//So what would an angel say?
The devil wants to know…//
Voices hurtled pass me as the intense atmosphere dissipated into the calming surroundings of Gondor. My breath hitched as I panted through the darkened streets, the lights from the great hall slowly dimming behind me.
Of all things in the world, I trusted my legs, and now they guided me fearlessly through the unfamiliar paths of Gondor. Twilight skimmed the surfaces of alleys and the soft glow of candlelights illuminated strange shaped shadows. I could feel my blood pumping as I finally slowed down, blue eyes taking in black territory.
Suddenly a huge hand clasped over my mouth, and clouds edged into my vision as I tried to break free. Scrambling ineptly with my hands, a cool metal forced a dangerous path against my throat, and I fell limp, fear coursing through me.
Pungent breath invaded my smell as a chillingly familiar voice hissed in my ear.
"You can't hide forever, Laire. You will pay…"
I felt the hand on my mouth fall loose for a second, and grabbing the chance, I raised my mouth and bit hard. The man //love, loving, loved// yelled in pain and the knife clattered to the floor as I vaulted out of his grasp. I sprinted out into the pitch-black streets, the moon, behind clouds, not aiding my escape. My eyes darted around helplessly in the dark, and the terrifying footsteps behind me inched closer and closer.
I screamed in fright when a brash hand grabbed me and locked a death grip on my arm. Trying to wriggle free, the man slapped me hard and red seeped through the corners of my vision. Quickly, he bound my eyes and mouth with cloths and hoisted me roughly onto his shoulder, capturing me into terrors unknown.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
His jogging had ceased and I heard a door open quietly in the silent night. He dumped me into a hard wooden chair and I strained my senses to gain a sign as to what he was doing.
As I felt coarse ropes dig into my wrists and ankles, my last glimmer of hope of escaping flew out the window. He bound them tightly, almost cutting off the circulation to my hands and feet.
Suddenly the cloth covering my eyes was yanked off and I blinked quickly to adjust my sight to the dim candlelight in the room. His back was facing me, but I needed no face to recognise the voice.
A glint of silver caught my eye and a petrifying sense of dread rushed through me and the sound of metal against stone further confirmed my fears.
"Well, well, well," the man said, slowly turning to face me, "poor little Summer's all alone…who's going to save her now?"
I nearly sobbed in fright and desperation when my father's face came into view. A rampage of long-buried memories resurfaced all too quickly as I cried out against the cloth in my mouth.
A small bitter smile appeared on his lips as he relished in my anguish. He dangerously twirled the sharp dagger in his hands, holding the blade against my cheek and making a carving motion.
"Your mother was oh, so sweet," he began in a sing-song voice, tracing the knife against me, "always the perfect woman, trying to raise little Summer to be exactly like her, to escape what you really were…"
My eyes fearfully followed the pattern of the dagger on my body, and gave a small gasp when he nicked my cheek, a drop of blood which he held on his fingertip.
"Ah yes, the blood of the Laire Carn. Pity, isn't it Summer, that no one else knows this? Long have I waited for your mother's death for the prophecy to be fulfilled, for my soul to be released from these mortifying bonds…and for my chance at immortality…"
With this, my father lifted the blood to his mouth, and much to my horror, sucked it off his finger. His face then contorted, a wicked smile gracing his lips and his eyes now tainted a sinful black.
"You and your mother will pay for what you have done to me," he whispered smoothly in my ear, "and you especially, my precious Laire, will be my gateway to perpetual life."
In a flash, he had streaked the dagger against my throat. At first, everything seemed numb, but all of a sudden, a sharp burning sensation began at the base of my throat and speedily made its flaming path up my neck. I choked and gasped in fear and pain, feeling the thick fluid creep down the front of my dress. I had not noticed the crashing of the door or the yells of my father from beside me.
My eyes watered and my tears tracked their way down my face and mingled with the blood dripping down my dress. My throat was now an inferno of pain and I felt light-headed from the loss of blood. Shadows of figures danced across my sight against the filthy walls and my hearing had been drowned in the screams of my body.
My head rolled forward as I barely felt the bonds on my arms and legs loosened. A strong body lifted me out of the chair and lightly carried me away from the building and my encounter with the devil that I once loved.