19
"Is that your brother hanging on the door?" I point to Judas Iscariot's frozen head, but direct my question at Charles. He frowns and looks confused, answering my question. “Never mind, scratch that. Why did you hop on the bandwagon of betrayal then?"
Charles ignores my question, but everyone is fixated on him, even his double-crossing pals, Zeke and Jeremiah.
"Answer her.”
I've never heard Damien's voice be so cold. The menace in it sends a chill down my spine and I kick myself mentally, given after everything I have just learned, I am wondering if Charles can be reasoned with or saved. I never held any hope for Jeremiah and maybe a small part of me did for Zeke, but seeing the look on his face now, I know he's a goner for sure.
"The two of you think you're something special. You talk about changing the system from the inside like you are privy to something the rest of us don't know. Ever since I was put in your little gang, I've faced nothing by restrictions. Did it never occur to you, prince of Hell, I enjoy the dark? I like the way things are run the old way.” Charles' eyes are beginning to glow, but the creepiest fact about him is he's openly admitting to enjoying being a predator and hurting people.
"There's a new one. Evil admitting it enjoys doing evil. Your originality is off the charts.”
Charles snarls at me and takes a step forward. “I’m going to enjoy ripping out your tongue merely for the fact I won't have to listen to the sound of your voice.” His imagery is spot on.
I wonder if he's going to feed it to the wolves so to speak. I look at Marty who is looking a bit peckish, then I shrug. “Whatever. Are we going to do this or what? I've been waiting all damn day for Zeke to make a move, so let's dance and get it over with. You wanted a fight, here it is.” Brave words from a woman who is outnumbered one hundred to one at least. I hear Damien clear his throat and wait for his diplomatic approach.
I guess he's done playing the bureaucrat because in the next instant, a wave like a force field blasts through Treachery, knocking everyone including myself over. The effect is the sound of a gunshot ringing from somewhere at the back of the horde and before I can figure out who brought a gun to an explosives fight, the walls around Treachery start caving in. Falling ice spears, the waiting mass of demon bodies below, and it gives us enough opportunity to grab the humans and go.
I launch myself into the fray of confusion as bodies of demons start staggering backward on the bridge. The effect is instantaneous. They freeze in blocks of ice on the spot, giving Damien and I the opportunity to push past Charles, Zeke, and Jeremiah. I figure if we have any hope, it's to try and save the humans first. I can't help but look back at my girls, who have taken the cue to jump in the fight that has kicked off and try to buy us some time. It won't be long before the other demons realize they are fighting their own, and turn from them to chase us, but without the benefit of Dante and Charles to fly us across the frozen lake, Damien and Phil are stuck trying to fly Lowell and James to the other side, while I attempt to take down the biggest threat; Charles.
It's no easy task either. From the ground, I launch myself onto the shoulders of the nearest frozen demon, which is on all four legs, and I tackle Charles, who has also attempted to fly at Damien and steal James and Lowell away from him.
The best I can figure is he has been plotting with Jeremiah from the beginning and without Charles' help, Jeremiah and Zeke are just two chumps with a dream for freedom. My girls have all shifted and although I can feel the pressure in my spine to go kitty side up, I resist the urge, wanting the takedown to come from my full mental capacity and not the enraged predatory instincts of my inner demon. Charles kicks me in the mouth as I slide on the back of the frozen demon. The cracking of ice sounds like more gunshots, as several demons scramble around trying to get away from the bridge. What I didn't understand and what I am seeing happen now, is the demons who have opted to forgo the bridge and brave the ice of the lake are the ones causing the ice movements I'm seeing and hearing.
Amongst the cacophony of ice sculptures popping up, the souls inside the lake are not at all happy about their slumber being disturbed and let's face it, would you be too if someone walked on your nose to get where they were going? The faces in the ice on the lake are snapping and clawing at the demons and satyrs above them. Judging by the look of surprise on their faces, they never expected the ones they judged and sent here to be frozen to unfreeze and fight back. It's our only chance of ever surviving this attack though. I'm not stupid enough to think the faces in the ice won't turn on my girls and me in an instant, but it's the distraction we need to push through and help Damien.
It's like playing don't touch the floor as a kid, but the object of this game is don't touch the teeth or you'll plummet into the icy depths below. I circumvent the bridge with this tactic and behind me, I hear Tora doing the same thing. She hasn't shifted to a saber tooth yet, and although I'm not sure why maybe she can't handle the shift so soon after the last one, she's apologizing to each face she hops on.
"Sorry, sorry, so--"
"Tora, focus!" I shout at her. I don't want her to get distracted by feeling bad. We've got plenty to feel bad about, but surviving this treachery is at the top of the list in my opinion.
Tabby, Fae, and Leo are pushing through the other demons, who fortunately are so preoccupied with the dilemma they are facing thanks to Jeremiah, Zeke, and Charles, it gives us the opportunity to focus on those three weasels. I see Jeremiah and Zeke crouching next to one of the walls as part of the upper wall begins to rain down in the corridor and I worry there might be a cave in. I launch myself at Zeke and get body checked for my effort. I hit the wall hard as Jeremiah stands and runs over to help my assailant. I just manage to get my hands over my face when I feel Jeremiah's boot connect with my ribs, and I gasp from the pain and dry heave. Charles is the culprit who body slammed me and I look up in time to see him pick Zeke up and begin flying after Damien, James, and Lowell.
Damien's been caught up in some of the demons who can fly and although they are hesitant to take on Satan's son, it seems the area is so congested with demons trying to get above the cave in, they are hindering him from making a clean get away with the humans. I have the momentary thought it was a mistake bringing them here. Of course it was a mistake, but I've never claimed to be perfect when it comes to judgment calls. I'm the queen of hasty, bad decisions. Which also causes me to get another boot to the side because I am so worried about everyone else, I forgot Jeremiah is gleefully pummeling me.
"How'd he do it?" I gasp as I manage to catch his boot before it makes contact with my face.
"Who?"
"Charles. How did he let you know we were here?" I may have caught his boot with my hand, but it doesn't stop the pinky from snapping on my hand and I shriek in pain.
Leo finally pushes through the crowd and pounces on him, knocking him backward as I scramble to my feet. I race toward him as he fights from under a stampede of satyrs who are trying to get out by the elevator. Fat lot of good it will do them if they can only go up ten or so at a time. Even Hell has elevator restrictions.
"Telepathy.”
"Makes sense for an incubus. Tell me something. Do you know what I'm thinking of doing now?"
As he freezes and looks around for the imminent danger he's in, I shove him hard. He stumbles backward and trips over a fallen satyr. When he lands, it's with a whoosh of air escaping his lungs, but in the next instant, he freezes. When I mean he freezes; I mean he turns into a solid block of treacherous Jeremiah popsicle. His eyes freeze first, in shock. And then his body begins to slow, like in a slow-mo scene in a bad B-rated movie. He stumbles as he loses mobility in his legs and then his arms flail like a fledgling duckling as he attempts his first flight, trying to escape his fate. His arms freeze next, the blue tint under his skin creeps up through his arms and fingers, and I shudder as I watch the blue of his veins under his skin in his hands freeze, and so too the rest of him. It’s like watching ice form under his s
kin. It makes me think of the alligators in the south in the winter when the water freezes. I imagine their bodies growing sluggish and then they stick their noses up in the air, just above the ice as it forms around them, so they can remain in a state of hibernating stasis. They know it’s coming, so they prepare at the last possible moment, and then they are stuck, nose up past the water level and body remaining frozen in place. Jeremiah, the predator, is no different. He turns his head up in a silent plea to a Heaven that will have nothing to do with him, just as the rest of the ice pushes it’s way up through the top of his skull like a weird version of someone blowing their top off in anger in a cartoonish way and steam comes out their ears. Only with Jeremiah, it’s icicle shards and it isn’t so cartoonish, but silent and creepy.
Without giving him another thought, I turn back around and fight my way through the crowd. It looks like Phil, Tora, Tabby, and Fae have been cornered in one area and are fighting to break through to the back door. Leo is standing guard fending off attacks near the elevator. From the looks of it, she took a satyr horn down her side and it must be deep to cause so much blood, but she'll pull through as long as we can keep ourselves from being torn to pieces long enough to heal. The problem is we are vastly outnumbered. Without the ability to get the word out to the masses we have been given a pardon by Lucifer, we're still considered fugitives until Lucifer has the big powwow with his brothers and the word is sent around to call off the manhunt.
I assess the situation as I punch a demon with a snakelike body and a lion's head. The roaring it is doing while getting all up in my face is distracting.
"To Leo!" I shout to the others and point to the elevator. Fae looks up and begins pushing the group along the wall and they slowly inch their way, but the horde is pressing in on them. I continue to battle with the snake-lion as it slithers back at me, none too impressed with being assaulted by a fellow feline, and just when I think we're all going to go down in the fray, the door we'd come in through bursts open.
In through the door bounds Marty, Dick, and Doug. I'd not considered where he went. I figured he was loitering somewhere near Tabby, but who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks? Marty must have run off to rally his brother Hounds, or Satan sent them to help us, while he goes to the princes to inform them of his hiatus starting as of now.
Marty begins tearing into bodies around him, along with Dick and Doug as they make a path to the Hellcats and Phil. I turn my full attention back to the demon. The closest thing it resembles is a Manticore, and I figure they must be some distant cousins or something, seeing as this whole fiasco is family feud related.
The snake end whips around and just in the nick of time, I grab it before it sweeps under my feet and I yank hard on the massive body. Being a Hellcat comes with some perks, like supernatural strength, but the demon is heavier than the average man, and I only succeed in pissing it off. I see when the attack comes. It strikes like a viper, lashing out and biting, and I dodge to the side in time for the lion's head to hit the ice wall behind me.
I trip and stumble as I make my way to my girls, but the lion's head continues to strike out, crumbling icy faces to the ground each time.
I reach my crew at the same time they break through to help Leo, and Dick and Doug take over the advancing snake demon. One latches on with paws and claws to the lion head, while the other sinks his claws into the scaly tail. It's the most gruesome game of tug-of-war I have ever seen two dogs play. I manage to reach down and punch the button for the elevator, hating the fact we still have to wait for the damn thing to descend.
I look up, searching the ceiling for Damien or Charles, and quickly duck when a spray of ice rains down from the sky. I can't see that high up, but I wonder if either one of them managed to punch through the icy ceiling and escape into the level above. I don't have time to worry about it now, as another satyr jabs at my side with what looks like a halberd. I bring my arm down, forcing the blade to the floor as I hear the ping of the elevator behind me. The doors rattle open and I start shoving my girls into it one by one. They shift, giving room for the next, and a massive pile of bodies presses in as I whistle loud enough for Dick and Doug to hear me.
I feel a hand on the back of my jacket as someone pulls me into the elevator, and I frantically press the button to level one and the button for the doors to close. We all squeeze into the back so Dick, Doug, and Marty can snap at any satyrs and smaller demons who try to press in and prevent the doors from closing. It takes a few minutes for the doors to eventually slide shut, and then we hear the slamming and pounding against it. It shakes the whole compartment, and I'm wondering if they are going to pull the elevator right off the track and send us plummeting to the bottom of the shaft.
The compartment begins to ascend as the cheesy music kicks on while I hear everyone breathing hard and the Hounds panting as we slowly begin to climb. The smell of blood and viscera from the satyrs fills the elevator and I hold my breath, leaning against the back wall, resting for a minute before we face the next onslaught. I have no idea what we will find when we reach Limbo, but what I see when the doors slide open is even more chaos.
Bodies litter the floor of the souls waiting in line. Screaming, panicking people are pushing back to the rivers and even some are escaping through the garage door. I step off the elevator and shout to Leona.
"Grab robes, jackets, anything. Cover up. We're getting out of here.”
Leo turns to the nearest Drude and has more brass than I would. She reaches into the haze and grabs onto the robe and tugs. Her eyes widen as whatever horror she witnesses assaults her mind, but she comes away victorious. She tosses the ratty looking robe to Tora who pulls it on, and we push our way through the crowd to Damien and Charles, who are entangled with one another in a battle. I race in, trying to think of how to help, while I hear the indignant cries of people being stripped at the hands of Leo. I scan the room and see Zeke dragging Lowell toward the garage. There's blood gushing from Lowell's head and I wonder how he was injured and how bad. I don't see James anywhere, but he can't be my priority right now. I said one soul at a time and Lowell’s soul is about to be kidnapped right out from under me.
I push my way through the crowd, but it takes a long time to get to the doors. I push through to the garage just in time to see Zeke shut the back door of a van parked nearest to the door of Limbo. He must have picked it because it's convenient and Hell gets a lot of bulk deliveries, sometimes straight off the prison yard, so the van, emblazoned with the horned profile of Satan's head, is custom painted on the van.
I sprint after Zeke, but he's already in the driver's seat. There has never been any need to take the keys out of any of the vehicles here in the garage because there has never been anyone stupid enough to steal any of Lucifer's rides. I miss my motorcycle at the moment and I figure without her, I need to choose a different one in order to chase after Zeke, so I hop in the McLaren. I figure if Satan is going to bump up my responsibility around here until the apocalypse decides to throw down, he can bump up my ride when I need him to.
I shove the car into gear and cringe as I race after Zeke. The last thing I want to do is bust up these wheels, but the ride is smooth and I hardly feel the jolt as we smash through the barrier and the portal, ending up on the highway, headed back to Lowell's bar, the Sloshed Sloth.
I shift and pick up the speed. There is no way I am letting the little schmuck get away. Not after everything we have been through this past week trying to right a wrong. The van is no match for the speed of the McLaren and I play chicken with Zeke for the second time as I try to force him off the road. The sun is bright and as I swerve to get Zeke to slow down, I bump the van and feel the scrape of the metal as it connects with the side panel. We come up over a hill at the same time as I hit him and it's just enough to send the van in a roll down the other side. I watch in horror as the back doors fly open, and Lowell's body is thrown from the back. I slam on the breaks and the tires skid along the pavement, just as the van rolls to
a stop at the bottom of the hill.
Jumping from the car when I throw it in park, I race to the ditch where I find Lowell, lying limp and unresponsive.
"Lowell! Wake up! Lowell!" I shake him and press my ear to his face. I feel the puff of his breath against it and breathe a sigh of relief. He isn't out of the woods yet, judging by the odd angle of his wrist and ankle, he's got some broken bones. My biggest fear is internal bleeding.
I glance around wildly, but calling for help out here in the dry desert heat isn't going to do me any good. I drag Lowell back to my car, thanking my lucky supernatural stars. It still requires some effort and in addition to being caked in blood, I feel the sweat dripping down my face. I pat my pockets in vain. I'd lost my cell phone out of them a long time ago in the uprising in Treachery. My best bet is to get him to the Sloshed Sloth and call for help.
As I pull past the van, I consider stopping to check on Zeke, but the rattling sound of Lowell's breath is what worries me and I gun the engine. The bar is only a couple of miles down the road and I pull into the parking lot to see the same beat-up cars parked there before, and the doors still standing open. The open sign isn't lit, but I drag Lowell up the steps and into the bar and make a mad dash for the phone and the first aid kit. I dial 911 as tears start to stream down my cheeks. It's been a long time since I cried this much and the thought of losing Lowell now we were so close to saving him, thanks to my stupidity, has finally pushed me over the edge.
"Don't you dare die on me!" I scream at him. I hold his head in my lap and rock back and forth, waiting anxiously for the sounds of the paramedics. I've never been one to welcome the sounds of sirens, but now it seems like they can't come fast enough. I jump when I hear the sounds of footsteps on the stairs outside and I'm about to turn and rage at Zeke for being the reason his brother is on death’s door, when once again I am staring down the barrel of a forty-five. The flashback hits my brain as hard as the coming bullet. It makes me think of black holes in the universe. I have always wondered what is on the other side. Where is the stuff getting sucked up into them go? Is there a massive pile of universal junk and refuse lying in a cavern somewhere on the other side? I guess it’s kind of like death. What happens to all the mundane shit we experience every day? Or the drama? The stress and anxiety of life?
Highway to Hell Page 24