by Jeff Hale
“Fine. Have it your way, Big Bird. I’ll leave peaceably, for now. But when you aren’t around, your pet Sentinel is going to be a pile of ash, and he won’t be rising from it. Send Merlin my mother’s regards!” Malachai taunted before vanishing.
I gave Lucien a shocked look, and shuddered. I had no doubts now that Malachai had been holding back in our previous encounters. He was far more powerful than he had ever let on.
“He’s gone. Get your friends home; he may come back and disregard my warning, and I can’t actually interfere. Your home will be safe, Merlin informed me that it’s warded. Do not seek a confrontation with him. His command over the Aether is much greater than yours. I have heard that your friend should arrive soon. After you train with each other for a while, then you might be ready to deal with him, together,” Lucien informed me.
I just nodded at him and then ran out of the building towards the parking garage. The entire way I wondered just how it was that Malachai had become so powerful. He couldn’t be any older than I was, and if he was, it was only by a couple of years. I had never really been frightened of anyone or anything before, even Baba Yaga didn’t seem frightening to me, but maybe that was my own stupidity.
Malachai honestly scared me now. It was a first. Maybe it was because I had something to lose now and he had come too close to her. Could I have protected her from him? I didn’t know, and it really did scare me. I couldn’t lose her. Not again. Not ever.
When I reached our parking space, I didn’t see Kat or Kris anywhere. Serena and Dave were waiting for me by her car and when Serena saw me, she rushed towards me and jumped on me, wrapping her arms and legs around me. I hugged her back and held her.
“I was soooo worried! I didn’t think I’d see ya alive again! Is this what it’s going ta be like? Every time?!” she asked, her voice taut with worry.
“Yes,” I confirmed somberly.
“I don’t… I don’t know if I can handle it,” she said, visibly shaking.
“I understand if you…” I began to say before she shook her head and put a finger to my lip.
“No. I’ll learn how ta deal with it. I’ve seen what ya can do, and I know ya can take care of yerself, but I will still worry. Every time.” she kissed me softly, “Now, how did we get here?”
“Kat suggested that Lucien had something to with our sudden dislocation?” Dave suggested.
“Yeah. He did. We better get home. I’m not sure if I can take Malachai. He nearly killed me in our last two encounters, and I always had the feeling that he was holding back. He wasn’t this time. We’ll be safe at the apartment, or at least Lucien says we will be,” I said.
We headed back to the apartment and hung out a bit more before Serena got tired and excused herself to go to bed. I followed her shortly after, but anxiety made it difficult to sleep.
Morning had me vowing to not let Malachai spoil my time with Serena. We spent the next week or so just having fun and enjoying each other’s company in every way possible, but we stayed in the apartment when we could, just to stay safe from him. To me it was like the years had rewound and I had another chance with Serena. Every time I woke up and she was next to me was a small miracle in and of itself. Every night when I went to bed I was sure I was going to wake up and find out it had all been a dream.
Friday, everything would change. We decided to leave the safety of the apartment to make a trip back to the house Serena had lived in as Celeste so that she could pack up the rest of her personal belongings. When we arrived, there was a vehicle in the driveway, a big, dark-blue Ford pickup. I heard Serena audibly groan and then take a deep breath
“Oh. Great. Travis is home. Come in with me long enough ta tell him the truth? I jus’ don’t want ta face him alone.” Serena gave the house a wary glance.
“Okay.” I got out of the car and followed her into the house.
“Travis! I’m home!” she called out as we walked in. “We’ve gotta talk, where are ya?”
“I’m upstairs!” he yelled.
I followed Serena as she climbed the stairs, unable to keep my eyes from watching her ass even though I knew the situation was going to become awkwardly tense at any moment. At the top, she turned towards the master bedroom. The door was already open and Serena stepped inside, me protectively close to her. Travis was standing at the window, his back to us, dressed in dark-grey military style fatigues. He turned towards us and I immediately put myself between him and Serena. There was a gun in his right hand, and I saw a crest on his uniform pocket that read ‘The Human Movement for Purity’.
Too late, I realized that there was someone behind us and I felt the pressure, and then the pain, in my left shoulder. Too late, I realized that I had just been injected with liquid iron. Searing agony shot through my veins and I dropped to the floor, feeling immediately disoriented. Travis’s hand lifted and the gunshot roared like thunder in the room. I watched in horror as the bullet ripped into Serena’s left leg and she crumpled to the floor next to me, screaming in pain. I tried to move to help her, but hands pulled me away from her and held me down.
There was a maniacal and dangerous gleam in Travis’s eyes and one corner of his mouth tugged up in a small sneer. He let go of the gun and it clattered on the floor, then reached for his belt and pulled a hunting knife from its sheath. He began to stalk towards Serena, his free hand going to unbuckle his belt, then unzip his pants. Panic shot through me and I fought against the hands that held me, but in my weakened state, it was useless.
“Now that I have your attention,” Travis said, his words cold and deliberate, “there’s the little issue of what you were supposed to do for me, you little slut. Since you wouldn’t give me what I wanted, I’m going to take it. I promise to make it hurt. A lot.”
Serena shrieked in terror and anguish as Travis leaned down and plunged the knife through her hand, pinning it to the floor. He yanked another knife, smaller, from another sheath on the loose belt. Travis hooked a finger in the neckline of Serena’s shirt, pulling it away from her skin almost gently, then took the smaller knife to the cloth, cutting it away from her. My mind screamed at me to do something, but another, stronger wave of weakness went through me, making my head droop as the iron did its damage, cutting me off entirely from the Aether. Nausea roiled in my stomach and I had to clamp my lips shut to keep from vomiting. All I could do was watch helplessly as Travis systematically cut Serena’s clothing from her. He glanced in my direction as he flung the last bit of delicate lace away from him.
“Make sure he doesn’t pass out!” he ordered whoever was holding me. “I want him to see this. And so does Lord Azryel.”
Lord Azryel. The demon lord I had fought a year ago. The demon lord who had been recruited by Baba Yaga to make my life a living hell. He’d killed Serena. And now it seemed as though he wasn’t through. I thought I had defeated him and driven him back to his home realm. I was obviously wrong.
I began to shake uncontrollably from the iron in my blood stream and the nausea became harder to fight. I knew that I was suffering from the initial effects of iron poisoning, and there was little I could do about it since the iron was blocking my access to the Aether.
Whoever, or one of the whoevers that was holding me, grabbed my hair and yanked my head up, forcing me to watch as Travis pulled the hunting knife from Serena’s hand and jerked her to her knees. She cried out in pain again and he slapped her, rocking her head to the side.
“That mouth of yours is only good for one thing, you little whore,” he snarled at her. He let his pants fall down to around his ankles, then pressed the knife up against her throat. She stared up at him and whimpered. “You know what to do. Bite me, and he dies.”
Serena didn’t move for several moments and Travis brought the knife in tighter against her throat, blood beading around the edge and dripping down her skin. Finally, she did what he wanted, and I felt burning rage rising up inside me, but not against her; against Travis, for trying to defile something so pure. But the rag
e had nowhere to go, no Aether to channel it; it could only simmer as Travis grabbed her head and forced her compliance, causing her to gag and choke.
I struggled to fight the hands that held me in place but I could barely move with the iron in my system. When Travis had had enough, he shoved Serena backwards so hard that the back of her head made a loud, dull thump when it hit the floor. She lay there sprawled and dazed, her own blood staining her lips, and before she could drag herself away, he stepped out of his pants, then kicked her several time along the ribs and belly, causing her to curl in on herself and yelp in pain. He gave me a look of pure malice, then yanked her knees apart and put himself between her thighs, one hand holding her down by the throat as he brutally ravaged her.
The horror and rage I felt at what I was witnessing started to take over completely and that burning rage began to spiral higher. The iron seemed to be losing its grip inside my system and I felt heat begin to rise around me. I reached for the Aether and forced the energy into myself, feeling it physically burn in my veins. I knew I was doing permanent damage, but I didn’t care.
I pushed the iron physically from my bloodstream, a heavy sweat forming on my skin, and stood, shoving the hands that held me away from me. I turned to face my captors. Kevin was looking at me in stupefied shock, Erin and Tiffany on either side of him, all three dressed in uniforms identical to Travis’s.
“Travis! He managed to fight off the iron!” Erin shouted out in warning.
I took a swing at her and connected, sending her reeling. It was a weak blow but I barely had enough energy to do even that. I turned my attention back to Travis. He’d given up choking Serena and was instead striking her repeatedly in the face every time she tried to cry out. He was still inside her, his other hand clamped around her thigh, holding the hunting knife tight against her skin. He almost looked annoyed as he looked up and saw me take another wobbly step towards him. He just sneered at me, let go of her thigh, then stabbed the knife into Serena’s stomach. A shrill sound broke from her.
“Don’t worry. It’ll be days of torturous pain before that kills her,” he said, obviously enjoying the discomfort he was inflicting on both of us. “Activate the device. You guys do have it ready by now, I hope?”
“Yes, sir,” Kevin said from behind me.
And then suddenly, my connection with the Aether was cut off again as I heard some sort of electronic device whine to life. I looked over and saw a small cube made from a strange looking material sitting on the floor. It emanated a sort of shield around the room.
“Now. Show him how we mortals live,” Travis ordered, stabbing Serena again with the knife, his hips still slamming cruelly against her. She was just lay there now, her only movement caused by Travis. Her eyes were slightly glazed over but she was weeping freely, making me aware of the fact that she still knew what was happening to her.
Two gunshots echoed loudly through the room. I felt the bullets impact me, one at my shoulder and another at the small of my back, making my body jerk wildly for a moment before I crumpled to the floor.
“Ricky!” Serena’s scream pierced the air. “Stop! Don’t hurt him anymore, I’ll do whatever ya want, jus’ don’t kill him! Please! He’s everythin’ ta me!” she begged Travis.
“And here I thought I was the only man for you, Celeste. Or is it Serena now? Either way, you’ve been a dirty little slut going around cheating on me with that Unpure piece of filthy shit.”
I felt hands pull my arms behind me and put restraints on my wrists. I was then forced to sit up to face Travis and Serena again. I gritted my teeth against the pain, knowing what I was enduring was nothing compared to what Serena was experiencing.
Travis grunted as he finished with her, then stood and pulled the knife out of Serena’s stomach with a vicious yank. She screamed again, half fainting, her body automatically curling into fetal position. Travis made a motion with his hand to someone behind me and Erin moved past me, holding a couple of glass vials in one hand and a towel in the other. She knelt down and rolled Serena onto her back again, then forced the contents of the vials down Serena’s throat and started wiping the blood away from her body.
“Now, those won’t alleviate any of the pain, but they will make sure you don’t bleed out,” Travis promised darkly.
Serena moaned wretchedly as the potions seemed to take effect, closing the wounds partially and stopping the bleeding, but also rousing her out of her partially unconscious state. She was fully aware now and whimpering in pain. Travis pulled her up by her hair, causing her to cry out more, then dragged her across the floor closer to the wall. He spun her to face the wall, yanking her to her knees.
“Hands on the wall,” Travis ordered harshly.
She complied, crying the entire time. “Don’t do this. Please. Don’t do this, I don’t want this, please anythin’ else, whatever ya want, just don’t do this,” she begged desperately. “I thought ya loved me!”
He brought the knife down the outside of her upper thigh, leaving a deep bleeding trail behind, and another sob broke from her. “Loved you? How could I ever love a thing like you? You breathe, you eat, you shit, you sleep, hell, you even bleed, but you’re still just a thing! Don’t you get it?”
“Get what? I don’t understand! Why are ya doin’ this ta me? To us?”
“Because I can.” He made a matching cut on her other thigh, ignoring her cries, then grabbed her hips with both hands. “I’ve always wondered what this would be like.” He pushed into her and Serena wailed piteously as he violated her in the most degrading way he could. He was savage about it, every movement pulling forth sobs and pleas for him to stop.
“Shut! The! Fuck! Up!” Travis yelled as he grabbed her by the back of the head and slammed her forehead into the wall repeatedly.
After the fourth time her head connected with the wall, her shoulders and neck went limp, her cries dwindling to soft whimpers. She turned her head the barest amount, just enough so that she could see me, her face wet with fresh tears. Abject terror filled her eyes the entire time. I couldn’t tell if it stemmed from what was happening to her, or from the knowledge that I was watching. Maybe both.
The abuse was taking its toll on her body. Her skin was turning a mottled shade of dark purples where she had been cut, stabbed, and beaten. Her face was swelling up, her lips and eyes puffy, almost unrecognizable. Blood stained locks and strands of her hair a reddish pink.
Travis finally spent himself, then pushed her down and rolled her over onto her back again, where she lay unmoving, her eyes open and staring. He brandished the hunting knife again and gestured for Kevin, Tiffany, and Erin to join him. They did, kneeling on either side of her, and I could see that the three of them had knives similar to Travis’s. The three of them took turns peeling flesh from her, laughing as she screamed and begged. They would stop and wait occasionally, for the potions in her system to take effect again, then start all over. And I could do nothing but watch helplessly as they tore the love of my life apart in front of me.
Travis just observed for awhile before he proceeded to bring his knife into play. I clenched my eyes shut, my only recourse to block the horror of what I was seeing. I didn’t need to open them again when I heard the grunts that suggested that someone was violating her again, Kevin this time since I could hear Travis whispering insults at her, although it might have been both. Every scream, sob, plea, and wail caused my heart to break as something in me slowly withered and died. I wasn’t sure where I ended, and the wrath that I felt began. Soon there wouldn’t be any difference.
Eventually the screams and wails died to little more than pathetic moans and labored breathing. I was nearly unconscious by that point, the blood loss from the gunshot wounds close to overcoming me. The wounds burned and itched, and felt like someone had torn open the muscle and bone.
I felt myself roughly picked up and partially carried, partially dragged from the room. My eyes fluttered open and I got one last look at Serena as I was hauled out. She was lyin
g on the floor in a pool of her own blood and other fluids, completely unconscious. All four of them were taking me from the house, leaving Serena to just lay there and die. I tried to fight but I just didn’t have the strength. I was completely and utterly powerless. I passed out on the way down the stairs.
___________________________________________
I woke slowly from some half vague dreams of Serena being tortured and brutally raped. My eyes snapped open as I realized they hadn’t been dreams. I was lying on the cement floor of a cell of some sort. The floor had a slight slope to it, funneling in towards a small drain in the center and I could see a metal cot with thin bedding along one metal wall. I rolled onto my back, groaning in pain, and stared around the cell. Three metal walls, a metal ceiling, and the fourth wall made entirely of some type of glass with barely noticeable seams in it to indicate a door. The glass wall faced a huge indoor area that reminded me of a hangar, and when I glanced up I could see a caged in television monitor hanging in the upper right hand corner. There was a camera attached to the side of it.
I reached out for the Aether then realized I still had no connection to it. I stood gingerly, taking stock of my injuries. The bullet wounds were mostly healed, but it hadn’t been by me. They didn’t want me dead, not when they could play with me longer. I paced the cell, trying time and again to tap into the Aether somehow. I would get out of here. I would avenge what had happened to Serena.
“So, how’s my newest acquisition?” I heard a familiar voice over an intercom somewhere near the television monitor.
Terrance Cross.
“Go fuck a razor blade, you fucking douche!” I screamed up at the speaker.
“Now now. I had something else in mind.” He walked into view on the other side of the glass wall. Two guards were with him, guns held at the ready. The door opened in the glass and I made a lunge for the opening. I heard a pneumatic hiss and felt an impact on my thigh. When I looked down, I could see a dart sticking out of my thigh. My leg went numb and I collapsed to the ground.
