Purgatorial

Nina's POV

"This isn't a secluded place." Lucas commented as we stepped on the block. Music raged as lights shone through thick windows. People our age stood in a huge line. Girls were dressed in skin tight dresses. Some texted away on their phones, others busied themselves re-applying lipstick. "Are you sure this is where Azazel said they'd be?"

"I can understand English. So yes, I'm sure." I huffed as we drew closer to the back of the line. Azazel had come in the middle of the afternoon. He'd drawn me inside just like last time, only this time I hadn't fought his Power. The scenario had been as grotesque. He'd been surprised by what I'd told him, he knew—I just knew he did—that this was a set-up. But he'd told me to bring Etna to a club tonight, anyway.

At the club's entrance were two bouncers checking ID's before letting people through. People complained loudly and threw long unfriendly stares as Lucas marched to one of the bouncers revealing a disarming smile that would've gotten him any woman or man.

The bouncer lifted a hand and was about to bar Lucas' entrance until he opened his mouth, speaking in a deep alluring voice I found familiar. It was low, tempting—just like the one you heard in the back of your mind, the one that whispered dirty thoughts and inspired darkness into your heart.

"Let us in, Peter. You have something to lose if you don't…" I scarcely heard him mutter in a purr. Peter—the bouncer—tilted his head, frowning. His pupils seemed to grow as Lucas continued, "You wouldn't want your wife finding out how you've gambled away half of your child's college fund? What would she do?"

"She…" Peter stammered. "She would leave me."

"Of course," Lucifer agreed feigning sympathy. "But if you let us pass, Christina will be none the wiser. You'll have a chance to win it all back—in Vegas next weekend, like you planned?"

Scared to death and looking about to wet himself, Peter dropped the trembling arm allowing us passage. I heard the other bouncer ask what the hell. Peter mumbled something about us being on a VIP guest list.

"Okay," I whispered gaining a little speed to catch Lucas' eye. "What was that? You can read people's minds?"

"Of course not," he scoffed indignantly, like such ability was beneath him. "I can sense people's deepest desires, as well as their dirty secrets. Once I get a read on those it's easy to manipulate people." People's hidden desires… I glanced over at Cameron. He'd known my deep desire for him—for Cam. That's why he'd hijacked his nephew's body. To blackmail me into finding Etna. "How did you think I managed to persuade mankind throughout the years?"

Right.

Music blasted from speakers on every room corner. Bodies were everywhere, dancing, flesh brushing on flesh, peeps our age and older grinding and dry-humping each other to the point of exhaustion. Across the way were round tables with round booths, they were littered with couples sucking face or… I frowned as the thrall of sweaty bodies welcomed us, swallowing us up. A hand snatched me—pulling me at hurtling speed. I collided with a solid chest. My skin was already buzzing with hotness but I could tell who the person holding me close was without looking.

Hot shivers along with not-so-creepy tingles rushed my nape.

"Don't get lost," Cam said in my ear loud enough.

I had to stand on my toes and pull his head close to whisper in his ear, "I have a feeling you'd find me, anyway." I felt his grin against my cheek before Cameron's hold became stronger—tense. "What?"

I was already following his eyes, though. After searching for something that would tip Cam's attention so badly, I gasped. Not far from the center of the room was a girl dancing with boys—two of them. One was kissing her neck, the other—a taller one—was making his way from her chin to her lips. The girl's smile was pure ecstasy. Then… I saw them. Their teeth shone as colorful lights hit them, causing the fangs to stick out like sore thumbs. The shorter guy bit straight into her neck, catching a carotid. The girl's eyes startled open—frightened. Obviously she'd had no idea of who—of what those boys were.

Vampires.

The taller boy kissed her lips one last time before grabbing her right arm, lifting her wrist to his mouth and sinking in twin extra-large canines. Her mouth fell open in a yell that the crowd and loud techno music swallowed.

"Cam—"

"We're not here to save her, Nina."

My eyes locked with his, widening.

"But she'll…"

Lucas came into view with Etna beside him. No sight of Romeo. He too eyed the Vampires feeding off the girl and shrugged wordlessly, like it was the most normal happening. Ever. He nodded his head toward a booth where a girl was kissing a boy—there was a small shimmer coming from the boy's mouth. It looked like kissing… I squinted. It wasn't—her lips were hovering his. Oh no. She was a… a Succubus. She was sucking the boy's life force.

"Looks like someone brought Hell to a party." One side of Lucas' mouth quirked bitterly. "There are more Vampires—they're feeding. Outback, maybe."

"What the heck is this place?" I whispered.

"It is disgusting," Etna added, catching my whisper. "Can we do something to stop them?"

Lucifer's face became stern.

"No, that's not why we're here."

Etna planted her hands on his crossed arms, looking up with pleading eyes.

"But you are their King…"

Lucas snorted looking down at her, "Not so much anymore. Anyone who's here has lost their allegiance to me. They're Cain's now."

Cameron came alive all of a sudden, jerking toward a spiraling staircase. He was gazing up at the balcony overseeing the ground floor.

"He's upstairs. I can hear him." It was amazing how he could tune out everything and focus on one thing—one voice. "I still think this is a bad idea…" Cam muttered to me. He'd wanted me to stay behind—at my old house. Since we'd left Henry's grandparents' house. Henry had thrown a fit at that.

I nudged my head to where Etna was, clad in all black—jacket, top, jeans and boots—with her blond hair highlighting the shimmering beauty of her face and making the winter storm eyes pop like crazy under the colorful lights.

"She's got way more to lose and she's here." I reminded him. Etna had thrown quite the temper tantrum when Lucas tried ordering her to stay put. I could see the resemblance between them then, without doubt. They both always got their way.

Cam wanted to say something but wisely shut his mouth, finding an opening in the crowd. We trudged for the stairs, Lucas and Etna following closely. Every now and again I'd glance over a shoulder and smile at Etna—her eyes were drinking in everything. She was breathing this new reality like someone famished and desperate to live it. It was cute. Lucas' eyes were jumping from person to person making sure no one would attack.

Not being able to feel Power was both an advantage and disadvantage. Others couldn't sense us using, but neither could us.

At the top, Cameron walked in a straight line like he was following a map—he shoved a guy out of his way carelessly, like swatting a fly. A deep frown found its place on my face. Cam moved forward faster, I stretched out a hand to grasp his elbow realizing he was still listening in on whatever Cain was saying—what if Phillip was with him?

His name never left my mouth. We made a turn into a long hallway with several closed doors. They were all painted white, all except for one. It was stationed at the end of the hall. Shivers walked all over me as I pieced together how familiar this place looked—like the club Azazel had shown me in our first encounter.

Cameron neared the hall's end quietly, easing his feet expertly on each floorboard. I copied his steps. A voice fluttered from inside, loud enough for me to make out the words.

"…you know what would be super, duper sexy?" there was a pause. "If you lost all the clothes…" giggling. "Took this knife and cut off your nipples."

"W-what…?" a girl stammered.

"I'm joking—" there was silence followed by two sets of laughter, one rich and another high-pitched. The latter ended abruptly when… "Just slit your throat."

"Wha—" the girl's words died. The next thing coming from her—because I could feel it was her—was a loud gurgling sound, followed by a heavy thump.

"Never mind. I just did it for you."

My body jerked back in pure shock. I hit Lucas' wide chest. Swallowing hard I glimpsed his unreadable expression. His eyes were monotonous—making him scary and unpredictable. He weighed a hand on my shoulder, driving me behind him, then moved past Cameron going for the frontal approach pushing open the door.

I couldn't see much—Lucas and Cam were taller and their bodies took up most of the door frame. I had to squint to see him. The person responsible for my family's mindless massacre. It wasn't enough to see a flash of brown hair, I needed to look him in the eye—I wasn't sure why. But there was a hunger to face him head on. Maybe a cry for revenge?

I shouldered past Cameron—strong, capable fingers grasped my wrist, tugging me to his side before I could get past Lucas. It didn't matter. I could see the psychopath just fine. His shirt was maroon—but there were dark splatters across it, pints of crimson on his neck and face. The shirt was halfway undone showing off a chiseled chest which wasn't the reason for my staring—it was the tattoo on his left pectoral. An intricate spider covered his skin, its legs were black as most of its round body, except for a smudge of red in its center.

Cain plopped down on the arm chair behind him, outstretching his arms above his head heaving a content sigh.

"Welcome!" His arms fell over the couch's back. He stretched his legs above the girl's still warm corpse. Blood pooled under her slashed throat. She was pale—eyes wide and scared, unseeing looking our way. It shook me. My fingernails dug into my palms—this girl died for nothing, for Cain's amusement. "Sorry about the mess. I got sidetracked while waiting for you guys, I needed a distraction."

Lucifer was in a sleek leather jacket, white Tee and tailored jeans with expensive Italian boots. His hair was slicked back reaching the middle of his neck. He was definitely pulling off a killer vibe as far as a sophisticated King of Hell was a concerned. Cain looked unaffected, purple irises busy trying to see past Lucas and me, past Cameron—trying to seek out Etna.

"You're Cain?"

Cain's eyes didn't dart to Lucifer when he was spoken to.

"Oh, yeah. We haven't met—well, I know you. By the way," he snapped his fingers like he'd remembered something important. This time disturbing eyes met Lucas'. "Sorry about taking over Hell and all. Actually… I'm not sorry—I can't feel sorry, but if I could, I'm sure I'd say something like that."

Lucas moved further inside, unafraid. Maybe because he couldn't feel Cain's Power. Gray eyes were bursting with something akin to malice.

"Hell's not my concern. Keep it, have fun."

"I figured as much," Cain muttered, bored by Lucas' attempt of intimidation. "I always thought you lacked a certain Je ne sais quoi to be the Devil. You kinda suck at being inherently evil."

A ghost of a smile crossed Lucifer.

"And I suppose you're evil through and through?"

"Well, I am a narcissistic murderer. Which means I'm way more qualified than any of you saps—you're burdened by love, guilt… I'm not. Liking yourself is the most important thing and I like me."

"You want to meld the three dimensions." Lucas mused, gray eyes lighting with wisdom. His words from downstairs rang in my ears: he could read people's desires. "You want to collapse them into one—into Earth. That's why you're taking over Hell first, because you want to unleash it here."

"Wow," Cain looked at Lucifer abashed. He blinked, glancing at each of us for a second. "You… only figured it out now? Seriously?"

Cam gritted out, "You talk in riddles." Cain gave an excessive eye roll, baiting him. Cameron pretty much wanted to break Cain in two—throw him into a wood chipper and scatter his remains in the red sea. He held back, though, "If you're bringing Hell here, why do you want to… collapse Heaven? You'll just bring Angels to kill you."

"Angels can't kill me. I have Magic, I have Power—Power enables me to endure complicated spells, spells that would kill a Witch or Warlock if they did them alone. Power heals my body and you know what they say about Magic…"

"It's only limited by its user's weaknesses."

Cain winked.

"I heard Phillip tried barbecuing your girlfriend." My eyes startled—pinning Cain as he glowered. "Man, I bet you actually wanted to end him. I bet you wanted to feel his neck snap—you would have loved watching him going limp and quiet. One less problem to worry about. But it wouldn't last, would it? Little brother would heal up and wake up. Still evil. Now," he wagged a finger knowingly. "There's a constant little voice in the back of your mind whispering he's beyond saving. Everyone says so." A smile grew on Cain. Cam took a shallow breather, shoulders shaking the slightest. "It's getting harder to resist that voice, isn't it, Cam? To put an end to that shadow of your brother?"

"Go to Hell."

He threw back his head in a wild laugh.

"Hell will come to me. And speaking of your brother..." his eyes shone eerily and out of nowhere there was a floating body behind him. Bile rose up my throat and I had to push very hard not to puke. Serena's blond hair was dirty, bloodied. Red circles marred her throat, her wrists were swollen, bleeding. "Now," Cain thumbed Serena. "I would love to take credit for that—but it was all Phillip."

Etna stumbled toward me catching a glimpse of Serena's unconscious form hovering inches behind Cain's over relaxed stance. She drew a sharp breath and let it out shakily.

"Etna can't help you unleash Hell." Lucas pointed out blatantly. He looked seconds from going old-fashioned on Cain's ass.

"Huh, no kidding? I already know how to unleash Hell. I just need her for the second part—break down Heaven."

Blood drained from Etna's cheeks as she took back a step. Lucas sensed her movement without tearing piercing eyes from the psychopathic threat standing a mere four feet away.

"I can only redeem Fallens…"

"That's true. I'm not after your ability, not like that, anyway. Because of your ability though, you're attracted to two things," he held up two fingers. "Fallens and holy ground."

"I don't understand…" she whispered quietly.

"Shame," Cain shrugged, grinning all the same. He rolled his shoulders once before standing. A murmur rose above the music coming from the floor below, like birds... cawing. There was no feeling Power but Magic was different, strong chills ran me from head to toe leaving me petrified when all windows flew open and in came an array of crows. "Hope you don't mind!" Cain shot over the loud squawks and yelling. I was yelling. The crows were swooping down, carving their talons into me. "I brought a few friends."

I hit two of them with an uninjured arm. A louder scream left me when the crows burst open. Blood and guts flew everywhere but something fell on the ground. It changed its size too quickly for me to grab the hidden Azure Dagger—a shot of acid was aimed at my feet. I gasped when some landed on my jeans, burning away the material and burning flesh along with it. Tapeworms, I thought heaving, looking around the room as every possessed crow gave away to one. The room's lights flickered—exploding all around. The two Demons near me hissed as shards fell on them. Quickly, I pushed down the burning in my right leg and grabbed the Dagger inside my denim jacket—reaching out to stab the closest Tapeworm's slimy chest. The black Demon hollered, yellow eyes driven mad with pain. My grip on the hilt slipped as tentacles wrapped my ankles, covering my legs. The second Tapeworm pulled me towards it, hissing.

Breathlessly, I thrashed in the thing's hold trying to re-grab the Azure Dagger. The Demon I'd stabbed became a mount of black goo. The Dagger was just lying there... I stretched my fingers to their fullest. Nothing—I screamed loudly. My wounded leg got pulled to the Demon's circular mouth and... Crap... Jesus—it fucking hurt. My heart sped up, it was going so fast I thought I'd die of a heart attack.

The biting stopped. My eyes popped open to see the room dark, only lit by shimmering electricity coming off Cameron's body and the emergency sign above the door. Cameron was standing above me, hunched, Azure Dagger in hand. It was blurry, but I got to see the Tapeworm's body melt like wax. I kicked away from it, heart pounding. Cam moved quickly, wrapping my waist and setting me against a wall. He wrapped my fingers around the Dagger's hilt. My hand kept shaking.

"Stay put," he barked, ripping a piece of his shirt wrapping the massive wound on my leg. I remembered him saying acid was ten times worse than being bitten... Well, couple those two together... "Shit," I heard his mutter. "They got you good... Focus on healing this. I won't let anything else get near you." He turned his back to me.

I couldn't really argue with his call. I didn't think I'd be able to stand... Around the room, I saw Tapeworms slithering towards Cameron, towards Etna who had an Azure Dagger on her, but not towards Cain... That's when I understood what the snarling was all about. Lucas and Cain were embroiled in a brawl. Unlike the fight with Cameron yesterday, Lucifer wasn't holding back. There was lightning bleeding from his body, electrocuting Cain's brains out. Cain seemed to relish in the pain, though. Lucifer punched Cain's face, cutting it open. He kicked Cain in the chest hard enough to send him flying across the room where he crashed into the wall, damaging it, creating a crack that reached the ceiling. Cain fell on the floor along with plaster and bits of ceiling.

Lucas reined in his Power. Electricity extinguished as he walked to where Cain was, rolling on the floor, cheek and forehead bleeding—laughing so loudly he was wheezing. It was a crazy laugh. Shrilling... Like he was delighted by all this—by his own pain. Lucifer halted when Tapeworms finally fawned to him, hissing and spitting acid. Raising a hand, Lucas froze them in time. Then, one by one, he ripped the Demons' heads from their slimy bodies. Completely at ease with killing, animalistic even.

Soon, Cameron fried the last two Demons in the room and Lucas was marching toward Cain. Lucas wasn't unscathed; his left eye was a purpling shiner and his nose looked odd—broken. Cain had pulled himself off the floor, smiling sinisterly at Lucas. Ice was starting to show on the windows. Lucifer was doing that. They grew so cold the windows shattered. The shards fell like little icicles.

"You thought Tapeworms could kill me? You thought you could kill me?" Lucas asked, voice raised to a degree that got hairs all over my body standing straight—even if he sounded a bit nasally. I winced from jostling my leg. "I'm as old as Heaven—I'm older than this Earth. You can't kill me!"

Finally, Cain's laughter stopped. Abruptly. His head lolled against the wall as he grinned. I wondered if anyone downstairs was aware of what was happening here. Where was Romeo? The thought came out of nowhere. I frowned massively when I realized Azazel wasn't here, either. Shouldn't he have been here? The hazy thoughts drained away as Cain leaned away from the wall, meeting Lucas head on, smirking. Blood found its way to his mouth, coating his lips and teeth in a macabre picture.

"It's good to have self-esteem, Lucy. Congrats," he croaked. "This was fun. Seriously, I had a blast. But it's time to call it a night." His face morphed from a twisted comedian to a monstrous psychotic bastard. "Êslêp," Cain said, voice broad with rich power.

Behind Lucas, Etna dropped to the gory floor next to the girl Cain murdered earlier. Lucas glared over a shoulder, growing enraged.

"You kids haven't seen nothing yet," he shouted over Lucas' angry cry. "Comê fortêhã, êsê-ãl mÿ ênêmÿ—fê-ã-êstê on hãs blod!"

Cain's voice became a complication of tangled letters. It wasn't an idiom I was familiar with. I'd heard it from Serena once or twice. A swarm of silvery wires materialized out of air, shooting for Lucas. They wrapped around him, pushing him against a wall. More and more cords fused together creating some sort of cocoon to trap him. Dumbfounded, I realized they weren't actually grey wires—they were webs, thick and undoubtedly stronger than the ones spiders weaved.

"One of my favorite spells. It's got a secret no one figures out until it's too late—that's always a zinger." He laughed bashfully turning from Lucas' ongoing battle with the magical cobwebs swallowing him up. Slyly, purple eyes roamed to Cameron. "We made a Deal—me and your brother," Cain did a quick swatting motion with a hand, an invisible force sent Cameron flying into a wall. His head busted into a mirror, shattering it. "I needed a bargaining chip to draw you out. I knew you wouldn't resist saving your friend," he glanced at me. The purple in his eyes flashed and I was ripped off the ground, projected into the air. I landed on a wooden coffee table—it cracked under me. A hand flew to my chest—I wheezed. "And I knew Prince of Lies over there would be too prideful to actually think of me as a threat. Why would he? He's so strong…" Cain pretended to swoon, fanning himself with a hand—dropping the charade as he said, "I knew he'd charge in blindly—I didn't actually think he'd bring her! That was a juicy bonus. I thought I'd have to torture you all first."

Next, another motion of Cain's hand sent Cameron crashing to the floor. A dry crack followed silence. Wait... something told me... This was wrong, there shouldn't be silence. Where was the music from downstairs? The voices...?

"You know," Cain said casually. "It's a shame that you're wasting your potential. You hold on to morality—which doesn't exist. It's all—" he kicked Cameron's side so hard he flipped over, landing on his stomach. Cain crashed a heel on his lower back, yelling, "A big sham!"

Cam groaned bracing his hands on the floor, pushing up only to be stomped on.

"If you study and listen, you learn. The concept itself is a lie—a façade created to deem right and wrong. Something that's not real. Nothing is—not really, because at the end of the day any living creature reacts the same way when threatened—they lash out, defending themselves for their own sake. Survival is a must."

Lucas was still cocooned inside the thick webbing, having poor luck busting out. For every dent he made, new thick satin-looking wires grew two times stronger than before, three times faster, multiplying the layers covering him. Etna was knocked out on the floor, blood oozing from her nose. Breathing came in harsh gasps. Hurry up, I told my Power, focusing on driving it toward my lungs. I could handle the flaming pain in my leg... I needed to breathe. The left lung hurt the worst—like it was too small to help me breathe. Seriously, I'd had enough breathing-trouble for an entire decade.

Cain crouched, digging a knee into Cam's back. It was a quick flash but I saw Cam gritting. Cain grabbed a handful of silky hair snatching his head up, twisting it so they were face to face.

"Not everyone sees the truth about society, how they keep you on a leash. Not just human society—every single one. Someone makes rules and says they know best, they say it's to keep order… And I'm like: whatever happened to free will? I mean, hello people! It was a gift to us—it means you can do whatever you want. So, laws don't make any fucking sense, do they? If someone wants to kill someone, let them. It's their right to express rage."

"You're crazy…" Cam grunted against the fingers—now—digging into his chin.

"Crazy?" he tilted Cam's head back, smiling when the bones in his neck finally offered resistance—he pushed a little more until Cameron reached out, grabbing Cain's arm. "I just live how I want to live, no boundaries. I take what I want. I do what I want. Anytime. Anyplace. It's how it was meant to be. When my plan comes full circle there won't be any laws, no rules."

Cain released him. Cam snapped forward, grabbing at his neck, gasping. The crazy-ass psycho patted him on the back, smirking.

"I really hate leaving unfinished business alive," Cain began. "But Serena was your brother's gift to me. Leaving you alive—for him to kill—is my end of the bargain. If I squashed you like an itty bitty bug right now, well…" He flashed a barely there smirk, breathing, "I'd break our Deal. You know what happens when someone doesn't uphold a Deal? That someone dies." Cameron shot a glare before Cain whispered, "Sweet dreams," He bashed a side of Cam's head on the floor. A dry thwack resounded. His muscles went limp.

"I'll be going now and I'll be taking my little prize with me, if you don't mind?" He asked sounding serious, pausing a foot away from where Lucas was wrestling less by the minute. Geepers. I could barely see him! Cain cupped an ear mockingly, shrugging when the only thing coming through Lucas' prison was incoherent mumbling. "O-Kay then!" He was beside Etna in a second, hoisting her unconscious form onto his shoulder, "Hmm, sounds like you got a collapsed lung, little bird. I've seen people die from those before—my fault, actually. They sound like breathless deaths." He chuckled at his own stupid pun. Another wheeze crippled my lips, "Great doing business with you."

My heartbeat slowed when he walked out. He didn't finish me, he thought… Cain didn't know I could heal! That was the last thing I thought before breathing became too much and I collapsed. The last thing I saw, as eyelids fell shut, was Cam's face. A single crimson ribbon ran from a cut on his temple, flowing across his closed eyes.