A/N: Hello to all! And I'm back with another chapter of My Life, So Second Hand! Yay! Anyways, I'd like to thank The Brat Princess, SpeedDemon315, and RabidReject for their reviews (and The Brat Princess for pointing out that I typed something twice because I don't pay attention when I write, lol). I hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own any characters from Angel. My master, Joss Whedon, does.
"You search and still wonder
Are we alone among the stars
In this terrible waste of space?
But you can't imagine
That we're a harvest since forever
Just a herd called human race
Feed on me, I've got
Fuel for the ages
That you, you will steal against all odds
Feed on me, and then
Then close the cages
We are, we are just energy for the gods."
-"Energy for the Gods"-by Magica
Chapter Three: Death's Reverse Echo
The door to the apartment creaked horribly as it was opened. The apartment building was somewhat shabby as it was, but this particular hallway seemed extra-shabby, as though it was paid hardly any attention at all.
Although, with the putrid scent that was radiating from the apartment in question, that was understandable.
"Ugh, had I known this apartment was going to reek so much, I might have passed over it," Cordelia mused, followed Doyle and the black-haired woman into the apartment. "To be frank, it smells like ass mixed with death warmed over."
"That might be why," Doyle offered, pointing to the half-decayed corpses of a few demons scattered about.
"Oh, God, that is disgusting!" Cordelia cried out, her face twisting in disgust.
Without a word, the first woman wandered over to one of the corpses, kneeling before it and studying it silently for a long moment. When she was done, she turned around, facing her two companions. "Sahvrin demons. Cordelia, please tell me those weren't the potentials you told me about."
She shook her head. "No, milady-the potential I told you about was a human, I sensed it." Her eyes scanned the seedy apartment, finally coming to rest on a severely-decayed corpse lying on the floor. She gestured to the body with a finger. "That's the potential I sensed."
Her face betraying no sign of her inner thoughts, the black-haired woman knelt by the corpse, taking in the condition of her potential new servant.
The body was in sorry shape indeed. No one had attempted any type of embalming, any kind of formal funeral preparations whatsoever, the poor fool decomposing on the floor had simply been left to rot. The state of advanced decomposition meant that large patches of skin were gone, exposing half-rotted organs and clean, white bones. The eye sockets were empty under half-closed lids. The overall stench was ghastly.
Unperturbed, she reached out, placing a hand on the corpse's forehead, her eyes fluttering closed. For a long moment, she remained that way, still as a statue; she soon opened her eyes, smirking.
"His name is Lindsey McDonald," she announced, leaning back slightly. "He used to be a lawyer at Wolfram and Hart. He was killed by a rather depressed-looking green demon…" She touched his forehead again, as if gathering information from his body, or his soul. "An empath demon called Lorne. He works for-" Her smirk widened. "-Angel himself. Lorne was ordered to kill poor Lindsey here once the mission was complete. And now…Lindsey here is simply screaming for revenge." She looked back to Cordelia, nodding approvingly. "Fine selection, Cordelia. Fine indeed. He is worthy."
She reached up, to the back of her neck, unhooking the clasp of the chain she wore. Carefully, she placed the crow charm that adorned her necklace on Lindsey's forehead, halfway between his eyebrows and what was left of his hairline. She then removed a blackened rosary from the straps that adorned the front of her dress, carefully unwinding the rosary beads from the decorative leather. She dangled the rosary over his forehead, making sure the crucifix it bore was above the crow charm. Clearing her throat, she began to speak.
"Soberiquies miteag dore´az tir sindel," she intoned, her voice soft, yet resonating with an ancient power long lost to the world. "Sila nindel dhyn rath ulu dro. Fvet migste hexund namste, vox retour ame…"
As she went deeper and deeper into the litany, passion began to weave its way into the power of her voice. A strange sort of presence began to fill the room, noticed almost instantly by Doyle and Cordelia. Doyle, who had been present at Cordelia's resurrection, recognized this sensation instantly-the presence was the soul of Lindsey McDonald, pried away from some distant nether realm to join them back on Earth.
"Dro vitaug monte deu!"
As she finished the incarnation, the corpse before her began to change. The decayed patches of skin began to regenerate before the eyes of everyone, while two bloody gunshot wounds in his chest healed over, leaving only smooth, unblemished skin behind. Long brown hair sprouted from bare patches on his scalp, while under his eyelids, eyeballs formed once more. A moment of silence followed the last words of the incantation, and then, Lindsey took a loud, gasping breath, his eyes flying open. He sat up, looking around rapidly.
"You can't kill me!" he shouted. "I'm not going to be taken down by a lackey! No, if Angels wants to kill me, he should get his undead ass down here and…" His eyes came to rest on Doyle, Cordelia, and the black-haired woman. "Kill…me…himself…um, who are you?"
"I have many names, Lindsey McDonald," the black-haired woman answered. "The Mistress of Death, the Death Echo, the Goddess of Death, the Angel of Resurrection, and I could keep going. My fellows call me by name, that name being Morrigan. Morrigan Echo Dolan. You, however, are to address me as Master-or Mistress, if you prefer. And milady." She gestured to her two other followers. "I believe you've already met my faithful followers, Doyle and Cordelia. They'll be your new associates."
Lindsey blinked at her, baffled. "Huh?"
"I have a…influence over the dead, shall we say?" she explained slowly, as if speaking to an exceptionally daft person. "I can bring them back to life, if I so desire. Cordelia found your rotting corpse and brought it to my attention. I could sense the desire for revenge on the vampire, Angel, practically pouring off of you. You were unjustly killed, Lindsey McDonald…cut down in your prime, before your time. I merely fixed that problem."
His brow furrowed as he stared at her. "And how do you know so much about me?"
Morrigan smiled at him, a cunning sort of smile. "I have my ways."
She rose smoothly and started for the door, while Doyle and Cordelia helped Lindsey to his feet. Being careful to avoid the rotting corpses of the Savhrin demons, the three followed their mistress to the door.
"Where are we going?" Lindsey asked. "Milady?"
"A special place, Lindsey-one I think you'll find quite familiar. My work isn't done for tonight."
***
As Doyle had said, the once-glorious edifice that was once Wolfram and Hart was now little more than a pile of rubble. A small part of what appeared to be the back wall still stood, like some strange tombstone, marking the final resting place of the once-great law firm.
"My old office?" Lindsey asked, puzzled, as he approached the wrecked building, flanked by Doyle and Cordelia and led by Morrigan. "Who in God's name would you possibly want to resurrect in there?" A bit of a worried look came to his face. "Please don't say Lilah."
Morrigan chuckled. "I have no interest in this Lilah, whoever she is."
Lindsey breathed a sigh of relief as the quartet began towards the demolished law firm. Clambering carefully over the piece of rubble, they soon found an opening in the rubble that was just large enough for a person to squeeze through if they hunched over. Stepping forward, Morrigan shimmied through the crevice, disappearing into the darkness beyond. Undaunted, Doyle, Cordelia, and Lindsey followed after.
Sure enough, a part of the lobby hadn't collapsed, and that was where they found themselves now. Innumerable shards of glass littered the floor, cracking anytime someone stepped on them. The floorboards were torn up in spots, and in some places, they bordered deep chasms that led down into the bowels of the law firm. The receptionist's desk had a support beam in it; a forgotten unicorn figurine lay on the floor by the receptionist's desk, its horn broken off and lying a few inches away. Recognizing it as Harmony's, Lindsey picked it up, observing it for a moment, finding it hilariously ironic that while all the strongest parts of the building lay in ruins, a tiny, fragile figurine survived the damage with nothing more than a broken horn. When he caught Doyle and Cordelia staring at him, he placed it on the desk, pushing it away from where he stood.
Morrigan approached them, glass shattering under her heavy boots as she went. She carried what appeared to be a body in her arms, the body of a young woman with auburn hair…
"Eve!" Lindsey blurted out, shocked. He'd had no idea she had died-he thought she would have escaped when the rafters of Wolfram and Hart fell, gone back to his apartment to wait on a lover who was never coming home. He hurried towards Morrigan, but drew back at Eve's half-decomposed state.
"Don't squirm, you didn't look much better," she scolded, clearing glass shards from a spot on the floor with her boots before gently laying the former liaison on the floor. "Someone you know?"
"His squeeze," Cordelia snickered.
Lindsey fixed her with a glare. "I could say the same about that Euro-trash vampire who killed me-he was your personal squeeze, wasn't he, Cordie?"
"Shut up or I'll be removing your hands for good!" Cordelia snapped back.
"'Course, now he's getting it on with a werewolf. Can't say much about his taste in women."
"Why, I ought to-!"
"Children!" Morrigan snapped, glaring up at Lindsey and Cordelia, her sapphire eyes narrowed. "I'm in the middle of a resurrection. You'd both do best to stop arguing like an old married couple."
Both immediately shut up, and Morrigan continued with her litany, summoning Eve's spirit from the same nether realm she had summoned Lindsey's from not two hours earlier. As the last words echoed across the destroyed lobby, Eve's eyes shot open, while she flung her arms up, as if to protect herself from falling rubble.
"Eve…" Morrigan drawled soothingly, gently pushing her arms down. "Calm down. It's over-you're in no danger here."
The former liaison looked around the lobby of Wolfram and Hart, perplexed. "Am I in Hell?"
"If you are, I am," Lindsey assured her, sitting down next to her. Her startled eyes flickered to him.
"Angel said you were dead."
"I am." He paused. "Well, I was."
"So…if we're not in Hell, where are we?"
"Earth," Morrigan replied simply, standing up. "America. Los Angeles, to be exact. You see, I resurrected you, and your little boyfriend. And now…" She flashed a devious smile. "I have a job for you to do."
"I have a job for you to do", which we all know means she's up to something...
Well, now, our mysterious woman has a name, and we have two more familiar faces! Honestly, I am kind of happy to have Lindsey back-he may be evil, but you can't deny, he's very easy on the eyes.
Until next time!