Amanaka backed herself into a darkened corner and watched as Sano and Idbash were given orders to locate the newly risen leaders. She smirked evilly and watched as Idbash wiped her brow revealing slight smear of blood on the pale skin. Admatha paused slightly and motioned for Idbash to stalk over to the corner where she hid; but Amanaka only had to flee towards the doorway where she had entered and make her way towards the one she knew would win.
Idbash watched with her fox eyes as her opponent slipped away into the night and under her breath she simply spoke about the nothing devouring the souls of the world. Sano shrugged and turned his back on her, while Admatha narrowed her eyes at the one whom she had hired to assassinate her right-hand demon. She too turned her back on Idbash, sparks of electricity ran through her entire body. Lightning flashed in her pale blue eyes. Her blonde/white hair billowed out behind her. Idbash stayed away. Betrayal was all too common.
Eli looked upon the carnage, contempt reigning over his beautiful face. With his own hands he brought death to them all; to some swiftly, to the others a lingering end. The smile that played upon his lips could not be fully formed, but it mattered very little to him. It was the feeling of bringing the ultimate end to life that lifted him to the highest peaks. He missed it greatly. Years inside a tomb, stifling his potential and need left him feeling anxious. But with his newly bloodstained hands, he felt it was all worth the wait. They dripped and splashed upon the floor, spreading to find others just like them. When they all fell to the floor like rain, he wiped his clean hands on his pants, brushing off the dirt that continued to cling to him. His eyes glanced over at the kitchen where he recalled his bother and he eating together with the Porters, the same brother who buried their bond in the underworld of flames. A body lay broken on the table, vulnerable to the hungry insects that came out to feast. Slowly they crawled past Eli, towards the bodies; their jaws snapped in the open air until they tasted sweet, sweet flesh and bone.
"Happy to be home," spoke a soft voice. "I figured this would be best. Before you begin your warfare on the others."
He turned around quickly, scattering a few cockroaches.
The owner of the voice walked up to him and touched his cheek, commenting on his appearance. "You should get cleaned up. Or else, she won't be pleased. Well, she will and she won't. You understand don't you?"
He shook his head.
"Men," the voice huffed. "Always clueless when it comes to appearance. Well, she's expecting you soon. Time is nearly up. Well, get going. You know where everything is. GO."
He hardly moved.
The owner of the voice pushed him towards the stairs. "I don't have time for your nonsense and you don't have time to be pulling this with me. Go now, or forget any reunion."
He grabbed the voice's arm. "Do you always speak in riddles or will you answer me with an introduction?"
"I shall only answer you when you have done what I have instructed of you. Remember, she has been waiting longer than I."
Eli held on longer and tighter. "Tell me; who is she?"
The voice held a smirk. "She won't be please if you aren't clean, Eli. Nor will she be happy when she learns of your forgetfulness."
He pushed his light brown, slightly spotted hair back. Sweat dripped downward, trickling past his six-pack abdomen, until they reached his sweat pants. His naturally golden eyes scanned the room, waiting patiently for the attack to strike. A sharp sound resounding through the wooden, windowless room; the ceiling beams were both large and small, but never weak. The clawed foot stepped lightly on the beams, but it slipped and that was helpful to the one on the ground. Evan glided up to the top and attacked quickly, taking his opponent from behind and snapping his neck within seconds. As the Leopard fell out of his tree, Evan lifted himself up with his spotted wings in victory. There was just something about defeating a full-blooded demon that brought him to a euphoria, a nirvana, a heaven delight. His bronze skin was drenched in sweat, but that hardly bothered him; the door to his left opened and slowly, Amanaka stepped inside. She was breathing heavily as though she had been chased; but with ease, she sidestepped the dead demon and made her way towards Evan's awaiting arms. She pushed him away, a serious expression on her face. He frowned a bit.
"What's up?"
She bit her lower lip and simply showed him a few of her wounds she had received earlier. "Admatha's doing. Idbash's power. Which would you rather hear?"
"Well, did you finish her off?"
"What the hell do you think?" She turned her face away from him.
He sighed. "Well, maybe we can fix that," he said, taking her hand within his own and placing it on his chest.
She scoffed and pushed him away. "Not now. This is serious. I have to kill her and I have to kill her now. I have to kill the disgrace I feel."
"You can easily kill her, you just lack the experience she has gained. But I can easily remedy that."
"How," she asked, her blue eyes staring him in the eyes. "How can you promise me such things. How can you deliver me this goal?"
"I'm powerful, dear. I'm very powerful."
Eli let the shower's water cascade down his body, washing away the grim and fiery memories of his hell. The soap had lathered up and its faint scent lifted him up. All of his questions faded away with the steam that attacked the large mirror and stayed there, destroying the reflections that lived there. His guide waited for him outside, tapping impatiently; but he did not care, it felt so good to have the pounding water hit his body, the warmth of the water caressing the pain that would not fade with time.
"Come now! You're clean!"
Eli smirked and turned water dial towards the left, letting it heat up even more.
"Eli, you're fooling no one."
The temperature of the water was raised again.
"Eli, get out here. She will not be pleased if you spend the rest of your life in a shower. You'll become a prune."
The temperature of the water was raised again.
"Eli, I swear, she will shall be angry if you do not show on time. Come out to the world that has yet to fall to your every whim and worship your every desire." The voice waited. And waited; and waited. " She is not going to be please, Eli."
He hardly heard a word.
And the temperature of the water was raised again.
Raven and Kyle stepped out of the car, both feeling the overwhelming power to tear their flesh apart and make themselves new and whole. The corn swayed slowly in the dead night; but the blood the ground drank up, was beginning to overflow. Raven looked down as her shoe made a squishy sound. The fields were alive and Kyle hardly needed to grace his hand over the soft, leathery leaves. They remembered his touch from long ago and bent downward without being told. The car died easily and other cars passed by without a passing glance, leaving both former souls to stand and watch their sins be reenacted again and again. Kyle slowly looked up towards the sky and heard the distant thunder before it reached its final destination; Raven simply dropped to the dirt and touched the wet earth between her slender fingers, feeling the dead touch her back. She lifted the dirt up to her face where bony, decaying fingers caressed her cold flesh in hopes to show their sympathy for the wounded figure. The headlights of passerbys went right through the both of them, the pale figures of the past.
Micah went through sleeping Hemmingford, creeping along in the dark, reminiscing how the town betrayed the cause, how his friend easily killed him. His ink black eyes looked into an open window and there he found a sleeping child; the boy was peaceful and innocent, the way he used to be. Micah wondered if the boy had nightmares of deceiving adults; their lies dripping from their mouths, their actions moving with painful mortality, and their eyes burning innocent ones into hell. He turned quickly on his heel and noticed another figure, wielding the power he held; only this figure was slightly smaller.
A breeze swept between the two.
Isaac stopped his stalking and stared deeply into his opponent's eyes. He noticed that his rival carried no weapon, nothing that could be deemed harmful. The corn rustled in the busy night, but both combatants only heard and saw each other. He watched as Micah turned his head to look back at the sleeping boy, being the sentimental guy he was. There was something in Micah that made Isaac realize that he would not be an easy opponent; an aura of longing was building up in Micah, whereas Isaac hated the world of the adults, Micah wished to be long in his own, peaceful society. He lacked parents and he longed to have what he was never given.
A breeze swept between the two.
Micah stood firmly and watched as Isaac gathered all of his energy, preparing; preparing for war.
Idbash stood on the roof and watched the two intently, wondering if this plan was a good idea, but she was in no position to state an opinion. She was there to do a job. The two former leaders could not kill each other during this night and she had to make sure of that; they had another planned night. Silently, she leaped downward, hardly wishing to disturb the two combatants, but knowing that if she did not interfere, her master would be angry and inflict painful remembrances as to why disobedience was a sin. Isaac took a single step forward and Micah simply stood his ground, but he was ready to move when the need became apparent. She stepped in, the blackness still covering her entirely, allowing neither leader to see the figure standing before them. Idbash waited and watched, waited and watched, waited and watched; her feet and muscles within her legs spring and lock into place. The blackness of Hemmingford covered the sins of its past, but could not covered the evil that was growing stronger with each passing second. Isaac and Micah both blinked at the same time, their eyes conveying their intentions: death to one of them.
Jenny lay down on her bed and breathed in deeply. Her Discman played music but she hardly heard a note; instead her mind wander around, hunting for some truth behind Leah's apparent sickness. Something did not seem right at all for Leah's body jerked in such a way that seemed abnormal, as though it was forced by another shadow lurking figure. The bedsprings creaked as Jenny moved more towards her slightly open window; with hardly a thought, she turned off her Discman. The house was silent and still allowing for her to hear herself think for once.
She had known Leah ever since she began the second grade; as the shy and quiet girl it was easy to see why she was picked on mercilessly by the others. What could she do? Cry? Complain? She did not have the courage to beat them back, she did not have the strength to stand up for herself because none were there to support or stand up for her. Until Leah showed up, the spunky little girl who could be ruthless and kind at once; she was a natural born leader who was both feared and admired. She took risks and dared others to join her.
However, it was she that Leah took interest in. The shy and quiet girl who could do nothing more then hide herself from the world, underneath the crooked, abandoned tree that most regarded as an annoyance; just like her. But Leah took her and molded her into a stronger individual, teaching her to exude confidence and walk with power. It just seemed so unreal that someone with so much dominance would want to spend any time with a trembling being.
The large grandfather clock at the end of the corridor ticked and tocked away the time. Tick, tock, tick, tock, tick, tock, tick, tock, tick, tock… it continued it should have done all these years.
Her eyes flew open and with a heart beating too fast for her chest, she realized that the ticks and tocks were not from her imagination. "Fuck," she muttered as she rolled out of bed, missing the slippers on the floor. The carpeted floor only creaked in certain places and Jenny made sure that she missed them all. The door was her biggest challenge, but after a few attempts and mutterings it opened and with success. Her feet touched the cold wood floor and by standing ever so still, she could feel the vibrations of the ominous ticks and tocks. The shadows cast upon the floor danced savagely as though they were trapped souls longing to be freed. A moan brushed past her ears and quickly she raised her hands to cover them; but it lingered in the air and whipped around her body. Her eyes scanned her arms, which had become warm and sticky; to her astonishment, her arms looked as though they had been dipped in blood, like an apple into caramel at a carnival. "What the hell?" she asked never noticing that the ticks and tocks were getting louder and louder, pulsating and straining to be heard over all the other distractions. Slowly, she lifted her eyes to meet the clock and with a loud "humph!" she was pushed back into her room and thrown against the bed. Her cries were trapped inside her throat and finally she succumbed to the darkness. But not before she heard a dry, angry voice whisper in her ear, "We're escaping."
Leah Mason let her eyes adjust themselves to the night, to the blackness and emptiness that surrounded her. She felt him inside her, swimming around in her thoughts, clinging onto her heart. Her eyes flickered against the moon's light and for a brief moment she could hear him. Noiselessly, she leapt off of her two-story house and landed silently on the grassy front lawn; a dog barked down the street though no one cared to hear it. Quickly she turned her head to see if anyone was up and looking out a window and to her comfort she saw nothing. So, through the streets she ran towards his essence, towards his longing. The house was locked from top to bottom and her so-called parents would fade under the illusion; soon people would accept the simple fact that the people who lived there had left on a long-term basis. A trip towards Europe, a cruise to the Bahamas, whatever lie they wanted to tell themselves was fine with her, as long as they did not come after her. The streetlights blinked casting her shadow with distortions that made her feel uneasy with herself, as though it was trying to expose her to the world of what she was. Onward she ran, onward towards Chicago. Onward to give her services to him.
Tabitha pushed out the thoughts that her friend had committed suicide; it seemed, no, it felt impossible. Sure, she had her problems, sure Ember did not live a perfect life, but she was no way capable of killing herself. It just did not fit; there was a missing piece to the puzzle. Just like there was something wrong with Raven not calling her back.
Ezekiel pulled himself out of the silo and as carefully as he could jumped out. He landed awkwardly making too much noise; he turned around and saw as a drunkard shambled over to him, his eyes wide in amazement. "Boy," he spoke with uneasiness, "boy, how did you get out?" The haggard looking hair was filled with dirt, as though he had been sleeping in the fields for some time.
"Defiler," he spoke, a wicked grin spreading across his face, "thou shalt beg for forgiveness for defiling the fields with your unholy, unnatural body." He was still weak, but he was not weak enough to perform what had to be done.