Tirade

by Cambria Hebert

Sam moved in front of me and looked down. “You need a shirt,” he said softly.

  I didn’t want to put on a shirt. The thought of the fabric pressing in on me was horrible. But I couldn’t lay there in my bra either. Sam went up the stairs and then reappeared moments later with a black tank top dangling from his fingers. I took it and carefully pulled it on. It wasn’t too bad because the neck was low enough that the marks on my chest weren’t covered. I settled back against the pillow after I was decent and Sam sat on the floor in front of me, leaning back against the sofa.

  “Are you going to tell us what’s going on?” Cole asked, tossing Sam the ice pack and sitting on the arm of the chair that Gemma was sitting in. Across from them, Riley dropped into a chair and propped his feet on the coffee table, making himself at home.

  Sam handed me the ice pack and I grimaced, setting it beside me and not placing it on the newest claw marks.

  “I thought you said they didn’t hurt.” Sam worried.

  “They don’t, when you don’t touch them.” I looked at Gemma. “Is there a way I can get this thing out of me?”

  “What is it?” she asked.

  “I don’t know. All I heard was the word ‘beast’ when Hecate was chanting over me.”

  Gemma shook her head. “Hecate’s magic is very powerful. Usually she alone is the only one who can undo the spells she creates.”

  Well, that was positive news. Not.

  From behind the couch, Logan spoke up. Until now, I forgot he was there. “Can’t you stab her with the dagger like you did me? It got the demon out…”

  Sam stiffened, no doubt replaying the horrible memory of when he stabbed his brother to protect me. I looked over the back of the couch at him. “That’s definitely an idea, Logan.” I patted the end of the couch where I was lying and he came around to sit down.

  Look at what that did to him, Heven. He’s weak… he’s… I’m not going to stab you with a dagger.

  It might be our only choice, but I didn’t think it was a good time to point that out. I shifted my weight on the couch to make room for Logan. I was still feeling dizzy and my stomach was turning.

  Sam twisted so his side was leaning against the couch and his arm was across my waist, consciously avoiding the claw marks on my belly. His fingers were warm and reassuring, folded around mine, and I gave him a small smile.

  “I’m sorry, Heven. I wish I had an answer… I’ll see what I can find,” Gemma said.

  I nodded. With no solution in sight for that problem, I turned to the next one. “Gemma, do you know if Beelzebub takes people’s souls?”

  Gemma sat up a little straighter in her chair. “Of course he does. All of the princes of hell collect souls.”

  “There is more than one prince of hell?” Logan asked.

  “There are seven. One for each of the seven deadly sins.”

  “How come we’ve only ever seen Beelzebub?”

  Gemma shrugged. “I would assume because he seems to have an interest in the scroll.”

  I cleared my throat. “He has it. He got it open and read it.”

  Gemma and Cole gasped. “How could he get it open? I thought you were the only one that could open it?” Gemma asked.

  “I really don’t know how he stole it, or how he got it open.” I reached up to finger the key necklace around my neck when I remembered I took it off and placed it in my jewelry box when I realized I no longer had to protect it. No one would come for it now. “Airis has turned her back on me, on us. She said my soul has been compromised and she will no longer help me on my journey.”

  “Did she tell you what that was?” Cole asked.

  I shook my head sadly. “Her and Ana both said I had to figure that out on my own.”

  “Who’s Ana?” Gemma asked.

  “Aniano,” Sam said, pronouncing her full name (and pronouncing it correctly!). “We met her in hell. After I destroyed the body that Beelzebub was in, The Devourer took us for a ride… to an island.”

  Gemma gasped and sat forward, excitement danced in her eyes. “Then it’s true? There really is life in hell?”

  “You know what we are talking about?” I asked, leaning up and forward toward Gemma. I ignored the pull on my chest and the protest in my stomach. My vision blurred, but only for a second before refocusing.

  “Of course I have heard of the Island of Life in hell… The angels used to gossip about that place all the time. But we all thought it was just gossip and not true.”

  “The Devourer took you to an island?” Riley asked skeptically.

  Sam shot him a look. “Yeah, and I find it a little odd that The Devourer didn’t want you along for the ride. Why is that, Riley?”

  “You want me to tell you what a dragon thinks?” Riley asked dubiously. But I saw something move behind his eyes.

  “Tell us about the island, Sam.” Logan urged. I smiled at the eagerness in his voice.

  “Actually, we aren’t really supposed to tell anyone. We were sworn to secrecy.” Sam said, lowering his voice to match the secret.

  This seemed to entice Logan even more. “We won’t tell anyone!”

  Sam laughed. Everyone was watching him, waiting, hoping he would spill the beans. He glanced at me and I smiled. “As long as they all swear not to tell.” I said, loudly.

  Everyone agreed immediately. Except of course, for Riley.

  All eyes turned toward him. He sighed dramatically. “Fine. I won’t say anything.”

  Logan grinned.

  I collapsed back against the pillow, thankful Sam could explain about the island. I was exhausted and I closed my eyes. Visions of hell flashed in my head and I went with them, looking at the depressing wasteland. It didn’t scare me like before. It was almost welcoming.

  Sam’s deep voice soothed me as he told everyone about the island that no one could see and about the woman who lived there. He was a good story teller.

  I wasn’t prepared for what happened next. I made the mistake of dropping my guard and I slipped right into sleep. The visions of hell solidified around me and I knew I was there now. I shook my head. I had a headache, but that was pretty much a permanent thing now… Had Beelzebub pulled me down here? How had he managed with Sam right next to me?

  I pushed myself up off the ground and began walking. I had no idea where I was going, only feeling like I was being pulled in a certain direction. I walked for what seemed like hours and my feet were sore, but then I came upon what looked like freestanding mountains in the middle of nowhere. Maybe a more apt description of this place would be massive mounds of dirt and rock that had been carved out into caves just sitting in the middle of burnt up landscape. The land was barren and the atmosphere was even more so. In fact, I struggled to breathe. I began to feel anxious, a real feeling like I might climb out of my skin at any second. Something inside me began to shake and a guttural sound ripped from my throat. I hurried to slap my hand over my mouth, trying to silence myself.

  I was losing control. This… this… thing inside me was beginning to take over. If it couldn’t get out, then it would take over. It would own me.

  I took a step backward and then another, rushing, tripping over my feet and falling down onto the hard, ashy ground. But the beast wouldn’t have it. It wanted to be here and it began knocking against my insides, trying to push me forward. I fought against it until I felt strained and exhausted. Finally, I gave in and crawled toward the caves. The entrances were dark and carnivorous and I knew something heinous lurked inside. At least now that the beast thought I was complying, it seemed to have calmed. I could still feel my insides rattling and my back hurt, but at least it wasn’t fighting me.

  A few feet from the entrance to the largest cave, I stopped. I wasn’t going any farther. The beast pushed against me and I fell onto my knees. Another inhuman sound ripped from my throat.

  Something inside the cave took notice. I heard a scuffle and an answering noise that matched the one I made. Had the beast been calling it? I began to shake as heavy breat
hing drew near. I didn’t bother to get up. I was frozen with fear and the thing inside me wanted me to stay here. There wasn’t much I could do.

  Then I saw movement from just inside and a huge, hulking figure stepped out.

  It could have been a hellhound, a hellhound that had been hexed and cursed with vile deformations. It walked on four paws like a hound. It had a long tail like a hound, large wide-set eyes and an over-exaggerated long snout. But that’s where the similarities ended.

  Its eyes were the color of blood.

  Its gums and teeth were coated with what looked like flesh, and I was pretty sure tiny maggots crawled along at the base of its overcrowded rows of razor sharp teeth.

  It had a huge humpback and walked like it favored its left side over its right. One ear was larger than the other. The ear that was biggest (the right) was covered in hair, but the deformed one was just black skin. Most of its body was covered in hair, hair that was the color of the gray ash that covered the ground. Actually, I think it was black (like a hellhound), but only looked gray because it lay on the ground and got dirty.

  It walked over, controlling its awkward, massive weight with ease, and stood over me. I scrambled back, trying to move away, but the thing inside me let out another one of those sounds. The beast staring at me cocked its head to the side and let out a deafening roar. Within seconds, I was surrounded by identical beasts who came pouring out from the other caves.

  Were they going to eat me?

  One stepped forward and sniffed at me. I flinched and it snarled. It began to drool, or rather its mouth began to ooze with some sort of light red substance. The thing in me let out another wail and all of them sniffed at the air.

  That’s when it hit me.

  This beast inside me was trying to get out. It belonged here. This was its home. It brought me here because it wanted these things to kill me. The minute my body was torn apart, it would be free.

  And I would be dead.

  Chapter Twenty

  Heven

  A massive paw reached for me, its claws extending until they looked like sharp daggers. I threw myself to the side and the paw swiped into the ground, slashing the shale and rock where I had been.

  Another massive wail left my throat and I screamed. “Stop it!”

  Of course, no one listened.

  The original beast that found me lunged and pounced on my back. Suddenly, I had a flash from the attack that left me disfigured. Of a heavy, dark beast throwing itself on me and clawing me within an inch of my life.

  “No,” I cried as the claws dug into my flesh and seared me with pain.

  A sharp slap rocked the head on my shoulders and I blinked open my eyes. Automatically, my hands came up to defend my face.

  “What the hell is wrong with you?” someone roared. “You don’t hit her. Ever!”

  I opened my eyes, confused. I was back in the living room on the couch at home. I woke up.

  “Someone had to do something to wake her up.” Riley spat. “Whispering sweet nothings in her ear wasn’t working.”

  Sam threw a punch and hit Riley square in the mouth. His lip split and blood ran down his chin.

  “Stop it!” I yelled.

  Everyone turned to look at me.

  “Heven.” Sam came back, leaning over me, looking in my eyes. His chest was heaving, but his face was pale.

  “I fell asleep,” I stated.

  “You started struggling and making these sounds…”

  “This thing inside me pulled me into hell. It took me to its lair.” It sounded sinister, but that’s what it was. “There were others…”

  “What did they look like?”

  “Like a hellhound, only deformed and disgusting. Evil.” I shivered and my stomach lurched. I got up and ran into the bathroom and retched over the toilet. When I was done, I rinsed my mouth out and splashed cold water over my face.

  Sam was standing in the door, watching me, and he looked ashamed and disgusted at the same time.

  “Oh, Sam. I didn’t mean it like that. I think you’re beautiful as a hellhound.”

  “I know that.” He pulled me close. “I hate that this is happening to you. I don’t know how to get it out.”

  “We’ll figure it out.” I tried to sound optimistic as I pulled away and went back to the living room. I prayed he didn’t feel my worry. If we didn’t get this thing out of me, it would find a way to get out on its own, and judging by what just happened, it wouldn’t care whether I lived or died in the process.

  “Where’s Gemma?” I asked.

  Cole was standing by the window and he turned. “She’ll be right back.” His eyes drifted to the claw marks on my chest. I turned away, toward Riley. At least he didn’t look at me with pity or even concern. I wondered if he really cared at all what was happening.

  “You look like hell,” he told me.

  I actually smiled, glad for once someone wasn’t trying to sugarcoat things. “Close your eyes, then,” I shot back and went over to the couch to lie back down. I still felt beyond dizzy and I knew if I fell over, Sam would probably go crazy. There was a frosty, fresh water bottle on the table right next to the couch. I glanced over my shoulder at Riley and he shrugged.

  “You’re probably dehydrated. That thing is probably stealing your water and food intake. If you pass out again and I have to hit you, then Sam will hit me, and I am done taking all the hits for free.” He looked over at Sam. “Next time I’ll hit back.”

  Sam didn’t seem bothered by this and he turned his back on Riley to sit down next to me. I gave Riley a dirty look before focusing on the water, which I began drinking in small sips. It felt cool and really good going down.

  Gemma appeared and in her hands were three big leather-bound books. Wordlessly, she sat them on the coffee table and began flipping through one. When she found what she wanted, she turned the book toward me. “Is this what you saw?”

  I leaned forward to look down at the image. It was a drawing of the beasts in the caves and it was precisely accurate. “Yeah.”

  Sam leaned forward to see and everything in his body tightened. “This thing is inside you? Is that what you’re saying?”

  “I’m not sure.” I frowned. “I got that feeling. It led me to the caves and it recognized the others there. I assumed that’s where it lived.”

  He swore low, a very creative and colorful slew of words. Riley laughed. Gemma tossed the book at him. He grunted when it hit him in the chest. He took it and looked at the image and grimaced. “It was nice knowing ya, Heven.” He tossed the book back onto the coffee table.

  “What is it? How do we get it out?” Sam asked Gemma.

  “In essence, it’s a hellhound,” Gemma said. “It’s just an unnatural one. They weren’t born like you and Riley. They were sired by evil. Because pure evil made them, they were tainted and ended up deformed and much less controllable than even the wildest hellhound.”

  “Weren’t original hellhounds created?” I asked. Did they all look like this in the beginning?

  “Yes, but not like these,” Gemma said, tapping the photo. “Two animals that already lived in hell were both given abilities and then they were mated. A hellhound was born from them, housing both parents’ abilities times two.”

  “And the one inside of me?”

  “It wasn’t born from two parents. It was created by the princes of hell—basically, they were an experiment gone bad.”

  “How do we get it out?” Sam asked, grim.

  “It doesn’t say anything about that here.” Gemma frowned. “My guess would be Hecate would have to remove it because she put it there.”

  Sam stood, knocking into the table and sending the burning candle over on its side. Melted wax went everywhere. I hadn’t noticed the candle had been lit in the first place.

  “Oh, no!” I said, jumping up.

  “Leave it,” he said. “When it cools I’ll peel it up.”

  I stared at him for a moment, wondering how to get him to calm down,
but I knew it was useless. He felt helpless and I understood. I spent eight days like that. I grabbed his hand and pulled him down onto the couch with me and curled into his side. His body was rigid, but his arm was gentle when he wrapped it around me.

  “Who wants pizza?” I said.

  Everyone looked at me like I was crazy. Except for Riley, who said, “With beer?”

  “You want to eat?” Cole asked, incredulous.

  Well, no. I didn’t, but sitting around here while they all watched me struggle with this thing inside me—this rabid, deformed hellhound—was getting old and only making Sam miserable. I shrugged. “What else are we going to do? We have to eat the leftover funeral food too or Gran might get upset.”