Redemption Ch. 13

This took me a while to write due to circumstances beyond my control. I finally finished Sunday or rather Monday morning at about 1 in the morning. I apologize beforehand for not going back and editing. Sorry about that, but I promised the story by Tuesday and the only way for that to happen was to upload what I had as it was Sunday night. Thank you for understanding (hopefully).

*******

Boy clenched his teeth as Girl Rayne helped him move forward. The corridor stretched before them, darkness yawning almost without end. The filth on the stony ground clung to his already muck covered feet. He wondered what had happened to all the water streaming down the stairs. Strangely, it had all disappeared.

The pain in his gut had alleviated, but he felt sore, his muscles ached and a deep sadness filled him. He didn't know why, but he just wanted to curl up and cry.

Lucien. His very essence called out for him. Where was he? Had the devil hurt him? Was he still back at their home, outside on the balcony?

Lucien was an excellent fighter. Boy was beginning to regret coming to this place Girl had brought him.

She aims to kill you—a dark voice whispered in his head. Boy cast a quick glance her way from the corner of his eye.

She was just a tiny thing, but he remembered how she'd fought in the tunnel earlier that week. Right now, she struggled with his weight and Boy paused to straighten up and stand fully on his own legs. She looked questioningly at him, but he nodded, letting her know he was fine now.

He wondered about what the voice in his head said. Why would girl mean him harm? That was ridiculous. Where had that thought even come from?

They made their way further down the corridor.

Fear began to eat away at Boy, crawling up his legs and spine until he was panting. Up ahead was glowing light and he could hear chanting.

About to stop in his tracks, a firm hand gripped his arm.

Boy looked at the owner of that hand.

The silver-haired male grinned, pale green eyes glinting. "Just a few more steps, child. Come now, surely you must be accustomed to this."

Boy tried to speak, but, to his surprise, found his mouth gagged. Bewildered, he looked down at himself to discover he was clothed with a thin white robe, tied at the waist with a silky sash.

Another hand gripped his right arm. Boy turned wild eyes to a second man. This one had silver hair and piercing blue eyes. His face was cold, evil, and made Boy want to shrink away from him.

The man lifted the corner of his lip and lifted his other hand to show Boy the thick black whip coiled there. "Keep moving if you don't want it worse."

They shoved him forward, roughly. Boy stumbled and looked around wildly for Girl. Where was she? What happened to her?

At the end of the corridor was a large ornate door, halfway open. Boy's eyes widened when the men hauled him inside.

The room was large and the blood-red floor polished to a glossy sheen. Cloaked, hooded figures stood in a semi-circle around a raised area at the far end of the room. This was the source of the melodic chanting, deep voices reverberating around the cavernous room, uttering words unfamiliar to Boy.

Flaming torches rested within metal holders anchored along the black walls and columns that arched up to high ceilings. Boy's eyes grew rounder when he took in the large gold pentacle hanging on the wall behind a large obsidian statue of a male with the head of a goat.

His hearts jostled in his chest as he got a good look at the statue. The man-creature had wings, much like Remi and Zak when they began to shift into their dragon forms. Long horns curved from a head full of spiral curls that fell around broad shoulders. The malevolent parody of a grin twisted the creature's face, fangs bared, and glowing red eyes boring down on Boy.

The men practically dragged Boy forward, wrenching his arms behind his back, and binding his wrists together.

Boy was now inches from the hideous statue. It was a little taller than Ashriel, maybe seven and a half feet. They removed the thick cloth tied over his mouth,, and shoved Boy to his knees. This put the statue's genitals right in front of Boy's face. The obsidian cock was long and tipped with the head of a serpent.

"Worship your god, you worthless little man-whore," one of the men behind him ordered.

Boy blinked. They wanted him to fellate the statue's grotesque cock.

Where was Girl?

He turned his head to look around behind him, but he couldn't see her, only the dark shapes of the hooded people assembled behind him. The chanting grew louder and the man standing to his right reached out and slapped Boy hard.

He toppled over, smashing his face onto the hard floor. Blood filled his mouth and his vision swam. Cruel fingers twisted into his long hair to yank him back up.

"Worship your god, you filthy cum dump. You will do it with either your mouth or your ass. I've allowed you to chose because it's your birthday. Do not make me regret gifting you this."

Horror filled Boy as he tried to focus on the stone appendage before his spinning vision. The snake-like penis was long, curved, and the serpent's mouth open with sharp looking fangs exposed. If they forced him to back up onto that, it might rip him up inside. Putting his mouth on the thing was probably less painful.

The man began to chortle when Boy wrapped his lips around the stone cock.

He rocked his head stiffly back and forth, hoping that would please the sadistic bastard next to him.

"With more devotion, boy. My mother sucked my dick with more enthusiasm than that," the man snapped.

Hands yanked at his white robe, pulling it down his shoulders. Boy froze, but another hand gripped his hair and shoved him forward. Pain exploded in his throat and he gagged as the black phallus pushed against the back of his tongue.

Fluid seeped from the mouth of the serpent, burning. Boy choked and tried to resist, but got a lash to the center of his back as a reward. His body contorted in pain. More liquid spilled into his belly. Boy could feel himself about to retch, but he was pulled back and forced to his feet again.

A fit of coughing assailed him and tears ran down his face as he tried to breathe. They were moving him again, his robe dangling from his arms now. Fire filled his veins, stemming from his belly. His cock began to grow hard and they laughed at him as they shoved him back against a leather covered spanking bench.

The black cloaked figures assembled before him stopped their chanting and approached.

A line of men formed before him. The man that had frightened him the most settled the handle of the whip beneath his chin, tipping his face to his.

He sneered, "This is a token of my love for you, Lucien. We're going to treat you like a man for once, but if you come before the last man sucks you off, you will be severely punished...one hundred lashes and then sodomized by each and every one of us. Do you understand, boy?"

Boy blinked. Lucien? Why did the man call him Lucien? "Y-yes sir," he answered regardless.

The man smiled and stepped aside. Two other men, including the other one that had forced him here, placed a spreader bar between his ankles and cuffed him tightly to the bar.

His hands were released from the rope that bound them. They were also cuffed to manacles at each end of the bench. Only the soft leather at his back kept him propped up since the way they'd stretched out his arms made him bow back.

Boy trembled as the first man approached him. The fire roared in his body and he felt the fear began to morph into rage.

The man removed the hood that covered his head, revealing a short reddish hair He smiled at Boy and caressed his chest until he reached Boy's straining erection.

Heat engulfed his cheeks and he held his breath as the man knelt. The minute the stranger's lips wrapped around his shaft, he lifted onto his toes and closed his eyes. Lust and shame assailed him, fighting for dominance.

The man sucked his cock hungrily, laved and nipped at his balls. Another stepped up and kissed Boy fully on his mouth, his tongue almost choking him. When Boy turned his face, the second man switched to tormenting his nipples.

They converged on him, taking turns to torment his flesh with pleasure. Someone slid a spit-slicked finger up his ass and stroked.

Boy cried out as he felt something strange tighten between his legs. He shook his head and froze when he realized his once opalescent white tresses were now streaked with shades of gold. It was Lucien's hair. He was reliving a part of Lucien's past as Lucien himself.

*******

Lucien could barely contain himself. The feeling of unease filled him. He couldn't shake his mind from thinking about Boy and Girl.

Devon turned to him and touched his arm.

"They'll be fine. The others protect them. Concentrate on what we need to do."

His brother's face was different. Once he allowed his darker nature to manifest, his face laced over with dark veins, and his lips turned black. Sharp fangs protruded from those lips, stark white in comparison. Claws hooked the ends of their fingers and their voices were guttural and deep, distorted.

They looked like demons, yet their thoughts remained intact. Lucien still felt concern eat away at his mind over his...his two loves.

He shuddered and stumbled to a halt, closing his eyes as sweat broke out over his body.

Sounds echoed nearby, making Lucien snap them back open. Devon turned his head toward the deserted street before them.

We need to move, little brother—he whispered into Lucien's mind.

Lucien wanted to reach out and link to Boy and Girl.

"You'll lead them back to them. Don't" Devon warned.

He gripped Lucien's face and stared deep into his eyes. "This is for them, Luke. We're doing this for them. We need to make things safe for all of them."

Lucien nodded, but still couldn't shake the feeling of unease that kept clenching his heart.

Devon lifted his arm. "Do you need to feed more?"

Lucien wrinkled his nose, remembering the bitter taste of Devon's rich blood. His whole body tingled with power still rushing about within, barely contained.

"No. As it is, I don't think the effects from what I managed to swallow down will fade for a long time." He wondered what Boy and Girl would think if they saw him, transformed into the creature he was now.

Devon grinned. "They would love you regardless... the way Angel and Jaz love me."

A heavy craft rolled over, metal screeching and glass shattering in a loud wave that had Lucien and Devon crouching, ready to do battle.

Nothing else moved, but the echo of the jarring noise flowed around them. The salt drenched breeze lifted Lucien's hair from his sweaty neck, and brought the scent of rot with it. Lucien frowned

"Come," Devon said gesturing with his hand as he began moving forward again.

Lucien followed, his eyes searching the darkness for any signs of movement.

He was glad they'd teleported their Black uniforms on, though they'd removed the winged insignia of the Alpha Angels from their shirts. Lucien and Devon's boots crunched over gravel, dirt, and glass. Soon, though, the ground before them became littered with a layer of molding bones that cracked and snapped beneath their footfalls.

Lucien took in the sight of shattered glass tubes where the monorails had once glided. As his eyes grew accustomed to the bleak darkness around them, he noticed that every building was blackened and charred, windows smashed, and exteriors crumbling. No wonder it was decided to just make a platform over the entire ruins and just build over it. The thick columns of steel were as big as buildings themselves, maybe thicker.

Lucien looked up to view the underside of the platform and almost gasped. Hundreds of thousands of devils hung upside-down from the webbing of metal beams, golden eyes riveted to him and his brother as they made their way deeper into the city.

About to warn his brother, Devon sighed, "I know," before he could utter a word.

Debris choked the path before them and they were forced to stop. Lucien's eyes rose up the mountain of garbage with a frown. Trying to climb would be dangerous as well as time consuming.

When his brother did nothing, Lucien lifted his hands. Blue light engulfed his clawed fingers as he prepared to clear the path with a blast of power.

Devon gripped his arm to halt him and shook his head. "Too noisy. We need to fly."

Lucien almost smirked. Devon hated levitating, and levitating plus moving forward, in other words, flying, he hated even more. Lucien was used to it. It had been his most used form of escape in the bowels of Megdoluc. Of course, he'd had wings then and hadn't needed to rely on his own powers to fly.

Devon floated up.

Lucien watched and let his own power surge. He made his body rise, his boots lifting from the carpet of bones and debris beneath him. What had once been West Street grew smaller beneath them. He drifted to where he could see Devon's eyes glowing above him.

"I can't see shit," Lucien confessed looking ahead. "I don't want to crash face first into a building, column, or worse, a horde of devils."

"Link to me more fully."

Lucien twisted his lips into a frown. Devon was already too buried inside his psyche. Seeing he had no choice, he let more of his inner walls down and winced when he felt Devon deeper within him, but by the same token, Lucien was also deeper within Devon.

Blinking, and trying hard not to peek into the man's mind, they drifted forward. Now Lucien could make out the shapes around him. Everything glowed like neon. It was amazing...and terrifying at the same time.

There were more devils than he thought, as well as flesh eaters below. The zombies crawled weakly on their bellies like maggots over the ruins choking the street. They drifted closer to the colossal ruins of what had once been the Freedom Tower. Just before they reached it, Lucien could make out the wide empty squares where the twin towers had once stood as well.

Devon and he began to descend.

They landed softly between the two empty fountains stretching wide to either side of them. Devon tipped his head back a bit, staring up at something. Lucien looked also and saw a dark figure above a charred building rise.

Thunder rolled and Lucien took an instinctive step back as the reaper drew closer, sword drawn.

The female reaper stared at them with blackened eyes, her pale skin almost glowing. Her dark brown hair fluttered behind her as she finally settled on the ground.

"We come in peace," Devon said.

She frowned at him and then her head shifted to Lucien. Her nostrils flared a bit.

"I smell Seraph from the house of Angelos." Her hand gripped her sword tighter, her delicate brows pinching together. "Who are you?"

"We are brethren."

"You have no wings."

"We were born without," Lucien said, drawing her attention to him.

"What do you want?" she snapped in irritation.

"Are you the only one guarding this portal?"

The reaper drew her sword higher. "What portal?"

Devon grinned. "The one you're obviously guarding. What else would a lone female reaper be doing down here with this horde of devils?"

Her obsidian eyes narrowed, but she didn't say another word.

Devon attempted another question. "The council members. Do they convene here?"

Again, she remained silent.

Lucien clenched his teeth, his anger getting the better of him. "Listen here, girl, we've come a long way and have put our loved ones in peril. Do the Edenian council members convene here or not?"

Her lips thinned and the black that covered her eyes faded to reveal shimmering stormy grey eyes. Tipping her chin toward the ruins of the Freedom Tower, she answered, "that is their resting place."

"Resting?" Devon repeated, sounding just as confused as Lucien felt.

The reaper grinned, finally lowering her blade. "They are not of this realm. They constantly invade bodies, using them for whatever deeds they perform in the upper world," she pointed her blade to the belly of the platform, before continuing. "When that body starts to rot, they leave it and rest a while before finding another victim." She wrinkled her nose. "I've seen them return, their stench preceding them. The carcass crawls toward the building before vomiting its host. Sometimes, the body is so putrid it just disintegrates in a writhing blob of maggots. The stench is horrific."

"And the host?" Devon asked.

Lucien just held his tongue and prayed he wouldn't puke with the girl's vivid description.

"Like I said before. They crawl in there to garner their strength again, before picking another victim."

"Let's go, Luke."

Lucien turned to head toward the broken down tower.

"Wait," the reaper gasped.

They turned toward her.

"You're mad. You can't mean to go in there?"

Lucien took in her wide eyes and heaving breasts, barely contained with twin straps crossed across her chest and between her wings.

"We do mean to go in there," Devon replied nonplussed.

Her mouth worked, shock evident on her countenance.

"Luke," Devon repeated, his boots scuffling across the ground.

"But they might infect you too," she insisted.

That got Lucien's attention. "What do you mean, infect?"

The female reaper frowned and huffed. "They burrow between the walls, make you crawl on your belly." She gestured to her own exposed bellybutton. "They get in through any opening you might have, or just make their own by burrowing into your skin. You become possessed."

Lucien felt the cold hands of terror grip him again. Hadn't Boy crawled around inside that tunnel, trying to go after those devils carrying a baby doll?

"I need to go back," Lucien choked.

"What?" Devon scoffed. "Lucien, no. We need to go through with this." Devon gripped Lucien's arms and stepped closer. "Look at me. Nothing will happen to us. They can't touch us when we're like this. They can't possess what's already—"

"You don't understand," Lucien snapped, wrenching his arm from Devon's grasp and taking a step back. He ignored when the reaper lifting her sword again. "Boy crawled around inside that tunnel when we found that nest of devils Thursday."

The reaper said something but all Lucien heard was Devon saying, "Boy is fine. There's nothing wrong with him or Girl. Stop worrying about them. If it's too much for you to handle, I'll let Seth know that they are off the mission then."

Lucien snarled. They should've been off the mission when he'd demanded it in the tunnel, not now because the great Devon of Angelos deemed it should be so.

Rage filled Lucien. He wanted to strike out at Dev.

"Stay away from the fountain," the girl reaper hissed.

Devon stepped closer and gripped her arm before she slashed out at Lucien.

The divine sword arched toward him and Lucien jumped back as Devon wrestled with her. Lucien lost his footing and stumbled. The sound of an approaching wave sounded and Lucien looked just in time to catch a horde of devils swooping toward him.

He only had time to raise the sword he'd taken from the fallen angel they'd killed in the Hotel Rohello.

They swarmed him, hard rough bodies pushing him back. He heard Devon and the girl yell. Lucien reacted by unleashing his power to destroy the horde of devils swarming him, but by then he was flailing, falling back, being swallowed by darkness.

Liquid filled his lungs, he choked and thrashed, losing his sense of direction. Something tugged at his arms and legs. He wasn't sure if he was being tugged deeper into the abyss or up to the surface.

Dim light began to shine and he fought whatever pulled on him. Finally breaking free, Lucien swam toward the light and finally broke surface.

He coughed and sputtered, trying to get air into his waterlogged lungs as he desperately treaded water.