Inferno
By Divamercury
I'm really sorry about how long it took for me to post more. Truth is, someone really pissed me off on Thursday and all of a sudden when I got home I had the irresistible urge to write. So if it seems violent, that was the kind of mood I was in. Anyway, exams are coming up this week so I might not have much time to write, what with the studying (urgh) but when I'm out for winter break I should have more time. Enjoy Chapter 14; I worked REALLY hard on it!
Chapter 14
I was asleep for the rest of the day and into the next. When I woke I was completely refreshed, and I was glad to see that Gabriel and Ian were still there. However, they were both asleep: Ian was stretched out on my sofa and Gabriel was still sitting in the chair by my bed, his chin resting on his chest.
"So you haven't given up on me yet, huh?" I asked, my voice breaking the silence of the room. Gabriel woke up immediately.
"Hey, Chief. No, we haven't given up on you yet; you're one stubborn person."
"Well, that's reassuring," I said sarcastically, but followed that with a smile. "I am in dire need of a shower." I got up out of my bed and walked to where I kept my clothes, took out a white shirt and a pair of leather pants, and into my bathroom, leaving Gabriel behind with the sleeping Ian.
I shed my pajamas and started running the water for the shower. It was only a few degrees from scalding when I got in, and I sighed immediately. This was what I was craving.
After staying in the shower for at least half an hour, I stepped out, toweled off my hair and my body, and put on my outfit. It didn't take long for me to blow dry my hair and by the time I got out, Ian was awake and both he and Gabriel were waiting for me. I snagged my leather jacket from where I had left it, holstered only one gun to my hip, and headed for the door. I didn't plan on using the gun; the person that I was planning to visit would be much more afraid of my other favorite weapon.
"Sara! Where are you going?" Gabriel asked me as I was almost out the door. I whirled around.
"I've got a bone to pick with someone. Literally." Then I left. Gabriel and Ian both sped out of my apartment, Gabriel taking the time to lock it from the inside and closing the door behind him and Ian catching up to me.
"What are you planning to do, Sara?" he asked.
"Oh, nothing much. I just feel that a little physical violence is in order," I said casually. By that time we had exited the building and Gabe had caught up. We arrived at Ian's car.
"Keys," I said, holding out my hand.
"Oh, no. If you're insisting on doing this, I'm driving. There's no telling what you could do while under the influence of that quiet, seething rage that's going on inside you." He withdrew the keys and unlocked the car. The three of us piled into the car. Ian was driving, I was in the passenger's seat, and Gabe landed in the back. Ian pulled out and turned toward Vorschlag.
We arrived in less time than usual, because for once the traffic wasn't a bitch. I was out of the car walking into the building before Ian had even stopped the car completely. I knew that they would follow me in, but that didn't bother me. The receptionist was on her break; Good, there's one less person that I'll have to maim,' I thought. I headed straight for Irons's office. I pushed the wooden double doors with more force than usual, the Witchblade converting to gauntlet form as soon as I entered the room. The doors slammed against the walls, creating a sound similar to a clap of thunder. Footsteps behind me let me know that Ian and Gabe were flanking me. Irons looked up from whatever he was doing, startled by the sound of the doors slamming, and his face instantly paled.
"Sarayou're not dead!" Irons faltered, scared out of his skin by the look in my eyes. And he certainly should have been.
"I was, but I got better," I said with an evil smile. "Besides, there's always tomorrow." I stalked up to him, grabbing him by the neck with the Witchblade hand, and I pushed him to the wall behind his desk directly beside the fireplace. I released him from the iron grip but the Witchblade's sword emerged and I pointed it at his throat, barely putting pressure on it as it contacted his skin.
"Give me one reason why I shouldn't peel you like a grape. And it had better be a damn good one," I said angrily, increasing the pressure on his neck with the blade. It made an indentation without yet opening a wound.
The Witchblade wanted to spill Irons's blood, so much that I could scarcely believe its determination to get at him. It urged me on. That was when I felt Ian's hand on my shoulder.
* * *
"Sara. You mustn't let the Blade destroy your honor. This isn't you doing this," I insisted.
"Ian! Protect your master, I beg you!" Irons choked.
"Yes, Ian. Protect your master," Sara repeated in a low, sultry voice that was barely her own but still had that definite note that was always there when she spoke. Even more frighteningly, her green eyes flashed a brilliant amber and the pupils remained this color, giving her a demonic appearance. "The question is, though, who is your master? This cowardly, despicable creature–" she said, pressing the honed business end of the Witchblade further into Irons's skin for emphasis, but still not drawing blood, "–or me?"
"Who are you? You aren't Sara, that is certain," I replied.
"Perceptive you are. I am the Witchblade and I demand vengeance for the wrongs done me. Thissniveling craven, in each of my Wielders' lifetimes, has been the root of their downfalls, and I finally have a chance to exterminate him myself. Not even you, faithful servant, can stop me this time; Joan, Cathain, Cleopatra, you shall all finally be avenged!" she cried. She lunged forward even more toward Irons's elimination when I caught her arm and moved it off course. The blade slashed Irons as it went but it was not a mortal wound. He sank to the ground.
The Witchblade turned Sara's glowing eyes on me, burning even brighter in anger because her plans were thwarted. She advanced on me, and I continued to back up until I knocked into a stand in the corner of the room. It contained swords and I drew one.
"Do not make me kill you, Guardian. I must seek revenge. This is your last chance. Stand down," she said, turning back towards the cowering Irons. I ran past her and blocked her path.
"As much as I hate to protect this evil man, and even though he probably deserves this, he is the closest thing to family I have. I cannot stand down, Lady Witchblade."
"So be it," she said in a deadly whisper, and the battle between us was on. I had to force myself to remember that it wasn't really Sara that was doing this. I kept talking to her all through the battle, trying to make Sara come back and the Witchblade calm down.
"Sara! I know you're in there somewhere! The Witchblade doesn't wield you, Sara! Fight it off! Regain control!" I shouted over the clangs and crashes of our swords. As I kept shouting things of this nature, and Gabriel, quiet until then, joined me, I noticed an obvious fade in the amber light in Sara's eyes.
"NOOOOO! I MUST GET REVENGE!" The Witchblade howled.
Then suddenly
"Chill out, drama queen. This is my body. Return control to me, I command you, for you obey me! Return to your place!" It was clearly Sara talking, and whatever she had done by the force of her will overthrew the Witchblade's hold on her and the light went out in her eyes. Her eyes closed, the Witchblade retracted, and with a moan she fell to the carpet. I dropped my sword and caught her before she hit the ground.
She opened one eye, then the other, and looked up at me. "Ian?" she asked.
"Yes?"
"What the hell just happened to me?"
