The fiend with all his comrades
Fell then from heaven above,
Through as long as three nights and days.
The angels from heaven into hell;
And them all the Lord transformed to
devils
Because they his deed and word
Would not revere
--The Fall of the Rebel Angels
Silver watched the girl on the ceiling beams taunt the dark brown-haired Idbash, calling her despicable and despisable names, words that she had only heard when her mother was around. The girl was another Demon and she looked like one too. Idbash kept her composure, keeping her total transformation under wraps, while Amanaka's pitch black hair and blue eyes changed to velvet fur and orange/amber eyes. She looked cat-like, very cat like and very powerful. But Idbash stayed where she was her teeth sharp and bite-full and eyes amber/yellow, ready and willing to attack, but with an uneasy smirk on her lips. Silver prayed for them to let her go unnoticed, as she felt the ropes becoming loose and powerless. Her arms felt freer and her lungs took in more air. The wounds on her body hurt, but her desire to flee was strong.
She tugged and pushed, everything was working for her. The ropes fell limply by her side and silently she took her leave, hoping that they would not be hurt if she left without saying goodbye. Her eyes watched as Amanaka flipped down and landed lightly on the floor, pushing Idbash out of the way and demanding her to explain Admatha's absence. "I came because she gave me an offer that no demon would ever want to refuse."
"You came to kill me," Idbash responded with good humor, "and I'm certain that she would permit you to do such a thing, if you remained alive, of course." She stood up quickly and vanished, an act only a fox would do. "And of course," she continued, her presence no longer seen, "you thought that I would be a pushover, with a backer like Admatha who wouldn't be a little cocky and over-confident?" She appeared quickly, her hand shooting out and catching Amanaka's windpipe. "Trouble is that I'm a much powerful than what I appear to be. Logically speaking a three-fourths demon has to be stronger than a half-demon." She squeezed a little and let Amanaka feel the air being caught off from the rest of her body. "Now how can you kill me, if you're already dead? Sort of hard, isn't it?" She let go and watched as the half-demon sunk to the floor, consuming air as quickly as she could.
"You are such a coward Jael; always telling others that you were a half-demon. No wonder people hate us. Why do you do it?"
Idbash quickly kicked her opponent in the stomach and grinned sadistically. "Why Amanaka, I'm a fox. I love to work with the element of surprise." She turned on her heel and walked away, watching as Silver began to run, her feet hardly touching the ground. "Run away little girl…you'll be back to finish your part of this grand destiny."
The Silksters stirred and hissed and began to follow, wanting to taste warm blood. After Silver they ran and leaped, their jaws snapping and saliva dripping to the floor, making noticeable holes as the acid ate away the cement. The pregnant female howled loudly, her nest complete and the day waiting coming to a conclusion. She wanted to run with them one last time, motherhood-free. But she could not.
Raven drove into the night, her eyes focused on what she saw before her. Death, destruction, and oceans of body engulfing her entire body; mountains of bones cascading towards her; valleys of screams wanting to be heard. The radio played on; the song that filled the car was poetic and hauntingly real, the voice was longing, emotional, and terrified.
Save me
Take me to the place
Of shelter
Hide me in your embrace
Love me
Like you always knew you would
Heal me
Heal my soul the way you once could
My Dark Angel
Fly me to the heavens
My Dark Angel
Give me eternal love
My Dark Angel
I'm holding on with one last breath
My Dark Angel
Don't let me plummet to my death
Take me
Take me to another time
When you
You could send the chills up my spine
Give me
One more dying, trying chance
Teach me
Your seductive, enchanting dance
My Dark Angel
Fly me to the heavens
My Dark Angel
Give me eternal love
My Dark Angel
I'm holding on with one last breath
My Dark Angel
Don't let me plummet to my death
Don't let me go
Don't let me go
My Dark Angel
Fly me to the heavens
My Dark Angel
Give me eternal love
My Dark Angel
I'm holding on with one last breath
My Dark Angel
Don't let me plummet to my death
My Dark Angel
Fly me to the heavens
My Dark Angel
Give me eternal love
My Dark Angel
I'm holding on with one last breath
My Dark Angel
Don't let me plummet to my death
Don't ever let me go
My
Dark
Angel
--(Papers of Poetry)
Kyle was asleep on the passenger seat, his head lay resting on the closed window. He had hardly spoken a word to her since they called the police to come to the crime scene; he believed in that they were doing the wrong thing, helping destiny rather than sabotaging it. He let a single tear slide down his cheek, a sign that he was indeed mourning; he was mourning very deeply. Ember, the girl with the gift of sight, was dead. The girl whose mother was once a woman named Sarah, the girl whose uncle was once a man named Job; the girl who would always be the love of Kyle's life was gone. Yes, he was mourning deeply and Raven knew it.
The journey in the night was going to be long; they wished that Tabitha could have indeed joined them, but she was real. She was human. Her touch and emotions were all real, while Kyle and Raven tried so hard to fake what felt so foreign to them. And it was because she was real that she could not be thrown into the danger with them.
Raven looked down just as her beeper went off, with a 911 message. The cell in the car was nearly running out of battery power. Fortunately, she did not need to use it. "Raven, it's Tabitha. Ember's dead. Come quickly. The cops are here and her father's not doing well, for a change. Where the hell are you and Kyle. I tried his house and he is not home. Come on guys. Get over here now!"
Ariana dreaded going back into the room where Tabitha still remained. The girl just had an angry aura about her, there was just something so terrifying about Tabitha that made her skin crawl and her blood run icy cold. The blonde-haired detective watched as her partner walked up the porch steps, his face still green, but his spirits in better moods. In the background a few other cops chuckled and teased, but there was friendly humor in their voices. He gave Ariana a playful grin and entered the house a second time, relieved that the body was gone and the gray and white matter were wiped off the main wall. Blood still remained on the carpet, but his stomach remained at ease. But Ariana hardly looked like her usual cheerful self. Suicides were hard enough, but she was always able to pick herself up and entertained the thought that it was not her kid and if she ever became a parent, she would do a much better job of looking for all the signs. The happiest always held the darkest secrets; Ember was no exception.
She shook her head, looking at the closed door that held Tabitha. "I really don't want to deal with her," she muttered under her breath. "She's too worked up."
Her partner sighed, understanding the situation.
"She's wild, emotionally strung, and a back-talker. She can dish it out and take it too. Probably understood the lock-key Ember and situation first hand. She really hates the father, absolutely hates the father who is upstairs crying his heart out. And now I have to deal with her." Her sea-blue eyes looked back and wondered what Tabitha was thinking about. "Or it could be her way of dealing. A mourning soul, angry at the world." A strain of blonde hair touched her cheek ever so slightly and, in the mist of the horror around her, she giggled. "She reminds me of me when I was her age. And I too had my reasons for being angry. I still have my reasons."
Her partner shook his head and did not say a word; that was what she liked about him, he knew when to be quiet and just listen. "Do you think you should go in there with me?"
His deep voice pierced her ears. "I think you should face your reflection head on."
"You think I should face her alone."
He smirked, his philosophical smirk, "A reflection is also your past. To get through her, perhaps you must finally conquer your own demons."
Amanaka stood up, though her stomach hurt, but her pride gave her an amount of strength untested. But she knew that she was no match. She was only a half-demon and her opponent was more; she truly did live up to her name as the Destruction Demon. Shaking her black hair back she watched as Idbash changed again: ears popped out and a long, majestic bushy tail emerged. Her eyes went from amber to golden and her dark hair began to turn to a dark autumn red. She receded her teeth a bit, only allowing small points to be seen, and her claws looked hardly dangerous. But there was a reason why she was such a legend, a reason why Admatha wanted her so badly for this case.
Amanaka felt it necessary to change as well, seeing that Idbash perhaps wanted a real fight. Her own tail whipped around her body and her own rounded ears came out. But she let her teeth grown in larger and sharper; she always believed in intimidation. And besides, she owned electricity and her famous Fire and Ice technique; if she had to go down, Idbash was coming with her.
Idbash moved quickly, her feet gliding along the floor. She had sensed that the Silksters had already captured the girl and were going to hold her captive until she came and took Silver away herself. So all her energy could be placed on the fight. Good, she was happy to comply with the request. She watched carefully as Amanaka began to shuffle a little, ready to move into a roundhouse kick first or a sidekick. She would have to be ready to leap over and drive her right jab into any vulnerable area.
She had slipped up to soon and the knife slashed her arm straight down. She cried out loud and watched as her blood spilled upon the dirt floor, but the pain only made her stronger. She was what the lower demons feared. She vanished quickly into the air, watching the full-blooded lion demon take his precious time. He sniffed the air, catching only hints of her wild scent, judging the air and computing her next move. He misjudged her, mistaking her moves of coming from the right, when they clearly came from the left. She kicked him in the head and let him fall towards the blood stained floor, picking up her entire scent, distracting him with his need for food. Sure, they starved him and sure they beat him senselessly while the Others looked on. But this was about her survival; compassion meant weakness and she hated weakness. He fell and gathered up her blood, soaked in it from head to toe, just as she had predicted, but unfortunately for him, he was not a quitter. She would have let him go, bloody and bruised, all his pride fallen, his spirit gone and inside her. But he refused. So, she had to kill him. It was not anything personal; it was business.
While he was down, she grabbed his long, golden main, pulled his head back and slashed away at his vulnerability. Then leaning down she licked and tasted the warmth and sensation he gave her. And he gave it so freely. It poured out of him; his soul, his heart, his life, his death, everything just poured out of him like there was no tomorrow. And quite honestly, there was no tomorrow for her; there was a forever.
Leo was dead and quite frankly, she was happy about that. He was always the one to challenge her, even when he lose; always popping when he did not need to, always taking his chances with her, forcing her to submit to his wishes. How much he loved to spar with her; how much, he truly loved her.
She loved him. She loved him deeply. She loved him so deeply that she put him out of his misery herself, before they tore into the body and desecrated it beyond recognition. She owed him everything. She owed him this.
They looked at her, well pleased with her performance. It was true. She was the Destruction Demon, willing to kill those who stood in her way of total glory! Almost willing. Her heart wondered if being with her was the best thing. After all, her reputation stated that she had no heart. And she killed her love to prove it. They loved her for it, signed her up to become a full-fledged assassin. She accepted. What was the saying? Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. She was going to be glue to them.
Admatha looked down from her pedestal, grinning from ear to ear. She always looked young for her age and that night was no exception. Her white/blonde, pristine hair glowed and her eyes, pale blue shined like the moon. Her voice was sweet like honey and flowed like water. But everything else about her reeked of lies and deceit. It was a putrid smell that filled the room, but the rest of her company smelled like her. It made her slightly sick to her stomach, but not enough to where she would show weakness; after all, she hated, hated, hated weakness. Admatha smirked at her, interested in a new investment. She easily studied her, inside and out; Idbash felt her inside her head, walking around in it, exploring openings of her mind. Idbash was able to block love, honor, and compassion, but killing and violence were another thing. Admatha made herself feel right at home, testing her strength and making her feel incredible amounts of pain. She withstood the assault and let it pass through her; pain would make her stronger. Everything was satisfactory for her. Admatha's eyes could see everything about her and what she learned was that she had a wonder new investment.
Idbash narrowed her eyes and looked Admatha too, but not with the same passion. She only did what she was told and laid low. Her own personal inspection would come at the price of patience, a trait that never suited her well.
Admatha made quick hand motions to the manager of the area and asked him in a low voice if she was sold to any other offer, and the manager shook his head. Strike one against, Idbash; she then asked what her age was, a strike two. Strike three when he offered a demonstration of her powers, her full powers. Admatha readily agreed and Idbash could only nod.
"The one and only Destruction Demon," said a very happy investor. "And she's all mine. I hope the legends prove true, yes indeed. The one who was able to give birth of the Black Plague surely is not a force to be reckoned with."
The manager nodded, a mortal man of sheer greed.
Idbash watched as they pulled Leo towards the furnace, greedily excited to smell burnt Demon flesh. It was the best way to secure that the Demon would not come back. But survival would always be the most important need of all; even before love.
Amanaka stood, waiting patiently while Idbash took it upon herself to pose in a more relaxed stance. She pulled out a long hunting knife, letting it gleam under the light of her eyes. Idbash leaped upward, her eyes watching Amanaka's every move as she charged forward. Slashing and striking, Idbash dodged every move that Amanaka made, but her timing was only given an advantage by luck. She miscalculated Amanaka's powers and determination. Each strike was getting closer to cutting flesh and bone. "Come on Jael, I gave you fair warning!" Amanaka snarled, her knife gleaming more furiously as the battle between the two raged on and on. Her panther speed was keeping up with Idbash's fox-like reflexes and her intelligence almost matched Idbash's cleverness. She had indeed powered up greatly. Her blue eyes flashed and her smirk showed her confidence exuding out of every pore. Her attacks were getting faster and faster; Idbash had definite competition.
So, Admatha wants to play rough, does she? Then I'll play her little game.
Amanaka drove the blade down, slicing Idbash's arm. Blood fell, dripping slowly at first, then steadily. The victory laugh was loud and dominating; the panther demon had good reason to be pleased with herself. She watched as the fox demon stopped to catch a breath and dodge her next slash, but the arm was beginning to hurt greatly. She could see it in Idbash's green eyes. Victory was close at hand. The black haired, fiery-eyed demoness moved in, leaping over her opponent' s head and plummeting straight down with the blade now shining in its own unearthly light. With the force of a freight train, Amanaka drove the knife into her opponent's . . .
No, it can't be, thought Amanaka.
The blade stopped in mid air, only touching the skin from her opponent's hands. Idbash caught the blade, which was so close to drive bombing her beating heart. "I told you I was stronger," she hissed quietly, her eyes boring into Amanaka's own surprised ones. "Next time you'll listen." Her eyes glowed and suddenly, she broke the blade with her bare hands, pieces rained upon the ground. "Next time you'll listen."
Amanaka let go of the handle and shuffled back horrified that she miscalculated Idbash's strength and intelligence. "How did you…?"
Idbash smirked and her eyes narrowed themselves. "You never did give me enough credit, Amanaka; even now, I prove myself more than a match for you and still you believe that you can win. The only power you have left is your Fire and Ice method. But, the drawback from that attack is that it effects you as well. And to use it on me would mean that you are more than willing to commit suicide. Pity, pity, pity."
"It's a chance I'm willing to make," snarled Amanaka, who leaped into the air and began to concentrate on her electrical attacks. 'I'm tired of being nice to you, Idbash. Now, I shall show you my real power!"
"NOT IN HERE!"
Both girls turned around and saw a very peeved Admatha, dressed in white and glory. Sano stood behind her, watching happily the two demons fighting and grinning at the fact that Idbash was there. He was disappointed when she returned his look of delight with a look of death. Admatha glided over towards the mantle where the candles lay and took them down; the bowls of blood from Silver were filled and sloshing around. Everything was in order. Pushing her white/blonde hair back, she barked out instructions to Sano and Idbash, leaving Amanaka to watch in a rageful distance. Prayers had to be chanted, words of old had to be spoken and the floor had to painted in the blood of the one who betrayed and killed her ancestors. The Silksters brought Silver back, herding her towards the chair where she would sit and watch, and be watched by Amanaka.
Idbash dipped her slender finger into the blood and began to draw on the floor, while Sano went into the library portion of the building to locate the book of chants and prayers. Admatha growled at Amanaka, who threw up her hands in confusion. Silver cringed and whimpered to herself, as a Silkster opened up its wide, gaping mouth to reveal its two large canines and three rows of teeth behind them. It hissed and snapped fiercely.
Admatha glanced around the room and sighed. It was time. The moon was red and the child was here. The old monk had spoken the truth. He Who Walks Behind the Rows was about to witness the rebirth of his most loyal followers. Isaac, Micah, Eli, Josiah, and Ezekiel were going to have their second chance at fame. The infidels will burn at her fingertips, while the blind sheep called children will march across the earth, destroying the good and building the empire for evil. Yes, it was time.
Idbash finished, licking the blood off her. It tasted sweet. Silver cast her eyes downward and Sano looked more and more eager; things were going well. The symbol on the floor was well drawn, a simple cross inside a rather large pentagram pointing downward, as it should. Each candle was placed in its correct position; they each lay inside a point, with the lower candle in the point that faced South. Amanaka shook her head, disgusted and revolted by the show of it all. She had come so close to figuring out Idbash's determination and striking it. Admatha poured the bowls of blood unto the candles until each and every one of them was lit and glowing. Sano and Idbash backed away, while Admatha flipped open the book to the correct page and began to speak:
Tamis etella tunan mikeu quopte allila theine dalpand keute loenge aliet aldie dalar akei deotanla.
Tonight, on the holiest of nights, we beseech the ancients to bring back to us the ones whose destinies have let to be fulfilled. We beseech the Nothing to bring back the ones who have been lost to us for so long. Tonight, we ask that they awaken to a new era of bloodshed and sacrifice, just as the days of old. For the Lord hath commanded it be so, for the Lord hath commanded it be so, for the Lord hath commanded it be so.
Tela kien gleot alta kithaná leiren ind itnenlte aliren alotenen juetebe rentu inpolé jeyb et jadtej keytbe thewitb kobeteu notnye kornek girnye yotey kotnysbe alpne penune byebte cuetbe vunitbtye kpoenyeb noitney. Wiolt, lonidajle kiuent.
Silver hung her head low. The wounds had reopened themselves yet again.
Tabitha dropped to the floor, pain shooting up her stomach and spine. She was not sure what was wrong with her, but she hoped that the detective would come back soon and see her to a hospital. It hurt like hell. That was it; it hurt like hell. She let out a moan and curled up; fire hit her body like a wave and sweat poured off her brow. "Fuck," she whispered. Something in her body was not happy, scratching at her from the inside to free itself. More pain hit her and a louder moan escaped her lips. The detective came in and placed a cool hand on her forehead, and suddenly, the pain was gone. All gone; Tabitha got up slowly and looked Ariana in the eyes. "I'm going home, now."
Raven swerved the car around, feeling an intense pressure on her stomach and spine. The car just barely hit an oncoming car. Kyle woke up, grabbed the wheel and led the car straight into a ditch. "What the hell were you thinking!" he screamed, hardly noticing Raven's pain. "You could have gotten us both killed before we got there!"
Raven moaned loudly, her heart beating hard and fast. Visions and images rushed around in her head, back and forth. Death, destruction, blood, heat, flames, victims, lots of victims, millions of victims, butchering, carving, and slicing. It all entered her mind. She opened the car door, leaned over, and threw up bubbling bile. Kyle hit his head on the dashboard. "I get it now," he muttered. "It started."
A short boy with a crowned hat smiled and walked out of the fields of Gatlin. His feet hardly made a sound as they touched the dirt. He made his way towards the diner and smirked with satisfaction as he noticed that no one was there to greet his return. But he was saddened by a simple fact: his hand was not gripping a deadly scythe, with the metal gleaming underneath the blood red moon.