Page 50

I Just Fell for Him

I n the glow of the summoning circle, all was revealed.

Vassago’s true body was hideous. He stood taller than even Rafferty with two sets of horns fanning out of his head at odd angles. Below those horns, an emaciated lion-like face split open as he talked. Within were two rows of wicked-looking, shark-like teeth. His body had a reddish shininess to it, like he had been skinned alive. His feet ended with two enormous hooves that he clomped every few words as if he couldn’t keep them still. Each foot made an irritating, crunching sound on the concrete beneath him. Behind him, his twin tails twitched and flicked as if each had a mind of its own. One seemed like a scorpion tail, flicking out over his shoulder as if at any moment it wanted nothing more than to sink into one of their bodies. The other was closer to Rafferty’s tail, a triangle that had been split into two triangles and very violently by the look of it with a horrible jagged scar. The demon tail twitched wrongly and looked painful when it didn’t, though nothing showed on Vassag o’s face.

Helena looked from Vassago to Yosef. “Listen to me—you can’t trust him. Whatever you think you’ll get out of this won’t be worth it. I pro mise you.”

Scarlet tried again to pull away, but Yosef tightened his arm on her waist.

“If you’ve done this, then it must work,” he growled as he fought against Scarlet’s thrashing. “Just stop it! I’m trying to save you.”

“Yosef, you can’t!” Helena said, realizing what was happening. “You can’t save her life this way. The cost is t oo high—!”

“Don’t listen to her. Of course it can be done. She just wants all that power for herself and her own demon, but it is not at all impossible to gain what you most desire,” Vassago said, cutting her off.

“I just want to save her life,” Yosef pleaded.

“Then stop dilly-dallying,” Vassago said, gesturing toward the circle. “You said you were willing to do whatever it takes to get what you want.”

“Yosef, no, don’t!” Scarlet screamed, but her thrashing did no good as the younger, stronger man walked them both into th e circle.

Immediately, the lines crackled and popped with purple electricity. Unearthly whispers filled the air, making the hairs on Helena’s arms and neck rise. Then Vassago stepped into the circle with them. He bent forward at the waist, like he was offering them both a gallant, courtly bow when his tails snapped out. The forked devil’s tail grabbed Yosef, pulling him toward the demon, heedless of how hard he fought while the scorpion tail stabbed Scarlet in the middle of h er chest.

“No!” Helena shouted and tried to surge forward to intervene, but Rafferty wrapped his arms around her and held her back.

“Don’t,” was all he could say because what happened next went by too fast. The scorpion tail seemed to pump and throb as Scarlet dropped to her knees. Underneath Vassago’s skin, lumps skittered up and down, like his whole form was shifting and changing as he violated the young man. Meanwhile, his mouth opened inches from Yosef’s face. While he twisted and fought, the demon grasped the back of his head and forced him toward his mouth. The creature’s tongue lolled out as he stuck Yosef’s head into his maw. The stink of his breath made Helena gag, even from several f eet away.

Then Rafferty covered her face with his hands, and all she could hear was the crunch as Vassago bit down.

She thought she was going to throw up at the sound. Then it was over as two bodies slumped to th e ground.

“Ah yes, most satisfying. Oldish soul, not as old as the one you got there, but he had a nice tang to him,” Vassago crowed gleefully. Helena could feel Rafferty shudder, and she pushed away his hand so she c ould see.

On the ground were two bodies, but their forms were covering the glow of the circle’s light, making it even darker in the room than before. But when she looked back at the horrible demon still standing there, his whirlpool eyes were clear to see in the dark.

“You lied to them!” Hele na cried.

“Shitty bargainers. Why give something away when you can just take it? Survival of the fittest; you know the platitudes. Might make right, that sort of thing. There is only so much finite power in the world, old soul, and I intend to have my share.”

His eyes raked over Helena l ustfully.

“You look like shit, Lares,” Vassago noted with a sniff. “How about this? I’m flush with power right now. Give me your little pet there, and I’ll give you enough to pay off the debt you incurred.”

“No,” Rafferty said, holding Helena tighte r to him.

Vassago looked put out, his terrible face pouting like a child’s. “You know I can just take her from you. You’re so thin on power right now. Let’s make a trade. Gimme your old soul, and I’ll save your e xistence.”

Helena felt Rafferty’s arms tighten around her, his wings creating a protective cove. She knew, she trusted, that he would never do such a thing, but she also knew that what Vassago spoke was the truth; her lover wouldn’t be able to fight in his c ondition.

Still the circle pulled and beckoned.

“Rafferty, I want to go home,” she said, her eyes still glued to the glowing lines, whispering inc essantly.

“What?” he breathed, his own focus still on the danger in the room.

Vassago scratched at the concrete, cracking it with each stamp. “Come on, Rafferty. Just take the deal and make this easier o n us all.”

Helena turned her face toward Rafferty, so she could whisper in his ear. “Take me through Hell. You did i t before.”

He growled his objection in hi s throat.

“We don’t have any other options,” she insisted.

“We won’t make it,” he said.

“But we could.” She didn’t wait for his approval. Turning, she grabbed him around the neck and threw all her weight back. He didn’t expect it and even though he tried to flare his wings to stop their fall, it was too little too late. Instead, he wrapped his arms around her and held on.

Helena could feel the pulling in of the circle draw them down, past the point they should have hit the concrete. She was mildly aware of the other bodies being pulled down with them, but she could do nothing for them, and they fell away as they sank under the surface of a vast cosm ic ocean.

Pain. Hot burn ing pain.

Helena wants to scream.

Her body burns away, pulled into the vastness around her. There is nothing between her and it. She feels it all, her fear, her anger, her sadness. It burns. She reaches for Rafferty… she reaches, but she has nothing to reach with. She is only … she is…

It’s alright, sh e thinks.

She can sti ll think.

Le t it burn.

She relaxes and allows her pain t o come in.

It burns.

It eases.

S he cries.

Sh e allows.

It goes and she is le ft empty.

She fe els love.

Her friend’s faces, her memories. She enjoys them and lets them drift into t he abyss.

She lets herself be what she al ways was.

She feels the call, the pull of oblivion. She gives in to it. There is no point in fighting. I’ll pay the debt. She repeats Raffert y’s words.

She gives it all she has. Take it. It is what you are owed.

She gives all she i s freely.

It returns it all and more.

Energy, pure and strong fills her. The power that had always been within herself and even more joins it.

She is becoming. She is aware. She understands and she knows that understanding will fade when she returns to the other reality.

But that is alright. That is how it’s suppos ed to be.

Eternity is always where she has been, even if she doesn’t remember. Even when sh e’s there.

Her love for herself, her love for the infinite, it is all the same.

She finds him, at last. He is contained within himself, clutching against the pain. He resists it, holding hims elf there.

She reaches for him, to pull him out of his dark bubble, but he can’t let go. She does touch him and feels what he feels, his pain, his sorrow, his regret. His belief that he has lost love forever and that Helena is dead.

Helena?

She remembers. She i s Helena.

I’m here , she tries to say, but he can’t step out of the darkness. He’s trapped, even though the Eternity around him calls to pull him out, he resists. Afraid to fall apart an d let go.

There are so many black bubbles. She watches as some try to eat each other, taking what little they have from each other. Unaware of the feast just outside of themselves. It’s too scary. Too unknown. She can’t reach any of them.

But she can pull him away. Back to the place where he could change. The spark within him is he r way in.

He loves her. His being sings it out. The spark of it he holds in his center. He is trying to protect it from the darkness all around him, eating him tiny bites at a time. Torme nting him.

Rafferty, take me home , she says.

He opens, just a small crack. She reaches through and takes his hand. They have hands now and the idea makes her laugh. They have bodies, created for them from the same stuff. He twists it, believing it is what he is, what he cannot hide. She has to accept that is where he is, but he does not have to be if only he coul d see it.

It is time to rise.

Time t o go home.

Time to…

Wake up.