The Two Kings (Afterlife Saga) (45 page)

She had flowi
ng white hair that flowed around her as though each individual strand was controlled by an unseen force.
The long dress she wore did the same as it
wrapped in and out of her tired looking legs. The sleeves opened up into a V shape and the tips came down to the floor reminding me of
Robin Hood
’
s Maid Marion. Her face looked kind
,
despite its numerous wrinkles and her soft light eyes could even be seen from the other end of the hall where I stood locked to the floor beneath me.

She reminded me of what mother earth would look like if she were in a human form. I felt connected to her through my love for all things pure and natural. This was how I knew th
is woman was most definitely an
Angel.  It was
the same
feeling
I felt around Vincent when I first saw him in his Angelic form. They had a pull towards them and I could imagine that it was probably the same that evil people had towards Demons. Something in our genetic makeup was forged by the same hand. We were undoubtedly connected to these creatures and thr
oughout history even though our
beliefs
had never been proven
,
they had never faltered. Now of course I knew why.

Then Lucius held one hand out towards the old lady and motioned to take her hand, which the woman looked more than delighted with. She gracefully floated over t
o him and placed a frail, wrinkled
hand in his. He bowed to her and
lead her to one side of the alta
r. My eyes remained locked as everyone now turned to the opposite side to where the old lady had entered.

Lucius let go of her hand and raised his other one before shouting out another dark command. I had never heard a demon use another voice until now and after this I never wanted to again! I could almost hear my
own bones rattle thanks to the e
ffect it had. It was the type of voice that great arm
ies would have thrown down their
arms and pledge
d
a different allegiance too, just a
fter one battle cry. It was so
loud, rough and deep it c
ould have come from the devil him
self!
It seem
ed
to have different dimensions of evil to it and I
had to bite down hard
not
to
scream.

“
Daiva
!”(Means “Demon” i
n Ancient
Persian) He shouted as he pointed one long v
elvet arm out at the guards who
were bringing forth a screaming girl. She too was now dress
ed
the same as the old woman and I noticed her
old
eyes flicker a brighter white before returni
ng to their crystal blue colour. Where
as the screaming girl, who
I had tried to save
,
had black tears rolling down her cheeks. It covered her beautiful face like deadly ink and it dripped down her pure whi
te dress making the contrast
ever more startling.

He stretched
out all
four fingers together and
retracted all again to his palm to motion the guards to bring her closer. She lifted up her tired head and saw herself moving towards him
,
so she screamed louder and struggled even more against th
e two huge purple robed men who
had her by both arms. Swiftly though
,
Lucius stepped forward and struck the girl with the back of his hand, across the face causing blood to spurt from her open mouth and hit the wall, which was at least fifteen feet away. This not only silenced her but made her body sway to an unconscious s
tate.

I had opened my mouth to s
c
ream,
but thankfully my shock and horror had stolen my voice and nothing came out from my near bleeding
,
cracked lips. I pressed my nails into my palm causing little half moon indents that showed my frustration at having to watch help
lessly. The girls head was slump
ed forward and her dark velvet
hair went to her knees. She was dragged
the rest of the way to the alta
r and held opposite the gleaming old woman.
Lucius
touched the head of the girl and whispered something to make her re-awaken to her real nightmare. However this time she had learnt her lesson and stood motionless at the mouth of hell.

I fought
franticly with every idea I had that entered my head as each idea was as bad as the next. I need
ed
to cause a div
ersion but even then
,
what could I do alone?
I was out
numbered and most certainly out powered! I would not only be putting myself in danger
of be
ing
captured but it would no doubt be pointless as well. She would never have enough time to escape with all these
monsters
that stood around her. No
,
all I could do was watch on in horror and experience her end as though it was my own.

“Māha
Arta
” (Means “Moon Order” In Ancient
Persian)
Lucius spoke more words I didn’t understand
and looked up to the top of the domed roof as if waiting for something. None of us had to wait long for the dome to show a split in the middle and then part, moving back into the room showing us the night sky in its place. The vast black night was only filled by the f
ullest moon I had ever seen and
was ringed with a blood red outline that gave it the appearance of an evil sun.

The words passed
his lips once more and the red ring glowed even bright
er
as if responding to his command. All
of the robed figures w
ere
still looking up to it as if
a God had emerged
,
when abruptly Lucius seized the girl by the arm and turned her round into him, so her back was now against his
hard
chest. Her head tucked inches under his chin and with his other hand he held the bottom of her face and moved it up towards his lips. He mouthed words
over her hair and it seem
ed
to send her into a trance as she rolled up her eyes before closing her lids.

She started to sway but before she could hit the floor with her numb body he growled up to the moon and pushed h
er hard down onto the stone alta
r. He then
,
with a handful of her gown, tore
it from her body with one quick motion and left her naked as the day she was born. Her soft pale skin glistened under the moonlight and look like mi
lk rippling as it trembled in
the night air.

Then what happened next came about so fast
,
I had to re
p
l
a
y it in my head before reacting to it, like a time lapse that had to be caught up with. He had produced a large ornate blade from behind his back and held it up to the moon as if to get it blessed before plunging it into the girl
’
s body
. Only the gold gilded end that protruded from her heart could be seen and the sound of blood travelling up
to
her throat and out from her colourless lips could be heard.

The blood from underneath her flowed around t
he circles that covered the alta
r and soon all
marble
sides showed the life that had now left her, mirroring the night
’
s deadly moon above.

Within seconds of comprehending what had just happened right before my eyes
,
I let out an al
mighty scream that pierced the night like the blade that had just pierced her delicate skin and soon all robed heads had turned to face me. Blind panic had me frozen in time and surprise had the others doing the same. For seconds
,
shock was all that gripped at every being in the room but the sight of the black robe lifting his head towards me had me soon moving into action.

My legs started to run towards the closest door that I could see and my mind didn’t stop to th
i
nk what was through it and that it wasn’t the same way
I had come in
. I turned my head just enough to see a long arm extend out towards me and shout
,

“Bring her to me!” But this had my body moving faster than ever before.
I could hear all the footsteps behind me but I didn’t dare stop to look. I was waiting for hands to reach out and grab me but all the same I kept my feet moving. I pushed my way through the heavy door and thanked God that it was unlocked. I jumped at the sound of it slamming behind me and only then did I realise I had to wipe my streaming
eyes as I couldn’t see properly
for desperate tears. I told myself in my head to calm down or I would never find my way out. My body wanted to carry on but my
exhausted
mind want
ed
to curl up in a corner and cry
until there was nothing left.

I was in a strange room that had eight arched passageways which
were situated in a long row going from one side of the room to the next. I knew I had to choose one as the sound of footsteps was getting closer. I closed my eyes and swallowed
, and fearing I was making
a grave mistake
,
I took the one on the far left at the end.

It turned out to be
th
rough a narrow wet corridor similar to the one that had lead me t
o the Temple
but at least this one had
some
light. As I ran through
the
cobbled tunnel the lights ignited above me and I
soon realised as
the ceiling became inflamed
,
that this was the way the lamps were positioned. They went up from the top of the wall into arches th
at met the other side’s lamp. Then
when lit
,
the
y
made the ceiling glow with fire.

This extreme heat in such a small space made me cough and beads of sweat soak
ed
my face. I was thankf
ul that it didn’t go on for
long as I started to breath
e
more easily
when fresher air hit me.
I stumbled into the next room as I tripped on one of the larger cobbles that jutted out from the rest. I hit the floor with a thud and pain shot through my knees making me swear out in agony.

I scrambled to my feet
thinking about the bruises I would now have
before scanning the room I was now stood in. The lar
ge oval room wasn’t as grand as
all the rest, in fact it looked a little dilapidated. The walls that were once richly decorated had lo
ng tears in the royal blue wall
paper, showing the deep red bricks underneath. T
his made the room look as though
a
ravaged beast had clawed away at it
, trying to get to the flesh the paper concealed. What could have made those marks? But more importantly what had I just walked into?!

Then I took a step closer seeing something that didn’t just look like claw marks but something somebody had used their fingernail
s
to write with. Then I fell back with a gasp landing hard on my backside. There staring at me from all around the room was the evidence that I had been right all along. Scratched
,
was the haunting name that had just made me a mouse in this game of chase.

LUCIU
S

That’s when my mind finally put together the last remaining puzzle piece. I now remembered what it was the imprisoned girl had mouthed. It was a warning and it was a name. The sam
e that had spun a cruel web and
decorated this room of desperation.

LUCIU
S

 
I could no longer hear the sound of being pursued and I didn’t know whether or not that was a good sign. I examined th
e walls more closely and saw that the
paper had what loo
ked like old script and huge fleu
r de li
s in faded gold
.
It had been scratched all over the walls, some places with bloody fingernails still embedded.
My eyes followed the cracked mouldings and broken f
urniture that was beyond repair, it too also held the name crudely carved into the surfaces.

Doors with broken hinges were thrown around the room like scatter throws. There were glass shards from shattered mirrors and lamps that once added to the décor. It looked like a grand bedchamber that someone had gone berserk in
and this was the aftermath. As I walked further into the room I found a large bed that
had two legs missing so was laid
to rest on an angle on it
s
dais. Tattered curtains hung pathetically around the broken frame.