Angels Born of Hell and Fire

Chapter Ten:

I was flying.

My dark hair flew out behind me, the night air beating against my body as I soared downward. My stomach dropped to lie somewhere at my feet, a scream caught in my throat as I fell for what seemed like an impossible amount of time. There was no warning, no difference between the black one moment and the next before I came crashing down to earth. Pain ricocheted through my bones, my teeth snapped shut painfully, and I crumpled; rolling. Twigs and bushes scrapped against my exposed skin, rocked pummeled everything. I tumbled down the steep incline, smacking any obstacle that was there.

When finally my dizzying journey ended I grunted, lying face down in the dirt. A noise behind me let me know Jasper had also come to a halt. Struggling, I managed to push myself on all fours and crawl towards her. She wasn’t moving.

“Jasper,” her name scrapped against my throat like sand paper. A groan reassured me that she wasn’t dead.

“Jasper, we gotta go,” I rasped, stumbling to my feet. I looked upwards, seeing the impossible distance we seemed to had fallen. The huge mass of the mansion loomed above me, lit up bright against the night sky. They would be coming soon.

“Come on, get up,” I reached down and hauled her to her feet; she gasped in pain, teetering dangerously. I hurried to catch her before she collapsed into the mud once more.

“My leg,” she said behind gritted teeth.

I swung her arm over my shoulder, and let her put half of her weight against me. My nutrition deprived body staggered in protest, not welcoming the additional burden it had to support over the treacherous ground. Jaw clenched I moved us forward, determination the only thing continuing to drive me forward. A thousand aches and bruises tried to stop me, demanding me to fall to the ground and never move again. I wouldn’t listen. This was my chance, my chance to get away from that crazy place. If I just managed to get off this mountain I would be free; free from Adam’s cage.

We tumbled though darkness, tree limbs scratching our cold faces. The smell of moist leaves filled my nostrils, small clouds formed in front of our faces as we exhaled. Our feet sounded heavily against twigs and rocks, making enough noise to be two elephants instead of two girls. All thoughts of stealth had been forgotten, we moved with a single purpose only; get away.

We were being hunted.

My hand clutched Jasper’s waist as I pulled her along, trying to get her to run faster. Her injured leg held her back and I knew she was in excruciating pain with every labored step she took. I felt guilty, knowing how much she hurt, but we couldn’t stop, we couldn’t slow down. If we stopped it would all be over, all of this effort in vain. We had to go faster. I tried to hold up more of her weight, tried to find the easiest way to weave through the tree’s, but everything was either mud or rock. We moved at a disgustingly slow pace.

There was a noise coming from behind us, the sound of branches being pushed aside and twigs being snapped under heavy boots.

We were being hunted.

I panicked, my legs wanting to spring forward, to run blindly through the frozen night. But I couldn’t do that. I couldn’t leave Jasper behind. Just like that day, which seemed so long ago now, I wouldn’t leave her. Something in the back of my brain, something that hadn’t been there before, told me that even if I had to die, I would protect Jasper to the very end.

Though when the thought came to me I shied away, shocked by the extreme words. Had those really been my own thoughts?

The sound of our pursuers came closer. Could they really have caught up so quickly? Surely we had a better lead than that?

Heart racing, lung aching, and everything, every part of me in pain, I knew we had failed. An eerie calm over took me, even as I continued to haul Jasper through the trees. It was only a matter of time now. Our brief moment of freedom would end, and we would be dragged back to that place; that home that was a cage.

Something warm ran down my cold cheeks and I realized I had been crying. I sobbed into the night, tripping over the frost bitten roots of a nearby oak tree. We crashed to the ground, my body to exhausted to even try and catch myself. Wet leaves pressed against my panting lips. Was there even a point to get back up?

“Megan…” Jasper’s horrified eyes reflected the moons light, reminding me of the gaze of a trapped animal. The description seemed accurate.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered just as rough hands came out of the shadows, yanking us to our feet.

I struggled, trying to wrench myself free from the hot hands binding my arms behind my back. My efforts were worthless; my captor managing to hold onto my withering form easily. The feel of coarse rope slithered across the tender skin of my wrists, cutting off the blood flow. I was lifted up and slung over a wide shoulder like a sack of potatoes. I grunted, trying to kick at the burly man, but he only grabbed my legs and pinned them down. Eyes searching I found Jasper, bent over another man’s shoulder as I was, her face twisted in pain as her injured leg was being held in an awkward manner.

We bumped across the ground, each step driving the man’s shoulder deeper into my abdominal. It was terribly difficult to breath, positioned like this. When finally we broke from the forest and onto what appeared to be a road, I was thankful to be dumped onto the asphalt.

Before me stood Savannah, Peter, Gabriel, and the man ShadowWalker. All four stood wrapped in heavy cloaks against the cold, and staring down at Jasper and I with unreadable expressions. I put my head down, feeling ashamed under their eyes.

“Guess that’s that then. Let’s go back to bed,” ShadowWalker said, turning back up the road towards the mansion.

Peter reached down and tugged me back into a standing position. I would have rather stayed crumbled on the ground.

“You really are a fool,” I heard Savannah sigh, and I couldn’t look at her. “Gabriel and I will take the Empress to have her injury looked at. You go ahead and take her down.”

I realized that by “her” Savannah had meant me. Take me down where?

Gabriel was carefully helping Jasper to her feet, muttering apologies when she winced.

“Take her where?” she asked.

Peter’s hand constricted on my arm, becoming painful.

No one answered Jasper’s question.

“Take her where?!” Jasper asked again, her voice pitching in alarm.

“Let’s go your majesty,” Gabriel said softly, pulling Jasper back towards the mansion. She tried to pull herself from his grasp, but he held on, dragging her forcibly up the road.

“No! Where are they taking her? How could you do this to us?! How could you?! Megan!!! Megan!!!!” Jasper’s cries bounded around the valley, echoing long after she had disappeared from sight. But I could still hear her; I could still hear her screaming for me in my brain. She was terrified. Terrified for me.

I looked up at Peter, who had stood in stony silence this whole time. Deep shadow’s stretched across his face, hiding his expression from view.

“What does she mean? Where am I going?” I whispered, unable to lift my voice any higher.
Peter didn’t look at me, just pulled on my arm until I followed. As I watched he swallowed notably.

“She… she probably won’t talk to me after this,” he said, his voice trembling softly. “I really wanted to help her… I really did. I didn’t know- I didn’t know about the alarm.”

My unease was growing rapidly as I listened to his words. He had been the “help” Jasper mentioned to me.

Peter suddenly swung around to stare at me intently.

“This wasn’t my idea okay? I never thought- I never thought Adam would send you there. I never thought he would go so far.” Peter ran a hand through his blonde locks. “I don’t know what he’s thinking, sending you to that place.”

This was the second time someone had asked me what Adam was thinking in concern to me. I really couldn’t fathom how I was supposed to know. I was glad however, that I wasn’t the only one who couldn’t figure Adam out. Even the people who had known him their whole lives didn’t understand him.

We were walking steadily downhill, down a gravely path that caused even my boots to slide and skid as I walked. If it wasn’t for Peter’s iron clad grip on my arm I would have probably tumbled to my death by now.

“Where- where are we going?” I looked back, towards the mansion which was getting farther and farther away. I couldn’t feel Jasper in my head any more.

Peter didn’t seem to hear my question, just continued on as if I hadn’t spoken.

“I tried to stop him, to get him to change his mind, but he wouldn’t listen, no matter how I tried. He was going to send both of you but I couldn’t let her go in there. Someone like her wouldn’t survive that place. I managed to get him to agree to leave her out of it, by telling him it was all your idea.”

Eyes wide I looked into his frowning face.

“What?” I gasped.

“I’m sorry. I couldn’t let her go in there and- I know she won’t ever talk to me again after she finds out, so I’m telling you, this wasn’t my idea, I tried to stop him. I’m so sorry.” Peter’s pale colored eyes pleaded with me, asking for forgiveness for a crime I didn’t fully understand.

We had reached the bottom of the path. A large metal door loomed before me, its rusted edges held in place by numerous locks and chains. A dark menacing aurora oozed from its black surface.

Peter deftly began to undo each lock, drag away each chain, while I could only stand and watch in dismay. I was going in there?

As the last chain thudded against the dirt Peter looked back at me, shame in his eyes.

“I’m sorry,” and he pushed me into hell.

The first thing that reached me was the smell. The horrible stench of mold, human waste and decay filled my senses. No words could ever describe the magnitude of that odor; it was like a physical thing, forcing its ways down my throat. My stomach flipped, protesting the invasion of something so vile. I promptly threw up, leaning against a cold slimy wall as my body tried to expel that detestable scent. It was impossible of course, upon my next breath it all came rushing back, this time with the added tint of vomit in the mix.

Squinting in the dim lighting I looked up. The sight that greeted me will stay stained in my mind for as long as I live.

Torches belched black acidic smoke, illuminating the horrors before me. Cages lined the filmy walls, shackles drug along the ground, dirt and god knows what else covered the floor. People, young and old, cringed away from me, huddled in rags no cleaner than the floors. A man hung limp from chains on the wall; he held so still I feared he was dead. Dark stains colored the metal of bars, rags, and every other surface. With horror I realized they were blood stains. I moved in a sickened daze, reminded bitterly of the way I myself was brought here; in cages, full of muck, in darkness.

A large form suddenly peeled away from the shadows, lumbering towards me.

I screamed

A man with no face.

His bald scalp was deformed and covered in scars, where there should have been eyes were two lumps of flesh, a hole where his nose should have gone, and instead of a mouth, there was nothing but a set of glaring teeth, forever placed into a malicious grin.

I shrank back, trembling against the cold wall as he approached me. Large hands with nubs for fingers reached for me. I screamed again, trying to forcibly push myself into the unforgiving rock at my back. Pointed jagged edges dug into the skin of my bound arms mercilessly, reminding me that I was trapped.

Trapped in hell.

[End Chapter Ten]