by JP Epperson
I should have held onto him while I had the chance. I should have told him that despite everything that happened, I still loved him as much as I always had. Tears clouded my vision and I could not hear anything other than the sound of my own despair.
Hundreds upon hundreds of memories, made up of thousands of tender moments and intimate touches, came pummeling back all at once. I remembered his laughter as I tripped over a rug and fell in his lap, his beautiful mouth framed by that perfect pair of dimples. I remembered getting agitated after five hours of working on case files, when he leaned over the table and softly tucked a stray piece of hair behind my ear. Then he kissed me tenderly and carried me to bed, where we made love for hours. I remembered when we were wrestling around on the mat for practice. As usual, he pinned me on my back and thought he won. I head-butted him and rolled, pinning him on his back. We laughed, his lips met mine and that was it—our clothes came flying off.
I remembered when we had finished our first major battle together, centuries ago. Demons trapped us and we could see no way out. Colton grabbed my head with strong hands, kissed me roughly, and told me he loved me for the first time. Confessing our love for each other gave us newfound energy, and we bulldozed our way out of the demons together.
Those words would never leave his mouth again. I would never again feel his silky lips against mine. I would never feel the smooth hardness of his muscled body against mine. Sorrow consumed me like a thick blanket of anguish. I became so lost in my emotions that I made the crucial mistake of forgetting my surroundings.
Without warning, my head was jerked backwards as someone yanked me by my hair. From the sheer size of him, I guessed male, but his attire covered him from head to toe.
Already in so much pain from my many wounds, the added heartache of the loss of Colton took with it my will to fight. I just did not have it in me. I could feel the toxins from the demonic relic spreading once more, the poison literally sucking the life out of me. I was so tired, so very tired, and I couldn’t imagine how things could get any worse.
Just need sleep, just want to close my eyes. Just for a moment…
I woke in more pain than I was in before, if that was even possible. When I tried to move, I realized my situation had taken a turn for the worse. I lifted my heavy head, but it took a few seconds for my mind to catch up with what my body was feeling. My arms were numb, and I wanted nothing more than to let them drop down to my sides. My eyes followed the length of my arms all the way to my hands. I slowly began to make sense of what I was seeing. My wrists were bound in thick, cold chains and I hung suspended twelve inches in the air by some kind of torture device. Chains also bound my ankles, spreading my legs more than a foot apart.
I forced myself not to waste precious time or energy I didn’t have attempting to break free from the shackles. I looked around, taking in everything I could see, which was not much. It was a much larger version of the room I was previously in, but with an open layout. The floors were made of concrete and the walls of brick. The smell was the same musky smell as the other room—expect for one thing. There was the distinctive overbearing copper-like odor of blood—a lot of blood.
The wall to my left was covered with what were unmistakably torture devices. Long foreboding leather whips hung beside spikey bats and blades with serrated edges. There were swords that looked like they were straight from a Hollywood kung fu movie and weapons that looked like they were from a hundred years ago. There was a table pushed against the wall with an assortment of other contraptions that I did not want to be acquainted with.
To my right was a short wall that opened to a long hall. There were several doors leading to what I assumed were small rooms.
Straight ahead of me were two tables and six chairs, all of them facing the torture area where I was chained. Further ahead past the tables was a set of heavy metal doors. Even if I could muster up the strength to get free of my chains, I knew I couldn’t make it to those doors.
As if on cue, six hooded figures barged into the room. The new arrivals walked in pairs and took their seats silently, as though torturing an angel were some sort of ritual. Their cloaks kept them cleverly hidden but allowed them to see me.
Each of the cloaked figures remained seated without any form of conversation. They were beginning to give me the creeps as they sat facing my direction in their eerie stillness. I did not like that at all.
“What are you guys supposed to be, Voldemort’s followers or something?” I laughed at my joke and regretted it immediately. The laughter made me remember the pain my body was suffering. I should not have done it; I should not have wasted my energy, but I did not like being scared, and adrenaline from my fear made me temporarily forget how badly I was hurt. Their heads turned with synchronized movements, and I had the disturbing feeling that each of them was now staring at my face.
A door slammed in the hall and two more people joined us. One was a big guy wearing a face-mask. The other was a tall, lean demon wearing a suit and carrying a small pile of papers in his hands. I would have thought he was a human if he had not turned his blood-red demonic eyes toward me.
“Wonderful, I love having an audience when I’m being tortured. It gives me so much more pleasure when I escape and seek my vengeance.”
Really, Belleeza? Again with my big mouth. I never learn, but any way I looked at this situation, I was doomed. If I was going down, I was at least going to have the last word.
The big guy chuckled and the little blood I had left running through my veins turned to ice. It was the same laugh that played on repeat in my head as I remembered him stabbing me over and over and over again from behind, keeping me from getting Colton. If what he did to me in the hotel room was only foreplay, I did not want him to be the one to torture me.
Breaking the silence, the red-eyed demon in the suit began to address the cloaked figures. “We will commence our investigation into the missing child immediately. Today we will be questioning the warrior angel officially known as Belleeza, but more commonly referred to as The Terrible Beauty.
“The inquisition will be carried out by myself, Harper, also known as The People-Eater.” Harper pointed at the masked man who had so ferociously attacked me a day earlier. “And Big Jack here will be assisting . . .”
“Questioning—is that what you call this?” I said, trying to bait Harper. “You’re lacking a bit in the people-skills department. How’s about you unchain me and I’ll give you a free lesson in interrogation?”
“Now, Ms. Beauty,” replied Harper in a quiet country gentleman-like voice. “You know this is strictly business for us. Well, I’ll admit a little pleasure too. Nevertheless, we do what we must to get things done. That doesn’t mean we should forget the niceties and lose our professionalism. This is, after all, work.”
I scoffed.
“Now, let us begin.”
Chapter Seven
Harper stood against the wall to my right with a grin on his face while he stared at me. I turned toward Big Jack to avoid Harper’s spine-chilling expression. Unfortunately, that was just as discomforting, if not worse. Jack was whistling while he chose a torture device from the wall on my left. I shivered as he picked up a blade and turned my attention instead toward the row of concealed figures.
I thought about asking them to kill me quickly because I would never talk, but I knew that did not matter. They knew who I was. They knew I would never answer to a demon, which meant this was all for show and their only intention was to humiliate me, inflict pain, and kill me.
My heart was racing, my head was pounding, and I could feel time ticking by swiftly. I knew I was about to meet a very long, painful, and drawn-out death. I clenched my sweating palms into fists just in time to steady myself before the first slash of a whip tore into my back. Jack’s strength, along with my current state of weakness, allowed the whip to tear my flesh, but I did not let myself scream. That was only the first one, and it was worse than all the pain I felt from my stab wounds.
I didn’t reply.
“Very well. Carry on, Jack.”
The crack of the whip sounded once more, and this time I could not stifle a whimper. It was then that Jack laughed and again I recognized his voice as he whispered softly in my ear.
“That’s right, Beauty. You know me. You took someone from me and now I’ll make you pay. What you just tasted was a warning shot. Now you will feel the brute of my vengeance as I whip you until all that is left of your back is a shattered spine. I will have your screams.”
“Who did I take? Your lover or your friend? Wish I could say I was sorry, but they probably had it coming—”
True to his word, Jack proved that he had only been toying with me for the first two blows. What happened next was pain enough that I begged for death.
The whip came down repeatedly. I lost count at twenty-seven, and it seemed that he got stronger with each slash. Though I couldn’t see it, I knew my back was already nothing but meat. I could feel my warm blood pouring all the way down my body. Blood fell freely from my forehead, blinding me. He became reckless with his swings, hitting every inch of my backside. My legs were numb, and yet I knew the blood was enough to cover them and my feet. I felt like my sides, too, were nothing but meat. As his whip whirled around, dicing up my body, he even covered my face with slashes.
I tried to find something to focus on and found Harper. Big mistake. His blood-red eyes were glowing and they held such an animalistic hunger that even with all the pain I was in, I shivered at the mere thought of being alone with him.
“I ask again, Ms. Beauty. Do you know where the boy is?” Harper fixed me with a steely glare while Jack searched for his next weapon of choice.
I could no longer hold my head up high. I had no idea how I was still conscious, but I knew I wouldn’t be for much longer. To my dismay, Jack did not choose another weapon—he chose a clean whip. It was the exact replica of the whip I now knew so well.
My end is near. Death is finally coming….
I felt a slight breeze from the swiftness of the whip before it made contact with my back. I moaned, and Jack’s thunderous voice roared, “You will scream for me, Belleeza!” Then he swung that whip relentlessly until my knees buckled, and I knew the only thing holding me up were the pitiless chains around my wrists and ankles.
With a barely audible voice, I whispered, “You may have my life, Jack, you may have my death, you may even have my screams, but you will never have my soul or my faith.”
“I will have it all!” Jack sliced his weapon through the air with such force that it wrapped around my neck three times, before he tugged as if to tell me that my life was in his hands and he could take it at any moment. Although I could feel my life ebbing away, there was also a strength starting to build inside me.
I replied with a raspy but confident voice, “For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
With each word I spoke, I began to feel renewed. My body was still in severe pain and the poison of their demonic relics still ran through my blood. But where a moment ago I was ready to die, I now felt a new fire burning inside me and I was ready to keep fighting.
“Romans 8:38–39,” sneered Jack. “Very good, Belleeza, but do you know this one? ‘Pride goeth before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall. Better it is to be of a humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud.’ I’m afraid you are nothing but a conceited whoremonger without a humble bone upon your body.”
“Proverbs 16:18–19,” I finished for him with a faint voice. “As black as your soul is, Jack, you do remember the word of the Lord well. I trust you also remember Romans 12:17?”
Come on, Belleeza. Keep him going.
I was trying to buy time now I had finally gotten him to forget his whip. Time for what, I had no idea. Just time. Time to think. Time so I could have a break from the agony of Jack’s strength. My adrenaline was pumping with a fresh dose of hopefulness. I felt the Lord heard my pleas and answered. He filled me with strength and courage. More importantly, I felt that I was no longer all alone. Faith is a beautiful thing. I would somehow make it out of this.
“Oh yes,” answered Jack, “I do not care for it.”
Oh of course you don’t. Evil bastard.
“Enough Bible school, Belleeza,” he went on. “Your backside is unrecognizable and still you have not given me what I desire. I shall have to get more creative.”
Oh, crap.
“Jack,” Harper said with authority. “We do not have time for these niceties.”
Niceties! Right!
“Our needs must be met before your personal revenge is to occur. That was the deal, wasn’t it?” Neither the words Harper spoke nor the color of his glowing red eyes matched the respectful country accent.
“Go on then. Ask your questions, Harper,” Jack replied shortly.
“Very well. Ms. Beauty, do you know where the boy is?”
I did not reply.
“Do you know where he is headed?”
Again, I did not reply.
“Do you know why he is wanted?
At that question, I fought not to make even the smallest movement, but I could not help my eyes looking up. I could only hope he had not noticed. He had just admitted that they too had no idea who this kid was or why he was so very important. He, like me, had received orders to find this kid with no other information. That meant whoever this kid was, he was important enough to both sides, and it was a race to see who could find him first. Before now, I assumed that they knew who or what the kid was, but apparently only a few of the highest-ranked demons and angels knew the answer to that.
Evidently, Harper saw in my eyes what I saw in his. We had a moment of shared understanding before he said, “She knows nothing. Do with her what you will. Our discussion is over.” He paused before walking out and turned back toward us. “And Jack? Do make it fast. I do not delight in the long suffering of women, angel or not. You’ve received more than your pound of flesh.”
I was grateful for that small amount of decency but somehow I did not think Jack would be heeding his orders.
As if there was some sort of signal my cloaked audience heard that I did not, they all stood up. With silent synchronized movements, they walked out of the torture chamber behind Harper. They exited down the hall and through one of the doors. I couldn’t be sure which one because I could no longer hold my head up long enough to follow them with my eyes.
A haughty laugh brought me back to the present. Jack was very happy; that was not a good sign for me.
“I no longer have to keep you alive, Belleeza. It’s just you and me all alone in this big soundproof room.” Jack had a sense of calm about him that was anything but peaceful to me. His eyes sparkled with pure madness. “What to do, what to do now? You see, I had chosen the whip so I would not lose control and kill you, but now I need not be so cautious. Now, the options are endless.”
I could feel the hair on the back of what was left of my neck standing up. Whatever he did to me would be neither quick nor painless.
Jack was taking his time walking back and forth in front of the wall of torture devices. Occasionally he picked up a weapon to feel it out and then placed it back where it belonged. I knew he was only putting on this show for my benefit. He already knew what he was going to do to me, and whatever that was, it was going to be unbearable.
“Well, Beauty, it seems I do not find any weapon to my liking. So, I have something much more suited for a warrior, such as yourself. I have an ability that is most useful and highly guarded, but as you will soon be dead, I see no need for the continued secrecy.” He leered at me, showing yellowing teeth. He was obviously enjoying drawing this out.
“Well?�
�� I snapped. “What is it?”
His grin widened. “I can turn off the powers of all angels and demons in close proximity to me.”
Impossible! I stared at him, almost forgetting my pain for a moment. I’d never heard of such a thing before and my mind reeled.
“The downside is I also lose all of my abilities until I reverse it,” Jack continued. “But as you are already dying from the demon toxins that are poisoning your bloodstream, I have nothing to worry about, because you can neither summon your abilities nor your weapons.”
Jack dramatically pressed his hands against his temples, rolling his fingers in a circular motion against the sides of his face. A gust of wind blew through the building and as quick as it happened, it was gone, but I knew it had worked. I could suddenly I feel my angel abilities but like Jack said, it was useless because even though I wasn’t as close to mortality as I thought the poison had weakened me too much to even call for help or vanish.
“Now, Belleeza,” he boomed in a triumphant voice, “the time has come for your big departure.”
“What did you have in mind?” I was barely able to choke out the words. I was dying and we both knew it. Whatever he had in mind for me would be excruciating, but it surely could not last long. I could feel the demon toxins working their magic against the last drops of pure blood I had left.
It worked like some kind of snake venom that spread until there was nowhere else to spread. Both my body and my mind were ready to let go, but my heart could not believe I did not have any more fight left in me.
“I hold the sun within me and it is time that you felt the full power of it. Goodbye, Belleeza.” Jack brought his palms up slowly, less than an inch away from my eyes.
I felt heat rising from his hands and as the seconds went by, the heat increased until it was scorching hot. The screams tore from my mouth as I felt my flesh begin to burn. My backside was in ruins and yet I bucked my body, thrashing in every direction, unable to escape the feel of what this demon did to me while he laughed. I begged the Lord to take me. I pleaded and I screamed.