Authors: Darcy Town
He screamed, “We will decimate you!”
Belial leaned in.
“You know that only means reducing us by ten percent right?”
The man howled in pain and frustration.
“I will be a martyr!
My soul will go to Heaven, yours will never be saved!”
Belial laughed.
“Neither will yours.”
She broke the man’s neck and dropped him to the floor.
She waved at the trio.
“Come on, time to go.”
Celeste punched Belial across the face.
Belial grabbed Celeste’s fist and pulled her close.
“Yes?
Want to say something?”
Celeste couldn’t speak.
Enraged, her eyes flicked between misty red and brown.
Belial saw herself reflected in the red glow.
She grinned and grabbed Celeste’s chin.
“So, you’re our berserker.”
She laughed.
“That explains a whole hell of a lot about you, sweetheart.
I
love
berserkers!
Punch me again!
Do it!
Punch me!”
The laughter derailed Celeste’s blood rage.
She swayed and fell back into Tracy.
Tracy caught her and looked at Belial.
“Did you know they were here?”
“Not until after you left me outside.
Good thing too, you guys would have been toastified if I’d waited in the car.”
Celeste regained her voice.
“Why didn’t we walk out and escape?
We had time.”
Belial shrugged.
“I wasn’t looking forward to a car chase in the rain.
They would have no doubt followed us.”
She clapped her hands.
“Come on.
Out you go, children!”
Jacob looked at the moaning people on the floor.
“Will they be okay?”
“Who cares?”
Belial shooed him towards the door.
“But, it wasn’t their fault!”
“So?”
Belial lifted Jacob and carried him out.
Celeste and Tracy dashed out after her.
Belial pushed Jacob into the backseat of the car.
“If it makes you feel any better none of them are mortally wounded.”
Jacob held his stomach, ill.
“I guess so.”
Belial got in the driver’s seat.
She gripped the wheel, her hands shook.
She breathed out through her nose.
“Tracy, can you drive for awhile?”
Tracy nodded.
They switched places.
Belial stared out the window.
“We’re still headed towards Phoenix.”
Tokala looked up blurrily from his place between Jacob and Celeste.
“What’s wrong?”
Belial waved him off.
“Nothing, I just need time to think.”
Celeste leaned forward.
“Does that mean our friends would try and kill us if flipped on?”
Belial shook her head.
“If they’re half-bloods then no, but if they weren’t, then yeah.
Now shut up please.”
She rubbed her temples.
She stared at cars and rain as they drove.
Everything outside was gray.
She’d lost her claws; her hands were soft, feminine and covered in blood.
She shuddered and leaned her head on the window.
The soft beat of rain on the glass lulled her into a daze.
Her eyelids slowly closed and she slept for only the second time in her long life.
She remembered pain and laughter.
Uriel grabbed her wrists and bit her shoulder.
Belial head butted him.
She heard someone speaking, but could not remember what they had said.
She heard her own screams, heard bones snapping.
Uriel threw her repeatedly, her wings broke under the impact.
Her own blood poured into her eyes, she could not see.
She felt hands running over her skin.
She was lifted and thrown again.
More laughter.
She felt her shoulders dislocate as she was swung around like a ragdoll.
Then the cutting began.
In the car, Tracy watched Belial warily.
Belial twitched.
High whines escaped between her lips.
She dreamed.
Her fingernails lengthened into claws.
Tokala leaned forward.
“Belial?”
Belial sliced at the window.
A plate of shorn glass fell into the road.
She spasmed and kicked the dashboard, leaving a dent.
Her eyes remained closed.
Tracy stared at the road.
“Someone do something before she stabs me!”
Belial swiped in Tracy’s direction, claws missing by an inch.
Tracy swerved and a car that had been in the next lane zoomed ahead.
Tracy breathed hard.
Belial slashed at her and her nails cut through the radio.
Her mouth opened in a silent scream, showing razor-sharp teeth.
Tracy leaned as far away as she could.
“Fuck, someone do something!”
Tokala winced and pushed Celeste and Jacob back in their seats.
He touched Tracy’s cheek.
“I am sorry, I must do something to you, but I do not know if it will work.
It could hurt you.”
Tracy avoided another swipe.
“Don’t talk to me about it!
Just do whatever you need to!”
Tokala closed his eyes and concentrated.
The air around Tracy shimmered.
Her eyes went from brown to emerald green.
Her black hair took on hues of green and blue.
Her hips became curvier, her breasts more pronounced, her pale skin glowed with a gold sheen.
She blinked her eyes; her lashes grew thicker, her irises larger.
Curving horns grew out of her temples and raced backwards curling towards her ears like a rams.
Tokala let go and opened his eyes.
“Oh good, you’re not dead.”
Tracy held on to the wheel.
“What the fuck!
How does
this
help!”
Tokala tore Tracy’s seatbelt.
“Tracy, wake up Belial.”
Despite being weak, he had the strength enough to push her towards Belial.
“Do it.”
Tracy’s knees hit the wheel.
They swerved across traffic.
Tracy fell on Belial.
Belial snapped her teeth, barely missing her neck.
Tracy pushed at Belial.
“What the hell, Tokala!
Are you insane?”
Cars avoided them like the plague.
Tokala’s eyelids drooped as he ran out of energy.
“Right now, you’re the luckiest person alive.
If anyone can wake her up without getting killed, it’s you.”
Tracy screamed as they raced towards a semi.
The semi veered out of their way, leaving their lane clear.
Tracy tried to move, the wheel jammed, keeping them straight on course.
She gripped Belial’s shoulders.
“Wake up!”
Belial swiped at her.
The car jostled and Belial missed.
Tracy screamed at Belial’s face, “Wake up, you bitch!”
Jacob and Celeste stared at the road.
Celeste closed her eyes.
Jacob pointed.
“We have gridlock coming up fast!”
Tracy tried to move back into her seat.
Belial’s hands locked around her wrists.
Tracy pulled.
“Fuck!
Someone take the wheel!
I can’t get to the brake!
Wake up, Belial!”
Belial’s eyes blinked open.
“What’s going on?”
Jacob struggled to touch the wheel, but there was not enough room for him to reach around Tracy and Belial.
He stared at the oncoming wall of stopped cars.
His pupils dilated.
Tracy and Celeste screamed.
A wall of air rushed up from the south and enveloped the car, slowing it gently.
Vehicles swerved around them.
Belial let go of Tracy.
Tracy got back into the driver’s seat and hit the brakes.
The wall of wind ceased as the car came to a stop on its own.
The passengers went silent.
Belial realized where she was.
She sat up, forgetting her nightmares.
She grabbed one of Tracy’s horns and pulled on it, grinning.
“Yakshini!
Yakshini!”
Jacob rolled down his window and threw up his breakfast.
Belial grabbed Jacob’s wrist and pulled him close to her.
He appeared bluish all over.
She punched Tokala in the knee.
“I thought you didn’t know how to do this yet!”
Tokala shrugged.
“Death inspires confidence.
And we were going to be killed, I didn’t have a choice.”
He looked Jacob over.
“But I didn’t do him.”
Jacob stared at his blue-tinted hands.
“Do what?”
Tokala passed out again.
Belial grinned.
“You’re a
sylph
.”
Jacob stared at his hands.
“Okay?”
Belial let him go.
“There are only a handful of male sylphs left.
You’re going to get
mauled
by the girls once we get to the City.”
Jacob managed a weak laugh and wiped puke off his mouth.
“For the first time in my life.”
Belial smirked.
“They’re sex freaks, Jacob.
So have fun with that.”
Celeste looked between Tracy and Jacob.
“What just happened?”
Belial assessed the damage she’d given the car.
“Tokala and his father have the ability to take latent Lilliam blood and make it dominant, basically turning a person to a full blood Lilliam.
Tokala’s never done it successfully before.”
“What happens if you’re unsuccessful?”
“Instant death.”
Tracy touched her breasts.
“Why are these so perky?
And my waist, it’s tiny; I shrunk like three sizes!”
Belial smirked.
“You’re a lucky sex demon now.”
Tracy admired herself in the rearview mirror.
“That sounds cool.
These horns are kind of weird, but I like their pearlescent sheen.
Holy shit my eyes are green!
I always wanted green eyes!”
Jacob frowned.
“I am translucent.
I can see my veins.”
He pulled up his shirt and stared at his internal organs.
“That’s gross and awesome.
Grossome.”
He laughed, nervous and hysterical.
Belial shrugged.
“Tokala didn’t switch you over.
You look more like half-sylph now.
You must have changed because of the near death factor, or could be Tracy’s luck, probably one in the same.”
Jacob gestured to the outside.
“I made that wind?”
“Yeah.”
Celeste folded her arms.
“So am I next?”
Belial laughed.
“Fuck no!
You’re a berserker and we’re all stuck in a tiny enclosed space with you.”
Ahead of them traffic got moving again.
Tracy pulled off her ill-fitting shirt.
“Do you have something I can wear?”
She put her foot to the gas pedal and looked over as Belial searched through the clothes she’d stolen.
Celeste watched the road.
“Hey, look where you’re going!”