Cataclysm

by Karice Bolton

  My heart sank, knowing the full meaning of what she spoke. Doing my best not to internalize it, I let the music fill my head. I did my finest not to get sucked into what I witnessed. There was no point of us stepping in. I promised Arie that I wouldn’t interfere, no matter what I saw. Little did I know, that what I was going to be witnessing would shake me to my core.

  I nodded my head. Finding an area of the brick wall that was void of any sort of flaming light source, I leaned against it to prepare myself for the scene I was about to witness. I did my best to keep the fear tampered down.

  Athen and Cyril were in similar circumstances elsewhere in the city. They were recording more events to share with everyone so that we could prepare for our fight better. I had to remind myself that this was for the greater good.

  It truly tore at my soul knowing that these less than brilliant humans were about to turn over every precious fiber of their mortality to the dark side. They had no idea. Maybe it was better that way, for their sake.

  Arie leaned against the wall next to me. She wore a pair of black leggings and a stylish oversized black shirt with her favorite pair of red stilettos, whereas I only managed to throw on the outfit from the girl who I had the shapeshifting accident on. Her clothes were the closest items in my closet that seemed fitting for tonight’s escapades.

  “Do you think he will show tonight?” I channeled to Arie.

  “Only if we’re lucky,” she replied sarcastically.

  I suddenly felt as if my worlds were colliding. I didn’t want to be a witness to this type of mortal decrepit activity, but I needed to see it to understand how to win the battles that lay before us. I was so torn inside. It was like a bad accident that we all tell ourselves not to look at, and yet, we bought front-row seats. I only hoped none of the evil would penetrate me.

  The music turned to silence. The heavy beats and faulty euphoria were immediately emptied out of the room. The worry began spreading that these humans might figure us out.

  “Are we gonna be found out?” I asked Arie through our wavelength.

  “No, not to worry. They are all far too focused on what is about to take place.”

  The humans were coming from everywhere like a rodent infestation. They were scattering through the hallways and corridors we passed through to get to this room. They all began huddling around the sacrificial being they didn’t seem to think twice about. Maybe since they weren’t killing her in the normal sense, it made it no big deal to them. My stomach began stirring a viscous nausea at the thought of witnessing this event.

  The chanting began as the unassuming lamb began squirming on the cold surface slowly, realizing what everything meant. Her consciousness only returned to a state just enough below sanity, to not fully recognize what was about to occur. The beings clamoring for a chance to be the next victim became overwhelming.

  The chanting quieted as a darkness spilled over the room, and all the candles were extinguished, and the air was sucked out of the pseudo dungeon.

  Asmodeus arrived.

  Not expecting this, I looked over at Arie for some sort of guidance. Rather than her calm eyes, I saw a fear like never before. We were in over our heads, and there was no escape.

  “What… do we….” I uttered.

  Chapter 12

  I began frantically trying to channel Athen. Being in the same city didn’t increase my odds when the city was this large. Plus, I hadn’t had much practice. Arie was doing the same for Cyril. We would need their help.

  I felt a connection with Athen’s mind. Images of the scene he witnessed began rushing through mine. They were in a similar situation, but the images looked like they were outside somewhere, probably a park. The humans surrounding Cyril and Athen seemed to be in the same state as ours. Pushing as much info to Athen as I could, I only hoped that they would arrive in time. In time for what, I wasn’t really sure.

  “What’s happening, Arie?” I whispered to her.

  “Not a clue, but our only shot is to stay alert and look for an opportunity. I’ll follow your lead, and you follow mine. We’ll make it out of here, somehow.”

  Athen flashed through me immediately. I wasn’t going to get taken away again. I would find a way to get out of this nightmare, even if he couldn’t get here in time.

  The black caped being walked over to his victim and stood at the head of the table. We were the only ones not surrounding the sacrifice. This mistake could lead to our demise if we didn’t fix the situation quickly. Instinctively, I grabbed Arie’s hand as we both squatted as close to the ground as we could. Our only hope was to blend in.

  The thought of touching any of these people gave me the creeps but seeing how they were laying on top of each other, or holding one another up to witness what was about to take place, told me what was expected. We had to do the same.

  “Yuk,” was all I uttered to Arie through our wavelength.

  I laid my body sideways against a female who propped herself up to get a view of the spectacle. Her breathing was labored and fast paced. I could feel the level of excitement that ran through her body. I wasn’t prepared to see this side of evil in humanity. Running into a group of mortals who wanted to go to the other side, so urgently, made me realize I could no longer be naïve in thinking that they all had a good soul worth saving. I couldn’t waste my time with those who didn’t want to be helped when there were plenty of wonderful mortals to focus on. A sigh escaped, and the woman next me nodded at me, mistaking my disgust for eagerness.

  Arie had wiggled in between two beings who were on a concrete bench that looked like it belonged in a garden of some sort, rather than used for indoor furniture, but I guess it went with the vibe they were going for. Arie looked utterly repulsed, and I realized I probably did too. We both had to change the looks on our face, or it would result in a dead giveaway.

  “Arie you look as bad as you are feeling. Wipe it clean,” I sent my message, hoping she would understand.

  She nodded and did her best to remove the disgust off of her normally lovely features.

  Asmodeus raised his arms up towards the ceiling, circulating his fingers towards the crowd.

  A deep, semi-hoarse drawl began echoing through the chamber. Asmodeus began speaking.

  “Thank you all for coming tonight to this most glorious ceremony. Looking around, I can see this is one of the better crops we’ve had. Serious soul searchers, I can tell!” Laughing, he brought his arms back to his body, folding his hands in front of him.

  “What you will be witnessing, tonight, will be your entrance to eternal life. You will forever get to roam the earth in the state that you are in now. Forever young! Won’t that be grand?” He was absolutely mesmerized by his own statements. The wickedness ran through every word. He had his students, and there was nothing that Arie or I could do to change what was going to be happening. This process had been started many moons ago. We only showed up for the final act. It made me want to understand how the dark demons were recruiting these beings.

  A woman, in a blazing red dress, walked over to stand beside Asmodeus. She had an olive complexion, raven colored hair, and dark eyes that had no end. She wrapped her hand around Asmodeus’ hand and scanned the crowd of people. I prayed she would not be looking too hard. Her eyes quickly glanced from one group to the next, and then stopped on the sacrifice.

  “She’ll have to do.” Her voice was silky smooth, and she managed to cast a spell on all the men in the room. Shouts from the male voices began to surface in the small space we were in.

  “Not as pretty as you!”

  “We want you to be the sacrifice!”

  “Do we get to keep you?”

  “You’re beautiful!”

  The shouts were getting more and more obnoxious, and I could tell Asmodeus didn’t like not having control over his subjects.

  “ENOUGH!” His eyes flashed with anger. He then realized he didn’t want that side of him to appear until everything was completed.

  Her red lips sm
iled mischievously as she walked over to the woman on the concrete table. Seeing the ease and callousness she presented made me realize what she was.

  She was a lamiai. She was like Lilith. The fury began running through me, and I suddenly didn’t want Athen anywhere near us or this creature. We could handle this on our own, whatever it was.

  “Who wants to help us up here to get the ritual started?” Asmodeus was back to his calm self.

  Everyone’s arms shot up around Arie and I. I realized not having our arms waving frantically in the air to be chosen would most certainly cause the attention we didn’t want. I threw my hand into the air as high as it would go, reminding Arie to do the same thing. Tears had already filled her eyes by the time Asmodeus’s long crooked finger pointed in my direction.

  My body froze. I couldn’t swallow, let alone breath, and the fear began spreading through me. Doing my best not to make eye contact with Arie, so I wouldn’t give her away, I slowly came to, trying to look in an accurate drugged state, but not before the person I was laying against popped up suddenly.

  It was her who Asmodeus pointed to, not me. I moved to the side so she could get through the pile of spread-out bodies. Relieved that we had made it through round one, I hoped this was a sign.

  The woman made it up to where the Lilith look-alike stood. They grabbed her hand and squeezed it up into the air as if she had just won something spectacular, which I highly doubted. Nevertheless, in this sick and twisted world, I had no idea.

  Asmodeus looked around the room one last time, as I lowered my gaze to the floor hoping not to connect with him in any manner. The crowd began humming, and chills began running through me at what we were about to see. An army was being created, and our numbers might not match theirs.

  The Lamiai grabbed the victim’s hand, placing it back on the concrete table, while Asmodeus came to the table straightening out a piece of red fabric that had been placed on the stone table that I hadn’t even noticed. He leaned over the woman, chanting something that I deliberately made sure I didn’t hear. I wanted no part of this.

  Arie turned around to quickly glance at me and then at the door. Nodding at her, my eyes returned to the spectacle that was about to take place. Asmodeus began walking around the entire table repeatedly as he chanted. His hand alternated between gracing the body that lay before him and the cold stone. He finally landed with his back to us. This was our opportunity. The murmurs in the room were growing louder.

  He leaned over the woman whose soul he wanted to destroy and placed his lips over hers. His breath became deep, and her body started writhing as he sucked more and more of her spirit out of her. The crowd got increasingly excited by the minute, and I got more fearful by the second. I wasn’t sure when Arie had meant for us to dart, but I trusted I would know when the time was going to be right. The woman’s chest began deflating as Asmodeus sucked the last of her soul directly out of her now tarnished shell of a human. Her skin instantly looking grey, she turned to stare at the crowd of people with the eyes of death that I had grown so accustomed to seeing with these dark demons.

  Asmodeus stood upright once more, and the Lamiai placed her hands over the woman’s lips, parting them as wide as they would go.

  “Speak woman. Tell us how you feel.”

  In the same moment, Asmodeus exhaled a black mist into the air. This is what the humans had been waiting for. They all began piling over one another hoping to inhale some part of the woman’s soul.

  Arie’s body began to shift, and I knew our time to escape was near. The black mist began swirling through the bodies that were spread on the floor. It was as if the mist had the ability to seek out its victim.

  The woman on the table shot right up into a sitting position, turning towards the large crowd in front of her.

  “I feel like I’ll live forever.” Her body was completely rigid.

  My heart dropped with sadness spreading throughout my body, as the crowd cheered loudly. Suddenly, they were more alert than I had seen them during this entire process. As they began jumping up and down basting themselves in the black mist, Arie stood up quickly and darted for the door. I followed immediately with my heart pounding. I was sure we would be spotted, and our plot to escape foiled, but we made it.

  Once we reached the hallway, we ran as fast as possible to the stairwell, climbing up as quickly as we could from the hell we just experienced. Arie flung the door open to have Athen and Cyril waiting for us on the other side. My world had been forever changed, and Athen knew because he had just witnessed the same thing.

  His arms were extended, and I dove right into the comfort of his embrace. I couldn’t speak, and he didn’t expect me to. He just held me. Looking over at Arie being cradled by Cyril, I knew all of our lives had been changed forever. What we just witnessed was nothing we ever wanted to think possible. The war that was looming was no longer an even playing field, and that had to be changed. Not wanting to utter the words aloud, I latched myself onto Athen hoping that my silence would tell him my answer.

  Chapter 13

  We were sitting in a large leather booth that had to be seven feet tall, sheltering our discussion from the world. We all got our bearings after the club incident, and in typical Athen and Cyril fashion, they were hungry. Thirteen Coins restaurant seemed like the best choice at this late hour and was known for its oversized booths and huge menu, regardless of the time.

  I wasn’t really hungry, but I wanted food. I think I wanted the comforting routine it offered and hoped it would keep me occupied as I contemplated what I had just seen.

  Athen sunk into the booth next to me, and I leaned my head on his shoulder. Cyril had his arm securely fastened around Arie too. It was like we were all in slow motion readying ourselves to make some decisions we hadn’t fully comprehended. They may have spoken about it among themselves, but I doubt they really thought about doing it. I couldn’t shake an eeriness that seemed to be following all of my thoughts and movements. If I didn’t know better, I would even think that there were some of the others around. The ones we did our best to evade earlier this evening.

  The bar stools running along the open kitchen were filled with various characters chatting one another up or keeping focused on the chefs in the kitchen whipping up the never-ending menu selections. The servers, all dressed in their white button-down shirts and black bow ties, were congregating by the computer terminal. Nothing looked out of place. No one looked suspicious, but I felt a familiar undercurrent alerting me to something. Things were too foggy to put my finger on exactly what the problem might be. I wasn’t sure if the dream-like state was going to wear off soon or not, so I did my best to try to gain some sort of clarity.

  “What did you guys see? Where did you visit?” I asked Cyril, looking across the large wooden table, nicked with time.

  “We were at Ravenna Park,” he answered, removing his arm from Arie, so he could thumb through the menu. I was intrigued since that was one of my favorite parks to visit, and I really didn’t want to think anything bad had happened there.

  “Ravenna Park? They were doing rituals in Ravenna Park?” I repeated, lifting my head up from Athen.

  “Yep,” Cyril said, nodding his head.

  “I know we interrupted you, but were there any unexpected visitors?” Arie asked, hopeful. I don’t think she wanted it to only be us who happened to have an almost run-in with Asmodeus.

  “Not really,” Athen replied.

  “Well, Asmodeus was apparently the guest speaker,” Arie said wryly. Her chipper self was beginning to make its appearance again. It was hard to keep her down. Boy, did I admire that quality.

  “Yeah, hard to believe. He never struck me as being very entertaining,” Athen said, grabbing my hand under the table.

  Arie giggled and threw her white napkin at Athen, rolling her eyes.

  “I know.” My disbelief began to be replaced by anger. “There was a Lamiai there too.”

  “A beautiful one,” Arie scoffed.

&n
bsp; I did my best to kick her under the table but missed and smacked my foot against the pole, bringing an expression of agony to my face, which brought Cyril and Athen into a fit of laughter.

  “When aren’t they?” I gritted my teeth, trying to pretend to be annoyed at Arie, rubbing my ankle and foot.

  “Having a little issue there, Ana?” Cyril joked.

  “Nope, not at all. Why would you ask?” I said, trying my best to keep the smile off my lips. I didn’t understand how I could be so hopelessly clumsy in the everyday, yet come together pretty darn well when it counted.

  Cyril moved a little further towards Athen and myself, as he began to speak.

  “Wanna start at the beginning and let us know what all you saw?”

  “It was pretty dingy down there, and it seemed as if everyone was drugged. There were all ages spread out in that dungeon. That’s the best term for it, I’d say.” The chills began running through me as I spoke and looked over at Arie, who looked as repulsed as I was, reliving it.

  “They were clamoring at the chance for this…” I stopped, trying to search for a word that would be somewhat fitting, and there wasn’t a good one. “Opportunity, so to speak.”

  “Do you think?” Cyril’s voice trailed off as we realized we needed to greet our server and snap out of our talk.

  Our waiter was good-looking and young. He was probably working his way through school or something. He had short dark hair, and his blue eyes were extremely intense, almost frighteningly so. As I handed our waiter my menu, I spilled my glass of water all over the table, creating a waterfall directly into my lap.

  “Oooooh!! That’s so cold!” I gasped and quickly shoveled the ice off my lap as Athen mopped up the tidal wave on the table. Cyril and Arie, of course, weren’t much help at all because they were crying with laughter.