Cataclysm (22 page)

Scanning the room, I only saw the single exit, which was the one I had been shoved in through. There was a lone halogen light hanging in the center of the room. The cord dangled from the ceiling. It was hardwired in, making it my only hope.

“Looks like the little girl doesn’t know what to do,” the female demon said, pushing the others aside. Her appearance was remarkably refined for the company she kept. Her soulless eyes were taking in every morsel I had to offer. I returned the favor.

The longer they stood staring at me, playing these games, the longer I had to regain what strength I could.

“You might not look so severe if you didn’t slick back your hair in that tight bun,” I sneered, as I managed to stand up, looking at the female dead on.

“I don’t think you’re one that I should be taking fashion advice from,” she replied coolly. “You have a lot more to worry about than my hair, you silly girl.”

I started to feel like I could move again. If I could only buy a few more minutes, I might have a slim chance. I hoped with everything in my world, that Arie and Cyril would somehow be able to pick up on everything that was happening to me. My mind was wide open.

“Our only instruction was to keep you alive. We can rough you up as much as we want, though!” the gnarly demon in the back yelled out. I was pretty sure he was the one who had initiated the attack. “He wants to make sure you’re alert enough when you become his for eternity.”

“No more!” the female shouted, pushing the demon down to the ground.

There was definitely some sort of hierarchy going on that I didn’t understand, but I hoped I could use it to my advantage. No dark demon liked to be spoken to that way.

“Why would you let her push you around like that?” I asked, scanning the faces of the demons circling me.

“I’ve heard quite enough from you,” she snarled.

“I’m not on your side, yet,” I said with a smirk, staring at her loveless eyes. “Sorry, but you don’t have that control over me, honey!” I smiled, only infuriating her more.

The confidence of my family was now running through my veins. Images of Athen came pouring into my soul. Our most intimate moments only he and I had shared, spirit to spirit, were providing me with the power I needed.

The shift in the room was noticeable. The circle wasn’t tight any longer. I began scanning each of the demons, trying to gauge their weaknesses.

“Azazel said in your dream, you saw yourself shackled and following him, like his minions! I would no longer have to be by his side. I would no longer be his minion. You would take my place!” the demon who had been pushed to the ground, mustered up.

“My dream, huh?” I said, smiling a smile that couldn’t be hidden. This was too perfect.

My body lunged for the hanging light, grasping it with my left hand. The weight of my body began swinging it in the direction of the door. The screams were bouncing off the walls, but all that I could think about was the simple words the one demon provided. Flying to the exit, I landed on the cement floor, spinning to face the demons.

The first one flung himself towards me, as I spun my body through the air, watching him crash into the wall. Grabbing the female demon by her bun, I ripped out the strands of hair, throwing them on the ground.

“Much better!” My voice was not my own.

Scaling the wall, I felt the fingers of one of the beings wrap themselves around my ankle. Stopping, I grabbed one of my knives, throwing it directly down at his forehead. It stuck as marvelously as it could have, as he tumbled to the floor. The black mist began escaping into the room.

“You might as well come down,” she howled. “No one will be here to rescue you.“

“I’m not the one who needs to be rescued,” I whispered.

Falling onto the demon who had crashed into the wall, I twisted his neck, watching the glorious mess dissipate into the air. A high ran through my veins. The craving was insatiable.

“You never did tell me your name?” I stared directly at the female, as the others backed slowly away from us.

“Sabri….”she stopped herself, annoyed that she was falling for my small chat, once more. The dark demons weren’t known for being smart.

“Ahh, no need to continue. It’s a perfect name for a wonderfully evil being.”

I was still outnumbered, but my only concern was getting back outside of this building. I had a chance on the other side of this wall. My back was towards the exit, but I knew I was only feet away.

I jumped over Sabrina, leaving behind the safety of the exit, kicking her spine as I landed. She wasn’t finished, but it bought me a moment.

“What is your name?” I demanded from the demon, who had the glimmer of a better life. My fingers were wrapped around his neck, in case I needed to force it out of him.

“Nathan,” he muttered.

“Thank you, Nathan. Be watchful in the next few,” I told him, winking.

The remaining demons already began charging towards me. My body tore through the air, like I had never done before. There was no rescuing Nathan, if I was caught.

My foot landed on Sabrina’s arm, as I made my way to the exit. A hand wrapped its way around my wrist. Flipping backwards, I kicked him as I broke free, but I was squarely facing the wrong direction once again.

Feeling for the door handle with my left hand, I punched the palm of my hand clear through the chest of the first demon beginning the attacks. The black mist began swirling through the building. Another demon came towards me, with his arms wide, he grabbed me at the same time I was able to open the door.

The heaviness of this being was making every movement a struggle as I tried sliding my body out the door. The street was only feet away, but the demons had begun grabbing at every part of me. Kicking as hard as I could, the sound of things snapping did little to alleviate my worry. I might not get out of this. The night at the Grizzly Pub began circulating through me. I would not get this far to be taken away by these thugs. Athen’s smile flashed through me, his eyes radiating the love that could save us all.

Ripping my belt off, I began swiping it in every direction. The heavy breathing of the beasts, came closer to me, but I kept propelling myself towards the street. The images were getting hard to focus on. I imagined myself in another time, another situation. It was the only thing I could do.

A loud rumbling came up beside me. I didn’t know where I was any longer. Shouts and screams began echoing through my mind. Opening my eyes back up, I saw a mob of white demons, throwing the dark demons off of me.

I knew my mind and body were fighting each other. The pain was crushing, but the only thing that helped me was hearing that demon mention my dream. It gave me hope that the images I had been fighting had been implanted by Azazel and were never a premonition. When Azazel was thrown out of heaven, his wrists and feet were shackled as well, so it made sense that he’d place similar images in my dreams to scare me.

“Who? What?” Arie questioned, her eyes searching mine for clues.

“He was with them, but he’s okay. Will be one of us. Name’s Nathan,” I tried again, before my body fell into a consciousness neither here nor there. The sound of the fight more muffled with every second that passed. The last words I heard were Arie’s, telling Cyril we had to leave the states. We needed a reprieve to Whistler, before it all began.

***

Shooting up straight from my bed, my forehead was covered in beads of sweat. I was safe back at home, but the terror of being captured wasn’t easily forgotten. Briefly disoriented, I looked around the room, and everything was where it should be. Falling back down, I closed my eyes hoping to sleep. Unfortunately, that’s when the images began flooding my mind faster than I could decipher. Behind the curtains, I could tell the sun was hoping to make an appearance soon, with the bluish-grey that only early morning can bring.

“Athen, Athen. Sweetie,” I commanded, shaking him awake.

He turned over, looking at me in the confused sleepy state I wished I still was in.

“They are building so quickly. There are hundreds of factions. The armies are multiplying beyond anything I ever thought possible.”

“Whoa, honey. What are you seeing? Where is this coming from?” he asked scooting up in the bed, flipping on the light. His hair completely disheveled and sticking straight up. In any other moment, it would have stirred something.

“The amount of humans they are turning is mind boggling and many of them…” I didn’t want to utter the words, but I had to. “Are willing participants.”

“What makes you say that?”

Looking at him, I could feel the tears begin to surface, and I forced myself to get in control.

“Azazel and Lilith are making crazy promises. They’re just leaving out some of the main negatives of making a deal with a demon. We’ve got to stop this. There’s no way we can match these numbers. I’ve got to see what they’re being told. I need to go in undercover. See how they’re doing it. Find out exactly what they’re telling them.”

Athen pulled me over to him, and I rested my head on his shoulder, trying to figure out what to do with the weight of this information.

“We can’t stop that part, my angel. We can’t stop that part, and I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to go in there. Even if you go in as someone else, it’s far too risky.”

“What do you mean?” I snapped, flipping my head to stare into his eyes. I needed to gauge what he was trying to say because it didn’t make any sense just floating out there for me to hear.

“If we spend all of our time trying to interfere there, we will never make any headway in our preparations.”

“So now I’m supposed to ignore my premonitions?” I was incredulous. I’ve been told for so long not to ignore my dreams, and then suddenly with this, I’m supposedly reading them wrong.

“I didn’t say that, but I think we can’t judge the information immediately. The most obvious answers might not be the best. There might be a hidden message in all of this. We just can’t jump on the first idea. That’s all I’m saying.”

“We can’t let the demons continue to trick the humans, though. I mean we won’t have any left at this rate to even save. I need to go find out.” My heart pounded, as I tried to search the images that were floating in my mind. There had to be answers.

“Sweetie, your dream is telling us something. I’m not sure it’s what you think, but nonetheless, it’s saying something.”

“There’s no way the humans could want this, Athen. They aren’t this evil or cruel.”

Kissing the top of my head, he breathed out a whisper I almost didn’t catch, “Some of them can be, and those are the useless ones to worry about.”

Taking a deep breath in, I rested my head back on his shoulder.

“I liked my version of the humans who needed saving better. The innocent ones.” The stress began infiltrating me to my core.

“There’s good and bad in everybody, sweetie. I know you only like to see the good, but for the rest of us who see both sides, it can be quite disheartening,” Athen said.

Apparently, Athen and I weren’t as quiet as we thought, because Arie and Cyril were already barreling down the hallway towards our room.

“The time is almost here,” I said, looking at Arie and Cyril. “The longer we go, the more he’ll get to turn, and the more we’ll have to attempt to change to our side. We have enough. I think we need to get started, but first I want to go undercover and find out what stories they’ve been telling these mortals,” I finished.

Athen came in behind me, resting his hand on my shoulder.

“I agree. But after the attack you went through, yesterday, we decided we are going to take a quick trip up north. It’ll only be for a few days, just enough to recharge,” Athen said.