Chapter 24. The missing ingredient.

The weather wasn't nice at all the next day. The sky was cloudy and there was an electric storm that damaged many cables in the area as well as a heavy rain, all thanks to Aidan Crawford, who was kept in the Serafer's residence basement. At the moment, only Sebastian and Susanna had access to that place, and although Fer, Abby and Mr. Haggard knew what was going on there they pretended to ignore it and seemed to be busy fixing some remaining stuff from the party.

Susanna woke up early in the morning and got dresses as fast as she could so she could start Mr. Crawford's interrogatory. She was still very tired for all the things that happened hours before it, but she was anxious to get some answers from him as well. There were many question that he had to answer but before she could do it, Sebastian stopped her and asked to speak with her.

"Gee, what's so urgent?" she seemed a little restless.

"It's nothing urgent really, but… you should be careful with Aidan Crawford. He is not just any man… he knows more about this Final Linkage than you and me. It wouldn't be wise to take him lightly, so avoid direct questions if you can and let him speak as much as you can"

"And how about some coercive persuasion?" there was a peculiar tone of malice in her voice.

"That could be an option too… but we should try to drug him first" he took a syringe from his pocket and his eyes smiled with him. She stared at him as if she was stuck in his glance, but a branch hitting the window distracted her.

"What an awful storm!... this should have been caused by that guy"

"Indeed. The storm started today at 6 AM" he looked at his clock "I thought the weather would be better by now, or that at least Mr. Crawford would be exhausted but a few minutes ago I checked on him and he didn't seem stressed at all"

"Then you should go with him and… do whatever you have to do with that syringe… intimidate him and then I'll interrogate him"

And so it was: Sebastian entered the basement with Aidan Crawford to drug him so he didn't resist too much. As soon as he saw the butler, his pupils dilated and his face showed how frightened hi was. Of course he was, the demon entered the room with his glowing eyes and a dark aura surrounding him, making him look threatening and dangerous.

When the drug made effect the rain stopped a little but water was still pouring from the sky. A moment later, Susanna walked with steady steep towards the basement, avoiding Fer's gaze, who seemed to watch her with worry.

Aidan Crawford was behind the door, in a small and gloomy room where he was sitting in a chair, handcuffed and with a dim light that showed his silhouette. The room was a few grades under the normal temperature; another of his tricks, no doubt of it.

The first thing Susanna noticed when she entered the room was the humidity around her face and hands, and then that man looking at her with disbelief in his eyes as he struggled to be awake.

Sebastian remained outside. He received the order of leaving her alone while she was interrogating him. Nevertheless, at the first strange sound, he would enter the room to avoid any complication and to keep his mistress from being hurt.

Susanna looked at her "distinguished" guest, now stripped off of his shallow elegance he displayed in the old factory by the Thames. His fancy suit was now dirty and ripped, and it has blood stains. He remained silent and a small bruise was appearing on his forehead. His blond hair, once perfectly combed was dirty and messy but aside of that, he didn't seem to be injured.

"Do you think I will help you or give you any information?" he broke the silence.

"I'm sure you will. I heard you are a coward and that you tried to bribe my butler with a few souls"

"Your butler?!" he joked "that thing is a demon. And you, especially you, should know very well what you got yourself into" apparently he made a big effort to talk "you are hunting us, one by one and try to stop our plans, when you are doing something as questionable as us and" she interrupted him.

"Questionable?... wow, this is such a great moment to make moral judgments… I only want to finish with you guys. All these years, you've been chasing my family and that includes me… of course, avoid a catastrophe is a convenient consequence" she smiled cynically "all that in exchange of my soul. I think it was a good deal. Now tell me, you need to fill certain conditions to bring the fallen angel, right?... the first, you need those gifts" she used a mocking tones "as you call them. Ivan Reznik telepathy, Schneider's summon, which by the way, caused me a lot of pain in the leg and a terrible wound to my butler, as well as… a… friend of mine too" after saying that, the man laughed "what's so funny?"

"Nothing… it's just that we never thought that you would surround yourself with demons and grim reapers. In fact, we never thought you could be a problem" his words were slow because of the drug "you should have died along with your stupid parents… which reminds me, did you enjoy your kidnapping?"

Those words caused Susanna a lot of rage. She lived in ignorance for more than twenty years and now that she knew everything, she felt a great responsibility for ending with all that, aside of anger because she was another victim of the plans made by those men.

"Shut up" she punched him with all her strength and from Aidan Crawford's lip a little blood thread appeared and he looked at her with rage in his eyes "I'm asking the questions here!" he kept quiet and a strong lightning hit the roof "telepathy, summoning, my family's supernatural vision, Soler's astral projections and then you, controlling the weather…"

"Atmokinesis… " he said very offended and more awake than before.

"Whatever… and now all of them are gone… Reznik, Schneider, Soler, Serafer and you… and for my convenience, it is me who has the gifts now… and yours, in a few hours, maybe days" Susanna showed him a triumphal smile as she walked around the room.

"It will be useless… women can't use the gifts"

"Of course!... I already knew it. I was just making sure. And if I died, everything will go to Janssens-Guillot… I suppose now you understand, it's either you guys or me…"

"It's been like that from the beginning. But if you kill me and go after Demian, you will only make things easier for him"

"Oh, really?" she tried to appear uninterested, but she was anxious to hear what he was about to say.

"Apparently you don't understand, girl. And if you expect that you demon butler to help you or remain faithful until the end, you are wrong. He is a demon! His nature is to promote chaos and antagonize god, and what better way to do it than proving he doesn't even exist"

For an instant, Susanna was speechless looking at Aidan Crawford with serious eyes, thinking about what he just said, but not showing any emotion, much less any sign of confusion or doubt.

Sebastian's situation had been already clarified. If he wanted the final linkage to take place, he would have done it already and yet, he was still by her side, showing the fidelity he professed so much. Aside of that, her hunch told her she could trust him, and if that wasn't enough for convince her, the reapers believed him too, so Crawford's attempt to make her doubt the demon butler were useless.

"What is Demian Janssens-Guillot's power?" the girl's voice was cold and direct. Her attitude radically changed and she seemed more severe now.

"You will have to find out by yourself... without my help. I'm not scared to die. Since the moment I woke up here, tied to this chair, I knew I would die soon and giving you any information wouldn't change a thing" his voice was slow and paused.

"That's true, but I could make your death faster… or slower. It's up to you" he laughed with irony and looked at the floor, with no intentions of speaking "or if you prefer, I could just call Sebastian so he could finish the job" he looked at her with horror in his eyes and there was a small spark of beg in his pupils "oh, don't tell me you are afraid… come on! You want to bring the fallen angel and perform the Final Linkage, which will join all dimensions, and you are scared of demons… are you stupid or what?"

"Demian offered us protection… nothing would hurt us. Not with those gifts, which would be multiplied after the fallen angel is here. For us and our descendants.

"Wow… that almost sounds biblical"

"I'm being serious. All that frightens me, and not only because of the reaches, but because is going to happen. There's no turning back… everything is calculated. Even the smallest mistake. Even you are part of it. It's a scheme that's been planned for more than a century. You should already know that"

"Then tell me how to stop it!" she approached him and shook his shoulder.

"I can't… everything is already done. It's just a matter of time and go to the right place. Numerology has always been our friend and if you think that summoning Odin's spear was all we have, wait until you see what we can do with some energy. It's a ritual we've been planning for a long time, and we've had enough practice. Every natural disaster; every earthquake, flood or tsunami, we practiced channeling and the ritual itself, but there was something missing every time… that last thing that would complete it all" and then his voice turned into a whisper "…soon…"

Susanna remained silent for a moment. For some reason she seemed confused after hearing what he had to say. She thought they could find Demian Janssens-Guillot with more information and perhaps learn how to stop the ritual, but Crawford's words only left her with more doubts. What were they waiting for? What were they missing o?

Silence filled the room and the temperature was lower. When Susanna was conscious about it, she looked at him with curiosity.

"You are very quiet. Don't you have anything else to say?" he started to laugh "and now you are laughing… maybe Sebastian could persuade you to speak more"

"What time is it?"

"Past midday" she looked at her cellphone and then put it back in her pocket "do you have an appointment? In that case, I'm afraid you're going to be late"

"Oh, it's not me who has something to do… it is you" he laughed.

"Mental games… just what I needed. I already have too much of that with Sebastian and now…"

"It's not a game. It's real" for the first time in the day, Aidan Crawford appeared to be threatening, but before she could give it a thought, she heard Sebastian knocking the door.

"Milady, I need to speak with you"

"Go… it seems like an urgent matter" he had a mocking glance in his eyes and a smirk on his bloody lips.

"I'll be right back"

She winked at him and left the room, but before the door was closed, the demon's gaze focused on the man. Threatening and chilling, causing him terror.

Just when that was happening, in the reaper's dimension, William left his office in a hurry and a severe expression after receiving the news he just got. He felt his temples starting to palpitate, which meant an imminent and terrible headache. He should have taken a few aspirins before it was too late, but he didn't. He didn't have time for that, so he kept walking. It was an urgent matter.

Suddenly, he stopped and entre done of the cubicles of the dispatch and with a serious voice tone he spoke to the shinigami that was sitting on the chair.

"Grell Sutcliff… I presume you haven't left for the Serafer residence"

"Will, darling!... well, no… I was just about to leave…" he said a little nervous , taking his notebook and the pending file on his desk, opening it and reading the new information on it "I thought I still had a few hours before the reaping, but…" he was evidently surprised when he saw the changes on the to-die-list.

Last minute corrections on the list weren't something without precedent, but it wasn't very common and that was precisely what happened with Grell's collection for that day.

"There had been a few modifications… I'll take care of it" said William with more seriousness than usual and took the file from the redhead's hand.

"I see… are you sure? I thought you didn't like this kind of work. Too messy for…" he was interrupted.

"There are certain special circumstances that make me to go. Now, if you'd excuse me"

And then he turned around, heading with fast steps towards the general affairs department to sign the necessary paperwork before leaving. He didn't want to waste any more time. The situation was too delicate, or at least, he considered it so; something inside of him screamed at him to hurry up"

Sebastian used a peculiar voice tone when he instructed Susanna to follow him. She couldn't quite understand the reason behind it, but she didn't ask and walked towards the living room, where he was leading her, and then he looked at her with certain coldness in his eyes, as if there was a wall between them.

"You should take a seat"

"What's the matter?" she didn't know why, but she sat on the couch. She was sure it was something serious. Hi butler's attitude couldn't mean anything else and she had a bad feeling about it.

"I've received a call a few minutes ago…" his glance turned dark but his attitude was calm and Susanna thought he looked like a tower "right before we left for Sweden I assigned your father a few bodyguards. I supposed that, if they were after you, they could be after him as well. I'm very sorry I didn't tell you about it before. I didn't want you to worry, and your father told me to keep it secret, especially when the people guarding him told me they were being followed"

"Did something happen?" she was worried. That was the last thing she expected. Susanna knew she was the target of those people, but they could use her father against her.

"The call I received was from one of the bodyguards…" suddenly, Susanna felt a knot in her stomach and felt the blood in her body freezing, little by little. Her eyes opened more and she waited until Sebastian spoke again "there was an attack and… the bodyguards were killed… as well as your father"

The girl suddenly became mute. She couldn't speak or even make a sound. It was an unexpected and sudden notice. From all the things that could go wrong, her father's death wasn't on the list. Then, the knot in her stomach disappeared and surprisingly, her reaction wasn't dramatic. Instead, she leaned on the couch, looking away as if her brain had suddenly turned off.

Meanwhile, in the dining room, Mr. Haggard, Fer and Abby witnessed the scene. They had listened the conversation and their eyes were on the girl, melancholic and worried.

"Everything points to an act orchestrated by Demian Janssens-Guillot and I've already took care of those men who…"

"I understand…" she finally spoke "there wasn't anything else we could do, but… are you sure?"

"I'm afraid so, Milady… the necessary paperwork to bring his remains to London are being done in as we speak" she looked at him emotionless, as if the characteristic spark in her eyes was gone and he immediately thought it through and hurried to say "I… I'm very sorry for your loss"

"No you're not… I don't think it's possible for you to feel something like that" and after those cold words she stood up and headed to the garage, avoiding the worry glances of the three individuals who were looking at the scene. Abby was about to run after her, but Fer stopped her before she could do it.

"Leave her alone. She needs to assimilate everything" he had seen that look before; that same determination and hate that urged to get revenge disguised as justice, and which would never be completely satisfied.

Susanna entered the garaged and took a tool box and a nail gun that was hanging in the wall. Of course she made sure it was completely loaded before she headed to her destiny.

Her steps sounded loudly from in basement and when she entered she closed the door as loud as she could, waking up the man that was on the chair; the bastard had fallen asleep as if his conscience was as clear as a baby's.

"You knew it!" she yelled as she dropped the tool box in the floor, making a lot of noise. Her anger was too much and it got worse after hearing him laugh. Her hair was wet because of the rain outside but she ignored it. In that moment she felt her blood boiling.

"Of course. It was just a matter of time and… to be honest, I think it took them long enough"

"That's why you asked for the hour" she got closer to him

"Yes. If only we could have used that idiot for one of our sacrifices… but I think he was useful enough at it is"

"That idiot was my father…" he punched him on the face and he didn't speak anymore. For the first time, he noticed how dangerous Susanna was. She wasn't the same person who interrogated him that morning.

Susanna yelled something incomprehensible. Perhaps something on her mother language, or maybe she didn't manage to say something more coherent. Rage and sadness were filling her, but most of all, a new feeling appeared inside of her. Something she hadn't feel before, and that soon became a necessity. She despised the man she had in front of her and she would punish him slowly and painfully. He was the one to blame for his father's death and even though she was somehow responsible as well, all that frustration was turned to him and she felt the rush of what she was about to do. Then she took the nail gun and walked towards Aidan Crawford.

"Wait! What are you going to do with that?" the man's voice showed how scared he was.

"Can't you imagine?" Susanna's pupils dilated and his eyes were sparking in rage as she put the nail gun on his neck.

"I didn't order it, I swear!"

"I don't care!" she took the pistol away and he felt a momentary relief, but then she fired at point blank range on the right foot. And that was when the first shriek was heard.

It was the first scream of many more yet to come. Susanna was ready to use each of the tools inside the box, including the small bottle of thinner in there.

She was furious and completely out of her mind, not only because of the frustration caused by the situation, but because of the sadness, impotence and loneliness that reached her spirit. She knew very well her soul was lost and she acted accordingly. By that point, the torture wasn't to get information anymore; only for the pleasure of see him suffer in the worst way possible.

Her transformation was radical and she ignored the cries and yells which, in other circumstances, would have made her stop; on the contrary, with every movement she made on his fingers using the saw, her blood thirst grew; with every nail shot going deep into his skin, every sound of the hammer breaking one of his bones and every finger nail taken away from him, a sadistic and twisted pleasure rose inside of her, similar to any character in a gore movie. She seemed to be in trance and her gaze was completely evil, filled with anger and satisfaction for punishing him.

Susanna felt something inside abandoning her and for a moment she was sure she stopped being herself, but the satisfaction wasn't less because of it and the whole time she felt the contract mark on her neck getting warmer than usual, palpitating every time she cut one of Aidan Crawford's fingers and every wound she caused him.

And when she finally saw her hands full of blood, dripping with the dense red liquid because of her actions, she realized everything was lost. Everything she had postpone, along with her soul's doom was now real, and without a chance of redemption... Nevertheless, she still had something to do in this world and she wouldn't rest before the final linkage was stopped…. But in the meantime, she would keep with her gory actions and she would enjoy it as much as they had done it with her in the past.

Little by little the storm started to fade and the cloudy sky that promised a horrible weather was now clear, showing the sun in the distance.

Suddenly a buzz was heard and Sebastian turned to look at the reaper who just appeared next to him, right by the basement's entrance.

"I see the news spread fast …" said the butler with cold voice, expecting a reaction from William.

"I came here as soon as I could… and to be honest, I was expecting you to be with Susanna" that almost sounded like a reclaim.

"Right now, she wants to be alone" he said in a jesting tone, but the reaper interrupted him.

"Don't you dare to say what she wants! There is no way you could know what she is going through in there, by herself… what she just did"

"Aidan Crawford would have died anyways. Besides, it's not the first man she kills" there was some sort of satisfaction in his voice, which made William even angrier "if it didn't bother you before, I don't see why should it now… oh, but that's right! That gives you a chance to see her, doesn't it?" it seemed like irritating the reaper caused him a huge pleasure, and despite being some truth in his words, William found it rather disturbing.

"You are right. This is not the first time she does it but… if you could only see the way that man is going to die… the evil engraved in those wounds, you would doubt she was the one to blame for it. But of course, that would cause an enormous joy to a despicable being such as you"

A glow appeared on the demon's eyes. He knew Susanna would make sure Aidan Crawford's death was painful, but he never imagined how bad was it; much less the effect it would have on the reaper.

Yes. Susanna was capable of doing such thing and it meant that she had given up her soul, and that the last remains of her goodness died along with her father, which was rather convenient for Sebastian… not to mention how attractive. But despite all that, some part of him was worried about her as well and his eyes returned to normal as he looked at the door a little disquiet.

They both remained silent for a moment, until William took his death scythe and walked towards the basement. It was time to collect that man's soul. Sebastian followed him and opened the door with the master key he always carried.

The image they saw when they entered the room left them shocked: Aidan Crawford's body was still in the chair, motionless and surrounded by his fingers, which had been previously cut with trimmers and saws. His feet and arms had nails everywhere as well as screwdriver wounds. His trousers were covered in blood and had holes where multiple lacerations could be seen. The smell of thinner and blood filled the room and it was almost as unbearable as seeing his disfigured face. A scenario worthy of the most experimented and cruelest of the hitmen.

Susana knew William and Sebastian were in front of her, witnessing the scene; she could feel them, as well as their shock after seeing the results of her actions and her hands stained in blood like never before.

She felt the impulse of laughing, and she did but it was a cynic laugh… humorless and lacking of feeling; a laugh that hid her tears, but not for long.

"It's incredible how many atrocities humans can do…" she laughed more and then looked at them. Both males couldn't say a word and when Susanna noticed it, she turned to see Aidan Crawford's corpse again "…and the worst part is that I enjoyed it. I would even do it again… thousands of times again and don't feel remorse. Not only because he deserved it, but because I wanted… I'm disgusting and no one did anything to stop me. That divine power who was supposed to procure good is conspicuous by its absence… and maybe they're right" she took a deep breath and looked at the floor as she whispered those words she once considered cursed "deus est mort…" there wasn't a single drop of hesitation in her voice, but the result was the same as other occasions.

Sebastian's expression showed how shocked he was as he ran towards Susanna, who just entered a violent frenzy and grabbed the hammer to punch the corpse, screaming and crying like never before…