Lilith wasn't sure how she got here. The last thing she remembered was waiting for Nicholas to return when suddenly everything went black.
"I think she's waking up." She heard a familiar voice say.
Lilith opened her eyes and found herself lying on the floor of some type of dudgeon with two other women. One she recognized as Frida but the other woman with brown hair was unfamiliar to her.
"Where am I?" Lilith asked.
"Welcome to your new home." A terrible voice said. She looked up to see the most hideous man she had ever seen grinning at her in a twisted manner. Frightened, she started to back away, the brown haired woman stepped forward and shielded both her and Frida protectively.
"I can understand why you have captured and tortured me Tito." The woman said. "But why have you captured these poor young girls? They've done nothing to you! Why they barely know you!"
"That is true Maria but these two girls have a purpose to fulfill. A purpose which will ensure that my plan succeeds."
"What plan?" Maria asked.
"Well step one is to capture my nephew Nicholas and send him to the Netherworld!"
"You'll never be able to do that!" Lilith objected. "Nicholas is too powerful to be forced into the Netherworld!"
"Oh but I'm not going to force him to go there. He's going to willingly lock himself in the Netherworld. Joining his father and Grandparents."
"He wouldn't do that!"
"He would if it's the only way to keep you alive!"
"What are you talking about?"
"Nicholas may not show it much but I know that he cares for you. He probably cares more about you than anything else in this world and although he's very good at hiding it I can tell how he feels about you by the way he looks at you! It's the same way my brother and my other nephew looks at Maria and Frida."
"So you're using her as leverage? What a dirty and cruel trick!" Frida said.
"Yes what I have in store for Nicholas is wretched but it's nothing compared to what I plan to do to Manny."
"You leave my son alone!" Maria demanded. "I beg you Tito, spare Manny from your wrathful hatres! Whatever you plan for him, inflict it onto me! Kill me! Torture me! But please! Please spare my son!"
"Awww motherly love is truly a beautiful thing. You know Maria I thought about using you to break Manny but I believe using the holy woman will provide more beneficial results."
"Use me for what?" Frida asked.
"It's a secret for now but you'll find out soon enough." He chuckled sinisterly. "Let's just say that it will change the world completely forever."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"You'll find out soon enough."
"Tito whatever you're up to, it will never earn you back Rodolfo's love." Maria said.
"Silence!" He hissed before striking her across the face with his metal hand. She let out a small cry and fell to the floor. Frida and Lilith quickly went to her aid.
"You monster!" Frida snapped angrily. "How could you be so cruel to her?!"
"Simple, she stole my brother from me! Her and that bastard, half breed child she birthed!"
"No! You drove him away with your hatred and jealousy!"
"You worthless bitch!" He lunged to grab her but she stepped out of the way. His eyes were filled with insanity. "You remind me so much of Maria that it sickens me! The way you both love and care for spirits! It's disgusting! You human women should be slaves to spirits not lovers!"
"You don't get it do you?" Maria said getting up. "Rodolfo never saw humans as slaves or weaklings, he saw them as equals to the spirits. He even admired them."
"Then that makes him a bigger fool than I thought.
He then left them in their cell.
"Do you have any idea what he's talking about?" Frida asked Maria.
"I'm afraid not."
"We have to get out of here now." Frida said.
"Don't worry Frida, I'm sure Nicholas will arrive to help us." Lilith said.
"That's what the psycho wants and if Nicholas comes for you, he'll use you as leverage and he probably plans to use me and Maria as leverage against Manny."
"You have a point there but how on earth are we going to escape?"
Frida thought for a moment. There had to be some means of escaping this horrible prison cell but what could she do. She put her hand to the wall of their cell and she noticed that the cross marks on her wrists were starting to bleed. They only did that if she touched something demonic so her blood which contained holy water would bleed out to protect her from the demonic source. Much like the fabled vampires, demons could not touch holy water. If they did they would suffer a terrible burning sensation.
She opened her bag and started to dig around for some bandages she had packed. As she was looking for them a drop of her blood accidentally dripped on to the wall and it started to burn through the material. This gave her an idea. She searched her bag until she found a pocket knife that she had packed. She then squeezed some of her blood on the blade and started trying to stab the wall with it. To her surprise the knife was able to break through.
"What are you doing?" Lilith asked.
"Trying to make a hole in this prison wall." She continued to dig the knife through it. Eventually a hole was made but it was too small for any of them to fit through. She needed to put more of her blood on the knife's blade, but how much? She didn't want to become anemic.
Suddenly she heard footsteps but they were the footsteps of a human or demon. They were the footsteps of a horse. She looked through the hole that she had made and saw a familiar silver stallion coming toward the hole.
"Felipe!" She gasped happily. She stuck her hand through the hole and the holy horse went to nuzzle it. "I'm so glad to see you! But what are you doing here?"
"He probably came for me." Maria said.
"You know Felipe?"
"The silver stallion was assigned by Rodolfo to watch over me and to report to him if I was ever in any danger but then he was captured." Maria explained. "When you freed him he must've started looking for me but was unable to sense me due to this cell however when you made that hole it allowed him to finally find me."
"Oh then he can help us." She pulled a ribbon that she had tied in her hair and held it out to Felipe. "Felipe find Manny and lead him to us. Give him this, he'll follow you and hurry.'
Felipe took the ribbon into his mouth and ran off to find the half spirit boy. She hoped and prayed that Felipe would find Manny and be able to lead him to where the three women were being held.
"Do you think that horse will be able to find Manny?" Lilith said.
"The silver stallion can find anyone." Maria said. "His senses are stronger than a dog's, he should be able to find my boy, no problem. However I'm not sure if Manny will understand what the stallion is trying to do."
"Once he sees that Felipe has my hair ribbon he'll know what to do...I hope." She sighed. "He's probably worried out of his mind, looking for me. Turning over every nook and cranny like a mad man."
Maria sighed and smiled softly as she realized that she may finally see her son again. Oh how she had missed him terribly. Her only child. She remembered the first time she held him in her arms. She had awakened after passing out from the exhausting and painful labor, she was in a church being tended to by a nun. The first thing she did was ask to see her child and the nun brought him to her from his cradle. He was the most beautiful thing she had seen in the entire world. He was a very tiny baby but she could feel that he had his father's mighty strength and his father's gentle heart. She knew this was someone that she would love forever and always.
"He was still just a child the last time I saw him." She said. "He's almost a full grown man now. Sixteen if I'm correct. People always said that he looked so much like me."
Frida looked at her and she realized that Manny did in fact share a lot of physical traits with Maria, especially in his human form. Her eyes, her hair, and her nose, they were exactly like his. But her chin, her facial structure, and obviously her body structure couldn't be more different. She figured that he got those traits from his father.
"If you don't mind me asking what did Manny's father look like?"
"Well he had two forms. His spiritual form looking like a flaming white panther. His second form was a false human form and it was a very muscular and strong appearance. He was handsome in both forms but you don't expect a benevolent and mighty spirit to be hideous. However his eyes, they never changed. No matter what form he took they always stayed the same."
"What were his eyes like?" Lilith asked.
"They were eyes that could pierce your soul like a knife. Of course that was common for spirits and demons in the Rivera family. But there was one thing about Rodolfo's eyes that differed from everyone else in his family. While his eyes were fierce and vicious, at the same time they were gentle and soft. It's hard to explain."
"I get it. It's like when your eyes meet you can see how dangerous he can be but you know that he would never hurt you, even if he lost control. That all he wants to do is to protect you."
"Yes. That's exactly how it feels. How did you know?"
"Because Manny's eyes are the same way. He's the most dangerous man I know but he's the person I feel the most safe with. That's why no matter what happens, no matter what he's done, I'll never be afraid of him."
Just by looking at her face, Lilith saw the adoration and love that Frida held for Manny. She wondered if her feelings were returned. Judging by what she had seen and had been told, Manny seemed to care deeply for Frida. Maybe even loved her.
She knew she shouldn't, but she harbored feelings for Nicholas. She knew that they could never have anything passed a platonic relationship because he was a spirit who was bound and determined not to get close to humans. She never thought that she would develop feelings for him.
When they first met he was serious, arrogant, and somewhat frightening. He spoke to her like she was the scum of the earth and he was very reluctant to go through with his father's order to look after her, but he knew better than to go against his father's wishes so he became her guardian.
During their time together he started out so cold and bitter but then one night something changed. He saw her alone, crying because she was feeling guilty over her mother's death. Believing that she had killed her own mother just by being born. Nicholas could relate to that feeling.
To her surprise he comforted her and let her know that it wasn't her fault that her mother died. That what happened couldn't have been helped. When she asked how would he know, he told her about how his own mother had died in childbirth too and how he felt that his father secretly hated him for supposedly causing her death. It was in that moment that the feelings in her heart were instantly sparked and even though they possibly had no future together, she didn't care. She would always have these feelings for him.