Lilith/Cain

Sybil rode down the elevator, pinned to the back wall by a large, invisible hand. Influence in its purest form. The scent of it filled her mind. She knew this scent. Callie had reeked of it while she lay unconscious. This scent had blinded her, withered her.

Callie had always called Sybil a good vampire, for not harming humans or other vampires. Turned vampires had a bloodlust that could not be quenched, a disposition for gratuitous violence that burned forever inside of them. Callie had praised her for not succumbing to those base instincts. She was so proud that she had made such a ‘good’ vampire.

But she was wrong. Sybil wasn’t ‘good’ or ‘special’ in any way. She wasn’t different than other turned vampires. That deep rage boiled inside of her every second, under the surface.

The only reason she didn’t destroy every single thing around her was because she loved Callie more than anything in the entire world, more than even her own life.

She had given it all up at one point, she could remember it dimly. As a human she had given up her own life. What should have been the most precious thing to her was worthless in her eyes. Not to Callie though. When Callie looked at her, she became ten times more precious, ten times more lovely.

Her reflection in Callie’s eyes was too beautiful for her to tarnish. So, every day she held back the desire for blood, the need to kill. She pushed it aside, back into the deepest parts of her head, but never forgotten.

And now Callie was blind. Her reflection was gone, and that same smell of influence was wrapped around her now. Squeezing her and pinning her down.

There was no reason to hold back now.

She tore herself away from the wall, biting and clawing through the air. She kicked at the button panel as the doors opened, revealing the lobby and red and blue flashing lights. The doors closed again and she headed back up.

A deep growl started low in her chest as she slowly pulled at the influence. It weakened under her brute force, till it slipped away altogether. The scent of it was upward. Her eyes glowed red as she stared at the ceiling, fangs bared.

The doors slid open and she pushed out of the elevator, her gaze only on one target: the mass of black shadows in the center of the office.

She reached him before he had any idea she was there. Not having influence of her own was sometimes an advantage, it seemed.

She grabbed him by the head, claws sinking in. She thrust her head forward savagely, hitting his forehead with hers. The impact gave her the satisfying feeling of crushing bone and a delightful crunch.

She grinned wickedly when he threw her off. Blood ran down his forehead, over his eyes and nose, dripping off his chin. Red eyes glowed from the gore.

“So that’s what you look like,” Sybil said. “You’re the one that almost killed Callie, so I’m going to kill you.”

He stared at her for an endless second. His clawed hand stopping a few inches from his face. “Who?” His voice was deep and gravelly, anger and indignation fighting for control of his expression.

Sybil wasn’t big on continuing this conversation, so she launched herself again.

She had been trying to separate his head entirely from his shoulders, but his constitution was high, so she only succeeded in breaking his neck.

He stepped back, his face tilted at an uncomfortable angle. “You are unusually strong,” he observed far too calmly. His cool exterior had taken over again while he observed her actions.

“No shit. What was your first clue?” She pulled her arm back and then punched him in the face as hard as she could.

He staggered backwards into the mini fridge. He leaned against it with the back of his legs, keeping himself upright. “Are you trying to take my head off?” he asked.

“One way or another.”

“Then I believe you skipped ahead in line…”

It was then that she noticed the thin metal leg in his other hand. She turned around and saw Gabriel and Angie, looking at her agape.

Angie was still up here. Callie loved Angie, and here she was, as fragile as tissue paper. Also missing her leg. That’s right, she had brought them both here. How could she have forgotten?

Her shoulders slumped. “Oh, hey.”

Another invisible hand slammed into her, pushing her towards the window. “Not this time,” she grunted. Her shoes dug into the glass-covered carpet and she grabbed onto a metal window frame that still had fragments of glass sticking to it. They were crushed to powder under her grip.

Gabriel took his chance and lunged for Cain. Cain switched gears quickly, swinging Angie’s leg up. He caught Gabriel under his chin, then brought the leg down on top of his head, sending Gabriel to the floor.

Sybil was desperately trying not to get thrown out the window. Gabriel struggled to regain his feet. Angie just watched Cain as he stood there, neck still broken, his expression dull. “This is getting boring.”

A shockwave erupted from him then. Gabriel was sent back to the carpet and Angie was pushed backwards. Sybil’s grip on the window slipped and she scrambled to grab onto the edge of floor.

xxxXXXxxx

Angie lay on the floor, her ears ringing. Her surroundings were pitched at an odd angle, though that was probably because she was lying on the floor. She attempted to regain her feet, and remembered that she was missing one of them.

She looked around for her good leg, it was lying not too far away. Near it were some other discarded things. It wasn’t close enough to reach so she slowly started crawling.

That ringing in her ears just wouldn’t stop. It drowned out all other noise. Had she gone deaf now? She could imagine the look on her mom’s face now if it turned out she was permanently deaf from now on. That worried her more than the thought of being deaf.

Her mind kept wandering, but she knew reaching her leg was important, for some reason. Walking around on her own was certainly easier, but there was also something else…

xxxXXXxxx

Sybil clung to the edge of the floor by her clawtips as the shock wave passed above her. Once it petered out she pulled herself back up into the room, Her claws ripped out deep trenches in the plush carpet.

Her eyes glowed murderously, locked onto Cain. He appeared to her completely unharmed, while his office was in shambles. “I really wanted a challenge,” he said wistfully. “It’s been so long.”

She let out a growl that turned into a shriek as she attacked, fangs bared and claws out. He beat her down easily, looking as if he made no movement. Her face connected with the floor and his foot was planted firmly on the back of her neck. “The Fae were challenging, up to a point. I thought they’d put up more of a fight, really.” He shrugged. “But that was all military tactics, you know?” He looked down at her. “So dry and removed from the thick of things. Boring.”

His weight increased on the back of her neck, till her spine creaked. She yelled incoherently, ripping out chunks of the carpet as she struggled.

“Would you believe me if I told you the only time I’ve ever had a real challenge was from a human? Ages and ages ago. His children’s children are long dead now.” He looked around his office, surveying the damage. “I’ve been all alone ever since.”

xxxXXXxxx

Gabriel found himself in the middle of a glass antiques cabinet, priceless artifacts and china shattered under him along with a good amount of glass shards. Also his back was broken. Again.
He did managed to loll his head over a bit and observe Cain standing over Sybil. Evangeline lay on the floor nearby.

Cain continued speaking, calmly and clearly, as if he were addressing a group of stockholders. “Humans can be rather tricky sometimes, and quite tenacious.” He glanced over his shoulder at Evangeline, who was just inches away from her leg, her arm stretched all the way out towards it. It flew away from her and out the window.

“Gotta be kidding me…” she groaned weakly. “Arthur’s gonna kill me…” she rolled onto her back. “Lost a seven hundred... thousand dollar leg…” She was panting heavily, and made no other move to get up. Cains shockwave had simply thrown the vampires back, but Evangeline had suffered much more heavily.

“You can never turn your back on one.” He refocused his attention back to Sybil, whose screaming was muffled by the floor and a broken nose. “Now where was I?”

Gabriel tried flexing his hands and was relieved to find them working, if weakly. He shifted his back as slowly as possible, trying to realign each disc without Cain noticing.

“It’s a good story, actually,” Cain continued. “I had stolen his love from him. She was Fae, of course, and Obviously I couldn’t let her live. And I didn’t. He wanted revenge on me, even though ten years later he would move on and find the most pleasant of women to be his wife. That’s not the point though. The fight, yes that fight was certainly the best I’ve ever had.” He placed a hand on his chest. “Why, I nearly died.”

Gabriel’s movements shifted the glass, causing several shards to tumbled down, which in turn upset even more. Cain turned his attention to him. “Having trouble over there?”

“Nah, I’m fine,” Gabriel said through gritted teeth as his joints popped back in place. “Just giving you a second to catch your breath before I rip your lungs out.”

“I hope your mother didn’t raise you to speak in such a vulgar way,” Cain commented drily.

“She didn’t raise me at all. Remember? Cause you killed her?” Gabriel ripped himself out of the cabinet, glass raining down in a cacophony. He stood on his feet at last, glaring at his father. “I was raised by pirates.”

“Clearly.” Cain’s expression was unpleasant. “So what now? Are you really going to follow through on your threat and try to kill your own father?”

Gabriel shook his head, his arms flapping uselessly. “Hell no, I couldn’t kill a ladybug right now if I tried. I’m just distracting you.”

Cain froze then, his mouth agape. The pressure on his foot eased and Sybil scrambled away from him, clutching her broken and bloodied face. She snarled viciously, but stayed clear of him.

Behind Cain stood Evangeline. She stood on one leg, but was supporting herself on Cain’s back, and the knife that was sticking out of his spine.

xxxXXXxxx

Cain was much tougher than Katrina had been. Angie remembered all too well how easily her spine had been severed by her own katana. The edge of her knife was lodged in between two vertebra, all of her weight bearing down on it.

She felt the knife give a little, slipping deeper inside of him. His legs gave out then and she released him as he fell to the floor.

He stared up at her in wonderment as she looked down at him, supporting herself on one leg. “I still have my influence, you know. I can still kill you.”

“Don’t bother. I’m ready to make a new deal.” Her gun hung in one hand, ready for any sudden movement.

His red eyes were drawn to her rich brown ones. He hadn’t seen those eyes in centuries. “Yes, I suppose you are.”

“I know you made a deal with Mechanex,” she said. “Your symbol was on their card. It’s also on the stationary Nora sends me. The black sword. The same shape as the one I pulled out of Lilith.”

“So you were the one that revived Lilith,” he mused casually, almost as if he wasn’t grievously wounded.

“It’s been a busy week,” she explained. “Now, back to business. In the future you are to leave my family and friend alone. Including my boyfriend. You were the one that started all of this from literally the very beginning, and since then you’ve been messing up my life.” She pointed at the window. “And if my leg is ruined you are buying me a replacement.”

His eyes narrowed to slits in a pleased sort of way. “What do I get?”

“You mean other than me not killing you?”

He shook his head, which was about the only thing he could still move. “You can’t kill me.” His mouth pulled into a smug smile.

She pointed her pistol at him, finger over the trigger. “Trust me, I am willing and able to end your life right now.”

“I’m not saying you lack conviction, just that you need me. Without my influence, all vampires are vulnerable. So much technology out there, recording their every move in the outside world. You’d lose your friends, and your lover.”

Angie’s eyes narrowed. “If you continue to be a threat I would take that chance.” She stared at him for a long moment. He looked back at her calmly. She sighed and lifted the nose of her pistol. “What do you want?”

His smile widened into a cheshire grin. “Invite me to the wedding.”

She aimed her gun back at him. “No, I’d rather kill you.”

“Front row. Next to your mother.”

“I still have one bullet left. I’m serious here.”

“I’m thinking a winter reception. Cloudy, but also financially flexible.”

Angie growled through her teeth. “Fine, but you owe Gabriel and Azri a fuckton of birthday presents.”

“Agreed.” Cain sprang to his feet spritely, removing the knife from his back with ease. “Here you are.” He held the handle out to her. The blade was clean.

Angie threw her hands in the air, causing her to wobble unsteadily. “I give up. Gabriel, I need a hand before I fall over.”

“I’m right here.” He was at her side, offering her his arm. “Let’s go see if we can find you leg. What’s left of it.”

“Come on Sybil, let’s get you back to Callie.”

Sybil’s red eyes glared for a bit, then she got to her feet and pulled up her hood to hide her blood-smeared face. “All right.”

Cain stepped to the side as they exited, limping heavily. They stopped and waited for the elevator. Sybil stood behind the pair. “Can someone explain what happened?” She sounded like she had a stuffy nose.

Angie jabbed the button with her thumb. “Yeah, I decided I’m never getting married.”

“Good idea,” Gabriel said. “I tried it once, and it definitely does not live up to the hype.”

The elevator doors opened and they stepped inside. Angie leaned on Gabriel heavily as she hopped. “I still plan on marrying Callie,” Sybil declared as she pressed the button for the lobby. “Once I’m a bit older.”

“That will be something nice to look forward to,” Angie sighed. “I better call mom, make sure she’s doing all right.” Her face saddened. “And see about Arthur.” She hunted through her jacket pockets and Sybil put a hand on her shoulder. Angie swore. “I think my phone’s in my jeans.”

“Do you want to go back for it?” Gabriel asked.

“Leave it, I never want to see that man again in my life.”

“Your birthday is coming up soon, I guess I can always buy you a new one.”

She leaned her head against his shoulder and wrapped an arm around his narrow waist. “I’m serious about not getting married, but…” Her grip tightened. “Don’t leave me again.”

He pressed his mouth against her hair. “You have my word.”

Sybil pawed at the elevator with sleeve-covered hands. “How slow is this thing?” she groaned. “I have to get back to Callie…”

The doors opened and the flashing lights were gone. The police and ambulances that had filled the front courtyard had vacated. A curly haired woman dressed in black stood by the entrance. Silver sunglasses hid her eyes, but her nose was pink. She watched them silently as they exited the building.

Angie had to admit she was impressed by the lack of cops despite the furniture and broken glass littered everywhere. “Your dad’s influence is pretty strong, I’ll give him that.”

“Don’t call him that.” Gabriel scowled darkly. “He’s as much my father as Arthur is yours.” He saw her eyes turn down and immediately regretted his words.

“I guess the dfference is that I actually like Arthur.”

“There they are!”

The trio looked over towards the sound of Azri’s voice. He jogged over to them Chris trailing behind. “This woudn’t happen to be yours, would it?” He held up her leg.

She gaped at him. “It’s still in one piece! How?”

He flashed her a grin. “I caught it.”

“Yeah, with his head,” Chris remarked.

Angie was already busy reattaching her leg. She looked at her brother more closely and then immediately walked up to him. A deep gash cut across his cheek, up to the outer corner of his eye. Dried blood covered half of his face, fresh blood still oozing from his wound.

“Chris, what happened?”

“Cain winged me, it’s fine.”

“Chris, I can see bone. We have to get you to the hospital.”

“I told him that already, but he insisted on waiting for you.” Azri piped up. “Let’s get in the car and go, your mother is already at the hospital. She called while you were up there.”

Chris placed a heavy hand on Angie’s shoulder. “Mom’s fine. She went there with Arthur. It’s real bad, Evie. He’s…” Chris trailed off as the blood drained from his face and he drooped forward. Sybil and Gabriel caught him before he fell.

“Let’s not waste any more time,” Gabriel said grimly.