Mathieu

by Irene Ferris

  “So very tiring,” Gaap muttered somewhere behind the face of mouths and teeth and flying ropes of saliva. The grip around Marcus’ neck tightened again and his screams faded into a choking noise that grew higher in pitch when the first small mouth made contact with his skin.

  It didn’t bite right away. At first it traced around the line of his cheekbone, up to the fold of his eyelid and then back down to nibble playfully at the edge of his nose.

  It was joined by a second mouth on the other side of his face. This too seemed more interested in teasing instead of inflicting real damage. Marcus cringed away from the orifices, shaking his head back and forth and tightly closing his eyes.

  In desperation he reached up, not to Gaap’s hands at his throat but to one of the hungry mouths at his face. He grabbed it tightly behind the teeth, squeezed and yanked with everything he had.

  The muscular stem was slimy but Marcus pulled it out and away from his face—and from Gaap’s.

  The mouth-stalk thrashed in his hand, the maw snarled and snapped, and its neighbors slashed and bit at his hand but Marcus kept his grip and kept pulling. The hands around his neck tightened and his lungs began to burn.

  A high pitched keening came from the mouth in his hand, the vibrations making the bones in his arm ache. Still Marcus kept pulling.

  The appendage in his hand suddenly went limp. Gaap just as suddenly released his neck and then hit him across the face once, then twice. Hard.

  “Look what you’ve done, you ignorant piece of filth.” Gaap stood and raged. A dead mouth dangled from its left cheek, swaying and jerking limply with every movement. The other scales and mouths writhed and thrashed in agitation. Some of them turned and bit at each other in a frenzy.

  Marcus, ears still ringing from the blows to his head, held up his arm and winced at the damage done. Blood flowed freely from multiple bites down his arm to soak into his shirt sleeve. “I won’t say I’m sorry.”

  Gaap froze and stared at him, eyes glittering dangerously. “Oh, I think you will. I think you’ll grovel and beg for my forgiveness before this night is out.”

  It made a gesture in Marcus’ direction and the young man stiffened against the cold floor, pinned by the force of the Demon’s will. With a flourish, it turned back to the pinned humans, walked over and dragged Jenn into the circle.

  She shrieked in pain as she passed through the energy barrier. It threw her to the ground with a flick of its wrist and then walked over to where she’d landed, sinuous as a cat. The mouths had retreated and the scales had slowed into a deliberate but concerted motion, their unison broken by the limp appendage hanging from the Demon’s cheek.

  Jenn tucked her legs under and rolled, crouching and backing away from the approaching creature as she scrambled to her feet.

  Gaap smiled as it prowled after her, the limp mouth stalk dangling from its cheek marring the symmetry of what had once been handsome features. “Now, what should I do to you? What would hurt your mate most? Should I rend and rape you on top of him so that your blood flows down into his nose and mouth and chokes him? Should I turn you inside out and devour you still alive in small, screaming pieces while he watches? Feed you to him? What ever should I do?”

  “It would really piss him off if you just let all of us go. True agony. Really.” Jenn glanced over her shoulder to her pinned husband before looking back.

  Gaap suddenly loomed within inches of her face. “Somehow, I doubt that.”

  She shrieked and brought her knee up as hard as she could into the creature’s groin by reflex.

  Gaap’s body shuddered with the force of impact, but it merely cocked its head at her. “Did you expect some kind of reaction to that?”

  “It would have been nice,” Jenn answered before the Demon backhanded her across the circle. Marcus made a small, muffled noise when Jenn screamed in pain upon hitting the barrier. She could see him tensing, fighting against whatever held him there.

  She rolled over to her hands and knees and looked up. Dwayne was pinned between the two Orbis walls. It had become so tight that the flannel was scorching. Silent tears ran down his cheeks, but then he froze.

  “His own mother couldn’t find him in there, but his own mother didn’t hold his heart in her hands.” Dwayne’s voice was strange and hollow-sounding as he spoke softly.

  Jenn met his eyes. But the eyes weren’t Dwayne’s. They were deep and distant and filled with compassion. Whoever was behind his eyes spoke again, “You’ll have to go as deeply in yourself, though.” Then they both looked over to where Mathieu still knelt on the floor.

  “Look out!” Dwayne’s voice suddenly rang out in its normal accent and tones.

  Jenn automatically ducked and Gaap’s hand missed her by mere inches.

  She scooted to the side, regained her feet and ran over to the kneeling form. She dropped to her knees in front of him and looked into Mathieu’s eyes. Blank and empty, they looked through her, through anything and everything in the room.

  “Mathieu, wake up. I need you.” She hesitated, reached out and then touched his cheek. It was warm and soft under her hand, the slightest burn of stubble on her palm the only pain she felt.

  She glanced over her shoulder at the Demon. Gaap cocked its head back at her, the scales still undulating calmly. It slowly walked across the circle to Marcus and with another cock of its head, kicked Marcus in the ribs. Hard.

  Marcus’ body rocked with the impact and he made a pained gurgle in the back of his throat. Gaap drew its leg back and kicked again, this time harder.

  Jenn’s eyes filled with tears at Marcus’ muffled sounds of pain. She turned back to Mathieu. Nothing had changed. He was still slack and blank, dead to her.

  “Damn it, wake up. I… we need you. Help us.” She grabbed his face with both hands and shook him, hard. The body swayed limply and then stilled.

  The sound of another kick and a soft chuckle from Gaap behind her caught her attention. She did not turn, instead concentrating on the face in front of hers. “Damn it, WAKE UP!” Now she lashed out and slapped him—once, twice, as hard as she could. The limp body reeled but there was no other reaction.

  “Bravo.” Gaap’s voice was punctuated by a slow clapping. She glanced back and saw it standing over her husband, applauding her.

  “You have all the right instincts, don’t you? Doesn’t it feel wonderful, causing pain?”

  Her breath caught in her throat as it raised its foot to stomp on her husband’s arm. She turned back and saw that a red welted handprint had raised on Mathieu’s face. There was the sound of impact and a muffled squeal behind her as Gaap’s voice continued. “Of course, he can’t feel pain any more. But I do appreciate the intention.”

  Then the voice was suddenly behind her ear. “But enough of this. Really, did you honestly think you could undo what I’ve done?” An arm wrapped around her waist, lifted her up and away. She screamed wordlessly in rage, struggled with arms and legs flailing as the creature chuckled in her ear.

  “YOU SON OF A BITCH!” She screamed the words—not at Gaap, but at Mathieu—as she was dragged backwards. “YOU DID IT AGAIN!”

  Gaap threw her down on her back and the breath left her lungs in a hard swoosh. The creature loomed above her and she struck out with both feet, kicking it hard in the stomach. It reeled back from the force of her kick and she started screaming again. “YOU KEEP LEAVING ME BEHIND!” Her breath caught in her throat as she continued softly, “You left and you never came back. You promised and you never came. You left me there to die of a broken heart.”

  Gaap came back and landed on top of her, “Touching. Useless, but touching.” The limp dead mouth dangled onto her cheek as the other scales began to slowly open and let the other gaping maws out.

  Behind them, Mathieu’s eyes moved and blinked.

  Jenn struggled, punching and pushing against the thing that was trying to hold her down. She screamed again as her hands were caught and pushed down over her head. “AND YOU KNOW WHAT? THAT DAMNE
D PONY YOU HATED SO MUCH? THAT WAS THE ONLY THING LEFT THAT LOVED ME AFTER YOU WENT AWAY AND NEVER CAME BACK! YOU FUCKING FAILURE!” She felt something sharp and wet run across her cheekbone and started sobbing. “Caramèl was all I had left to love me when you went away.”

  “Stupid beast.” The voice was low, ragged and tired. So very tired. But Mathieu swayed on his feet behind Gaap. Her handprint was still bright and red on his cheek and she felt a moment of shame for hurting him.

  Gaap stiffened on top of her but Mathieu was faster. He grabbed the Demon by the hair and hauled it backwards and off of her and onto the floor.

  It sinuously jumped to its feet and faced its Familiar. “Obviously, you need to be reminded who is master here.”

  Jenn, now forgotten, rolled onto her knees and crawled to her husband. Marcus’s eye was nearly swollen shut, his breathing was rough but he was conscious and could meet her eyes. She kissed his face gently and then looked back to the confrontation unfolding before them.

  Mathieu had moved to stand between them and Gaap, but he seemed unsteady on his feet. “Leave them alone. Let them go.”

  “You’re not in any position to tell me what to do.” Gaap strode forward and hit Mathieu hard across the face.

  Mathieu fell to his knees, gasping in pain. “Let them go,” he repeated.

  Gaap kicked out, catching Mathieu in the head. The Familiar fell backwards, blood freely flowing from a gash in his forehead. “Stop being a willful idiot and get back inside. You know they don’t want filth like you in their world, you little whore.”

  “Fuck you,” Mathieu answered from the floor.

  “Excellent idea,” Gaap answered. “That’s what sent you inside last time, after all.” It dropped to perch on Mathieu’s chest, the mouths already slavering and straining towards the Familiar’s face. “You’ve forgotten that you’re bound to me.”

  Mathieu’s voice was no longer weak or tired when he spoke this time. “And you’ve forgotten that you are bound to me as well.” He reached up, grabbed Gaap’s hands and forced then to the iron chain around his neck. “You are bound to me,” he repeated.

  Gaap struggled to free its hands but Mathieu held them to the chain that was now glowing white hot around his neck. The Familiar said calmly, “You want power? I’ll give you power. All the power I have and hold, Mestre. ”

  A glow spread from the Demon’s hands up to its arms and shoulders, and then through its chest and body. Gaap struggled to free itself from Mathieu’s grasp to no avail. Mathieu’s face was still and blank as the chain around his neck grew even brighter.

  Light began to bleed out from under each tightly held scale, and a beam of light shone out from the hole in the Demon’s cheek and still Mathieu held the hands to the chain that burned around his neck.

  A high keening came from the creature’s lips as the light escaping its scales grew brighter and brighter. Mathieu tightened his grip and curled his lip as he spoke. “Is that screaming? So very tiring.”

  Gaap’s tightly held scales exploded forward, every mouth all over its body suddenly emerging and writhing in agony, harsh, bright white light engulfing them one by one as they simply ceased to be.

  Mathieu still kept hold of the hands, his expression grim. The light grew brighter and Gaap was completely engulfed.

  Jenn leaned down to cover both her eyes and Marcus’ as the light grew even brighter. Even she could feel the power in the room rising, the energy making her hair stand on end. Marcus, now able to move, reached his good arm up and pulled her head to his chest, rolling slightly away to shield her from the other pair on the floor

  Suddenly the keening stopped and the light dimmed. She glanced up and saw Mathieu lying on the floor. Gaap was gone, but the chain around the Familiar’s neck still glowed. Mathieu’s face was still and blank, as if in deepest concentration. She made as if to move forward but Marcus held her back. “The chain is still there. It’s still alive,” he rasped.

  She looked around the room cautiously. The two circles were still up, the others still pinned between them. “I don’t see anything.”

  “I can feel it,” Marcus answered. “It’s still here, waiting.” He paused and then continued, “And I can feel all the power in here building up. It’s going to take down the house--and us with it.”

  “Close your eyes,” Mathieu barked to the room in general, his eyes still fixed on some middle place between floor and ceiling.

  Marcus grabbed Jenn’s head with his good hand again, pushing her down onto his chest

  Hot air suddenly gusted over their bodies in increasingly intense waves. Jenn whimpered in pain, a small sound that echoed in her ears. Marcus’ grip tightened around her and she tried to burrow into his chest to get away from the heat.

  Just as quickly as the heat had come, it was gone, replaced with a feeling of cool stillness. Jenn turned her head and cracked open an eyelid.

  Mathieu had somehow managed to regain his feet and was standing in the middle of the room. He held tight to the chain around his neck and scowled at a cloud of light that hovered in front of him.

  As she watched, the light began to slowly coalesce into a vaguely humanoid shape, taking on Gaap’s features.

  Narrowing his eyes, Mathieu grimly smiled and then tensed up, every muscle in his body quivering with the strain. Gaap’s figure solidified, grew brighter and then blew apart with the hissing of a thousand fireworks.

  There was so much power in the room that it was visible even to Jenn’s eyes. She watched it cascade and flow through the room, barely restrained by the two circles. She could see it lick across Mathieu’s hands as his grip ground the rusty iron links around his neck into powder. “Never again. Never.” His words were barely a whisper but she heard them clearly.

  Chapter Forty - Five

  The power still swirled over and through the room, looking for an escape. The pressure built, pushing against the inner circle, the ceiling and the floor. There was a grinding noise as the ceiling beams were shifted upwards and plaster dust began to sift down from above. Dwayne groaned as the inner circle contracted against the pressure, pushing the curtain of light into his chest.

  Marcus coughed and then spoke, his voice rough with pain, “Take the circle down. You need to let it out or it’ll take everything down.”

  “If I let it go, something else will take it and use it for something foul.” Mathieu answered as he surveyed the collapsing circles. “Don’t think you didn’t light up the entire area like a forest fire on a mountainside. There will be something evil waiting out there soon enough.”

  “You can’t keep it all in here.” Jenn answered, as she helped Marcus sit up.

  “No,” Mathieu agreed. “I can’t.” He turned to Jenn, his eyes luminous in the strange light. “I never meant to fail you. You were always first in my heart and in my soul, even when that thing had me. I would have come to you a thousand times over on my hands and knees…” He shook his head as words failed him.

  “You couldn’t. I understand. You were bound.” Jenn completed his thought, the way she remembered doing so a thousand times before hundreds of years ago.

  “I was bound,” he echoed. “It seems that not even love is not enough to defeat evil. And now neither of us are what we were, but I will not fail you again,” he said before turning back to the power that was even now making the room pulse with an alien heartbeat. With a gesture, he threw himself open and the power leapt and poured into him.

  He screamed in agony, staggered under the torrent and then choked into silence as the flow went on and on. Every nerve was aflame, every hair stood on end as he swayed and then fell to his knees with a whimper.

  The circles collapsed one after the other, the power flaring and then flowing into Mathieu’s still shuddering body. The others in the circle staggered and dropped to the floor one by one as they were freed from the magical constriction.

  Susan sobbed as she gasped for breath and crawled to Eddie, holding him in her arms as he coughed and graspe
d her back tightly.

  Dwayne lurched forward and regained his feet as he gingerly rubbed his chest where the circle had singed the flannel. “Damn. That was my favorite shirt too.” He paused to help Carol to her feet before turning back to the center of the room.

  Mathieu knelt in the center of the room, arms wrapped around his chest. A bead of sweat rolled down the side of his face as he stared at the floor. His breathing was strained and he was trembling slightly.

  Approaching slowly, Dwayne made as much noise as he could with each step before pausing a few feet away and speaking, “Little bro’? You okay?”

  A slight smile traced Mathieu’s lips and then faded. “No, Dwayne. I’m not okay. Don’t come any closer. I don’t know how much longer I can hold it all in.”

  Dwayne leaned down to catch Mathieu’s eye. “What are you talking about? You aren’t making any sense here.”

  Mathieu’s answering smile was more of a grimace. “The darkness. I’m not strong enough to hold all of Gadreel’s plus all of Gaap’s. It’s too much power.”

  Dwayne took an automatic step forward. “What the hell are you talking about, boy?”

  “Don’t.” Mathieu gasped the word and gritted his teeth as if he were holding something back. It was then that Dwayne’s attention was drawn to the earthen floor.

  “Shit. The fuck?” The floor roiled and moved as he looked at it. A dark seething mass ebbed and flowed around Mathieu’s knees. It was limited to a small circle but then tendril leaped forward towards Dwayne’s feet. Dwayne jumped back and away from it. “What the fuck is that shit?”

  “I told you: the darkness. I can’t hold it back forever.” Mathieu closed his eyes and the tendril retreated back into the main mass. “You need to get out.” He opened his eyes and looked up at Dwayne. “All of you. Get out to the outer circle in the woods. You know what to do.”

  “Do not tell me we went through all that shit just to come back to the same fucking place we were before.” Dwayne shook his head while he watched the darkness around Mathieu’s knees start to slowly spread outward.