Post by thefangedrose on Nov 11, 2023 18:02:44 GMT -8
Disclaimer
This series contains elements of a supernatural nature and will play a parody of the Judao-Christian faith. It is not meant to be mocking or subversive and is simply done for a creative outlet.
This chapter also contains graphic elements that may be disturbing for some. If you are sensitive to violence?
You. Were. Warned.
The supernatural elements of this storyline were not always present. “The Pact” is a concept that kept Jesse’s original “Walk the Line” idea alive while honoring that none of them had these “abilities” five years ago.
Hope you enjoy it.
I give you Chapter 10!
As the sun rose the following morning, those in the collective began to make phone calls. Urgent flights from all over the U.S. began, non-stop commercial flights that had their contacts landing in N.C. by the next afternoon.
When they sent out an SOS, people answered.
Steph’s entire crew rolled up around noon and got to work immediately to ensure all the cars, trucks, and motorcycles in the Kingdom’s large garage were filled with fuel. All facing the doors in case they needed to get away.
Lluvia’s mother and her husband arrived shortly after and Bella got to work moving supplies from the kitchen down into the bunker in case the stay of those inside proved to be prolonged. They would need food and water.
Her husband however sought out Mary, Morgan, and Jasmine and asked if they could use another strong hand. They accepted happily. They would need all the help they could get in this fight if Rivers was right.
Morgan arrived from the airport and walked someone no one saw into the garage with the others where Michael met with them. If this went bad, they would be integral to their escape.
The most surprising of the guests however turned up as the clock hit two. Jasmine and Lluvia were standing in the hallway leading deeper into the house when a deep voice called both of their attention to the opened door.
“Heard you got something comin?” The male voice said.
The two women looked over and Lluvia squealed with glee.
“Javier!”
She ran to the door where she jumped up into one of his arms and the Man who felt no pain wrapped one arm around her. He set Lluvia gently down on her feet and looked over her at the newly returned Queen with a questioning look.
He hadn’t left on the best of terms and honestly, he wasn’t sure how well he would be received.
“This cool?”
Jasmine’s face was blank as she approached him. Lluvia looked between the two and stepped out of the way as her wife approached the Hispanic man. Javier watched her in silence a bit apprehensive until Jasmine reached up and laid a hand on his muscular chest.
“God, I missed you, my friend.”
Javier felt the hot tears sting his eyes as he swallowed back the lump in his throat. After a blink, he nodded and answered.
“You all were never far from my heart my Queen.”
“Tha fuck you been?” A female voice said.
Javier looked over and found Morgan leaning on the corner of the doorway of the Kitchen.
“Big ol’ Rico Suave lookin’ ass motherfucker.”
Javier grinned and lifted a hand giving the Italian woman the finger.
“Hello to you Morgan.”
“Who you cursing at Morggy?”
A sweet little country voice asked and the blonde girl poked her head out. When Stephanie saw Javier her whole face lit up.
“JAVY!” She then blushed and grinned the tiniest little grin. “Still weird not calling you Tren.”
Javier grinned a bit in return and lifted his head in greeting.
“Hey there Country. So, what is happening?”
Javier asked looking around at all the hustle and bustle going on. The Kingdom was preparing for something big and it didn’t have to do with their jobs. It looked like his old friends were locking down for a siege.
“We have a fighting coming,” Jasmine told him.
“Piss someone off at work?” Javier joked.
“The Devil.” Said Mary as she walked by carrying a large cardboard box toward the open elevator in the back wall of the hallway. She stopped long enough to lean up and press a kiss to his cheek and give him a ‘yes I am serious’ look before heading into the elevator.
“El….Diablo?” Javier asked with a lifted brow and looked around at the others wondering if they were actually, serious. Jasmine and Morgan just nodded softly at Javier. Once he was sure they were serious he looked down at Jasmine and shook his head. “You’re gonna have to double my fee.”
“Tren?” Jasmine called him by his old name which got a little sparkle in his eyes. “We survive this? I’ll fucking triple it?”
“Three of ya’ll?” Javier asked with a grin looking around at the girls.
Jasmine slapped the back of her hand off his chest with a laugh.
“Focus big man.”
Javier looked behind him at a huge hulking figure walking up the driveway with a small blonde woman he had never seen before. She was perhaps five foot 4 with straight blonde hair and appeared to be around 26 or 24 wearing a mini skirt and fur coat.
“Who the fuck is that?” Javier asked his head snapping back around to Jasmine.
Jasmine looked around him and her eyes took on this haunted look. Lluvia, seeing the look, followed her gaze and then looked back up at Javier.
“That…is a long story, big guy.” She told him. “Come on…let us get everything ready.”
Other than handling the special guest that Morgan had called, Michael remained in his room. He knew what was coming, he needed to prepare himself. It wasn’t the battle, this one wouldn’t be his first and he doubted all things considered that it would be his last.
He had spent his entire life being the guardian.
Being the lone figure standing between someone and harm.
And now….?
His thoughts were broken by the softest knock on the door. His head came up from where it rested in his hands.
“Yes?”
The door opened and a slender blonde woman stepped inside. Her eyes took in first the room and then the mat sitting on the bed. If not for the cane resting on the side of the bed you wouldn't think anything was wrong with him.
He was in his late thirties, perhaps a little older with short brownish blonde hair. Stubble covered his cheeks, chin, and jaw and he wore a simple pair of blue jeans and a faded black shirt. The only thing strange about him was the haunted, almost pained look in his eyes.
“My.” The girl said with a sultry tone to her voice. “You are cuter than I imagined.”
“...Thank you.”
The woman crossed the room pulling off the fur coat to reveal a white button-up blouse on beneath it as she did. Setting the coat down on the back of a chair near a desk next to the bed she then sank onto it next to him.
“....May I ask you something?”
The woman looked over at him and let out a small little laugh.
“You can ask me anything you want Sugar, I’ve already been paid. It’s your dime.”
“...Why do you do what you do?” Michael asked looking up and over at her. “Someone depending on you?”
It wasn’t that he didn’t trust the thing that was walking around in one of his oldest enemies' skin…well, yes it was actually. The woman let out a little laugh and shook her head.
“No, nothing like that.” The young woman answered. “I always enjoyed it in high school and if you can make money at it and don’t ever intend to settle down? Work what your momma gave you right?”
The woman flashed him a warm disarming smile and Michael offered her a sad one of his own in return. After a brief moment of silence between the two her hands went up to her blouse and began to unbutton the buttons. She got the first two done before Michael reached up and brushed his hand through her hair.
“Stop….” He whispered.
The woman offered him a smile as she assumed he had wanted to do this himself but when his hand cupped her cheek oh so gently and he leaned in she gave him the smallest, sweetest smile. It was only the rarest of men who would kiss someone like her and truth be told?
She liked it.
Their lips got inches apart when she felt a cold object move along her collarbone and then suddenly both of Michael’s hands were at the back of her neck. The muscles of his shoulders and biceps tensed as the woman was suddenly tugged so her back was pressed into his shoulder.
…With a clear piece of ethernet cable tightly wrapped around her throat.
The woman thrashed and struggled, her hands coming up and her fingertips pressed to the plastic trying to get it loosened. Once she realized it wasn’t possible to loosen it her hands moved to his forearms behind her neck and she started to scratch long bloody trails but Michael never so much as loosened his grip.
She managed to get her head around enough to see his face and in her fear and panic, she couldn’t understand what she was seeing.
Tears were rolling from the older man’s eyes. Pain shined from every line of his face and yet he never so much as hesitated.
The whole process took a little over two minutes before she went still, her head lulled to the side and rested on his shoulder. His right hand released his grip on the plastic and his left slowly slid it out from around the woman’s neck.
He sat there still for a moment. It was as if he was the one who wasn’t breathing anymore. Then his arm moved and he brushed his fingers through her hair, tears streaming down his face as he whispered.
“I’m sorry….” He whispered between sobbing tears. "I'm so so sorry...."
But he knew.
It was far too late to apologize now.
“John….”
The voice that came out was barely a whisper and he cleared his throat trying again, this time more forcefully.
“John!”
Footsteps announced the former demon coming down the hallway and then the door opened. When he saw Michael and the now deceased prostitute he rushed in in shock.
“What happened?!” John demanded. “Was she working for them? Did she attack you?”
“Pick her up…” Michael whispered and pushed himself from the bed with his cane. “Bring her….”
John looked between Michael and the young woman and then saw the ethernet cord lying abandoned on the bed.
“Michael….” John whispered in horror. “What did you do?”
“....” Michael looked up at the reformed Sinner, every line of his face was a mask of misery and self loathing. "What was necessary."
Michael answered and walked from the room as John walked over to the woman and tenderly picked her up. Following behind him as Michael descended the stairs they entered the main room where the others were discussing preparations.
As they did all eyes turned to them. First to Michael and then John behind him….and then to the woman lying limp in his arms. Jasmine's eyes shot to Michael in outrage.
“You fucking didn’t!?” She demanded.
Michael said nothing, just stood there as the collective group of men and women let out their feelings about what Michael had done. The word “Monster” was thrown around quite a bit. Once they had all had their chance to blow up Michael turned his eyes to Lily.
“Come.” He ordered.
“Tha fuck she will!” Morgan snapped.
Javier stepped between Michael and Lily and crossed his arms over his chest. This man had just killed a woman in cold blood. Javier wasn’t letting Lily out of his sight.
“I don’t fucking think so Cabron.”
Lily reached up and touched Javier’s arm.
“It’s okay….” She then looked at Michael. “What do you want?”
“I need to know where it opens.”
Michael understood their hesitation now. They were confused, confused, and a little scared. This was new.
This was dangerous.
“The exact spot. To the inch.”
Lily nodded and stepped around Javier, who cast a look at Jasmine and the woman nodded as if telling him to go with them and protect Lily.
Together the four of them left the house and headed into the woods where the other former Demons were now using ropes attached to a large pallet that wheels had been attached to and was being used to move the stone sarcophagus.
The group made their way through the woods as the sun began to set. When they reached a small open clearing Lily motioned to the ground to her left.
“There.”
“You are sure?” Michael demanded. “It needs to be exact.”
Lily just stared at him and crossed her arms over her chest. Michael lifted his arms in defeat and watched as the Demons moved the sarcophagus into position. Once they had and it was lying on the flat ground he watched as they pushed the lid over and John eased the woman’s body into it. Once it was inside the former demons pushed the lid back into place.
“We will be going back now,” Lily informed them. “They will be putting people in the bunker soon and We should be in it.”
Back the way they came the lights of the city shined brightly through the trees until they didn’t. Suddenly the whole forest was plunged into darkness as every light in the city beyond the trees suddenly went dark.
Michael’s head spun around to look the way they had come.
“They are coming.”
Javier did the same and looked back at the former Lord Lucifer.
“Can we get her back to the castle?”
Michael looked down at the watch on his wrist.
‘6:29’
It had taken them nearly an hour of slow travel to get here. At a run they could make it in 15 but still….
“Not a chance.”
He knew that if he remained inside the castle grounds Michael would never be able to do this. He would find a way to make him do it, and this was something Michael had to do. This was his sacrifice to make.
So the masked man had simply decided to take a walk around the city of Asheville. The hustle and bustle on the street seemed to thin out the longer he was out. As if the people on the streets, like the prey they were, could sense a storm was coming.
Fewer and fewer people seemed to be roaming the streets until he was walking down a street alone. He wore the hood of his coat up to keep people from seeing the mask on his face and his head downcast.
He was out about half an hour while just wandering around the area near the castle gates when suddenly he found himself standing in the dark as the lights of the city suddenly shut off with an audible thud.
The voice carried on the wind as a whisper and yet no one stood on the street with him. His eyes scanned the streets and found nothing but darkness.
The voice called out in the same whisper, this time from the other side of the street. A low growl left his throat as his eyes scanned this side of the street and found nothing.
This time the voice came directly from his left down an alley, with the softest little giggle. The soft growl came again but he turned and walked down the alley. As he did a door to his left creaked open revealing an empty warehouse beyond.
As he walked inside a shadow passed overhead as if someone had jumped from one roof to the other, and then a second and a third. Slow steps carried him into the building a step at a time until a shadow darted up the stairs to his right.
“Stop playing games!” The voice of the masked man shouted.
“But they are so fun.” A voice called out from the roof above him.
As he looked up he saw a pale white face looking down at him from the cracks in the ceiling. Heavy steps carried him up the stairs to the empty second floor of the warehouse. Step by step he crossed the room, pale blue eyes darting this way and that. As he neared a concrete pillar holding the ceiling up suddenly something slammed into his side driving his head into the pillar with such force the concrete cracked and pieces of it crumbled.
He spun around, throwing out a back fist that caught nothing but air. When he finished his revolution suddenly a pale face was inches from his own. A man nearly as big as he was with solid black eyes and black blood-like veins spreading out from its eyes.
A woman stood on each side of him who looked the same only much smaller, one with brown hair and one with red. The male took three rushing steps toward a window on the wall, the Sins boots dragging on the floor before it was launched into the air.
The back of the coat slammed into the window and he was left in free fall for a floor before he slammed into the hood of a car. The masked man let out a groan as he pushed himself up from the dented hood. When his feet touched the concrete he knew he wasn’t alone.
The stench of tar and blood assaulted his senses. He could hear the clicking of the nails on the road as the huge dogs walked. His head turned and he saw them coming out of the darkness. Lord Lucifer walked at their head with the whole host of his Angels, two dozen demons, and more Hellhounds than he could count. Behind him, the three demons came out of the ally laughing blocking his path toward the castle.
Lord Lucifer raised his hands as he had done on the storage crate motioning forward.
“No survivors.”
The masked man turned and sprinted at the castle. As he neared another car he jumped up onto the truck and then the hood launching himself in the air and hoping to clear the demons but the big male jumped and The Sins met him in midair with a right hand that sent him off course and colliding with one of the charging Hellhounds.
The masked man landed back first on the roof of another car and rolled to the hood and then to the concrete where he looked behind him briefly. The Hellhounds were out in front and running hard while the others followed behind.
It took off at a dead sprint at the castle, the coat swaying this way and that. He only needed to clear a couple of blocks but the hounds were closing fast.
The gate was within view and opened by the caramel-skinned woman with beautiful blonde hair. When she saw what was coming her eyes widened and she turned to scream at the castle behind her.
“THEY’RE COMING! GET EVERYONE INSIDE!”
As she turned back around to look the masked man spun around as a Hellhound pounced. He has one of the front paws in his left hand and the jaws its his right. The Hound hit him launching him off his feet where he slammed back first into the heavy metal gate.
The force of the impact tore the gate off its hinges and slammed him onto his spine in the driveway where the hound was thrown off and landed on the windshield of a car in the driveway, breaking it.
The woman with the blonde curly hair was hit by the force of the gate crashing open and launched into the grass where she landed on her shoulders and the back of her head. She lay there dazed as the Hounds and Demons closed in on the now-opened gate on one side while the Collective and their allies exited the doors of the large mansion on the other.
This series contains elements of a supernatural nature and will play a parody of the Judao-Christian faith. It is not meant to be mocking or subversive and is simply done for a creative outlet.
This chapter also contains graphic elements that may be disturbing for some. If you are sensitive to violence?
You. Were. Warned.
The supernatural elements of this storyline were not always present. “The Pact” is a concept that kept Jesse’s original “Walk the Line” idea alive while honoring that none of them had these “abilities” five years ago.
Hope you enjoy it.
I give you Chapter 10!
Civil War 2
Chapter 10
“Sacrifice”
Location: Asheville North Carolina
Date: November 12th
Time: 5:00 PM
As the sun rose the following morning, those in the collective began to make phone calls. Urgent flights from all over the U.S. began, non-stop commercial flights that had their contacts landing in N.C. by the next afternoon.
When they sent out an SOS, people answered.
Steph’s entire crew rolled up around noon and got to work immediately to ensure all the cars, trucks, and motorcycles in the Kingdom’s large garage were filled with fuel. All facing the doors in case they needed to get away.
Lluvia’s mother and her husband arrived shortly after and Bella got to work moving supplies from the kitchen down into the bunker in case the stay of those inside proved to be prolonged. They would need food and water.
Her husband however sought out Mary, Morgan, and Jasmine and asked if they could use another strong hand. They accepted happily. They would need all the help they could get in this fight if Rivers was right.
Morgan arrived from the airport and walked someone no one saw into the garage with the others where Michael met with them. If this went bad, they would be integral to their escape.
The most surprising of the guests however turned up as the clock hit two. Jasmine and Lluvia were standing in the hallway leading deeper into the house when a deep voice called both of their attention to the opened door.
“Heard you got something comin?” The male voice said.
The two women looked over and Lluvia squealed with glee.
“Javier!”
She ran to the door where she jumped up into one of his arms and the Man who felt no pain wrapped one arm around her. He set Lluvia gently down on her feet and looked over her at the newly returned Queen with a questioning look.
He hadn’t left on the best of terms and honestly, he wasn’t sure how well he would be received.
“This cool?”
Jasmine’s face was blank as she approached him. Lluvia looked between the two and stepped out of the way as her wife approached the Hispanic man. Javier watched her in silence a bit apprehensive until Jasmine reached up and laid a hand on his muscular chest.
“God, I missed you, my friend.”
Javier felt the hot tears sting his eyes as he swallowed back the lump in his throat. After a blink, he nodded and answered.
“You all were never far from my heart my Queen.”
“Tha fuck you been?” A female voice said.
Javier looked over and found Morgan leaning on the corner of the doorway of the Kitchen.
“Big ol’ Rico Suave lookin’ ass motherfucker.”
Javier grinned and lifted a hand giving the Italian woman the finger.
“Hello to you Morgan.”
“Who you cursing at Morggy?”
A sweet little country voice asked and the blonde girl poked her head out. When Stephanie saw Javier her whole face lit up.
“JAVY!” She then blushed and grinned the tiniest little grin. “Still weird not calling you Tren.”
Javier grinned a bit in return and lifted his head in greeting.
“Hey there Country. So, what is happening?”
Javier asked looking around at all the hustle and bustle going on. The Kingdom was preparing for something big and it didn’t have to do with their jobs. It looked like his old friends were locking down for a siege.
“We have a fighting coming,” Jasmine told him.
“Piss someone off at work?” Javier joked.
“The Devil.” Said Mary as she walked by carrying a large cardboard box toward the open elevator in the back wall of the hallway. She stopped long enough to lean up and press a kiss to his cheek and give him a ‘yes I am serious’ look before heading into the elevator.
“El….Diablo?” Javier asked with a lifted brow and looked around at the others wondering if they were actually, serious. Jasmine and Morgan just nodded softly at Javier. Once he was sure they were serious he looked down at Jasmine and shook his head. “You’re gonna have to double my fee.”
“Tren?” Jasmine called him by his old name which got a little sparkle in his eyes. “We survive this? I’ll fucking triple it?”
“Three of ya’ll?” Javier asked with a grin looking around at the girls.
Jasmine slapped the back of her hand off his chest with a laugh.
“Focus big man.”
Javier looked behind him at a huge hulking figure walking up the driveway with a small blonde woman he had never seen before. She was perhaps five foot 4 with straight blonde hair and appeared to be around 26 or 24 wearing a mini skirt and fur coat.
“Who the fuck is that?” Javier asked his head snapping back around to Jasmine.
Jasmine looked around him and her eyes took on this haunted look. Lluvia, seeing the look, followed her gaze and then looked back up at Javier.
“That…is a long story, big guy.” She told him. “Come on…let us get everything ready.”
**
Location: Asheville North Carolina
Date: November 12th
Time: 5:35 PM
Other than handling the special guest that Morgan had called, Michael remained in his room. He knew what was coming, he needed to prepare himself. It wasn’t the battle, this one wouldn’t be his first and he doubted all things considered that it would be his last.
He had spent his entire life being the guardian.
Being the lone figure standing between someone and harm.
And now….?
His thoughts were broken by the softest knock on the door. His head came up from where it rested in his hands.
“Yes?”
The door opened and a slender blonde woman stepped inside. Her eyes took in first the room and then the mat sitting on the bed. If not for the cane resting on the side of the bed you wouldn't think anything was wrong with him.
He was in his late thirties, perhaps a little older with short brownish blonde hair. Stubble covered his cheeks, chin, and jaw and he wore a simple pair of blue jeans and a faded black shirt. The only thing strange about him was the haunted, almost pained look in his eyes.
“My.” The girl said with a sultry tone to her voice. “You are cuter than I imagined.”
“...Thank you.”
The woman crossed the room pulling off the fur coat to reveal a white button-up blouse on beneath it as she did. Setting the coat down on the back of a chair near a desk next to the bed she then sank onto it next to him.
“....May I ask you something?”
The woman looked over at him and let out a small little laugh.
“You can ask me anything you want Sugar, I’ve already been paid. It’s your dime.”
“...Why do you do what you do?” Michael asked looking up and over at her. “Someone depending on you?”
It wasn’t that he didn’t trust the thing that was walking around in one of his oldest enemies' skin…well, yes it was actually. The woman let out a little laugh and shook her head.
“No, nothing like that.” The young woman answered. “I always enjoyed it in high school and if you can make money at it and don’t ever intend to settle down? Work what your momma gave you right?”
The woman flashed him a warm disarming smile and Michael offered her a sad one of his own in return. After a brief moment of silence between the two her hands went up to her blouse and began to unbutton the buttons. She got the first two done before Michael reached up and brushed his hand through her hair.
“Stop….” He whispered.
The woman offered him a smile as she assumed he had wanted to do this himself but when his hand cupped her cheek oh so gently and he leaned in she gave him the smallest, sweetest smile. It was only the rarest of men who would kiss someone like her and truth be told?
She liked it.
Their lips got inches apart when she felt a cold object move along her collarbone and then suddenly both of Michael’s hands were at the back of her neck. The muscles of his shoulders and biceps tensed as the woman was suddenly tugged so her back was pressed into his shoulder.
…With a clear piece of ethernet cable tightly wrapped around her throat.
The woman thrashed and struggled, her hands coming up and her fingertips pressed to the plastic trying to get it loosened. Once she realized it wasn’t possible to loosen it her hands moved to his forearms behind her neck and she started to scratch long bloody trails but Michael never so much as loosened his grip.
She managed to get her head around enough to see his face and in her fear and panic, she couldn’t understand what she was seeing.
Tears were rolling from the older man’s eyes. Pain shined from every line of his face and yet he never so much as hesitated.
The whole process took a little over two minutes before she went still, her head lulled to the side and rested on his shoulder. His right hand released his grip on the plastic and his left slowly slid it out from around the woman’s neck.
He sat there still for a moment. It was as if he was the one who wasn’t breathing anymore. Then his arm moved and he brushed his fingers through her hair, tears streaming down his face as he whispered.
“I’m sorry….” He whispered between sobbing tears. "I'm so so sorry...."
But he knew.
It was far too late to apologize now.
“John….”
The voice that came out was barely a whisper and he cleared his throat trying again, this time more forcefully.
“John!”
Footsteps announced the former demon coming down the hallway and then the door opened. When he saw Michael and the now deceased prostitute he rushed in in shock.
“What happened?!” John demanded. “Was she working for them? Did she attack you?”
“Pick her up…” Michael whispered and pushed himself from the bed with his cane. “Bring her….”
John looked between Michael and the young woman and then saw the ethernet cord lying abandoned on the bed.
“Michael….” John whispered in horror. “What did you do?”
“....” Michael looked up at the reformed Sinner, every line of his face was a mask of misery and self loathing. "What was necessary."
Michael answered and walked from the room as John walked over to the woman and tenderly picked her up. Following behind him as Michael descended the stairs they entered the main room where the others were discussing preparations.
As they did all eyes turned to them. First to Michael and then John behind him….and then to the woman lying limp in his arms. Jasmine's eyes shot to Michael in outrage.
“You fucking didn’t!?” She demanded.
Michael said nothing, just stood there as the collective group of men and women let out their feelings about what Michael had done. The word “Monster” was thrown around quite a bit. Once they had all had their chance to blow up Michael turned his eyes to Lily.
“Come.” He ordered.
“Tha fuck she will!” Morgan snapped.
Javier stepped between Michael and Lily and crossed his arms over his chest. This man had just killed a woman in cold blood. Javier wasn’t letting Lily out of his sight.
“I don’t fucking think so Cabron.”
Lily reached up and touched Javier’s arm.
“It’s okay….” She then looked at Michael. “What do you want?”
“I need to know where it opens.”
Michael understood their hesitation now. They were confused, confused, and a little scared. This was new.
This was dangerous.
“The exact spot. To the inch.”
Lily nodded and stepped around Javier, who cast a look at Jasmine and the woman nodded as if telling him to go with them and protect Lily.
Together the four of them left the house and headed into the woods where the other former Demons were now using ropes attached to a large pallet that wheels had been attached to and was being used to move the stone sarcophagus.
The group made their way through the woods as the sun began to set. When they reached a small open clearing Lily motioned to the ground to her left.
“There.”
“You are sure?” Michael demanded. “It needs to be exact.”
Lily just stared at him and crossed her arms over her chest. Michael lifted his arms in defeat and watched as the Demons moved the sarcophagus into position. Once they had and it was lying on the flat ground he watched as they pushed the lid over and John eased the woman’s body into it. Once it was inside the former demons pushed the lid back into place.
“We will be going back now,” Lily informed them. “They will be putting people in the bunker soon and We should be in it.”
Back the way they came the lights of the city shined brightly through the trees until they didn’t. Suddenly the whole forest was plunged into darkness as every light in the city beyond the trees suddenly went dark.
Michael’s head spun around to look the way they had come.
“They are coming.”
Javier did the same and looked back at the former Lord Lucifer.
“Can we get her back to the castle?”
Michael looked down at the watch on his wrist.
‘6:29’
It had taken them nearly an hour of slow travel to get here. At a run they could make it in 15 but still….
“Not a chance.”
**
Location: Asheville North Carolina
Date: October 23rd
Time: 6:00 PM
He knew that if he remained inside the castle grounds Michael would never be able to do this. He would find a way to make him do it, and this was something Michael had to do. This was his sacrifice to make.
So the masked man had simply decided to take a walk around the city of Asheville. The hustle and bustle on the street seemed to thin out the longer he was out. As if the people on the streets, like the prey they were, could sense a storm was coming.
Fewer and fewer people seemed to be roaming the streets until he was walking down a street alone. He wore the hood of his coat up to keep people from seeing the mask on his face and his head downcast.
He was out about half an hour while just wandering around the area near the castle gates when suddenly he found himself standing in the dark as the lights of the city suddenly shut off with an audible thud.
“Hey.”
The voice carried on the wind as a whisper and yet no one stood on the street with him. His eyes scanned the streets and found nothing but darkness.
“Over here….”
The voice called out in the same whisper, this time from the other side of the street. A low growl left his throat as his eyes scanned this side of the street and found nothing.
“Come ‘er…”
This time the voice came directly from his left down an alley, with the softest little giggle. The soft growl came again but he turned and walked down the alley. As he did a door to his left creaked open revealing an empty warehouse beyond.
As he walked inside a shadow passed overhead as if someone had jumped from one roof to the other, and then a second and a third. Slow steps carried him into the building a step at a time until a shadow darted up the stairs to his right.
“Stop playing games!” The voice of the masked man shouted.
“But they are so fun.” A voice called out from the roof above him.
As he looked up he saw a pale white face looking down at him from the cracks in the ceiling. Heavy steps carried him up the stairs to the empty second floor of the warehouse. Step by step he crossed the room, pale blue eyes darting this way and that. As he neared a concrete pillar holding the ceiling up suddenly something slammed into his side driving his head into the pillar with such force the concrete cracked and pieces of it crumbled.
He spun around, throwing out a back fist that caught nothing but air. When he finished his revolution suddenly a pale face was inches from his own. A man nearly as big as he was with solid black eyes and black blood-like veins spreading out from its eyes.
A woman stood on each side of him who looked the same only much smaller, one with brown hair and one with red. The male took three rushing steps toward a window on the wall, the Sins boots dragging on the floor before it was launched into the air.
The back of the coat slammed into the window and he was left in free fall for a floor before he slammed into the hood of a car. The masked man let out a groan as he pushed himself up from the dented hood. When his feet touched the concrete he knew he wasn’t alone.
The stench of tar and blood assaulted his senses. He could hear the clicking of the nails on the road as the huge dogs walked. His head turned and he saw them coming out of the darkness. Lord Lucifer walked at their head with the whole host of his Angels, two dozen demons, and more Hellhounds than he could count. Behind him, the three demons came out of the ally laughing blocking his path toward the castle.
Lord Lucifer raised his hands as he had done on the storage crate motioning forward.
“No survivors.”
The masked man turned and sprinted at the castle. As he neared another car he jumped up onto the truck and then the hood launching himself in the air and hoping to clear the demons but the big male jumped and The Sins met him in midair with a right hand that sent him off course and colliding with one of the charging Hellhounds.
The masked man landed back first on the roof of another car and rolled to the hood and then to the concrete where he looked behind him briefly. The Hellhounds were out in front and running hard while the others followed behind.
It took off at a dead sprint at the castle, the coat swaying this way and that. He only needed to clear a couple of blocks but the hounds were closing fast.
The gate was within view and opened by the caramel-skinned woman with beautiful blonde hair. When she saw what was coming her eyes widened and she turned to scream at the castle behind her.
“THEY’RE COMING! GET EVERYONE INSIDE!”
As she turned back around to look the masked man spun around as a Hellhound pounced. He has one of the front paws in his left hand and the jaws its his right. The Hound hit him launching him off his feet where he slammed back first into the heavy metal gate.
The force of the impact tore the gate off its hinges and slammed him onto his spine in the driveway where the hound was thrown off and landed on the windshield of a car in the driveway, breaking it.
The woman with the blonde curly hair was hit by the force of the gate crashing open and launched into the grass where she landed on her shoulders and the back of her head. She lay there dazed as the Hounds and Demons closed in on the now-opened gate on one side while the Collective and their allies exited the doors of the large mansion on the other.
“It’s too late to apologize…it’s too late.”
