Hellraiser: Beyond the Gates of Hell

Disclaimer: Well, well, well... My first Hellraiser fic. Look at that. It's about time I did one of these. Remember this, readers: I take CONSTRUCTIVE criticism, but not flamers. So kindly step away if you feel such an urge. This story is going to be written for the fun in it, but I have done as much research as one can. Clive Barker owns all things flesh and blood in Hellraiser, but I own the plot and the few characters he DIDN'T make. Well, since I got the okay, I want to dedicate this fic to laura 101 and Blue Kitsune. They're real hardcore Hellraiser romance fans! Gotta love that!

"The flesh endures the storms of the present alone, the mind those of the past and future as well as the present."

-Epicurus

"Do not bite at the bait of pleasure, till you know there is no hook beneath it."

-Thomas Jefferson

By: VampireQueenAkasha

We have such sights to show you...

Chapter Eleven: Lost Souls

The room is dimmer now. The thirteenth comes.
The philosophic stone is steeped to blood.
The petals of the black rose port like wounds.
And razor tongues within sing slow pavanes.
Now strikes the filial hand (unholy joy!)
And scarlet rivers ease the pain of years.

-Orchid For a Dishonoured Prince

Alice wandered down the halls of the Labyrinth, her mind numb after the effects of speaking with Leviathan. If anything, she felt nothing but cold fury at the fact her father was the man she had seen in her visions. It wasn't fair that she was related to such a monster! No wonder her mother had always ignored her. She hated every bit of the thought, but at the very least, Alice was just relieved to have finally figured it out.

Suddenly, Alastor emerged from behind one of the many pillars, grabbed her by the arm and twisted it behind her back. Alice opened her mouth to shout out, but he clasped his disgusting hand over it and whispered in her ear with a smirk in his voice.

"You think you've outwitted me," he hissed, "For now. But know this, girl, I am a patient Cenobite, and a human can learn to lose her mind in a place like this."

Alice glared back at him and Chalkis. "Fuck you and the shit hole you crawled out of!"

Alastor laughed cruelly, unfazed by the insult. "Remarks like that don't carry much weight, human!" He paused, but not before snickering and sniffing her exposed throat.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Alice spat, wrenching from him.

Alastor laughed again. "Why, just imagining a blood-stained rope around that beautiful neck of yours girl. Despite what he says ... " He resumed a more serious persona and pointed at her. "But, no matter." He turned and started to go. "You've chosen a magnificent prison, but it is a prison nonetheless. Set one foot outside of Xipe's sight, and you're mine!"

Alice trembled slightly as she watched the fat Cenobite and his companion disappear down another turn. She felt a bump and noticed that it was Balberith shoving her way passed her. The old woman Cenobite leered up at her impatiently.

"Be wary around Alastor, girl," she muttered, "Try to stay away from him as much as possible."

Her words held little conviction to them, which meant that she was simply DEALING with the human for the time being. "Uh ... can I come with you?" she asked.

"I am going to my library. Come if you wish ... " Balberith answered, never breaking her stride.

Alice quickly followed behind her and they stepped into an enormous library filled with towering shelves and literally millions of books. Alice's eyes cast around the room with shock and amazement. Never in her entire life had she seen so many books. Balberith caught her look and actually smiled.

"Impressive, isn't it?" she said, "I have read every book in this library 114 times."

Alice looked stunned. "No way!"

Balberith chuckled and nodded, reaching for a book stitched in human skin. "Yes. I take great pride in my collection of wisdom here, Alice," she told her, "All of the knowledge of the universe, past, present, future... Every dimension of information lies within these shelves."

Alice was intrigued with so many books. It was one of the few things that she enjoyed besides dancing. She walked up to one of the shelves and noticed that Balberith had kept books of poetry here as indicated. She picked one of the thick books up and opened it, slowly paging through it. It was beautiful works written by the most common of man. Had the Cenobites inspired poetry in humans as well? How very strange and interesting all at once. Balberith glanced over to the side and she seemed to nod to someone who Alice did not see. She was too enraptured in the text in hand.

"'Wine knows how to adorn the most sordid hovel With marvelous luxury And make more than one fabulous portal appear In the gold of its red mist Like a sun setting in a cloudy sky'," she read, softly to herself, "'Opium magnifies that which is limitless, Lengthens the unlimited, Makes time deeper, hollows out voluptuousness, And with dark, gloomy pleasures Fills the soul beyond its capacity'."

She didn't see Pinhead moving down the lengths of the shelves, smiling that same sadistic smile on his face. Just as she opened her mouth to recite more of the poem, he spoke the remaining text for her, "'All that is not equal to the poison which flows From your eyes, from your green eyes, Lakes where my soul trembles and sees its evil side... My dreams come in multitude To slake their thirst in those bitter gulfs'."

Alice whirled at the sound of his voice and she managed a small smile as he finished the poem, slowly gliding up to her. "'But all that is not equal to the awful wonder of your saliva, Alice, that bites my soul, and dizzies it, and swirls it down, remorselessly, rolling it, fainting to the underworld'."

Alice placed the book back into the shelves and she faced him. "I didn't peg you for a poetry lover. But I guess that's where all of your sweet talk comes from."

Pinhead smiled at her, that same sneaky smile that he was so famous for.

Alice frowned and she suddenly recalled that she hadn't eaten since she arrived in the Labyrinth. She looked up at Pinhead. "Can I ask you a favor?"

"Well, you can ask."

"Is ... Is there anything to eat around here?" Alice asked, knotting her brow and absently looking around the library, "I mean, I've been here for who knows how long and I haven't eaten anything. Do you guys even eat food anymore?"

Pinhead arched his brows, as if the request confused him; or her manner of asking just amused. Finally, he chuckled and looked over toward a damned soul in the corner of the library, watering several hanging plants whipping with thorns and broken glass in their pedals.

Alice hadn't noticed him there before. He looked horrible; his bony body so thin, all that covered his bones was leathery, weakened skin donned in boils and opened sores. He wore a neck bracelet with spikes stabbing into his throat, preventing human speech and shackles that stabbed knives into his ankles and wrists. His face was pitiful and sad, cheeks sagging like a sad little bloodhound. She nearly jumped out of her skin when Pinhead's voice suddenly thundered loudly in command to the soul.

"YOU!" he shouted. When the soul jumped as much as its weak body would allow, Pinhead scowled venomously and gesture with one finger like a cruel parent. "Come here now."

Alice felt sick as she watched the weakened fleshly skeleton stagger toward Pinhead and herself. His movements were so feeble and pathetic that she was surprised the former human could even move at all anymore. Pinhead's voice raised again, displeased with the soul's weak movements.

"MOVE!" he commanded.

The soul found some hidden strength still there in its bony body and made his way close to Alice, hunched over. She didn't dare look at the poor creature, but the corners of her eyes caught the empty, lifeless skin sockets still filled with a small remnant of human life.

"I want you to take Alice to the dining chambers for something to eat," Pinhead ordered the soul, "She will select what she desires from them and you will take it wherever she asks, do you understand?" When the soul barely managed to nod his head, Pinhead acknowledged with a half - nod and he smiled at a stunned Alice, as if nothing was wrong at all. His voice was almost soothing. "Well then? Go on and fill your aching gullet, girl."

O

Alice began to second - guess her decision to come here. As she and the former human soul walked to the dining chambers. It was a lovely room, she couldn't deny that; with its glistening window panels and metal pillars shaped like human bodies in the throes of intercourse. A little tawdry for her tastes, but still rather intriguing with spikes and jagged edges. There were finely decorated artifacts crafted of bone and sinew alike, donning the walls of the dining chambers.

There was a side table full of the finest fruits, meats and breads that Alice had ever laid her eyes on. She walked up to it, practically salivating. After reaching for an apple, she recoiled her hand and thought about it for a moment.

"Wait ... is this stuff going to turn to dust when I bite into it?" she asked, looking at the lifeless soul.

It made no indication of either. Alice studied its jutting ribs, skinny arms and slouched position. One gust of wind was sure to topple this walking bone bag. She glanced down at the food and back at the soul.

"Are you ... hungry?" she asked.

The question must have elicited whatever spark was left and the soul nodded fervently remnants of a weak smile touching his lips. Alice tried to smile back and she reached over to take a piece of sweet bread, handing it to the shaking hands of the withered being. He took it and began to hurriedly shovel it down his throat. Chewing with great difficulty, the soul managed to smile at Alice and she returned the smile back.

"Can I ask you something?" she asked. "Do you remember your parents?"

The soul shakily nodded.

"Were they good people?"

Again, a nod.

"Did you have any reason to believe that they weren't?"

The soul shook his head this time.

Suddenly, there was a low, cruel and distorted laugh that filled the air; distinctly masculine. Alice and the terrified soul looked around for the source of it. She was worried that it could have been another Cenobite who wanted to try and get a taste of her like Alastor.

"Pitying the damned? Heh. No wonder they like you so much!"

Alice scowled upwards. "Who are you?"

The voice laughed cruelly. "Aww, don't you remember who I am?" Something landed behind Alice and she whirled, noticing a shape walking toward her. Once the light beamed down, she noticed that this was the man from her visions, dressed in a sloppy brown suit jacket and pants. Trevor Gooden.

The one who had betrayed her mother.

The one who her mother had shot.

Her father.

He looked somewhat more mad than the man from her visions too. His eyes were dark with heavy rings beneath them, like he hadn't slept in days. When he smiled, Alice didn't like it whatsoever. She took a few steps back as he advanced.

"So ... my baby girl ... all grown up!" Trevor hissed, looking her up and down. He made a displeased noise. "Fuck, you look just like your goddamn mother."

"What do you want?" Alice demanded, quietly.

Trevor smiled at her. "To show you just as much fucking misery as your mother brought me!" He laughed at her appalled expression. "You think you're above all of us, Alice? You chose this! And guess what? You're never going to leave!" He reached over and grabbed a knife embedded in the pork roast on the table.

"Why are you doing this?" Alice demanded, raising two hands.

"I want you to see, Alice," Trevor crooned, advancing on her, "The fuck, girl. This just happens to be your little idea. All of it. If you don't like your ideas, then perhaps you should just try and stop having them." He dove for her with a roar and began to swipe the knife at her.

Alice ran for the doorway and Trevor grabbed her by the wrist, tossing her into the table so that she slid clear down it and onto the floor. He tsked and shook his head with mock pity. "You know, when I learned that I had a little daughter, my first thought was, 'Oh shit, I DID knock up Kirsty Cotton after all'! It wasn't some piece of ass bimbo on the street." Trevor laughed loudly when he realized what he had said. "Oh wait! I guess it is kind of the same thing!"

Alice groaned and climbed to her feet. "You fucking bitch!" she spat, "I hate you!"

Trevor was unfazed by those words. He shook his head. "Oh no, what's daddy to do?" he sneered, in a false sorrow - filled voice.

Alice scrambled to her feet and she looked around for a potential weapon to protect herself with. Trevor laughed cruelly. "Aww, now we both know you don't have it in you, Alice!" He began to advance toward her around the table. "You're a coward, just like your whore of a mother!"

When he was close enough to her, Alice quickly socked him directly in the jaw and it snapped upon impact-completely off. Trevor lurched back with a shout of pain and his jaw skittered across the cold floor. Disgusted and surprised, Alice took a few steps back and watched as Trevor moved quickly to receive his broken jaw. She frowned at his quick, hurried actions and almost suddenly, she began to realize his punishment here.

"Ohhh, I get it now ... " she said.

Trevor grabbed his discarded flesh and attached it back to his mouth. He glared at Alice furiously, trying to salvage the situation back to his favor. "Shut your mouth, Alice!" he spat, "You're not going to get away from me this time! Mommy's not here to help you."

Alice punched Trevor in the stomach and there was a sick slurching sound as her fist became entangled in his abdominal organs. She grabbed what was once his intestines and began yanking them out through his ribcage. His entire body felt like tissue paper. When he snarled in agony and tried to recover, Alice kicked him square in the balls. She wrenched her hand loose and Trevor staggered back, clutching his groin and glowering at her with absolute poison.

"Haha! You're falling apart! Whatever damage you caused mom is happening you you, only literally!" She laughed, finding herself light with amusement. For once, she wasn't the victim here and it felt so damn good! Was this what the Cenobites had meant after this whole time? "It's not fun when you're the victim is it ... daddy?"

Trevor snarled like a rabid animal and charged for her with a roar. Alice quickly stepped out of the way and Trevor stumbled to the floor, his body nearly splitting to pieces like a celery stick. He wailed in agony and Alice smirked nastily.

"Everything you've ever done to her, is already done to you, asshole!" she spat.

O

Pinhead listened to the sounds of Alice's "victory" over her accursed swine of a father while he stood before Leviathan. So now there was nothing left for the girl in the whole of humanity. She had let go of everything that tied her to the world.

"My Lord, shall I call for Alice to begin?" he asked.

"YES. ALICE WILL BECOME WHAT SHE WAS DESTINED TO BE. AND YOU ... XIPE ... WILL HAVE A NEW BRIDE."

Pinhead's gaze flickered upwards, an almost human look of surprise crossing his face. "Excuse me?"

"MY SON, ALICE SHALL BE YOURS, THE WAY YOU HAVE ALWAYS WANTED. DO YOU THINK YOUR DESIRE OF KIRSTY COTTON WAS MERE WHIM? NO. IT WAS ALICE THAT YOU DESIRED LONG BEFORE SHE CAME TO BEING. WHY DO YOU BELIEVE THAT YOU WHERE CONFUSED BY YOUR OBSESSION WITH KIRSTY COTTON? YOU HAVE DESIRED ALICE AND YOU DESIRE HER NOW."

Pinhead made a half - amused, half-disgusted look. "My Lord, that's not - "

"DO NOT DENY IT, XIPE TOTEC, I KNOW IT IN YOUR DARKEST SOUL. MOST OF MY CHILDREN HAVE THEIR PLAYMATES ALREADY. CONSIDER THIS A HIGH HONOR. ALICE WILL MAKE A FINE BRIDE. I SEE IT."

Just as Pinhead turned to go, Leviathan spoke once more. "BE WARY OF ANGELIQUE, MY SON. SUCH A PETULANT ONE SHE IS ... "

Pinhead wasn't necessarily surprised by that warning. He walked back the way that he had come to find Alice. After all, there was going to be quite the show when the human body Kevin finally found them. It didn't bother the Cenobite leader. After all, it would be fun to watch; entertainment was rare in hell these days. While he moved down the maze of hell, he issued an order for his Cenobites to arrive at Leviathan's chambers to witness this.

When he found Alice, she was standing beside one of the tables, eating like a contented feline, licking her fingers and lips as she made a move for the fish. "Alice."

She stopped her advance and looked over at him. "Uh ... hi ... "

Pinhead looked around the dining hall for the fool called Trevor. He didn't see him anywhere. "Where is your father?" he asked.

Alice's gaze darkened to an extent. Pinhead discovered that he enjoyed a more darker side to the innocent girl who seemed not-so-innocent after all. "He ran away after he heard that you were coming," she answered, "But it's okay. He didn't put up much of a fight."

"I see ... " Pinhead extended a hand to her and Alice advanced slowly, sensuously, like an eager but quite nervous virgin bride ready for her groom. "Come to me, Alice. It is time for you to become what you were always destined to be."

Alice took his hand and he led her down the stone path. "But I'm a little scared ... " she said, her voice somewhat smaller.

Pinhead tilted his head to look down at her. "Do you fear the pain or what lies beyond?"

" ... Both ... "

"Oh Alice ... The pain, I can assure you, will be utterly exquisite; unlike anything that you have ever endured before in your entire life ... As for the death of your humanity, there is nothing to fear. You shall be immortal, you will never be sick, never die and you will never ... ever ... be alone." His gaze was so powerful, so full of dark promises that Alice had to look away from the intensity of it. "There is not just suffering here, child. There are untold pleasures behind every wall, every layer of skin. Your human senses could not begin to fathom such sensation!"

Why did everything he said sound so ... good? Alice's flesh tingled every time he spoke of sensual things. When they passed through the doorway to the center of the labyrinthine hell, Alice noticed a massive gathering of the Cenobites. They were whispering to one another, some words that sounded derogatory, others were curious while the rest seemed impassive. Alice tried to avoid their powerful, dark gazes as she focused on the sight of Leviathan.

"Xipe," Balberith spoke, cradling a book in her hand, standing at the center, "Is it true that you want this, my Lord?"

"I do." Pinhead answered, guiding Alice to stand and face him entirely.

Alice tried to look up at him, but it became difficult to maintain eye contact when she noticed a strange, sensual hunger gleaming in his darkened, dead pools of black. She looked surprised by the gaze. He had always had a glimmer of emotions like this, but never one as great as what she was watching right now.

"Alice, you will be given a very rare privilege in hell," he told her, "You will become my bride."

That floored the woman. She knew she must have looked utterly ridiculous with her wide eyes and gaping mouth. "What?"

Apparently, it also stunned the collection of Cenobites there as well and they began to talk wildly to one another and to the elder Cenobite at the same time. Angelique's features pinched with fury, almost insulted by the idea. "Xipe, have you gone mad?" she shouted, over the commotion, "Have you learned nothing from Merkova's death?"

Merkova? Alice had never heard of the name before. She couldn't think right now at this moment. She looked up at Pinhead, who gestured sternly to his audience. "Be silent, my fellow Cenobites. This is the woman that I have chosen to become my wife. I will not permit your insolence or your denial of my rights."

"But-" Angelique recoiled at the sight of Pinhead's almost murderous glare in her direction. She flared her chest with fury and defiance and there was something in her eyes that Alice saw but Pinhead must not have. Jealousy. "Fine! Keep your precious human toy! She will never complete you anyway!"

Alice felt sick by the insult, not from the demon who spoke it.

"If this is a problem for you, Angelique, perhaps you should take your leave." Balberith snapped, over at the Cenobite.

Huffing furiously, Angelique turned and stormed away. Pinhead made a disapproving noise before he turned attention to Balberith. "Let us continue."

Balberith nodded and picked up two bronze chalices. She also wielded a knife and Alice blinked in disbelief. "What are you doing?"

"Blood for Blood," she explained, "Flesh for Flesh. United you shall be in body." She looked at Alice. "Give me your right hand."

Alice reluctantly and shakily offered her hand. Balberith held one of the cups beneath her open palm and she sliced her with it. Alice gave a sharp cry of pain as fresh blood gushed from her cut and into the cup. Pinhead laughed softly at her reaction. The smell of Alice's blood wafted toward the other Cenobites who inhaled deeply with pleasure.

" - Her blood ... "

" - Virgin!"

" - Xipe is so lucky to have her ... "

Alice watched as Pinhead held up his left hand to Balberith. "Your turn, my Lord." she announced.

When she sliced Pinhead's palm and captured the blood, Alice noticed that he did not react at all to the infliction. As Balberith prepared the glasses, Alice looked up at a smiling Pinhead with confusion. She didn't know what to say or do. She was going to be married to a demon! A part of her wanted to rebuke this insanity, but her defeated soul did not want to return to her life anymore. She didn't want that. She WANTED this.

"Why me?" she asked.

"It was always you, Alice," Pinhead told her, his deep voice a sensual thrill to her body, "Always ... "

Balberith handed them the chalices and she looped the arms that had their palms sliced together. Alice had never been this close to the Cenobite leader before. It was thrilling and terrifying all at once. "Drink now."

Pinhead slowly drank from his cup and Alice grimaced before she squeezed her eyes shut and drank from her cup. The taste was horrible and bitter, like a stale V-8. She nearly threw up and started to pull the cup from her lips, but Balberith tsked in a scolding tone and pressed it against her once more.

"Drink it all, child." she ordered.

Alice had no choice but to do as she said, forcing the vomit down. The other Cenobites watched with intrigue. They had stopped their jeers by now and only whispered to each other with fascination. Obviously, they had never seen a human go through with such things in years. Not since the days of Sister Nikoletta's first becoming of a Cenobite. Behind Alice, a Cenobite Creation Chamber began to rise up from the shadows below. It glittered with golden intricate patterns and designs much like the Lament Configuration.

Alice noticed nothing but sheer darkness within the box-like chambers. The Cenobites also studied the designs of the device. While similar in most regards, it had a few minor differences. For one, it wasn't rectangular all around, but more circular with darker purple coloring in the center. Inside were various blades, hooks and needles. Alice was slowly guided into the machine by Pinhead and Balberith. She felt a terror unlike no other at the sight of the tools of torture. She had one last moment to meet Pinhead's eyes.

"You wanted out, my child, and this is out," his voice pierced through the storm of terror and he watched the fear in Alice's eyes lessen a few degrees, "I am your way out. THIS will be your way out of your own hell and into another."

Alice gave a soft gasp as the doors roared shut, bathing her into darkness.

Then, the pain began.

If Alice had ever been in pain before, it was nothing but a common teenage boy's joke compared to this right now. She didn't know how long she had started screaming or where it ended and began. Everything was pain. Pain. When HE had said there'd be pain, he was sure as hell not joking.

Her body felt like it was being ripped apart and put back together again; over and over numerous times. Alice screamed until her throat was raw, feeling sharp objects slicing into her back now, ripping into her so deeply, trying to burn her very soul into ash, the black ash that was him. But something happened along her physical torment. The pain was there, but it had changed, altered itself into a new more pleasurable being.

Her screaming voice had changed this time. She could hear a lower, more powerful pitch to it that burst from her throat like a wild animal.

Me ... I'm not me. I'm. Not. Me. I'm ... not me ...

Alice saw her every human world flash before her bleeding, slashed eyes. From birth to rebirth, everything was tangible and she saw her childhood self standing alone in the schoolyard, her sad green eyes staring up at this changing future self, as if she was sad to see her become this way, become a monster of her own darkest fantasies. She could see her family tree, glowing branches that seemed to extend from her ancestors to her family line. Suddenly, when they arrived at Alice, the lines snapped like twigs and began to gush bright red blood down the Cotton Family names through the centuries and the ages before them.

Frank Cotton.

Larry Cotton.

Kirsty Cotton.

And me ... Alice Cotton. Pitiful Alice Co -

Sharp things jammed themselves through her skull, nearly splitting it down the middle. A jet of heat washed down her back and Alice howled again, only this time, she was no longer in agony. No longer in sorrow.

Just pleasure.

Sweet, delicious pleasure.

HUH. Love. It was one fucked up feeling. It opens your chest and it opens up your heart and it means that someone can get inside you and mess you up. You build up all these defenses, you build up a whole suit of armor, so that nothing can hurt you, then one stupid person, no different from any other stupid person, wanders into your stupid life ... You give them a piece of you. They didn't ask for it. They did something dumb one day, like kiss you or smile at you, and then your life isn't your own anymore. Love takes hostages. It gets inside you. It eats you out and leaves you crying in the darkness, so simple a phrase like 'maybe we should be just friends' turns into a glass splinter working its way into your heart. It hurts. Not just in the imagination. Not just in the mind. It's a soul - hurt, a real gets - inside - you - and - rips - you - apart pain.

I hate love.

Goodbye Alice. It's been fucking swell.

No it hasn't.

Meanwhile

Kevin found himself among the Leviathan's chambers and his eyes grew wide in horror at the sight of the Cenobites and rotating god. "OH MY GOD!" he shouted.

The Cenobites turned and Pinhead smiled with delight. "Ahh, just in time!" he said, "She will be arriving soon!"

"Where is she?" Kevin demanded, not seeing two Cenobites walking up behind him.

Pinhead nodded to them and they seized Kevin's arms. He shouted out with fury and shock as they forced him to his knees, struggling as much as he could from their grips. But he found that it was like trying to fight a concrete wall. They were too powerful. Pinhead just watched this with a smirk. This was going to be more fun than he intended it to be. Alice would arrive from her transformation and he would become broken.

Two for the price of one.

"LET HER GO!" Kevin shouted.

Pinhead smirked cruelly. "Never!"

The roar of Leviathan's powerful voice drew all attention to him. "BEHOLD! ALICE COTTON NO MORE! I GRANT YOU, MY CHILDREN, THE CENOBITE PRINCESS, XILONEN!"

And at his words, the Creation Chamber rose up from below the depths and arrived before them all. The doors roared open and out stepped a female of extraordinary beauty and gore. Like a newborn child, she was stained and soiled with amniotic fluids and blood. What used to be Alice Cotton was now the Cenobite Xilonen. Her skin was pale white instead of that fleshy pink. Her head was shaved bald except for a mullet-style patch of hair that swung to one side of her head where sharp needles had been stabbed into the back of her skull like a twisted form of a crown.

She was dressed in that leathery outfit like the rest of them, similar to Nikoletta's and Pinhead's. Only she was wearing high heeled leather boots. The bones of her feet had been ripped out through the heels into sharp, jagged points and her nails were just as long as they were. Her back had been ripped open and stitched up again, the muscle pulled back with hooks and wire to form bizarre wing-like protrusions. She appeared to have been taller than when she was human too.

The creature inhaled deeply, a low rattling purr before her eyes opened. Kevin felt himself growing sick at the sight. No longer did Alice have the lovely green eyes that he adored, but empty black pools, like Pinhead's.

Leviathan spoke, his voice filled with pride at his latest creation. "XILONEN, WELCOME TO YOUR NEW LIFE."

Alice - Xilonen looked around at the various Cenobites, her pale brow knotted at their gaping stares, especially from the males of the group. She frowned and reacted up to touch the fresh wounds on her body.

"May I see a mirror?" When she spoke, her voice was brassy like copper bells and it nearly melted every male in the chamber.

"Of course." Pinhead answered. He gestured to Balberith, who lifted up a small hand mirror for the Cenobite woman.

Xilonen studied her face in the reflection, touching her nose, her still - fresh bleeding wounds, and her black lipstick lips. The others watched her reactions, almost confused by the doubt in her features. Pinhead took a step forward and knotted his brow.

"Xilonen, what's the matter? Are you not pleased?" he asked.

She suddenly smiled and nodded. "I'm ... beautiful? Am I really this beautiful?"

Pinhead's eyelids dropped halfway and his voice carried that dark register that he had before she entered the chambers. "Oh yes, you certainly are. Leviathan has done well. You will become the envy of every demon here."

Xilonen handed the mirror to Balberith. "ALICE!" Kevin shouted.

The Cenobite furrowed her brow toward the writhing human. There was nothing but dark shadow there. She obviously did not recognize him anymore. "What are you doing with that human?" she asked, looking at Pinhead.

"Oh, he is just a mere invader in our plans," he answered, raising his hand in a gesture of command, "He will be disposed of immediately."

"No."

The Cenobites stared at Xilonen, confused by her word. "No?" Nikoletta repeated, dumbfounded.

"No. Let him go, you two." Xilonen commanded, gesturing to the two Cenobites that held Kevin.

They stared at Pinhead, unsure of what to make of this request. The Cenobite leader looked at her and he seemed a trifle bit angry by her decision. "Xilonen, I do not understand. Please explain yourself to us."

Xilonen tilted her head at the wriggling human and a smile slowly stretched the corners of his mouth, like a cat surveying a mouse, deciding to play with its food rather than outright kill it. It wasn't friendly in any way. Her gaze stung like a basilisk's stare and nearly froze Kevin where he was crouched. "He's mine."

The Cenobites relaxed at that and even laughed wickedly. Xilonen was going to make her first kill and they hoped that it would be quite a show. Pinhead chuckled darkly and nodded his head, ultimately pleased now.

"As you wish, my dear."

The Cenobites released Kevin and he grunted sharply, feeling Xilonen approaching, listening to the clicking sounds of her boots against cold stone. He looked up desperately. "Alice! Holy shit, what did they do to you?"

Xilonen stopped in her gait and looked confused by the name. "Who is this Alice?" she demanded, "I am Xilonen now."

"No! No, they filled your head with lies and you let them do - ACK!" Kevin was cut off in mid rant as Xilonen grabbed him by the throat and lifted him off of the floor. He struggled in her impossibly strong grip. "Please, Alice, don't do this!"

"Why not?"

Kevin looked flabbergast by her emotionless smile and cruel gaze. She dropped him to the floor and something clattered near them, but Xilonen didn't notice it just yet. She bent over him like a hungry predator and pressed her face horribly close to his. He felt the sharp ends of her needles scraping against his forehead.

"Would you want to know what it was like, being with Him? When I was being torn apart by Him?" Her mouth was close to Kevin's ears now. "When I took it all? All the sweet, delicious pain? Oh, it felt so good. Everything was pain, beauty and agony. I was a scared little virgin, but no more. I belong to him and he me. You have NO idea what that's like, do you, you disgusting meat sac?"

Kevin moaned in anguish and despair at such coarse words coming from his former being of attraction's mouth. "Th-That's not you talking!" he whispered, horrified, "They've messed you up."

Xilonen laughed nastily and stood up. "Heh. Are you upset that you missed the opportunity to do that yourself?" She backed away and her foot crunched something. Frowning, the Cenobite woman turned around and spotted the object; a broken dream catcher. The same one that Kevin had given ALICE.

"What is this?" she wondered, aloud.

She bent down and scooped up the broken thing in her hands, turning it around for study before uttering a laugh directed at Kevin. "Do you truly believe that this will keep us nightmares away?" Another laugh.

"No!" Kevin insisted, "I gave that to you! Don't you remember? You were happy to have it!"

Xilonen frowned at him, as if the idea was utterly ridiculous to her. "Puh. You MUST be joking!" She stared down at the object in her hands, the broken wood and ran her fingertips over the small carved stone. "Such a weak little thing! It breaks so easily ... " She continued to stare at it before a strange look crossed her face. Finally, it was followed by a slight widening of her eyes and parting of her lips. The other Cenobites stared at her, worried by her sudden silence.

"Xilonen?" Nikoletta inquired.

Xilonen's beautiful features were pulled taut with pain. Only not the pain that she endured in the Creation Chamber. No, this was real pain. Real sorrow. She dropped the dream catcher and stared at her now shaking hands. Kevin stared back desperately, his eyes searching for that human woman somewhere deep within her.

"Nooo..." she moaned, her voice oddly less demonic and slightly more human.

"Xilonen, what's wrong?" Pinhead demanded, moving to her side. He reached out with one hand. "Are you-"

She wrenched from him and screamed, her brassy voice horrible. "DON'T TOUCH ME!" she shrieked, "LEAVE ME ALONE! FUCKING ... !" Tears of blood began to gush down the lengths of her cheeks and she turned, sprinting down the corridors of hell.

Leviathan actually seemed alright with this sight. "LET HER GO. SHE STILL HAS A FEW LINGERING MORTAL EMOTIONS. THEY WILL PASS IN TIME."

Pinhead watched the Cenobite depart before he smiled down at Kevin, grabbing him by one arm. "Bravo, human," he sneered, squeezing so hard that it had begun to hurt, "You have now become useful after all."

Kevin's eyes grew wide with horror.

O

Note- The poem that Alice is reading is Le Poisons by Charles Baudelaire. The words that Alice is thinking is from Neil Gaiman. Seemed fitting. I am keeping a lot in the dark because I plan on writing a sequel shortly which will feature the Harrowers and/or Alastor's team against Pinhead and Alice. More will be answered then. In the meantime, please R&R!