Numbers 13:31-33
A/N: Okay, now before you read I should tell you I intended this chapter to be quite a bit longer and more to actually occur, but considering how long its been since I last updated, I felt you deserved to have something now. So I've pushed the rest of what I was going to include back and it will be included in the next chapter instead, its amazing really what I intended to cover in just one or two chapters is now going to stretch over at least five, but hopefully no more than that as there's a lot more I want to include before I end this story, and I don't want it to go on to long in case I loose either the plot or your interest.
So like I said this chapter is more of a filler, a lot will happen in the next one, but this one is sort of to help you manage with the long wait between them (sorry I'm a quite busy this time of year). As such I hope you like it, but I don't expect the greatest response for it.
Still enjoy:
Chapter Fourteen: A Wake Up Call
Bernadette groaned slightly as she sat down, her wounds may be gone now, but the bruises were still there and her body still ached. Penny sat opposite her slowly sipping her tea. Although the exact details were still fuzzy, it had been quite obvious to her that clearly Sheldon and Amy had found Penny first, then found where Azazel had dumped her and managed to heal her before she died; evidently the strain had knocked Sheldon out cold.
All of that was perfectly clear. What was not clear was why Amy was also lying on the floor unconscious. And why Penny did not know who she was. "So you honestly have no idea who I am?" She asked.
Penny shook her head, "Never seen you before in my life. Or maybe I have, I don't know, I don't remember. I don't remember anything really. She said I had been mind wiped by a demon, well naturally I thought she was mad and then all this happened..." Penny just trailed off; she looked down at her tea. "Are you sure there isn't anything stronger?"
"No I'm afraid there isn't," Bernadette replied. "Well how did I get here?"
Penny looked up at her, she shivered slightly. "I don't know really," she replied, "One minute I was alone, the next the three of you were here. He was carrying you, you were pretty messed up and I mean messed up in worst sense possible; you looked like you had been hit by a truck, repeatedly. What happened?"
Now it was Bernadette's turn to shiver, her hands shook and her tea spilled out on to the floor. "I would rather not talk about it. What happened next?"
"Well he lied you down and took a knife. I assumed he was going to kill you, so I interfered, but he stopped me." Penny stopped suddenly, she paused for a moment staring into empty space "He threw me across the room; he literally lifted me with one hand and threw me like a football. I mean I already knew he was strong, but seriously how can anything be that strong? Then of course I guess he is a…"
Once again Penny just trailed off. "What happened next?" Bernadette asked.
Penny paused, "I must have got knocked out cold, cause next thing I remember is waking up and he was standing over the two of you. Only now…he…he now had wings. Big white wings and they were out stretched. His eyes were glowing bright white and I mean literally pure white, just like his wings. A strange energy was pulsing up his arms and he was chanting something, some sort of spell over and over again. It looked like something out of the bible."
"Well what happened next?" Bernadette asked. But before Penny could reply, a groaning got both their attention. Turning they saw Sheldon slowly rising up from where he had fell, as he moved he staggered slightly and almost fell over again.
"Sheldon," Bernadette cried. She ran over to her saviour, stopping just before him. "Are you okay?"
Sheldon groaned, his eyes were clearly out of focus, he staggered slightly to the side as he tried move. "I'll be fine, just help me find a seat." He managed.
Bernadette looked at him, she suffered from no delusions, there was no way she was strong enough to help him along, he would squash her with one arm. She turned to Penny. "You heard him, give him a hand."
Penny gulped; she hesitated before slowly edging over towards Sheldon. Uncertain she walked around to his side, kneeling ever so slightly to let him rest his arm on her shoulder. Sheldon happily leaned on her. Not expecting him to move so quick Penny strained under the new weight. To counter it she quickly straightened up, but all this did was knock her backwards, straight into Sheldon's wing. The unexpected sensation caused her to practically leap forward. Sheldon who was still leaning on her was pulled along with her.
Startled by all this he pulled away, and instead of falling backwards, somehow he managed to flip to the side. Sheldon went crashing down into one of the chairs and Penny shot to the other side of the room. She cowered there just watching him, in a way that could only be described as fearful. Sheldon however didn't notice, he just sat there, his eyes still spinning. However he was clearly not comfortable, to take his body his wings were both stretched out over the back of the chair.
He didn't seem to care though and then he looked up at Bernadette. "How long was I unconscious for?"
"A few hours. Sheldon what happened? What did you do?"
Sheldon groaned he dipped his head again. Only to slowly rise back up again, "Where's Amy?" he asked, now there was a tone of urgency in his voice.
Bernadette paused, and gestured to the side. Sheldon's head slowly turned. Sure enough there was Amy, still lying by the side of the sofa were she had collapsed a few hours earlier. Sheldon practically jumped to his feet. But he moved to fast and instead came plummeting head first at the floor.
Bernadette had to dive to the side to avoid him. Sheldon slowly pushed himself back up, and staggered towards Amy, he collapsed down by her side. "Don't worry, she's fine, she's just asleep." Bernadette called.
Slowly Sheldon pushed himself back up, then equally slowly he lifted his girlfriend up in his arms, before gently setting her down onto the sofa. He placed his arms on her neck to check her pulse. He then slumped there on the floor. Bernadette slowly walked over to him.
"Are you okay?" she asked.
"Fine, I just need a few minutes, I'll be fine."
Hesitantly Bernadette backed away; Sheldon looked round at his sleeping girlfriend. He didn't say anything, but from the look in his eyes it was clear he was either afraid or feeling guilty.
Bernadette was full of questions, but Sheldon was clearly preoccupied with Amy. It was clear that she would have to wait till Amy woke up. Looking at her, Bernadette couldn't help but notice Amy was shaking slightly. Looking at her Bernadette couldn't help but wonder what Amy was dreaming about, because it didn't look that pleasant.
Amy was standing in the darkness. Literally it was black all around her. She could barely see more than a few feet ahead of her. The area seemed empty, but Amy knew she wasn't alone. Slowly she walked forward, uncertain in this strange landscape. And then she heard it.
It was the sound of wings, giant wings flapping. And then a cold laugh rang out through the area. Amy began to walk a bit faster, but the sound began to get louder, as if it was getting closer. Amy broke into a full out run. Through the blackness she ran, having no idea where she was going or even what direction she was running.
Whatever it was, it was chasing her, Amy had no idea what it was that was after her. But she knew one thing, it was evil. She didn't know how or why, her logical brain was telling her this all made no sense, but somehow she knew that behind her was true evil. And it wanted her.
Amy continued to run, the blackness was even darker now, she couldn't even see her own hand in front of her face, what was all this? Suddenly Amy tripped; she went flying forward and landed with a splash. She had no idea what she landed in, it was to dark to see but whatever it was it was wet and it was sticky. Amy tried to pull herself back up, but it seemed that this strange substance was sucking her down.
Whatever this liquid was, it was vicious and it was heavy. Struggle as she might Amy couldn't get free. The sounds were getting louder, whatever it was it wasn't far behind now. And then the sounds stopped and silence was left. Still struggling to pull herself free from whatever this was Amy called out "Whose there?"
There was a pause and suddenly a cold laughter rang out throughout the air, a laugh that got louder and louder. Amy winched from the pain of the noise and all around her the darkness suddenly started to crack. The Cracks grew all around her; Amy stared in amazement, as white cracks appeared in the blackness, growing in size all around her.
Suddenly they all cracked and the shards of blackness fell down around her. Amy huddled down close as the black shards collapsed to the floor. Several cut her as they fell, causing Amy to yell in pain. Slowly she opened her eyes; she was in her living room. Amy looked around confused, and then she noticed the figure. There standing by the wall was Sheldon.
He stood with his back to her. Amy smiled, "Sheldon," she called. He did not reply. Confused Amy tried again, "Sheldon? Sheldon, Sheldon!" all these were met with the exact same response, none. Now really confused, Amy got to her feet and walked over to him.
"Sheldon what's the matter? Why aren't you reply…" before Amy finished he suddenly spun round. Amy jumped back screaming in horror. It was Sheldon's body, but his face was gone. A pale hole was left where it should have been.
"W…what are you?" Amy cried, the faceless creature did not reply, it just stood there silently. And then suddenly it began lumbering towards her. "Get away from me." Amy cried as she crawled backwards, the faceless creature continued to lumber after her, its arms out stretched, its hands poised at level with her neck.
Still crawling, Amy's back collided against the wall. She tried to get to her feet, but the figure was already standing above her. There was pause, and Amy couldn't help but stare the blank emptiness that was his face or rather lack of one. Slowly the figured leaned in, his arms still out stretched, he was still reaching for Amy's neck.
Amy tensed up against the wall, trying to get as far away from the figure as she could. Suddenly the figure vanished; a pile of dust was left where he had stood. Amy stared in horror, what was this? What was happening? And suddenly the laughter broke out again, long and loud. Echoing through the air, it was so loud Amy was forced to clap her hands over her ears.
Suddenly her far wall shattered, and Amy stared at the sight that was revealed. She was looking back into the rows and wings of a theatre, a theatre packed to the brim with horrible, disgusting monsters, indescribable beasts, conjured from your darkest nightmares, they were all laughing and the ones with eyes were staring at her.
Amy tried to run, but suddenly there were ropes around her legs, she fell over onto the floor. Now there were also ropes around her arms. Suddenly the ropes pulled, hoisting her back up. As Amy rose, suddenly another rope pulled and she began to dance. Somewhere in the background music began to play, and Amy found herself doing ballet. She didn't want to, but the ropes were pulling her like a puppet on a string. No that was exactly what she was, a puppet on a string. She struggled but it was all in vain. Seeing this, the monstrous crowd was now howling with laughter at her.
Eventually the dance ended, and Amy was allowed to relax, she slumped back panting for breath. What the hell was going on? How did she get here? Where was Here? What was here? What was going on? Amy was so caught up in her thoughts that for a moment she didn't realise she was rising into the air. The crowd began to jeer once again.
Frantically Amy tried to break free, but it was all in vain, she kept on rising, up and up, further and further. Looking down the floor was practically miles away now. She was beginning to feel nauseous when suddenly a giant hand grabbed her.
Amy screamed as the hand continued to lift her, she tried to break free, but the hard held her tight. And then it raised her before the face of her captor, and Amy could only stare in disbelief. "Sheldon?" she mummed in shock.
And sure enough it was Sheldon, if Sheldon was about a hundred feet tall. He held her in his hands like a doll; she was barely the size of his hand. He effortlessly restrained her. His face was shrouded in darkness. "Sheldon what are you doing?" Amy screamed.
Sheldon let out a great booming laugh, it felt like a hurricane to Amy. "Just playing, Amy." He cried. There was a flash of lightning. And in that split second, Amy could have sworn Sheldon's face transformed, for a moment it wasn't his, it was Asmodeus's. And then it was back to him.
"Put me down," Amy screamed, "Please, please put me down." Amy was on the brink of tears by this point. What was he doing? How could he treat her so badly? This wasn't like him, it couldn't be, it just couldn't be.
Sheldon nodded, "But of course Amy, but of course." He turned and walked over to a giant cupboard, pulling it open; Amy found herself staring in horror at mountains of other girls, all scattered and mangled, in randomly placed piles. And they all resembled her. All had long brown hair, distinguished features, slightly pale skin and wearing modesty protecting clothes. All of them where just lying there motionless. Literally hundreds of different girls. And all of them were nothing more than skin and bones. Lying there, starving and dehydrated, slowly dying, forgotten about.
"No," Amy sobbed, "No, Sheldon please, I'm begging you, don't put me in there. Please not that, anything but that. Sheldon please, no."
Sheldon shook his head, "Sorry Amy, but you know how it is, you can't play with one toy for too long or you get bored of it. Well bye." And with that he tossed her into the cupboard. Amy collapsed onto a pile of barely living skeletons. Frantically she tried to run for the door. But it slammed shut before her, leaving Amy in darkness.
Falling to her knees, Amy could do nothing more than sob. Then suddenly there was a great rumbling and floor gave way, and Amy was left falling, falling, falling… into the abyss.
Crash, Amy sat up. She was lying on the floor by the sofa. And what's more she was lying on top of Sheldon. Her boyfriend stared at her bewildered. Amy jumped to her feet and backed away, still shaking from the events that had just occurred. It took her a few more seconds before she realised she had had a nightmare.
Startled she collapsed into a chair. It had all felt so real. Amy was prone to night terrors, especially when away from home, but this; this was beyond anything that she had ever experienced in her life. It shook her all over. Sheldon stared at Amy in confusion and worry, what was the matter with her?
Between Sheldon's fixture on Amy and Amy's own shock it took them several minutes to notice Bernadette was also shaking. She had also collapsed onto another chair and was shuddering; her eyes wide open in horror.
"Bernadette," Amy shouted, her eyes catching sight of her friend, "what's the matter?"
"I don't know," she almost cried, "I just feel so…so…" she stopped suddenly, and her expression changed to confusion. Amy stared at her equally confused, but as she did something seemed to be happening. Sheldon's eyes darted between the two women with equal curiosity.
Amy was about to speak when Bernadette spoke. "I don't know, I just feel strange, like I've woken up from a nightmare, but can't remember what I was dreaming about."
Amy starred at Bernadette, her mouth dropped open in surprise. "How did you know I was going…"
"I…" Bernadette began before pausing suddenly in shock, "I…I…I don't know. I just…did?" she managed, "what is happening to me?"
Suddenly Bernadette leapt up from where she was sitting, as she did Amy felt a sudden build of aggression filling her body, it took all her restraint to stop her duplicating her friends action. She had to stop, she had to think, she was her own person, she was her own person, she was her own…
At that moment Bernadette accidentally stood on one of broken pieces of the coffee table, which no one had gotten round to clearing up yet. She let out a scream as her barefoot touched the sharp wooden point. At the exact same moment Amy let out an equally loud scream and grasped her own foot in pain. Bernadette fell backwards back into her seat; she was now staring at Amy. Emotions sped through the two of them like a switchboard.
"But…What…How…What is going on?" Bernadette cried.
Amy however turned to Sheldon, "Sheldon," she said almost terrified, "what did you do to us?"
Sheldon who up to this point, had been watching quietly, just slumped back into his seat. "What I said I would, I saved Bernadette." He replied, his tone was calm but his eyes showed worry.
"Saved me?" Bernadette asked confused, "saved me how?"
"I healed all your physical wounds, but you had by that point already given up the will to live and in your fragile condition that meant you were going to die regardless, so to save you I had to give you a reason to live."
Amy stared at her boyfriend, suspicion mixing with uncertainty. "Sheldon what did you do to me?"
Sheldon slowly turned slightly so he was now only facing Amy. "Like I said," he replied calmly but at the same time guiltily, "I needed to give her a reason to live, so I touched your souls."
"You did what?" Bernadette screamed in shock and horror.
"It was the only way to save you," Sheldon replied. "The only way to give you the will to live was for you to take some of Amy's."
"I…I…" Amy tried to say, but she found herself incapable of distinguishing her own feelings from Bernadette's.
"Well what's happened now?" Bernadette asked, "Why are we…mirroring each other?"
Sheldon sighed, "When you both touched souls, it linked the two of you. Sort of like hooking a person up to someone else's heart, so that when their own one gives out, blood continues to pump through there body. It succeeded in saving your life. It just, unfortunately has few side effects."
"Side effects?" they both shouted in unison.
"Yes, you're linked in a way that strong emotional, mental and even sometimes physical sensations transcend and are shared between the two of them." Sheldon said, apparently missing their anger.
"But…But…but…I don't want to be linked." Bernadette gasped, "No offence intended," she said quickly turning to Amy.
"None taken," Amy replied, she didn't enjoy the link either.
"This is horrible, I feel like…like…well everything is duplicate, I can't tell if these are my own feelings and thoughts or Amy's."
"Can you fix this?" Amy asked.
Sheldon looked at her, "there is a metaphysical connection between your souls it is what is keeping Bernadette alive for the moment, if I was to sever it, it would kill her."
"So we're going to be like this forever?" Bernadette gasped; she began to tear up slightly. As she did so did Amy. Neither was normally so emotional, but they were not used to feeling emotions in duplicate.
"Of course not," Sheldon replied. "Souls can't be linked permanently, or at least it shouldn't be possible, I think? Regardless, once you no longer need the link it will disappear."
"But, but I don't want to die now." Bernadette said, "If the link is only supposed to remain as long as I need Amy's will to live, why hasn't it gone."
Sheldon paused, before finally shrugging his shoulders, "I don't know, Metaphysical embodiments of thine own self are complicated things, neither physical nor corporal, but neither is it energy. What it is, honestly I have no idea." He paused; the others stared at him blankly. "It might take a bit longer to wear off than I expected." He quickly added, "But it will wear off."
There was a pause, both Amy and Bernadette sat there in silence, the buzz shared between their minds was thankfully dulled by the lack of strong stimulations, but they could still feel its presence. It was odd sensation, it was almost like getting up in the middle of night and find yourself standing in a room that was is dark you couldn't even see your own hand in front of your face and so silent you could hear your own breathing, but despite all this you could somehow tell that there was someone else, there standing in the darkness.
Sheldon groaned slightly as he straightened up, "are you okay?" Amy asked.
Sheldon turned to face her, "I'm fine, just feeling a few after effects."
"After effects?" Bernadette said, suddenly filled with worry towards Sheldon.
Sheldon sighed, "When I touched your souls it completed the circuit and all the power of them both shot through me. It was like being electrocuted, only without electricity."
Amy looked at her boyfriend worried, "Sheldon," Amy asked suspiciously, "when you said that it was dangerous, did you just mean that grabbing the souls was dangerous for us?"
Sheldon paused and hesitated, "no," he finally said. Amy stared waiting for him to continue, but he just stood there in silence.
"Who else was it dangerous for?" Bernadette asked, feeling both Amy's worry and suspicion.
Sheldon sighed, "I suppose all three of us. Touching your souls was, well to put it simply it was like trying to grab the plutonium out of nuclear reactor during the middle of the reaction. If a single thing had gone wrong then it would have killed me. If I had done a signal thing wrong it would have ripped Amy's soul from her body and that would have killed Amy, and if that had happened it would have also led to you dying."
Amy pauses trying to think what to say next, "well…well…why didn't you say so?"
"Because she was dying, we didn't have time. I told you that it was very risky, and you said it couldn't be worse than her dying, and I agreed with you, so I took the one chance we had to save her. And it all worked out, all three of us are still alive. So what's the problem?"
Amy paused unsure, he did have a point, it had worked out and they were still alive. However at that moment something occurred to Bernadette.
"Sheldon," she asked curiously. "You said that when the souls touched, the energy coursed through you. In that case why aren't you also linked to us?"
Amy paused unsure, the linkage between them was a strange process; it was slower now, now that they were calmer, it was like her brain needed time to put what Bernadette was thinking together before it became synonymous with her own thoughts and feelings. But after a few seconds it made perfect sense to her and she was left with an equal curiosity.
"You mean why is it that when I touched your souls, my own soul wasn't dragged into the metaphysical circuit and is thus now trapped in this same linkage that your both going through right now?" Sheldon asked.
"Yes," Amy replied, already knowing Bernadette's answer.
Sheldon sighed, "It's very simple," he replied, "I don't have a soul."
Silence fell, Amy felt confused, but Bernadette was shocked. And so, in a few moments so was Amy.
"You don't have a soul?" Bernadette practically whispered.
Sheldon nodded, "never did, Angels don't need souls and so I don't have one."
"But…But…But…What does that exactly mean?" Amy asked.
Sheldon shrugged, "don't honestly know, for you, your soul is the sum of what you are. It appears I don't need a sum of myself, it's not very clear I'm afraid."
"But if you don't have a soul, then your never be judged." Bernadette practically gulped. "Sheldon, if you don't have a soul what happens if you die?"
Sheldon looked at her, his eyes turned almost empty for a moment, "Oblivion," he replied calmly, "I will simply seize to exist, when my body and mind turn to dust I will be no more. There is no heaven or hell for me, just this life; I have nothing to come afterwards."
"I…I… I'm sorry." Bernadette said. Her voice was calm, but at that moment Amy was overcome with sadness. It took her a few moments to understand why, but as her mind put the pieces were put together it became quite clear to her. As he had no soul, he had no hope at salvation, at paradise; he was doomed to nothing, simply nothing.
"Never mind that now," Sheldon said, "we have more important things to worry about. Where are Leonard and Howard?"
Bernadette's eyes opened wide in horror, somehow in all the confusion she had forgotten. How could she have forgotten her own husband? As she silently reprehended herself, Amy was hit by a burst of guilt.
"I…I…I don't know," Bernadette said, "I don't know where he kept us, he just flashed us in and chained us to the wall. Oh my god, they must think I'm dead." As the realisation hit her, she felt a great pain in her heart.
"Well what was it like?" Sheldon asked.
"It was an old building, it was quite large, I'm not sure what sort of building it was meant to be. I'm afraid I didn't see very much other than the room where we were being held and this other one where he brought us on one occasion." Bernadette said, she was feeling quite flustered at this point.
"He?" Sheldon said, "Bernadette, who was he? Which demon?"
Bernadette looked up at Sheldon, her eyes began to tear up, her emotions where jumbled in ways she couldn't understand. Her own guilt and shock, coupled by it being magnified due to sharing all her feelings with Amy had left her in a state. She just couldn't answer.
But she didn't need to, cause at that moment Amy suddenly shuddered, a sense of horror and pain spreading through her, washing away all other feelings, and leaving nothing but one name, one horrible name. "Azazel." She mummed, "Azazel."
Sheldon slowly turned to face her, "what did you say?" he asked, in hopeful disbelief.
"Azazel." Amy said, "It's all she can think about."
Sheldon turned to face Bernadette, "is she right?" he tried one last time.
Bernadette just nodded.
Sheldon collapsed in onto the sofa, "why did it have to be him?" he groaned.
"Is Azazel worse than Mammon or Asmodues?" Amy asked. She could feel Bernadette's pain, but she couldn't understand it.
"Worse?" Sheldon asked, "I suppose it depends on your definition of worse. Azazel is more powerful than Mammon and possibly Asmodues, it is also debatable which over which one of them is the cruellest; however in terms of sheer damage he's been responsible for he outstrips the other two by miles. Azazel is responsible for so much evil and destruction that no one, aside from Satan himself, is comparable to him. And to top it all off he is the commander of the Se'irim, you remember them those hideous ones that resembled goats?"
Amy nodded, the sights she had seen that night would haunt her to her grave.
"Amongst demons there considered the elites, well one regiment of elites that is, but still beyond your regular demon in terms of both power and sadism. There's not many of them on earth thankfully, perhaps a dozen or so, but all of them are going to be with their master. And I'm willing to assume Azazel summoned at least a few more up to serve him."
"Well what do we do?" Amy asked.
Sheldon paused, "the only thing we can do, find out where Azazel is keeping Leonard and Howard, break them out, and then run like heck and don't stop running till we get to somewhere where the demons can't follow."
Before anyone else could speak there was a sudden sneeze. It was only then that they remembered Penny, slowly all three heads turned. There was Penny still standing the background watching them silently. Shaken further by the events that had just occurred.
"Penny?" Sheldon asked, slowly he walked towards her. Penny just stared at him, her eyes fixed on his beautiful white wings. "Penny?" Sheldon repeated, this time louder.
Penny eyes shifted to Sheldon's face she stared at him in a combination of shock and fear. "Angel." She whispered.
"Your…you're an angel," Sheldon paused in space in front of her. Suddenly the colour drained from Penny's face, "I tried to assault an angel." She mummed to herself. Sheldon tried to speak, but before he could, Penny suddenly darted past him to the other end of the room.
"I'm sorry, I mean… Oh damm… Sorry, I mean…" Penny spluttered, confused and uncertain Sheldon just stared at her, Penny backed away. Slowly he began to walk towards her. Amy and Bernadette could only stare themselves, neither having any idea whether to interject or not.
As Sheldon slowly walked towards her, Penny backed into the wall. Sheldon stopped in front of her, Penny continued to stare before once again beginning to splutter words. "I'm really sorry, I wouldn't have… I mean… I didn't know…Oh god…Oh no…I'm sorry, I…I..I…please don't smite me."
Sheldon's head swivelled round to the girls, and gave them, a help me expression. Realising what he meant, they both rushed forward. "Here I'll explain it you," Bernadette said reassuringly, she took her friends hand and led her back over to the sofa.
Sheldon turned to Amy, "How are you feeling?" he asked.
Amy looked at him for a moment, she still felt a bit shaken and uncertain, but it was best not to worry him, "I'm fine now, just a bit shaken about this link, you're sure it will wear off soon?"
"Souls don't come in pairs, they only way for them to stay link is if someone was to hold them together and that would most likely kill who ever tried it."
Amy paused and looked back at Penny, she hated seeing her best friend like that. As she thought, Bernadette paused for a moment and looked back at her, before turning back to Penny. Amy then turned back to Sheldon. "Can you honestly fix her?"
Sheldon hesitated, "truthfully, I don't know. I think I can, she's clearly the victim of some of sort of demonic curse. I'm going to have to do some more research though; breaking curses is not something I've ever tried before or even had any intention to."
Sheldon reached into his pocket and pulled out the papers, he then walked over and picked up the very same knife he had dropped several hours earlier. "I've got some reading to do;" He said turning to Amy "In the meantime you try and see if you can figure out where Azazel was holding Bernadette. That way we can leave, just as soon as I fix Penny."
"Do you need her?" Amy asked.
"If I'm going to have to face Azazel and his army, I'll take all the help I can get." Sheldon replied.
Amy nodded, Sheldon departed. Amy paused to take one final look after him, for some reason she felt almost like shuddering. Brushing it off she turned and walked off to get started on her work.
As the water dripped around them, for the first time in several hours Leonard raised his head, he had been trying to sleep, but every time he closed his eyes, all he could see was Azazel torturing Bernadette. He still honestly couldn't believe that she was truly gone; it was just such a horrible thing to watch. And it was all his fault, if he hadn't been for him she would never have been caught by Azazel in the first place. Why had he been so stupid? Why was he so stupid?
It was then he realised that Howard had finally stopped crying. Swivelling his head, he could just make out Howards shape in the dark room, he was hanging motionless.
"Hey buddy," Leonard said quietly.
There was no reply. Leonard hesitated, "How are you doing?" he finally asked, his quavering voice betraying his uncertainty.
There was a slight groan, and then in strained voice Howard replied. "I've been better."
"I'm sorry Howard, I really am."
"It's not your fault, I don't blame you. I just can't believe that she's…" Howard just trailed off. The sound of sobbing resumed.
Leonard fell silent, and waited. Sure enough Howard stopped crying again. Leonard still waited several moments before trying again. "I…" he just trailed himself, what could he honestly say? It seemed unlikely that there luck was going to improve any time soon. How could he say things would get better? They were mostly likely going to share the same fate that is if they didn't starve to death. It had several days now since they had last eaten.
Howard however spoke, "You want to know something?" He said a hint of anger in his voice.
Leonard didn't reply, from the sudden change in tone he could tell he had stumbled onto something that was going to at least temporary distract him from his pain, as such it was best just to let him talk.
"Right now, I really hate Sheldon. And I really mean hate. If he was here right now, I would…I would I would just keep punching him until my fists bled."
Again Leonard didn't reply. He disagreed with Howard's sentiments, but it was better to let him be angry, let him focus on that, rather on the sadness.
"I swear, if by some miracle we ever get out of here, I'll hunt him down. I will and when I find him I'll kill him. I don't care if I have to put a harpoon through his heart, I'll end him. This is his fault, all of it."
For a moment he seemed to be sieving with anger, but then Howards tone changed again, once again it slipped back into misery.
"Why did he abandon us, Leonard? What did we ever do to him? Why doesn't he care about us? Why wasn't he here to stop him doing that to her? Why did he let her…"
Howard just trailed off, once again he hung his head, but this time he didn't start crying, he just hung there silently.
Leonard was about to speak when suddenly the door flew open and a demon marched in. Before anyone could say anything he undid Leonard's chains and grabbed him, then once again they were in another room. The demon vanished leaving Leonard alone.
Looking around Leonard realised he was back in that room Azazel had brought them into some time earlier, it was difficult to judge time when imprisoned in a dark room. Looking around, he quickly realised what was going to happen, he would have run, but there were no doors. Standing there he quickly told himself he would be okay; he just had to stop Azazel getting into his head.
Slowly he walked forward, the table and chairs were gone now, and the room was mostly empty. The only thing left were the portraits, but looking at them made Leonard feel nauseous. There was no sign of Azazel, but he had learned from there encounter that night, that that meant nothing.
As such he just stood there waiting for the demon to begin, but nothing happened silence fell in the room. Leonard waited, and waited and waited, but still nothing happened. Eventually he called out "are you going to get started or should I go back to the chains?"
There was a cold chuckling sound, "Why you in such a hurry?" a voice called out. "We have all the time in world. You're not going anywhere anytime again. Now please, SIT!"
Leonard suddenly shot backwards onto a chair that was sure hadn't been there before. Still chuckling, suddenly Azazel appeared in front of him, right of thin air, like Cheshire cat of all things. "So Leonard tell me how's your little friend holding up?" Azazel asked with a noticeable hint of glee.
Leonard didn't reply, "Oh what's the matter, lost your tongue? Come on now let's talk?"
Leonard tried to get up, but Azazel casually pushed him down. "What's your hurry to leave, it's not like you've got a girl to get back any more. Oh sorry to soon?" He let out a cold laugh.
Leonard starred at him in horror, anger boiling through him, after all he had done to them he thought that this was funny? "You, you, you're the most horrible, disgusting, perverted sick monstrosity to ever walk the earth." He spat.
Azazel let out another chuckle, "my, my, aren't you the little charmer, I guess that's why you've got such a hot girlfriend, sorry had a hot girlfriend." Then suddenly Azazel's face turned serious, he suddenly swung the back of his hand into Leonard. The force of the blow knocked the whole chair over. "But personally I hate kiss ups."
Groaning Leonard scrambled forward and tried to get back to his feet, but Azazel suddenly stamped his foot down on Leonards back, knocking him to the floor. "Besides you shouldn't be so modest in your praise, after all we both know who's really to blame for all this."
"You did it," Leonard shot back.
Azazel pushed down harder, crushing the air out of Leonard's lungs. "Who led here into this situation in the first place?" he asked. "Me, I'm just a monster, I can't be blamed for doing what it is my nature to do," he continued, "would you blame a lion, if you walked into its den and it ate you? Or would you blame the fool who led you in?"
Leonard didn't reply, smiling Azazel took his foot of his back, he flipped his wrist and Leonard was pulled to his feet. "But that's not important, right now I want to go back to something you said in are last discussion. When I brought up going to visit your mother you tried to threaten me. Now I can't help but wondering why."
Leonard didn't reply, he didn't know where this was going. "Now, I'm not going to suggest you don't love your own mother, I'm not even going to inquire into why you love her. What interests me is the fact you were willing to try and take a stand against me, despite knowing for well you were hopelessly out of your depth."
"So Azazel questioned, there are only two possibly explanations, do you love your mother so much that you are willing to die to protect her? Or is it…you know what I'll come back to that later, I have to know why do you love your mother?"
Leonard looked up at him, "She's my mother," he replied.
Azazel chuckled, slowly he walked around Leonard, "now Leonard," he continued, "I admit I don't know much about that sort of thing, I never had a mother after all, only a father. But from what I do know, I have to ponder is that enough?"
"Why shouldn't it be?" Leonard asked.
"Well," Azazel began; he snapped his fingers and a pile of books appeared before him. "I've been doing a bit of homework on her, and after reading it all I can't help but wonder. Tell me Leonard have you ever read those books?"
Leonard hesitated, "some of them," he said. He was still uncertain where Azazel was going with this.
"I see, do you want to hear what they say?"
"No,"
"And why is that?"
"I…I know what they're about."
"Of course you do, you lived through there events didn't you?"
"Yes,"
"Tell me, you're the youngest of your family aren't you?"
"Yes?"
"Now why do you think your mother had you?"
"I…I don't know?"
"Did it ever occur to you, she engineered it all simply so she could have someone to experiment on?"
"…um…no"
"Don't try and lie to a demon, be honest with me, surely it must have crossed your mind at least once or twice."
"Well…maybe once… but it doesn't prove it."
"Did you ever ask her?"
"No,"
"Did you ever ask her about anything? Your problems? Your fears? Your insecurities?"
"No,"
"Cause you knew she would make you tell her all about them, then just write them down in a book. You were nothing more than a lab rat to her, you knew it then and you know it now, don't you?"
"Yes,"
Azazel chuckled, "so tell me Leonard, if you know that, why do you love your mother? She clearly doesn't love you."
"I…I…I don't know."
"Don't you? Tell me Leonard are you sure you honestly love her at all?"
"…Yes, yes I love my mother"
"Really? Are you sure? Do you really love her or has she just conditioned you, so that you feel an unconditional loyalty and inferiority towards her? And an almost obsessive need to earn her praise and respect? Now answer me honestly which is it?"
Leonard didn't reply.
"Thank you for being honest Leonard." Azazel replied, once again he walked around so he was no behind Leonard. Leonard could feel his hot breath on the back of his neck. "Now we've confirmed that, that begs a few more questions. Namely do you want to protect her because the conditionally is so deep that it overrides your desire to live or there another reason? Tell me Leonard would you consciously die so your mother could live."
"Well…I…I…"
"Even after all she's done to you? Like the time she forced you to give up your award because she considered it to similar to your brothers? Or the time she forced you to take those dance classes you hated, all so you would fail at the contest? Deciding your goals? Controlling your hobbies? Burning your possessions when she deemed you too old for them? Leonard your mother pretty much wrote your entire life for you, oh who am I kidding she still does, even now all that way away, everything you do is because of her, you are simply because she made you that way, all so it would agree with her theories. Your mother is a mad scientist. You know I'm right. She's an abomination. A monster. A indiscernible horror that lives under children's beds. Could you honestly give your life for such a creature, just because she gave birth to you? Could you?"
"No," Leonard shouted, before clasping his hand in front of his mouth.
Azazel leered down at him, "Well done Leonard, I know that must have been hard for you to say. But now that that is answered, we now have to wonder, in that case why did try and threaten me? If it wasn't for her, who was it for?"
Leonard didn't reply, he didn't like where this was going, but it was too late by now Azazel hadn't just gotten in to his mind, he had pretty much set up shop. Leonard was trapped, and could do nothing but go along for the ride.
"Who could it have been for? Your friends? Your girlfriend? No, no that would make you far too selfless, which we both know is a load of rubbish. No I think there is only one other answer left, tell me Leonard who is left when you take away all the others."
Leonard hesitated, he contemplated not replying, but the demons evil glare poured down on him, and all over he just wanted this horrible session to end. "Myself," he sadly said, his head hung low.
Azazel smiled coldly, "exactly, exactly, now how about we end on that note. I have work to get on with, but this was fun. And I want you to think all about this for are next session I'll see you then." Azazel snapped his fingers and a demon appeared before them. In an instant Leonard was gone. Silently he was dragged back to his cell. Still in silence, he stood there as the demon chained him back to the wall before disappearing.
In the darkness he was left there, Howard had apparently fallen asleep by this point, although from the sound of it, pleasant dreams were the furthest thing from his mind right now. So Leonard was left hanging there alone in the darkness. As he hung there he couldn't help but think about Azazel had said.
He tried to tell himself that it was all nonsense; the demon was just trying to make him more miserable for his own entertainment. But try as he might Leonard couldn't shake the thoughts, he had admitted to a few of them after all. Surely he wouldn't have done that if… no no, he couldn't let himself think like that, he couldn't. He had enough guilt already, he couldn't let the demon pile more on top of him, all he had to do was…
Was what? Now for the first time Leonard realised he honestly had no idea what he was going to do. Escape was impossible, the only chance he had was someone coming to rescue him, and no one knew he was here. He would have liked to have said he believed that Sheldon would rescue him, but honestly his hope was wading. He still didn't buy into Howards arguments he would abandon them.
Sure he was selfish and a bit of jerk, but he would never abandoned his friends, not in a situation this serious, underneath it all, he did care, he cared about everyone, he just didn't like to admit it. Leonard paused as he thought back to when he first realised that, it was back when he saved his life from that exploding rocket fuel all those years earlier. He could have left him to die a victim of his foolishness, it wasn't in any way his fault, but no he had risked his life to save Leonard, Nephilim or not, northing could survive that if it had gone of prematurely. No he cared, and he wouldn't abandon them to this fate.
However, although he believed he was searching, Leonard also knew he had to be a realist; it had been over a month since they last saw each other, back when he was forced to flee from the demons. Since that time they had travelled several miles, leaving no clues to where they were. And even if he did track them down, there was nothing to lead them to where ever they were now. Leonard was sure Sheldon was looking, he was probably searching now, but he would probably never find them.
And perhaps it was for the best that he didn't, this whole place was just one big trap with Azazel planned to spring. If Sheldon came, he would probably get trapped as well. And if he was taken by the demons, it was game over. He didn't want to think about what he would do about it; no it looked like death was the only way out for them. Leonard hated to admit it, but it was pointless trying to live in a fool's paradise, it was the fact he had done that that had gotten them into this mess in the first place. Feeling miserable, Leonard decided to try and get some sleep, knowing it wouldn't be any better in the morning.
Okay I hope there were something's in there that you enjoyed. Sorry its taking so long to write these chapters.
I hope to get the next chapter up quicker but I can't make any promises, and I intend a lot to happen in that one compared to this.
Please review.