AUTHOR'S NOTE: So after much thought and deliberation I have decided to turn Terminus into a crossover after all, but not with the Abarat series. I knew where I wanted to go but not how to get there. I was lost in thought at work when I got the idea to bring in some elements from another Clive Barker novel, Weaveworld (which has nothing to do with fake hair like my sister thought). I'm considering this a crossover because this is a Hellraiser fic and I'm bringing in characters that don't appear in the movies (or novella), but the cenobites are mentioned in Weaveworld (along with one of their "creations" who may show up in a oneshot) as The Surgeons. He brought the Surgeons from some netherworld or other…let the Surgeons perform what tricks Surgeons must… (pg. 148).
Since everybody isn't familiar with Weaveworld, I'll cover some basics that will be necessary to understand the basic flow of the story (if I forget something I'll add it as needed). The novel revolves around the parallel world, The Fugue. The Fugue was woven into a rug (hence the title) to protect it from an evil entity called The Scourge. The Fugue is populated by the Seerkind, creatures with magical abilities that vary in appearance, some looking more human than others. The main character I'm gonna focus on is Immacolata, a sorceress exiled by the Seerkind for using her evil magic in an attempt to gain power. She's one of triplets, but strangled her sisters with their umbilical cords while in the womb. The two still accompany their sister in ectoplasmic form. The Magdalene, sometimes called Mama Pus, has a tendency to rape unsuspecting men in order to spawn monstrosities called by-blows hours after their conception. The other sister, The Hag, appears as a grotesque old woman who divines knowledge by studying the afterbirth produced by The Magdalene. That's probably all that will come up.
I can't apologize enough for my lateness in updating this story! Anyone who follows me and not just this story will know that I've been updating other stories, namely a series of Metalocalypse fics. I've just been full of inspiration for that story and completely out of ideas for this one. I've also been having some minor computer problems.
Chapter 3: Hellfire and Brimstone
Victoria took hold of Pinhead's arm and shot him a mildly worried expression.
"Some of us take to it better than others," he reassured. "They'll be fine."
The couple was observing their newly transformed twin sons at work in the torture chambers. In the few weeks that they'd become cenobites, Abraxas and Acheron had taken to the art of butchery with a passion and fervor that rivaled even their father. Acheron had been hesitant, but after his first cut he'd taken to the process with a maniacal glee that matched his brother's. The twins had reduced their first victim into a nightmare creation of mutilated flesh that had left both of their parents (and any other cenobite that saw it) in shock. Pinhead was proud beyond words, but Victoria, who still held onto a lot of her human emotions, was slightly disconcerted by her sons' joy in torture.
The twins currently had Kirsty Cotton hanging from the ceiling by her ankles as they slowly peeled half inch thick strips of skin from her back and belly. She'd given up screaming hours ago and was now just whimpering softly as blood ran down her face and dripped out of her hair. The Chatter Beast was sniffing around at the growing piles of discarded flesh.
"Ass!" Acheron screeched as Abraxas flung his newest strip of removed skin at him; it landed on his head, draped among his pins.
Abraxas' laughter was abruptly cut off as Acheron threw a strip back at him.
"You'll pay for that, bitch!" Abraxas yelled, tackling his brother to the bloody floor.
"Boys! That is enough!" Pinhead bellowed. "Can we please maintain a level of professionalism?"
Acheron was lying on his stomach. Abraxas was straddling his brother's lower back and attempting to strangle him with a handful of skin strips. Both were laughing.
"Ah, lighten up, Pops," Abraxas said, clambering off Acheron and standing up.
He extended a hand to the twin still lying on the floor. Acheron grasped it and pulled his brother back down to the floor, startling the Chatter Beast, who was investigating a nearby pile of gore. The pair lay on the floor amongst the carnage, practically crying with laughter.
Pinhead shook his head and sighed. The twins stood up, clutching each other as they continued to laugh.
"Go get cleaned up," Pinhead ordered.
Abraxas and Acheron left the room, arms thrown around each other's shoulders. Victoria entered the room and stood beside Pinhead.
"Some just take to it better than others," she smirked.
Pinhead narrowed his eyes at her. She chuckled and planted a kiss at the base of his neck. He gestured with his hand and the chains that held Kirsty released her. She collapsed to the floor in a heap and began to cry.
"I just wish they would not treat our craft like a game," he said.
"They're just kids," Victoria replied. "They'll take things more seriously in time."
~[ ]~
Acheron and Abraxas had cleaned up and were walking toward the center of the Labyrinth. As they neared Leviathan, Abraxas stuck out an arm to stop his brother.
"What the -!" Acheron was abruptly cut off by Abraxas.
"Look!" the older twin whispered, pointing toward the floating deity.
A creature had somehow managed to clamber its way onto Leviathan's surface. It was a purplish-gray color with unnaturally long arms ending in thin clawed fingers. Its horned head was bent in concentration and its thin whip-like tail lashed around its hind limbs as it set about its work.
"What's it doing?" Acheron asked.
"I don't know," Abraxas replied.
Thin beams of red light suddenly crackled across Leviathan's surface and it momentarily faltered in its endless revolution. The creature, obviously satisfied that its work was complete, leapt from the floating idol and disappeared into the abyss.
"What happened?" Pinhead cried, suddenly appearing behind his sons, Victoria close behind.
"I don't know!" Acheron gasped. "Some creature was doing something to Leviathan!"
"Where did it go?" Pinhead demanded.
"It jumped into the abyss!" Abraxas said.
Pinhead turned to Chatterer, who had appeared at his side.
"Go find this creature," Pinhead commanded.
Chatterer disappeared to search the bowels of the Labyrinth.
Pinhead went to stand in the shadow of Leviathan, inclining his head upward to listen for instructions. He turned back to Victoria with a look of concern. She too looked toward Leviathan.
"It's all broken and garbled," she said, her eyes widened. "I can't understand anything."
A snarl snapped them out of their contemplation. The Chatterer returned, dragging the struggling creature behind him. Pinhead's heart stopped.
"What is it?" Victoria asked in alarm.
"It's a demon," he replied.
"A demon?" Victoria repeated.
"Yes. Before Leviathan took over, Hell was full of them, but we disposed of them all. I did not think there were any left."
The demon began to scream at Pinhead in a language Victoria didn't understand; Latin she suddenly realized. Pinhead strode forward and grabbed a handful of the dark greasy hair on the creature's head, forcing it to look up at him. He spoke to it in its native tongue, clearly commanding it to do something. The demon laughed at him and said something that sounded like an insult. Pinhead yanked harder on the hair and commanded again. The demon merely laughed again. It muttered something then whipped its tail up, slitting its own throat with the sharp spines. It grinned up at the cenobites, its bluish blood oozing out between its pointed teeth, before it slumped forward.
"Bastard," Pinhead muttered, turning back to Victoria. "He told me nothing."
"What do we do?" Victoria asked, fear in her eyes. "Something's clearly wrong with Leviathan and that thing had something to do with it. What if we're in danger?"
"Do you think I have not thought of that?" Pinhead replied. "We must seek outside help."
"From who?" Victoria shrieked. "Who could possibly help us with this?"
"I know of someone," he murmured. "And I have an idea where to find her."
ENDNOTE: So that's it for this chapter. Traditional demons have arisen in an attempt to take back what's rightfully theirs. Can Pinhead stop them in time? Will Leviathan be restored? Who will they turn to (if you paid attention to the author's note that's easy to answer)? You've got to keep reading to find out.
I must say that I enjoyed writing the scene with the twins torturing Kirsty Cotton. Even though they're masters of torture, they're still eighteen! And the name Abraxas just keeps popping up. Since the release of the final Harry Potter film I've been suffering from what I've dubbed Post-Potter Depression and have been reading a lot of stuff about Harry Potter. It turns out that Lucius Malfoy's father (Draco's paternal grandfather) was named Abraxas.