Page 22 of Possess Us

Willow

M y ears are filled with a painfully high-pitched ringing, and as I blink open my eyes, the agony of what’s just happened registers.

Yep. A massive truck just slammed into the side of the car and sent us flying. We rolled several times before I blacked out. Now, I’m lying on the roof, still inside the vehicle, surrounded by broken glass.

With my next blink, I’m being pulled from the window by my ankles and into the freezing cold rain. I’m limp, looking up at the sky as pain, not the sexy demon bastard, but very real pain, makes me unable to move or even speak.

Blood spews down my face, burning my eyes and filling my mouth.

Fear towers over me.

‘Good. You’re alive,’ he breathes, pulling me up. I sway and fall back into his arms, groaning as I try not to puke, and to stay the fuck awake. ‘Can you stand?’

I rest my head on his chest, desperately trying to regain control of myself. My legs buckle, but he keeps me up.

‘Take that as a no,’ he mutters, wrapping his arm tighter around me and pinning me to his chest. ‘I forget how fragile humans are.’

We’re behind the wreck of the car. Around us, screams permeate the air, as well as gunfire and the sound of tearing.

Fear spins suddenly and jerks three times. I look up at him. He seems to wretch before spitting out three bullets and catching them in his palm.

He took three bullets in the back. Bullets that would have hit me in the head if he hadn’t turned and taken them instead.

There’s another pain-filled scream. I peer past his shoulders to see Lust and Pain. For want of a better description, they are tearing men to fucking shreds.

Arms and legs, organs and bits I don’t want to imagine having torn off any man, go flying.

They stalk from victim to victim, soaked in blood and rain, and just kill everyone in their path. Bullets hit them, and they keep going, the wounds pushing out the bullets and healing in a second.

The cloaked men, frantically shooting with little skill, don’t stand a chance.

If they thought ramming us with a truck and shooting a few guns would stop them, they were clearly very, very, verrrrrry wrong. It has barely slowed them down. If anything, it just irritates them.

I watch a man have his entrails ripped from his stomach and forced down his throat.

Note to self. Do not irritate the demons.

‘Can you stand yet?’ Fear asks. He does a double-take behind me before tossing the bullets he spat out. I turn and hear someone fall to the floor with a thud. Then he lifts my chin so he can look into my eyes. ‘Your head ok?’

‘Dizzy. Shoulder really hurts.’

He lowers us both to the ground and inspects my body.

When Pain and Lust join us, the compound is silent except for the rain and odd rumble of thunder. When lightning cracks overhead, it illuminates all three.

Bloody and beautiful. Every inch, vengeful dark gods.

‘She alright?’ Pain asks, kneeling beside me and running his hand through my hair. When he sees blood on his palm, I hear an actual growl.

‘Nasty hit to the head. And pretty sure she’s-’

I scream when he touches my shoulder.

‘Yeah. Dislocated shoulder. We need to put it back.’ He raises his brow and grips my arm. ‘Ready?’

Pain holds me steady as Lust keeps look out.

‘Scream if you must,’ Pain says softly, his hand resting on my shoulder blade to keep me still. ‘We won’t think less of you. This will hurt.’

‘I survived you,’ I remind him. ‘You hurt me worse than this.’

‘That’s different. I hurt you and then took the pain and made it a pleasure. I only enjoy it when I make you scream. If anyone else hurts you, I rip their fucking heads off.’

Well. He’s certainly done that.

I take some deep breaths as they tighten their hold.

And pop.

My scream is an angry sob as I swear and curse.

‘Mother fucking fucker of fucking fuck!’

They all share a smile as they look at one another.

‘You’re welcome,’ Pain says, moving my shoulder, checking it’s in the right place. His hand rests on my cheek. ‘Ready for your reward?’ He nods towards the manor.

‘Most definitely.’

Flanked by all three, I walk towards the house. The sigil remains in place so they can’t access their power within the walls. But it’s very obvious they are perfectly capable of dealing with humans without manipulating anyone or anything. I step over a torn arm.

Yeah. Very capable.

We reach the double doors. Fear and Pain kick them open, sending them clear across the lobby. They walk inside. No lights are on, but I doubt that will slow them down.

‘Stay with her,’ Pain says to Lust. ‘Protect her.’

Lust takes my hand in his, and we stay put as they go deeper in the house.

It’s silent, and silence makes me nervous.

‘So, what happens after tonight?’ I ask.

‘What do you mean?’

‘We kill Xion. You're free of the Brotherhood. Free of Hell. What’s next?’

I want to know what they have planned for me. I watch him. And he watches me.

That fucking smile. I don’t trust it one bit.

‘Focus on the here and now, Little Soul. For tomorrow may never come.’

I hear commotion, breaking furniture, swearing and then silence. A few minutes later, there’s a sharp whistle deep inside the house.

‘They’re ready for you,’ Lust smiles, holding out his hand. ‘Shall we?’

I rest my hand in his.

‘Abso-fucking-lutely.’

My bare feet meet the cold marble of the entrance lobby. Only in the flashes of lightning can I see the shiny glimpses of the gilded palace where men worship devils. Great portraits of evil men. Flowers which wilt as I pass.

The shadows watch me. So many souls lost and taken here.

So many innocents sacrificed for power. So much innocence stolen.

Are those who died screaming in this house still here?

Trapped in the shadows? I imagine they are.

That all the children they strapped down to cut, all the women they raped in their orgies, all those who died so this old bastard and his sick little protegees could keep their power, youth and money.

I imagine they are standing together in the shadows, smiling.

Happy and excited that revenge is finally coming.

I am here, I tell them. And tonight, it ends.

Ahead are a set of great white arched doors reaching up to the ceiling with black candelabras at the entrance.

Flames flicker in the dozens of candles lit on each one, with years' worth of wax accumulated around them.

Inside the room, a warm orange glow beckons me closer.

The smell of burning wood and a warmth calls to me.

As I approach, Fear steps into the doorway. His gaze lands on me, his head tilted to the side as he softly smiles.

He widens the door and steps aside so I can enter.

When I do, my breath catches.

Sitting in an ornate black chair, more like a throne I’d expect Dracula to sit on, is the Grand Master.

Xion.

He’s been bound to the chair. His wrists are tied to the armrests and his ankles to the chair legs.

A steady trickle of blood travels down his temple, landing on the dark wooden floors.

He looks right at me with cold and uncaring eyes.

Just as he always did. His suit is perfect.

Old-fashioned, with a matching waistcoat and pocket watch.

But then he is over a hundred years old despite his body looking no more than mid-thirties.

I stop as I enter, seeing him strapped down. Helpless. Suddenly, he looks so much smaller.

He looks at me, then the others, all without moving his head, as if we’re not worth even moving for.

‘This is your doing, I take it?’ His voice drips with disapproval. ‘Typical. Only a woman would be such a fucking idiot.’

Pain saunters towards him, lowers his head so he is level with him, and snaps one of his fingers upwards.

Xion refuses to scream or show any sign of pain past a slight grunt.

‘Insult her again, and I will remove your tongue,’ Pain warns.

‘You cannot kill me. I have your dark master’s protection. I am immortal.’

‘I said I would rip your tongue out. Not kill you. So hold your tongue because if you don’t, I will.’

Xion's gaze slides back to me.

‘After all I have done for you, this is how you repay me? Repay us all?’ He gestures to the three others. ‘They are our legacy, and you allow them to be possessed?’

‘They were parasitic little bastards,’ I hiss back. ‘They hurt me. Abused me.

‘You are a conduit. Your very existence is to be a vessel between us and the demons. They chose Pain, Fear and Lust. So you had to endure the same to access the power. I do not make the rules, girl.’

‘I never asked to be-’

‘Our deal with the lord of Hell is as old as the gospels. We serve and we worship, offering souls to Lucifer and tribute to the demons. And in return, we receive their gifts.’

‘ You receive gifts.’ I step closer, rage filling my entire being. ‘I get raped and beaten!’

‘Your suffering is demanded. To lead and have power is what is demanded of the Brotherhood!’

‘Power built on a little girl’s tears.’

‘The saltier the better.’ He sits back, chin high and defiant.

‘I have a deal with your unheavenly father. We serve him and Hell, offering souls of the innocent in return.’ He looks at the three men who I have stolen from him.

‘When he discovers your betrayal and abandonment of your position, when he learns you walk in the mortal world-’

Pain snaps another finger, making him grind his teeth together.

‘You can snap all my fingers, demon,’ Xion snarls. ‘But when Lucifer learns of your betrayal, it is you who will be broken and screaming.’ He nods in my direction. ‘It will be her.’

Pain steps back and looks at me, waiting for my next move.

I have waited so long for this moment. To win my freedom. To face my monster and make him see… to understand everything he has made me endure.

But as I look at him, tied to a chair, his organisation all but slaughtered and his three successors lost to the demons I unleashed, I know that no matter what I say or do, he won’t care.

He will never see anything he has done as wrong.

He will never say sorry.