by Darcy Town
Andy stared at his chained hands. “You’re not trash, not trash.”
The torturer poked Helion with a blade. “Helion, who does he continue to speak about?”
Helion gulped. “Belial.”
A new group of men walked in and surveyed the room. A man in black broke away from the group. “Any results?”
The torturer shook his head and stood. “No, sir. He has not given us the location of the one called Ladriam.”
The new man gazed at Helion and Andy, and then turned to Dahlia and Whitney. “Why haven’t these two been questioned?”
“They are weak, barely any Lilliam blood. What would they know?”
The man in black sat down near Dahlia and Whitney, and they leaned away. Andy snapped out of his ramblings and eyed the man. The man in black smiled. “You may call me Brian. What are your names?”
The girls kept quiet.
Brian snapped at Helion. “Their names.”
Helion stuttered. “D—Da—Dahlia and Whitney.”
Brian clasped his hands and smiled at Whitney. “Do you know what you are?”
Dahlia spoke for them, “No.”
Brian switched his gaze to her. “Why were you with these two?”
“We thought they were two handsome guys that wanted to go camping.” The lie slipped easily out of her mouth. “Can we go now?”
Brian laughed and looked at Helion. “They must be pulling in all that they can save. Still so weak though, it’s odd. I read in the report that the others were defending these two?”
The man at the television nodded. “Yes, they were defended by the dead Lilliam that we sent in.”
Brian looked the girls over. “Have they been checked thoroughly? Did you question them at all?”
The man dropped his gaze. “We’ve focused on Helion and Andrealphus.”
Brian grabbed Whitney’s hand. “Get them stripped. They could be carrying something of value.”
Two assistants pulled at clothes until Dahlia and Whitney were down to their underwear. Brian ignored Whitney. His eyes were drawn to the coiled silver bracelet and red pendant that Dahlia wore. He touched the bracelet with a pencil. “Lilliam construct.” He looked at the pendant. “Similar. Who gave these to you?”
Dahlia met his gaze. “Some friends.”
“Be more specific.”
Dahlia swallowed, her throat dry and cracked. “The pendant is from a childhood friend and the bracelet was from a former boyfriend.”
The man watched her eyes move. “She speaks the truth, but not all of it. Fallen, why do you travel with these girls?”
Helion fought with the words that spilled out of his mouth. “To get them to the City.”
“Why?”
“They’re important.” Helion broke into a sweat.
“Which one?”
Helion trembled. “Dahlia.”
“Why?”
Helion screwed his eyes shut. His pores bled. His black eye pulsed, and his white pupil expanded. Helion gasped. “So she can be sacrificed within the City.”
Andy struggled not to let the shock on his face show. Helion had lied under compulsion. That was not possible. He breathed slowly; his eyes locked on Helion.
Brian was interested. “What for?”
Helion’s black eye swiveled on its own. “If she dies, the Lilliam all gain power.”
The man turned back to Dahlia. “Interesting. What happens if she lives or dies outside of the City?”
“They do not have access to her power.”
Brian unlocked Whitney and pulled her close to him. She pulled back from him. Helion eyed them warily. Brian touched her face and then the bandage around her leg wound. “What about this one?”
“She is Dahlia’s handmaiden.”
“Is she needed?”
Helion stared at them. “Yes, but not in the same way.”
Brian backhanded Whitney.
Dahlia threw herself at him. “Do not touch her!”
Brian threw Whitney towards Helion. “I don’t need to. Kill her.”
“Whitney, fight me!” Helion grabbed Whitney’s ankle and pulled her to him. He grabbed her throat and squeezed. Whitney fought him; she screamed as he gripped harder. Helion registered her pain and glowed white and gold. He ground his teeth and fought with his hands. Whitney kicked at Helion’s stomach. He got a hand free. “Stop this! Don’t make me hurt her!”
Brian smiled. “He is strong. Break her arm.”
Helion wrenched Whitney’s arm, but did not break it. She screamed. He pulled his other hand away from her throat. His body quaked as he fought to regain control of his limbs. He pushed Whitney away from him. “No, I will not!”
Whitney crawled towards Dahlia. Dahlia reached for her. Brian eyed Dahlia, unlocked her, and threw her towards Helion. “Grab her.”
Helion grabbed Dahlia by the wrists.
Brian nodded. “Break her arm.”
Helion snapped Dahlia’s right arm over his knee. Dahlia screamed. Helion cried. Andy strained against his chains.
Brian grabbed Whitney and hauled her back over. “What is the difference between these two, Helion?”
Helion shuddered. “I am Whitney’s guardian angel, not Dahlia’s.”
The man smiled. “How odd. Punch Whitney.”
Helion held on to Dahlia with one hand. The other rose up above Whitney. He flashed with light as his compulsion to protect warred with the compulsion to obey. His arm dislocated under the strain. He could not hit her.
Brian nodded. “Punch Dahlia.”
Helion’s fist swung around and smashed into Dahlia’s face, knocking her head about.
Brian rapped his knuckles on the ground. “Gouge out Dahlia’s eye.”
Dahlia jerked and crawled away in a daze.
Helion tried to kick her out of his reach, but his hands reached for her even as he did. He struggled with himself. “Dahlia, get away from me!”
Dahlia fell over, unable to support herself on her broken arm. Brian shoved her back within Helion’s reach.
“No!” Helion howled. “Get away from me! Whitney, stop me! You can stop me! Please!”
Whitney jumped on Helion’s arm as he caught Dahlia by the hair. She bit at him, kicked, and scratched. The humans watched, interested. The man with Helion’s lamin nodded at the spectacle, touching the pendant thoughtfully.
Helion flipped Dahlia on her back. His fingers crept up her cheek. Whitney and Dahlia grabbed the hand and pushed at it, but Helion was stronger than they were. He struggled. “Stop! I do not want to do this!”
“I don’t care.” Brian smiled.
Helion’s fingernails tore through the flesh beneath Dahlia’s right eye. “No!”
Dahlia kicked at him. “Helion, I forgive you.”
Helion burst into tears. Blood pooled up around his fingers. He plunged them into her cheek.
Whitney went rigid at the sight of Dahlia’s blood. She closed her eyes and wailed. The noise hit the humans like a blow. The glass in the room shattered. The television blew out. Her scream dropped the temperature to freezing.
Terror paralyzed the humans. Helion and Andy sagged. The sound burst the tiny hearts of the rats in the walls. Her shriek called forth every cry of terror and despair ever uttered by living things. The howl of a banshee drained life and curdled blood. It stripped hope and happiness from the living.
Whitney rolled on the ground, the sound and change to Lilliam possessed her. Her blonde hair turned white, her eyes filled with darkness. Her heart stopped, but the sound continued.
Dahlia was unaffected by the noise. She held her bleeding face and pushed Helion away. She dove at the man with Helion’s lamin. In the grips of horror, he could not defend himself. She ripped the lamin off him and turned to Helion. “Helion, pick up Whitney.”
Helion heard her over Whitney’s scream. He wrapped Whitney in his arms. She wailed, unaware of anything around her.
Dahlia threw the pendant to Helion. “Catch this and go to t
he City!”
Helion caught the lamin. His strange eye rolled up in his head. Helion and Whitney disappeared. The sound stopped. Dahlia fell to her knees.
Brian punched Dahlia and threw her to the ground. “You lying Lilliam whore! How do you know how lamins work?”
Dahlia spit blood into his face. “Anyone that can go to a bookstore can figure that out!”
“You used it without preparation!” Brian pulled a shiny object from his robes, a curved hook engraved with symbols. “Tell me how!”
Andy threw himself against his chains. “That will kill her!”
Brian smiled. “Quite, though it will hurt a lot before that.” He drove the angelic blade into Dahlia’s right hand. Her flesh sizzled. Blue light radiated out from the wound, hitting her nerves with wave after wave of pain.
She screamed and bucked.
The man withdrew the blade. “I think that Helion was lying about you. I think you’re more important than just some sacrifice.”
Andy snarled. “We can’t lie under compulsion!”
Brian shrugged. “First time for everything.” He plunged the knife into Dahlia’s leg and pulled.
***
Furcas screamed.
Lucifer ripped the door to the Sanctuary off its hinges as Furcas shouted Dahlia’s name. Blood oozed out from under Furcas’ eye patch. His right hand was pierced, his right arm broken. Lucifer’s voice was a roar, “What is happening?”
The Lilliam around him concentrated. Ceres broke away. “We do not know!”
“Cutting!” Furcas wailed. A wound appeared in his leg.
Paimon shoved Lucifer out of the way. “What the fuck is going on?”
Lucifer grabbed Paimon by the wrist. “Why is he taking injuries?”
Paimon paled. “I don’t know!”
Lucifer punched the wall near Paimon’s head. Furcas cried out in pain. Another wail joined his, a piercing, ear puncturing, soul wounding cry. Paimon and Lucifer stormed out of the room. They stopped and stared.
Helion stood at the edge of the room, holding Whitney. They collapsed. Whitney’s wail was unremitting. The sound passed through stone and metal, making the corridors of the palace ring with sorrow.
The Lilliam in the room dropped to their knees. The third generation Lilliam stumbled, stronger than their offspring, they remained upright, but strained. The King and Queen crawled to Whitney.
Lucifer waved them away and pointed at Aita. “Banshee is your kind, Aita! Make her stop!”
Aita and his wife Persephone staggered over and wrapped their arms around Whitney. Persephone whispered, “Shh, you’re safe now.”
Whitney stilled and her voice cut off. She stared at the ceiling in a daze.
Helion touched her shoulder. “Whitney?”
Belial grabbed Helion and hauled him to his feet. She slapped him and hugged him. Surprised, he hugged her back. Belial looked into his black eye and touched his wings. “Brave, idiotic freak! What the fuck is up with your eye?”
Lucifer ripped the two apart. He grabbed Helion by the throat. “How did you get here?”
Helion trembled. “She banished me!”
“Who?”
“Dahlia!”
“Explain.”
“They ordered me to hurt her.” Helion held his hands up to shield himself as Lucifer snarled. He slowly dropped his hands. “Whitney screamed.”
Persephone held the girl. “The humans would have been paralyzed.”
“They were, but Dahlia wasn’t. She grabbed my lamin and ordered me to go here.” Helion thrust the pendant into Lucifer’s hands.
Lucifer brought him close. “But you have never been here. No one can teleport in except the eight and their immediate offspring. No Fallen can, not even I can do this. What you did is impossible!”
Helion quailed. “I am not lying! She ordered me here. I don’t know how it works!”
Whitney looked up, her hair a cloud of white, her eyes black. She looked like death made flesh. “He speaks the truth. One minute we were there and the next we were here.” She got up and floated an inch off the floor. She ignored the sensation. “We had our chance to escape when they tried to mess with us. Those men did not know who or what Dahlia and I were.” She looked nauseous. “They decided to play with us because Andy and Helion had told them nothing.”
Lucifer examined the pendant in his hand. He saw blood. He sniffed it and whirled on Helion. “Her blood!”
Helion burst into tears. “They ordered me to break her arm and take out her eye.”
Lucifer leapt at Helion. Belial intercepted Lucifer and threw him back. “He didn’t have a choice!”
Lucifer crouched on the ground, ready to leap. Belial flicked out claws. “None of us were punished for what we were forced to do under compulsion! He will not be either. Try it and you’ll have to come through me!”
Furcas wailed. Paimon darted back through the doorway into the Sanctuary.
Thanatos stepped out. “We have a serious problem.”
Lucifer looked back. “What now?”
Thanatos rubbed his hands. “We cannot heal Furcas.”
Lucifer glared at Belial, but followed Thanatos into the room. Paimon leaned on the wall and held in tears. Furcas had new scores across his skin. Lucifer shook in anger. “We need him healed now! What is the delay?”
Thanatos punched Furcas. Before his fist made contact, it hit a barrier. Red light forced his hand back. “He is shielded. It is something we did not create.”
Paimon paled. Furcas wailed in pain and turned, exposing his bleeding back. Paimon pointed. Lucifer shook. “Why are you showing me more wounds?”
Paimon grabbed Lucifer’s face and pulled him closer. “They’re not just wounds, they’re his wing scars! They reopened when Dahlia was taken.” Paimon let him go. “They’ve linked somehow, but not the normal guardian link, something different. He went into her memories. They’ve been sharing emotions, thoughts. He says he can get inside her head. The scars have reopened since then. I’ve been pulling her feathers out of him! Something’s happening between them, but I can’t tell you what. But I—I think they’re sharing injuries now too. The ones in her memories and the ones she suffers now.”
Lucifer’s eyes blazed blue. “Those new wounds are her wounds.”
Furcas rolled onto his back as a new slash appeared on his leg. Lucifer ripped at the shield. The barrier held. He pounded in vain.
Furcas coughed up blood as a line appeared on his face. His eye opened. “They’re killing her!”
***
Andy ripped his hands off, freeing his arms from the shackles. He threw himself at the iron circle. He could not cross the barrier; the seal kept him in place. Dahlia’s blood ran in trickles towards his grate. He could smell her, knew she was dying. He clawed at the invisible barrier. “I’ll give you anything, just stop!”
Brian looked up, his hands coated in Dahlia’s blood. “Your lamin, give it to me now.”
Andy ripped a pendant out of his arm. “Fine! Anything!”
Dahlia looked up weakly. “Andy, don’t.”
Andy threw the lamin through the barrier. Brian sank the blade into Dahlia’s shoulder and left it there. He touched the pendant and showed it to the man who had been working on Helion. “Is it real?”
The man nodded. “It is.”
Brian held up the pendant towards Andy. “Stand.”
Andy stood.
Brian eyed him. “Where is the City?”
“Underground.”
Dahlia gripped the blade with her left hand. Brian kicked her in the face. “Where exactly?”
Andy hissed. “Everywhere.”
“What do you mean?”
“It moves.”
Brian nodded thoughtfully. “Actually, that makes sense.” He sat down next to Dahlia and pulled the blade out of her shoulder. He rested the tip at her bellybutton. “But you could just be saying that, I do not know if this is yours.”
Andy’s eyes reformed and he bl
inked. “Then make me do something.”
Brian pointed to Dahlia. “Take her leg off.”
Andy strained against the barrier. “I cannot leave this circle. You know that as well as I.”
Brian eyed him. “If I let you out and this is not your lamin then you kill us all.”
Andy shrugged. “Summon me to a new circle.”
***
Berith rushed into the Sanctuary. “Something is happening to Belial!”
“What now?” Lucifer left Paimon’s side and ran out of the room. Everyone stared at Belial.
She had a bewildered look on her face. “I am not in control of my body anymore.”
Lucifer grabbed her by the shoulders. “Who had your lamin?”
Her eyes went wide. “Andy.”
***
“Summon me.” Andy stood up. “If it’s not mine, you summon another fallen angel that is under your control. If it is mine, then you have me. Either way you still have one of us under your control and caught inside a seal.”
The man eyed the pendant. He sliced Dahlia’s calf open with the blade. Andy followed its progress. The man stopped at her knee. “You lie and I will throw her in there with you to burn.”
Andy nodded. “I understand.”
Brian looked at the others. “Get the materials ready.”
***
Lucifer gripped Belial’s arm and stared into her eyes. “What do they want?”
“They were asking about the City, but they’ve stopped. I have no compulsion to act, but I am not free.”
Berith rubbed his chin. “They have invoked it, but are not using it.”
Belial managed a slight smile. “They think it’s his.”
Lucifer took both of her hands. “Be ready.”
***
Brian held out the lamin, recited words in an ancient language, and made elaborate hand gestures. The air in the room shimmered above a new circle in the floor.
Andy stayed where he was. Brian scowled and looked around.
Belial appeared in the circle, frozen and unable to move. Brian grinned and opened his mouth to order her. His smile was replaced with a frown. He backed away in horror.
Lucifer let go of Belial’s wrists and faced the room. Dahlia was in the hands of other men, bleeding and unconscious. Her blood dripped to the floor to join the pool already there. His eyes lingered on Brian’s hands and the blade he held, both covered in her blood. He raised his hand.