Hellfire Saga

by Third Cousins

  “What is it that you feel for Daniel?” Caleb asked.

  “I don’t understand why you’re asking me that.”

  “You don’t need to know why. You just need to answer me,” Caleb said firmly.

  “Haven’t you guys got it yet?” I asked him with all the confidence I could muster. “I’m not going to be answering any questions that I don’t want to. So, unless you want to explain to me why you’re asking about Daniel, you won’t be getting any answers about how I feel about him.”

  “I will explain to you why I have asked the questions after you have answered them. Just know, for now, that I'm asking for myself, because I'm curious. I'm not under orders to ask you how you feel about Daniel.” He said this in an honest kind of way that made me feel compelled to believe him. Then he actually grinned for a second and made a little excuse-me shrug as he said, “So, once again: how do you feel about Daniel?”

  It was a tricky question, if I wanted to answer it honestly, because I really wasn't sure how I felt about Daniel. “I don’t know,” I replied after a bit. I couldn’t really feel anything as a non-demon would without my soul, but there was a small tug against my heart whenever Daniel’s face showed up in my mind. “I think I love him,” I said, because I wasn’t sure how else to explain that tug.

  “You love him?” Caleb repeated. “How is that possible? Do you mean that you loved him before your soul was taken?”

  “No, I mean I love him now. I know I do, but I don't feel it the same way. It was clearer to me when I had my soul,” I explained. “I don’t know...it’s like everything has been dimmed now I don’t have it.”

  “But you still know that you love him? That’s incredible. It shouldn’t be possible. You shouldn’t have any feelings at all now that your soul has been removed. I mean, you’re just a demon now. Unless...” he trailed off into thought.

  “What does that mean?” I asked, not that I thought he knew. I was confused by his reaction.

  “Can I check something?” Caleb asked as though I had any way of refusing his offer.

  “What?”

  “I want to check to make sure that all the soul has been removed from you,” he said. “It’s going to hurt, I’m not going to lie, but it would be most informative.”

  “I’m sure you’re going to do it either way,” I said dryly.

  “I suppose you’re right,” Caleb said with a small nod. “I would have preferred to do it with your consent, though.”

  I opened my mouth to speak, but found myself unable to move or speak as Caleb’s hand sank into my chest. It hurt. It felt like he was tearing me open. I could feel his hand moving around inside of me, groping around for anything that might have been left left in the place that my soul had once occupied.

  “He cut it all out,” Caleb said, more to himself than to me. “I can still feel something there, though. I didn't think it was possible. It’s almost as though the soul had started to take root in the core of your being,” he said in wonderment. “You don’t have a soul any more, but you’re not purely demon either. That’s incredible.” He looked as though he was enjoying himself.

  “What does that mean?” I asked him, when he finally pulled his hand back out of my chest and I could speak again. Well, after I spent a couple of minutes cursing and groaning as the pain subsided.

  “It means I’m going to help you,” he said, before the door to the room opened and we fell into silence.

  CHAPTER 4

  Gabriel

  I could tell that they had been talking, and that the conversation had stopped dead when I’d walked into the office. I could tell from Caleb’s eyes that he was hiding something from me, but I didn’t have time to worry about that. I needed to find out what Lucy knew. I needed to stop Lucifer from getting back to his home. He didn’t deserve to be there and I was going to make sure that he never got a chance at returning. Even if that meant that I had to kill him.

  I walked over to the bed that Lucy was still strapped down on. “What have you learned?” I asked Caleb.

  “Not a great deal, unfortunately,” Caleb said. “It would seem that Lucy won’t see reason because she no longer has her soul. She no longer has a grounding force which you can reason with. She’s just a demon,” he said with a curious, flat expression on his face.

  “Does that mean that you cannot explore her mind?” I realized I was unsure about how his powers actually worked. I knew that he could read the mind of anything with a soul. That’s the power my father had deemed fit for him. It made sense too, because Caleb was probably the most fair and most willing to listen out of us all.

  “It means that I would have great trouble. I do not understand the mind waves, so she could easily manipulate the things that I see. I could see things, and report them to you, but we wouldn’t be able to know for certain if what I was seeing was real, or something that she’s created to manipulate us,” Caleb explained.

  “So, reading her mind would be pointless?”

  “Without her soul, I’m afraid so.”

  I thought about what he’d said. “But does that also mean that, if her soul were in place, you would be able read her mind? Even this mongrel non-human?” I asked. I pointedly did not look at Lucy. I did not care what she thought.

  “If she had her soul back, then she would be much easier to read. It would give her back the grounding force that I latch onto,” Caleb said with a small nod.

  I examined his face. I could tell that there was still something that he was hiding from me, but my pursuit to get answers was weighing heavy on my mind and I didn’t think to question it. “Then we shall put her soul back in,” I said with a small nod. “As long, as you are sure that it will help.”

  “I’m sure,”

  I finally turned to Lucy. “You’re proving to be quite difficult, aren’t you?” She made no response, and I suddenly felt that, though her eyes met mine, she was looking right through my head as if I wasn't there.

  I walked back over to my desk and picked up the heavy box that contained her soul. I could feel it beating against the sides of the box after the cruel attack I’d put on it earlier, but I knew for certain that it would be unable to break free.

  “It seems restless,” Caleb said, as his eyes fixed on the box as I brought it over.

  “It would be after what I’ve done to it,” I opened the lid and took the smoky blue soul into my hands.

  “You know, torturing a soul is a crime punishable by expulsion,” Caleb said, in a matter-of-fact kind of way that spiked my temper.

  “Caleb, I think you’ll find that, in these desperate times, it will be a crime that goes overlooked. We all must do what has to be done to ensure that Lucifer does not come home.”

  “You know not all of us think that Lucifer should have been expelled in the first place,” Caleb said. “We've discussed this a million—“

  “Caleb.” I could feel the warning running through my tone, like an electric charge. “We must all do what has to be done. You chose your side. You chose to stay with your brothers. You must now help us all as we have always helped you.”

  “I will do what has to be done,” Caleb said with a solemn tilt of his head.

  “I’m glad to hear it.”

  I stepped closer to Lucy and, before she could speak, pushed her soul roughly back into her chest. She made a noise as though she’d just had all of the air punched out of her, and her eyes drifted closed. “She shouldn’t be asleep for long. Her soul hasn’t been out long, so it shouldn’t take much time to settle.”

  Caleb nodded. “I think, perhaps, it’s best that I’m alone when I read her mind,” Caleb said slowly, as though he was carefully thinking about every word that he chose. “Your, uh, determination is sending out ripples of energy that could confuse the reading.”

  “You will call me, as soon, as you find out what I need to know?” I asked with narrowed eyes.

  “I will call you as soon, as I know anything,” Caleb said quickly. “You know that I am loyal
, Gabriel. There is no need to doubt me.”

  “I know that you are loyal, Caleb,” I agreed. “I am starting to wonder who you are loyal to.”

  I walked over to the door. “I’ll be waiting outside for your call,” I said. I pulled the door open and stepped outside.

  I knew that Caleb was up to something. I knew that he wasn’t telling the whole truth, but there was nothing I could do to prove it and he was the only one who stood a chance of getting the truth from Lucy. It was risky leaving them in the room together on their own, but I knew there was nowhere for them to go with me standing outside.

  CHAPTER 5

  Lucy

  I waited for the door to close before I looked at Caleb. I could tell from the clouded-over look in his eyes that he was thinking about something. “Thank you,” I whispered. I wasn’t sure if Gabriel would be listening.

  “What are you thanking me for?”

  “For giving me my soul back,” I said. I could feel it reattaching itself to my chest. It had always felt wrong before, but now that it had been returned to me it felt as though it had always been meant to be there.

  “That is not something to thank me for,” Caleb spoke quietly. “We need to work out a way of getting you out of here.”

  “You meant what you said? You are really going to help me?”

  “I see no other option,” Caleb said in a distant kind of way.

  “Why?” I was confused about why he would help me. I was confused about why he seemed to be against Gabriel.

  “This might surprise you,” he said quietly. “But not all of us were happy with Daniel being expelled. It wasn’t as though he’d committed a crime of hate. It wasn’t as though he’d hurt one of his brothers. His punishment was much harsher than it should have been. I do not begrudge him for creating you. I can understand how desperately lonely he must have felt without his brothers by his side. You are not the creature of evil that Gabriel speaks of. I know this because even without a soul you still held feelings of love towards Daniel. I’m going to help you because it’s what has to be done. I have to do the right thing.”

  “Why did Daniel get expelled?” I asked. I couldn’t help but wonder what it had been that forced his brothers to turn their backs on him. Daniel had explained to me once, a long time ago that he’d been expelled for the pursuit of love, but I couldn’t understand how that would work.

  “I feel as though that is probably a story for Daniel to tell you,” Caleb said. He started to loosen the straps that had been cutting into my arms.

  “I cannot say with any certainty that I will see him again,” I said. “You seem to be the only other person who would be willing to tell me what happened, so I would appreciate it if you would.”

  “I suppose you are right,” Caleb said. “And we have some time before Gabriel will disturb us.”

  He unfastened the strap around my neck and I sat up. It felt good to be free from the straps. My body felt achy, but I didn’t mind. It was a good kind of aching. It was an aching that came from stretching out overwrought muscles. “Thank you,” I said with a small smile.

  “Has Daniel told you any of his story?”

  “He told me only that he was expelled for wanting to love someone other than your father,” I said.

  “That much is true,” Caleb said with a small nod. “It was back when our father had just created the humans. He was distracted with them. They were his new shiny toy and my brothers and I felt as if we had been left in a corner in the dark. We all waited faithfully for his return, but it did not come. Daniel had always been one of our father’s favourites alongside Gabriel. When our father turned away from us, Daniel took it the hardest. He thrived on being loved. He needed it to survive. So he went out and found someone to love him. She was a pretty human girl who had a simple mind, but a big heart. Daniel was happy and so was she. Until Gabriel found out about it.”

  “So it was Gabriel who cast Daniel away from his home and his family?”

  “It was Gabriel who convinced his brothers to turn their backs on Daniel. But he would not have been able to do it without their support,” Caleb explained.

  “What happened to the girl?” I asked.

  Caleb's eyes were filled with sadness. “When Daniel was expelled from his home, Gabriel knew that he would go and spend the rest of the girl’s life with he. “Gabriel didn’t think it was right that he should be able to do that. So, he ended the girl’s life early. That’s why Daniel never sought love with a human again. That’s why he created you, because he thought you were something that Gabriel wouldn’t be able to take away from him.”

  “I don’t understand why your brothers follow Gabriel, if all of that is true.”

  “When our father became preoccupied with the humans, many of my brothers felt helpless. They did not feel as though they had any purpose without our father. They needed someone to give them direction, which is exactly what Gabriel stood up to do. No one else was willing to take charge. No one else dared to,” Caleb explained.

  “You don’t agree with what Gabriel is doing.”

  “I have never agreed with what Gabriel did. I think our father gave us souls in the hope that one day we might find love. I don’t think we would be capable of love if it weren't in the plan that we should experience it.”

  “I think you’re right,” I said with a small nod.

  I had a lot to think about, but this was not the place. “So, tell me, Caleb,” I said, swinging my feet off the bed to the floor, “how are we going to get out here?”

  CHAPTER 6

  Gabriel

  I waited for as long as I could, before I pushed open the door into my office. I had thought that Caleb would have called me in sooner, but obviously it was taking him a while to get into her mind. I walked into the room and took in the scene. Caleb was standing over Lucy with a look of concentration on his face. “Caleb, can we speak?” I said quietly.

  Caleb’s eyes flickered open, as though he hadn’t realized I was there, until I’d spoken to him. “Sure,” he said quietly. “We should do it outside though, I’ve just put her into a trance.”

  I nodded and stepped out into the hallway. Caleb joined me and pulled the door closed behind him. “I was just wondering how long this was going to take?” I asked, a little impatiently.

  “It isn’t an easy job breaking into a person’s mind. It might take all night,” Caleb said with a grave face.

  “You need to quicken up the process.”

  “I’m afraid that I can’t. The information we want is too great to be rushed out of her. I need to make sure that I don’t damage any of her memories before I get to them,” he explained to me.

  “It’s really going to take you all night?” I asked with a frown.

  “Perhaps even longer than that,” he said with a quick nod. “You don’t need to guard the door though brother,” he added. “You can trust that I will find you when I have the information you need.”

  I thought about his offer. He was right. I had better things to do than stand guard duty all night. I had to make preparations for the war that I was certain was coming. “Fine,” I said a little abruptly. “I’ll come back and check in on you later.”

  “I better get back to her,” Caleb said, as he turned his head to the door.

  “Caleb, I want you to know. I’m not stupid.” He turned back to me. “I know that you are keeping secrets from me. I will leave you here, but do not think that it’s because I trust you. You admitting that you met with Lucifer puts you on shaky ground,” I said.

  “I’m sorry to hear that Gabriel. I do not believe that I have ever given you reason to doubt me,” Caleb said as he held his eyes firmly on mine.

  “You may have given me no reason yet, but I have no doubt that you soon will.”

  He gave me a small nod, went into my office, and gently closed the door on me. There was silence.

  I had a new plan, though. I knew what I had to do. I had to find Lucifer. I had to find out from him what h
e had planned, because now I had no idea whether I could trust anything that Caleb would tell me about Lucy's memories.

  I walked out of the house and into the bitter cold of the night. “Lucifer,” I called into the nothingness that surrounded me. “Lucifer,” I coaxed him, as I kept my eyes moving, so that I would be able to spot anything that might be moving in the shadows.

  My brother wasn’t responding to my calls, though. I had hoped that he might be stupid enough. I had hoped that perhaps he would be so desperate to save Lucy that he might walk right into my arms. But I’d been wrong. I sighed in frustration. Caleb had found him. Caleb had even spoken with him. How had he managed to do that?

  I walked away from the home and down the street. I felt frustrated, ashamed even, that Caleb could to find him, when I couldn’t.

  “I hear you’re looking for Lucifer?” A silky woman’s voice called out from behind me.

  “Who wants to know?” I said roughly as I turned around. I saw a woman. She had curves and a pout that a lesser being would have found attractive; seductive, even.

  “Someone who knows where he is,” she answered with a coy smile. She tilted her head to the left a little and looked at me through her big, black demon eyes.

  “Well, then, why would you tell on your daddy?” I asked her in a playful kind of way. “Don’t you know he’ll get cross?”

  “I’m not scared of Lucifer,” she said with a wide grin. She stepped over to me slowly and leant in, so that her lips were almost touching the side of my ear. “You probably should be though,” she whispered quietly.

  Her breath tickled and I could feel a cold shiver running down my spine. “I’ve never been scared of my brother,” I said with amusement in my voice.

  “Perhaps not, but you would be a fool not to fear him now.”

  “What do you know?”

  “I know where your brother is,” she said in a teasing way.