Lord Cain quickly made his way down the empty hall and counted the numerous doors he passed. He managed to slip by three guards with ease and knocked the fourth unconscious with a small vial of concentrated nitrous oxide, causing the man to laugh like a maniac before he collapsed onto the ground. The teen lord stepped over his body and turned left at the next corner, which led him to a branch of the expansive dungeons that lay below the mansion. He took a flaming torch off the damp wall and proceeded to light his way down the dark, rank corridor. Ear-splitting screeches and tortured howls erupted from behind the steel doors on either side of him, but he managed to ignore them and finally stopped in front of the last door at the end of the hall. He took out the lock picking kit safely tucked away inside his hat and gently forced the two pins inside the keyhole before he wiggled them around one above the other, and the door soon opened with a small click. He pushed his way inside and used the torch to light up the tiny, dark cell. It was empty.
"Damn it! I should've known they wouldn't leave her here for long!"
He quickly turned to leave and continue his search, but a shadowy figure blocked the doorway and stared at him with the face of a malicious predator.
Cain's eyes lit up in fear and he instinctively took a step back. Alexis came forward into the torchlight that reflected off his glasses and gave an even more evil glint to his cold, beady eyes.
"Father! Where is she?"
"My dear child . . . do you mean the Eve with whom you committed the original sin? Just when I thought you couldn't condemn yourself any further . . ." The older man smirked.
"I may be destined for hell, but I won't drag her down with me—now tell me where she is!"
A jackal's smile spread across Alexis' face, his white pearly teeth poking out from beneath his snarled lips.
"Your precious lover is closer than you think."
Cain didn't see Alexis move his foot over to the side and press down on a loose cobblestone. A trap door beneath the teen lord instantly gave way, and he fell down into a black abyss that never seemed to end. He finally collapsed onto a mound of bones that crunched underneath his weight, and he rolled his way off as the human remains spilled around his feet. His eyes soon adjusted to the dim light of the unknown chamber he now stood in, where 4 torches ensconced in the stone walls only revealed two granite pillars standing on either side of a large altar table placed in the very middle of the room. Arcane symbols were painted in what appeared to be human blood all over the surface of the altar, and even though it was completely bare otherwise, Cain knew that it was going to be and had been used for a ritual.
Suddenly, the sound of marching footsteps resounded from behind him, and the Earl turned to see two rows of hooded figures walking right past him as they solemnly made their way towards the altar. Once the lines reached the center and stopped moving, the mysterious personas then faced each other with their gazes facing downward, hands at their sides, and they became as still as statues.
"No! Please! Let me go! Let me go!" a feminine voice cried out from one of the dark corners to the left.
Two new figures yanked Lily by the arms up the human made corridor as the poor girl continued screaming and crying for help. Her bedraggled hair wisped by her red-rimmed eyes and tears ran down her pale cheeks, where they fell onto the plain white satin chemise that covered her body to her knees. Her bare feet dragged behind her across the dirty floor, and Cain instantly ran ahead to rescue the damsel in distress, until another voice stopped him cold.
"Stop right there."
The younger brunette saw the blonde doctor out of the corner of his golden green eyes, and he froze once he saw who was standing next to his older half brother.
"Riff!" the Earl exclaimed.
The Ace of Swords held the still unconscious butler up by the neck, where he also pressed the point of a stiletto dagger right next to the man's artery. The two servants continued to lead Liliana up to the altar as Cain now considered the dangerous predicament he was in.
"Your involvement in this affair is over. Take another step and your manservant dies. Then you will be next."
"You would love to kill me, wouldn't you, doctor? Let them go and take me instead!" the Earl pleaded.
Jizabel let out a wry smile and began quietly laughing. "Oh God, how easily you tempt me . . . but I will not make a martyr out of you," he replied in a cold and calculating tone of voice. "It's much too late to save your soul with a stupidly selfless act like that. And besides . . . I will destroy you one way or another—it is our destiny. Crehador!"
"Yes," came the answer from the shadows. Then the magician stepped forward from the first position in the row of servants to the left and removed his hood. Cain was overwhelmed with the sense of betrayal that now shook him to the core.
"I should've known that you would remain loyal to this group of snakes!"
"I never gave you reason to believe otherwise, my lord. But neither of us would have been able to stop this, so please, step back and allow yourself to live for at least a few moments longer."
Cain drew both hands into fists, but he became silent.
"There—I knew you would do what was best. Now begin the first enchantments, Crehador. The moon is reaching its zenith and we need to finish the preparations before the Card Master arrives," Jizabel ordered.
"As you wish." The other man bowed and made his way to the other side of the altar, where the two men held down the girl by her arms and legs as she lay across the top quietly sobbing to herself.
Then Crehador spread his hands out above her body, closed his eyes, and raised his face to the heavens.
"Lord of the dark portal, ruler of the netherworld; open your gates for the one we seek. I call upon the elements of blood, sin, and night to release your power and perform the ritual we begin tonight. Take these two innocent souls I offer to your dark hand, and transform them into a vessel for the dead."
With these words, Lily grimaced as if she were in pain, and began twisting and writhing underneath her captors' strong hold. Cain looked down at the hand drawn symbols, and noticed how their color became deeper, as if they had been painted over with fresh blood. An evil force was being summoned, and he was afraid he wouldn't be able to stop it.
As everyone's eyes were focused on the altar, Riff slowly opened his own to assess the situation. He had secretly been conscious the entire time, but had decided to continue the deception and wait to see how things played out. Now was his chance.
With a sudden upward thrust of his arms, Riff managed to escape his captor's hold and knock the dagger out of his gloved hand. Then he used a good kick to send the other man flying backwards into the wall, but now he had drawn all the attention to himself.
"Riff, quickly! Throw the knife!" the Earl yelled anxiously.
His manservant quickly obeyed the order as the stiletto went flying into the air and landed in his master's hand. Cain ran for the altar and shoved aside two of the men holding Lily down. He brandished the weapon at the other two who understood his threat and proceeded to let go. Then he placed his arms underneath her limp form and gently cradled her against his chest. Just as he turned around expecting an attack from the other servants below, he saw Jizabel holding Riff hostage with a scalpel at his throat, and the entire room seemed to grow still.
"Here we are again, my foolish Earl—I have something dear to you, and you have something important to me. Set her down and I promise to make this hero's death as quick and painless as possible."
He pressed the scalpel's blade deeper into Riff's skin, and created a red line of blood that began to water. The blonde servant let out a small moan and bit his upper lip to try and hide the pain.
"J-just . . . leave me . . ." Cain suddenly heard Liliana utter softly. "It's too late."
"No," he whispered back as he gently touched her golden hair. "I've come too far, and I won't let it end like this."
"You don't have a choice, my precious Earl. Your fate has been in our hands and always will be."
"Then I'll give it back to him," Riff stated as he pressed the metal barrel of a hand pistol into Jizabel's cheek. "You may slit my throat and kill me, but not before I lodge a bullet inside your skull. Let them go, and I'll put the gun down."
The doctor only sneered and glared angrily at the manservant whom he was locked in a stalemate with, but he subtly nodded his head in agreement.
"Go now, milord! Take the girl and leave!"
"Not without you, Riff!"
"I suggest you stop wasting time arguing and take advantage of the situation. I can only delay the men that will surely chase you, so cut your losses now and get out of here," Crehador stated as he walked to the front of the altar and looked down at the teen lord.
Cain did not like what he was hearing, but unfortunately knew that the magician was right. He wiped his face clean of his previous anxiety and now showed only the cool composure with which he ruled the streets of London.
"I will come back for you, Riff; one way or another. Stay alive until then—that's an order. Do you understand?"
"Yes, sir. Now go!"
With Lily still in his arms, Cain immediately dashed past the altar and headed towards the passageway that Crehador pointed out to him. He fought the urge to look back, and soon his pounded footsteps faded into the distance.