A Serpent's Kiss

Chapter Nine

Two cries shattered the air. One she knew was hers; hysterical and panicked. The other, she realised through the growing haze, was Gabriel’s voice, roaring in anger and injustice. Gabriel, in a massive show of strength and agility, leapt over the box containing him and sprinted across to Alaura, seizing her by the shoulders, thrusting his face into hers.

“I will find you Alaura, whatever it takes, I will find you. If there’s a war, there’s a war. All I care about is you.” His words shook with an intense passion she had never heard before and his face became a blurry blob of colour. It grew more and more distant but his words remained in her head. As she sank into blackness, the words seemed to be branded in her mind as she clung to them.

I will find you Alaura, whatever it takes, I will find you.

Alaura surfaced from the liquid darkness and opened her eyes, gasping. Through blurred vision, she could make out high ceilings and glossy black walls. Turning her stiff head, she saw a figure standing still by the window, the light pouring around it’s contours.

“You’ve woken up.”

She screamed at the rush of familiar feelings: nausea, black holes and suffocating. Alaura tried to stand but she found her arms weighed down. Glancing down, she saw she was in a chair but her wrists were bound tightly to the arms. Frantic, she bucked and jerked, feeling like an animal in a trap. Apophis watched, his eyes narrowed in amusement.

Shattered, hungry and miserable, she finally ceased her bid to escape and shot a tortured look at him. “Please, just let me go home,” she pleaded. Apophis chuckled, a sound that seemed to scrape the inside of Alaura’s head.

“I can’t do that. Besides, you will come in very handy.” Alaura didn’t like the tone in his voice. Summoning every ounce of her courage she turned to face him directly in the eyes. They shone a horrible red.

“I will never, never do anything you tell me to do. Whatever the court think I am, I am still a human with a heart and conscience.” Every bit of her loathing for this nonchalant figure in front of her was poured into the words. He barked a short laugh.

“I can make you do anything I want.”

“Make me,” she challenged him. Her fear had gone; instead she felt a fierce anger singing her blood.

“Oh I will, never fear.”

There was an eerie silence.

“How come the angels didn’t destroy you in court?” Alaura hissed, breaking it. “What is stopping them? They came to kill me quickly enough!” He came towards her, his arms crossed and his eyebrows raised in amusement.

“Because,” he said, resting a hand on the back of the chair, an action which sent shivers down Alaura’s spine. “I am a major demon. They bear our existence as long as we do not spread out so called ‘disease’. With you, I would have eaten you but I sensed the angel blood that you now have and couldn’t. My venom infected you and so you were considered a threat. You are unexperienced and could easily have turned to humans. Being half demon, you would only have been able to bite, and not devour.”

Alaura shuddered. She wished she had never asked, she now felt sick to the core. The thought of devouring a human…she couldn’t even think about it. She closed her eyes, praying that this was all a dream but in her heart she knew she was in a twisted reality. An image of her mum and dad flashed into her mind and she felt the cold touch of a tear as it slid down her cheek. She would never see them again.

The weight around her hands began to lift and they began to tingle as blood poured back into them. Opening her eyes, she saw Apophis bent over her, untying the bonds that held her. As soon as he had untied the last knot, she would try to bolt. Impatiently she waited and watched as his fingers quickly untied the rope.

As soon as the rope lay in limp coils, she shoved Apophis out of the way with all her strength and sprinted for an open door at the end of the room.

Going somewhere? A pair of red eyes surfaced inches from her own, attached to a great serpentine body. Alaura didn’t even try to fight back. There was no escape. She was trapped. Slowly, she sank to her knees, her hands over her face.

Hands hauled her up by the elbows and electric jolts ran down the left side of her body. It immediately began to grow warm. Swiftly, the hand recoiled and attached itself to her right side, her demonic side. She was hauled onto her feet and dragged.

“Where am I going?” she asked, fearing the answer.

“Somewhere where you can have a nice long time to think.”

Limply, she allowed herself to be dragged down various dark corridors and up numerous flights of stairs. A sturdy wooden door was kicked open and Alaura was momentarily airborne before she landed with a painful jolt on to stone floor. Her eyes roved around the small room. It was pitiful, prison like with no furniture, no floor and dull grey walls.

Apophis knelt down before her, grabbing her chin and tilting her face upwards to look at his eyes. She tried to pull away but his grip was like an iron clamp.

“You can stay here until you have decided to join me. Soon, you will be so weak with hunger and thirst that you will want to do anything in order to get the food and drink you want.”

“I will never!” she screamed, her throat raw.

A forked tongue flickered from Apophis’ mouth and his eyes narrowed to tiny slits. She felt his fingers dig into the soft skin of her face and she mewled in discomfort. “Oh you will. Believe me, you will.” He threw her to the side, her face connecting with the hard flooring. He snarled at her, backing out the room and slamming the door. A screech of bolts sounded.

Alaura crawled over to a wall and sat up, resting her back against the bumpy bricks, letting the tears flow unchecked. Her mind began to create images of a future so dark, so crushingly numb that she curled up in terror. Gabriel had promised to save her. He had promised. She knew she would never see him again. Apophis had probably hidden her well. Even if he did manage to track her down, he could never compete with the power of her captor and whatever other things he may have under his control.

Shaking with sobs, she turned her gaze to the window, staring at the sky outside. She didn’t have a clue to where she was but the sky was comfortingly familiar; dove grey sky shot through with ribbons of pink and lilac. She watched in a daze as the grey deepened into shades of blue, and the moon rose like a silver orb. Soon, it hung in a night of total blackness.

The door crashed open and a shape slid towards her. Alra leapt to her feet, feeling a sudden throbbing in her head. It came right up to her and then grew heavensward. Her mind flashed back to that night in Egypt when she had first learnt of the existence of demons. She was just as terrified now as she had been then, she realised.

Hungry?

Alaura shook her head in quick denial but as she did so, she was betrayed by the rumble in her stomach. Hunger had caught up with her but she was not going to give in now, not so easily.

“No,” she whispered. The snake c****d it’s head sideways.

You’re still too human, too angel. That can be remedied.

Alaura’s legs began to tremble and her breath snagged in her throat. She couldn’t find her voice. What did he mean? How could he change the fact?

She didn’t have time to dwell on his words for in a lightning action, he had sunk his jaws into her left shoulder. It was like two knives were being simultaneously plunged into layers of skin and muscle. White and purple spots flared before her eyes. He withdrew and swayed in front of her waiting. An excruciating sensation crept up her arm. It felt like fire and ice coming together. Her eyes began to water and she tried to open her mouth to scream but all that came out was a trickle of blood. Panting for air, she slid downwards, keeling over when she felt the floor. Apophis did nothing.

“What have you done?” she finally managed to squeal, more blood gushing from her lips.

I’m driving out your filthy angel blood. It’s what is stopping you from becoming demon. When it’s finally gone, you will have to eat to stay alive. Otherwise, you will be stuck forever in an ancient body that feels like a prison. You won’t be able to move, to speak. I’m helping you.

A violent shaking seemed to override Alaura’s muscles and she felt a shard of what felt like ice inch its way up her skin, into her throat and into her mouth. Soon, she was gagging. Finally, a piece of iridescent, shimmering material lay in front of her. With it, most of the pain went although now she felt a horrific fatigue that paralysed her.

“What’s that?” she whispered, staring at the thing in front of her.

“A piece of your angel soul.”

Alaura fainted.

When she woke up, her limbs felt stiff and sore and it was with a supreme effort she managed to sit up. Her head felt like a heavy weight balanced on her neck and the room was tilting and swaying before her. Nausea filled her. This was only day two and already she wanted to die.

The bolts slid back on the door and vividly aware of the torture she had endured last night, she scrambled back into the corner of the room. Apophis strode directly towards her in his human form, holding something in his hand. A bowl. He knelt before Alaura and stroked her hair. She flinched at the touch and tasted bitter hatred in her mouth.

“There will be many more nights like last night. But soon you will discover the beauty of being a demon. Here,” he thrust the bowl into her hands. Alaura gagged as she saw the red liquid ripple.

“You’re a monster,” she snarled.

“It’s animal blood. Trust me, tonight you will need it.” She shook her head, her eyes watering. He shrugged and walked out the door, slamming it behind him. With one hand she placed the bowl on the floor and screamed from the depths of her soul. She didn’t know how much more of this she could take. She needed Gabriel.

Her eyes raw from weeping, she stared once more at the night outside her window, wishing that she could be anywhere but here. Once upon a time, she had been a normal girl, with a normal life. Demons had not existed. Angels had not existed. Now she felt like hope no longer existed.

One again, the door crashed open and Apophis glided towards her. This time, she felt so empty and frozen; she didn’t even bother to move. His fangs slid free, gleaming in the moonlight and sank into her skin. In silence, she endured the paralyzing pain, watching with empty eyes as she coughed up another part of her angel soul. She didn’t know how much of it was left, how long it would take, but she knew it wouldn’t be long before she was completely demon.

Her mouth became parched and she felt hunger tighten around her guts, causing her to double up in pain.

I gave you food.

Alaura picked up a scent that made her mouth water, her stomach tighter. In a trane, she moved towards the bowl. Her hand reached for it but she faltered, hearing the human in her screaming to stop. But she was so thirsty. So hungry. So weak. And it would please Apophis. Maybe he would treat her better if she did what he wanted for one night.

Go on. It will taste better than any mortal food.