Okay so this was a roller coaster to write but shout out to Mimi for helping me with the plot, keeping me on track and for beta reading this! Violence, torture, surprisingly no swear words! Hope you guys enjoy, and this will have a few more chapters added to it!
Cassandra Pharos had seen more than anyone should be aloud to see in one life. She had seen loves and losses, scandals and betrayals, births and deaths. She had seen laughing and crying, elation and agony and everything in between. She was older than she had any right to be, so she wasn't very sad when the knife punctured her splien. The sorcerers had given her leaves and she felt... Peaceful. No pain, no suffering. It would seem those around her were suffering more, she reflected. She was on her back, on her couch, in her destroyed living room. Ezra Bloom was holding her hand, crying heavily, Valkyrie Cain kneeling beside her. Skulduggery Pleasant and Ghastly Bespoke were standing behind the couch, rapidly tapping their phone screens for Fletcher or a medic, whichever came first. Cassandra knew she wouldn't make it. Dexter Vex and Anton Shudder and Erskine Ravel and Saracen Rue were trying to busy themseleves by picking up shelves and tables and the overall tattered living room. They had to do something. Cassandra understood, she too felt that nervous anxiety when standing still in a time of crisis.
"Cassandra... Did you see anything?" Skulduggery asked quietly. Cassandra didn't trust herself to speak so she shook her head. One moment she was making tea, the next she had been stabbed. She had a bad feeling, so she had called Valkyrie for company. But Valkyrie was clever and knew that if Cassandra had a bad feeling it must be very, very bad. So they all came... But it had been too late. The attacker had already done it and then left. Cassandra gave Ezra's hand a squeeze, smiled faintly, then closed her eyes for the last time. Ezra glanced and Dexter and grinned.
"Glad that's over." She said, wiping the tears away and standing up.
"What did you say?" Valkyrie asked, appalled and angry and surprised more than anything.
"Why are you smi- oh no." Ghastly started, as Ezra's lips slowly turned black.
"Remnants." Skulduggery said, as if it hadn't clicked for anyone else yet. Valkyrie lurched away from Ezra just as Anton and Dexter took a step towards her, their lips the same black.
"Oh hell." Erskine said warily.
"It was nothing personal, honest. She just knew too much, that's all." Anton said, smiling.
Skulduggery made a grab for his gun but Ezra wrapped a thick, black vine around his wrist.
"Oh... This is nice." She said as she clenched her fist and yanked, the vine ripping Skulduggery's hand from his wrist bone. Dexter threw his head back and laughed as Valkyrie cried out and Skulduggery moaned. Erskine summoned a fire ball and threw it at Dexter, who met it with a black stream of energy, enveloping the flame.
"Get out of them." Skulduggery said through gritted teeth.
"Why? She's so strong... Did you know that? She hides most of her power. You all have only seen the surface of what she can do." Ezra said, her eyes black now. Anton grunted and Ghastly yelled for everyone to run, and they did. Valkyrie and Skulduggery, who bent down to retrieve his hand, ran down the hall, Erskine and Ghastly ran out the front door and Saracen ran through the back door. Dexter ran down the hall as Ezra ran out the back door and Anton, and his gist, ran out the front door. But they were gone. They weren't outside or in any of the rooms. When they met back in the living room, Cassandra's body was gone.
"Fletcher." Dexter said distastefully.
"What do we do now?" Anton asked, looking at his two companions. Dexter shrugged but Ezra grinned.
"For now, we wait. But we need to get Saracen Rue and find out what he knows." Ezra stated, clearly with all the authority. Then she turned and walked away, the other two following close behind.
It took a while, but sleep finally wrapped itself around Saracen. The day had just not gone the way they wanted it to and it played on his mind like a broken record. But finally, he slept. A nice, restless, dreamless sleep. But then he was awake. And there was a pressure on his chest, and something cold on his neck, and a small hand clasped over his mouth. His eyes shot open, grabbing the wrist of the intruder. It was Ezra, but with black eyes and lips and viens etching across her face.
"Shhh..." She hushed him. It sounded just like her. Saracen really despised remnants.
"Make a move and I'll kill you, okay? Nod your head if you understand." She said so softly, so sweetly. Saracen stared at her for a moment, hoping that Ezra would break free and it would be over. But nothing of the sort happened. Saracen nodded slowly, all too aware of the blade on his throat. Ezra got off of his chest, just as Dexter put a damp cloth over his mouth. Saracen screamed, flailing, trying to get him off. But someone else, Anton he imagined, grabbed hold of his arm, Ezra kneeling on the other one. Saracen was finding it difficult to concentrate, the sickly sweet drowning his mind.
The three possessed sorcerers dragged his limp body to the car they had rigged. They tied his wrists and ankles and shoved him in the boot, then they got in and drove to the house they had taken. It had been a family of five and the remnants tore them to shreds. It had been a great deal of fun. It was a long drive, but they needed time to get the information from Rue. They dragged him into the house, the five dead bodies littered the dining room and living room. Dexter and Anton tied him to a dining room chair while Ezra went and looked for ways to persuade him. She found a tool box and grinned, grabbing it and running back to her friends. Dexter punched Saracen, hard, in the gut. Saracen's eyes flew open as he gagged. He clenched his fists and tried to tense to break the ropes but it didn't work.
"What are you- why are you doing this?" He asked, eyes wide. He was scared.
Ezra casually sat on his lap and she felt him flinch. She chose to hide the black veins and lips and eyes. She looked at Dexter and Anton for them to do the same.
"See? Better. We are your friends, Saracen. Tell us what you know. Tell us how you defeat Darquesse? Who does it? What do you know? Help a girl out, hmmm?" She asked in a light, airy voice. Saracen shook his head.
"I don't know anything, and even if i did i wouldn't tell you." He said, trying to be as defiant as he could while tied to a chair. Ezra tutted sadly.
"I think you're lying, Saracen. It's okay, it might take some time but we will get the information that we need." She said sweetly. Saracen was visibly struggling now, trying to break the ropes but it wasn't working.
"Do you remember Grouse?" Ezra asked as she opened the tool box. She looked at Saracen, exoecting an answer. He nodded.
"See, I was the remnant that was in him and i know a surprising amount pain. Anything you'd like to add?" Ezra asked. Saracen was lurching now, the chair moving back and fourth.
"Anton, hold him still. Dexter, stretch his hand out." Ezra ordered. Anton slammed his hands on Saracen's shoulders, and Dexter spread his hand out on the arm of the chair. Ezra neared him holding a bag of nails and a hammer.
"No, no please, no, stop, please!" Saracen begged. Ezra ignored him, resting the tip of a long, sharp nail on his hand. She grinned at him then hit the nail with the hammer as hard as she could. Saracen screamed, throwing his head, saying every swear word he knew under the sun.
"Anything you want to say?" Dexter asked. Saracen was breathing heavily, his chest heaving.
"Stop, please, i don't know anything, please." Saracen breathed.
"That just won't do." Anton said.
In the morning they decided that maybe Saracen didn't know anything. He had nails in his hands, his thighs, his feet, his forearms, his collarbones and he was missing three molars. Ezra sighed in frustration and took her phone out. She took a photo of Saracen, he was barely concious. She sent the photo to Valkyrie Cain, with the address, then the three left.