Searching for the Answers

by Paige Orr

  Lilith

  I slowly start to come around, trying to figure out where I am, and why I’m in so much pain. I try to move, only to find that my arms are strapped to something. I’m taken back to the last time I woke up like this, and terror rushes through me. I try to reason with myself that I’ve not been taken again, but memories start to flash through my mind. The deathly silence surrounds me as I see the wendigo, and remember the feel of the centaurs arms around my throat, and I unwillingly whimper.

  I open my eyes, not that it makes much difference, considering wherever I’m being kept is pitch black. I stretch my fingers, and flex my wrists, hearing the sounds of chains rattling that I managed to miss the first time through my fear. It’s then that I notice the burning in my calves from being held on the tips of my toes. This shit is really getting old, how the fuck could I be so fucking stupid to get myself captured again, you would think I would learn after the first time, yet here I am.

  I scan my brain, trying to remember any details that will tell me who had me captured, but it’s not like any of the creatures that took me stopped for a moment to tell me who sent them. No matter what they say in the movies, the bad guys don’t usually reveal their plans at the drop of a hat. That shit leaves them too vulnerable if you do manage to get away, and that’s something they can’t afford to deal with.

  The only other thing I can think of is the fact that most of my family wishes I was dead, which narrows the culprit lit down a little bit, but not much. I have a bigger family than I ever thought, so it could be any of them, and as much as I want to trust Abbadon, Lucifer and Satan, the truth is I really don’t know if I can. I know these thoughts aren’t going to get me anywhere, but with having no light to see what’s around me or to try and plan an escape all I can really do is get lost in my thoughts, no matter how poisonous they are.

  I see how far I’m able to move connected to these chains, but as soon as I lift one of my feet up, I begin to spin and sway out of control. I try to twist to get my feet back on the ground, but I only make the situation worse, as I feel my shoulders straining against their restraints. I’m starting to panic at the intense pain running through my arms. I’m quickly running out of steam so I stop flailing and take a few deep breaths, trying to stay as still as possible. Finally when I’ve almost stopped swinging, my toes scuff on the floor and I finally get back to standing, taking some of the strain back off my arms.

  I strain my ears, listening for anyone approaching the room they’re keeping me in but I hear nothing but silence. My mind automatically goes back to how long Michael left me waiting for him to come and hurt me, the only thing keeping me sane is the fact I know he’s dead. That and knowing no matter who has taken me, my guys will come for me. They would have read my note, and would've started to worry when I didn’t come home. Hell, they’ve probably already got in touch with Gem to make sure I’m not with her, which is a very sobering thought, I’m fucking thankful they waited until I was on my own before taking me, it would fucking kill me if they had taken her as well.

  I stand here, with my head hanging for what feels like forever. Before finally hearing footsteps heading my way, but it seems that I’m going to be waiting a little while longer. The footsteps stop outside my room, and whoever it is must be waiting for something, because they just wait in silence.

  As I begin to grow impatient, another set of footsteps approach from what sounds like the other direction, and the person stops to talk to whoever is already outside my room. I try my best to hear what’s being said, even using my enhanced hearing, but there must be something wrong with me, because no matter what magick I reach for, nothing answers the call.

  I feel the panic begin to build in my chest again. But I don’t have much time to dwell on it, as I hear a key being put into the lock. Each twist of the key causes the tightness in my stomach to build, and by the time I hear the handle being turned, I’m panting with how hard I’m breathing. The suspension builds, as the door begins to swing inwards in slow motion just like in a horror film, and who walks through the door has the blood draining from my face.

  “Hello Lilith. I would say it’s a pleasure to finally meet you, but that would be a lie.”

  Demetrius

  It’s the early hours of the morning when we finally finish our meeting with K and F, and I’m fucking exhausted, all I want is to go to my girl and curl up against her. I stumble up the stairs, bleary eyed, making my way towards Liliths room. Knocking on the door in case she’s still awake, I wait for an answer. When I don’t get one one, I carefully turn the handle and open the door, trying not to wake her. But when I step through the doorway, her bed is empty.

  Confusion fills me, as I look at her bed, which is still neatly made from this morning. Wondering if she’s in one of our rooms, I make way to each of them checking for her, and as I reach the last room I’m feeling frantic. Where the fuck is she?! Did she maybe go to stay with Gem? Surely she would have let one of us know, she understands how much we worry about her!

  Not finding her anywhere upstairs, I race back down the stairs, checking every room just in case she fell asleep somewhere else, but still there’s no sign of her. Bounding into the living room, I find a note sitting on the coffee table. I flip it open reading what Lilith has written, before pulling my phone out and dialing Gemma’s number, tapping my foot as I impatiently wait for her to pick up.

  Finally I hear her groggy voice, and I stumble over my words as I ask her if Lilith is still with her. But her response has my blood running cold, through her sleep filled voice, she tells me how Lilith walked her halfway and headed back home. As I pull the phone away from my ear I can hear her asking why I wanted to know, but I’m already hanging up and rushing into the kitchen, not fully registering the worry in her voice.

  The guys look up from their cups of coffee, looking like they're about to drop, but I don’t have the patience right now to go easy on them. “She’s fucking gone! She should be back here but she’s not! She walked Gemma home a little bit, and she never came back! Why the fuck did no one notice that our fucking mate wasn’t home?! What if someone has hurt her? What kind of fucking mates are we?”

  I pick up a cup, throwing it at the wall, as I roar out my rage. Watching as what I’ve said finally sinks in to their thick fucking skulls, and the color drains from their faces. My shoulders rise and fall in rapid movements, as I try to calm down enough that I’m not seeing red. After the way she came home to us last time, and what a shitty fucking job we did finding her, I refuse to make her wait that long on us again. I’ll fucking rip their throats out myself if they slack on this, matter of fact I’ve already got plenty of people to be pissed at. What kind of fucking security team do we employ? None of them thought to fucking tell us she left the house, nor did any of them fucking follow her I bet! I’m going to rip the useless bastards spines out throught their fucking arseholes!

  I watch as Taehyung scrubs a hand down his face, looking weary and I let out a sigh of indignation. If he wants to sit on his arse instead of doing something then fuck him. I’ll do it all my fucking self if I have too! Turning on my heel, I stalk my way tawards the security room, those fuckers have a lot of fucking answer to do, and they won’t fucking like how I’m going to extract my answers. People are going to fucking learn that you don’t fuck with my mate, not if you truly value your life!

  Lilith

  Growling out in anger, I look to my grandfather, lit up in the doorway. I can’t fucking believe this shit, I really do have the fucking worst luck with family. He takes his time approaching me, with his arms behind his back and a heinous smile on his face. He finally stops, just out of the reach of my legs, and I glare at the smugness radiating from him.

  “Now, Now Lilith. There’s no need for that angry look on your face. If you had just done as I asked, there would be no need for these less savory methods. All you had to do is return Aiden and Aziel to me. I wasn’t asking for much from you, but you forced me to take extreme measures. I a
lways get what I want, even if bratty grandchildren think it’s alright to disrespect their elders. What’s the big deal child, you would still have five mates to play with, or are you just as much of a dirty little slut as your mother? She always has been the biggest disgrace of the family, especially when she whored herself out to a fucking demon of all things.”

  I spit in his face, giving him a feral grin. “Silly Gabriel, you actually think you have the right to tell me what to do? I’m pretty sure I already explained that you lost that right when you let your daughter treat me like shit! Matter of fact you endorsed it, so don’t try and pull the grandfather act now, you’re twenty-one years too late. As for that last comment, you sick son of a bitch, I ain’t a fucking slut! I love my mates and they love me, unlike your whore daughter. I don’t run around chasing any cock I can fucking get. On the point of my father, you only have yourself to blame, she said so herself when she revealed what she is to me. She hated you so fucking much that she fucked a demon, so get of your fucking high horse you piece of shit.”

  His hand comes out of nowhere and connects with my jaw, causing my head to whip to the side, and my mouth to fill with blood. I turn my head back around, giving him a saccharine smile, and I’m filled with satisfaction when I see the anger clouding his normally controlled features. Spitting out the blood that fills my mouth, I give him a bored look, as he paces in front of me like a caged animal. He looks at me one more time, before walking back to the door and whispering in his guards ear. I’m filled with uneasiness when the guard gives me a dark look, before turning and walking away.

  For the next ten minutes, I’m locked in a stare down with Gabriel, until I hear two sets of footsteps approaching us. My muscles lock up, knowing that whoever he’s sent for isn’t going to be good for me, but I refuse to show any weakness to this man. All thoughts of staying strong vanish, when the man steps through the door and bile burns it’s way up my throat. My whole body begins to tremble as flashes of the past bounce around inside my skull, I was always scared of him, and he was always the worst out of all of my mother's men. On top of that he knows what his presense does to me and he fucking relishes in it, like the sadistic bastard he is.

  I remember the whips, and the rope burning my flesh, I remember the taste of blood in my mouth and the feel of my broken ribs. The man standing before me with a grin on his face, is an absolute fucking monster. I flinch as he reaches his hand up, cupping my cheek gently but I know that what he has in mind for me will be far from gentle. My grandfather, noticing my reaction, chuckles at me as he hands the man something behind his back where I can’t see.

  “Hello, Lilith. Oh how I’ve missed your screams. But now me and you are going to have some fun, just like when you were little. Now I know you remember my rules, you're going to scream for me, and if you try to hold back, this will only get worse for you.” I watch as he pulls a whip from behind his back, and I can hear the chains rattling, from how hard I’m trembling. Closing my eyes, I try to block everything out, hoping that I’ll be able to make this easier on myself. But I know he won’t allow me to block this out, he loves knowing how much pain he’s causing his victims and I know the only way I’ll survive this is to do as I’m told.

  He lets the whip trail trail across the floor as he circles around me, as I try to anticipate when he will let it fly, but he always knew how to make my pain unexpected. I hear the tell tale sound of the whip sailing towards me, but before I can react it strikes a searing line across my back, causing me to scream as I feel the skin splitting open, and my blood beginning to spill in hot rivulets down my back.

  Blows begin to rain down on me from all angles, until my voice is nothing more than a whisper from screaming my lungs out, he finally stops, beginning to circle me again. My head hangs limply against my chest, as I breathe shallowly, trying not to move my back too much so I don’t make the bleeding worse. I wait silently, knowing that he’s nowhere near done with me and dreading what I know is still to come, he always does the same things after punishments. He goes to the door, motioning to the guard for something, before walking back towards me. Even knowing what he has, doesn’t prepare me for the burning of my wounds when he begins to pour the eighty percent alcohol over them. My mouth opens in a silent scream as my eyes water and begin to roll into the back of my skull. He’s only just started his games and I don’t know how much more I can take. Mercifully, black begins to creep in around the edges of my vision, and I welcome unconsciousness with open arms.

  Lilith

  I begin to stir some time later, feeling like my back is on fire and I choke out a sob, feeling my throat ripping some more. Unfortunately, the movements caused by my sobbing, opens up the slowly healing wounds on my back, causing my blood to start to spill again. My head is spinning from all the blood loss, and I feel like my shoulders have dislocated from being strung up like an animal in a slaughterhouse. I can feel sweat coating my skin, causing me to shiver, wishing that my t-shirt wasn’t clinging to me in tatters.

  Trying to lift my head, I whimper with how heavy it feels, and my eyelids begin to flutter, hoping that I have enough time to open them, and figure a way out of here. I know that even with my advanced healing, my body won’t be able to survive much more of these beatings.

  Hearing footsteps approaching I hang my head, slumping as much as I can without causing more pain, to pretend I’m still unconscious and wait to see who he’s sent for me this time. Gabriel enters the room, talking in a low voice that I struggle to hear, to a group of his guards and I know that this time is going to be even worse. He approaches where I’m chained up, grasping my chin in his hand, and tilting my face up towards his. Snapping my eyes open, I find him sneering at me in disgust and before he can react, I bring my knee up to connect with as much force on his balls as I can. I’m filled with satisfaction when he bends over, wheezing out in pain. As he tries to catch his breath, I repeat the action again, nailing him in the nose, reveling in his squeal of pain as blood spurts from it.

  I don’t get to enjoy my satisfaction for long, before the ten men he summoned to my room charge at me, beginning to rain blows down on me. It only gets worse when the wendigo stalks into the room, quickly disappearing behind me, and beginning to rip all of my wounds open with it’s sharp talons. I feel something coursing through my bloodstream and my suspicions are confirmed, when the monster leans forward, hissing right into my ear. “Enjoy my poison little demon, it won’t kill you, but you will be in agony for a long time.”

  It’s voice is reminiscent of nails on a chalkboard, eliciting a shiver of repulsion to erupt down my spine, causing me to scream from the pain of my wounds. I don’t have time to dwell on my back, as I feel my ribs beginning to crack from the guards’ punches. The next thing I know my right leg buckles beneath me, as one of the guards’ boots connects with my knee. I whimper at the sickening pop that comes from my knee, and the added strain on my already fucking destroyed shoulders. I feel a blow land on my jaw, and clench it trying to hold back any more noise. Seeing this, some of the guards begin to concentrate on my face, and the feeling of my cheekbone and jaw shattering has me seeing stars. All I can taste is my own blood and I feel myself floating off in a world of pain, as the sounds around me are drowned out by the sound of my erratic heartbeat thumping in my ears.

  I don’t know how I’m supposed to survive this, but I won’t let that bastard have the satisfaction of taking my life. I have to fight this, if not for me, then for the people at home trying to find me. I try to stay conscious through the combination of the pain of the poison coursing through my blood, and from the wounds inflicted upon me. These pathetic pieces of shit don’t need anymore signs of weakness.

  Lifting my head, I give them a blood filled grin, before breaking out in hysterical laughter. My laughter abruptly cuts off, as I look between the confused men, before rasping out as best as I can. “Is that… all you fuckers… have got?! You’re all… just little bitches… begging your… master for... a fucking bone. Are
you even… capable of thinking… for yourselves? You brain dead… fucking idiots!” They all exchange looks, looking weary as my words slowly sink in. It’s almost hilarious, when I see them finally grasping what I just said.

  One of the men steps forward, trying to seem strong, but I can see the fear in his eyes, and in the shaking of his hands. Pulling a knife from the sheath at his hip, he steps as close to me as he can, before dragging the blade from below my eye to my chin. I can feel the blood welling up from the wood, but I just clench my jaw, smiling and giving him a wink. My smile drops, when I feel what I thought was a punch to my stomach, but when I look down I find the handle of his knife sticking out from my stomach. One by one the men step forward, plunging their own knives into my flesh, and leaving them there, until finally Gabriel calls for them to stop.

  I search for him in the room, following his voice, until my eyes lock on his and I look down my nose at him. Returning the sneer he gave me earlier, I blow him a kiss. “Thanks gramps… that’s the most… fun I’ve had… in awhile! How are your… shriveled up… useless balls doing? I’m sure you… can just order… one of these… fucktards to… kiss them better!” He growls in anger, before spinning on his heel and storming from the room, shouting for his men to follow him, and I can’t help but taunt them more. “Who’s a… good doggy… make sure… to get your... biscuit… as a reward.”