Last Chapter! Also nubianna1980, you are so right! I'm so done with Crane and his family drama and its continuation is not on my list of good things to come. Plus the return of the adventures of StruggleWitch. But I digress, I have a tentative idea for a sequel? What do you guys think. Also, if anybody has a fic on Archive of our own, and would like to suggest it, I'd love to read it. I'm reading She and He and it is great. Thanks for the reviews and such!
Purgatory, Gehenna, Hell. Of all the terminology, he had heard used to describe this place, he was sure Hell was the most accurate. Lacking fire and brimstone, it housed misery of the most acute kind. Misery that spanned life and death, heaven and earth realm and realm. It was indescribable.
He removed his hand from the hold of the woman beside him and instead grasped her wrist. He wasn't sure he could ever let go, ever look at her again. He had once left this woman in this terrible realm, had struck her and even now was preparing to hand her over to a demon.
His sins were heavy, indeed. But a sacrifice, he reasoned, maybe a sacrifice would lay bare his penance.
Ichabod glanced at his wife whose low chanting seemed to be lulling their son into passivity. He slowly approached the towering Moloch with the Lieutenant in tow. With an impassive face, the demon reached his hand out to the second Witness. Fresh tears started in Abbie's eyes as Ichabod's grip on her wrist loosened. At the last moment, Ichabod drew her back to him.
"Wait." He said, praying that the demon would ignore what could be seen as disrespect. "I must first speak to my wife."
He turned, drawing Ms. Mills behind him, his shaking hand still clasping her wrist.
"Katrina, my wife, my love, when I arrived in this time I thought only of finding and releasing you from this prison. I thought only of our reunion, not of the fate of the world or of my fellow Witness, but of you." He glanced behind him at the Abbie, her wide, terrified eyes, questioning. "But now I know my duty. I know what I must do. I must align myself with the forces of good. I cannot follow you through this task. I cannot allow it." He said, backing away. "We the penitent, with humble heart, upon this threshold do summon thee. In mirrored form, appear a gateway to the world between worlds!"
"Ichabod, no!" Katrina wailed.
Turning, he shoved Abbie through the shattered sky. Her scream was silent as she fell into reality. A hand fisted itself in the back of his jacket, turning him around. Moloch's face had creased in a snarl, his eyes alight in anger.
"I will have a Witness, Ichabod Crane." He growled. "And, luckily, there are two to choose from."
Suddenly, Moloch jerked to the side, his hands going to his face. His cry of rage shook, the very ground. Ichabod turned to see his small partner clutching an ichor stained amulet in her grasp.
"Come on!" She shouted, grabbing his hand. She hauled him up and together they ran toward the rapidly closing portal. He stumbled, lost his footing and clutched Abbie who had done the same. They landed, him on the bottom due to some maneuvering. He opened his eyes just in time to see his wife wail his name. Then the shards of the night sky sealed it closed.
The Lieutenant had crawled away from him at some point. He couldn't bring himself to find her. The weight of his actions stunned him. He had just abandoned his wife and son to purgatory, to the hands of the demon Moloch. A horridly pathetic noise began in his chest, scraping his throat as he began to cry.
A hand landed upon his shoulder. He looked up into the tear streaked eyes of his partner, and behind her, her sister sporting a nasty gash above her left eyes. Neither said a word as she helped him to his feet. The sun rose as the group made their way back to the road.