And Ruin Followed Behind Her

Chapter 7-1

Chapter 7

There was a strict “no fighting” policy inside of Frank’s house. That much was drilled into me by Aziolith for thirty minutes while we sat outside in the cold waiting for the shifty imp to leave the place and walk away into the night.

“Technically,” Aziolith said, “it’s not against the rules to beat up a demon outside of Frank’s house, but it is frowned upon.”

“How frowned upon?”

“Medium, I guess. Like, it won’t damn you to Hell, but it won’t send you to Heaven either.”

I thought about it for a second. “I can deal with that.”

And so, we hatched a cockeyed plan to torture Charlie until he told us what we wanted to know. Aziolith knew Charlie well from his time in the bowels of Hell.

“Charlie isn’t much of a fighter. He’s got a silver tongue, but a glass jaw. Plus, he’s pissed off nearly every demon and angel on Earth. Nobody’s going to give it a second thought if he turns up tomorrow with a busted face.”

I brought along the Mirror of Yilir for good measure, just in case we ever lost sight of Charlie, but even if he cooperated completely, something in my gut screamed that I would need it eventually. After all, you can’t go wrong keeping a mirror like that around. Snow White taught me that.

Stakeouts were boring, but Aziolith passed the time by regaling me with stories of his younger days. “I shouldn’t brag,” he told me, “but more than twenty towns worshiped me as a deity.”

“Was that so you wouldn’t burn them down?”

“Of course,” Aziolith said with a proud smile. “I was a vengeful deity who needed to be appeased with gold and food often. That is how I acquired the mirror to begin with, as an offering so that my countenance would shine down upon a town. If they didn’t appease me, I would eat their livestock.”

“Speaking of, you haven’t eaten since you woke up. Aren’t you hungry?”

Aziolith laughed. “Two years? I’ve gone ten without eating. Hunger is a weakness and dragons are not saddled with a need for it often.”

“No, just a lust for treasure.”

“We all have our vices, little one.”

Charlie exited Frank’s house and turned up the street. Aziolith crawled out of the bramble first, and I floated behind him.

“Get down here,” Aziolith said, pulling me toward the ground. “Do you want those bright blue wings to give us away?”

He was right. I hid my wings and landed on the ground, inching forward on the balls of my feet. Aziolith lumbered more than I did, uneasy with his new form. It didn’t matter much, since Charlie was too drunk to notice us even if Aziolith was twenty feet high.

The imp turned down a dark alley, and we followed behind. He hummed to himself and flipped a coin into the air, blissfully unaware that he was about to get trounced.

“Hey Charlie!” Aziolith said, balling up his fist. Charlie turned around and Aziolith socked him in the gut, sending him crashing into a brick wall.

“You have quite a punch,” I said.

“Matter cannot be created or destroyed, little one, so I have the same mass as a lumbering dragon, compacted into this form.”

Aziolith picked up Charlie before he could scurry away. “I think you have something to tell us.”

Aziolith lifted Charlie high into the air. The imp squirmed, trying to break free, but Aziolith had him well in hand. “You can’t do this. There are rules, man!”

“There are rules for demons and angels, but as you have pointed out on more than one occasion, I am neither. Now talk!”

“The mirror!” Charlie asked, fumbling over his words. “Where’s the mirror?”

I pulled the Mirror of Yilir out of my back pocket. “Here. I have it with me. And I’ll give it to you once we’re done here and not a second sooner. Where is Imogen?”

“Make it fast,” Aziolith added. “As my colleague correctly pointed out, I haven’t eaten in two years and I’m happy to make you my first meal.”

Charlie wanted to lie. I could see it in his face, but he thought better of it. “Romania.”

“Why Romania?” I asked.

“She wanted a portal to Hell close to Dis.”

“Why?” I replied.

Charlie kicked and squirmed under Aziolith’s strong hands. “You don’t know much about Hell, do you sister?”

“Enough to know there are plenty of portals to Hell all around the world. Why that one?”

“Cuz they all lead to different places in Hell. If you wanna go somewhere specific, you gotta find the right portal to get you close enough. You think Imogen’s gonna get far in Hell with a meatbag? No way. She’s powerful up here, but down there she’s just another banshee, baby.”

I thought of Kimberly and in a second, she appeared in the mirror, still very much alive, being dragged through the same woods I saw earlier. “Is this where the mystery spot is in Romania?”

I showed the image to him and he cowered with a shudder. “Hoia Baciu Forest. They call it the most haunted woods in the world. There are things that go on there you don’t want to even think about, honey. Things that left Hell long ago before we got civilized. The portal is at the center of the woods, but trust me, you don’t wanna go in there.”

Aziolith dropped Charlie, who scooted back against a wall. “Thanks, Charlie, you’ve been a big help.”

“The mirror! What about the mirror? You owe it to me!”

“We’re gonna keep it,” I replied. “Instead, we’ll pay you in not beating you up any more, all right?”

Charlie didn’t like that deal. It was written all over his face, but there was nothing he could do about it. “You aren’t really gonna go there, are ya?”

I raised an eyebrow at him. “What could possibly be in there that scares you so much?”

“Something lurks there Satan himself don’t even want back into Hell. Archangel Michael trapped it in the woods, but even he couldn’t destroy it.”

A crash sounded behind me, but when I whipped around I only saw a cat sashaying across the lid of a dumpster. There was a tug on my hand and when I turned back around, the mirror was gone. Charlie hobbled down the street before he snapped his fingers and vanished.

“That little jerk!” I shouted, chasing after him.

Aziolith tugged me back. “It’s okay. We know what we have to do. Do you remember the woods?”

“I . . . think so,” I replied. I really wasn’t sure.

“Do better than that,” Aziolith said with a snarl.

“I remember, okay?” I replied. “I remember!”

Aziolith grabbed my hand. “Take me there, then.”

And we vanished.

*