Cherreads

Chapter 9 - CHAPTER 8: The First Demon Falls

 "Rise of the Hunters" — The Battle Begins

INT. ABANDONED CHURCH – NIGHT

Thunder clashed against the heavens, like Heaven itself was bracing for what was about to happen.

But inside the old church, a deeper storm was building—one that was born from memory, rage, and redemption.

Alexander and Jason stood beneath the broken cross-beams, blades in hand, divine power coursing through their veins.

Twin axes in Alexander's fists glowed with red-hot runes, pulsing with every heartbeat.

Jason's ghost-forged twin swords shimmered cold and silver, humming softly like they remembered war.

Venessa stepped forward from the shadows, her hands gripping a case of deadly, handcrafted weapons.

Not ordinary. Not human.

These were charged—etched with blood markings, each symbol carved by her own hand, each gun, grenade, and blade made to kill demons.

VENESSA (calm but fierce):

"I charged these with my blood. They'll kill demons now."

Alexander gave a single nod.

Jason smirked, blades sliding into ready stance.

JASON:

"Good. Because we're not hiding anymore."

🔥 EXT. NEW YORK CITY STREETS – NIGHTFALL

The church doors swung open.

And the Hunters walked straight into hell.

Fires blazed across the skyline.

Buildings split open like wounds.

Demons crawled down walls, wings tearing through air, claws dragging across concrete.

Screams echoed from the cracks in the earth, from windows, from burning cars.

One demon ripped a man in half.

Another dragged a screaming girl into the sewer.

Alexander snapped.

ALEXANDER (roaring):

"ENOUGH!"

He charged.

Axes spinning like wrath given form, slicing a demon clean in half—it exploded into ash.

Another demon dove from a rooftop—Alexander met it mid-air and split it down the center with both blades.

Jason was already moving.

He blinked through shadows like lightning, slicing down a demon before it blinked.

He slid under another, spun, slashed, and stabbed three more in one smooth, dancing motion.

ALEXANDER (mid-fight, shocked):

"We're faster… stronger…"

Jason leapt five stories, landed on a demon's back, drove both blades through its skull, then rode the carcass to the ground.

JASON:

"I can see them… before they move."

Venessa stepped into the warzone.

She raised her blood-forged shotgun and fired point-blank—red energy exploded the demon's chest.

Another charged from the side—she spun, dropped low, fired again—dust.

From above, a winged demon descended.

Venessa raised her hand, whispered something ancient—

A spike of blood burst from the street and impaled it midair.

VENESSA (low):

"I'm done running."

Above them, Gedeon flew like a broken angel—his wings scorched but wide, his blade glowing like light remembering its purpose.

He spun mid-air, clashed with demons in flight, and carved through three in a single stroke.

He landed beside the brothers, sword dripping with black blood.

GEDEON (grinning):

"I told you. The moment you held those weapons… you'd feel Heaven moving through you."

⚔️ INTENSE COMBAT MONTAGE

Alexander blocks a claw swipe with his arm—then splits the demon in two with both axes.

Jason catches a demon tongue mid-swing, yanks it, and decapitates it in one slash.

Venessa dual-wields pistols, each shot trailing with sacred blood.

Gedeon slams a demon four times his size with a downward holy strike.

All four stand back-to-back, surrounded by demon hordes, unshaken.

The Hunters had returned.

👁️ PART 1: "Eyes of the Mother" – Malekta Watches the Hunters Fight

INT. ROOFTOPS ABOVE NEW YORK CITY – NIGHT

High above the city, in the cold breath of wind and ash, Malekta stood.

Crimson robes wrapped around her like water, her black bleeding eyes locked onto the battlefield below.

She watched the Hunters move—fire in their limbs, light in their souls.

Alexander's rage.

Jason's precision.

Venessa's divine instinct.

Gedeon's fallen grace.

And yet, they didn't know.

They didn't know she was watching.

MALEKTA (quiet, deadly):

"So you've remembered… just enough to fight."

And still, her heart burned.

🩸 FLASHBACK: Her Sons, Long Ago

She remembered.

Ten thousand years ago.

Three sons. Glorious. Monstrous. Loyal.

And they died—torn apart by the very two warriors now wielding heaven's fire on Earth.

Alexander the Axe-Bearer.

Jason the Twin-Blade Traitor.

They had buried her bloodline in divine ash.

MALEKTA (gritted teeth):

"You'll die slowly this time."

Behind her, a demon general stepped out—black armor, bone mask, head bowed.

DEMON GENERAL:

"My Queen. Do we strike now?"

She barely looked at him.

MALEKTA:

"Not yet.

Let them feel strong.

Let them feel invincible."

And then… we take everything.

She vanished into shadow, her plan already unfolding.

 "Blood Games" – Malekta's Trap Begins

EXT. LOWER MANHATTAN – NIGHTFALL

The streets were quiet now.

Too quiet.

The demons had retreated. The blood had cooled. But something was off.

The silence wasn't peace—it was strategy.

Alexander stood in the middle of a cracked intersection, his axes dripping demon ash, lit only by flickering traffic lights.

Jason stood beside him, his swords down, but his soul alert.

Venessa scanned the rooftops, blood trailing faintly from her fingers.

VENESSA:

"They're pulling back… too fast."

GEDEON (landing nearby):

"That's because they're not done.

They're setting the stage."

ALEXANDER:

"Stage for what?"

Gedeon didn't answer.

Because he already knew.

INT. ABANDONED HOSPITAL – A FEW BLOCKS AWAY

Lights flickered across rusted hallways.

Blood stained every wall.

But at the center of it all sat Malekta.

Her throne made of broken hospital beds and bone.

Around her—her children.

Winged horrors. Crawling beasts. Faceless angels of rage.

Each waited for her word.

In her lap lay a scroll sealed in blood-wax.

A forbidden curse.

A soul-net.

MALEKTA (softly):

"They killed my children.

Now I return the pain."

She raised a claw. Tapped the scroll.

The floor cracked. The room turned red.

Reality itself shifted.

EXT. CITY SQUARE – MINUTES LATER

ALEXANDER (suddenly unsteady):

"Wait… do you hear that?"

Jason froze.

Nothing.

No wind.

No footsteps.

No sound.

Then—a heartbeat.

Not outside.

Inside their minds.

VENESSA (grabbing her ears):

"AHH! MAKE IT STOP!!"

GEDEON:

"She's using a soul-net.

She's turning the air against us."

A woman appeared from the shadows.

Bloody. Crying. Barefoot.

Alexander rushed forward.

ALEXANDER:

"Ma'am, are you hurt—"

She looked up.

Smiled.

And her face melted into a demon's grin.

Dozens of others appeared.

Civilians. Men. Women. Children.

Changing.

Eyes black. Teeth jagged.

JASON:

"They're not people.

They're husks."

VENESSA (shaken):

"She's using innocents… as bait."

⚔️ FIGHT SEQUENCE

Alexander fought without killing—dodging, disarming.

Jason moved faster, slicing tendons, knocking out limbs.

Venessa raised walls of blood to block waves of husks.

Gedeon flew above and cast blinding light, trying not to burn the innocent.

But the more they fought—the weaker they became.

GEDEON (yelling):

"Every strike drains your light!

She's trying to burn Heaven out of you!"

Alexander faltered.

His axe glowed red-hot.

His veins were lightning.

ALEXANDER:

"I'm… losing control…"

VENESSA:

"We need to retreat!"

INT. SHADOWED ALLEY – ESCAPE

They broke through and ducked into an alley.

Jason dropped to a knee, blood on his teeth.

Venessa carved a quick rune on the wall—a shield spell.

VENESSA:

"This buys us two minutes."

GEDEON (breathing heavy):

"She's not testing your strength.

She's testing your hearts.

She's looking for weakness."

Jason's fists clenched.

JASON:

"She won't find any."

Venessa said nothing.

Because her hands were shaking.

She had seen a memory in that fight.

A face.

A scream.

A girl burning.

A scream that sounded like her own.

INT. MALEKTA'S THRONE ROOM – SAME TIME

Malekta watched from her blood-pool, smiling.

She leaned forward and whispered to a hulking demon—six-armed, bone-plated, featureless.

MALEKTA:

"Find them.

Hurt them.

But don't kill them."

"Make them remember pain… the way every mother remembers her loss."

The beast vanished in smoke.

Malekta stood tall.

MALEKTA (to her legion):

"The trap was only the beginning."

⚔️ PART 1: "The Bone Reaper" – The Demon General Attacks

EXT. BROOKLYN RUINS – MIDNIGHT

The Hunters moved through rubble.

The buildings crumbled around them.

Venessa's rune was fading.

Their energy was fading.

The city was quiet again.

Too quiet.

ALEXANDER:

"Where are the demons?"

GEDEON:

"Not where.

When."

Suddenly—the sky cracked.

Not with thunder.

With reality.

A ripple in the air. A breathless scream.

Then—it dropped.

The Bone Reaper.

Seven feet of bone-plated muscle.

Six arms. Six weapons.

A bleeding rune carved into its face.

And in its chest—

a cage.

Inside the cage—

a human child.

Crying.

VENESSA:

"She's using a hostage…"

GEDEON:

"No.

This is no beast.

This is a general."

💥 FIGHT BEGINS

The Reaper swung its chain—Jason blocked, barely.

The hammer came down—Alexander caught it with crossed axes, thrown into a car.

Venessa fired blood bullets—absorbed into its armor.

Jason slashed its back—sparks only.

Gedeon dropped from above—his holy sword cracked its chest… a small chip.

Inside the cage—the child screamed.

VENESSA:

"If we destroy the core, the child dies!"

JASON:

"Then we disable—not destroy."

The Bone Reaper spun, unleashing a shockwave—all four Hunters slammed into walls.

JASON (wiping blood):

"We're not winning this…"

Venessa felt something.

Not fear.

Memory.

👼 PART 2: "The Light Remembers" – Venessa Awakens (TRUE CANON)

EXT. BROOKLYN STREETS – CONTINUOUS

The Bone Reaper stood over them like a god of war—six arms raised, six weapons dripping, ready to bring all of them down in one final crushing blow.

But Venessa… wasn't afraid.

She wasn't even moving.

She stood frozen—eyes wide, hands trembling, not from fear… but from something ancient.

Something sacred.

Something true.

A sound echoed in her mind.

Not the demon's growl.

Not the chaos of the fight.

A voice.

Soft. Firm. Timeless.

"Venessa… you don't die here.

Not again."

☁️ FLASHBACK — 10,000 YEARS AGO

Flames raged. The sky was burning gold and crimson.

Venessa stood tall—cloaked in armor made of starlight, wings wide, blazing with celestial fire.

A sword of flame rested in her grip, and light bled from her every step.

She wasn't on Earth.

She wasn't mortal.

She was something more.

To her left—Jason.

To her right—Alexander.

But not as they were now.

They weren't boys anymore. They weren't hunted.

They were warriors. Chosen. Heaven's final fire.

Together, the three of them stood before the last gate.

Behind it—The Demon King.

Jason was wounded.

Alexander was bleeding.

But Venessa stood tall—between them and the end.

PAST VENESSA (fierce):

"If I fall today, I fall knowing I fought beside the only mortals Heaven ever trusted with its flame."

She spread her wings—divine blood and light—and charged.

A comet.

A scream.

A warrior's cry of faith and fury.

She was struck down.

But in that fall—

Jason and Alexander saw the path.

And they took it.

They didn't kill the Demon King as angels.

They didn't win with wings.

They won as men.

Heaven had only blessed them.

But they earned the victory.

🔙 BACK TO THE PRESENT – BROOKLYN

Venessa collapsed to her knees.

Tears streamed down her face like rivers lit by memory.

Jason turned mid-swing.

Alexander froze in place.

ALEXANDER (desperate):

"Venessa?! What's wrong?!"

She looked up—eyes glowing like galaxies—her voice layered with light.

VENESSA (divine and calm):

"I remember…"

She stood.

Blood on her arms began to ignite, glowing golden-red, like sunlight through glass.

The Bone Reaper charged—screaming.

Venessa lifted her hand.

A BLAST OF HOLY LIGHT ERUPTED.

The demon staggered—its weapons turned to ash, its armor cracked.

The cage in its chest burst open—the child inside floated into Gedeon's arms, safe, untouched.

Behind Venessa—

For just one second—

Wings.

Wings of blood and light, radiant and pure.

Not mortal. Not fallen.

Angelborn. Remembered.

And just like that—

The wings vanished.

But the fire in her eyes remained.

VENESSA (softly, as the demon fades):

"I died for you once.

And now… I fight beside you again."

Jason and Alexander stared—not just at their sister…

But at someone older.

Someone divine.

Someone reborn.

JASON (quiet):

"You're… one of them.

From before."

VENESSA:

"No.

I'm one of us.

I just… remembered first."

The Bone Reaper let out one final screech—then disintegrated into black smoke.

Silence followed.

But it wasn't peace.

It was preparation.

Because now they knew.

Their past lives weren't dreams.

They were warnings.

And the war had never ended.

It just began again.

⚔️ TO BE CONTINUED...

🔥 Next Chapter: "The Fire of the Forgotten" — The Hunters regroup, the city fractures, and the truth of their rebirth begins to crack the world open. But with every memory gained… something deeper awakens within them. Something the demons fear more than death.

More Chapters