Fallen

As time passed, I tried to explore my darkness only to realize that I was in a stone cell no larger than two paces across. The cell had an iron door and a low ceiling with no light visible anywhere. I couldn't even tell when my eyes were closed.

I have no way of knowing how long I stayed in that cell. It could have been years or centuries for all I know. I assumed that I had to be in Hell, since I no longer felt the weight of the physical world. I spent so much time alone that I craved contact, even with a demon. At first, I mourned my fate and then screamed myself hoarse more times than I can count. I began to resent God for abandoning me to this, blaming Him for my banishment. I was so certain that I had done nothing wrong.

After what seemed like ages, I simply lost myself in dreams, accepting my fate enough to dream of soaring into a blue sky as an angel once again. I ignored the cold stone that I lay on and the emptiness in my heart. I tried to forget that I was locked in a cell for all eternity and simply revel in the remembered joy of flight, no matter how hollow it was. Not long after that, I was moved.

Sound and light exploded in my head moments before something touched my arms. It was a loud metallic screech and I was so shocked by the sound and the physical contact that I could barely move. The light was so bright that I closed my eyes tightly. I had no idea what was being done to me but I felt cold iron fitted onto my ankles and wrists. Someone turned me face down and I felt my wings being pressed together before cold iron was fitted tightly over the part where they connected to my back. The pain began shortly after that.

It felt like someone was shoving hot pokers into the flesh of my wings. I felt a stabbing pain in the upper arm of one wing and then in the other. I couldn't understand what was happening but the pain drew ragged screams from my throat as my eyes flew open in shock and agony.

The pain in my wings began to lessen to an excruciating throb and I realized that I was being carried up a staircase. I didn't even remember being picked up. I tried to focus on what was happening but the pain made thinking difficult.

Slowly, my eyes adjusted to the torchlight. The revelation helped me deal with some of the pain and gave me something to focus on. I attempted to see what was carrying me and immediately wished that I had not.

The creature had six, sinuous arms that supported my weight easily while managing to carry two swords, a torch, and a bow. It had two heads, both feminine with two sets of eyes two black horns, and pointed ears. Both faces were breathtakingly beautiful, one with red hair, green eyes, and blue eyes, the other with black hair and two different shades of blue eyes, the mouths identical to each other.

I realized that the body was naked, at least above the waist, and had four large breasts pressed against my side. I also saw two large, leathery wings with claws at the joint rising above its ample shoulders. When the torches finally came into view, I noticed that the creature's flesh held a slightly crimson tint in the firelight and its lips were a deep, wet scarlet.

I was carried up the spiral stair for what seemed like hours, passing a few barred iron doors until we passed a large archway that opened into an even larger hall. The hall had a domed ceiling and was lined with torches which illuminated huge iron double doors on the opposite side of the room. There was some kind of design on the door but I only caught a glimpse as we continued up the stairs.

The stairs continued at least twice as high but this time there were no doors or windows, only torches placed at regular intervals. The creature seemed to have no trouble carrying me up such a long, arduous flight and I was glad that I was not forced to walk, especially with the still throbbing pain in my wings.

The stairs ended abruptly and my demon lifted a heavy iron door above our heads to climb the last of the steps into a small, circular chamber. It was definitely larger than my cell, probably twenty feet across, and lined with torches. I felt a breeze and realized that the room was the top of the tower. Eight columns, about two feet wide, enclosed the room, leaving the spaces in between open to the night outside. Torches stood out on each column and blew in the constant chill wind. I couldn't see the night outside past the light of the torches which gave the whole chamber an almost enclosed feel.

There was a long stone bench on one side of the chamber, near the hatch where we entered, and a large chest off to the side next to an ornate seat, almost like a throne. In the center was a drain and a large iron plate connected to a single chain and small shackle. I had a terrible feeling that I knew exactly what the shackle was for.

The demon placed me gently on the floor next to the shackle and bent, presumably to open it. When I got a better look at the creature's body, I was shocked. Below the four heavy breasts with large, stiff nipples was a stomach rippling with sinuous muscle that tapered down to a slim waist. The creature's hips flared out into womanly curves but what hung heavily from below was nothing feminine.

I tried to tear my eyes away from the thing that hung limply between her legs, almost managing until I realized that there were two, hanging one behind the other. I stared open-mouthed as the two hefty members swayed in front of a very large, very full sack that seemed to bulge oddly. I guessed from the shape and the fullness, as well as the odd numbers of body parts, that the sack held four testes instead of the normal two. Strangely, her legs were normal but the tip of a long, smooth tail lay next to bony, clawed feet.

Drawing my gaze away from her strange body, she placed an oddly shaped piece of gold into a strange hole on the side of the manacle before turning the gold piece, causing the shackle to pop open. Holding my body and grasping my ankle in one of her hands, she used two others to fit the manacle around my right ankle before snapping it closed.

Part of me wanted to ask about the piece of gold and her grotesque appearance but I couldn't find my voice. Without a word, she turned her back and bent to open the iron hatch, showing the glistening lips of a vagina between her large, heavy sack and a small, pink anus. Once the hatch closed behind her, the torches all went out, leaving me alone in the gray darkness of the night sky that surrounded me.

Time crawled past as I waited for sunrise but, strangely, the night wore on. Black clouds stretched as far as I could see, blocking the light from any heavenly bodies. The only light came from somewhere below me, presumably from torches or fires outside and far below.

I had only the barest, diffuse light to make out the columns of my tower prison. There was often a cold breeze that blew through, making me shiver constantly. At first, I lay there unmoving, not caring that I was in a new location. I closed my eyes and tried to imagine myself flying but whatever they had done to my wings made it impossible.

I tried to flex my wings but a sharp, excruciating pain shot through them and made me cry out. I could only guess that the shackles that they put around them had barbs that prevented them from coming off.

Crawling forward, I wanted to see how close I could get to the windows of my prison. When my hand came in contact with the lower ledge of the window, I still had slack in the chain. As I pulled myself up to sit on the ledge, obviously meant for sitting, I felt a tug and realized that the chain was exactly long enough so that I could sit on the ledge with that foot grounded inside and on the floor.

I decided to go to bench but when I got close, my chain came up short. I looked back and saw it pulled tightly. What was strange was that the room was a perfect circle. If the chain reached one wall, it should have reached them all. I tried another wall and, just like before, I made it to the ledge without a problem.

After walking around the room, I realized that everything was out of reach except the bare ledges. I made a point of checking the chain and links and guessed that it must be some kind of spell.

Time continued to pass in the darkness. The surroundings never changed and I had no idea how long I lay on the cold stone or sit on a ledge looking down at the castle below. There were few torches outside and almost no windows. The few that I could see were barely illuminated from torches inside.

I tried to dream like before but the constant, throbbing pain in my wings and the constant frigid wind kept me fully aware of my surroundings and granted no escape into my memories. I didn't bother trying to yell or scream. I had lost the will to fight them long ago. God had forsaken me and condemned me to Hell. He had passed judgment and, having been in His presence, I knew His power and how hopeless it would be to fight it.

Lying there shivering in the cold, incessant wind, I was surprised when the iron hatch creaked open. I wasn't sure what I expected but it certainly was not the little demon who I first met when God abandoned me. She climbed from the hatch as though it weighed nothing and then closed it softly behind her.

"Hello, Lara," she said in her high, soft voice. I looked away from her to stare out at the perpetual cloudy nothing of the sky.

I didn't want to be near her. She was a creature of hell and I was stuck here. Since I couldn't banish her, I simply refused to acknowledge her. Whatever she was going to tell me or do to me, I just hoped that she'd do it and leave me in my lonely misery. She waited for a little while before she moved closer and spoke again.

"Lara," she said. "Do you know why you are here?"

Of course I knew but there was no way that I was going to speak to her. I knew that the rules were rigid and inescapable and that I was the victim of them. I knew that God had forsaken me and I was stuck in hell with these evil, disgusting creatures for the rest of eternity. What else was there to say?

"You are here because you have Fallen."

Tears stung my eyes when she used the word and I continued to ignore her, not needing her to tell me something that I already knew. I just wondered when the torture would begin. I knew that it was coming. It was obvious.

"My name is Lilith," she continued. "Soon, you shall begin your training. If you accept it quickly, you shall suffer little. Should you fight, it will take much longer and your suffering shall continue as long as you refuse to accept what you are."

I almost laughed bitterly at her statement. I know what I am. I'm an angel, forced to suffer the torment of hell by God. Nothing else that she had to say mattered. I had heard of Lilith but I don't remember from where. All I knew was that she was old.

"I know that you do not want to believe," she continued. "Most take becoming demons with some difficulty."

What had she said? No. No, no, no. I was not becoming a demon. I was an angel. I was a creature of light forced into the darkness and condemned to be tortured by these evil, vile creatures. I was not becoming one of them.

I whirled to face her. There was no way I was going to become a demon. I didn't care what they did to me. I was a being of good. I turned back away from her, not giving her the satisfaction of giving in to her lies.

"Few understand that we were all once like you," she lied again. "Angels, of course, do not understand where demons come from. They do not realize that we are merely angels who have Fallen."

I continued to stare out at the sky, trying to ignore her lies as I felt the tears begin to trickle down my cheeks. I hated her right then.

"You don't believe me." Her voice sounded resigned. "Fine, then gaze upon my true form."

Her voice was soft but powerfully compelling and when I turned to look, I saw her body begin to change quickly. It took almost no time for her to transform from a small girl in a red dress into something that I didn't believe possible.

I knew that what I was seeing was her true form and she felt ancient. At first, I thought that she glowed with the Light of Creation until I realized that it was the exact opposite. She radiated darkness the way God's light shone through an angel. Black hair and wings that looked to be made of black glass contrasted with perfect ivory skin. Her wings were so black, they seemed to suck light into them. She was flawless splendor the way all angels are beautiful but hers was a dark radiance that was as frightening as it was glorious.

I could hardly take my eyes off her, though they hurt just from looking at her. Something inside me broke, seeing her true form. I only realized that I was sobbing when she bent down to hold me in her arms, comforting me. Part of me still hated her but I couldn't help accepting her comfort.

As she held me, she again became the small woman in the red dress. Her small arms comforted me in my chains, held in the bowels of the underworld with an inky black sky, the torches lining my prison the only barrier to the darkness.

I had never seen a demon's true form and it frightened me. She looked just like an angel but so very different. I caught myself wondering if she could be telling the truth before I realized that I didn't care if she was lying or not. I would not be a demon. I would simply suffer my torment. They would not convert me.

After what seemed only a moment, she gracefully moved away and left me without another word. Once again, the torches were extinguished and I found myself alone in the darkness. I could feel the tears continuing to stream down my face and couldn't seem to make them stop. After a while, I just stopped trying. Whatever happened, I knew that they would try to make me one of them. I also knew that they would never, ever force me to become a demon.

The creature that brought me to the room entered some time after Lilith left. She was still naked, her four heavy breasts and two thick members swaying as she walked. In the hands on her two middle arms, she held long, heavy braided whips. A set of padded manacles with a long chain draped from her two lowest hands and her upper hands were left free, obviously to open the iron doors and locks on her way here.

Strangely, though they both had the same features, the face framed by black hair held a sad look of pity, completely contrasting to the open excitement and anticipation on the other. The image was almost like looking at a frightening version of two opposite Greek drama masks, one happy and one sad.

From the look of the whips and chain, I knew what was going to happen. She did not speak as she moved to me and reached up to run the manacle chain through a large, thick iron hoop in the ceiling. Lifting me up in her two lowest hands and using her two highest to attach the manacles to my wrists, she had me hanging by my arms with my toes just barely touching the ground.

My arms hurt but I didn't care and sagged in my shackles. I looked up and could no longer read the face framed by red hair. Her green eyes seemed to hold disappointment but the blue eyes continued to sparkle with anticipation and her mouth was still almost smiling. On the other face, I vaguely noticed a look of resignation before one of her dainty hands gently held my face and turned it from side to side. The sad blue eyes widened in recognition and then stared into mine for a long moment before releasing my face and moving out of my line of vision.

I wondered at her reaction and felt a memory begin to stir. I knew that I had seen her face somewhere before but all thought was driven from my mind when my wings were yanked roughly aside to expose my back.

The iron shackles holding my wings must have been able to be separated. The feeling of having them moved into a new position would have been wonderful if it hadn't been so painful. I felt something hook onto the manacles on my wrists and realized that the wings were being attached to them to keep me from closing. The crack of the whip came suddenly and brought with it more pain than I had ever imagined possible.

I was whipped for so long that I had no idea how much time had passed. Since we were in Hell, I couldn't pass out and didn't need food or water. Screaming and sobbing, I tried not to imagine the strips of flesh that must have been hanging limply from my shredded back. I tried to think of cool breezes and the soft caress of flight but nothing could take my mind from the agonizing pain in my wings and back.

"She is very skilled." The voice in front of me sounded like Lilith. Slowly, I opened my eyes, looking through the haze of my tears at her standing in the same red dress she seemed to favor. "She has not even broken your skin or caused a single feather to fall."

She seemed pleased at that. After apparently only suffering mild torment, I was sobbing with relief during the short respite. I didn't want to imagine how much worse it would get. My tears continued to stream down as I quieted my sobs and tried to stare daggers at her. I don't think I succeeded in doing anything but look pitiful judging by what I saw on her face.

She glanced over my shoulder and gave an almost imperceptible nod. I heard the crack of the whip before I felt the searing pain in my flesh accompanied by the wet trickle right where the pain radiated from. I screamed again at the searing pain in my back and began sobbing again. After two more lashes like that, I just wanted to make the pain stop. After the next lash, I began to beg and I hated myself for it. I begged for them to stop. I told them that I would do anything. I just couldn't stand the pain anymore.

The whip struck me again and again, driving me insensible. I have no idea how many lashes I received or how long it lasted but when I came to my senses, I was again alone, lying in a ball on the floor of my tower. I was shivering from the cold and felt sharp, throbbing pain and the trickle of blood across my back. I could also feel a dull throb in my arms, shoulders and wings. There were new aches to accompany my old ones and I felt every one of them sharply when I attempted to move.

I heard the creak of the hatch as someone opened it and came into my cell. From the sounds of jingling chain and leather sliding on stone, I guessed it was the six armed creature back to torment me again. This time, I had no energy to fight.

My shoulders burned when I was again hung from the ceiling and I didn't even flinch when my wings were pulled apart and once again secured to my wrist shackles. It was only one more pain among many. The first lash hit the back of my thigh but, painful as it was, I could tell that it would leave no mark. Other lashes followed, hitting my legs and bottom but none of them felt as though they would break my skin. I didn't even cry out until I felt the strike of the whip at the opening to my core.

It was the most painful of any strike I had received. After that, she began her torture in earnest. Again, after losing count of the agony of my torture, I was released from my shackles and left curled in a sobbing ball on the stone floor.

My shoulders and back still ached but my legs were on fire. I couldn't see but I could feel the long open gashes that covered my legs and the slick blood all over the floor beneath me. As time passed, the sharp pain dulled and I felt the blood dry and begin to flake from my skin before the hatch opened again to admit my tormenter.

By the light of the torches, I could finally see the extent of the damage done to my legs. I began sobbing when I saw the huge, angry wounds covering me from ankle to waist. Even my sex was swollen and angry, having felt what appeared to have been only a light strike.