Disclaimer: Don't be silly, I don't own any of the 'Angel' characters. I'm not even going to start listing the things wrong with that.
Feedback: I live off it! Honestly, I'm totally addicted. My obsession stretches so far that I actually check my inbox three times a day, just in case. I know, I'm sad. What can I say? I have no life.
OK, I know this is a bit late, but I've been really busy just lately. Sorry! But this is a nice long chapter for you to get your teeth into, and possibly a bit disturbing and scary towards the end. Just to warn you, the next instalment looks like it's going to be a tear-jerker, so you might want to go to the store a buy a box of tissues before the end of the week. Anyway, I'll shut up now so you can get stuck in. Enjoy! :)
PART 10.
Angel was shocked to the core. Hurtling through the air just now, he had felt like a speeding vehicle had purposefully aimed at and hit him, his best friend behind the wheel. Not only that, but it looked like the offender was threatening to reverse back over him a couple of times and then drive at him again.
Wesley had stopped short in front of both Angel and Gunn, totally emotionless and unfeeling. The axe that had once resided in Gunn's firm grip was now hovering mysteriously to the side, tantalisingly out of reach. If they had any hope of solving this with brute force, it was lost now, and Angel realised just how unprepared they had been. He might have known something like this would happen. After all, the firm didn't take Wesley away so that they could get to know one another better.
Angel straightened himself and looked into Wesley's eyes, feeling a chill when he met nothing but emptiness.
"Wes, what are you doing? Don't you know who we –"
Obviously not. He and Gunn were flung to the floor in the middle of the room and, to their dismay, found that they were unable to get up again. Whatever power was being used, it was holding them down now, reducing them to grovelling at Lilah's feet as she perched on her seat like a monarch on a throne.
"You just don't listen to me, do you?" Lilah cooed, moving around to the front of her desk so that she could lean back on it and look down her nose at her new captives.
"I told you he wouldn't take kindly to your interference. Not that that's really him, of course. He's long gone. So don't bother with your pleading, he won't remember you. If you really want to beg, try me. You'll find I can be very accommodating when the fancy takes me."
Gunn forced a snigger from where his face was pushed into the carpet.
"I wouldn't give you the satisfaction", he rasped, deciding that if he was done for, he might as well go out in style. Angel may be able to withstand a repeated body slam against less than spongy surfaces, but for him, it was getting old. Much more of this and he'd be reduced to a bloody pulp. Not the way he had imagined ending his days, that was for sure.
"Ah, well, how about I make yours a long and painful death rather than the quick one I had in mind? Actually, come to think of it, I don't think I can be bothered this time. You got lucky." She gave a sharp whistle in Wesley's direction. "Here boy."
Wesley stepped forward and Gunn was flipped onto his back, his own axe poised above his head. Angel could see what was happening through the corner of his eye and trawled his mind desperately for something to say that would end this madness.
"Lilah, don't do this, it's me you want." That's the best he could do.
He heard Lilah chuckle to herself before he was lifted up and pressed against the wall again, his arms and legs pinned down. She sauntered across to him and put her hand by his head, leaning over him in an unsettling manner. After a moment of examining his facial features, she grinned to herself and looked him in the eye.
"You're right, it is you I want, or at least, the useful part of you. Which is why you're going to watch your boss slice your friend into tiny pieces before he turns on you. Then, as sad as it is for the company to loose such an asset, you're going to kill him before he dusts you and is unleashed onto an ignorant world to cause havoc of epic proportions. Then, if that doesn't work, we'll torture you for a bit until we release that inner demon of yours, then you too can enjoy the quite literally mind-numbing treatment that my demon friend here is so very good at dishing out."
She looked Angel up and down before giving him a degrading sneer.
"You know, when I told him he would get the chance of having one of the most notorious vampires ever to defile the earth as one of his little mind slaves, he got very excited, didn't you, Gretak?"
The eyeless demon gave a vicious grin to nobody in particular, revealing his very badly kept, yellow, serrated teeth. He said something in a very deep and malevolent voice that no one but Lilah seemed to understand. She rolled her eyes and gave a tut, turning to the demon in slight annoyance.
"Yeah, yeah", she sighed, "Just make it quick. I've got better things to do."
Angel watched helplessly as the demons eyeholes glowed momentarily and Wesley moved in for the kill. Gunn stared up at his friend with disbelief in his eyes.
"Angel…" Why did he even bother? There was nothing Angel could do for him now. He squeezed his eyes shut as the axe raised itself, ready to take a chunk out of his flesh. This was gonna hurt. A lot.
He braced himself for the blow, accepting his inevitable demise, when a loud crash disturbed the execution about to take place. He opened his eyes again as he heard everyone in the room gasp, only to see the shining blade just inches away from his face. In a sudden release of pressure, he found himself able to move again, and instinctively lashed upward to knock the axe away before it fell on him, once and for all.
He leapt to his feet to see that the door had swung open, crashed into by the limp body of some man that Gunn had never seen before. Lilah and the demon had backed into a corner, with Lindsey and Wesley standing in front of them for protection. Angel also seemed to have been released, and he rushed to Gunn's side, extending a concerned arm to make sure he hadn't already been shredded into ribbons.
There was a loud growl from the corridor, and another body was flung past the doorway, stifling the resulting 'aahhh' when it hit the floor with a thud. Angel looked on in anticipation, readying himself for another confrontation. He listened intently for any clue as to what was happening out there, and tensed up when he heard two sets of hurried footsteps approach. He almost fell over with shock at what he saw.
Cordelia and a rather disgruntled looking Harris burst into the room, scanning around wildly. They both looked as though the hounds of hell were snapping at their heels, and Cordelia was wielding a silver dagger like some kind of psycho, daring them all to come at her and find out what she was capable of doing with it. They both finally let their eyes rest on Wesley, and then looked towards Gunn and Angel with questioning concern.
This was not the time to explain, but they soon found out for themselves.
The ugly demon snarled with fury at the interruption, and the two new guests received a taste of Wesley's power. They were forced to the opposite side of the room, hitting the shelving and then sliding down into a heap on the floor. Wesley went after them to keep them occupied, whilst Lindsey advanced on Angel and Gunn.
Angel would have laughed, had the situation not been so serious. He'd come up against Lindsey before, and he was no match for vampire stren-
Lindsey swung at him with his 'evil' hand, landing a punch right between Angel's eyes. It wasn't the most intimidating blow he'd ever taken, but it caught him off guard a little, and he was surprised at Lindsey's sudden speed and confidence. And he didn't slow down there. Without so much as a wince, he kept coming at Angel, knocking Gunn to the side in the process. Angel retaliated with a fist of his own, but Lindsey dodged it successfully and used the opportunity to slam down on Angel's exposed side.
Cordelia stared up at Wesley in confusion, all words lost to her. He just stood there, watching them, with no spark of recognition and yet no hostility, nothing that suggested he wished them harm. He was completely expressionless.
Harris studied the group on the other side of the room, and his eyes widened when he reached a revelation. The stuttered slightly, trying to get his words out.
"Cordelia, I think I know what's going on. That demon over there, it's a Duton."
"A what?"
"A Duton. They're mind-control demons. Do you see? He has no eyes. He uses his victims as eyes for him and dictates their every move."
"How does he do that? I don't understand, why doesn't he just do it to us?" Cordelia squirmed a bit, trying her best to move away, but Wesley still held her fast. She took a quick glance to where Gunn and Angel were fighting someone who really looked like Lindsey, and noticed that the demon's attention seemed to be focused entirely on them. He was engrossed. Harris spoke up again, a plan formulating in his mind.
"He uses these tiny enchanted tiles or discs that have to be put on the victims skin. Once they are there, they cannot be removed, and the demon has complete control over them until…"
"Until what? Tell me!"
Harris looked her in the eyes for a moment, deadly serious. "We have to kill the demon. They're very powerful, I don't know if we'll be able to –"
"Don't worry", Cordelia assured, trying to convince herself more than anything, "Angel hasn't let us down yet, and he won't. Look at him go!"
They both looked over to the brawl taking place, just in time to see Angel getting his guts kicked in and Gunn desperately clawing at the floor to reach for his axe. Cordelia laughed nervously before looking again at Harris.
"See, just fine. I'm sure they've got everything under control."
Harris was getting scared now. The flush of anger and courage that had kept him going whilst he protected Cordelia on their way up to the office had dissipated when he found himself helpless and at the mercy of a very pissed off demon freak with no eyes. He cursed himself for being such a coward, realising that any moments of pure fear on his part could prove disastrous for everyone else. Seeing Angel, their champion, struggling to fend for himself, let alone help the others, made him more anxious than he had ever thought it possible to be.
"Cordelia", he whispered, "Whatever happens, you have to promise me that you won't let me hurt anyone. Please, tell me I can count on you, it's important…"
Cordelia saw the anguish in his eyes and felt a pang of sympathy. She nodded and gave him a weak smile, trying to reassure him the best she could. She'd come to rely on him on their journey up here, and now it was his turn to lean on her. She wouldn't let him down now, and promised herself that she would always be there to help him when this was all over, to make sure he got back on his path. This whole situation was obviously stressing him out, and she admired his ability to recognise and admit his own faults before they got out of hand.
If he had wanted to, he could have just given in to the temptation and flamed his way out of here, escaping trouble free and remaining all-powerful and dominating. He didn't owe them anything. But instead, he had stuck by them, and now he was terrified of exploding, quite literally, and not being able to save them. Cordelia felt something trying to break free in her chest, but suppressed the urge to get all gooey. This was serious, and she had to keep her head on straight.
She reached out a hand and lightly touched his cheek before he could look away in despair.
"It's OK, I'm going to watch out for you. I won't let anything happen, and I'm sure you won't either."
He looked at her in confusion, and for a moment she thought she had said something wrong. It wouldn't be the first time. Then it dawned on her; she could move. Wesley was no longer there, and they were able to get up from the floor, not that they did, of course. Cordelia held Harris down when he tried to rise, telling him that they had best avoid any attention before they figured out what to do.
It seemed that Angel and Gunn had finally got the better of Lindsey, and Wesley had been called in as reinforcement. Lilah and the demon were concentrating entirely on them, not considering Cordelia or some little albino demon to be of much importance right now. Cordelia flushed with heat at the thought, determined to show them a thing or two. In her outrage, she had failed to notice the danger that Angel and Gunn were now in, having flung Lindsey to the side and thinking that they'd won.
Harris could see what was going to happen, even if Angel, Gunn and Cordelia were unaware. He had to do something before Wesley exacted his revenge on behalf of ugly face over there. Not taking his eyes off the scene, he clutched onto Cordelia's arm to alert her, and slowly rose from his place. Before she could stop him, he had stepped forward and was shouting for attention.
Everyone stopped what they were doing, and Wesley turned to face him, the eyeless demon obviously annoyed at his confidence and apparent complacency. Harris froze to the spot, absolutely paralysed with terror and convinced he was going to die. That was what he had hoped for. He tensed his arms and jerked them upward, sending yet another ball of fire flying towards the bitch goddess lawyer and her minion. Damn it. He was so worked up now that he wanted to swear.
He knew what would happen next. He had counted on it. The other demon wasn't so stupid as to let a stunt like that materialise into anything that would put him or his boss at risk. His eye sockets sparked and Wesley raised a hand, catching the offending flames in mid-air and holding them in place, spinning over themselves in a never ending cartwheel display. The demon sniggered, thinking of what he would do now with this upstart albino to put him in his place.
Harris gathered up his remaining courage and took a deep breath, setting his determination.
"Brace yourself, you might want to get out of the way…"
Cordelia blinked, realising that he was addressing her.
"Oh, and, Cordelia? A little help?"
She knew what he meant. From her crouch on the floor, she lashed out a leg and smacked the sharp end of her shoe into the back of Harris' calf. He stumbled a bit and hissed, trying desperately to remember what he was trying to do whilst feeling his hands tingle with power. Cordelia scrambled into the corner as he let out a growl, spreading his claws out in front of him.
The ball of flames expanded suddenly, filling the room with intense heat and light and sending everyone but Lindsey and Wesley scurrying for the floor, covering themselves against the attack. It exploded with a loud whoosh, throwing the two men across the room and covering the others in fragments of ceiling tiles. Cordelia thought she heard Lilah groan "My office!" but she couldn't be sure.
This was his chance. Angel had eventually worked out the cause of his problems, concluding that Lindsey could never have become such an adversary in a fight without some kind of mystical guidance. He had spotted the strange looking mark on the back of his neck and remembered back to when Cordelia had been flooded with visions courtesy of the very same law firm.
Everyone was recovering from shock on the floor, and the no eyed demon had yet to regain control over his victims. Temporarily blinded from his lack of suitable subjects, the demon was scrabbling at the wall, trying to pull himself up. Angel couldn't afford to let him.
He sprang at the beast, wrestling him back down to the ground and being careful to avoid the needle-like teeth that were being snapped in his direction. It occurred to him then that he hadn't the slightest idea of how to kill this thing. Oh well, a standard slice and dice ought to do it…he hoped.
Angel searched around for something to use as a weapon. A letter opener, a heavy ornamental Buddha head, a damn stapler, anything. For the second time that night (or morning, whatever time it was now), Gunn came to his rescue with his trusty axe. Unusually, he handed it straight over to Angel. He obviously wasn't too keen to get anywhere near this particular Big Nasty, particularly as it was flinging itself around like a rabid dog.
Without hesitation, Angel plunged the axe into thick crusty neck of the demon, hacking through a layer of clothing, crusty scar tissue, and finally, soft flesh. The head rolled away, releasing a torrent of sticky brown blood that quickly stained the surrounding furnishings, not to mention another one of Angel's good shirts. Shaking his arms down, he stood and turned, thinking that this had been too easy.
He waited for the sound of the demon crawling back to life, maybe reattaching its head, or spawning countless more replicates of itself. It didn't happen. This guy was definitely dead. Instead, there was a sickening crack, and Lindsey and Wesley sank to the ground, a dazed expression on their faces.
Cordelia had watched these events unfold whilst trying to comfort Harris in her arms, assuring over and over again that he didn't hurt her. She was torn now between staying where she was and rushing to Wesley's side. They both needed help, and she couldn't choose. Thankfully for her, she didn't have to.
Whereas Lindsey lay where he had fell, Wesley seemed to have recovered quickly, and had risen before even Angel could reach him. After a second to steady himself and discover that the mark on his neck had gone, he looked up and regarded Angel with a coldness that stopped him in his stride.
Lilah sniggered cruelly, rising from the relative safety of her concealed hiding place to gloat.
"You stupid fools. You think you can come in here and slaughter my employee and then just leave? Sorry to disappoint you, but life doesn't work like that. He's still under an influence. Maybe not mine, but he's still going to kill you all with the hatred I released. You're all doomed!" She gave a nervous smile, realising that she would probably die too, but that at least she would take them with her.
Harris had heard this little speech, and had noticed the glare that Wesley had given Lilah throughout. He couldn't help but feel some relief at this, and returned Lilah's malice with a speech of his own.
"You obviously know less about this than you think", he stated, much to the surprise of everyone in the room, "It's not just the power that is determined by the individual, or the resistance to the power. It's also the control. You think he will hurt us because that's what the likes of me would do. In that case, you under-estimate the nature of individuality."
Lilah's smile dropped, and she looked at Wesley with agitation. All of her breath was taken out of her when he looked her way and produced a sadistic grin, totally out of place on his otherwise gentle features.
Angel saw it too and resumed his crossing of the room to get to him before anything could happen. Almost predictably, he was unable to get much further. Without giving any other sign that he had noticed Angel's presence, Wesley put out his palm and commanded, "Stop".
Cordelia jumped up in alarm and blurted out before she could stop herself.
"Wesley, no…"
The air was tingling with energy and Cordelia could feel the pressure on her ears again. She was pressed gently back next to Harris, and she watched as the same happened to Angel. He and Gunn were moved away from the centre of the room where Wesley now stood. He looked down at the unmoving body of the man that Harris had previously thrown through the door and turned him over with his foot.
"I know this man", he said thoughtfully, "He's the one who shot me and Cordelia. Idiot. He doesn't know what he's done."
With a casual flick of his wrist, the man was flung back through the door to where he had come from, slamming into the corridor wall. Wesley looked up at the disgusted faces of his friends and smiled.
"Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you. I'm going to take good care of you now." He gave Lilah a sideways glance. "I might just kill her, though…"
The silver knife that Cordelia had brought with her but long since dropped sang through the air and came to a halt just inches from her face. She cried out in fear, trying to melt further into the wall she had backed into. When she dared to open them again, she came face to face with Wesley who was glaring menacingly into her soul.
"What?" he spat at her, "Aren't you happy now that you've got what you wanted? Your little game worked, don't you like the result?"
He laughed and shook his head when all she did was whimper. He was going to enjoy watching her scream for mercy when he cut into her slowly. He wondered if she would even have the nerve to apologise for all of the hideous things she had done to them all. Probably not.
Oh well, there was only one way to find out.
To be continued…
