A Crack in The Wall Ch. 02

"Let her be Joel... she's here, like you wanted. She'll see what you want. Let her alone." Samith called after him, turning his head to watch him as he went, but never changing his guarded stance. The man never paused, or even acknowledged the command, and continued toward the tree, staring directly at her now as he came. Her defender picked up a rock and through it at him, hitting him squarely in the back of the head, his long black hair wavering slightly from the blow even though his stance didn't. "Bealial! I said she doesn't need involved further. Let her alone. Do what you came here to do and lets be done with it."

The man held a hand up as he drew a few steps closer. Slowly he closed his fingers, clenching the hand into a loose fist. Samith went rigid as the first closed, then seemed to be thrown to the ground, landing hard on his back as the tall man brought his hand forcefully back down to his side, never looking away from Maria as he did so. A little gasp escaped her as the boy slammed into the ground, and suddenly she felt a sharp pain in her back and spine, as though she to had hit the rocky dirt then. A smile crossed the face of the man standing staring at her, and a chill swept up her spine as Maria came to realize what she was actually staring back into. The terrible creature standing in front of her was looking at her, watching her, staring right through her without any eyes. Empty black sockets gaped open where the eyes should have been. The open eyelids covered nothing but a black void. Not even muscular matter or scar tissue was visible behind the widely open lids, just black empty space.

Another horrid laugh pierced the night as though he knew what she'd just absorbed. Fear tore through her as she struggled to suppress the scream growing within her chest, an effort that finally proved futile as she watched the man lift her boy back into the air with a wave of his hand and throw the now writhing boy back onto the large pile of rocks. Pain was splitting through Maria's head and back, even though she'd not been touched, all of it seeming to be tied to the wound above her breast as though by an invisible spider web of small fetters woven through her body. Her chest and lungs burned as though they'd been filled with fire leaving her barely even breathing, paralyzing her as much as her fear already did.

"You see Lixi, he thought he could protect you. Isn't it sweet? Instead, he's only condemned you. Your his now, no matter who commands his body. You'll know just how strong that bond is before you ever wake sweet child, and I promise you..." another of his chilling laughs split the silence of a pause before he continued. "...I do promise you, nothing will ever be the same. Your life, your dreams, your mind, your body, all are forfeit, belonging only to him, tied only to his fate. Just remember, no one did this to you but him. Let that thought burn into your mind, I assure you, it will." With that the tall man turned back to where the boys body lay on the rocks, opening his hand and releasing the hold on the boys flesh as he went. Suddenly Maria felt as though she could breath again as cold sobs of pain and terror overtook her. The boy groaned and began to move of his own accord again for a few moments before the tall man kicked him squarely in the ribs, launching him several feet forward back into the center of the circle. He uttered his 4 final words as he sauntered casually back into the dark forest. "So let it start"

A dark fog like cloud was beginning to settle over the body of the young man struggling to drag himself to his feet. Shapes began to form within the dark fog. Taloned hands, membranous wings, horned skulls with fang like teeth all begin to appear and take shape in its swirling and thickening mass. The shapes swirled and merged together, forming strange creatures flying and crawling, brushing and entangling with one another all in mid air above the still struggling young man. He pushed himself up onto his knees and tried to crawl towards her. His head came up to look up to her with eyes full of pain as he stretched one hand out toward her. Just as he did so, one of the strange creatures swirling in the cloud above dove down into him, seeming to pass right through him and swoop back up from the ground to rejoin the now writhing dark form. The non-corporeal things blow was enough to knock his limbs back out from under him, forcing him back to the ground.

"Lixi!" he groaned in pain and again reached for her from flat on the ground. "Lixi I'm sorry..." the things now dove at him from every angle as the cloud seemed to send swarms of them out to assault him. All of them passing through him, but forcing his body about in response to their intrusion. "I love you. I did this all because I love you. Please.. Lixi!... Please know that! I did it..." his words were cut off by a scream as one of the things seemed to grab him with its clawed feet and yank him up to his knees. The swarm of creatures began to engulf him like a hive of angry wasps covering an intruder that disturbed their home.

He screamed and raised his hands to the sky, crying out in a language that Maria didn't know. She couldn't be certain, but it seemed to here from the intonation and style of the words that the dialect changed frequently. It had started out sounding vaguely familiar like Latin, and seemed to progress from there, getting more primitive and guttural with every transition. As he called out, the cloud of creatures continued to plunge through his body, until one grabbed onto him again, and seemed to crawl up over his back to cling to the back of his head. Its claws seemed to be digging into the base of his spine where it connected to his skull, as though it sought to pry the skin open. A gut wrenching, blood curdling scream came from Samith's lips as the little winged thing tore into his neck, intensifying to an almost deafening howl of pain as the creature pulled back and dove into his spine at that point. The rest of the little beasts began to fallow the first ones lead, diving into the young mans at the open hole beneath his skull, but this time, none of the them came back out the other side of his body as they'd been doing before. One by one the creatures swooped down into him, disappearing into his body, steadily raising it up with each new entering till he was standing on his feet.

Maria watched in horror as the last of the things dove into him. His whole body seemed to shake as he stretched his arms to the sky and called out one last stream of foreign words before collapsing back to his knees on the ground. He sat slumped over, looking half dead for a long while. She wanted to jump from the tree to run to him and hold him, but she remembered his warnings from when he'd first put her in its bows. Her aching body trembled uncontrollably with fear for the young man while tears streamed down her face, she had to do something.

"Samith!...Samith get up!...Samith!" Each of her screams seemed to fall on lifeless unresponsive ears, eliciting no response from the boy she now felt so much terror for. "Samith, please... I'm so scared... Please! Get up!... You have to get up... you just have to..." shamelessly she cried now, sobbing fully while hugging to the trunk of the long needled evergreen that had become her last shelter in this strange place.

After what felt like forever, the boys body finally seemed to strengthen. His back straitened and he slowly, but gracefully stood. Maria's stopped sobbing as her heart leaped up into her throat, but the joy was only momentary. Quickly she realized that something wasn't right with the man standing facing away from her. The once gaping wound on the back of his neck from the creatures intrusion was gone now, and he once again seemed healthy and powerful. Her fears were only confirmed as he turned to face her and look up at her with his now completely blackened eyes.

"Lixi... Maria... you need not cry... come, let me wipe the tears away, take away that pain." The tree itself seemed to draw its branches closer to her, the bows closing as though trying to protect her and hide her from that black piercing gaze. Maria didn't budge, but rather shook her head as the tears returned and clung tighter to the tree, feeling suddenly as though it was her last friend. "No? I assumed as much, but I figured it was worth a shot.

"I know what your thinking. Your probably telling yourself that none of the is real. You probably are trying to convince yourself that you're just dreaming. But you know Lixi, just as well as I do, that none of that is true. Dreams cant hurt you, not like this at least" The thing standing in front of her in the fermiliar body picked up the knife that had earlier broke open her skin and paused to lick the remaining blood of the blade before driving the knife into his own leg, burying it in his flesh clean up to the hilt. Maria screamed as the stabbing pain split through her own thy instantly. "See Lixi..." He clenched his teeth as the pulled the blade back out, blood flowing down and soaking his jeans. "That felt pretty real to me. How about you? Why don't you make this easier on everone and come the fuck down, let me replace that pain with something so much better. You already know I can. You almost came for me earlier when we formed this bond, just from feeling how good drinking you in made me feel through it. Imagine how much Ecstasy we can feel together Lixi! I can give you enough pleasure to chase away even the worst of this pain, and this time I wont need this to help me do it. Now will you please just come down!" He tossed the knife off into the woods somewhere and started to pace in front of the tree.

After a few moments he seemed to grow frustrated. He thrust his arm up into the tree to try to grab her. With a shutter the limbs of the tree shifted and twisted, blocking his arms and throwing him backward into the clearing. He laughed a cold sinister laugh as he climbed back to his feet, and paced about the circle for a moment.

"I wont come down! You aren't you anymore, not the person I met before. You aren't him at all." Maria hugged tightly to the tree and climbed a few bows higher and more to the back of the tree. Her words seemed to suddenly enrage him, bringing his eyes back around to her.

"Oh no, Lixi. No no, I assure you, its still me. I'm still in here, just with some additions. A couple slight, improvements, you could say. But deep down in here, its still me." the young man chanted something in one of the same strange languages as he'd used before, and dark black vines began to spring up from the dirt to entangle the base and lower limbs of the tree. The tree shook and shuttered, twisting its limbs and swinging the lower bows violently in an attempt to shake them from itself, but it was no use. The limbs climbed higher, sucking the life out of each limb as they came. The lowest branches now turned to ash and crumbled under the weight of the steadily climbing vines. "You will come to me now Lixi, one way or the other. That tree cant save you from everything. Come down Lixi, don't make me drag you out. Those vines burn a hell of a lot. Come down where I can reach you, I promise I'll be much gentler than they will to that tender skin of yours."

The vines were only a few branches below her now. Maria knew she had to do something. She remembered what he'd said before this started, his warning not to come to her no matter what his threats may be. The tree seemed to understand her thoughts, and put a final effort into moving several of its branches together to form a sturdy ramp down as close to the ground as it could get. Without another hesitation Maria climbed out the limbs and let herself fall to the ground.

She started running as soon as she recovered her feet from hitting the ground, never looking back to see if he was fallowing her. It wasn't long before she began to here the yapping cries of the jackal like dogs in the woods. She'd completely forgotten them in her panic, but it was to late now, she had to keep going.

One of the dog creatures darted out under her feet and grabbed at her ankle with a growl, tripping her tot he ground. Maria kicked at the dog and landed a solid strike to the side of its head. The little dog fell back as she climbed to her feet, but came at her again quickly. With a quick second kick she sent the dog sprawling to the ground, but this time the creature yiked in pain and seemed to dazed to try a third time.

Maria spun about to keep running, but smashed into the chest of the tall eyeless man as she did. With a scream she scrambled backwards, trying to turn to run the other way, only to find him suddenly standing in that direction instead. Several of the dog creatures snarled and growled as they moved in with teeth bared from the woods to form a loose circle around them. The dazed one hobbled in, slipping into the bipedal form of the 16 year old boy she'd seen earlier, and took a firm stance behind her.

"Now Lixi, you shouldn't run from the one that you've bound yourself to." He gazed down at her through the vacant sockets and stepped forward to take hold of her shoulders.

"What the fuck are you talking about! What the hell are you people anyway!" she screamed as she tossed her arms to throw his hands off and made a useless attempt to shove him backwards. She may as well have been shoving a statue of solid marble, his tall lanky frame didn't budge at all. In sheer desperation she brought her fists angrily down against his chest again and again like a fussy child throwing a temper tantrum. "And why does everyone keep calling me LIXI? I didn't 'bind myself' to anyone. I didn't even try to come here. What the fuck is wrong with all of this! WHY CANT I WAKE UP!"

She brought her hands down a few final times before her body gave out from the utter exhaustion both it and her mind now felt, leaving her to collapse against the terrifying creature in a sobbing heaving mess. The man who'd endured her pitiful pounding without so much as flinching now folded his long arms around her to keep her propped up against himself.

"I just want to go home... I just want to go home" she whimpered through her sobs, to far gone now to even care that the monstrous man now held her like a parent embracing a frightened child.

"Shhh... hush Lixi. There isn't much left to this now child. You'll be home sooner than you think." The elongated fingers of the same hand he'd used to direct the boys body just a short while before now came to rest gently on the back of her head in a soothing manner. "There is more you must be part of first though, dear girl. You have to go back. You may even enjoy it, if only you let yourself."

Maria didn't even have the strength to protest anymore. She felt as though all the life had suddenly been drained out of her body. Her knees wobbled beneath her faltering legs and soon gave out. She was only vaguely aware of the arms of the tall beast scooping her up to carry her like a rag doll back toward the clearing she'd so recently escaped. Her languid body lay limp in his arms, allowing her head to roll back so her still open eyes stared up at the starry sky through the branches of the tall trees around them. In the confusion of it all she couldn't help but find herself thinking how pleasant of night it was.

The tree's above her parted as they entered the clearing. She knew somehow that the thing that was now Samith was close to her, her whole consciousness coming back to her as though he'd held it captive when she ran.

"Thats mine." Samith's deep voice had lost all the softness it possessed when first he'd spoken to her. Cold indifference now held its resonance where tender compassion had once been as he growled out his demand. "Give her to me Bealial."

"Merely returning her to you. Do not mistake my generosity for a favor. I'm just the shepherd here to ensure that all goes as it must." The tall man set her on her feet again, balancing her till her legs recovered enough to support the rest of her body. He turned her to face him again for a moment and spoke to her directly. "Lixi, listen to me. You will stay here this time. Try to run again, and there will be no one to gently carry you back, I'll let my children drag you back with there teeth instead."

With that he turned his back to her and stalked out of the circle past the now charred, ashen remains of the tree that the vines had so easily overtaken. The last of her hope was already long gone. Maria needed no further warning to accept that there was no escaping whatever it was that was about to befall her. A chill ran up her spine as she felt arms close around her stomach and shoulders, trapping her arms tight against her torso.

"Are you done fighting me now Lixiani?" Samith rested his head against hers in an all to tender way as he whispered in her ear. Maria let her body rest back against his and nodded slightly in submission. "Good girl. You shouldn't have run from me Maria. It hurt me that you would turn your back on me like that. You'll not abandon me like that again, hurt me like that again, will you?"

The arm he'd wrapped around her shoulders now loosened as he brought his cool hand back across the skin of her shoulder and across to run purposefully up her neck. Clutching her throat firmly just below the jaw he tipped her head up and pressed it back into his shoulder.

"Will you, Lixi?" He asked again forcefully, digging his thumb into the skin of her neck .

"No!" she cried out with a shriek and tried to bring her hands up to pry away his before it choked her. It was of no use, his other arm kept her limbs pinned against her body with a squeeze that threatened to force the air back out of her lungs. "No... I wont..." she whimpered in a barely audible gasp as she relaxed her body in a display of subservience.

"Of coarse not. You wouldn't do that to me. I have so much to give you Lixi. In time you'll see. Theres more out there that we will share then you could ever have imagined."

His head lowered, bringing his lips to brush lightly across her neck. Teeth brushed her neck in soft bites between kisses as the hand on her throat loosened and slid down across her skin to her chest. Through the fear and hopelessness a fire sparked in Maria again as the same longing she'd felt for him before fanned back to life.

He slid his lower hand back across her waist, running up under the fabric of her shirt to caress the skin of her stomach and sides as the hand on her chest slid down to her breasts over the fabric. His fingers again found the knot they'd tied in the drawstring before and pulled it loose, allowing the neck line to drop and slide off one shoulder.

Maria took the liberty to turn in his arms to face him and wrap her arms around his neck. Fear again washed over her as she felt his hand shoot back up to her neck, but the panic fell aside as this time he lightly placed his thumb under her chin to lift it up so that he could bring his lips to hers in a deep kiss as he'd done before. Both of his hands were soon running up her back under the loose fabric of the peasant style top where his fingers quickly grasped and unfastened the clasps of her plain black bra.

Her hands raised toward the sky as he lifted the shirt up above her head and tossed it to the side. The straps of the bra slipped of her shoulders with the aid of his hands as it to was disregarded, leaving her breasts fully exposed to the cool night air for a few moments before his hands covered them.

Slowly and cautiously Maria ran her hands down across his chest and up under the bottom edge of his t-shirt to begin working it slowly upward. She couldn't help but wonder how someones hands could be so cold while the rest of his body felt so warm. In moments she felt just how warm that body felt when it was pressed up against the bare skin of her own after he quickly stripped the shirt off himself and pulled her in tightly against his body. His body was more cut than Brandon's had been. Clearly defined muscles flexed behind smooth pales skin, hinting of a controlled power and strength.