5
Constance grinned as she eagerly eyed the wings before her, all the while licking her lips as if she was a starved dog presented with a bowl of meat, then she turned around to the four demons who stood behind her, one of which was still rubbing at his eyes vigorously
"one of these days you'll learn to shut your stupid eyes Robert" she scoffed "quickly now, restrain it, we don't have much time..."
Elara watched, still awed by what she had just witnessed as the four approached the wings, two demons to each side. Castiel was suddenly aware again and pushed himself up to ease the weight off his bleeding wrists, he felt the unclean hands grab onto his wings and he instinctively threw the powerful appendages outward, knocking the demons back violently.
Elara couldn't help but smirk as the demons fell unceremoniously over each other, then noticed with wonder that even though the wings were adorned with dark feathers, when the light hit at a certain angle, the feathers shone with a pure white light, almost like the iridescent green and blue you would sometimes see on the feathers of a crow, but far more intense, and although it was clear that the wings seemed to be missing feathers Elara still found the sight breathtakingly beautiful
"Plant your feet, IDIOTS!" Constance growled as she stormed over to the restrained angel as the other demons struggled to weigh his wings down. Castiel would be damned if he was going to make this easy for them. Demons had forced his wings to materialise and the violation of the act burned him to the core.
Constance managed to stand just behind him as she gripped his hair tight and pulled his head back at an uncomfortable angle
"Now listen to me, you feathered bastard " she sneered "you're going to stop thrashing about..." she nodded to the demon to her right and he began to push the elbow joint of the wing upwards in the wrong direction until the pain and tension halted Castiel's thrashing "... or, they will snap your pretty wing like a twig!" Constance growled "and without your juice you won't be able to fix it...I can't imagine the pain that would cause, knowing how sensitive angel wings are and all..."
Castiel growled inwardly as he reluctantly relaxed his wings, he knew the demons strength was currently far greater than his own and if they broke the bone then it would be impossible for him to shift his wings back into their celestial state... Constance noted the demons to her left suddenly relax a little and quickly began wrapping heavy chains over the wings
"There's a good boy..." she mocked as she released the angel's hair and quickly made her way to the cart, she then lifted a tool that looked similar to a pair of large pliers. Constance turned to Hans, a wicked grin evident on her face
"How many do you want?"
"Five" Hans replied
Constance lost her grin and suddenly looked annoyed
"Five? Is that all? That'll barely cover your staff's wages..."
"Five!" Hans growled again "we don't know this angels limits and I've already warned you about accidents…"
Elara looked questionably at Hans "accidents?"
"Yes" he replied "it would seem that an angels feathers are extremely sensitive, we learnt this the hard way you see. Our last angel died because Constance harvested too many feathers in one sitting"
Elara looked back at the captive angel "you killed an angel...from tearing out its feathers? I thought they could only be killed with an angel blade..."
"Well" Hans answered "it seems you can indeed kill them without the celestial metal, just through inflicting sheer amounts of pain...isn't that fascinating?"
"I've never known an angel to die from torture" Elara commented
"No" Hans replied "there hasn't been a case as far as I'm aware, but from what I can gather from my research into the matter, is that materialised wings are actually a part of their true form, therefore, pulling the feathers away is akin to tearing their very being to pieces"
Elara shuddered at the thought of having something like your soul torn apart and what pain that would indeed inflict...
"I thought you might enjoy this little bit of information for when you track down the angel that you are hunting..."
Elara felt slightly alarmed "why would you assume I'm hunting a particular angel?" she asked calmly as she watched Constance positioning herself above an outstretched wing
"Oh, the hatred makes it pretty obvious, amongst other things" Hans responded casually as he took a shot of his drink "mind your ears now...here comes the best part" he grinned into his glass.
Castiel flinched when he felt Constance hands push through his feathers as she searched aggressively for a decent grip, just the feel of her unclean hands gliding over his feathers raised every hair on his vessel. He forced his eyes closed and clenched his jaw as he felt the teeth of the pliers close tightly around the shaft of a large feather. His heart beat wildly as he braced himself for what was about to come next. Constance used all her demonic strength and in one swift movement pulled the long feather from its root. Castiel had braced but nothing could prepare him for the intensity of the pain that shot through his right wing and across his very being, he had told himself he wouldn't give her the pleasure of hearing his scream but found he couldn't stop himself after feeling pain on a level he had never experienced before.
Constance held the feather up like a trophy grinning towards Hans as Elara held her hands tightly over her ears. Elara had never heard a scream like it, she thought she would enjoy hearing an angel scream in true pain but now discovered that it made her feel largely uncomfortable, and slightly sick...she turned to see that it had had the opposite effect on Hans, he was grinning...from ear to ear with his eyes transfixed on the scene
"you see the joys I can give you, my dear" he said, convinced he was impressing her
Elara looked back to the cell and shuddered when she saw Constance rifling through the wing once again
"Stop..." Elara suddenly muttered as Constance violently pulled another feather and once again, an unearthly scream ripped through the cells.
Hans started laughing and shook his hand after the glass he'd been holding had shattered at the force of the cry, Elara looked at Hans aghast
"STOP IT!" she screamed.
Hans suddenly stopped laughing and held his hand up to Constance as he looked at Elara questionably
"Is something the matter my dear?"
"THIS!" she suddenly found herself stating as she pointed towards the cell "this just feels...I don't know... WRONG! Just kill it outright if you're going too!"
Hans looked at her and smiled again "I see, the screams can be overwhelming for some...I'll have it gagged, that's what we had to do with the last after several ears started to bleed and the pine trees outside caught fire, it was truly magnificent"
Hans then looked questionably again at Elara "I had hoped you would enjoy this?"
not the response Elara had expected...yes, she hated angels...but this...this was too much, perhaps even for Naomi, from whom her entire hate had stemmed... the power of the angelic screams had burned into her very soul and to get joy from watching this?... She'd have to be a monster...
Hans must have read her reaction, although Elara doubted she did a good job of hiding her disgust
"Constance" he called to the scowling demon "that's enough for today, we will continue tomorrow..."
"Are you SERIOUS" Constance all but screamed
"Tomorrow" Hans called again, looking extremely serious now. His dark eyes never leaving Elara
"A wasted spell!" Constance spat as she threw the pliers to the floor and turned once again to Castiel who had slumped against the wall, no longer caring that all his weight was causing the manacles to cut into his wrists. Constance grabbed his hair again and brought her lips close to his ear
"Tomorrow, I will harvest your tears...angel!" she growled cruelly then turned her head towards his wings as the spell started to dissipate.
Castiel felt it lift and quickly urged his wings to disappear, no longer wanting them anywhere near this demon. Constance looked on with disgust as the wings vanished as quickly as they had appeared and was left staring at the torn holes in the angel's shirt. She threw a quick nod to the other demons as they began unlocking the manacles and she stormed out of the cell leaving Castiel to fall to the floor.
Elara watched the scowling demon leave with her followers close behind her then turned to Hans
"Thanks" she said. Hans placed an arm over her shoulders and led her to the second cell
"I'm not going to deny my shock that after displaying all that burning desire to see angels killed, that you would call off a harvest...but then, I suppose it's not for everyone" he stated, sounding almost sad.
Elara looked through the door of the second cell, unsure why Hans had led her this way
"Can we discuss my payment? I must be on my way" she mentioned suddenly feeling on edge
"Of course..." Hans said suddenly sounding distant "I wish it hadn't come to this...you would of made a fine ally"
Now Elara suddenly felt her stomach drop but didn't react quickly enough as she was suddenly thrust forward into the empty cell. No matter she thought...these bars wouldn't stop her. They hadn't even warded the angel's cell, the only thing stopping him was that collar...and she had nothing barring her way!
She turned and her power suddenly burnt fiercely in her eyes, she raised her arm, prepared to blast these bars into oblivion and Hans with them... then, when nothing happened Elara looked at her hand confused. She could feel her power running through her body but the bars still stood intact before her
"I knew it..." Hans said casually, completely oblivious to her confusion "thank you for completing my collection Elara...now I hold the only Nephilim on this earth"