Chapter 11
Lady Death
Gemma
"Argh!" Gemma screamed when an hot iron poker entered her body through her side once more. The monsters had been torturing her more than ever of late and she had not the will nor power to fight back. Her only hope now was Loki; she'd heard the deal Thanos presented to the prince but she feared he would not take it. Why would Loki risk anything for her? He was a god of lies and she was simply a mere mortal girl, what did he care if Thanos tortured her half to death?
Then again, Loki's shining green eyes bore into the memory like a blazing inferno, melting all rationality. He'd looked at her with determination smoldering in his eyes. Gemma couldn't help but think that someone with that much raw emotion would just leave her here to die. It was all she had to cling to, nevertheless.
Blood ran down her body from countless gaping wounds. She was feeling dizzy and nauseous from the pain. Her throat was dry as paper and her stomach was empty and shrunken; it had been nearly two days since Thanos had fed her, and even then only a small glass of water and stale bread.
A particularly fierce monster latched onto her leg and hauled itself up her body despite her attempts to shake it off. To her horror it sunk it's teeth into the soft skin of her belly and began to tear out chunks of dripping red meat. Gemma's scream died on her lips as she lost consciousness, thinking only one thing: I ought to be dead. Let me die!
O o o
When Gemma woke up she found her wounds to be patched up and nearly healed. The better to do it all over again.
She opened her eyes and peered into the darkness. An evil laugh sounded in her ear. Thanos.
She snapped her head around to look at him.
"You evil son of a bitch! Let me go!" she screamed, finding her will power suddenly renewed.
Gemma swung her fists at Thanos, only hitting his heavily armored chest. He chuckled and sidestepped her weakening flurry of attacks.
"Calm down, my precious little gem," he murmured, caressing her face with his gnarled hands.
Gemma flinched back, fighting to keep down the bile that was threatening to rise from her empty stomach.
"Don't. Touch. Me!" she spat through gritted teeth.
Thanos laughed again but he consented to her wish and withdrew, smiling darkly.
"I want to introduce you to someone, Gemma," he said.
Gemma gulped down a knot of dread but didn't reply.
Thanos' grin widened at her show of fear.
"Come, My Lady," he murmured with a deep bow, his eyes glinted with expectance.
Gemma felt the presence of Lady Death, (for it was she who Thanos called upon) before seeing her. A unearthly chill filled Gemma's heart with fear.
Then Lady Death materialized before her very eyes. Gemma couldn't fight back the scream that escaped her lips, echoing through the desolate land.
Lady Death stood at least 6 feet tall, draped in black lace. Her skin was pale and waxen; sunken cheeks and the worst part? Her eyes were empty black pits; soulless. A corpse. She opened her thin lips and let out a salutary laugh.
"This is the girl?" she mused, addressing Thanos though her eyes were on Gemma.
"Yes, my Lady!" Thanos quipped, looking excited.
Lady Death placed a cold hand on Gemma's face, peering into her eyes.
"Ah, yes. Perfect!" Lady Death breathed with excitement. "She has a strong will. I like that," she murmured, bringing her lips down to Gemma's exposed neck and placing them to a stretch of skin just above the MFB cuff in a kiss. Gemma winced and tried to pull away but it was useless. "We'll have to break it, of course," Lady Death continued. She nipped Gemma's neck, hard enough to draw blood. With a ruff, catlike tongue she licked it away, smiling darkly. "Ah, delicious!"
"Who are you?" Gemma gasped in a mixture of pain and shock.
"Death… Lady Death," was the reply.
"What do you want with me?"
"Oh, just your body!" laughed Lady Death.
Gemma recoiled in fear, her mouth quivering.
"Don't be such a prude, mortal! Besides, that's not what I meant," Lady Death admonished. "I want to, hmm… for lack of a better word: I wish to inhabit your skin."
Gemma let out a breathy sound of terror and shrank back from Lady Death's soulless gaze.
"Get away from me, you bitch!" Gemma cried, but it was weak and she knew it.
"I shall break your will and eat your damned soul!" Lady Death cried. "And when your precious body is no more than an empty husk, void of life, I shall make it mine! And your beloved Prince Loki will learn the true meaning of pain."
"You're wrong!" Gemma spat. "You wont fucking break my goddamned will! You can't eat my fucking soul! And you will not lay one of your ugly-ass hands on Loki, you filthy bitch!"
Now it was Lady Death's turn to look surprised. Apparently little Gemma was stronger than they had originally planned for. Lady Death turned to face Thanos who was frowning.
"How long do we have?" she whispered.
"Three days," Thanos replied gruffly.
Lady Death nodded. "See to it that she's inhabitable in that time. Or I will make you mine," she hissed.
Thanos nodded. "Yes, My Lady," he murmured, dropping into a bow. But Lady Death had already vanished into thin air.
Thanos raised his eyes to look at Gemma and a cruel smile formed on his twisted face.
"I'm going to destroy you, bitch."
O o o
Loki
"Brother? What is the meaning of this?" Thor asked, looking at the inky word on the page.
H-E-L-P, it's word meaning to assist. Loki thought sarcastically. He blew a stream of air from his nose in an angry huff and pulled the paper back to him, positioning the pen to write some more.
'We need to steal the Tesseract and deliver it to Thanos.'
Thor's jaw dropped open when he read the statement.
"What? No, Loki! That's insane! Thanos? What? Just-"
Loki wrote something else. Thor's eyes scanned the page as he took in Loki's scribbling handwriting.
'He has Gemma, from your precious SHEILD. If I fail to bring the Tesseract to him she will die and it will be my fault. We have three days.'
"Gemma Shepherd? Why?"
'I don't know.'
"Nay, Loki, tis impossible! You can not take the Tesseract to our enemy!"
'No, you're right; I'm powerless to do a damned thing. But you, on the other hand; you can do it.'
Thor frowned. "Nay, tis certain death! If Thanos gets his hands on the Tesseract we shall all be smote!" Thor reasoned, shaking his golden head.
Loki scowled and scribbled his reply.
'We need a plan then. Help me, Thor, like when we were young. Help me!'
Thor started into Loki's eyes and for the first time the latter did not draw back into himself. Loki had come to the decision that like it or not, he had no choice other than to trust Thor; he was, after all dependent on the guy, bound to his every wish for Odin's sake!
At last Thor nodded slowly.
"I have an idea, Brother."
0 0 0
It was late in the day when the two of them went over their final plans one last time. The two were in Thor's privet chambers, the better for the secrecy of adopting their plan.
"So you distract the guards, cause some old-time mischief while I break into the treasury. I take the Infinity Gauntlet and the Tesseract and then we go, together," Thor looked severely into Loki's gaunt face, (they'd argued the fact for hours). "I wear the Gauntlet and hide, invisible while you pretend to offer up the Tesseract to Thanos. I sneak up and slay him from behind and we free Gemma!"
Thor looked at Loki for conformation and Loki nodded solemnly, looking waxen in the light of the moon.
"We have a long day ahead of us, brother. It is time for sleep," Thor said after a moment of silence.
Thor was taking a huge risk, but his alliances lay with his family and with SHEILD, and the matter of Gemma was directly related to both. If this was what it took for Loki to feel loved, than so be it, Thor was prepared.
AN: Hey guys! Thanks for reviewing and reading, as always!
I just wanted to say something here. Look, I am trying my hardest to update as fast as I can, and I promise, I am not going to drop this story. Encouraging me or politely asking me to update is a heck lot more efficient than demanding it. I want to make it clear that I am not mad at any of you. I love all of you, you're the best and I am so so so happy that you're reading my story and liking it. And look, I'm updating faster already (: