, causing Hugo to glare at him. "This is Hugo, he's uh, a hunter."
"New hunter." Nuru adds on. Hugo nods his head in a silent agreement.
"It's so nice to meet you, Hugo! Always a comfort to know there are more people joining our little club." She holds out her hand for him to shake. Hugo stares blankly at it for what feels like an eternity before giving a feeble attempt at a sideways high-five.
"Uh, very nice to meet you too, ma'am." He responds awkwardly, retracting his hand like the touch burned it. If Rapunzel's offput by the weird interaction, she doesn't show it, still grinning kindly.
"Splash time," She says with an apologetic smile, grabbing a glass bottle of water from a table next to the door inside. She pours a little bit into the palm of her hand before flicking it towards each of them.
"Ouch." Nuru says sarcastically. Rapunzel titters.
"Alright, make yourselves at home! I've got a few errands I need to run, but Eugene should be back in a few hours."
"Thank you again for having us. We should be out of your hair soon-ish." Varian chuckles halfheartedly
"Stay as long as you need." She replies with a smile. "I'm off, no parties please."
"Awe." Varian pouts jokingly, causing Rapunzel to nudge him arm before she walks past them out the door.
The three make their way inside, closing and locking the door behind them.
"Is splashing your guests with water a new fad I haven't stumbled on yet?" Hugo asks, wiping the stray droplets off of his face with his sleeve.
"It's to make sure we're not demons. The wards are pretty much fool proof, but they like to be cautious." Nuru explains, taking her coat off and hanging it on the coat hanger.
"I'm not convinced they don't do it for fun." Varian jokes, kicking his shoes off. "We are officially in the clear, you gonna tell us what the fuck is going on now?"
"Yeah, you guys might wanna sit down down for this." Hugo replies. Varian scowls at him before nodding towards the hallway.
They make their way into the living room, taking a seat on the couch. Hugo sits on the love seat across from the two.
"Right, OK." Hugo exhales, rubbing the underneath of his eyes. "I'm an angel, obviously you know that now. My angelic birth name is Hadraniel but I go by Hugo. I was ordered to watch over you to by my higher ups."
"Question, is your higher up God?" Varian asks incredulously.
"Fuck, I wish. No, no one has seen him in years. It's just other angels."
"I'm assuming this all has something to do with that prophet thing that demon was talking about?" Nuru questions.
"Yeah. It's you by the way." Hugo responds simply. Varian shoots him a look.
"Oh, OK. Way to lay that down easy." Nuru scoffs, folding her arms across her middle. "What the hell is a prophet?'
"To put it simply, a human who was chosen to be earth's 'word of God.'" He replies. "Essentially, prophets have certain abilities that transcend other people, for example, devine intuition. Most prophets have the ability to sense demons or angels when in the presence of them, you're obviously one of them."
"Huh."
"So what was the deal with that demon? What did he want with her?" Varian questions.
"Word may or may not have gotten out that one of you is a prophet. There's a lot at stake." Hugo shifts uncomfortably. "No one upstairs knows how, they're running around like chickens with their heads cut off trying to figure it out. Best guess, a rat angel."
"So what, they couldn't do more than send one angel to watch after us? Make sure we don't die a horrible death?" Nuru asks.
"You're asking the wrong person. All I know is that your personal archangel isn't available, so you get me."
"Joy."
"Trust me, I am way more normal than any other angels, you got lucky." Hugo grins cheekily. "Until things cool off a tiny bit, you two should probably stay here for a bit. I'm gonna pop out and grab your things quickly."
"Hugo, I was joking. If it's dangerous don't go." Varian frowns. Hugo gives him a weird look.
"It's my job, stripes. Don't miss me too badly."
Before either of them can say anything, Hugo vanishes.
"If he dies I'm gonna feel like an asshole." Varian mutters, running a hand through his hair. Nuru chuckles halfheartedly.
"He's like a cockroach, I'm sure he'll be fine."
They sit in silence for a few moments before Varian clears his throat.
"So, prophet." He states simply.
"Yeah, prophet."
"How're you feeling?"
"I don't know. I mean, it's weird obviously, but it also explains a lot?" Nuru sighs, pulling her knees towards herself.
"This doesn't change anything. We're good at what we do. Those demons better hope they don't run into us." Varian jokes playfully. Nuru snorts.
Hugo suddenly reappears back in the room, one bag on his back and two others slung over his arms.
"They didn't manage to break through the salt lines yet, I'm sure it's only a matter of time though." Hugo grimaces, tossing the bags onto the couch next to them. "Once heaven get's things more sorted out we'll be safe to leave."
"Thanks. Uh, for what it's worth, I'm glad we didn't wind up with some stuck up angel." Nuru says sincerely. Hugo's looks slightly caught off guard for a moment before his face softens.
"For what else it's worth, you guys aren't half bad either. It's nice to see hunters who aren't miserable. That would've been a joy to hang out with constantly." Hugo smirks. "Sorry about how all this went down. And that you're a prophet."
"Eh, we'll make do." Nuru chuckles lightly.
After all the heartache and struggles, despite everything she still didn't know for certain, Nuru finally felt like things were going to look up.