by Mandy Lee
“I’m sorry,” she whispered as she walked past. This was the ultimate test of her willpower, her heart told her to release them from their cells but logically she knew she only had time to save one — her brother. Suddenly, a pair of very small hands reached out through the bars of one of the cells. Katia's heart constricted in her chest. A child. Surely even Satan wasn’t able to claim the soul of one so young. Katia’s breath caught as she turned to peer through the bars. Tears prickled behind her eyes. Children. Three of them. They clung to each other tightly, their faces dirty and gaunt.
“My God,” Katia whispered as she walked toward the cell slowly. The children couldn’t have been any older than ten or twelve. Katia moved as though she were in a waking dream.
“Save us,” they said in unison, their voices slithering out to wrap around inside her mind like poisoned snakes. Katia paused and frowned. Something didn’t feel right.
“Please, help us,” said the little girl, her arm outstretched, a fresh tear tracking down her face. Unable to stop herself Katia stepped forward, drawn by the sadness in the little girl’s eyes. A feeling of dread washed over her as she slid her her hand into the little girl’s. A split second later that small hand clamped down on hers with the strength of ten men, yanking her off her feet and slamming her face-first into the bars of the cell. Pain exploded as she crashed down to the floor. Dragging herself up, Katia caught a flash of red eyes, and heard the scraping of metal on stone as the door opened. They were demons. Katia felt the static charge in the air as they unleashed their true natures. Their eyes flashed like laser beams as they chattered amongst themselves.
“She came as predicted.”
“Such a shame we aren’t allowed to kill her.”
“She would be such fun to play with.”
Katia lunged for the gun she had dropped, but was brought up short by a swift kick to the side of her head that flung her into the opposite wall. Stone dust rained down upon her with the force of her impact, her insides felt like they’d been put through a blender, a slow trickle of blood ran from the corner of her mouth. Wiping the blood with the back of her hand, Katia scrambled to her feet and unsheathed a charmed throwing dagger from her arsenal.
“Oh, look. Kitty has claws,” the little boy looked as though he’d stepped out of the pages of Oliver Twist, an evil grin playing around the edges of his lips. He launched himself at her, teeth and nails sharpening into points as he flew through the air. Katia was propelled backward as they collided, landing hard on the stone floor. One of the flags cracked beneath them as they struck, her skull connecting painfully, she saw stars. A strange warmth spread over the hand that was pinned between her body and that of the tiny demon. Realizing her attacker was oddly still, Katia raised her head, wincing at the stabbing pain, and shoved him off of her. As the body rolled to the side she saw the dagger protruding from his chest, his tar-like blood ran from the wound. Once piercing red eyes were open in a lifeless stare.
Katia was shaking. It was one thing to shoot cleanly from a distance, but this had been up close and personal. A shocked gasp from the waif-like little girl jerked her attention back to the duo standing with shocked stares. Grabbing the hand of the child beside her, the little girl narrowed her eyes on Katia and muttered something in a language Katia had never heard. A split second later they disappeared, leaving Katia staring at the space they had once occupied. Still shaking, she dragged herself slowly to her feet. Wiping blood on the pant leg of her black jeans, Katia stared down at the dead demon. The childlike face began to morph into something far more sinister, with blackened veins tracking like a roadmap under his skin as he shriveled and rotted before her eyes. Katia gagged and spun away as her stomach rebelled. A bright flash of light nearly blinded her. Katia blinked rapidly and gasped as her eyes focused on Uriel, her father, standing directly in front of her.
“Wh…what are you doing here?” She asked in confusion.
Uriel smiled and moved toward her, pulling her into a hug. “I’m here to help you, my child.”
“But you can’t be here. Luc told me angels can't enter Sheol. Something about upsetting the balance.” She replied as she hugged him back hard.
Uriel leaned back to look Katia in the eye. “The balance is no longer in force. As soon as you entered Halja, we were able to intercede in the doings of Sheol. Your arrival here has upset the balance.” Uriel cupped Katia’s cheek lightly and kissed her on the forehead. “I wasn't about to allow you to undertake this venture on your own, it's far too dangerous. The balance needs to be restored, and the only way that can be accomplished is through the rescue of your brother and the binding of your joined soul to a being other than Satan.”
Katia breathed a relieved sigh. “Thank you for coming. How did you know I’d be here?”
Uriel smiled. “Amir alerted us to your plans.”
Katia let out a relieved nervous laugh. “I could kill him...and kiss him at the same time! How many angels are coming?”
Uriel’s face settled into seriousness. “There will be several of us, though I’m unsure of exact numbers. Don’t underestimate the amount of danger you are in even with assistance. The most difficult task will still be up to you. You will have a decision to make that will change the course of reality as we know it. The future will be yours to decide.”
Katia frowned in confusion. “What do you mean?”
Sighing, Uriel replied, “You and your brother are the lynchpin on which the future rests. Your joint decisions will set the path for the next phase of history.”
Katia let out a shaky breath. “So no pressure or anything.”
Uriel rested his hand comfortingly on her shoulder. “I have faith in you, my daughter.”
“So the fate of the world depends on us…Satan knows this, so he used my brother to draw me here?” Katia asked.
Uriel simply nodded. “I’m sorry that this has fallen to you, but Satan would have realized you would come for Keir if he were in danger.”
“I’m glad you have faith in me because, at this point, I’m absolutely terrified,” Katia replied, looking up at her father with trepidation in her eyes. “What if we make the wrong choice? What if we can’t agree on the right choice? We don’t know anything about each other. We’re complete strangers...”
Her father looked down at her with a smile as he reached for her hand. “I have a feeling you will both be of the same mind when the time comes. But now we have to find him. You cannot fulfill your destiny without Keir. Time to go.”
Swallowing past the lump in her throat, Katia nodded and took her father’s hand. “Time to go,” she whispered.
Chapter Thirty-One
It was all coming together as planned. Satan smiled as he sat at his desk, watching Katia creep through his castle. A massive enchanted rose-quartz stone sat in front of him, reflecting the image of anyone he wished to spy on within the walls of his fortress. It was almost time. If only Lucifer would move his ass and get here. It was inevitable that he would try and be the conquering hero, sweeping in to rescue his lady love from the clutches of evil. Satan snorted. Love, what a foolish emotion. It was unbelievable how quickly Lucifer had gone from competent servant to complete moron all for the love of a woman. It was going to be fun putting him down. Reaching for the small remote on his desk, Satan turned up the volume on the music. “Backstreet’s Back” blasted through his office. Boy bands were so much better than the crap from the old days. There were only so many Gregorian chants you could handle before driving a sharp object into your ear canal. Death metal may have seemed more fitting for the source of all-evil, but he’d always been a sucker for the cheesy stuff. In a way, the music was his anyhow. Someone must have sold their soul for some of this shit to make money.
Satan passed his hand in front of the stone and the image shifted showing one hallway after another, the ultimate security camera. He bounced his leg in anticipation as excitement bubbled up. One empty hallway after another flipped by then suddenly there he was —Luci
fer. He was walking slowly down a hallway hugging closely to one of the stone walls, a pistol in his hand. Satan peered more closely at the image. Something was off. Why did Lucifer look so afraid? Satan reached out and touched the stone with his thumb and index finger. Slowly he spread his fingers apart and the image magnified, bringing Lucifer into sharper focus. Satan’s smile grew larger. He was human. The faint glow that had surrounded him was gone. The stupid angel had given up his powers. This was going to be so much fun…no healing, more bleeding, more pain.
Satan ran a finger over the surface of the stone and the image of Lucifer wavered and disappeared, the stone returning to its natural state. Whistling to himself happily and bobbing to the music, he rose and sauntered over to a large cabinet. Throwing open the doors he revealed a wide array of knives, swords, and other blades he’d collected from the human and demonic realms throughout history. He ran his hand lovingly over the serrated blade of one of his knives. Seeing as there was no need to bring charmed weapons to this party he was free to use whatever tickled his fancy. Images of what he’d do to Lucifer flickered through his mind like torture porn.
Suddenly, a strange sensation overcame him. Satan dropped the weapons and stepped back in confusion. Someone was here that shouldn’t be. The castle was an extension of him, and he felt a presence that he had never felt before. What in Sheol’s circles was it?
The air beside him rippled, and two demons materialized in the room, staring at Satan with wide, terrified eyes. He had never seen fear in the eyes of his tiny minions. They were predators, childlike in appearance, and always got the drop on their victims with their feigned innocence.
“Explain yourselves,” Satan demanded, his voice steely.
The demons shuddered in fear, replying in unison, “Forgive us, master, but something is amiss.”
Raising a questioning brow, Satan motioned for them to continue. “Angels, master. Angels have been appearing all over the castle. They’re with the woman. She killed our brother, master.” The demons shivered yet again and grasped each other’s hands.
Satan brushed aside the death of their brother. What was one dead minion when he had so many under his power? But angels…had the rest of the fallen arrived to fight for Katia? Satan felt his anger rise. They would pay for their defection in blood and pain.
“Capture the fallen who have come to aid the woman, and bring the human male roaming the corridors near the dungeons to me,” Satan bit out angrily.
“They are not the fallen, master. They are angels of the light.”
A darkness and malevolence like Satan had never felt rushed through him. Blackness oozed out of his pores misting the air around him as the room electrified with his anger. The demons cowered in fear. Satan felt the burn of his eyes turning red. Electric sparks danced along his skin flashing brightly as his anger radiated outward. The furniture in the room vibrated with the force of the energy he gave off. Priceless antique figurines exploded, shards of porcelain flew through the air in all directions.
“What the fuck are angels doing in my domain?” Satan shouted, spraying spittle over the demons cowering before him. As his anger mounted, Satan's fingernails elongate into claws and he tasted blood as fangs punched into his lower lip. How could this have happened? The balance precluded angels from entering Sheol.
“FUCK!” Satan shouted as realization hit him. His thoughts reeled with the implications as he caught up to his own reality. The balance no longer applied. The rules had ceased to apply as soon as he’d lured Katia into Halja. That strange feeling he hadn’t been able to place was the presence of honest to goodness angels fucking up the energy of the place. The question now was how to turn this development to his advantage. Considering his options, Satan decided for a direct approach. Battle with the angels was inevitable. Time to call in reinforcements. Turning back to the terrified demons, Satan laid out his orders.
“Have the human male captured and brought to me. The angels are to be neutralized. Make no distinction between angels and the fallen — kill them all. Mobilize every minion in this castle immediately. And locate my sisters. I have something special in mind for them.”
Nodding, the demonic pair disappeared leaving Satan alone in his office. His blood continued to boil as he waited for his quarry to be delivered. With the balance disrupted he would send his sisters into the human realm to prepare for his arrival. For now he had Lucifer to torture and Katia to bend to his will. If they thought they could beat him in his own house, they were out of their fucking minds. Game on.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Katia’s heart sank to her feet as she and Uriel stood in front of an impressively solid door that glittered in the shifting light of the hallway. The seemingly impenetrable door was the only thing standing between her and her brother’s freedom. There was no lock, no key, only a handle that refused to turn. Katia sighed in frustration and threw her hands up in the air.
“How are we supposed to get this open?” she asked, turning to her father. Katia raised a questioning eyebrow at the amused look on her father’s face. Katia couldn’t help smiling back at him; the crooked smile that lifted up his lips made him look younger and more carefree. The constant sadness that darkened his eyes and had vanished and was replaced by a devilish sparkle making him look like a mischievous twenty-five year old. That this man was her father astounded her, anyone looking at the pair of them would take him for her brother in a heartbeat. To complete his roguish transformation, Uriel gave Katia a sly wink.
“You don’t give angels enough credit, my daughter. There are some benefits to my state of being, starting with the ability to call upon the power of the light to counter dark magic. As fate would have it, this door has been sealed through the use of said dark magic.” Lifting his hand palm up, Uriel showed Katia the angelic sigil glowing upon it. It sparkled pure and golden.
“Wow,” Katia breathed. “It’s beautiful.”
“And incredibly useful for opening doors," Uriel said with a wide smile.
Katia laughed as her father placed his palm against the door, whispering an incantation she couldn't quite make out. Seconds later she heard the sound of gears and tumblers moving and they were music to Katia’s ears.
“That is the most fantastic sound I’ve heard all day,” she said turning to her father with a smile.
Uriel grabbed Katia’s hand and gave it an affectionate squeeze as he pushed the door lightly, swinging it open to reveal the second door. “One more to go,” he said. Katia could barely contain her excitement as Uriel worked his magic on the inner door. Here she was, standing at her father’s side as they worked together to free her twin. The only person missing was her birth mother. Katia felt a twinge of regret that she would never know the amazing woman who's love had inspired an angel to defy the universe. Pushing those thoughts aside, Katia turned her mind to her brother. As the inner door began to swing open, she grasped Uriel’s hand and looked up at him. As their eyes met, Katia saw anticipation and trepidation warring within. Blowing out a shaky breath she nodded to him and they stepped over the threshold of the darkened cell together. The room was quiet as the grave, so Katia heard the intake of breath from across the room as clear as a bell. Uriel muttered an incantation, “Lux es tenebris.”
“Light from darkness,” she whispered. As the words left her lips, light exploded as a caldelabra came to life, flames licking upwards. Light bathed the stone cell in a soft, warm light, illuminating a young man crouched in the far corner of the room. Katia’s breath hitched. Her eyes devoured the young man’s face. Caught up in the surreal moment, Katia almost missed the low, raspy whisper as he spoke.
“You’re really here,” he whispered incredulously.
Releasing her father’s hand, Katia stepped tentatively toward her brother. Her eyes stung as tears threatened to spill. Rising from his crouch, her brother took a halting step forward. Katia sobbed, unable to hold it all in any longer. As the sound escaped her, an invisible wall between them crumbled and they rush
ed toward each other. Katia flung her arms around him with so much force she almost knocked him off his feet. Her brother hugged her tight to his chest and buried his face in the crook of her neck.
“Keir,” Katia sobbed.
“What?” he rasped quietly. “What is Keir?”
“You, your name,” Katia said as she squeezed him tighter. A feeling of completion washed over her as she connected with the missing half of herself. She felt him shiver in her arms.
“I have a name.” Keir began to sob quietly.
Tears streamed down Katia’s face as she spoke. “Yes, and you have a sister and a father...I'm Katia...well, Elaina...I have two names...long story.”
Uriel stepped forward. “My son,” he said, his voice thick with emotion.
Katia stepped to Keir's side allowing him face Uriel. The two men stood staring at each other for a moment before stepping forward and embracing. They held each other tight until Keir began to laugh. Katia and Uriel shared a dumbfounded look as they watched him. Keir continued laughing and swiping at tears with the back of his hand as they leaked out of his eyes. Straightening, he shot them a radiant smile that transformed his face.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “It’s just that I’ve dreamed of this my entire life. I’m not quite sure what to say or do. This is everything I’ve ever wanted. A family, people I belong to. There has always been this…hole in my heart. Suddenly, I feel...complete.”