A/N: Welcome to another chapter and this one is gonna be a BIG one folks! This is bound to give you the creeps as well as make you reach for a tissue at some point, so, as always, there's a lot for you in store! Great atmospheric music awaits you and if you care to get a visual addition to a description at the end, you an head over to the AO3 version of this chapter to get a link to an image. Now sit back, dim the lights (yes!) and enjoy the read!
Recommended Songs:
CO AG Music - The Ceremony Of Innocence
Void Stasis - Vision Of A Dead Planet
The Tale Master - Rain over Innsmouth
Iron Cthulhu Apocalypse - Cryptogrphic Sleep Anomaly
Iron Cthulhu Apocalypse - Nine Hours In The Abyss
Revolt Production Music - Nyctophobia
! Remember to put in Alastor's image
Chapter 25 – Metamorphosis
[CO AG Music - The Ceremony Of Innocence]
He was exhausted and his arms and legs felt heavy, but his nameless inner passenger made him stay wide awake. He had been on the lookout for a fitting subject to use as an offering at various locations already; a theatre, a coffee shop and a library. At none of them he had found a perfect pick for his purpose.
You could've picked others, you know…
"They weren't good enough though," he argued quietly, his eyes fixated on the exit of his newest location, a little dance studio.
You're the one that makes them good enough for the Almighty, Warren…
"I just… It just didn't feel right, okay? Let me… Let me decide…"
Of course… Just don't take too long…
Teeth pinching his lower lip, he nervously ran his hands over the steering wheel. "This is becoming more and more difficult with the police looking for me. They don't understand… Do you… Do you think I can get another of the Fallen angels once I have another woman?"
Oh, don't you worry, Warren… I will help you with another Fallen One…
Swallowing, he nodded hurriedly, his thoughts running a million miles per hour. There were still so many offerings he needed to make. So many tainted angels to bring down and so many pure angels to create and send to his little girl.
One step at a time… Don't fret. God and His angels are on your side. That's why I'm with you… To help you with your task…
A strange rush suddenly spread through his body, a confidencethat had an otherworldly edge to it. Divine, he figured, feeling his nerves relax and his thoughts clearing up.
Divine indeed… This is but a fraction of my power, Warren. Now, focus…
With steadied confidence and a calmed pulse, he watched the exit of the studio and barely five minutes later the door opened.
And there she was, his perfect offering. Stepping out of the building, her black hair bound up into a tight bun, a few thin strands of hair mindfully being slipped out to complement the elegant style. Dark lashes fluttered as a breeze blew against her. She wore dark jeans on heeled boots, a hard rock cafe shirt and an khaki, military style jacket. One hand holding onto a gym bag she kept slung over her right shoulder, her other carried a pair of pointe shoes on their laces tied together into a bow.
Ears plugged with headphones, the young woman walked down the street into his direction.
"Her…" he breathed, bedazzled.
Yes… Perfect.
…Get her!
Reaching to the passenger seat, he grabbed the small Zolpidem vial and the syringe next to it, preparing the dose necessary with practised, steady hands. With the syringe ready, he quickly checked the surrounding, making sure there was no one close by to take notice of his actions. The path was clear. His senses were sharp, likely also helped by the divine help he had, and as soon as the woman had walked past his door, he slid out unnoticed.
Two wide, smooth strides brought him up close to his chosen target, his left arm coming up around the woman's head, covering her mouth, his right guiding the syringe.
She tried to scream, as the needle slid in with ease and the transparent liquid was pumped into her system in one fluid push, but the hand pressing firmly over her mouth kept her muffled. Pulling back the syringe and tossing it to the gutter, he used his free hand to grab around the woman's waist, avoiding a flail from her arms and dragging her backwards to the car. Within moments, the tension in the woman's body left, and her weight sunk into his hold.
Good! That's it, Warren… Another beautiful present for the Almighty…
Smiling, he slid open the door and laid the unconscious woman down. He wrapped her up in a long blanket, making sure she could not be seen, his hands still calm and his movements quick but precise. Much more work laid ahead of him, he was aware, but the surprisingly easy pick of his target made him more confident. He was sure that with the help of God's servant on his side, strengthening him from within, he would also have no trouble with taking care of the rest of the fallen angels.
Your newfound confidence is good... Bring the woman back now. We'll need to prepare for the very first of the Fallen Ones because the Devil is on your heels… When the Devil is out of the picture once and for all, things will be much easier for you and me… Trust me…
Getting back into the driver's seat, he started the car and drove back onto the main street. "But he's strong and smart… Do you think I can surprise him again like last time? I might need to up my game…"
He'll not be alone this time… Well need to prepare everything for the Devil and his friends… But don't worry… I'll help you… Here… let me show you…
A powerful surge rushed through him, similar, but so much more powerful than before. Muscles tensed with strength, his knuckles turning white as he held the steering wheel. He gasped, thrilled from the energy that cursed through him. It felt enormous, bigger than himself, inhuman.
Swallowing, he noticed another change inside him though. There was something greater, something so powerful that it raised an inkling of concern inside of him. For a brief moment, he was overwhelmed, wondering if he could even safely contain such energy, let alone handle it.
But then a calm, cool feeling spread in his chest, soothing his concern once again. He cared less. Thought less of whether or not what was happening was right. He felt good. He felt powerful. Invincible, even.
A dark smirk slipped up lips as he glanced over his shoulder, taking a short look at the blanket.
Unaware of it, and lasting only for a blink, a thick blackness crawled in across his eyes, drowning each of the whites, the icy blues and iris' into an even, dark abyss.
Chloe was nervous.
"This is a horrible idea…" she muttered beneath her breath.
It was a horrible idea, wasn't it? It was utterly ridiculous. It was unorthodox. It was risky. It was unlawful, although— she squinted her eyes in thought. Was it against the law to put a soul into a dead body? She shook her head as if to clear it from confusion. Yes. Of course it was, since what they were attempting to do was making a corpse disappear from the hospital without any notice. The personnel at the hospital would go crazy over a missing body.
She stared at the clock above the bed. It's been three minutes since Lucifer and Amenadiel had left. With a sad sigh she looked back down at the body of the young woman. Slender built, her brow hair long and beautiful. She was a Jane Doe who had died from internal bleeding after a car accident just minutes ago. She looked perfectly normal. No real outer injuries. No cuts or fractures. Just a few smaller bruises from the impact. All in all she looked fine, except for the fact that she was dead.
It was such a travesty.
"I'm sorry for what we're about to do," she apologised quietly. "I'd really rather not, but… I hope you're okay with this being for a good cause. A really, really good cause."
A sudden rustling sound and brush of wind from behind made her startle.
"Bloody hell, let me down already!" Lucifer's voice rang upset.
Turning around, Chloe saw Amenadiel, wings gloriously outstretched, holding Lucifer by his shoulders a few inches up in the air. He made it look so easy, Chloe's brain was momentarily stuck.
With an eye roll, Amenadiel dropped Lucifer to his feet and drew back his wings, the surrounding curtain thankfully separating the area from the busy hospital buzz and hiding the view from the outside. "Luggage can't complain, Luci," he shot back with a crooked little smirk.
Ignoring their bickering, Chloe looked at the two angels, concerned. "Did you find her? Did… Did it work?" It had to work. It simply had to.
Straightening his jacket and adjusting his cufflinks, Lucifer stepped up to the dead woman's bedside and looked at her with growing tension. "Yes, we found her and… we should see about whether or not it worked any second now…"
The three of them looked at the woman's body, expectantly, the tension palpable. The seconds ticked by and stretched to an eternity.
And finally the woman's eyes flew open and her chest raised from a deep inhale.
"That was about time," Lucifer murmured to himself, then gently placed a hand to her cheek. "Hello, Samantha. Welcome back." Leaning over her, he carefully held her gaze, wanting to offer grounding her in this undoubtedly strange and unsettling moment.
She blinked, her breath quickening from rising anxiety. "W-Where am I?" she stammered and her frown deepened. "I'm sounding strange."
"I brought you back to Earth, child. I put you, your soul, into the body of a young woman. It's a bit complicated to explain, so please, just understand that this was the only way we can do this," he said soothingly and helped her sit up, letting her get a feel for her borrowed body.
Samantha looked along her arms and legs, her body dressed in the hospital's typical gown.
Amazed to see that the plan —at least so far— had worked out, Chloe stepped up to her as well, scanning the woman in front of her carefully. It was difficult to grasp that she was actually talking towards a little girl. "Hey… You… you're Samantha? My name's Chloe. I'm with the police."
Fumbling with the hem of her gown, she worried her lip. "Hi… Did… Did I do something wrong? Is that why you're here?"
Surprised Lucifer exchanged a look with Chloe. "No, child. I told you, you did nothing wrong."
"He's right," Chloe confirmed with a warm, supportive smile. "I'm not here because you did anything wrong. I'm here because I wanted to make sure you're okay. Did Lucifer tell you that you will be able to talk with your dad?"
"Yeah," she mouthed, shyly.
Squeezing her arm, Chloe continued to keep an eye on her. "Okay, sweety. Now, you let us know when you feel uncomfortable at any time, alright? I want to have you save and sound at all times."
"Alright." Nodding, Samantha got up from the bed and paused with a huge look of surprise on her face. She looked down her legs, stepping left and right, balancing her weight. Eyes lifting again, she quickly reached out and took Lucifer's hand.
"What are you doing?" he asked, feeling oddly reminded of the Detective's little urchin.
"Holding your hand," she answered insecurely, her voice, while more mature, sounding still like that of the heartbreaking shy girl Lucifer had met in Hell. "Please?"
He swallowed. The power of her simple plea combined with the open, hopeful look in her eyes made his heart flutter in a strange, yet comfortable way. Again it reminded him of the Detective's little rascal. "What is it with children wanting to hold my hand?" he muttered and sighed with a nod. "Fine, but we should get you some clothes before heading out. Those hospital gowns really suit nobody in this world. By far the most horrific piece of clothing you humans still hold onto these days."
"Okay, wait here. I'll get something for her. I saw a small changing room nearby on the way in," Chloe explained and slipped out of the little secured area, making sure to stay low-key. With a quick slip into the changing room, she found a neutral set of a grey hoodie and sweatpants as well as white nurse shoes with convenient Velcro. Returning to her friends, she handed Samantha the clothes and helped her along, her sudden tall body seeming to put her motor skills somewhat to the test. Not only that, she could tell Samantha was adjusting to a body that was actually able to walk without difficulties. "There, all done and ready," Chloe announced as she closed the second shoe.
"Right," Lucifer exhaled heavily. "Glad the outfit is settled. There's still lots of room for improvement, of course, but this suits you much better already." Offering Samantha a smirk, her hand slipped back into his.
"We better get going," Amenadiel urged. "I'm pretty sure that eventually someone will come and look for the body."
"True, let's go before anyone notices," Chloe agreed, stepping to the edge of the curtain. Making sure the air was clear, she motioned for them to get out of the segmented area.
[Void Stasis - Vision Of A Dead Planet]
Rushing out the exit with wide strides, they headed to Chloe's car, but a sudden shift in the lighting around them, made Lucifer stop dead in his tracks, head tilting skywards. Thick clouds had formed a carpet of dense, oppressive grey, and as if the sky had waited for him to look up, a thunderclap shook through the clouds. Staring up, transfixed to the spot, his muscles tensed up and his body became rigid.
Softly the first droplets of rain dabbled down on his face, quickly turning into a clattering downpour, and when another thunder trembled in the air his pulse skyrocketed. Pain surged in waves through his shoulder blades, creeping into his chest and clenching so hard around his heart that he heard himself release a pitiful whine.
He felt the cold wetness on his face, his hair starting to loose its styling, but the sounds around him blurred away in an odd echo until there was nothing left but a white noise. Not noticing how his whole body shivered, the rain and thunder brought back memories.
Memories of torture, pain and blood.
He was drowning. Drowning in a lake of blood that had spilled from his body. Drowning in the torture that he had lived through. Drowning in the pain that he had been forced to endure and still kept enduring.
Can't… Can't move… C-Can't get away…
Can't breathe… Can't… Can't breathe… C-Can't—
"-cifer? Lucifer?!"
"Luci? Hey, look at us!"
"Let's sit him down… Yeah… okay, good."
"What's wrong with him? Is he sick? He looks like he's frozen… and in pain."
"Lucifer? Lucifer, look at me. Whatever you think you're seeing and feeling, you're not there, okay? Remember? You're not there anymore. You're with me. You're safe. Come on, open your eyes and look at me. Please. Focus on my voice."
The Detective's voice pierced through the massacre he surrounding him, the darkness suddenly vibrating with a flicker of light. A drop of cleansing bleach in a tinted ocean of black nothingness.
It was almost blinding.
Bright and beautiful.
Soul-touching.
Eyes… Open eyes… Are they closed? Open… Open…
He focused on the light. Focused on her voice.
W-Where are you? Please… Say something again…
"That's it, come on, Lucifer, come back to me. You can do it. Everything's alright. I'm here. You're with me."
The bright, white spot in his view made way for a soft, blurred shape to appear and his heart fluttered with a thrill of joy when he recognised the face.
"There you go. Good… That's it… Hey…" Chloe said, just loud enough to be heard above the rain.
Her soft smile made his heart skip a beat.
"H-Hey," he murmured weakly, blinking away droplets of water from his eyes. Another face came into his view, younger, brown hair, blue, worried-looking eyes.
"I'm so glad you're okay. You really scared me," Samantha said with a relieved sigh, squeezing his hand.
"Sorry 'bout that." He offered her wry smile and squeezed her hand back, realising, that he was seated in the backseat of Chloe's car, legs dangling outside, his side leaning against the seat. Apparently he had been moved. He saw his brother's broad shape leaning in from behind Chloe and Samantha, joining in the group of concerned looks. "Ugh… Don't say it, brother…"
"We had to carry you," Amenadiel spoke up, nonetheless. "You were frozen on the spot, trembling all over. I didn't know it was that bad…"
Lucifer lowered his head, a wave of shame crushing over him. Obviously Amenadiel was referring to his flashbacks and panic attacks. He was about to dismiss his worry, downplay the situation and make a joke, but the touch of Chloe's hand against his cheek, gently caressing, washed those thoughts away and he leaned into her touch instead, humming quietly. "Thank you for being there," he mouthed, mainly directed at her, eyes filled with love and gratitude as he held her observant gaze.
"Always," Chloe responded with a smile and nod. "I'm glad you didn't collapse and that you came back so quickly."
He didn't really process her words, didn't pay much thought on what had happened, his mind just occupied with taking in how utterly beautiful she looked. There were droplets of rain caught in her lashes and her face was glistening from dampness. She must've wiped her face with her hand, he figured, and saw how her golden hair was getting more and more plastered against her precious face from the continuing rain.
Blinking, he came out of his trance, uncomfortable with how they were all standing around him while he had the car's roof to shield himself from most of the rain and them being completely exposed to the downpour. "Naturally I'd have nothing against being looked at while you're doing a wet t-shirt contest for me, Detective, but I don't want you to get soaked because you're worried over me. Please, get into the car already."
Giving his antics an eye roll, she motioned for Amenadiel and Samantha to get into the car, Amenadiel taking a seat on the passenger's side and Samantha climbing in on the backseat next to Lucifer. "Are you sure, you're alright?" Chloe probed, searching in his eyes for any concealment of his emotions.
She had seen him go through so many episodes of flashbacks and panic attacks, so many cramps, nightmares and hallucinations, that he knew her simple question entailed much more what she was worried about. The trigger had been the thunder and rain that reminded him of when he had been dragged out of Zack's car towards the warehouse. It reminded him of how he had felt raw and open on his back when he was slammed against the outer wall of the building. And it reminded him of how afraid he had been to never be able to see her again when he collapsed during his attempted escape.
"Getting there," he finally answered, his tone warm and thankful as he let his fingers trail along her jawline. "Now please get in the car, love." And as she let out a quiet, light chuckle and began to pull away, he added, "I'll give you my very thorough thanks later." Her flustered little smile and glance to the others made the dark-brown pools of his eyes sparkle with a mix of desire and mischief, a devoted promise to her.
Biting back a bigger smile, the soft red cheeks betraying her nonetheless, Chloe quickly rushed to the driver's side and hopped in, escaping the rain as well. Checking her phone for updates, she glanced up into the rear-view mirror to catch Lucifer's expectant look. "Dan's found the address of the shop and sent it over. He's already on his way. We'll meet up with him there." Clicking her seat belt on, she was about to gesture back at Samantha to do the same, but found that she had already done so on her own. Switching on the blue lights, she pulled the car in reverse and headed out the hospitals parking lot.
"Shouldn't I be flying ahead?" Amenadiel asked, holding onto the roof handle when Chloe took a sharp left. "I could secure the area maybe or—"
"No, we need to be really cautious, Amenadiel," Chloe replied, checking the sides as she sped over a crossing. "He might have another victim with him already… and with Alastor inside him, it's best to go in together. We have to try as best as we can and use our element of surprise. We need about fifteen minutes to get there."
They fell into a tense silence.
Lucifer's mind though was racing. The possibilities of how this encounter could go were very much limitless. They were about to try and capture a monster with another kind of monster lurking inside of it. Although he was vulnerable with the Detective around him anyhow, Amenadiel, too, would become vulnerable to all sorts of injuries once in close enough proximity to Alastor.
So he desperately hoped for a smooth outcome. Hoped that, miraculously, Glover would give up and that Alastor would be a submissive demon, dutifully following his command to go back to Hell and never think about popping up on Earth ever again.
He hoped that after all this unspeakable horror, finally, there would be peace.
[The Tale Master - Rain over Innsmouth]
The storm had gotten worse.
Dreadfully reminded of his butchered awakening in the warehouse, Lucifer did his best not to flinch as a particularly loud thunderclap rolled over them just as the car came to a halt. But despite his efforts it seemed Samantha had paid close enough attention, because on his shuddering small exhale of the breath he was holding, she squeezed his hand supportingly.
"It's alright, Lucifer," she said, her voice as small as it had been when it came from her child-like body in Hell. "You don't need to be afraid of thunder, you know? It's just a sound of a lot of energy being released."
Baffled, he looked at the woman —girl—, his brow coming up in a wrinkled arch. "I'm not afraid of the thunder, per se… It's the bad memories connected to it." Bad memories of blood, severed wings and the sheer endless amounts of pain that came with it.
Seemingly in thought, Samantha looked down with a murmur, before she met his eyes again with a smile. "Then maybe you just need to connect with good memories instead! Maybe you can do something today that makes you happy and smile. And then you can always remember it when it thunders again and you won't feel bad."
The logic of children, albeit simplistic, the ease and clarity they could see in things, never seized to amaze him. He had become much more aware of it with the Detective's spawn. He clearly remembered how she gave him her nuggets of wisdom, recounting the story of her classmate who lost his memories during a skateboard accident and had them return shortly thereafter. She had reassured him with such confidence that it would all be well, and he'd just needed to give it some time and his memories would return.
How right she had been.
"I… I suppose that's quite a reasonable way to approach it," he murmured with a small nod, looking at her for another few seconds in utter fascination, before his focus returned to the upcoming confrontation.
"It's a few meters ahead on the right, directly at the corner," Chloe announced, stepping out of the car.
Following her lead, Lucifer and the others got out of the car and rushed after her to an awning in front of a shop window, where Dan was already waiting for them. Upon taking a look at the outside of the shop, Lucifer noticed that several, old wooden boards covered parts of the storefront. In between two boards, a worn-down logo of a red bull's head with two knifes left and right of it showed through. Above it, it read Trevor's Meat Market and in a small font below Estd. 1952.
"The shop's front door is locked and barred, but in the side street, there's another entrance as well as a garage door," Dan explained, his eyes falling on Samantha with nervous shift from one foot to the other. "Is… is that…"
"Samantha in a dead woman's body. Yes, Daniel," Lucifer elaborated drily, earning himself a lovely eye roll from Chloe and a satisfyingly annoyed huff from Dan. Surprising to him though, Dan then smiled at Samantha.
"Glad to have you with us, Samantha. We'll make sure you gonna be okay. Just stay in the background, alright?"
Nodding quickly, she leaned in on Lucifer. "Yeah. Alright. I'll stick with Lucifer."
"Oh?" Dan said, mischief sparkling in his eyes. "Well, that's good! He's great with kids and has no issue holding hands and having you stick close to him."
"I'll stick to him like a chewing gum!" she chuckled innocently.
"Oh, bloody hell… Urgh…" Lucifer grumbled and shuddered at the prospect of holding hands and the analogy to chewing gum, and rolled his eyes at seeing Dan's triumphant look. "Can we finally get this over with? I feel the rising need to punch something… or… someone," he added quietly before taking a deep breath to compose himself and switch the topic. "A locked door isn't particularly a hindrance now, is it? So, shall we?"
"We don't know how things are looking inside," Dan let him know.
"We need to be able to surprise him from two sides, if we can," Chloe said, thinking on their options. "Amenadiel? You go with Dan and take the side entrance. If it's locked, do you think you can open it as quietly as possible?"
"Sure, I doubt a human-made door will be an issue."
"Alright, then the two of you take the side entrance and the three of us go through the front door. Be careful." She waited for a few moments so that Dan and Amenadiel could get positioned around the corner and nodded when Lucifer stepped at the barred, old shop entrance. "Go ahead," she said and lowered her voice to add, "Quietly."
"Of course." Taking a hold of the doors handle, he leaned against it slowly, feeling for the familiar ache of metal being bent. Right at the pinnacle of the material's limit, he gave the door a little additional push. The door made a quiet cracking sound and slid open. Silently motioning for Chloe with a gentlemen-gesture to go in first, he let her take the lead.
"I'm scared," Samantha whispered, slipping an arm around Lucifer's.
"You know who I am, child, yes? You heard my name. You know that I have power in Hell," he spoke softly to her and she nodded. "I'm the Devil." Despite her obvious knowledge over who he was, Samantha's eyes lit up with something he couldn't quite pinpoint. Not surprise. Something more pleasant. Gratitude? Hope? Whatever it was, it made his heart swell with desire to hug her close, but with the task lying ahead of them, he left it at a gentle pat and squeeze of her hand around his arm. "You, my dear child, are under the Devil's protection. I will protect you and fight off whatever tries to harm you, understood?"
Warm brown eyes looked back at him and her lips curled up in a shy smile. This time he could clearly see the thankfulness in her eyes. "Understood," she repeated quietly and emphasised it with a sharp nod.
"Shh…" Chloe urged them, entering the building with her weapon steadily aimed.
The shop was dark and only light from the street now fell through the opened door into the sales area. She swiftly reached into her jacket, pulled forth her mini Maglite and pointed it forward, using the arm to steady her firearm and keep her aim and light aligned with one another. The shelves on the wall to her left and the free-standing ones to her right were covered by a thick layer of dust that got lightly swirled through the room when a breeze brushed in from the street.
Slowly, Chloe stepped in further, her senses on high alert. The thunder and heavy rain from outside though were somewhat distracting, and she worried that quiet but important sounds could easily be drowned from the storm.
[Iron Cthulhu Apocalypse - Cryptogrphic Sleep Anomaly]
Gesturing at Lucifer to close the door behind him, she moved her arms, scanning the room. The counter was empty, unsurprisingly so, except some old small price tags that still laid around in some of the display. The back wall behind the counter was tiled, once white, now grey, with a few worn down plates that years ago must've shown the speciality of the week, she figured.
Carefully following along, Lucifer took in the look of the shop as well, trying to see if anything would spark his memory, give him a flashback or any other intel. But nothing seemed familiar except the ongoing walls and floors with white tiling. They went further into the shop, stepping into an adjacent corridor. A door on the left was open, revealing a cluttered storage room with dusty mops, buckets and a few dirty towels and scrubs.
Chloe led the way further down the corridor, shining next into a room to her right. Another storage room. This time filled with old plastic crates that were piled up into high stacks and had thin badges on them with the company's name.
The tense silence suddenly got torn apart from a distant loud rumbling and dull bang.
All of them perked their ears and stopped dead in their tracks, listening as the echo of the sound faded in the corridor and silence spread around them once again. Exchanging a look with Chloe, he knew they were thinking the same things: Something might have gone wrong. Maybe they were too late. Maybe they had been noticed. Maybe they had messed things up.
His jaw clenched, Lucifer's eyes flared up like glowing embers. Pushing forward with more hurried steps, he rushed Chloe to do the same. The light provided from Chloe's flashlight was enough for him see.
The corridor ended in a metallic double-winged door. Gripping the handles, Lucifer noticed it wasn't locked. Carefully pushing it open, the door revealed a bigger segment of the building. Much bigger. Apparently the shop and storage area was just the first building part. Another segment in the back appeared to be solely for the slaughterhouse.
Their steps and shallow breaths seemed absurdly loud in the contrast to the stark silence around them. The walls had gangways left and right, leading into smaller segments. Old signs read Skins, Tripery, Shed - Cattle & Sheep, Slaughter & Processing - Cattle & Sheep, Lazaretto - Cattle & Sheep, Manure & condemned meat and Incinerator.
Lucifer swallowed and paused at the last one. Quietly, he leaned into the room and inhaled, before pulling back again. Feeling Chloe's questioning eyes on him, he looked back at her, flashing ablaze for a second again. "It's been used recently," he whispered grimly. "He's burning evidence."
Nodding in understanding, she pointed to her left, further along the main hallway, and continued walking. More rooms sectioned off, left and right— Shed - Pigs, Machinery Room, Lazaretto - Pigs and Loading Dock.
The Loading Dock area… That's where Dan and Amenadiel have gone in. Where are they?
Stopping at her side, Lucifer pointed towards another sign of a room that was closed through a door reading Slaughter & Processing - Pig. His lips curled back in a silent snarl. The Butcher was inside. He had to be. And he had picked the room that was exactly describing what he was doing. He was slaughtering and processing angels like pigs, mutilating humans and slapping wings on them in a procedure of unthinkable horror.
Chloe gave him a slow nod and motioned first for Samantha to step aside and then for him to open the door with her standing weapon at the ready. She waited for him, saw him counting down from three for her and upon reaching one, Lucifer thrusted open the door with a powerful shove. The door's lock cracked with ease and the metal slung in a wide arch, hitting the wall.
The light of the Maglite shot into the room. She couldn't make out how big it was, as various shelves with crates and other materials protruded into the room. Again the floor and the walls that she could make out were covered with white tiles, some flawed and cracked. A metallic reflection of her light caught her attention and made her snap the light back to it. There was a long table aligned along the wall with a few trays lying on top, also metallic.
Lucifer's free, left hand reached to the side in means to find the light switch, but there was none there.
"I don't like this," Chloe muttered under her breath, guiding her aim and flashlight with a small tremble of tension.
"Me neither," he whispered back and guided Samantha more towards his back. "Stay right behind me, child." He felt her close, her hand laying gently against his lower back to stay in contact with him. He watched the cone of light from Chloe's flashlight and stilled when he noticed a small shape that moved somewhere towards the ceiling. Halting Chloe, too, he nudged his chin upwards, making her follow his direction to lighten the area.
[Iron Cthulhu Apocalypse - Nine Hours In The Abyss]
A chill ran down his spine at what appeared from out of the shadow. A long rail system was connected to the ceiling and dangling from it were large, curved hooks — butcher's hooks.
His heart thundered against his ribcage, his hands twitching, palms breaking out in sweat. He remembered them. Remembered seeing them hanging above him. Breathing shakily through his nose, he closed his eyes shut tightly, forcing himself to stay in control, to keep the upper hand over the powerful memories that were emerging.
"Lucifer, is everything—" Chloe's question was interrupted as something heavy slammed from the right against her hands. Pain shooting through her fingers, her weapon and light flew from her hands, her gun disappearing in the shadows to her left, her Maglite rolling and coming to a halt as it hit the wall.
Lucifer's eyes flew open at the sudden noise and the pained sounds from Chloe. His pulse spiking back through the roof, he stepped closer to Chloe's side, the room barely lit now from the cone of light that only highlighted a small segment of the left side of the room. He tried to have his eyes adjust to the limited light, but the dim silhouettes were blurry and vague. Reaching his right arm out, he shielded Samantha for any possible attacks incoming. "Detective? Are you alri—"
But his word transitioned into a surprised grunt as something sharp stung into his chest, missing his heart by just a few inches. He stumbled two steps towards the right, his hand instinctively reaching up and pulling the thing away. He barely saw the cylindrical shape in his palm with some fluid inside before the object slipped from his fingers. He tried to look towards Chloe, his mouth trying to produce the words to call for her, but his vision burred and he felt a familiar burn trickling through his body.
Horrified, he noticed that his muscles stopped cooperating. His knees caving in, he awkwardly dropped to the ground with a thud, the only sound leaving his lips an agonised, long-stretched groan.
"Lucifer?!" Samantha shrieked in panic, crouching down to find one of his long legs stretched out. Sobbing, she shook his leg. "Lucifer? Are you okay? Hey?"
Panic rising in Chloe as well as she couldn't make out her weapon on the ground and the sudden drop from her partner, she got on the ground next to Samantha, finding Lucifer's head. "Hey," she mouthed, the light just bright enough for her to be able to see his dark eyes staring up at her, his mouth moving sluggishly.
"And there he is again, the Devil," a deep, male voice echoed through the room. "Immobile, down on the ground and vulnerable."
With a click the room got flooded with light from above, white and blinding, and both Chloe and Samantha raised an arm to shield their eyes and adjust to the sudden brightness.
Chloe quickly collected her senses though and took a quick glimpse through the room to better assess her situation. The room was completely white tiled, the table she had spotted earlier was not the only one. There were an array of variously sized tables all lined up along the walls, with small boxes and items on top. Just peaking out from behind a shelve, she could see a large rectangular mirror, and next to it a tilting table.
It was occupied. She spotted the unconscious young woman with dark hair strapped on it.
Another victim, she realised bitterly.
Her eyes travelled further to the right and landed on a man, pointing a gun at her.
Her gun.
"Glover," she muttered, thinking of her Colt Mustang Plus II sidearm she had precautionally put into her right boot. Taking it out now would surely get them killed. It wasn't the right time to try and draw faster than he could pull the trigger. They'd all end up dead, killed through her own service weapon.
He glared back at her and Chloe felt a chilling drop in her stomach. Glover's eyes were just like Lucifer had described them: cold, icy blue. Disturbing. Haunting. A blue medical mask was tugged down beneath his chin, revealing thin lips that were pressed into an small, nasty smile. His outfit matched to Lucifer's memories and the type of clothes they had found in Glover's house. He wore a blue hospital casaque on a pair of faded, brown pants and blue nitrile gloves. She could easily see how the image of him had evoked nightmares for Lucifer.
A tug on Chloe's sleeve made her look back down, seeing Lucifer's fingers trembling on her arm. On second glance though she realised he wasn't really trembling. He was concentrating. He tried to control his body's movements. Her head immediately thought back to Ella's lab results. Decamethonium. He had been injected with that drug again that had made him immobile during his wing-removal.
"S'm'n…tha," Lucifer mumbled, barely able to move his lips. Eyes wide, he stared up at her and she saw his eyelids come down in a difficult blink.
"Samantha," she repeated quietly, understanding him despite his impaired ability to speak. But before she could address the girl, Samantha already stood up and looked at Glover. Ten years old, she had gone through Hell, and yet, she had the pure innocence to stand up in this moment of danger.
"Dad?" Samantha's shy voice cut into the room as her hand gestured from Lucifer to the unconscious girl in the back. "Why are you doing this?"
Glover starred back at her, angrily, his lips revealing his bared teeth. "How dare you! You're not my daughter—"
"Yeah she is," Chloe threw in, sounding more upset than she wanted to.
Samantha upped the ante. "I am! Dad! It's me! Samantha!" she exclaimed and looked back at him, tormented. "They told me you hurt women like her… Is… Is that true? Did… Did you really do all of this?"
Glover's nose scrunched and his mouth grimaced ever more in anger and indignation. One hand reaching to his head, he gripped onto tousled brown hair, eyes squeezing shut for a brief moment. Shaking his head, he muttered something beneath his breath, before he glared back at her, his hand holding the gun wiggling on emphasis. "STOP playing games with me! You're lying! You can't be her!"
"…'s… 's true." Lucifer huffed out with heavy breaths, focusing hard on making his mouth and vocal cords work the way he wanted them to. He could feel himself getting the upper hand, slowly gaining bits of control back. What had been forcefully flooded into his system hadn't been enough to fully immobilise him for all that long. "Br-Brought-t… 'r s-soul… back…"
"It's her Glover," Chloe repeated, helping Lucifer up into a sitting position. With a little support against his back, he managed to stay seated on the ground, eyes slowly moving to watch Samantha.
He didn't want her in front of a gun pointed at her and he feverishly tried to think on what else they could do and where the heck Amenadiel and Dan were. What had happened to them?
"Why are you doing this?" Samantha said, her emotions bubbling out of her in heart-wrenching sobs. "Is.. Is it because of me? Are you hurting them because of me, dad?"
"What?" Glover breathed, making a small step back. Irritation and confusion travelled over his features as he seemed to try processing what was going on. "I didn't- What- Why- S-Samantha? Is that really you?"
"It's her. Lucifer merely put her soul in another body so you both could talk." Chloe was careful with her wording, not pushing the topic too much, especially with Glover appearing unstable. Certainly what a Demon messing around in one's head and killing angels and humans could cause. Fortunately, the information seemed to settle smoothly with Glover, his eyes shimmering with recognition as he continued to look at Samantha.
"Samantha? H-How is that possible… You…" But with the recognition settled Samantha's question and implication. "What? Hurting them because of you? N-no… No no no no! Not because of you… I… I am doing this for you, my little angel." A delusional, hopeful smile twitched at his lips, his arms opening in somewhat of a 'Don't you see?'-like manner.
Both Lucifer and Chloe flinched at the horribly painful meaning of what Glover had just straight up said to his daughter, and not a second later, Samantha's sobs turned into the soul-shattering, devastated cry of the child that she was.
"What? F-For me?! B-B-But you… you're hurting them! This… this is my fault! I knew it! Just like before! It's all my fault!" Shoulders shuddering from her erratic breaths caused by her snivels and sobs, she wiped the back of her hand over her tear-stained cheeks. "You were fighting with mom because of me… She left because of me… and… and… and now you hurt Lucifer and the women because of me!"
A pang of confusion and hurt shot through Glover's expression, his brows wrinkling in guilt. "W-What are you talking— N-No, sweety, it… it's not like that…"
"Her… s-soul," Lucifer pressed out, managing to use his tongue and easier than before, "S-Samantha… Her… soul… wasn't in H-Heaven, Glover… It was… in Hell. I brought… her soul back… from Hell."
Eyes wide, Glover's outstretched arm dipped a few inches, and his head began to shake in disagreement.
"He's lying to you. He's the Devil, remember? This isn't your beloved Samantha…"
Frustrated, his free hand went up into his hair, gripping a fistful, as if the tugging pinches he felt through it were grounding him. Glaring back at Lucifer, he aimed the gun. "It's not true! It can't be! You're just trying to mess with my head! You're the Devil! The fallen angel! I cut your wings off! This isn't my baby girl! It's a lie!"
Lucifer noticed the shift, the change in Glover's movements, the words that seemed to come like a reassurance to himself. It was subtle, but he could tell he was right. Alastor was there, inside Glover, talking to him, influencing him, right this moment. "She feels guilty," he went on, the honesty of his words not helping the brutality of how much they hurt. "It does not matter… that she is innocent. She feels guilty… And guilt is what brings your soul to Hell."
Glover's head dipped slightly to the side, his piercing blue eyes looking troubled, conflicted.
"That's not true, Warren... Evil thoughts and actions bring you to Hell. Don't listen to him! You didn't do anything wrong and neither did your precious little girl… She's waiting for you in Heaven… Like I told you, God will allow you back into His holy realm…"
One again, Glover stared daggers at Lucifer. "No! That can't be true! My girl is in Heaven! And… and I will be able to meet her again!"
"He's talking to you, isn't he? Telling you things about me and Samantha," Lucifer pointed out. "His name is Alastor."
"W-What? Alastor?" Glover breathed, eyes wandering, confused and uncertain.
"Don't be stupid, Warren… He's trying to mess with you—"
A loud thud and metallic squeal sounded from behind, drawing everyone's attention towards the stumbling duo of Dan and Amenadiel as they rushed in. The double winged door into the room had been slammed against the walls from Amenadiel. Next to him, Dan quickly made a swipe with his gun and his flashlight, checking the room and pausing when the cone of light fell onto the scene in front of him.
"Stop right where you are!" Glover shouted across the room, making a few big steps towards the tilting table. "Stop! A-All of you!" he added in a small stutter, seemingly being put under more pressure with the added assistance. With a shaky hand, he turned his aim to the unconscious young woman bound on the tilting table.
"Dan, hold it!" Chloe called over, feeling as the tension was getting more and more. Glover was a loose cannon. Every fraction of a provocation could easily end in a catastrophe.
Checking back with a glance towards Chloe, Dan quickly complied, seeing how Glover held the woman at gunpoint. He eased his grip on his weapon and raised his palms up in the air in a calming, surrendering gesture. Anything to make Glover not snap.
"Glover, listen," Lucifer said with a heavy grunt, managing with Chloe's and Amenadiel's help to push himself back onto his feet. He swayed a bit but managed holding his balance and keeping his posture upright. "That voice… I'm pretty sure you're hearing a voice in your head, don't you?" Making two cautious small steps towards Samantha, he motioned for her to get back close to him, the danger of Glover lashing out and her getting hurt, too big. Afraid and still sobbing, she turned back into his arms. "It's a demon, Glover. His name is Alastor. He's nestling inside of you and whatever he's been telling you, it's not true—"
"NO! STOP TALKING!" Glover exploded, pointing his weapon back at him with an upset shake. "You're the DEVIL! You're lying! Everything you say is a LIE!"
"A-Actually man, that couldn't be further from the truth," Dan disagreed, a small scoff leaving his lips. "Trust me, I can hardly believe I'm saying this. I just recently learned that Lucifer really is the Devil, but he has never lied. Ever. Quite amazingly, the dude has actually always told us the truth. Straight into our faces. We just never believed him until we saw it for ourselves."
At first, Chloe felt her heart beat out her throat with worry as Dan disagreed, but then, she thought that maybe this was exactly what needed to happen. A confused human mind needed other humans to ground it, to support it and to help it rationalise. To make sense of all the insanity going on around themselves. "He went to Hell and got your girl's soul back so that you could talk with her," she began, giving Lucifer a subtle, thankful squeeze to his arm. "Because you know what? She died thinking that everything that has happened is her fault. That everything was because she was suffering from that illness and she wasn't good enough for you. Because she wasn't healthy. That guilt she felt and is still feeling? That's what brought her to Hell."
"W-What?" Glover breathed, eyes blinking as if coming out of a haze. "But… How- Why… Why would she think that? That's just not true."
Samantha turned in Lucifer's protective embrace, looking at her father with red-swollen, tear-filled eyes. "It isn't? But you were always fighting with mom about my illness. About the next doctor and the next surgery." Snivelling, her voice lowered with sadness. "You said that… that I needed it sooner, but I wasn't strong enough… You tried everything for me and… and mom too… But I was never good enough. I wasn't getting better… I hoped that the next surgery would finally help getting me fixed, but…" Trailing off and unable to help herself, she started crying anew.
"She's lying, Warren! Remember, this can't be your daughter. She—"
"No! Quiet!" Glover exclaimed, hands reaching up to grab his head. His breathing ragged, he looked back at the young woman that did not look like his daughter, but sounded like her and knew things no one else could possibly know. "S-Samantha? Is… is that really you?"
"I just wanted you and mom to be okay again! But you kept fighting! Every day! And it's all my fault!" she sobbed horribly, turning her face back against Lucifer's chest.
Thoughtfully keeping her secure in his hold, Lucifer ran his hand soothingly over her back. "She suffered in Hell for a very long time, Glover. Time runs differently down there," he muttered, the processing of recent events making his heart heavy with sadness. "When you're in Hell, you get tortured endlessly by your own guilt. It's a Hell-loop. Hers was to hear you and your wife Michelle fighting in front of her room. That probably happened on repeat for over a millennia for her."
More and more despair filled Glover's eyes. "B-But… But I never… I never wanted her to… Oh God, Samantha, I… I didn't know… H-How could this happen. I… I just… I just tried to do the right things…"
Lucifer swallowed. The road to Hell was paved with good intentions. A human saying that was truly spot on. Keeping his anger in check for the sake of the child in his arms, he used the moment of Glover's mind apparently starting to clear up and his tension to fade a little. "When you were in the hospital… in that room… When you… were gone… and came back…" He spoke the words intentionally vague, not wanting for Samantha to suffer any more trauma than she already did by revealing how her father had actually tried killing himself to be with her again.
"During that time… It were merely seconds on Earth… But for you it's been years. That demon nestling inside you, Glover… I assume he was the one who was in Hell-loop. He slipped into your body… right as you were brought back to the living." Lucifer's eyes turned softer, not from compassion, but from understanding. He knew the ways of demon. Knew how they liked to torture. How they liked to twist their victim's mind. "You hear him ever since, don't you? He's a really wicked one… Whispering horrible things into your ears… I'm sure he gave you that idea of the angel topic, didn't he?"
Recognition flickered over Glover's face, eyes blinking, stressed. "H-How… How do you know—"
"He slipped into your thoughts… into your memories… He knew that you told Samantha angels would always watch over her. So he told you to create angels of your own, didn't he?"
"Lies! All lies! He's the DEVIL! I'm an angel! You have to listen to ME!"
Shaking his head and pulling at his hair, he gritted his teeth. The world around Glover, seeming to start crumbling. "He… He said he's an angel… That… That if I'd please God by taking care of the Fallen Ones I would get back into His graces…"
Lucifer's heart ached with the losses they had endured. With the people, human and celestial alike, that had lost their lives because of Glover and the wretched demon inside him. His eyes burned with unshed tears of grief and anger. "That's what I thought… But this isn't how it works, Glover… Killing will not please my Father at all… Especially innocents…"
Glover's arms dropped to his sides, his face paling. "But… But… I… I did- I thought that you and the others… That they are still tempting humans and… and the women… they… they were supposed to…"
He felt his anger boiling. Felt how easy it would be now to attack Glover, to get his revenge. To make him pay. He tasted the bitterness in his mouth and felt his gut twisting and turning in discomfort. All the pain he had endured—the pain everyone had endured—accumulated in a sheer overwhelming urge to lash out. To unleash the actual Devil. But then he felt the soft touch of Chloe's hand on his arm. Saw how Samantha looked up at him with big, hopeful eyes. They needed him. Needed him to trust in himself. Needed him to lead this situation. Needed him to be better than the dark parts inside of him that yearned to be freed.
And suddenly his decision was easy.
For them. He was doing it for all of them. Because they were more important than his revenge.
So he let go.
"You wanted to buy your way up to Heaven. You tried to cheat and don't you even dare try to deny it. You know I'm right," he corrected Glover, confronting him with the real truth behind his actions. "Alastor might have given you the idea, Glover, but it was your decision still. You knew it was wrong. Deep down you knew it."
He knew that his words cut deep, he could see it in the way Glover's head bowed and how he looked down in shame.
He could feel it then. How the anger he had let go of made way for hope, for a possible resolution of conflict.
For peace.
After a long moment of uncomfortable quiet, Glover spoke up again, his voice timid, his body shivering. "He's really inside of me right now, isn't he?"
"Yes. You know it… You hear him… feel him, too, I suppose," he answered calmly and truthfully again.
"I… I want him out… I…" Glover uttered under his breath, looking back at him with despair as well as a shimmer of something else. A plea. "Oh God, I… C-Can… Can you get him out of me?"
This was the right moment, Chloe could tell. The heated situation had calmed, Glover had come to his senses as far as it could be described that way given the circumstances. She gave a signal to Dan and he quickly raised his gun, pointing it at Glover to give her cover. She took a few careful steps forward, palms slightly raised, and nudged her chin at Glover's hand still holding her gun. "Give me back my gun first, Glover. No more killing. No more innocents dying."
Looking at the gun in his hands, Glover let go of the handle and threw the weapon over to her in a high arch, making it easy for her to catch it. "Just… just get him out…"
Catching her gun, Chloe and the others let out a breath of relief. One imminent source of danger was out of the way. Now it was time for Lucifer to do what he could in order to get rid of Alastor. Taking Samantha close and having Amenadiel and Daniel join her, she nodded and softly smiled at Lucifer, encouraging him, letting him know that she had faith in him.
The words unsaid were spoken through her warm eyes and heartwarming smile. He still could not fathom how she had such an unwavering faith in him, but it gave him confidence and made his inner light shine all the brighter, proud for having the most wonderful woman at his side in all of his Father's creation. Returning her smile with a thankful one of his own, he turned to Glover and approached him. "I will take care of him…" he agreed, willing his body into firmness and to emit the calm and authority he needed in order to even remotely be seen like a force that needed to be reckoned with. "Alastor… I know you're in there. Come on then. Have the balls and show yourself."
[Revolt Production Music - Nyctophobia]
Glover looked at him, confused, and was about to protest, when he abruptly tensed up with a pained groan, fingers cramping, his body turning and bending. Head tilting in a strange way, Glover's cold blue iris' faded and a pitch black flooded his eyes.
"Took you long enough to find me, Lucifer," it rumbled over Glover's lips, the voice no longer the same. It was deeper and vibrated in the air like glass cabinets during an approaching earthquake.
Alastor had come to the surface.
"Well, yes, I had a bit of a fuzzy memory for a while after my wings got butchered off," he quipped with a drily, false laugh that ending in a low rumbling growl. His dark eyes flashed up with hellfire as he stared down at him along his nose. "But then again, you know that, because it's been your idea in the first place." Stopping right in front of him, he inched his chin up, his nerves on edge, every muscle ready for making a move.
The demon's lips spread into a wicked, twisted smirk. "Yes… Yes! And you so desperately wanted to scream…" A gurgling laughter bubbled from his chest, condescending and gleeful. "It was glorious… But do you know what the best moment was?" His black eyes glistened with malice, his playful tone hardening. "It was when the second wing dropped from your back and I could see the pure terror in your eyes. You knew it was real then… You had truly lost them."
It was a blow that was to be expected from a demon. They were, despite being rather one-dimensional, expert torturers. They knew the weak spots of another being, knew where to hit so that it would cut deeper than any mundane weapon could. And no matter how good Lucifer was at deflecting and hiding his emotions, he knew that a demon, especially one as wicked as Alastor, could see the pain inflicted nonetheless.
Brows coming up in fake pity, Alastor's voice pitched, belittling, "Oh no… Poor Devil… Haven't they grown back yet?"
Lucifer's arm moved with inhuman speed, his fingers gripping tightly onto Alastor's —Glover's throat, pushing him backwards until he had him pinned against the wall. "Alright, you little maggot, you had your fun. It's time for you to go back to Hell."
The demon grunted from the compromised ability to properly breathe, but tilted his chin up in defiance. "Or what, hm? What are you gonna do about it? You know that this human I'm in is still alive. You wouldn't dare hurting a human now, would you? Unless of course, you want to kill two birds with one stone. Flip a finger at the Almighty. Hahaha! How did that go for you last time, my king?"
Alastor's tries of provocation, of testing the waters for how far Lucifer was willed to go, were again something he had expected, but not hoped would happen. Hiding his weak spots in front of Alastor was pointless. The only language he understood was that of fear and it needed something convincing to actually strike fear into the essence of a demon.
He only had this one shot. "It seems like you are asking for a little encouragement," Lucifer's voice vibrated, his tone deep and all powerful. Tapping into his powers as the Lord of Hell, he felt the infernal fires of damnation pulsing through his veins and rushing into his hand choking Alastor. The skin beneath Lucifer's fingers began to sizzle immediately, the burning heat seeping into Glover's body.
Alastor screamed.
"NOOO! You're hurting him! DADDY!" Samantha's cries rang from behind. Tearing away from Chloe's gentle hold, she stormed towards Lucifer and what still looked like her father.
But Chloe's reaction was quick and with a short sprint, she got a hold of her again, holding her back. "Samantha, don't…"
"But he's hurting him!" she cried again, desperately flailing and sobbing, trying to break away again, but in vein. "Please! Stop hurting my dad!"
Grunting and groaning still from the ongoing inflicted pain caused by the star of his incineration, Alastor's lips curled into a manic smirk. "Nurgh! You… You don't have the guts to kill the human. As much as you hate him… You wouldn't murder him in cold blood just to be rid of me… God's angels aren't allowed to kill—"
"Well, I'm not his angel anymore since a long time, Alastor," Lucifer growled darkly, "You think I'm not being serious?" Pressing harder against the throat, he let more of his infernal power burn into Glover. The smell of crisp human flesh stung in his nostrils— a stench that, even after millions of years in Hell, was still able to upset his stomach and make him taste bile on his tongue. But he kept going, kept burning Glover's body as well as the demon nestled inside it, because there was no other way. This was the plan. The only plan. And all he needed to do, was to be convincing.
And Alastor kept screaming and roaring in pain, suddenly becoming much more agitated. Hands flying up, he gripped onto Lucifer wrist, pulling and flailing, but the Devil merely added his other hand to the throat, burning with more intensity and keeping Alastor pinned. "Aaaaargh! Nnnnggghhh nnoooo!"
Lucifer bared his teeth in a snarl. Keeping Alastor pinned wasn't easy at all, but at last he could see what he wanted to see in his opponent's expression.
Fear.
Alastor was panicking.
Not letting his satisfaction show through and jeopardise his bluff, he kept going, but he knew the human body could only take so much. Soon Glover's body would surrender to the pain inflicted on it. If he would go on for too long, then Alastor would die along with the Glover.
Writhing and fighting against Lucifer's grip, Alastor snarled and howled in pain. "No! Aaaargh! Nooo! This can't- No! NOOO!"
"Go. Back. To. Hell," Lucifer pressed through clenched teeth, the embers in his eyes increasing in their intensity with each word.
But Alastor did not slip back to Hell. Instead the demon began to move in Glover's body.
It started in Glover's right cheek. The skin began to bulge and shift as if cockroaches were crawling underneath. Mouth falling open, a horrid scream sounded through the room, sounding once more like Glover. The area that moved became bigger and more skin kept bulging outward. It kept going for a few more seconds until Lucifer saw another shape press out from under the skin. The sharp contours were impossible to miss and to mistake.
It was a skull morphing from Glover's head into a separate form.
Shocked and dumbfounded, Lucifer let go of his hold on Glover's throat, cautiously making a step backwards.
This was not good. Not good at all.
Glover's screams of pure terror continued to tear from his lungs as more and more parts of another body —another creature— pushed and dragged its way out of his right side's body.
"DAAADDYYYY!" Samantha screamed in horror, puffy red eyes wide.
Turning towards his friends, Lucifer agitatedly signalled at them, yelling, "STEP BACK! TAKE COVER!"
Pulling Samantha along, Chloe and Dan rushed back, hiding and taking cover behind one of the shelves in the front of the room. Boxes shielding them superficially, they aimed their guns as best as they could at the thing that seemed to morph out of Glover.
"Lucifer…" Amenadiel spoke up, stepping to his side, shrugging out his wings in preparation for a possible fight. "What's happening?!"
"Alastor… He's somehow tearing free from Glover's body," he muttered, widening his stance, eyes not leaving the horrendous transformation that unfolded in front of them.
Glover's right arm stretched out in pain, trembling, the skin shifting as another, differently-shaped arm pulled its way out of it. Thick muscles and thorns separated themselves from Glover's arm claw-like fingers emerging, flexing. The same started to happen at Glover's leg. A muscular thigh and a strange spiked shin and clawed foot tore free from Glover, stepping into the room.
Glover screamed in soul-shattering cries of agony as the shape of Alastor morphed and tore from his body. The bestial claw-like foot dug into the ground, using more strength to pull free, and with another push and pull, the shape of Alastor managed to fully separate itself from Glover, causing his former human host to collapse.
A good feet taller than Lucifer and Amenadiel, Alastor stood in front o them, released from his mortal shell. The demon's shape was somewhat humanoid, but only in terms of the main physique— two legs, two arms, a head. But that's already were the familiarity to a human being ended.
His skin was a crumpled layer of black mould and at some places like his head, shoulders and chest missing completely. His chest revealed parts of his ribcage and on the other side a dozen long, edgy and bent spikes protruded from his back. Metal shin guards that seemed to be grown directly on Alastor's legs, reached up over his knees and were barbed with small thorns. His skull had twisted horns emerging from the side of the head, and a green, noxious-looking glow shone through the hollow eye sockets, the openings of the nose and mouth as well as through the gaps of his ribcage.
"It's time for you to sign out, Devil," Alastor growled, widening his stance and looking at Amenadiel. "And you, you little sycophant, you'll join him. I'll rend you limb from limb and send the both of you wherever the fuck angels go when they've been torn to pieces."
And with a visceral roar, he tensed his claws and lunged out, anticipating to tear apart angelic flesh.
A/N: I KNOOOOWWWWW! :D I'm sorry, but I just had to do the cut here! It's cruel but this is gonna be worth it! Trust me! OMG! Here we go! What do you think?! How's it going? Have you seen this coming? Let me know your thoughts. I'm dying to know! Be ready for the showdown and perhaps another surprise or two *evil laughter*. Stay tuned my dear Lucifans! Until the next one!
-Luni
28