“And they seem to come at the same times each day?” Her mind races.
“I think so. They come when I’m hungry.”
“You’re always hungry though.”
Bryon laughs. “I missed you, Keely.”
“I missed you too, Bry.” She thinks of the days he was gone, the not knowing. It may be horrible here, but she’s so glad they found each other again. She hadn’t realized how important he was to her. How much she has come to count on his presence. Unexpected feelings swirl inside of Keely. Feelings she’s kept buried for the past year. That she’s tried to ignore, hoping they would go away. Hearing his voice, knowing she hasn’t lost him, brings them back stronger than ever. Keely licks her battered lips, tastes the dried blood. “Did you see when they brought me?”
“I saw the light. I always see the light right away. It hurts at first until my eyes can adjust. I heard them moving, the cell door open and close, then the light left. I heard your breathing so I knew I wasn’t alone anymore.”
Keely’s eyes burn. It must have been awful for him these past few days. No light except for the couple of times a day when they come down. Stuck in a cell. In this cold damp scary place. Alone. “How long ago do you think that was?”
“Yesterday, or last night. I can’t tell the difference here.”
She really wants a time line though she isn’t sure how it will be of help. Maybe it just gives her something to do. Maybe it’s just an excuse to hear Bryon’s voice.
For someone who doesn’t like the darkness as she does, this must be smothering. People need light. They aren’t suited to spend their lives without it. Not to mention the scariness of it. Not knowing who or what could be right in front of you and you wouldn’t even know it. Eating in the dark while not having a clue what’s on your food. A place like this just seems like it would have big creepy bugs. And the cold, the cold is chilling. She wonders how he isn’t sick.
“How did you fill the time, Bryon?”
He’s quiet for a moment. Keely has a crazy passing thought that he is gone again, just a figment of her underactive imagination. “Slept, mostly.”
She feels across the floor, searching for a rock or anything she could make a dent or a scratch on the wall or in one of the bars with. Her hands run across the floor finding nothing. “Do you have anything?”
“What do you mean?”
“Do you have your throwing stars?”
Bryon grinds his teeth together loud enough that Keely hears it. “They took them.”
She sighs. “Do you have anything at all over there? I want to try to mark our time here.”
“Time doesn’t matter here.”
Keely balls her hands into tight fists. “It matters to me.”
“What happened Kiem? How did you get here? Are they all dead?”
Her heart nearly stops. Her stomach flips and she feels as if she might get sick. She hadn’t allowed herself to think about that. “We got separated,” is all she says in a quiet voice.
“They must be dead. They would have been here by now if they were alive.” He leans against the wall he shares with Keely. It somehow makes him feel closer to her.
“Don’t you dare do that,” she whispers.
“Don’t do what?”
“Take my hope. It’s all I have right now. They could still be alive.” She shakes her head. “They are still alive. I would know if Nick were dead. I would know.”
“No you wouldn’t. Trust me.” His voice is barely audible. “When nobody came for me, I was sure—I knew without a shadow of a doubt that you all were dead.” Bryon’s tone grows louder, angry. “I mean, what other conceivable reason could there be for letting me sit here, in this black hole of nothingness, this Hell, to rot?” He takes a deep breath, lets it out slowly. “Yet here you are, alive.”
What does she say? She can’t tell him the truth, that she wanted to look for him, but his friends thought he was a traitor and wouldn’t even think about it. He was here, all alone, suffering. Worse than that, he thought they were all dead. He thought he was going to spend the rest of his life, however long that would be, in this terrible place.
“We didn’t know where you were. If we had known we would’ve come for you. What happened, Bryon? How did you get here?”
“It’s a little fuzzy still. I wasn’t in the best of moods, so in a moment of weakness I called Dana. I wanted an easy hook-up to get my mind right. I just wanted to take the focus off of my feelings. I didn’t want to think for a little bit. I was being a dick. I knew I was using her and I didn’t care. She made sure I paid the price though.” He laughs coldly.
“I remember meeting her. She knew why I was there. Knew why I was upset. She knew and she didn’t care. She said she wanted to make me feel better.” He shakes his head and laughs again. “I remember thinking how easy it all was and feeling like I caught a break. I wasn’t going to have to pretend with her. Pretend like I was actually into her. No need for the whole show I usually put on. She knew it wasn’t her I wanted, but she was willing anyway.
“Somehow we ended up in her car, I can’t remember that part. It was like I was in a trance. So we’re in the car and she just jumps on me. And I’m thinking this is cool. She’s not really my type, I find her kind of annoying, but she’s still hot. Ya know?” He doesn’t wait for a response, just keeps going with his story remembering more as he speaks.
“She kissed me and it was really good. It did exactly what I wanted it to do. I was distracted, but I couldn’t recall what had been bothering me in the first place, which is what I went there for. Right? But then that bothered me that I didn’t know, I couldn’t remember, if that makes sense. I knew somewhere inside of me that it was important to me. That I cared about it, but then I didn’t all of a sudden and that scared me. I didn’t want to forget anymore. I tried to pull away, but she was strong. I’m just thinking damn, she’s determined. I thought she really, really wanted me. I started to forget again. Forget even that I wanted to stop making out with her. It was when I started feeling foggy and forgetful that it stirred something inside, some feeling. Then I remembered that feeling, recognized it as—well as a feeling that I didn’t feel for Dana. So I tried to push her away again, ya know, gently at first. She wasn’t budging and I started to freak a little. So I shoved her hard, but nothing, man. It was like Dana had super human strength. Just when I started to know something was seriously messed up, she shoved her tongue down my throat. I mean, down. My. Throat. But it wasn’t her tongue. It was her. She was trying to get inside of me. She wasn’t Dana anymore. She was like a wet spongy…pile of pudding. But not good like pudding. Totally disgusting. Leech Demons get inside and take over. They can really mess with you. They don’t just possess you like other Demons. When they get in you, you know they’re there. You’re still you. You still feel, think, hear, everything. But you have no control over what you do.”
Keely cringes as she recalls her moments with the same thing. She realizes that must have been Dana that night at Nick’s. Another cringe shakes her body.
“I tried to fight her off, but once she started worming her way in and turned all…gooey, it was impossible. I couldn’t get a grip on her. I went for my stars, but they were gone. I don’t remember taking them out, but then I saw them sitting on the dash board. She must have done it while we were kissing or something. I could see them, but I couldn’t reach them. It was like my freedom was right there, right out of my grasp. I couldn’t breathe. And it tasted so bad man. I just wanted to die. Then it was over. She was gone. It was just me. I picked up my stars, got out of Dana’s car and got into my own. Drove myself downtown. I just got out of the car and started walking. I walked for probably two hours. I didn’t know where I was going, but I did at the same time. I know that doesn’t make sense, but that’s how it was. I walked right up to a house and went inside. There was another Demon there. She knew him so I knew him, but I didn’t really. He’s the same one here that comes when Dana doesn’t. She knew him as G
eryon. A Demon Guard. From there, everything’s a blur. The next thing I clearly can recall is waking up here in the dark and freaking out. I screamed and yelled. I begged and I prayed until I lost my voice. I made my fingers bleed trying to rip at the bricks. I tried to get out until I was too exhausted to try anymore. Then I just gave up. I thought I was going to die here alone. I made peace with it. Then you showed up.” He smiles at the darkness. “It was like total relief followed by complete panic. I was so happy you were all right, so happy I wasn’t alone. You were alive. We were together. But this place, this fate…I don’t want this for you, Kiem. Not for you. You can’t die. Not here. Not like this. Not ever.”
The silence lingers between them. She can hear the heavy intake and release of his breathing. “What happened that you got separated from everyone?”
Keely clears her throat several times trying to find her voice. “We went to Pandora to meet Apophis. The plan was to meet at eight o’clock and exchange myself for my parents. I mean, that wasn’t really the plan, but that was what we agreed to with Apophis. We got there and he wasn’t there. Then Dana came.”
“Did she hurt you?” Bitterness leaks back into his tone.
“No,” she lies. “She did something, or somebody did something. I don’t know what happened exactly, but one second we’re standing there and everything’s fine, then the next… It was like everyone was losing it. Like they saw something I didn’t. It was just a rush of scared kids trying to get out all at once. I was pushed to the ground and I haven’t seen Nick since.”
“What about the others? Dustin and Lila?”
Keely hesitates. She doesn’t know if she should tell him about Dustin. Doesn’t know what she thinks about Dustin. Would she have done the same thing if it were Nick? If it were Bryon? Would she turn on her friend? Sacrifice someone else to save the person she loves?
“I don’t know,” she says slowly almost to herself. “We can’t count on anybody else to save us. They can’t know where we are, we don’t even know where we are for sure. Between the two of us, we can think of something to get out of here.”
He snorts. “We can’t even see. Maybe if we could, maybe if we had a weapon, maybe if we were together in the same cell. I don’t know. I don’t want this for you, but I don’t know what to do.”
“Think. We can do this.”
He stands, grips the bars. “That’s all I’ve done since I’ve been here. It’s all I can do. They have us, Keely. There. Is. No. Way. Out.”
“They took away your stars, your freedom, and your light. Don’t let them break you too. They’ve already taken enough. They want you to give up. They want you weak. They want another feeble follower. Don’t give into them. They have taken too much from us, Bryon.” She lets her head thump against the wall that separates them. “Bryon? Are you with me?”
Bryon touches his forehead to the wall as well and takes a deep breath. He can almost feel her on the other side. Keely. He won’t let this be her end. Bryon flashes a cocky smile to the black nothingness around him. “Let’s start a riot.”
***
The stairs stretch before her endlessly. A soft yellow light spills across the first few steps. They look as if they could crumble away at any moment. The first step into the unknown is always the hardest. Always the scariest. She doesn’t get scared though. At least, she isn’t supposed to. She is brave, tough, and smart. At least, she is supposed to be.
So why is she having such a terrible time picking her foot up and placing it on this stupid stair? The stairway to her freedom. At least it’s supposed to be.
Given the source, she couldn’t blame herself for disbelieving. And there was something else. Like taking these stairs was running away. Like she would be a coward if she took that step. But maybe she’d be a coward if she didn’t. Confusion rolls over her. Indecision. Hope. Panic. One emotion after the other as her foot hovers in the air waiting on her to tell it what to do. She stomps it to the ground and curls her hands into fists. Her rings push painfully into her fingers. She stretches them out. Cracks her knuckles.
She’s been standing here so long, staring up this dilapidated stair case. It’s a wonder she hasn’t been discovered still hanging around. Her head turns from the bright view in front of her to the darkness behind.
One way seems to lead to safety. Yet, somehow, her heart pulls her to the darkness. To the pitch blackness and dank smell. Why? Why would her head disagree with her heart? Why would her heart face her this way?
Her bright pink flats squeak on the damp ground as she pivots to look full on into nothing. Her hands relax at her sides. She squares her shoulders, standing up tall, mind determined. Her father always taught her to follow her heart. “It will never steer you wrong,” he said.
One step leads to another then another until the light has completely disappeared behind her, closing her up in a suffocating black blanket. She runs her hand along the wall so she doesn’t lose her way. Something tickles her arm and she tears it away with a gasp. Wipes her arm several times and shakes her shirt out just to be safe. She decides to hit the wall every other step as she begins moving again. She keeps count in her head. One hundred and sixty-eight steps to the first fork. She takes the right automatically because her heart tells her to do so.
One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Footsteps pause her counting, quicken her pace. She runs blindly because though she didn’t need it, her heart tells her to. Screams at her to get away. At the next fork she doesn’t even see it coming. She has stopped hitting the wall in her hurry to get away. She doesn’t have a clue it’s coming until she rushes it at full speed. She slams, face first into the brick wall. She notes the taste of blood and the smashed nose just as she feigns unconsciousness.
Icy rough hands pull her up. She is shifted over a firm shoulder in a very ungentle manner before she is carried away. She opens one eye just enough to see, but all she can make out is more darkness. This man carrying her doesn’t seem to have a problem seeing in the dark. He moves easily through the tunnels. She hears voices in the distance. Keely. Bryon.
A flickering light shows through her eye lids, but she doesn’t dare open them. There is the clanking of heavy metal keys. A slow creek as a door is opened. The man holding her cops a feel. Fingers dig into her behind, move much too slowly as they fondle every last inch. It takes everything inside of her not to kick him in the testicles, but then what? She has no weapons, he would over power her, possibly kill her and she knows Keely and Bryon are close. The man chuckles as he drops her in a heap on the floor. The door slams shut and his footsteps fade.
Lila rolls over. Swipes her sleeve across her face to remove some of the blood. She holds her breath and listens. Her heart tells her she is where she needs to be. So she sits up and pulls her feet under her. And she waits.
One. Two. Three. Four. “Hello?”
Lila attempts a smile, but decides it hurts too badly. “How’s it going, Keely?”
“Lila?”
“Hey Bryon. So, I guess you aren’t a traitor after all.”
“A traitor? What are you talking about?”
“Not important right now,” Keely sighs. “We need to get out of here.”
“No, we need to wait,” Lila says.
“For what?” Keely crosses her arms exasperated. Obviously she doesn’t have much of a choice, but she felt better when she was trying to think of a way out.
“I don’t know for what. I just know we need to wait. It won’t be long now.”
Eighteen:
“You said if I helped you, you would let her go. You said-”
“What I said was she would be free to go. Am I to blame if she chose not to?” Apophis examines his nails, growing bored with this boy and his insufferable whining. He has more than enough distractions to keep him entertained. Dustin may very well no longer be of use to him. He considers how he will kill him as the boy continues to spout about fairness, and deals, and other insignificant banter. His ranting is interfering with his thoughts. I
t makes it hard to concentrate. And to think, he was so kind to this…this peon. He allowed him a fair chance, his girl as well. And here he is, speaking of injustices. Even calling him ugly names. Him. He who is so far from anything of ugliness. He who is bright and clean and beautiful by anybody’s standards. He who is the third son of his Angel father. He who has the blood of an Angel coursing through his veins at this very moment. How dare he insult him? How dare he speak to him in such a manner? HOW DARE HE?
Apophis closes his icy blue eyes. The boy’s voice makes him cringe ever so slightly with the whininess of it. He inhales deeply. Holds the breath in. Exhales slowly. Very slowly. The boy moves closer, he can tell by the way his voice grows louder, stronger. Apophis rubs his forehead tiredly. He could snap his fingers and any number of servants would in turn snap this boy’s neck. Or stab him in the heart possibly. Slice his throat maybe. Choke him with bare hands even. He stands over him now, cursing him. That’s all it takes to decide Apophis’ mind. In one solid movement, so quick the boy never sees it coming, he has him by the throat. The grip he places on his Adam’s apple is precise. With the lightest of pressure he could finish this. Yet, where is the fun in that? He lifts Dustin off the ground and walks him to the long dining table. Body slams him on top as if he weighs nothing at all. He snaps the fingers of his free hand to draw the attention of the Demon girl sprawling across the chair to his left. “Needle and thread, now.” She stands immediately and nods her head. “No, make it something thicker. Fishing line maybe.” She nods again and scurries off. Dustin struggles under his grip. Apophis adds a small amount of force and watches as the boy’s eyes try to close. He smiles as Dustin fights against himself, trying desperately not to lose consciousness. “Bind his hands,” Apophis calls to the boy by the door. He looks younger than the boy on the table, yet he is nothing like him. The younger boy is a duty bound Demon. He obeys quickly disappearing out the door and returning promptly with a small length of rope.