Page 21 of Possess Us
Willow
I ’m trembling as the car turns into the long drive of the Brotherhood's meeting house.
Their dark place of worship.
They only bring me here for their human sacrifice ceremonies. Or when the rest of the Brotherhood require my "services". I start to shake, my legs pressing together as I think of all the things that have been done to me in those walls by old men seeking more power.
Fear growls as he sits in the front seat.
'What is it?' Lust asks.
'She's afraid. It's unpleasant when it's not because of me.'
It's pouring with rain, lightning illuminates the sky, and thunder crashes around us. The perfect backdrop to a massacre.
We stop at the gate, and the windscreen wipers are going like crazy. Lust is driving. Fear is upfront in the passenger seat, and Pain sits in the back with me. He’s been watching me the entire two-hour-long drive with a piercing gaze that I think is looking directly at my soul.
'So many terrible things have happened to you in there,' he says.
'Jealous they weren't done by you?' I bite back.
'They'll pay, Sweet Sacrifice. We promise.'
His words bring comfort to the dark places in my soul. And his reassuring smile delivers courage.
Stopping at the enormous gold ornate gates, adorned with images of angels and devils, I ball up my fists. It’s either that or grab at my hair, and I’m determined to save face in front of the three demons I have accompanying me on my mission.
The gates are sealed shut. Lust lowers his window.
‘State your business,’ an exceptionally well-spoken and gruff man demands through the speaker.
‘Omnes Colunt Infernum,’ Lust replies as though bored. He looks back at Fear and rolls his eyes, mouthing the word Humans as if embarrassed on our behalf.
‘Name?’
They will want his demon name. Not his given Christian name. The name given to him when he joined the Brotherhood. When he was baptised in the blood of an innocent.
But before I can tell him not to reply with Tyler, he says simply.
‘Asmodeus.’
The following silence feels endless.
Can they hear my heart hammering in my chest? Can they see it? Pretty sure it’s attempting to escape the confines of my ribcage and is about to go splat on the cream leather seats.
It hasn’t worked. The Brotherhood knows what I have done.
A buzzer sounds, and the gate opens.
When we drive over the threshold, I sit up straight, my entire body suddenly stiff and on high alert.
True, I’m with three powerful demons. But Xion has manipulated and controlled demons for almost a hundred years. Part of me thinks the devil himself would fall for his traps.
Pain’s hand grips mine, steadying the tremble wracking through my body.
‘We’ve got you,’ he says. ‘You could not be safer.’
‘I’m safe with three demons I set free from Hell, as we face a man who has made his wealth through a demonic cult as he tortured girls like me.’ I laugh, shaking my head and looking out the window at the grand house. ‘There’s a sentence I never thought I would say.’
‘If you betray us to that fucker, we will kill you,’ Fear tells me.
As he does, a cold wave of fear ripples over me. One he’s created. Not from his threat. But one he’s just manifested from nothing.
‘How would I betray you? You’re powerful demons.’
The intense feeling of fear engulfs me, darkening my vision and making it impossible to breathe. ‘And don’t you forget it.’
‘Enough!’ Lust smacks his arm, frowning at him. ‘We’re free because of her. Now we need her free of him.’
The way they stare at one another, as though sharing an unspoken conversation, makes me uneasy.
The sensation disappears as quickly as it came.
‘Do you feel that?’ Fear asks.
‘What?’ Lust replies.
‘My fear. Do you feel it?’
‘You haven’t just stopped being an ass hole?’
He shakes his head.
‘Shit. The house is protected.’ Fear turns in his seat, looking out the back window at the now sealed gate. ‘There’s an anti-demon protection seal on the property.’
‘What does that mean?’ I ask, no longer needing his fear to create the visceral sense of dread now gripping me. ‘Why wouldn’t he want you in his house? Xion loves demons.’
‘Not when he has no control over us,’ Lust says. ‘We have no powers when the sigil is in place.’ He looks back at me. ‘We can’t protect her as well as we should.’
‘If we don’t complete the deal by sunrise, we all return to Hell,’ Pain reminds him. ‘Her included. And you know as well as I do that Lucifer would love to get his hands on a Conduit. Especially one that betrayed him and set three of his demons free. We don’t leave until Xion’s life is ended.’
The sound of a roaring engine becomes deafening. We look to the right, just in time to see an armoured truck heading straight for us.
Pain throws himself over me, wrapping his arms around me just before we’re rammed.
Grinding metal and screeching tyres are the last things I hear before everything goes black.