“The colour that courage failing brought out so quickly in me, seeing my leader retreat, made him, the sooner, check his own new pallor.”
― Dante Alighieri, The Divine Comedy
“The two of you stay in the van. This shouldn’t take long,” Alexis ordered, still scrolling through her mobile phone. As a demon she wasn’t supposed to be familiar with technology, but it looked like she embraced the human way of life to a full extent.
Rodriguez didn’t look happy at all.
He and Alexis had no idea that I had brought them down to Suicide Lane. I didn’t think either of them had ever heard about this place.
We stopped right on the edge of the forest. I could make out shapes of the trees in the background. It was pitch black and I wasn’t looking forward to getting lost in there.
I could only count on my gut feeling, because all my demonic senses were lost. After that painful experience in the bunker my body wasn’t in the best of shape. I didn’t want to end up dead, especially not being a human. The police would label me as that girl that had an affair with the prince and in the end couldn’t live with her guilt, so she took her own life. After she murdered the prince.
“We are in the middle of nowhere, Alexis,” Rodriguez pointed out, sounding angry. “The girl is trying her luck. That parchment doesn’t exist. We all know it.”
“It does exist and we have to walk for a bit. We can only track it down in the dark,” I said, waiting for them to either follow me or take me back to my cell. It was a possibility, but I really didn’t want to go down that route. Alexis’s eyes told me that she was ready for anything just so she could get her hands on that spell. “You need to follow me.”
I started making my way towards the trees, thinking my plan was shaky at best.
“She’s making sense, Rodriguez. I remember my sister once said that it’s a complicated spell. The little whore is just a useless human now. I have taken all her abilities away. She knows that she’s dead if she tries anything.”
“We need to move. It’s important we don’t waste any time,” I told them, hating that they were wasting time on pointless conversation.
The temperature was dropping and harsh air ruffled my hair when I found a small path between the trees. My stomach was in knots, as I went over my plan in my head. Alexis and Rodriguez were behind me.
This is crazy, Maxine. You aren’t strong enough to pull this off.
I ignored my own inner voice, and picked up the pace. My muscles were aching, and my skin was still hypersensitive after Alexis’s tortures.
“How long before you know where the parchment is hidden?” Alexis asked behind me.
“A few miles,” I lied, and goose pimples appeared on the nape of my neck. By the time she realised that this whole trip was just my way of getting away, it was going to be too late.
The forest was miles away from any housing estate or any human populated area. I was probably going to have only one chance of getting away, so I needed to be ready. I was freezing cold, and I only had a light jacket on. I had lost track of time being in the cell, but I figured it was really late at night right now. Alexis must have been planning to torture me for a long while.
We were slowly moving deeper into the woods, and it was getting colder.
“What the hell was that?” Alexis asked, hearing something in the bushes. The three of us stopped and I took a sharp breath, looking around. My eyes failed to notice anything. For a moment I really hoped it was some lost animal rather than a certain supernatural being.
The old abandoned train station was somewhere ahead. Several years ago the trains used to make regular stops there, providing a regular connection to London. Then the press wrote that some teenagers started a fire and the whole station had been burned down. Over the years the station became a place where youngsters liked to hang out, smoke and drink alcohol. The famous platform bridge next to it was a spot where people had made a choice to end their life. That was why the press started calling it the Suicide Lane.
Most of this story was legit, except the fact that the fire wasn’t caused by teenagers, but by a demon who opened an illegal passage to hell. Ronan didn’t fail to mention that the same demon had let loose a few dark creatures from the underworld. From then on they had been penetrating this area unable to leave or go back.
Tonight the path soon disappeared and it became difficult to walk through the thick bushes. I couldn’t see anything ahead. Alexis was pissed off. She kept throwing spells around, trying to clear the path, and kept barking at me to hurry up.
A few months ago I fought with the mythological Area and then met up with a Keres in the underground tunnels. These creatures from the underworld had somehow managed to adjust to the human world, and they weren’t ready to go back to hell. It was Watchers that were meant to take care of them, but they weren’t always eager to carry out such complex assignments.
Suicide Lane was a dangerous place after dark because of what lived deep in the forest.
Those creatures were Eurynomos demons and they could sense other demons nearby. Alexis was blasting her demon power right, left and centre, attracting a lot of unnecessary attention to herself. I wasn’t planning to advise her to conceal her abilities.
It took us an hour to finally reach the burned down station. The smell of sulphur and burned wood still wafted through the air. The old building was covered with graffiti and the windows had been smashed to pieces.
I couldn’t let them see that I was scared, even though deep down I was shitting myself.
“This place is filled with powerful energy from hell,” Rodriguez pointed out, and his eyes gleamed. Okay, so the old bastard finally was starting to believe in what I said earlier.
“Oh yes, dear, I can sense it too. I’m surprised that the little whore led us here. I didn’t quite believe her at first.”
“We need to head over to the platform bridge,” I told them, knowing that we had less than five minutes. Those creatures had probably already sensed us being in their territory. Alexis was like a lightning bolt, filled with magic, and no one around would have missed her.
“Wait, let her go first. I still don’t trust her,” Rodriguez said, stopping Alexis who was already rubbing her hands.
Actually, the legend about the old parchment was true to some extent. Ronan had told me about an ancient spell that could steal all the power away from Lucifer. Alexis was stupid enough to believe that my father had ordered me to destroy it. I was amazed at how well I could twist the truth.
Alexis disagreed. “No, I don’t trust her going alone, Rodriguez.”
There were empty cans of beer lying on the platform along with other rubbish and the whole place was buzzing with electricity. I didn’t have any magic in me, but I still sensed it as my skin became static. Trains still passed this station from time to time, mostly during the night, but none had stopped here since the fire.
“We need to climb over the platform bridge,” I repeated, and a split second later we all heard howling nearby.
“That’s definitely not a wolf. I don’t sense it,” Rodriguez said, glancing around.
I could see he was beginning to suspect that something wasn’t adding up. I had to do something. I thought that I had a bit more time to carry on my bluff, but we had already been surrounded. I didn’t have to be magical to sense them circulating around the station. Over the years I believed that the Eurynomos always travelled in pairs, but things were different here on earth. Those creatures had to adapt to new surroundings and they managed to survive.
Moments later I felt cold fingers clenching around my throat. My feet started to levitate several inches off the ground. Alexis’s eyes turned bright red. She looked furious in the darkness.
“I told you that I’d kill you if I didn’t get what I asked for,” she said, and then I saw them—a few of the creatures were crawling over the platform now, trying to get to us. Alexis had her back to them, so she had no idea what was going on.
Rodriguez turned around and swallowed hard. He waved his hand, and sparks escaped from his fingers. Energy streamed around him as he tried to chase the beings away. He had no idea that this was only going to make matters worse.
Alexis was going to suffocate me and she didn’t look like she was bluffing this time around. I had less than a minute, maybe more, to get the fuck out of here, but this was almost impossible now.
“Alexis, I think you should see this,” Rodriguez said, realising that his magic wasn’t working as well as it should have.
Out off the corner of my eye I saw a woman with long black hair crawling towards where we stood. Then she shifted into a man with dark, slimy skin. It was glowing with blue light and her eyes were focused on Alexis’s magic.
My heart rate slowed down because oxygen wasn’t getting into my lungs. I slipped into the darkness when she suddenly released me.
My back slammed on the ground. Nausea rolled over my stomach when I tried to get up. Alexis threw a few spells, trying to scare the creatures away, finally noticing that there were suddenly so many of them around. She didn’t realise that they were getting stronger every time her energy pulsated through her system, feeding on her magic. The Eurynomos loved weakness and fear. I counted at least dozen all around us.
My pulse pounded in my skull and then I saw black eyes and felt someone trying to grab me.
“I’m here for you. There is nowhere to escape,” hissed the voice in my ear.
Alexis and Rodriguez had their backs to each other, and they looked pretty freaked out. The creatures were keeping them occupied.
I screamed when a female Eurynomos slashed my back with her sharp nails. I kicked her with my left leg and then swung back on my feet, ready to pass out as the blood poured down over my body. Moments later I started running along the rail track, not even looking back.
I had no idea how I was able to even move. It was probably the rush of adrenaline that kept me on my feet. My muscles screamed for me to stop and ease the agonising pain. Alexis’s spells were still active and the female Eurynomos was chasing after me. I couldn’t sense it anymore, but heard its raspy breath behind me.
My chest was burning and I was pushing myself to keep up the speed. I might have gotten away from Alexis, but my situation didn’t improve in any way. The sound of an oncoming train warned me that I had to get off the tracks.
That short moment of hesitation cost me a lot. I stopped just to rest for a bit and a male Eurynomos got inside my head. I felt him penetrating my thoughts, telling me to stay on the tracks.
All of a sudden I wanted to end my life, either be hit by a train or torn apart by a wild animal. I felt this desire consuming my soul from inside out. The pain shifted into raw flames, exploding over the surface of my skin. My pulse pounded loudly in my ears, my heart pumping too much blood to my veins.
The train was approaching; it was close and I thought that its impact could ease my craving for death. Somewhere close I heard Alexis’s voice. She was threatening to go after me. She must have bound herself with charms somehow and I didn’t even realise it.
The creature was taking away my hope, the good memories about Summer and the fact that I had friends that were willing to help me. Then I saw the approaching lights and suddenly death felt comforting. Sharp pieces of metal were nibbling over my skin. There was blood on my hands, too much blood.
The train whistled loudly, speeding over the tracks, and my thoughts began racing away. It was so close, I was going to be wiped away any second.
I shut my eyes, held by hell’s creature, ready for the end. Alexis got what she wanted. The speeding train was only several meters away, when someone screamed. Then a strong body launched me off the tracks and I landed face down on the ground as the speeding train rumbled past me. The noise brought me back to reality. Its hissing sound faded in the background.
Birds or bats flew off the nearest tree. A ball of light exploded, and the warmth brushed my face. I kept on breathing, trying to get back on my feet, now lucid and fully alert.
“Maxine, we need to run now. More of them are coming,” said the voice that I recognised. I parted my lips to ask what he was doing here, but then the same desire for death returned. I had to end my life.
“Get it together and run,” the same voice shouted, shaking me. I saw Ronan and nodded to him, sucking in a deep breath. My legs started moving before my head alerted me to act. Soon we were both racing through the gloomy forest.
The Eurynomos, or at least one of them was behind us, snarling and howling loudly. Tears filled my eyes, the cold air stung my lungs. I didn’t feel any pain anymore. The adrenaline must have numbed me completely, but I remembered the cuts on my back. The worst pain was emotional, tearing me apart, while the same voice in my head ordered me to turn around.
Ronan stopped at some point, releasing some kind of liquid on the ground. Then he whispered a few words. A loud shriek broke somewhere in the forest. It sounded like an animal was caught in metal chains. I cried out with longing for something or someone that I couldn’t explain.
“We are half an hour from safety. Focus, Maxine. Part of the beast is still in your system. Stop thinking about death,” he ordered and slapped me hard.
That helped. I became much more lucid and told myself that I had to keep going if I wanted to live. After some time I felt like the influence of hell’s creature wasn’t affecting me anymore. I held on to those good memories and kept following Ronan.
“Alexis and I are somehow connected. She’s using her energy to track me down,” I said, between my laboured breaths.
“We should be fine if we hurry,” Ronan said. “I have a red liquid in the car that should sort you out.”
I opened my mouth to tell him that this time the red potions wouldn’t work on me. I was no longer magical and we had to find another way, but then moments later we ended up at the edge of the forest. Ronan told me to stand still for a moment. He must have figured out that my magic was gone, but he was using his own charms to break Alexis’s spell.
I didn’t care what was going to happen to me now—what mattered was that I was finally free.