CHAPTER 9 - CLIFFHANGER
A small towel carefully hovered over Cordelia's head while an invisible hand proceeded in wiping the sweat from her forehead. Emily, who was now sitting on the other side of the bed, held Cordy's hand into hers tightly.
Being an immortal ghost and all, she seemed to be conversing with a very much invisible Dennis.
"Being invisible must be a bummer." She said with a funny expression on her face. "I mean, I got the good deal. I can come here looking like a human.I know.I know.Working for the Powers has its advantages."
They seemed to be chatting, while taking care of Cordelia, when Emily stopped talking and lifted her eyes up to the wall above her cousin's head.
There, in big bold letters, two other names appeared.
EMILY and FRED.
Emily lowered her eyes and took a deep breath. She held on to Cordy's hand as if she was holding a silent prayer between her fingers. She then saw the towel drop onto the floor and heard a small chair be pulled up beside hers. She turned to look at the seemingly empty chair and sighed.
"Have faith Dennis.Have faith." she whispered, lowered her eyes again.
--
Gunn looked up under the peaceful snow flakes, still holding Fred's lifeless body in his arms, and held his breath. How could such a beautiful sight be clouded by the tragedy that lied in his arms?
With immense carefulness, he lowered Fred's body down onto the ground and placed his jacket on top of her, as if to warm up her freezing muscles. He took a deep breath, masterfully holding back his emotions, and he got up to his knees. He looked up and noticed, as he had expected, that access to the other side of the bridge had been denied. What he had not quite expected were the numerous demons that sprung from everywhere, waiting for him to make his move. Some were armed, some were frightening in themselves.
With clenched teeth and a fierce anger in his eyes, Gunn stared at them intently. As the snow fell on his head and began covering the ground around him, he let go of Fred's cold hand and got up to his feet. He grabbed the sword that had killed his friend and looked back and forth between the entrance of the bridge and the large wall that blocked the other side. Seeing that there was absolutely no way he could cross the bridge, he decided to head backwards. The simple thought of leaving Fred there killed him inside.
With anger rising in his eyes, he raised his swords and walked towards the many demons waiting for him at the joining of the road and the bridge.
One of the demons leaped and threw himself at Gunn with a force unknown to humans. In one quick movement, Gunn sliced the demon with his sword, and much to his surprise, the beast didn't die. Instead, he multiplied himself in dozens of tiny little baby demons. Gunn stared with wide eyes as he witnessed the mess in which he found himself.
--
Four empty walls stared down at the picture-covered floor around a sleeping Cordy and Angel. Every picture lied face down around them. Her head rested on his shoulder while his jacket wrapped itself around her.
Angel slowly opened his eyes and noticed the sleeping beauty on his arm. He carefully reached his hand up and brushed her hair away from her face, mentally breathing in the essence of her calmness. Cordy stirred underneath his touch and sleepily opened her eyes. She lifted her head and looked up to meeth Angel's eyes. She straightened herself a little and they both smiled.
"Hi." Angel whispered, never breaking eye contact.
"Hi." she replied with a bright, sleepy smile.
Angel got up and helped her up to her feet. They both looked around at the empty walls and at the floor, and then Cordy frowned.
"What happened to the door?" She then asked, clearing her throat.
There, in place of the door, stood a tall ladder that led to places unknown.
Cordelia then looked down under feet and saw a small trap that led, like the ladder, to places she didn't even dare imagine. She looked up and shared a meaningful silence with Angel as they both pondered there options.
"Cordelia, you're the only one who can find the exit to this labyrinth we seem to be stuck in.Emily told me to help you find it, and I will." Angel told her, placing a hand on her shoulders.
"Angel.I don't know that way out." she told him again, this time with a bit of hesitation and regret filling her words.
"Think Cordy..think." he said, looking intently in her eyes.
"What else do you think I'm doing?" she snapped, and then bit her lower lip and took a deep breath. "I don't understand how I'm supposed to know the way out.I'm as lost as you are in here for the record." she said in a softer tone, raising an eyebrow.
"Emily said to look within." Angel remembered, slipping into a thoughtful mode. "So it has to do with you.the answer is somewhere in you.look within." he repeated as he still heard Emily's voice in his head.
"How much more within can we get??" Cordelia asked, shooting him a very intent look. "We're inside my head!" she emphasized before turning away from him and staring at the room they stood in. "I can't be more 'within' than this Angel."
Her eyes roamed the walls and the floor, slowly moving over the pictures that rested on the ground. Cordy ran her hands through her hair and sighed, massaging the back of her neck slowly. Angel moved behind her and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder, whispering her name with that particular voice Cordy had come to know so well. A voice filled with tenderness, yet concern. A voice that reflected a diverse mixture of emotion. She turned to face him and then found herself lowering her eyes thoughtfully.
"Angel, what if." she began but he stopped her by taking her hands into his and asking her to look at him.
"You will find it.you will." he whispered to her.
The two of them stood there, in the middle of the room, looking at each other, for what seemed like forever. Angel found himself captivated by the lines on her face. She was afraid - he could feel it - but she was also stronger than she had been before. There was an assurance in her eyes that he remembered as being a huge part of the Cordelia he knew in Sunnydale. She had a determination that could have tore down walls in the way she bravely smiled.
Angel couldn't help but smile back. It was beyond his control. A smile from her seemed to ease every inquiry, every doubt, and every fear that inhabited him. One tiny smile. A glimpse of a grin. That's all it took.
"We should start by getting out of here." Angel then suggested, taking her left hand into his right one. "We'll figure the rest once we're somewhere safe.well.safer." he added, leading her towards the ladder.
"Angel wait." She said, pulling on his arm. "I have a bad feeling about this.maybe we should go down there instead." she suggested in return.
"I don't think that's a good idea."
"I think it is."
"Cordy."
"hey, this is my head." she frowned. "Angel."
"Okay." Angel said after a short pause. "Okay.maybe you're right." he surrendered and walked towards the trap.
He knelt down and grabbed the handles tightly, and pulled on the trap door. Cordy did the same on the other side and helped him pull on the very rusty door. The two of them barely had time to synchronize their pulling before they heard loud growls coming from under there. Sounds of chains and beasts approaching resounded in the room and Cordy jumped, followed by Angel, who stood in front of her protectively.
"Okay." Cordy said in a tiny voice. "So, on second thought, maybe your way was better." she admitted.
"What?" Angel turned to face her with a surprised expression on his face.
"What what?!"
"Are you saying I'm right?" Angel asked with wide eyes.
"Can we do this later, like, after we try not to die??!" she emphasized, grabbing his arm at the sound of the pouding from underground.
Angel led her to the ladder and let her climb up first. He hurried her a little when he saw the trap door shake once again under the pounding of God knows what monsters. He followed closely behind her as they climbed into a suffocating darkness.
After a few seconds of climbing in silence, Cordy opened hermouth to speak but stopped herself. Then, in a shaky breath, she asked:
"Angel?"
"Yes?" she heard closely behind her.
"Good." she breathed out. "Just checking." she said taking a deep breath and continuing her escape.
The two of them reached the top of the ladder, and in the dark, she and Angel tried to push open the door above their heads. Her body was pressed against Angel's as they both desperately tried to get out of the vertical tunnel.
"Ow! Angel's it's stuck!" she said through her teeth and as her head hit the ceiling, she groaned in pain.
"Not exactly something a guy likes to hear in a dark room with a woman, Cordy." Angel sighed, still trying to push open the trap door.
Cordy slightly slapped him on the shoulder.
"Are you making sex jokes while we're running for our lives???" she demanded with wide eyes that pierced through the darkness. She then held her breath for a moment and looked stunned for a moment. "Oh my God, you're making jokes, period. This place is highly affecting your vampire brain cells." she mumbled.
She and Angel give it one more try and finally manage to push the door open. He helps her up a little and she finds her way out of the hole they had crawled from. Angel quickly follows her outside and slams the door shut, putting a large piece of wood on it to keep it locked.
When he finally looks up, he and Cordy find themselves standing in the middle of a desert. Sand is the only thing they can see, except for a couple of rocks at a fair distance from them. Cordy's face turns pale as she feels a soft wind blow through her hair. Something isn't quite right.
"Cordy." Angel whispered, getting the same bad vibe she was getting. "Where are we?" he asked, looking over at her.
"A Brendan Fraser movie?" she innocently offered, faking a bright smile, and then swallowing back the fear invading her throat. She sighed and looked around before whispering: "This looks like the frightening setting for a very ugly, cinematographic finale."
Her voice was low and shaky, and at the moment the words left her mouth, the wind intensified. Soon enough, both she and Angel were shielding their faces from the attacking sand. The soft wind she had previously enjoyed had quickly turned into a violent storm.
"Did I say that out loud?" she then gasped, seeing the earth begin to move in front of them.
As if awaken by Cordelia's words, the ground began to shake, and the wind blew harder. Angel grabbed Cordy's hand into his and theyboth took a few steps back when they noticed that the grains of sand seemed to have a mind of their own. Soon enough, a giant sandy face sprung from the ground, opening its mouth as if it intended to swallow them whole. The ten-feet- tall face, made entriely of sand and glued together by the menacing wind, threw itself at Angel. He quickly pushed Cordelia out of the way in an attempt to protect her and leaped from the ground to avoid being eaten alive by some demonic sand-castle-like figure.
Cordy rose to her feet and ran towards Angel, who had landed nearby. She grabbed his hand and the two of them began to run for their lives. Angel barely felt the ground beneath his feet for they ran so fast. He looked over his shoulder repeatedly, to make sure the gigantic sand-made face wasn't catching up to them.
Cordy heard screams into the night, beasts, growls and many more unusual noises coming from the face that trailed behind them. Keeping a firm hold on Angel's hand, she kept running beside him.
They were hurrying to escape the chasing figure when they suddenly, and violently stopped in their tracks. Angel grabbed Cordy's shoulders and pulled her back from the edge of a tall cliff. He felt the rapid heartbeat inside her chest as he did so. At a loss for what to do now, they both looked over their shoulders and saw that the face was heading straight for them.
"Borrowed Gunn's DVD player often?" Angel asked, raising an eyebrow as he did so.
"Note to self.cancel my membership to Blockbuster." she breathlessly spoke, looking back and forth between the cliff and the approaching face behind them. "I've obviously seen way too many of those movies." She added with a gasp.
Blinded by the wind and the sand, she and Angel struggled to see through the storm. The vampire felt the threat coming closer and closer, so he tightened his grip on Cordy's hand and stared intently into her eyes. He didn't have to speak. She knew immediately what he was thinking, and she held her breath for a split-second.
"Angel no." she whispered with fear, letting go of his hand. "I can't." she said but Angel simply looked at her with desperately reassuring eyes.
"Just grab my hand." He tended his hand in front of her again. "Cordy."
The way he said her name with such care and emotion, brought on a very short pause between them.
"Do you trust me?" he asked her.
If he'd had a breath, he would have held it. If his heart had been beating, it would have momentarily stopped. It would have begun to beat again when she quickly grabbed his hand into her warm one. There were no need for words. No need for explanation. The gesture had said it all, and without further hesitation, she and Angel looked down at the neverending cliff and jumped just in time to escape the sharp teeth of the sandy-beast.
Holding on to one another, trusting one another, they just jumped. Without thinking, without fearing, they took a leap of faith.
Into the abyss.
Into the unknown.
Into their destiny.
SNEAK PREVIEW: Dennis' mother plans Cordelia's punishment and torture, but will Angel, Cordy and Gunn live long enough to stop her evil plans?
A small towel carefully hovered over Cordelia's head while an invisible hand proceeded in wiping the sweat from her forehead. Emily, who was now sitting on the other side of the bed, held Cordy's hand into hers tightly.
Being an immortal ghost and all, she seemed to be conversing with a very much invisible Dennis.
"Being invisible must be a bummer." She said with a funny expression on her face. "I mean, I got the good deal. I can come here looking like a human.I know.I know.Working for the Powers has its advantages."
They seemed to be chatting, while taking care of Cordelia, when Emily stopped talking and lifted her eyes up to the wall above her cousin's head.
There, in big bold letters, two other names appeared.
EMILY and FRED.
Emily lowered her eyes and took a deep breath. She held on to Cordy's hand as if she was holding a silent prayer between her fingers. She then saw the towel drop onto the floor and heard a small chair be pulled up beside hers. She turned to look at the seemingly empty chair and sighed.
"Have faith Dennis.Have faith." she whispered, lowered her eyes again.
--
Gunn looked up under the peaceful snow flakes, still holding Fred's lifeless body in his arms, and held his breath. How could such a beautiful sight be clouded by the tragedy that lied in his arms?
With immense carefulness, he lowered Fred's body down onto the ground and placed his jacket on top of her, as if to warm up her freezing muscles. He took a deep breath, masterfully holding back his emotions, and he got up to his knees. He looked up and noticed, as he had expected, that access to the other side of the bridge had been denied. What he had not quite expected were the numerous demons that sprung from everywhere, waiting for him to make his move. Some were armed, some were frightening in themselves.
With clenched teeth and a fierce anger in his eyes, Gunn stared at them intently. As the snow fell on his head and began covering the ground around him, he let go of Fred's cold hand and got up to his feet. He grabbed the sword that had killed his friend and looked back and forth between the entrance of the bridge and the large wall that blocked the other side. Seeing that there was absolutely no way he could cross the bridge, he decided to head backwards. The simple thought of leaving Fred there killed him inside.
With anger rising in his eyes, he raised his swords and walked towards the many demons waiting for him at the joining of the road and the bridge.
One of the demons leaped and threw himself at Gunn with a force unknown to humans. In one quick movement, Gunn sliced the demon with his sword, and much to his surprise, the beast didn't die. Instead, he multiplied himself in dozens of tiny little baby demons. Gunn stared with wide eyes as he witnessed the mess in which he found himself.
--
Four empty walls stared down at the picture-covered floor around a sleeping Cordy and Angel. Every picture lied face down around them. Her head rested on his shoulder while his jacket wrapped itself around her.
Angel slowly opened his eyes and noticed the sleeping beauty on his arm. He carefully reached his hand up and brushed her hair away from her face, mentally breathing in the essence of her calmness. Cordy stirred underneath his touch and sleepily opened her eyes. She lifted her head and looked up to meeth Angel's eyes. She straightened herself a little and they both smiled.
"Hi." Angel whispered, never breaking eye contact.
"Hi." she replied with a bright, sleepy smile.
Angel got up and helped her up to her feet. They both looked around at the empty walls and at the floor, and then Cordy frowned.
"What happened to the door?" She then asked, clearing her throat.
There, in place of the door, stood a tall ladder that led to places unknown.
Cordelia then looked down under feet and saw a small trap that led, like the ladder, to places she didn't even dare imagine. She looked up and shared a meaningful silence with Angel as they both pondered there options.
"Cordelia, you're the only one who can find the exit to this labyrinth we seem to be stuck in.Emily told me to help you find it, and I will." Angel told her, placing a hand on her shoulders.
"Angel.I don't know that way out." she told him again, this time with a bit of hesitation and regret filling her words.
"Think Cordy..think." he said, looking intently in her eyes.
"What else do you think I'm doing?" she snapped, and then bit her lower lip and took a deep breath. "I don't understand how I'm supposed to know the way out.I'm as lost as you are in here for the record." she said in a softer tone, raising an eyebrow.
"Emily said to look within." Angel remembered, slipping into a thoughtful mode. "So it has to do with you.the answer is somewhere in you.look within." he repeated as he still heard Emily's voice in his head.
"How much more within can we get??" Cordelia asked, shooting him a very intent look. "We're inside my head!" she emphasized before turning away from him and staring at the room they stood in. "I can't be more 'within' than this Angel."
Her eyes roamed the walls and the floor, slowly moving over the pictures that rested on the ground. Cordy ran her hands through her hair and sighed, massaging the back of her neck slowly. Angel moved behind her and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder, whispering her name with that particular voice Cordy had come to know so well. A voice filled with tenderness, yet concern. A voice that reflected a diverse mixture of emotion. She turned to face him and then found herself lowering her eyes thoughtfully.
"Angel, what if." she began but he stopped her by taking her hands into his and asking her to look at him.
"You will find it.you will." he whispered to her.
The two of them stood there, in the middle of the room, looking at each other, for what seemed like forever. Angel found himself captivated by the lines on her face. She was afraid - he could feel it - but she was also stronger than she had been before. There was an assurance in her eyes that he remembered as being a huge part of the Cordelia he knew in Sunnydale. She had a determination that could have tore down walls in the way she bravely smiled.
Angel couldn't help but smile back. It was beyond his control. A smile from her seemed to ease every inquiry, every doubt, and every fear that inhabited him. One tiny smile. A glimpse of a grin. That's all it took.
"We should start by getting out of here." Angel then suggested, taking her left hand into his right one. "We'll figure the rest once we're somewhere safe.well.safer." he added, leading her towards the ladder.
"Angel wait." She said, pulling on his arm. "I have a bad feeling about this.maybe we should go down there instead." she suggested in return.
"I don't think that's a good idea."
"I think it is."
"Cordy."
"hey, this is my head." she frowned. "Angel."
"Okay." Angel said after a short pause. "Okay.maybe you're right." he surrendered and walked towards the trap.
He knelt down and grabbed the handles tightly, and pulled on the trap door. Cordy did the same on the other side and helped him pull on the very rusty door. The two of them barely had time to synchronize their pulling before they heard loud growls coming from under there. Sounds of chains and beasts approaching resounded in the room and Cordy jumped, followed by Angel, who stood in front of her protectively.
"Okay." Cordy said in a tiny voice. "So, on second thought, maybe your way was better." she admitted.
"What?" Angel turned to face her with a surprised expression on his face.
"What what?!"
"Are you saying I'm right?" Angel asked with wide eyes.
"Can we do this later, like, after we try not to die??!" she emphasized, grabbing his arm at the sound of the pouding from underground.
Angel led her to the ladder and let her climb up first. He hurried her a little when he saw the trap door shake once again under the pounding of God knows what monsters. He followed closely behind her as they climbed into a suffocating darkness.
After a few seconds of climbing in silence, Cordy opened hermouth to speak but stopped herself. Then, in a shaky breath, she asked:
"Angel?"
"Yes?" she heard closely behind her.
"Good." she breathed out. "Just checking." she said taking a deep breath and continuing her escape.
The two of them reached the top of the ladder, and in the dark, she and Angel tried to push open the door above their heads. Her body was pressed against Angel's as they both desperately tried to get out of the vertical tunnel.
"Ow! Angel's it's stuck!" she said through her teeth and as her head hit the ceiling, she groaned in pain.
"Not exactly something a guy likes to hear in a dark room with a woman, Cordy." Angel sighed, still trying to push open the trap door.
Cordy slightly slapped him on the shoulder.
"Are you making sex jokes while we're running for our lives???" she demanded with wide eyes that pierced through the darkness. She then held her breath for a moment and looked stunned for a moment. "Oh my God, you're making jokes, period. This place is highly affecting your vampire brain cells." she mumbled.
She and Angel give it one more try and finally manage to push the door open. He helps her up a little and she finds her way out of the hole they had crawled from. Angel quickly follows her outside and slams the door shut, putting a large piece of wood on it to keep it locked.
When he finally looks up, he and Cordy find themselves standing in the middle of a desert. Sand is the only thing they can see, except for a couple of rocks at a fair distance from them. Cordy's face turns pale as she feels a soft wind blow through her hair. Something isn't quite right.
"Cordy." Angel whispered, getting the same bad vibe she was getting. "Where are we?" he asked, looking over at her.
"A Brendan Fraser movie?" she innocently offered, faking a bright smile, and then swallowing back the fear invading her throat. She sighed and looked around before whispering: "This looks like the frightening setting for a very ugly, cinematographic finale."
Her voice was low and shaky, and at the moment the words left her mouth, the wind intensified. Soon enough, both she and Angel were shielding their faces from the attacking sand. The soft wind she had previously enjoyed had quickly turned into a violent storm.
"Did I say that out loud?" she then gasped, seeing the earth begin to move in front of them.
As if awaken by Cordelia's words, the ground began to shake, and the wind blew harder. Angel grabbed Cordy's hand into his and theyboth took a few steps back when they noticed that the grains of sand seemed to have a mind of their own. Soon enough, a giant sandy face sprung from the ground, opening its mouth as if it intended to swallow them whole. The ten-feet- tall face, made entriely of sand and glued together by the menacing wind, threw itself at Angel. He quickly pushed Cordelia out of the way in an attempt to protect her and leaped from the ground to avoid being eaten alive by some demonic sand-castle-like figure.
Cordy rose to her feet and ran towards Angel, who had landed nearby. She grabbed his hand and the two of them began to run for their lives. Angel barely felt the ground beneath his feet for they ran so fast. He looked over his shoulder repeatedly, to make sure the gigantic sand-made face wasn't catching up to them.
Cordy heard screams into the night, beasts, growls and many more unusual noises coming from the face that trailed behind them. Keeping a firm hold on Angel's hand, she kept running beside him.
They were hurrying to escape the chasing figure when they suddenly, and violently stopped in their tracks. Angel grabbed Cordy's shoulders and pulled her back from the edge of a tall cliff. He felt the rapid heartbeat inside her chest as he did so. At a loss for what to do now, they both looked over their shoulders and saw that the face was heading straight for them.
"Borrowed Gunn's DVD player often?" Angel asked, raising an eyebrow as he did so.
"Note to self.cancel my membership to Blockbuster." she breathlessly spoke, looking back and forth between the cliff and the approaching face behind them. "I've obviously seen way too many of those movies." She added with a gasp.
Blinded by the wind and the sand, she and Angel struggled to see through the storm. The vampire felt the threat coming closer and closer, so he tightened his grip on Cordy's hand and stared intently into her eyes. He didn't have to speak. She knew immediately what he was thinking, and she held her breath for a split-second.
"Angel no." she whispered with fear, letting go of his hand. "I can't." she said but Angel simply looked at her with desperately reassuring eyes.
"Just grab my hand." He tended his hand in front of her again. "Cordy."
The way he said her name with such care and emotion, brought on a very short pause between them.
"Do you trust me?" he asked her.
If he'd had a breath, he would have held it. If his heart had been beating, it would have momentarily stopped. It would have begun to beat again when she quickly grabbed his hand into her warm one. There were no need for words. No need for explanation. The gesture had said it all, and without further hesitation, she and Angel looked down at the neverending cliff and jumped just in time to escape the sharp teeth of the sandy-beast.
Holding on to one another, trusting one another, they just jumped. Without thinking, without fearing, they took a leap of faith.
Into the abyss.
Into the unknown.
Into their destiny.
SNEAK PREVIEW: Dennis' mother plans Cordelia's punishment and torture, but will Angel, Cordy and Gunn live long enough to stop her evil plans?