I was looking directly into her eyes and I knew that would be my downfall. She was drawing me in with her gaze. That was why I had stopped my attack. Now, I just had to get my will to fight back.
The beast was inside of me, beating even harder against me to break free and break her spell. The light beating with my heart was growing brighter as the beast fought harder and harder. Then I felt it. The overwhelming heat that told me the beast was about to have complete control and I would be free from her hold. I couldn’t even feel Gordon’s presence anymore. I had stood there frozen, while this demon feasted on a small portion of my blood and now she knew what my life force could do for her. She opened her mouth to speak and I was surprised by what came out of it.
“I have the information you seek, Executioner,” she stated. Her voice held an echo I had never heard before, and it was mesmerizing. “You want to escape this place. I can help you, but there is a price.”
Confusion must have been evident on my face because she laughed. It was light and melodic, like Lilith’s. A chill went up my spine, and I lowered the knife slowly. I wasn’t going to be putting it away though. If there was a price to pay, I may be able to be talked into paying it. Now, if I could just control my beast long enough to get it.
Chapter 10: Shades of Gray
The beast was pounding against my control once again as Gordon came to stand beside me. I was having a really hard time holding onto that control. The heat in my chest was nearly overpowering the control I had left, and at that point it wasn’t much. The beast inside of me responded not only to my fear it seemed. It reacted to being in the presence of evil as well, and it was reacting violently. I knew that once I had the information I needed that the beast would be unleashed.
Gordon touched my shoulder. This calmed the beast just enough to be able to take back complete control. Now all I could hear from the beast was the growl of defeat, but I knew that as soon as I let it go it would unleash itself on this creature. That I was okay with, as long as I had the important information I needed. Well, we needed. Gordon and I would both be walking out of here if I had anything to say about it.
“There is a special place you seek within the black forest that will help you escape. As a general rule we aren’t supposed to help an executioner, but I think you want Lilith dead as much as I do. I’ll even lead you there.”
She walked around us, circling like a predator. She wanted Lilith dead too, but for what?
“Why?” I asked. I was feeling brazen. She stopped in her tracks and cocked her head to the side, almost like a dog. It would’ve been cute if it weren’t for her dead stare. “Why help us at all? Aren’t we kind of on opposite sides of the tracks?”
A look of contemplation crossed her features and then she smiled at us. The grin bled with evil intent and the dead look in her eyes didn’t help one little bit.
She bit her lip seductively and replied, “Let’s just say I’m one of her original creations. One she turned her back on a long, long time ago. I was the result of her betrayal of Adam.” It made absolute sense that her betrayal would cause creation of something evil to roam Hell for all eternity. “Lilith promised me passage to the surface, but quickly went back on her word and I have been here ever since. I can’t leave, but you can.” She pointed towards me with one sharp talon and a hiss escaped from between her parted lips. That hiss reminded me of a snake, slithering and corrupting. Of course, that’s what she was made to do. She was made to corrupt the souls of the fallen and toss them back into the river where they belonged.
“You’ll go deep into the forest and within its deepest depths you’ll find what we call the pit. You’ll know it when you see it and there you will find a way to get out of this place. You hold the key, Executioner. You hold the key because you are not meant to be here, and the portal in the pit was made especially for those like you.”
I couldn’t believe what I had just heard. There was a way out and, just as I thought, I wasn’t meant to be here. Inside I was soaring and the happiness I was feeling was indescribable. I was going to be able to go home, and Gordon was going to be able to come with me. I knew I needed him by my side to fight the good fight, and I was going to have him. After all, he was the key to controlling the beast and the love he filled me with was something I couldn’t possibly describe. It was like magic. And this creature was willing to help set us free.
Now it was time for the bottom line. She said that she would share this information for a price. I was curious as to what it was, but afraid at the same time. I was very interested to hear what she wanted, especially from an executioner.
“And the price?” Gordon requested, voicing a question I had yet to think of.
“I want an end to my suffering. I have been luring wondering souls into the river for millennia and I’ve become tired.” She put her arms out to the side and spread them wide, backing up a few feet. She was showing me that this was her ultimate surrender. Confusion must have been evident in my eyes because she said, “Even evil things get tired of death, Executioner.”
She was trading this information for her own demise. My brain almost didn’t comprehend it, but even as someone who was on the side of good I understood. Seeing death over and over gets tiring. Death was what brought Gordon and I together. Death tore us apart, only to bring us back together again. Even then it was something you tired of. It broke your spirit and your will. I understood as I looked in her eyes and I couldn’t help but feel empathy for her. She had spent so long inflicting pain and causing death. She led those lost in Hell to their final home, even torturing them on the way. I wasn’t even sure if they believed their deserved to suffer at the hands of the river that flowed with liquid fire. She led them there to burn for all eternity. In a way I knew what she was feeling, and I knew her pain. I felt it every day, but I was hoping with Lilith’s death hers would be the final one I would cause.
I hoped she knew the finality of what she was asking me as I stared at her. It was like I had spoken the question out loud because she answered it once she looked into my eyes.
“Yes Executioner, I do understand what I am asking of you. A final death, never to come back again,” she stated as she walked closer to us. She ended up almost nose to nose with me and I had to stop myself from backing away from her. My first instinct when evil was in such close proximity was to back away, but I had to show her that I wasn’t afraid of her and that she could in no way intimidate me. I stood my ground, and so did she.
The only one who was able to back me into a corner to where I felt defenseless was Lilith, and I had sufficiently learned my lesson there. Once I was able, she would learn what I was made of. It was much more than she was willing to give me credit for. After all, she thought she’d be able to easily sway me to her side. We saw how that worked out, didn’t we? She learned from it and so did I and it would never happen again. Not in this lifetime, or the next.
There was another question burning inside of me. It was one that I couldn’t ask her. I was worried that she would betray us, and we would be on our way to the river of fire. She must be able to read minds because she sighed and took a step back, shaking her head wishfully. It was like she wanted us to trust her because she was indeed trustworthy. Don’t get me wrong, some demons can be. Actually most demons can be. I had never known one to lie. Why would you when the truth is the most painful option? Even though I knew this fact, distrust was always there. What could I say? It was ingrained into me at this point and old habits are hard to break, especially those that were bred into you as a child.
Gordon than piped up and said, “Can you give us a second?” His hand travelled from my shoulder softly and gripped my hand. She nodded and Gordon pulled me off to the side and close to a neighboring fire. The chill of the darkness started to fade from its warmth as soon as I stood beside it. I almost couldn’t tear my gaze away from the roaring flames.
“Robin,” he whispered, squeezing my hand gently to get my attention. I shook my head and looked him i
n the eyes. “What are you thinking?” He was asking my honest opinion of this, and I had to be direct with him. The energies I was feeling from her in that moment as I took a quick glance at her still form told me she was telling the truth.
“She’s telling the truth from what I can tell. I’ve never really known a demon to lie. Ever.” I was being one hundred percent honest with him. Every demon I had ever encountered, him included, had never once lied to me about anything. You wouldn’t peg them for the honest kind, but they were. My trust in her was so implicit that I placed the knife back into the waistband of my pants, watching Gordon’s eyes track the blade’s movement.
“What if she turns on us? What then? I can’t say I feel as strongly as you do about this.” He was worried, and I didn’t blame him. He knew the tricks of the trade so why wouldn’t he be nervous? “To be honest, when I lived that life, it was common to tell the truth but to turn on people at the earliest opportunity. You should know this. You’ve dealt with enough of them just like I have.”
“To be honest, I was as sure as I am about her as I was about you. You have never once proved me wrong, right? Why can’t we show her the same courtesy?” I gave her another glace as I said this, drawing his eyes to her as well.
She was standing there, arms crossed over her chest. She was all grace and she didn’t even have to move a muscle. Her silhouette was even beautiful. Her gorgeous face was twisted in impatience, and I could see she was getting frustrated.
“You’re right,” he said, looking back to me. I turned back to him and I could see the trust in his eyes and there was something lingering beneath the surface. Concern and bewilderment and fear. I felt all of those same emotions as well, but I did trust her. Maybe because she was just as hurt and tired of it all as I was. That was the common denominator.
I took both of his hands and placed them over my heart, letting him feel my warmth and heartbeat against his skin. I was trying to reassure him. “Trust me, everything will be alright. We’ll get out of here, take Lilith down, and have the happily ever after I was promised by fairy tales when I was little. I promise.” All I could do was give him a comforting smile and holds his hands against my chest. I loved him so much that just looking at him I could barely breathe, and he knew it. He’d follow me to the edge of the earth and still keep going and I felt the same way. There wasn’t anything I wouldn’t do for this man standing in front of me, and that included risking everything to free us from our fire and brimstone prison.
He then did something unexpected. He moved his hands from over my heart and put them on my waist, pulling me towards him until we were touching. We were tightly pressed against each other and I had to look up at him to be able to look him in the eyes. They were as black as the darkness around us and that sparkle of life in them was one thing that had drawn me to him to begin with. In that moment of perfect trust he leaned down and kissed me so passionately I lost my breath entirely. I was so breathless I had to pull away, and a little bit of dizziness took over. Thank god he was there to steady me.
Then we heard her clear her throat and we turned to look at her. She was tapping her foot in annoyance, and I had to stifle a laugh. I didn’t find her impatience annoying at all. I found it kind of funny as a matter of fact. Disgust was also plain on her face. Apparently she wasn’t a fan of PDA like we were, or was it the humanity in us she was disgusted with? I couldn’t be sure about that, but I was certain we had an agreement. Well, halfway certain. I glanced at Gordon, letting the question go unspoken and he nodded in return. We had a deal.
I pulled away from him and he followed close behind me as I made my way back to her stoic form. Her arms were still crossed over her chest and the soot covering her body unfortunately left nothing to the imagination. From what I could see she was perfect and, well, I could see everything. I was surprised I wasn’t blushing and Gordon wasn’t gawking. Just because I was always covered in blood and other things didn’t mean I had lost all modesty yet.
I stopped in front of her and held my hand out. We would shake on it. “You have yourself a deal.”
She smiled and I knew in that instant I had made the right choice. Now, if only Lilith was able to see it my way too.
Chapter 11: Doubt & Understanding
We had made the decision that before we would start our trek we needed to rest up. Well more like I needed to rest up. I was the only human in the group after all, and when we were together on the surface it seemed like Gordon only slept because I did. Not because he had to. That left me to be the only one huddled on the ashy ground using my arms as pillows because there was nothing else and curled up next to the fire. Now that I didn’t have a shirt over my tank top the darkness was colder like it was trying to steal each ounce of heat from my body. It was like it was trying to get me to give up.
As I lay there listening to Gordon’s breathing and the crackling of the fire next to me I couldn’t help but look out into that darkness. It seemed so unforgiving and cold, like it would swallow you whole once you welcomed it in. That wasn’t in my plan. If anything, I was going to beat it and make it yield to my power. My light would drown out the dark, and that I was sure of.
The most difficult thing to do in Hell was to sleep. With all of the howls and screams that echoed through the atmosphere it made you too scared to drift off, even if you had two demons by your side who you knew would protect you. Gordon would because of his intense love for me.
The demon introduced herself as Escara after we agreed to her deal. She had come into being the moment Lilith betrayed Adam in the garden and had been trapped here ever since. I couldn't even begin to imagine what it was like to have to lure the innocent to damnation. Well, the not so innocent anyways.
Who knew what kind of sins these people actually committed? As far as I knew it could've been something as small and simple like coveting your neighbor's wife. To me that wasn't such a big infraction on character. Just human nature the way God intended, right? All I could do was play guessing games trying to figure that one out. Human nature at its finest was just as corrupt as the demons we ran away from, and this was what he had created. Then he created rules he knew we couldn't follow because he had created us this way. Wasn't that fair? Not even a little bit. So I guessed he was just as bad as we were and he thought if he could cage us with rules he could deny his own character.
Now, wasn't that depressing? I sighed and rolled over from my stomach to my side and kept my eyes closed. I was still trying to drift into sleep, but here it was too hard. Next to impossible even. The ground was hard, the ash got into your nose if you were lying the wrong way, and not to mention that anything could sneak up on you and kill you at any moment. Yes, that's what I was up against. I was betting I'd never sleep again after this.
I could hear rustling next to me and my eyes shot open. Gordon laid down beside me on his back and sighed. It was a heavy sigh and I knew he was thinking something that was more than likely worrying or depressing. He put his arm up behind his head and was looking into the empty sky where only a few embers burned. He looked so deep in thought that I didn't want to disturb him, but I had to know what it was. Was it about me? Did he really not trust Escara as much as I did? Or did he want to try to find the pit on our own and cut out the middle man?
"What is it?" I asked, scared of the answer.
He looked towards Escara and my glance followed his. She was walking silently into the darkness with grace and poise. She cocked her head like she was listening to something our ears couldn't pick up. It was very possible she did. She was better equipped to be here with all of the quiet whispers and the darkness. She was obviously on the lookout. Gordon let his head fall back onto his arm and sighed again.
“I’m still not sure about her.” He sounded like he had let me down somehow. He couldn’t feel what I felt from her and couldn’t possibly understand where I was coming from. I knew we could trust her. No doubt about it.
I leaned up on my elbow and placed my hand on his chest. I coul
d feel his warmth through the fabric of his shirt and it made me want to cuddle up next to him and never move. I couldn’t help but think that, even till the end of our deal, he would continue to doubt her. I wasn’t ready to give up on my faith in her that easily. She kept me hopeful that we could get out of here, and I definitely wasn’t ready to give up on that. I was really hoping he hadn’t.
“I know, but I am. I can feel that she really wants to be helpful. I can’t feel anything else besides that coming from her.” He had to know that there was nothing but good intentions flowing from her.
“What is that saying? The worst path is paved with the best of intentions? How can you be so sure that those good intentions won’t turn bad on us?” He turned and looked directly into my eyes and all I could see was fear.
“You wouldn’t understand. It’s just like how I knew that you were who you are without doubting it. Just like that.” I came to a sitting position and took his other hand in mine, holding onto it tightly. “You have to trust me on this.”
We sat there in the firelight for what seemed like hours just looking at each other. It was torture not to know if he really could. He took one of my hands and moved it to his cheek, closing his eyes and inhaling deeply like he had to memorize my scent before it was too late. He had a bad feeling about something. Worry and fear were emanating from every pore on his body and it was hard to ignore, almost causing me to gag on its potency.
Follow the Screams (The Executioner Trilogy Book 2) Page 5