Seraphim

by Leslie Swartz

  “Well,” he said, both eyebrows raised now. “Seems like a perfectly reasonable response to me.”

  “Does it?” she asked, not convinced.

  “Of course. I wouldn’t beat myself up too hard if I were you. For the most part, as far as I can tell, you’re taking your current predicament in stride.”

  “Which predicament?” she scoffed. “Not being any closer to finding Lilith, becoming a mass murderer, or making myself sick on sugar at four in the morning like a drunk teenager?”

  “I was speaking of your humanity, Gabriel,” he explained. “Uriel shudders with fear at the sight of me. Raphael was concerned with matters that were inconsequential at best, and Barachiel is a roller coaster of emotion and inner turmoil, but you remain steadfast in your duties, just like me. You haven’t given up on finding Lilith, no matter how difficult it’s been. So, you killed a few people letting off a little steam, who hasn’t? Those humans were probably too far gone to be saved, anyway, and you needed to deal with your situation the best way you could. I, myself, indulge in the occasional fit of rage followed by long depressive episodes of solitude and reflection. At the end of the day, God’s will is done, and that’s what matters. If it makes you feel any better, had I developed a bond with the human version of our dearly departed brother, I would have slaughtered those people as well.”

  “It really doesn’t,” she smirked.

  “What?” he mocked. “Knowing that you’re just like the Devil isn’t a comfort to you?”

  She snickered as she got up, threw the empty cookie package in the trash, got a bottle of water from the fridge and headed to bed.

  “Night,” she called from the hall.

  “Good night.”

  Lucifer rinsed his cup in the sink and walked to the living room. He decided to catch up on world events by watching a few minutes of early morning news before going to bed himself.

  “The grisly murders have law enforcement perplexed,” the reporter read from her teleprompter. “All forty one residents of the Delta Nu Phi sorority house at Burgoyne College in Schenectady were found late last night with their faces disfigured and their hearts removed. One witness said he heard screaming from the fraternity house across the street, prompting him to call for help, but did not enter the sorority himself for fear that someone may have a gun. The school had recently held active shooter drills where students were instructed not to engage an assailant under any circumstances. Classes have been canceled for the week and--”

  Lucifer turned the television off, anger rising in his chest as he placed the remote gently on the ottoman.

  “This is her doing,” he said to himself. He peered down the hall to make sure Gabriel hadn’t heard. Once he was sure he wouldn’t be followed, he carefully made his way to the door, being as quiet as he could as he opened it. He stepped out into the hall, locking up behind him. As he got in the elevator, a wicked smile crept across his face as he whispered to himself, “Field trip.”

  Chapter 18

  Allydia looked on as Lucifer fled the building, no doubt going after Lilith himself after seeing the news of his twin’s latest exploits. She doubted he’d find her, though. Lilith had proven impossible to track down, even for Allydia’s most skilled hunters. She began to worry that her step mother knew she was no longer the ally she once was. If so, she was no longer safe in the city and may need a change of scenery.

  She flew up the side of the apartment building and snuck noiselessly in through Wyatt’s bedroom window. She admired him fondly as he slept. Even when unconscious, he wore a pained expression. It wasn’t surprising. She had been watching, taking note of his schedule, studying every move while she perched atop the building across the street. She had kept her distance, not trusting that she wouldn’t hurt him again. But, this night, she could no longer control herself. She was enamored with him. Everything about him captivated her. From the way he wielded his power, moving lightning through the sky, to his general disposition; pensive and short-tempered. She found his indignation irresistible, his umbrage stimulating her sensibilities in a way no man before had ever been able to. He was perfection and after months of holding herself back, she would have him again.

  She stood over him and brushed the hair away from his eyes. She delicately touched his face, beginning just above his eyebrow and sliding her fingers down, first to his temple and then down to his cheek. He woke with a start, grasping her wrist, a light electrical charge transferring from his hand to her. This only excited her more.

  “Easy. I won’t bite,” she said seductively, pulling her arm away. “Well, I’ll do my best.”

  “What are you doing here?” he asked, still half asleep.

  “You know why I’m here,” she said, removing her coat and dress with supernatural speed, throwing his blankets back and climbing on top of him.

  “Allydia,” he admonished.

  “Yes?” she cooed.

  As she moved her lips closer to his, the overwhelming sense of longing and serenity that had taken hold of him before returned, his will to refuse her fading.

  “Last time we did this, we almost killed each other,” he reminded her.

  “I know, but was it not worth it?” she asked, gently nibbling on his lower lip and stroking his cheek. “I don’t know if I like this,” she told him, inspecting his skin, now visible after having been cleanly shaven.

  “My face?” he asked, feigning offense.

  “My father told me never to trust a man without a beard.”

  “My father told me never to trust anyone.”

  “That’s not bad advice,” she told him, taking his hand and placing it on the small of her back. “Touch me,” she whispered, leaning in closer and kissing him softly. She slid her hand from his neck to his shoulder and as his arousal became apparent, she slipped him smoothly inside her, both of them letting out quiet sighs of pleasure. He took hold of her legs, pulling them apart even further and squeezing her thighs as she writhed, months of pent up frustration finally being released. Within only a few minutes, she was already beginning to orgasm. In the dim light of the busy street several floors down that illuminated the room through the still open window, Wyatt could see Allydia’s teeth starting to grow. He flipped her on her back and took her throat in his hand, holding her down on the bed while being sure not to squeeze too hard on her neck.

  She gasped and smiled with delight as he took charge.

  “No teeth,” he grunted as he continued thrusting.

  “As you wish,” she breathed, watching intently at his changing face.

  The intensity of her orgasm triggered Wyatt’s own frenzied climax, both of them struggling not to cry out in ecstasy for fear of being discovered. When they had finished, he removed his hand from her throat and looked into her eyes.

  “Did I hurt you?” he asked.

  “No,” she assured him, touching his chin ever so gently with the tips of her fingers. “I honestly don’t think you could.”

  He lay down next to her, catching his breath. She looked again at the handsome man she now shared a bed with, and for the first time in millennia, she felt what she thought she remembered to be happiness.

  “I have to go,” she told him, slithering out of bed and back into her dress. He sat up, noticing the time.

  “The sun’ll be up soon,” he surmised.

  “Yes,” she said, buttoning her long coat and throwing the hood up.

  “So, is it like in the movies?” he wondered. “If sunlight hits you, would you burst into flames?”

  She laughed a little. “No. I’m merely sensitive to the sun’s radiation. It weakens and exhausts me. My children, however,”

  “Your children?”

  “Yes,” she explained. “Every vampire in existence was either sired by me or by one that I sired. I’m the first of my kind, the strongest and most powerful. The sun, on its own, can’t kill me. But, the others are more susceptible. Exposure to ultraviolet light for even a few seconds can,” she paused. “Have you
ever seen a hot dog being microwaved?”

  “Ouch,” he chuckled.

  “Indeed.”

  “Hey, can I ask, why are you helping us? Gabriel said Lilith’s your step mother. Why do you hate her?”

  “A long time ago, she took something that didn’t belong to her,” she explained. She went back to the window and sat on the sill. “Until next time.”

  And, with that, she was gone, moving so quickly that it seemed as if she had disappeared into thin air. In her absence, Wyatt’s mind cleared. He let out a long, disillusioned sigh and he rubbed his face in self disapproval.

  “I’m an idiot.”

  The bodies had been cleared, but copious amounts of blood still remained. It covered everything; the floors, the walls, the furniture.

  “Why would she do this?” Lucifer asked himself, peering suspiciously around the grim scene. The sorority house was dark, only a little light from the rising sun peeking through the curtained windows, which were also splattered with gore. “Her motivation for rampant violence is typically jealousy, but, why would she be--” And then it occurred to him. The quoted witness from the news had clearly been lying.

  He left the house and headed swiftly across the street. From the sidewalk, he could see through the windows that every light in the place was on. These boys had no doubt been shaken.

  He pounded on the door impatiently, a nervous looking young man eventually answering.

  “We already told the cops,” he said, his voice trembling. “We didn’t see nothin’.”

  “Well, hello to you, too,” Lucifer greeted, glancing past the boy and taking note of several young men whose expressions ranged from terrified to ashamed. “I’m not with the police department.”

  “Like I said,”

  “I know about the girl,” he stated.

  The man’s face dropped and the house fell silent.

  “What,” he stammered. “What girl?”

  “Oh, I’m sure you know the one,” Lucifer taunted. “Blond hair, wildly insecure. Under age.”

  The young man looked over his shoulder at his friends who all seemed to be pleading with him with their eyes.

  “Look, man, I didn’t know she was, I mean, she looked kinda young, but,” he stopped and looked back again.

  “It’s all right, son,” Lucifer told him. “You boys aren’t in any trouble. The truth is, my colleagues and I have been looking for her for months. She’s what you might call special.”

  “Like, some secret government experiment type of shit, right?” someone from inside shouted.

  “Something like that,” Lucifer said. “It would be very helpful if you could tell me what happened here tonight.”

  “Okay, listen,” the first man said. “If I tell you, do you swear to keep it on the DL? We can’t have this crazy shit getting out on the news. Our lives would be trashed.”

  “My word is my bond,” Lucifer promised.

  “All right,” he said, stepping out onto the porch and closing the door behind him. “I don’t wanna to talk about it in front of them. A lot of ‘em are really fucked up over it.”

  “Of course.”

  The man looked around to make sure no one was in earshot before he started.

  “Okay,” he began. “So, my buddy, Mark, brought this girl back to the house and took her to his room. Now, I was sure she had to be a high school girl, but you can’t tell Mark nothin’, and she didn’t look wasted or anything, so I figured she was into it. About twenty minutes go by and we hear Mark screamin’. Not like, good screamin’, you know what I mean? Like, he was hurt. So, I get to the bottom of the stairs cuz I’m gonna go check it out. What if he accidentally choked the girl too hard or somethin’, right? But, before I get up there, the girl comes out, completely naked, askin’ if any of us know who Sydney is. Now, I know Sydney’s Mark’s ride or die, but I’m not gonna say shit cuz that’s my boy. But, one of the new guys pipes in, sayin’ she lives across the street, like she’s gonna hop on his dick for ratting Mark out or some shit. So, she comes down the stairs and asks me if Sydney’s prettier than her. Now, I have four sisters and if there’s one thing I know for sure, it’s that if a girl with crazy eyes asks if some other chick is hotter, the answer is always ‘hell no’, so that’s what I said. That must’ve made her happy, cuz she grabs me, drags my ass to the couch by my shirt, yanks down my pants like they’re nothin’, and starts ridin’ me right there in front of everyone. It was a little weird, but you take it where you can get it, yeah? Next thing I know, me, Brayden and my boy, J Dog are runnin’ a train on this girl, and it’s kinda fucked up, but I’m not havin’ a bad time. After a while, though, I start hearing the guys on the other side of the room and they’re yellin’, freakin’ out, straight up cryin’ if I’m being honest with you. I look over and they’re all buck ass naked and doin’ stuff, like, with each other. Dudes sayin’ shit like, ‘I’m sorry, I can’t stop.’ while they’re giving it to some guy up the ass. Weird oral shit happening everywhere. And, no joke, the Freshman that ratted Mark out was pinned to the fuckin’ ceiling, jerkin’ it, jizzin’ all over people. He was stuck up there by some kind of voodoo, bro, I’m not playin’. I see all this and I can’t help but yell, ‘What the fuck?’ because, I mean, what the fuck?! And the girl starts laughing like it’s the funniest shit she’s ever seen, gets up, puts on somebody’s shirt she got off the floor, and leaves. Everybody stops fuckin’ and the kid drops from the ceiling and lands flat on his fuckin’ face, dick still in his hand. Nobody says shit. We just put our clothes back on and help the kid up, lookin’ at each other like ‘What the fuck just happened?’. At this point, we hear Mark, still upstairs screamin’ his fuckin’ head off. So, me and Brayden go up there and he’s tied to the bed, naked, and both his legs from the knee down are turned completely backwards. Bone’s stickin’ out and shit. So, we run over, get him untied and asked him what the fuck happened. He points to his phone and there’s a text from his girl asking if he’s comin’ over later. He says the girl saw it and asked who Sydney was. He tried to play it off, but the girl wasn’t havin’ it. She broke his legs with her bare hands. So, Brayden and J took him to the hospital and when I was helpin’ get him in the car, I start hearing girls screamin’ from across the way. No way I’m goin’ over there after what just happened. No freakin’ way. So I call the cops and tell ‘em I hear girls screamin’, but that’s all I know. Cops show up and tell me all those girls are dead. Dead. I didn’t tell ‘em about the chick cuz it sounds crazy, right? Who’s gonna believe that freaky shit? I’d end up in the loony bin and my boys would never forgive me for letting that shit out. They don’t want people knowing about, you know.”

  “Yes,” Lucifer acknowledged, a little taken aback by his sister’s latest shenanigans. “You boys have reputations to uphold, I’m sure. Do you happen to know where she went? See in which direction she headed?”

  “No, man, sorry. You think she’s gonna come back?”

  “I wouldn’t worry. She tends to leave carnage in her wake, but she rarely returns to the scene of her crimes. She gets bored quite easily.”

  “So, what is she?” the young man wondered. “Witch? Alien? Mutant freak?”

  “She’s much worse than that. The likelihood of her making another appearance is slim, but if you should see her again, I suggest you run.”

  “No doubt, no doubt.”

  As Lucifer walked away, the man opened the door to go back inside.

  “Stop cryin’, Cody!” he could hear someone shout from inside the house. Lucifer chuckled a bit as he headed back to the street where he found Gabriel waiting for him.

  “I thought you were asleep, Gabriel.”

  “I find it amusing that you think I’d just ignore you sneaking out,” she said.

  “Yes, well, did you at least find anything useful while you were spying on me?”

  “No,” she admitted. “Security guard, groundskeeper, a couple kids. None of them saw anything. I searched all over. She’s long gone. Als
o, your sister’s fucked up, bro.”

  “Does that surprise you?”

  “No, but, I mean, she’s really fucked up,” she emphasized. “Like, she needs massive amounts of therapy. A team of specialists couldn’t wrangle the army of cuckoo going on in her head. The girl has more issues than National Geographic. Crueler than a Congressman taking health care from kids.”

  “Are you quite finished?” Lucifer asked, annoyed that Lilith had slipped through his fingers yet again.

  “Nuttier than squirrel--”

  “Yes, she’s unapologetically mad. Severely insane. I understand.”

  “Out of her tree,” she joked. “Round the bend. Unzipped.”

  “Yes, yes.”

  “Flippity flop banana pants.”

  “What?”

  “So unhinged, no one knows where the door went.”

  “All right!”

  “Just one more,” she promised. “Battier than the underside of a haunted bridge.”

  “All right, that one was pretty funny.”

  The two returned home a few hours later after stopping for pancakes and coffee. Wyatt emerged from his room just as Gabriel was setting out three plates and unpacking the carryout.

  “Oh, dude!” she said, exasperated. “Again? Now I’m gonna have nightmares.”

  “Can you turn that off?” Wyatt asked, irritated. “Do you always have to be in my head?”

  “It’s involuntary,” she said.

  “What has our little brother done this time?” Lucifer inquired.

  “Dia,” she told him.

  “Really?” Wyatt griped.

  “What? It’s not like he can judge.”

  “Don’t worry, Barachiel,” Lucifer said. “I won’t ridicule you for your lack of judgement. I know all too well the hypnotic seduction of Allydia Cain. It’s preternatural. Not much you can do if she has you in her sights.”

  “Can we please not talk about this?” Wyatt pleaded, taking a cup of coffee from the drink carrier.

  “Okay,” Gabriel said. “You want to hear about Lilith’s latest?”