by Indra Frost
I heard a call of surprise as I pulled on my power to run faster, much faster than when I had run from them before. Copeland was able to keep up, but he wasn’t able to gain any ground. It meant I was able to make it to my space before he could stop me.
The potent smell of carnage and entrails was overpowering, the stench so powerful I could taste it on the back of my tongue. More than one person had died here.
I slowed to a stop at the top of the stairs, looking into a room painted red with blood. There wasn’t a spot left uncovered. The floors, the walls, even the beams on the ceiling at least fifteen feet above my head were covered with the brown red stain of death. I didn’t know where to start looking.
The scent of death and decay were overwhelming me, but I couldn't pick them apart. There were too many to sort through and I wasn't able to smell individual scents over the smell of old pennies and pain. Body parts were strewn around the room. Limbs separated from their hosts like a macabre version of confetti. There had to be at least ten bodies scattered around the room. There wasn't a single body piece that was bigger than a forearm laying around.
I searched for the heads, wanting to see their faces, needing to know if Lucy was one of the victims.
I recognized all the faces except one, but none of them were Lucy. Despite the situation, I let out a breath of relief. Most of them were people I had seen associated with Greg or Raum. No one I had spared more than a passing glance.
“She’s not here,” I muttered hysterically. “She’s not here.”
I ran a shaky hand through my hair, stepping further into the room. I was better able to take in what was lying in front of me now that I wasn’t frantically searching for the head of my only friend. All my belongings were torn to shreds, the few articles of clothing I had left were nothing more than piles of cloth. My blankets lay in tatters on the floor.
I walked closer to my bed, the small spot I chose to lay my head down. Something there was pulling me closer. A twisted urge was telling me that something was there. That whatever it was would tell me who was responsible for this.
“You shouldn’t be here, it’s a crime scene. We need to be able to process the evidence.” Copeland spoke from the doorway, but he didn’t try to stop me as I was drawn forward.
He arrived seconds after I did, so if he didn’t try to stop me then, he wouldn’t now.
It was sad how detached I had become to death. As I looked around, I couldn't pull up the appropriately horrified emotion. I was numb to it all, my mind almost seeming to wander as I instinctively went to that space in my mind that let me separate myself from what I was seeing and feeling. I heard someone talking, but I wasn’t really taking anything in. I was trapped in a place between the present and my memories.
I felt disgusted and horrified sure, but it wasn't completely unfamiliar to me. I had seen sights like this before. Selasi used to leave ‘presents’ like this for me to find all the time. It was his way of showing me what would happen if I decided to try and make connections.
He was a twisted and possessive demon. One that thought he owned me because my father had promised me to him when I was still a little girl. Something had happened to void that agreement between them though, and I had never been so grateful in my life. I was only twelve at the time, but that didn’t stop Selasi from playing his sick games when he found me. Torturing me anytime he got the chance.
It didn't stop any of the demons.
Right after that was when my father had sold me into an agreement with Greg, and I have been earth-side ever since.
I ignored Copeland as I continued, only half listening as the others crested the stairs. Walker cursed, gagging as he took in the scene. Blayze wore a look of fear and recognition, also familiar with what I was sure was Selasi’s work. Jesse looked around, taking in everything, but no particular emotion crossed his face.
I envied his ability to compartmentalize this situation. I’m sure that’s what he was doing. I could feel subtle emotion coming from him, so I knew it wasn’t that he was unaffected. It was more that he was able to work around his emotions so he could gather as much information as possible.
My shoe kicked something and the feeling of impact was followed by the sound of a meaty thud as I watched part of a leg rolled away from me. The sound of a plop as something fell from the ceiling made me look over and I briefly saw Walker, who looked green, turn to look at my resting area.
I slowly made my way towards the bed. I knew that whatever message Selasi was trying to relay would make sense once I saw what was waiting there. I didn't want to look; I didn't want to confirm the fear that was rising in me. But I had to.
Finally, I gulped, forcing myself to look down at my pillow. It was something I had scrounged and saved to buy. It was one of my most prized possessions, and a sick fear rose up at me as I looked at it.
The bright white of the fabric was a startling contrast to the gore of the rest of the room around it. A thin stream of dark fluid split the pillow and a few drops of blood lay splattered on the fabric leading up to where the item lay, almost seeming to showcase it. In the middle of the square of fabric, surrounded by blood and death, lay a finger. A single finger rested there on display.
I stared at it, not understanding what it meant at first. But knowing that whatever it was was bad.
My body almost seemed to move on its own, bending down to grab the finger placed in the center of my pillow. Why was it so lovingly placed there when everything else around the room had been smashed?
Picking it up, I ignored the protests of the others as I brought it close to my face. My brain was going crazy, but I wasn't registering anything but the need to pick up. To hold it.
As soon as it was in front of my face, I knew I couldn't deny who it belonged to, and I knew what it meant. My stomach dropped, and for the first time since I was a girl, I thought I might be sick. My stomach was turning, acid crawling up my throat as I stared at the finger in my hand.
It couldn't be true. This wasn't real.
“No.” My denial came out as a whisper, unable to speak louder for fear it would make what I was seeing real.
I had the strange hope that if I placed it back on the pillow, if I walked away, I could pretend it never happened. I could pretend that I hadn’t seen this.
“No.” I turned to the guys, only to see them hovering just out of touching distance.
I held out the finger to them, like they would be able to do something with it. I was lost, my mind shying away from the implications the finger presented. I looked to Blayze, hoping he would tell me it was a mistake. That this didn't mean what I thought it meant. He knew Selasi, he would be able to tell me it wasn’t true.
His face was tortured as he looked at me, all evidence of his smirk gone. It was the most genuine emotion I had seen on the hellhounds face since we had met.
“Alyth…” His voice trailed off, not finishing his sentence.
“No,” I said again, this time trying to choke down the sob rising in my throat.
His acknowledgement made it real. It was real.
She was dead.
My Lucy was dead.
I know we hadn't had the deepest relationship, but she was a friend. The only one I had. It didn't matter that she was using me, that she had stolen my bed and supplies more than once. She had been there when I needed someone to sit near me. She was there. She wasn’t the best friend, but she was mine, and Selasi had found her.
“I’m so sorry.” He stepped forward, his arms surrounding me.
I didn’t fight him, hugging him tightly back as I tried to keep myself from breaking down into tears. This was like my childhood all over again.
Anything that I liked, anybody that may have been a friend was taken away from me. Killed just for knowing me. It was the main reason I didn't allow myself to grow attached. I didn’t want to be the cause of someone else's death.
“Is there a chance that she’s still alive?” Walker came over our side, placing a hand on
my shoulder and rubbing lightly.
I felt Blayze shake his head, but I stayed silent as the others took in the room again. Knowing who had done it didn't change what it looked like, but it did give them a better idea of what to expect. I wasn't sure what caused them to ask me about Selasi, but it felt like they caused this. Like it was their fault for saying his name out loud.
It wasn't, and I didn't really think that it was, but there was a small part of me that thought they were the ones to cause this. If I hadn't ever met them, maybe this wouldn't have happened.
But the truth of the matter was, I would have come back to this warehouse alone, and Selasi would probably have waited around. I would have been killed, or tortured. He would have dragged me back to Hell where the contract would have done its best to kill me in the end anyway.
I didn’t know these guys, but right now I didn’t care. I was going to accept what they were giving me. I wanted the comfort that they were offering.
Copeland came over and gently took the finger that was still clutched in my hand. I wanted to fight him, I didn’t want him to take it from me, but I released it. It didn’t make sense for me to keep it. I couldn’t save her now, and all keeping it would do was remind me of my failure to protect her.
I watched as he placed it in a bag before tucking it in his pocket.
That finger wasn't Lucy; holding onto it would do me no good.
“This is Selasi’s doing?” Jesse turned from where he was examining something in the corner.
I flinched at the demon's name being said again, and Jesse’s words pulled my focus back from where it was spiraling. For a moment, I was almost grateful for my upbringing. I wasn’t allowed to make connections, I wasn’t allowed to trust people. But if this is what it felt like to lose someone I cared about, then I couldn’t help but wonder if that was better. I had only tried to make a friend once, it was with one of my father’s hellhounds. My father stopped me after he had caught me sneaking back in the house one night.
I didn't know the boy’s face, he was always in his other form, but I knew that I wanted to keep him safe. The hellhounds were almost never allowed to change into their human forms when they were under his control.
My father had tortured me for three days trying to learn his name. It made it easier to bear the punishment when I realized I didn't know his name. We weren't supposed to know each other, let alone become friends.
I had forced that friendship from my mind soon after, the memory too painful to remember.
“Yes,” I said as I pulled away from them, pretending the little show of support never happened.
They couldn't get close. Even if I had wanted them to, this was a reminder of why that couldn't happen.
“Why is he angry at you?” Jesse looked up at me, his intense gold eyes peering at me.
Through me.
I took another look around the room, trying to force my emotions into a box. I was still on the verge of tears, but along with sorrow, was anger. An anger so fierce I felt like I was on fire. And this time it wasn’t the brand.
I used that feeling, that anger, to focus and see what Selasi had done. All I saw, however, was carnage. The same bodies as before were thrown all throughout the room. But it wasn't anger I was seeing, even as I agreed that was how it would seem to the others.
“I don’t see it.” Walker whispered, looking at Reed.
I met Jesse's gaze and something about him seemed to soften in that moment, though his face didn’t change. I felt it as if it was a physical sensation. He looked away and gestured that Walker should follow him.
The others remained standing where they were, not moving from the pile of what used to be my bedding.
Jesse lifted his hand to point to the pile of rags at our feet and spoke quietly to Walker. “Her belongings are shredded. He didn’t just ransack the place, he made sure to destroy the things that meant something to her. He ripped all the clothes apart, scattered the blankets, and everything surrounding it. Her bed is at the center of the mess.”
I looked around, seeing that he was right, but still not able to connect that with anger. Selasi was a violent and possessive demon, sure, but he did stuff like this all the time in hell. It wasn’t unusual to hear about a new slaughter that he was responsible for.
“He’s right, it’s like he came in and saw how you were living, saw your belongings, and went ballistic.” Walker looked around. "He really doesn't like you."
"It's not hate, or anger." I whispered, the shake in my voice almost unnoticeable.
"Then what is it?" Reed asked softly, taking a step closer.
"It's an obsession. It's his own messed up version of what may be considered affection mixed with the need to control me and take away anything and everything I love." I took a deep, shaky breath, as I looked around unable to meet any of their eyes. "He thinks he loves me. The only way that a psycho demon with a messed-up head can love. It's a need to control, to conquer and break someone down until there's nothing left but ash."
It would be easier if it was anger, less frightening. I did a lot of things while I was in hell that would make many people angry. And just because I saw him as a psycho-path, didn’t mean that he didn’t get angry. I just wasn’t sure I had ever seen him when he was angry as opposed to crazy.
He took what he wanted without care for the consequences, and the worst part was that he had the power and position to back that up. He got away with allowing his instincts to rule him, because no one was brave enough to take him head on. The only ones that would be able to, didn't feel the need to, and instead used it to their advantage. He had someone that worked with him, but they tended to stay out of the spotlight, and I didn’t know him well at all.
Contracts and deals were abundant in Hell, as well as fighting and death. If you made a deal with Selasi it was more like contracting with a loaded gun. You would only need to point and shoot to see your enemies destroyed. I pushed past my fear and looked at the guys, bringing myself back to the present but still refusing to look them in the face.
I just shrugged, playing it off while inside I was trembling. There weren’t many things I was afraid of, but I was terrified of him. The crazy demon who had brought me close to death too many times to count, only to bring me back and make me suffer more.
He enjoyed listening to me scream. Said he loved the sounds I made when I cried. I tried not to do either after that. All my refusal did was make him get more creative in the end. I was close to the point of taking my own life when my father had come to get me. No lasting damage had been done physically, but I was a shell of myself. I didn't have anything left but sarcasm and anger. I still didn't.
“I hate to ask, but all we have is a finger; how do we know your friend is gone?” Walker gave me a tentative look, probably worried I’d start crying.
I tucked my emotions away; I would deal with them when I was alone. As it was, I was ashamed that I had allowed a stranger to provide comfort. That I let him see my moment of weakness. I felt my chest go numb and cold, all emotion draining out of me. I wouldn’t have to worry about this happening again; the only person that cared about me was dead. The only other people I cared about I hadn’t seen in a while, and I knew that they didn't feel the same. I was hoping that would mean they were safe. They didn’t know Selasi, and if they were lucky, they never would.
I turned toward the door, ignoring Walker and Copeland’s questioning expressions. Blayze was looking around the room, the glazed look in his eyes letting me know he was trapped in his own memories.
I needed to get out of here.
Jesse stepped to the side, knowing without me saying anything that I wanted to leave. When he made to follow, I shook my head; I didn’t want to be around people.
I needed to get away, to be on my own. I needed to make a plan to help them deal with Greg. Now, more than ever, that was my goal. I had no doubt who would have told Selasi where I was supposed to be. Even if he didn’t know where I lived, he would have known the ge
neral area. He knew better than anyone that my lack of funds would mean I was homeless. From there it wasn’t hard to figure it out.
Demons had a superior sense of smell, so if he got close enough, he would have been able to smell me. I tried to take different routes, to allow time and weather to help my scent fade, but the closer I got to the building the fewer options I had.
I made my way down the stairs. Each step was another pound added to the weight on my shoulders. Anger and fear filled my heart, but so did resolve. Pain flared through my body, chasing away the remainder of my sorrow. The brand flared up, and I wanted to reach back and cut it out of my skin by force, but it wouldn’t work. It was magical more than physical, and it would just appear somewhere else.
I would deal with Greg; I would make sure he never caused anyone pain ever again. It was time to be more direct in my attempts to bring him down. And I would have to do it on my own. I wasn’t going to bring anybody into the war I was about to start. Because it wasn’t just Greg I was going to take down, it was Selasi, and every Supe that sided with them. I was going to bring them to their knees. Make them beg for their life, and then take it away piece by piece. Just like he would have done to Lucy.
No mercy.
The pain was burning me alive from the inside out, but I used it to fuel my anger.
Yes, I would bring them down, and anybody else that got in my way. It was time to embrace the abilities that made me unique. To use what others hated, and make them fear me instead. I was going to teach them that half-breeds weren’t to be taken lightly. I would show them what I was capable of.
I would find them.
Then, I would kill them all.
After walking back to the gym my anger was down to a low simmer. I still vowed that I was going to kill Greg and Selasi, but I wasn’t as caught up in my emotions. That allowed me to start thinking of a plan.
