Chapter 21
"Let me ask you a question, Comrade General Secretary…"
Paizana spat her cigarette out onto the pavement, stamping it out with her boot. The mare's leg was still aimed squarely at Lucius's head. Viola, Cherri and Sallie May all had their hands up, still confused and extremely cautious.
"...When you left my bedroom last night, did you really think that everything was just hunky dory?"
Lucius couldn't answer. The recognition that the Imp he thought his comrade was in fact a mass murderer of their own kind had short-circuited his brain.
"You really think you've got some magic cock, don't you? That all you had to do was get me into bed, trade bodily fluids, and we'd be the best of friends afterwards, right? Over thirty years of sectarian rivalry all gone, just like that."
The Imp could only shake his head, his mouth agape.
"Thirty-two years, Lu. Thirty-two years and did I hear so much as a fucking peep from the main organization? Nope, not even a fucking newsletter.
Viola finally spoke up. "Pai, we didn't-"
"Oh, I'd expect that kind of flakiness from Griz, considering how often her face was either shoved into someone's crotch or behind a gun sight. 'Course, she's dead because she had to save your sorry ass. But she at least has that excuse. But you? When it's actually your ass on the line, that was when you decided to reach out to your long suffering comrades, right?"
Lucius sputtered out a question. "Pai...why?"
"You know fucking why!", she yelled. "You saw what they all looked like, Lu. What I looked like. Eyes gone, arms missing, legs mutilated and malformed. We've all been scraping by an existence from the run-off of this goddamn anus of a city for decades! And you? You never once sent us a single fucking postcard!"
"For Satan's sake, Pai!", Viola yelled. "How could you say that about us? About Grizelle? I thought you loved her!"
"Of course I loved her!", Paizana screamed back, tears pouring down her face. "I loved her so goddamn much...she was the only reason I was able to suffer all of the oppression and the apathy of our fellow Hellborn for so fucking long...even after she abandoned us for Imp City I….
Paizana's hand started to shake. The gun rattled in her hand.
"Even after all that, I could still keep going because I knew that somewhere, she was still keeping up the fight. That maybe, just maybe, she'd been able to convince our long suffering kind in the Wrath Ring to join the cause…and then…"
She shoved the gun directly into Lucius's face, the barrel practically clicking off of his teeth.
"And then she fucking dies, in a warehouse on the edge of Imp City, trying to rescue you from some dumbass bombing scheme that you had cocked up! So here I am now, abandoned with my kind out here in the armpit of Hell…"
Viola looked over at Lucius. His face had gone pale. His lips were trembling. She could see small tears peeking out from under his eyes.
"Pfft…"
It was Cherri that broke the silence.
"You say all of that...and yet look at what you've done."
Paizana angrily swung her gun around and pointed it at Cherri.
"Oh, I'm sorry...I don't need a fucking Sinner to judge me, considering what you've done…"
"Yeah, I know what I'm about.", Cherri said shrugging. "I belong down here, I'm not stupid or anything. But you know what I haven't done? Claim to be fighting for a higher cause while systematically mutilating and murdering all of the people I claim to be fighting for."
"No, you just recklessly blow up entire city blocks and then claim them as turf. You think I have amnesia, bitch? I was hunkering down with my people here on the West Side when you and Pentious were turning my fucking sidewalk into slag heap!"
Sallie May piped up. "Ah mean...ya gotta admit that she has a point, lady. Fighting for us while turning us into those things? Sounds like some wires got crossed or somethin'..."
Paizana moved the gun over to Sallie May. "Don't."
"Look, I'm from the Wrath Ring, right? And I ain't heard a thing about your...what's this organization you guys are talkin' about?"
Viola looked over at the taller Imp. "Really? You're not joking?"
Sallie May just shrugged. "Nope."
"We're the Imp Liberation Front. We've...we've been around for a while."
"First I'm hearin' about it."
"Are you...you're not…you're serious aren't you?"
"As a heart attack."
"...Huh.", Viola said. We really need to put more money into outreach, she thought.
"Enough!", Pai screamed. "I'm not gonna take lessons on morality from a Sinner and a bumpkin. I'm making the mother of all omelets here, you ignorant fucks. I can't cry over a few eggs."
"I just…", Lucius sputtered out. "I just don't understand. You bled for our cause. You swore to Griz that you'd keep up the fight here. Why did you betray us?"
"I'm betraying jack shit, Lu.", she spat back. "Griz had vision...and the heart of a warrior. I loved her for it...but she could not have forseen the revelations I had. She just wanted to end our oppression...but me and my benefactors have bigger dreams."
"Like what? What could be worth all of this?"
"A glorious past, Lu. That's what."
Paizana looked up into the ruddy sky, tears shining in her eyes.
"A glorious past, in the nation of Carcosa."
He ran.
This was all Lester could think of. Simply fleeing his grandfather.
And his grandfather wasn't far behind him. Or was he? Lester didn't bother to look behind him, he just ran.
He jumped into an empty trashcan, gripping his shoulders and tightening his cloak around himself.
The night was oddly, unsettlingly quiet…no, that's wasn't quite the right description. It was still noisy, but not like it had been. The normal nightly staccato of gunshots and yelling had been replaced with a nightmarish whisper of moans and cold winds.
Lenny?
Yes, Ella?
Tonight's the night
For what?
I'm leaving...
Which could only mean that the creatures had been spreading throughout the city. The Pentagram was being overrun. Even the Exorcists couldn't create this kind of chaos.
So many smells, so many lights.
He started to hyperventilate. His lungs felt like they were going to explode out of his chest.
"Found ye."
Lester's eyes shot upwards. The grinning, slavering face of Sawney stared down at him.
"You're a fast little fucker, aren't ye laddie? When'd you learn t'do that?"
Lester panicked. His shoulder slammed against the side of the trashcan, tipping it over onto the street. He scrambled out of it and fled again.
But grandpa-
I'm not afraid of him anymore, Lenny.
But-
It's okay, Lenny. I'm not scared. It's gonna be fine.
But the others out there, you have no idea…
Neither do you, but is that any reason to not try?
I suppose not.
How far had he ran at this point? Three miles? Ten? He wasn't sure, nor was he really concerned at that moment.
Buildings flew past him. Streets. Signs. Smells and lights.
He felt a buzzing growing in his head.
He wanted to be in a small, comfortable space. He wanted to be alone.
Why don't you come with me?
I want to, Ella. I can't stand it anymore, I can't stand him…
Then let's go. Together.
...I can't, Ella. Not yet. Someone has to cover for you.
Lenny…
Don't worry. Go. I will join you later. It may take time, but I'll find you...
He was afraid. He wanted to cry.
So many things didn't make sense at that moment. He just wanted to get away.
His chest hurt. His throat was dry.
He missed Ella.
"They're here!", Husk yelled.
Fyewackett rushed to the front door, where the Felinoid-Sinner was peeking out between the frame and the doorknob.
He was right. The street was now filled with the abominations, sidewalk to sidewalk. They lurched and undulated over the concrete, moaning in either hunger or dull agony. The pavement below them was slick with fluids, viscera and something that looked like used motor oil.
His hands tightened on the Thompson. His shoulder was about to get a work-out.
He called the Sinners into the lobby.
"Alright, everybody, it's show time!"
"Oh hell yeah!", Lucille yelled, cocking her shotgun. "It's huntin' time!"
"I'm in position, short stuff!", Angel Dust called from the outside. "Remember what I told ya about short bursts!"
"And remember what I said about targeting. Stay in your position and Do-Not-Leave-It!"
"Aw, c'mon…"
"Angel-"
"I have the PMS apparatus online!", yelled Baxter, interrupting him. "We're good for Ammo, but I'm going to need support!"
A static voice answered him. "I believe I can be your huckleberry, my short friend!"
Fye nodded. "Sounds good. Any news on Charlie?"
"I'm still attempting to contact her, but she seems to still be caught up with Pentious…"
"Fine, then...hey wait, has anyone seen Shakie?"
"I'm right here."
The young Felinoid-sinner walked into the lobby, with a small pistol in her grip.
"Just tell me where to shoot. I'm good for it."
Fye looked over at Husk, who was busy sharpening his claws.
He shrugged his shoulders. "Dunno why you're looking at me. I just tend the bar."
The Imp sighed. "Fine. Get up on the balcony with Angel. Same instructions: do not leave it."
Shakie cocked the pistol and twirled it in her finger. "Understood." She turned around and climbed up the stairs to the second floor, where Angel Dust was located.
Fyewackett took a deep breath. Here goes nothing…
"OK, everyone, this is it! Make sure you're locked and loaded, and remember to pick your targets. Remember: you need to shoot the shard on the back of their necks to immobilize them."
"Why not just blowing them up?", Fern asked, raising her hand.
Fye shook his head. "Not good enough.", he told the blue-scaled Sinner. "Unless you can completely eviscerate them, they'll keep coming. Shoot the shard."
Angel Dust yelled down from the balcony. "They're getting close, short stuff!"
The Imp nodded. He went over to the door and sat his hoof against it, ready to kick it open.
"Alright, last call people!"
The guests in the lobby primed themselves, gripping pistols, rifles, crowbars, and whatever blunt instruments they could get their hands on.
Chay has said that many of these Sinners were sex workers, or petty criminals. Whatever their past was, they had decided to make this strange establishment their home.
It was their place of comfort, of safety.
And it was their one and only shot at redemption.
Fye still had no idea why Chay thought he was qualified for this. He wasn't a leader, like Comrade Lucius.
But this was his responsibility, and his comrade and friend believed in him enough to give him this order.
He kicked open the door.
"Light them up!", he yelled.
"And this effects me...how, exactly?", Pentious hissed.
Chay irritably rubbed her hands over his eyes. "We don't have a lot of time to argue here, Pentious. We need your blimp and we need to use it now."
"It's a dirigible, thank you very much. Completely different from a blimp."
"It is?", Vaggie asked.
"Yes!", he shrieked indignantly. "This craft clearly has internal mechanisms and structures. It's a far more complex machine than any pedestrian blimp."
"Chay…", Charlie asked. "What are you thinking right now?"
Chay took a deep breath. "I think I've found out who did it.", she said. "And furthermore, I think they might also be the same people behind the disappearance of Lester's sister."
"What do you mean?", Vaggie asked. "What's the connection?"
Chay turned to the eggboi with the beret. "The truck you saw...was it a meat truck?"
The eggboi nodded gravely. "Indeed. It was a large truck with several people inside it."
"Imps?"
"Yes. Originally it was Imps and Sinners."
"And they were going into that garage.", Chay remarked. "The same one that Lucius and Viola met their contacts at. The same ones that are now with my friends out front of the donut shop, with all of those things cluttering the streets."
She whipped back around and got directly into Pentious's face. "We have to get there, and we have to get there now, or your ass is going to be next."
The serpent-Sinner smirked. "Oh, really? Can they fly?"
Chay just stared.
"Because in case you haven't noticed, we're several feet up in the air.", he continued. "I can stay up here in perpetuity, easily picking off those abominations as I please."
Chay grunted angrily.
But it was Charlie who responded for her.
"Sir Pentious…", she began.
"Yes, Princes-" he began to say mockingly…
...but his words screeched to a halt.
Charlie's eyes were glowing red.
"Sir Pentious. As Princess Charlotte Magne, daughter of His Highness Lucifer Magne and heir to the Throne of Hell, I hereby order you to pilot this machine to our desired destination."
For the second time that day, Chay swore that she could see a pair of horns poking out of Charlie's head.
"….The nation of the what now?", Sallie May asked, clearly confused.
Paizana barely reacted. Her eyes were still glued to the night sky, trance like.
"The fools who oppress us have lied to us for so long, hiding the glorious truth from us Hellborn...Before the Morningstar fell to our realm, and enforced his rule over us, our empire was glorious. An opulent, ancient kingdom. One that all realms seen and unseen feared. Our towers were so tall they were orbited by moons. The twin suns illuminated our lands, and the black stars guarded them at night…so was the might of Carcosa."
Oh fuck me, Viola thought to herself, they got to her to.
"We don't believe in empires, Pai!", Lucius said angrily. "Griz taught us how destructive they are to the people they enslave! For fucks' sake, we're supposed to aid our fellow Hellborn!"
"Grizelle was a fool, Lu.", she replied, still seemingly entranced. "She based her ideals on the delusions of the Human realm, simply regurgitating things she read in their books. She never could have realized what glorious truth my benefactors have revealed to me."
"Was it worth it, Pai?", Viola asked with a sneer. "All of this mutilation and slaughter of our people?"
The taller Imp's eyes slowly moved down to look at Viola.
"More worth it than you could possibly imagine."
She blinked, as if snapping out of her trance.
She cleared her throat and took the safety off of her gun.
"Anyway, it no longer matters. Things have been set in motion that none of us here can stop, and I'm not going to give credence to the opinions of those who collaborate with Sinners."
Lucius's eyes narrowed.
"Chay is more loyal to our cause then you are now, traitor."
BLAM
An explosion rocked the Imps and Sinner to the ground. The street was filled with dust and smoke.
Viola coughed up what felt like a lung full of gravel. Her ears buzzed. "I am getting really tired of these random fucking explosions…", she managed to hack out.
"Holy fucking Shit…", Cherri said, pointing up.
The Imps followed her finger up to the sky…
...where Pentious's blimp hovered over them, with its guns aimed directly at the ground.
CHAPTER 21 END
