Chapter Nine

In hell…

"Now I will give you one last chance to tell me what was said to you Shadow before I take drastic measures." Xander seriously said with a very firm look in his eyes at Shadow.

Shadow narrowed his eyes up at his father as he crossed his arms while sitting on the edge of his bed.

"I suppose your so called drastic measures will be to put me in a trance and look through my memories. I don't want you to do that nor do you have the right to." Shadow lowly growled back as he kept glaring up at his father with anger.

"Then tell me what she said to you and do not lie to me." Xander sighed out in frustration as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

"If you really must know she told me to look in the book when I get my hands on it. She said to turn to page seventy-four and read the third paragraph on that page." Shadow grumbled as he turned his head to look away from his father.

"What is so special about page seventy-four?" Xander questioned out loud and was now growing curious about this.

"Beats me but apparently it is important. Am I free to go now or do you not believe what I say and still wish to invade my head and look through my memories?" Shadow asked with a deep frown while looking back to his father.

"Why, is there something else I should know?" Xander asked with a teasing grin down at his youngest son.

"Actually yeah there is. Annabel seemed a little off to me and not at all like she was before her passing. I also strongly suspect that it wasn't really Annabel and something disguised as her to get me to talk to them. Either way it was nice to see and hear her voice even if it wasn't really her." Shadow sighed sadly as he gave his father a tearful expression.

"Shadow if you know this then why did you get so upset?" Xander asked calmly as he moved to sit next to Shadow then pulled him into a side hug.

"Because I really wanted to believe she came back to see me, I just wanted it to be real. I thought if I believed it so strongly than she will come back but that bubble quickly popped and crushed my hopes. I miss her still and just want her back." Shadow whispered as he tried to keep the tears in his eyes from leaving them.

"I know you do and so do we all but we all need to come to terms that she will never return. Ok I want you to take this time to just relax and stop thinking about this case you are trying to solve, take a short break and let your quills down. I need to do a couple of things before I escort you back. Just do not leave hell and please do not wonder off too far from the palace ok." Xander said with a calm voice then broke the hug to stand up.

"So you want me to just hang about until you return to take me back?" Shadow asked with a raised brow and was growing a little curious to what his father needed to do first.

"Yes so do not go disappearing on your own." Xander answered with a grin.

"Is Espio still keeping tabs on me while here?" Shadow asked with a devious smirk forming on his muzzle.

"How did you, Flame told you didn't he? I told him not to tell you that. No, Espio is waiting for your return and will continue to watch over you as I have instructed him to do. I want no trouble from you with this and just let him do his job." Xander deeply sighed and was not impressed Flame informed Shadow of this.

"Relax, I wont cause any problems. Well so long as Espio doesn't cross boundaries if you know what I mean." Shadow said with a serious look and tone and will kick up a fuss if he finds out Espio was in the bedroom while he and Sonic were getting close or when in the bathroom.

"He wont go in your room when you are with Sonic or follow you into the bathroom so relax. I will come for you in an hour or two ok so no disappearing on your own." Xander said with a grin then turned and walked out of his sons bedroom.

Shadow frowned deeply as he pondered who that page was about and why he needed to look at it. After a couple of minutes he decided to stand up and leave his room. He walked out casually and slowly wondered down the hallway in the same direction as his father had walked. Shadow turned a corner and stopped with wide eyes at who was standing there and looking right at him with a smile.

"You are not Annabel." Shadow muttered as he took a step backwards, only to have this Annabel look-a-like take steps towards him.

She basically looked like Shadow but fur colour reversed. So she had red fur with black streaks and shorter in length patch of white fur on her chest. Her wings were red with black swirly patterns on and tail the same length with the same sharp point at the end.

"No I am not her and I only chose this form to get you to talk to me. I figured you would trust me quicker if I was dressed as your dead sister." The Annabel look-a-like said with a devious grin then clicked her fingers.

The being stopped looking like Shadows dead twin and was back to being her true self. She was a Siamese cat with bright blue eyes dressed in black ninja like clothing for some reason.

"You look like some kind of assassin." Shadow commented with an unimpressed expression at the cat.

"I am not an assassin." The cat said and looked a little insulted by Shadows comment.

"Then why dress up like one?" Shadow asked with a teasing grin, looking amused now for he knew he had upset her a little.

"I thought this outfit was suited for my stealth mission in coming to hell and talk to you." The cat said with a small frown.

"Sure, ok and you are so not a ninja wannabe. Absolutely not, no." Shadow smirked deviously as he teased the cat more, chuckling when she growled a little and looked annoyed by his comment.

"Whatever you say so can we please get back to why I came here." The cat sighed with a shake of her head and decided to just move on.

"Fine, how about we start with who the hell you are." Shadow said with suddenly went into serious mode.

"Yes, of course. My name is Lyla and I must warn you of something terrible that is going to happen very soon." Lyla said with concern in her eyes as she took more steps closer to Shadow.

"Uh-huh sure you came here to warn me and how can I trust anything you say? For all I know you are working for those who are abducting demons and angels." Shadow seriously said as this thought popped into his head and decided to take steps backwards away from Lyla then growled as his back hit the wall.

"I am not working for them I swear but I do know where they are operating. I have been tracking them down for months and they are based in an abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of the town you are currently residing in. They have both angel and demon books, that much I know, and they have set their sights on you personally." Lyla seriously said as she stopped in front of Shadow with a desperate look in her eyes for the prince to believe her.

"Yeah I already know they want me, do you think you could take me to this warehouse so I can check it out?" Shadow grinned with some amusement as Lyla gasped in shock.

"Well dad did say not to leave hell alone and I wont be alone if Lyla escorts me out of here." Shadow thought as he inwardly smirked at his loophole.

"You seriously want to go there knowing they are after you, are you insane or something? You need to protect yourself from being summoned by them and keep far away from that place." Lyla stressed with a serious voice.

"Yeah well you are the one who told me to look at page seventy-four in the angel book and not open the demon book to look for my twin sister. The only way to do all that is to go to that warehouse and get those books. Besides if you really didn't want me to go there then you should have kept your mouth shut." Shadow rolled his eyes as he spoke in a factual tone, crossing his arms and looking a little frustrated.

"And you trust me to take you there and not betray you? You have no idea who I am or what I am yet you are willing to trust me to take you there safely." Lyla said with a confused expression as she took a step back from Shadow.

"I do not trust you in the slightest bit nor do I care what and who you are. The only thing you need to be aware of is I can end your existence within a matter of seconds if you are tricking me. So if I was you I'd think really carefully about what you are doing right now." Shadow seriously said as he voiced his promise to the cat in front of him.

Lyla gritted her teeth as she locked her eyes with Shadows ever serious ones.

"I swear to you this is no trick." Lyla made herself sound calm and not taken back by the threat for in reality she was becoming very fearful with being near Shadow now.

"I didn't know he could just end a life within seconds." Lyla thought as she gave Shadow a slightly nervous smile.

"Good so shall we get going?" Shadow grinned a little deviously at the nervously smiling cat.

"Sure thing but wont it be wise to inform someone where we are going?" Lyla said with concern trouble may kick off if they are caught snooping around.

"Just take us there and I will worry about that ok." Shadow said with a firm look in his eyes.

"O-ok." Lyla fearfully said as she nodded fast, not wanting to anger Shadow or upset him after that threat…

Back with Sonic and Blaze, they had not long reached Sonics house and both were standing in the kitchen. Sonic groaned in displeasure as the kitchen was wrecked once again only this time there was no Shadow to clean it up in seconds.

"How many time do you seriously need to screw up my kitchen? I do not need this right now!" Sonic shouted with frustration in his voice.

"I am sorry but am I missing something here?" Blaze asked with a small confused frown at Sonic.

"I have this dead relative that…KEEPS MESSING UP AND BREAKING MY THINGS!" Sonic explained with frustration, shouting out loudly with anger.

Suddenly the windows began to rattle then steam up like a mirror in the bathroom after a very hot shower. Both Sonic and Blaze looked over and gasped as words began to be written on them.

"O-k why the hell write danger over and over again? Be more specific yeah!" Sonic called out as he needed more information.

"I am getting the feeling this relative of yours is referring to the situation we are currently trying to stop. Either something awful is going to happen or is happening None of those options sound good and I am hoping I am wrong." Blaze seriously said with a small puzzled frown at the slowly disappearing repeated word on the kitchen window.

A glass was thrown across the room and hit the far wall opposite the sink.

"That was my last glass cup, I am so switching to plastic when I go out to get more. I wish Shadow was here right now, he could not only clean up but communicate with grandpa better than me." Sonic sighed with a shake of his head.

"Wait look at the wall where the glass hit." Blaze said as she shook Sonic to get his attention.

"Yeah ok so there are moving shadows dancing around what's so…O-k now what are they doing?" Sonic said with a raised brow, not understanding what was so important then watched curiously as the shadows formed together and began to play out a show.

"That one looks like a building and those look like two people sneaking over to it." Sonic whispered to Blaze as they watched.

"Yeah oh, now the shadows formed into a chair, why a chair?" Blaze whispered back and was getting more confused with these cryptic messages from the beyond.

"If I have to guess those two people go into that building and sit in a chair? Maybe it has something to do with a meeting, I don't know. Get more specific please, give more details on the shadows or something." Sonic confusingly said with a shrug as that was all he could guess by the display of shadows.

The kitchen began to shake and the lights began to flicker as if the spirit was growing frustrated.

"Well what do you expect! We are not Shadow ok and we do not usually talk to the dead!" Sonic called out as he threw up his hands in defeat.

"The shadows are forming into something else. A demon, it looks like a demon with wings and, oh I think I get it now." Blaze said as she watched the shadows now show a moving image of a struggling demon strapped in a chair, unable to get out after the one that displayed a being with wings and a long tail.

"Do all demons have wings and long tails? I know the royals do." Sonic asked with a deep unhappy frown as the shadows fizzed away.

"Only the royals have wings, you don't suppose those shadows were showing us what is going to happen soon, do you?" Blaze said with a concerned look at Sonic, frowning a little as she worried.

"Or it is happening as we stand here talking about it. I'm giving Drake a call right now and finding out if anything has gone down." Sonic said with fear that this was the moment those people were going to summon Shadow.

Sonic got his phone and that card out then dialled Drakes number into his phone. He put his phone to his ear and waited for an answer.

"This better be important, I am on a date with a beautiful lady." Drake said with some frustration in his voice.

"Yeah it's Sonic, you asked me to call if something happened. Oh first of has there been any reports of a family member being summoned away?" Sonic rolled his eyes at what Drake said then got serious.

"No, nothing like that has been announced. If a family member was taken then father would inform all within seconds of it happening. What's going on Sonic, why ask this?" Drake explained and was now growing concerned.

"Just has a vision with shadows forming on my kitchen wall. It displayed a royal demon walking into a building with someone else then changed to the two of them in chairs, struggling to get free. I grew concerned that maybe it was happening now." Sonic explained with a slight sigh of relief.

"Hold that thought I am getting a message from father." Drake seriously said then went silent as he listened.

"Please don't be bad news." Sonic thought as he waited in anticipation.

"Shit." Drake whispered with concern.

"What is it?" Sonic asked with fear in his voice.

"Shadow's missing and isn't in hell now. Dad went to check on him and he wasn't in his room. He isn't anywhere within the palace grounds and dad has demons checking the whole of hell. You don't suppose that vision thing has something to do with Shadows disappearance?" Drake said with fear for his baby brothers safety.

"I do believe it has everything to do with Shadows sudden disappearance but I don't think he was summoned. I think he discovered where this warehouse was and went to investigate with someone. The bad news is we cannot follow for we don't know where it is." Sonic seriously said and was cursing his boyfriend in his head for that irresponsible move.

"Maybe we should gather a work force and check all warehouses within the towns outskirts." Blaze suggested with worry.

"There are like twelve, by the time we have organised a team and find the right one, it could be too late." Sonic sighed as he was becoming so scared right now.

"It is worth a try, I'll go to dad with this plan and see if I can find some demons willing to assist." Drake seriously said then hung up.

With Shadow and Lyla…

"So this is the place huh? Looks cosy." Shadow muttered as he and Lyla were standing within a few trees and looking towards the large abandoned building with broken windows boarded up and cracks on the walls as well as some overgrown vines on it.

"It is and I really think we should turn back now and tell the right people of this." Lyla said with fear of having the same fate as angels and demons.

"No way am I turning back when I am so close to solving this case. I want to know what you wanted me to see, I want to know what is in that angel book. Unless of course you know what that page is about then you can just tell me and we can leave." Shadow seriously said as he narrowed his eyes at the building.

"I only know it is about an angel that you need to know about, I don't know who the angel is." Lyla said with a groan as she wished she had the information to give to Shadow so they could leave this place.

"Then how do you know I need to know about this angel?" Shadow asked as he glanced at the cat.

"I had a vision ok and it told me to tell you to look at that page in the angle book when you find it. The only reason why I got involved in all of this is because I was shown that you were involved. I travelled far to get here and tell you the message I was given. I came because if was important and I wasn't left alone until I informed you of the message." Lyla said with a small frown as yes she gets visions a lot but they never involved angels and demons.

"You have done your part so go." Shadow said and he was not leaving until he had a good look around.

"I am not leaving you here alone and I would like for us both to leave and tell someone of this location." Lyla said with a small frown at the stubborn prince.

"I am going over there with or without you." Shadow smirked at the cat, telling her he was being serious and there was nothing she can do to stop him.

"Fine I will accompany you." Lyla sighed and couldn't shake off this bad feeling.

"I still don't think we should and for you to message your father but since you are being stubborn I doubt it anything I say you will agree with." Lyla added in a whispered tone as they started to sneak towards the buildings entrance doors that were off and had a wide entrance.

"Wow you are getting to know me so well, witch." Shadow whispered back with some smugness in his voice.

"So you figured it out huh?" Lyla said quietly with a grin, both were meters away from entering the building.

"It didn't take that long for me to realise." Shadow whispered as they reached the entrance area and stood beside it with their backs against the wall.

"Please can you at least inform your father of where you are for just in case." Lyla whispered as she looked beside her at Shadow.

"We are just going to take a sneak peak around first then I will call my father ok. If we are quiet and quick, we will be in and out within ten minutes." Shadow said with a roll of his eyes then motioned the witch to follow him with a hand movement.

They entered slowly and looked around while keeping their guard up. It was silent and seemed like there was no one there. As they walked further in it began to get darker as the suns light didn't reach this far in and the windows were very well boarded up.

"Shadow I don't like this, it is far too quiet in here." Lyla whispered as she walked very closely behind Shadow.

"Shh, we do not want to be…" Shadow said as he stopped walking and turned to face the cat then stopped as lights suddenly switched on, lightening up the entire area.

"Well, what do we have here?" A man called out with glee as he stood on a platform up high and looking down at the two intruders on the other side of a railing.

Shadow turned back around and looked up with narrowed eyes.

"Am I correct in assuming you are Shadow, the youngest prince of hell?" The man called down with an evil look in his eyes then clicked his fingers.

Angels and Demons surrounded the two and were looking emotionless as they were all under the obedience spell.

"You assume correctly but I cannot see why you want me though when there are more better, more stable, demons to be had." Shadow calmly said as he locked eyes with the insane human up high and in command of these angels and demons.

"Nonsense Shadow you are the very best one could ever hope to have under their control. You are strong, powerful and unstoppable when raged enough, the book doesn't lie. I was in fact a couple of days away in completing the summoning spell to get you here but I guess you saved me the effort, I thank you for that." The man said with excitement in finally having the most powerful demon at his disposal.

"Oh, you know, I always aim to please." Shadow casually said with a roll of his eyes.

"You will please me greatly when I have control over you." The human said with a sinister tone, never removing his eyes from Shadow.

"So you read through the demon and Angel books, picked out the best and finest demons and Angels then attempted to control them all regardless of the death risks?" Shadow said with some anger in his eyes.

"Pretty much yes but for a very good cause." The man smirked sinisterly down at Shadow and the witch.

"I fail to see what good comes from having control of both angels and demons." Lyla muttered as she looked up at the man.

"Yeah I can see that so very clearly but regardless of your reasoning it wont work. I cannot be controlled that easily unlike the common demon you have gained control over…no offence guys ok, just stating facts." Shadow said with amusement then looked around when talking to his fellow demon around him and the witch.

"Oh but I have the perfect solution to that little hiccup. I know the spell has the possibility of not working on you fully and I have something in place to make sure everything goes accordingly." The man said then clicked his fingers.

The angels and demons walked closer to Shadow and Lyla then grabbed them tightly. Lyla struggled to get free but Shadow remained still. The man frowned in puzzlement at this and couldn't help but to become suspicious.

"Why not struggle Shadow like your little friend?" The man questioned as he watched the two being forced to move forwards towards the two iron chairs in the far end opposite the entrance way.

"What would be the point in struggling? I knew this was going to happen regardless what others have done to stop it. This moment cannot be changed and there is no way I will cower before you and make myself look weak and scared." Shadow seriously said as he looked up while being dragged forwards.

"Put them in the chairs and make sure they cannot get free. Then I want you to stand guard outside the compound." The man ordered then walked away and entered a small office room up on the top level he was on.

After that was complete, and the controlled angels and demons walked out, Shadow and Lyla began to struggle to see if it was possible to get free.

"I knew this was going to happen, why didn't you listen to me and just get your father Shadow?" Lyla said with fear as she tried to break free.

"No one asked you to follow me inside. You could have very easily left to tell my father yourself so do not pin this on me." Shadow seriously said as he stopped struggling and glared at the witch, knowing he wont be getting free as these chains were designed to keep a demon in place.

"Besides who said I didn't message him seconds before entering the building?" Shadow smirked as he did that.

"You called for back up and did not tell me? Aren't you very trusting of others." Lyla dryly said with a roll of her eyes.

"Well for all I knew you could have been in on all of this from the start and acting scared to enter in here to trick me." Shadow casually said with a devious smirk.

"And now we know I am not." Lyla said with some frustration in her voice.

"Indeed we do." Shadow said with a playful smirk, masking the fear he was feeling with his situation…