by A. C. Heller
“What are you going to do to me?”
“That depends. If you cooperate you can stay at my side. This means you will not be harmed. If not, you will end up in a cell and essentially be fair game to anyone. Regardless of how you want to play it, tomorrow you will be meeting the good doctor. We need to have you examined to see if your body is capable of sustaining life.”
His last statement has me jerking into a sitting position. The fuck?
“Excuse me?”
“They didn't tell you? That's a shame. Since I'm such a gentlemen, I'll explain. You see, we also know of the prophecy. We have been searching for you for a very long time, going through as many Nephilim females as we could. However this ended badly, for them at least. They lost their lives, but we gained knowledge. Only the Figlia d'Oro can hold the child of a completely corrupted Nephilim male.”
Oh, Jesus, shit! They brought me here to be a baby factory? That's so twisted! The look on my face must say it all because the man chuckles. He bends down and picks me up by the waist. Setting me down on the bed he kneels in front of me and starts undoing the restraints at my ankles.
“And would you like to know who your suitor is going to be?”
Not really, ‘cause there won't be one. Apparently he takes my silence as a yes.
“My name is Silas.”
“It's you?!”
Silas grins and nods his head once looking me directly in the eyes. His eyes are completely black, there is no depth to them, they just look empty. The restraints fall to the floor and I'm half tempted to kick him in the junk. But my sense of self preservation tells me that's probably a bad idea. He leans forward placing his chin on my shoulder, and begins undoing the restraints at my wrists. He could have reached around me. So I know he's leaning into me on purpose, and again I want to throw up. As I'm weighing the pros and cons of hurling on him my hands are released. Now that they are free the blood starts rushing back and it's actually a little painful. He rubs my arms a few times before standing and heading over toward the door.
“Tonight you can relax. After the doctor looks you over tomorrow we will talk again.”
Silas winks at me and closes the door behind him. Placing a hand over my mouth I try to hold down the bile that's rising up. There's a door on the other side of the room, so I rush towards it. Thank god it's a bathroom, as I barely make it to the toilet before I throw up.
Once I'm finished I sit back against the wall of the bathroom and bury my face against my knees. I wonder if they've even noticed that I'm gone. I miss them, all of them. Even Damiano, and especially Takeo. Even when we fought his presence alone was worth it. I'm torn because I do want to be saved, I mean, who would want to be in this situation? But on the flip side of that I don't want anyone else getting hurt. My parents, the old man, it seems anyone who tries to help me dies. Pity not, those who refuse to help themselves. The phrase pops into my head and I have no idea where I've even heard it before.
Shaking my head, I stand up and splash cold water on my face. I peel off my coat and throw it on the floor, because the thing is practically destroyed anyway. Heading back into the main room I start going through drawers. Most of them are empty, but in one I find a box of sewing needles. It's not much but I put them in my pocket anyway. On the other side of the room there is a wardrobe, and it's full of weapons. Is this guy a moron or what?
I reach out to grab one of the daggers hanging on the wall and my hand is immediately surrounded by a dense ebony mist and a piercing pain shoots up my arm. Son of a bitch! When I pull my hand back I can see that there is an angry red welt on my palm. Stupid weapon! The engravings on the weapon are an illuminated charcoal color, much like the orb Silas hit me with at the gas station. Gritting my teeth I focus on heating just that hand. When I reach out this time I manage to grasp the dagger firmly before the pain overwhelms me and I drop it to the floor.
Three hours later I'm standing in front of the wardrobe holding the dagger. I can only feel a slight tingling sensation now. The engravings have become a radiant white. Smiling to myself I return the dagger to its place and pick up a larger sword. The sword has the same effect, the engravings morph from black to the radiant white, and the tingling sensation is bearable. Returning the sword I take the dagger once more. This time I bend down and shove the blade into the inside of my boot, making sure the tip is planted firmly in the sole.
Standing up I walk over to the side of the bed and lie down. I might as well take a nap. Silas implied that he wouldn't touch me until the doctor saw me, so I should get some sleep while I can.
There's a hand at my shoulder, shaking me, and the smell of cigarettes is very strong. Silas. When I open my eyes I see Silas is sitting next to me on the bed. I lie there unmoving as he sweeps my hair off my face.
“Good morning, Chasca. How did you sleep?”
Pulling myself up with my arms I sit up against the headboard.
“As well as can be expected.”
He nods a few times and looks around the room. I watch as his eyes land on the wardrobe and narrow. Oh, no, I forgot to close it. Stupid!
“I see you found my weapons.”
“Yeah... I tried to take one, and it shocked me. It hurt...a lot.”
Silas smiles at me and bites his lip as if he's trying not to laugh.
“That's what you get for trying to take something that isn't yours.”
He seems to be buying my innocent act, so I just roll with it.
“Why did it shock me?”
“Have you even touched anyone's weapons before?”
“No...”
“Well, they are attached to us in a way, and lets just say that my weapons don't like to be touched by people like you.”
“People like me?”
He doesn't elaborate. Silas just nods and takes my hand.
“Come, you must be starving, and after you eat the doctor is waiting for you.”
My heart starts pounding, but for my plan to work I need to get as close to an exit as possible. Letting him lead me into what looks like a cafeteria he sits me down and brings over a plate of bacon and eggs. He even brings me an orange juice, and it would be sweet if he wasn't such a creeper. Lifting my fork I hesitate before eating. I look up at Silas and he's smiling and shaking his head. It's good to know he finds me so amusing!
“I'm not going to poison you, Chasca. I need you alive.”
I suppose that makes sense, still, I reluctantly take a bite. It tastes normal, and I am really hungry. A few minutes later I've cleaned my plate and finished my juice. Silas takes them away and comes back over to me. He takes my hand and leads me into what looks like a medical facility. It looks top notch too, there're sleek computers and high-tech machines everywhere.
Silas lifts me and sets me on the edge of an examining table. Avoiding eye contact with him I look around the room. There's a refrigerator across the room with a glass door, and inside I can see that there are at least fifty vials of what looks like blood. I wonder if that's Nephilim blood. Silas moves his body in front of me effectively breaking my line of sight with the vials.
“Be a good girl and stay right there. The doctor will be here in a few minutes. I'll give you your privacy... For now.”
Nodding my head I watch as Silas exits the room, but as the door closes I see something on the glass that causes my blood to run cold. Dr. Lucian Welps. Welps... An anagram. Five of seven sins will cause my fall. Wrath, Envy, Lust, Pride and Sloth. Oh, fuck! What else did the note say?! I'm wracking my brain trying to remember, but I can only remember one word. Escape.
The door opens and an older man in a gray suit walks in. His hair is slicked back and long enough to touch the collar of his jacket. I'd say he had salt and pepper hair, but it's mostly salt. He walks over to me and before I can prepare myself he takes my hand in both of his.
“Chasca Leon. What a pleasure it is to finally meet you. I'm Dr. Welps, but you may call me Lucian.”
“Lucian. I have to be honest with you, I'm v
ery scared and I don't really want to be here.”
Dr. Welps purses his lips in thought and after a moment he smiles at me.
“Don't worry, Chasca. That will pass, and in time you will learn to like it here. Now, would you be so kind as to lie back on the table so we can begin?”
Well, so much for appealing to his better nature. My whole body is tense as I lie back on the table. Dr. Welps turns and starts laying various instruments out on the counter in front of him. While he's distracted I slide my hand into my pocket and empty the contents of the box of needles into my palm.
When Dr. Welps turns around he has a syringe in his hand. The liquid inside is a dark blue color, and I find myself asking the obvious.
“What's that?”
“This, my dear, is my creation. I can't very well have you using your abilities while I'm examining you, now can I? This will simply calm you down and suppress your abilities for a short time.”
Balling my first around the needles, I concentrate on heating my hand around them. Dr. Welps seems preoccupied, so I slowly bring myself into a sitting position. He comes over to me and swabs the crook of my elbow with alcohol. He lines the syringe up with my vein and that's when I know it's now or never.
“Dr. Welps....”
“Please, call me Lucian.”
“Lucian, I'm afraid of needles.”
“That's alright, dear. So am I.”
“Are you?”
“Indeed, I am.”
“Good.”
With all my strength I swing the hand that’s holding the heated needles in his direction, opening my palm at the last second. The needles hit him in several different places, including his face, and I barely notice the syringe piercing my skin. Lucian cries out in what sounds like both pain and anger, but I don’t wait to see which it is. Jumping off the table I rip the syringe from my arm and make a run for it. Before tossing the syringe to the floor I take a good look at it and notice that I was, in fact, injected with a small amount of whatever the hell that was. Fuck.
When Silas and I entered the doctor’s office I saw the cement stairs I had been carried down when I first got here, so I know I don't have very far to run. As I'm running down the hall I hear Lucian yelling from behind me.
“Guards! The Figlia d'Oro is trying to escape!”
Shit! Shit! My pulse is pounding in my ears and I can feel my body getting hot without me willing it to. Something isn't right.
Chapter Thirteen
As I'm running I glance over at the glass wall and I can see that my entire body is pulsing with radiant golden light. My eyes are emerald green, and I am not causing this to happen. It's like my body is trying to protect itself from something. When I reach the stairs I hear two guns shots ring out.
My body jolts forward, but not because I was shot, because there is something burning the hell out of my back. Reaching my hand around I touch the scalding liquid and bring my hand back to look at it. It's metal. Pivoting I see a man with a gun standing at the end of the hall, his mouth is open and his eyes are wide with shock. He looks as confused as I feel, but that doesn't stop him from pulling the trigger again.
This time I watch as it happens, the bullet reaches me but before it hits me it melts, turning into molten slag before splashing onto my skin. Goddamn, that hurts! Taking the stairs two at the time I reach the top just as the light around me pulses, causing the walls to shake and bits of rock to fall to the ground. I don't know what's happening to me, but this is getting dangerous, even for me, fast.
The church is empty as I run through it, but as I come crashing through the front door I see that I am no longer alone. There must be ten men waiting at the bottom of the church steps all holding guns. Their guns are aimed at me, but I know there's no going back. Clenching my fists at my side I walk toward them. Shots are fired but I only feel the molten metal splash against me. God, this hurts so bad. Each time the metal hits me, I can't help but cry out in pain.
Out of nowhere a strong gust of wind hits me knocking me on my back. Just as my back hits the ground I see an orb of ebony colored mist pass over me. Holy shit, that almost hit me. Coming up on my elbows I stare in amazement as Aiden waves his hands and thrusts them forward, causing a gust of wind to knock two men on their backs. He looks over at me and winks before turning back to the the men. Wow.
Even though it's dark I see the orb coming this time. Diving to the side, and landing on my hip hard, I barely manage to avoid it. Rolling and quickly jumping to my feet I see Angelo in the distance and he's motioning for me to run to him. So without another thought I do.
When I reach him he's in the middle of fighting a man with a sword. Angelo makes quick work of him by slitting his throat. Angelo simply kicks the man in the chest, causing him to fall to away from us and to the ground. He envelopes me in a quick hug and nods towards the back of a van.
“Get in. I need to go help Aiden.”
Angelo takes off, but before I can even get my hand on the door handle I'm hit in the back and slammed into the van. Slowly turning around I see Silas standing about five feet from me. Lovely.
“You shouldn't have run. I would have made you happy. We could have been great together.”
“Do you hear yourself? You don't even know me! Just because we're both Nephilim doesn't mean we have a bond. To me you’re fucking insane, and I would rather die then bear your child.”
“So be it.”
Silas brings both hands to his chest and forms an orb much larger then the one he hit me with before. I close my eyes waiting for it to hit me, but instead I'm rocked back into the van by a large form in front of me. The form is completely engulfed in shadow, but I know who it is, so I whisper, “Takeo”.
Takeo took the hit for me, and it barely even affected him. He growls low in his throat, and I watch as Silas smiles and speaks to Takeo.
“You think she is yours.”
“She is mine.”
“No, now she is mine.”
“She has always been, and always will be, mine.”
Silas's face contorts in anger as he sends another orb straight for Takeo. Even though my abilities are still going full force Takeo places a hand on my shoulder and forces me to the ground. The orb hits him and his back smashes into the van, denting the doors in. I want to hold on to the moment when Takeo said I was his, but I'm more concerned with whether or not we're going to live through this at the moment.
Takeo roars in anger and as quick as lightning he is slamming into Silas, both of them skidding across the asphalt. I don't wait any longer, I climb to my feet and run. Once I make it across the street I stop and turn in time to see Silas’s hand disappear into Takeo's chest. Takeo grunts in pain but doesn't cry out. Takeo swings his fist and lands a painful looking blow to Silas’s jaw causing him to rock back, but Silas doesn’t move and he still has Takeo pinned. Oh god. I start to run back across the street but I hear one word in my head that halts me instantly. Run.
Without giving it another thought I turn and start running again. As I'm running the branches are ripping into my flesh, but I notice that I'm not bleeding. I can hear footsteps behind me but this only makes me run harder and faster. Suddenly a hand grips my shoulder and throws me to the ground with such force that I have no choice but to go face first into the grass. Rolling to my back I watch as Silas looms over me. The golden light that surrounds me pulses but he is completely unaffected. Tears roll down my face at the realization that if he is here, he must have killed Takeo.
“Don't cry for him. He was pathetic. The last shred of purity he held onto was his downfall. If he would have just let it go he could have been so much more powerful.”
Takeo was not pathetic! Climbing to my feet I press my palms together in front of my chest, just like I saw Silas do. Seconds later there is an orb of golden light suspended between my two palms. Silas's eyes are narrow as if he doesn't believe I'm going to do anything.
“Takeo was not pathetic!”
Thrusting my palms forwa
rd I hurl the orb forward hitting Silas in the center of his chest. He's knocked off his feet and onto his back. He skids for several feet before his body comes to a stop, and his head sags to the side. I know I should go see if he's dead, but I have to find Takeo.
Running back the way I came I stop and my knees nearly give out when I see Takeo lying motionless on the ground. Rushing over to him I drop to my knees before even coming to a full stop causing the rocks and twigs to rip into my skin, but I can barely feel it.
There aren't any wounds that I can see, and I want to heal him but I don't know how. Placing one hand on his head and the other over his chest I close my eyes and focus. Under my hand on his head I feel his eyelashes brush my palm causing me to quickly remove my hand. His eyes are open but they are completely black. Oh no.