Chapter 10 - Hellfire
Poison seeped through Alice's veins robbing her of her senses. In a haze she saw three blurry figures standing above her, a strange static accompanied the sight before darkness encroached once more.
Alice's thoughts were muddled, abyssal darkness stretched over everything with the only sensation reaching her a persistent chill down her spine. She awoke next vibrating, her head bounced landing back onto the firm cushion behind her. She was moving, above her glass windows held blurry shades of green and blue. The static began once more and as her vision began to fade once more, Alice caught sight of the sun, her last scattered thought was simply a wish to see it again.
Alice's head hit the mud hard, dragging her back from the comfort of the void she was growing used to. The dull throb from her nose and the warm trickle down across her lips did nothing to come close to the ache she felt to her very core. Her limbs finally had feelings and it was agony, the fire pulsing through her veins had been extinguished, replaced by Icy shards that seemed to creep along her entire body, down her limbs, back to her heart, and then begining the cycle once more.
Arms came from behind Alice and she had no energy to fight them off. Being hoisted into the air, two men stood either side of her holding her weight between them. She tried to speak, to ask what was happening, where she was, where her dad was and if they knew who she was. Struggling to tilt her head forward as the men began to drag her limp form through the mud, she was able to answer two of her questions. Her father was leading the men who had taken her, he had drugged her. Before she could focus on the betrayal of her own kin Alice noticed the familiar red wood of her grandparents cabin. So many of the best memories Alice held of her childhood had happened here, baking with her grandmother, her mum taking her on picnics into the surrounding wood, her and Chris playing near the flower beds, seeing all of the different butterflies attracted to the area.
Now she felt a pit of dread grow in her stomach at the sight of the defaced cabin. The flowerbeds all lay dead and trampled, the trees all bare of branches and leaves, the cabins windows boarded up, and the wine cellar door her father had just opened had blood stained into the old wood. Alice tried to fight against the grip on her arms, but the ache in her veins turned her attempted attacks into limp pulls and flicks, her tail barely getting off the floor before the spaded tip fell back into the mud, further sullied.
Alice felt her feet thud against each step as she was carried down into the cellar. Reaching the bottom Alice saw the once well stocked cellar barren and damaged, and her father at the end of it moving a wooden board from a makeshift frame revealing the earth and stone making up the tunnel beyond. True panic began to rise in Alice, she could feel her breathing picking up but no amount of effort could get her limbs to cooperate.
Her father stopped the men at the entrance to the tunnel, "we take it to the circle and find John he'll tell us how to proceed." The men nodded in response but were stopped once again as her father insisted, "it is not to go to the cells and don't lay a finger on it, Azeal is to purify it, understand?"
He was met with slightly more reluctance this time but eventually got a stiff nod from the men. Her father stepped aside, allowing to drag her deeper into the cabin's depths as he followed willingly behind.
Alice felt a pulsing chill down her spine and Lilith's comforting yet urgent tone filled her mind.
"Alice, don't speak aloud. You've been poisoned and it's paralytic. I'm going to release the hold I've had over the changes in your body. You need to focus the power inside you to fight its spread."
Alice didn't respond straight away, confusion and the poison haze still clouding her mind. She tried to speak but felt a groan slip her lips and nothing else. Feeling Liliths chill once more she tried to respond in her thoughts. "What's happening, why did my dad..."
Alice felt the chill pulse as Lilith responded more urgently
"I don't know where you are but there are celestial magics staining the air here, it's making maintaining this connection more difficult than usual. Regardless, wait, wait until you have power over your body again and unleash everything that has bottled up inside you, do not hesitate."
Alice felt Lilith slip from her mind once again going silent and leaving her to contemplate her words as she slowly took in her surroundings again, a door had just been opened in front of her leading her out onto a balcony. The men still carrying her remained stoic, which was a contrast to the people gathered at the base of the cavern. The cave was surprisingly well lit and Alice could see clearly to the deepest part of the cave revealing a still pool of water with many overhanging stalactites. Alice was leant against the fence barring the drop into the cave as one of the men proceeded down a wooden ladder built into the wall, from her new angle she could see clearly the group of people laughing shouting, most concerningly was the bearded man seemingly preaching to them. John. Before Alice could take in the ramifications of her exe and her fathers roles in her abduction the man left with her at the top pulled her from the fence and with little hesitation dropped her over the side into the waiting arms of the guard who had descended first. Thankfully the poison numbed the pain when he only managed to grab her shoulders causing her lower half to crash into the stone floor.
Alice was soon being dragged between the two men once again and upon looking up two things became apparent. Lilith was watching through her eyes once more, and all of the SDF members, including John, stood staring at her with a mixture of expressions. The looks of disgust and anger slid right off her, she had gotten used to those stares whenever she passed the picketers outside of the club. The only one that worried her was Johns, his clear excitement as she was carried before them was enough to shake her.
"Alice we can deal with this reprobate, but can you look down a moment." Liliths voice chimed in Alice's head but the words were lost on her, as they came to a stop Alice could do nothing but look into the eyes of her ex boyfriend, who looked back in manic glee.
"Alice, baby. It is good to see you here. You know after that toss you gave me I was starting to think we'd never be on the same side again, that you were lost to this demonic filth you've accepted into yourself. But there's hope, our friend Azeal has promised us a way to rid the corruption that festers within you, save your soul from eternal damnation. There's hope for you yet." John proclaimed, yet some of his fellow members of his hate group didn't seem to share his enthusiasm. Alice tried to speak but failed to get anything more than a groan out of her lips.
"Now, now, don't push yourself too hard, it's going to be a strenuous day ahead. Azeal is an Angel, Alice, an honest to God, Angel. He's told us about his service to God, to Jesus. He's promised us all a place at his side when the work on Earth is done, and he promised me you, pure again. We just need you to do one tiny favour for us." John finished by waving his hand which signalled the two men to unceremoniously drop Alice to the floor in a heap.
It took a worrying amount of effort but Alice was able to move her hands enough to push her off the ground slightly. Looking down she saw red lines and glyphs painted into the rocky terrain, the symbols looked jagged, infernal. Panic once more at the symbols which seemed to circle her was quickly ebbed away by the relief in Liliths voice.
"Alice, look behind you now." Lilith ordered but excitement overcame any force in her voice.
