A Little Piece Of Heaven

There was an uncomfortable silence.
The parlour of the farmhouse was still almost Victorian, a small stuffy room that held two sofas and endless pottery statues and photographs crammed onto the sideboards. It was clearly a room kept for Sunday best and Stefanie had to remind herself that the occupants were probably dead by now and that the room itself no longer existed. She stared down at the china tea cup and saucer in front of her and then back up at the two men sitting opposite. Lilith hadn’t removed her gaze from either of them since they had sat down, pained sullen pout was as much as they were going to get.
The man sitting next to Arin looked too young to be a major although he filled the uniform nicely. Both of them noticed he wore army uniform rather than SS, the peak cap sitting on the arm of the sofa as he watched them through wire rimmed glasses. The hazel eyes were critical, his face devoid of emotion as he took in the two women. Eventually Lilith rolled her eyes and flicked a finger at the man.
“I’m getting bored. Are you going to tell us who and what you are ?”
The slightest hint of a smile lifted his lips as Arin smirked.
“Of course. My name is Mikey Way…for now at least. What I am is unimportant, none of us in this room are human anymore or to any significant degree. What I want from you is more important.”
“Fuck Toy said something about a demon. You know you could have just asked for our help rather than resorting to kidnapping.”
Arin glared, knowing she was trying to get a rise out of him and badly wanting to black the other eye for her trouble. Lilith ignored him, both of the women wanting to know what the softly spoken man wanted. There was a cruelty in his eyes when he smiled that made Stefanie uncomfortable and Lilith intrigued.
“You’re merely reapers. I don’t care whether you want to help me or not. You will or you and your friends will die again. We both know that there are many levels of reality that are much less comfortable than this one.”
Lilith nodded slowly, not liking the certainty in his voice. Very few would take on the reapers and have the ability this man clearly had to make a time lock and blank Claire from their thoughts. It would be worth treading carefully, again almost hearing Matt and Jimmy in her head counselling caution.
“Fine, what’s the deal ?”
Stefanie swallowed nervously as Mikey sat back, none of the people in the room believed for a moment that the girls would help without a fight but at least they seemed willing to listen. Aridn was almost excited, knowing that everything his Master promised was now in reach. Mikey paused to sip tea before continuing.
“We have found Patollo, we need you to help us build a machine to raise him and summon the spells to wake him. Combined with my powers it is possible. He will reap the human armies and give us dominion over this realm.”
Lilith sniggered, a look of pure contempt passing over her face.
“Patollo was not a demon, he was a god. Why the fuck should he give you anything ?”
Mikey leant over and ran his fingers down the bruises on her cheek. Lilith found it hard to bite back a gasp at the flood of warmth that ran from the top of her spine downwards and saw that Stefanie was staring at her with a mix of horror and awe. Lilith was literally healing up before her eyes, all sign of the nasty injuries fading away as Mikey let go of her and sat back.
“Because I am also a god. We can take everything in this realm and he can have the others to run free in.”
Lilith blinked, the feeling of being way out of her league hitting home. To raise on the Old Ones was bad enough, to know one was running around loose already was worse. She didn’t like the fact that he was powerful enough to heal her with a touch although it explained the time lock. A puzzled look crossed her face.
“So why need us ? Your magic goes way above mine and you seem to be in with the current conquering army.”
“I have no wish to use humans, they are weak and pathetic. You and your sisters are powerful enough, when you make James and Matthew see sense and join us we will be invincible. Plus Stefanie is quite the expert in machinery, I have followed your work with Jonathan for some time.”
Stefanie swallowed and glanced at Lilith. This was not what she had been expecting, it was a bloody site worse but she had one important question.
“Ummm who’s Patollo ?”
Arin smiled, he had been promised whichever of the girls he desired if he managed to get them to agree to the plan without bloodshed, he liked the pretty girl and decided he wanted her. Lilith was too much of a fucking bitch. He blushed as he explained.
“Patollo is the Norse god of war. We didn’t expect to find him where we did. He is a master of death and destruction.”
“Sounds….great.”
Lilith smiled slowly, not taking her eyes from Mikey. There was definitely more to this than he was letting on but she seized on the last part of the conversation. To persuade the others they would have to be released and come back willingly. If this man was indeed a god he could use them without consent or even knowledge. Either he was lying or there was a weakness to be exploited.
“We will talk to the boys. You need to let us go and we will explain.”
Mikey allowed himself a smirk, the woman was indeed confident.
“Don’t insult my intelligence. I will send Arin to arrange a meeting face to face and we can discuss it but you will do as you’re told and obey me.”
“I don’t like to be threatened and neither do my friends. I don’t give a fuck about humanity but they do. We keep the balance for a reason.”
Mikey turned his attention to Stefanie, a little surprised by her outburst. Her face was defiant, Lilith a little amused. So many underestimated her friend and paid for it. Stefanie had never been a push over and was even less so when someone tried to bully her. Lilith waved a hand at Arin before addressing the major again.
“Send Fuck Toy then and let’s do this. I’m sure Syn will be pleased to see him.”
Mikey waved a hand, dismissing a furious Arin from the room. The boy was interesting but ultimately expendable. What mattered was getting the reapers on board with this plan by fair means or force. He had become used to getting his own way with the mortals and it was pleasant to have a challenge again.
“Yes, young Mr Gates. Nasty business being skewered like that.”
Lilith went pale, Stefanie’s hand on her arm the only thing stopping her from going for his throat. The vision now swimming in her head was clearly his, her boy lying bleeding on the wet masonry. She could see the jagged wooden beam that was slick with his blood and bursting from his chest, a low snarl building in her throat.
“I will fucking kill you.”
The vision faded, replaced by him backslapping her hard across the face. Lilith tumbled onto the floor, the magic springing from her in defence and surprising both of them as he staggered back. Stefanie went for the hot tea pot, slamming it against the side of Mikey’s head and soaking him in scalding tea. The both fled for the door only to be pulled back, choking as phantom fingers wrapped around their throats. Mikey considered killing them both, it would be easy enough to bring them back before deciding on something else entirely.
“Nice try, been expecting that.”
Lilith struggled, fighting against passing out. She could manage nothing more than a gasp of horror as Stefanie passed out and was dropped to the floor like a used rag. Mikey pulled her closer, still a few feet away as he lifted her clean from her feet. Lilith dangled, very near to unconsciousness and wondering if he really would kill her.
“But really Lilith, you can’t fight this. Why would you want to ? You like dominant men and Arin is too much of a bitch for my taste.”
She managed another fuck you, faint but audible as his eyes glowed and he reached for her. Lilith found she couldn’t struggle against his caresses, his arms stronger than his thin frame suggested and her head now resting against his chest. She knew what he was doing and fought against it, her mind full of images of Syn and Zacky, Claire and Dani, all of her friends starting to fade away as the powerful curse took hold. Mikey smiled as her struggles ceased and allowed himself to enjoy her lithe body pressed against his before she looked up at him in adoration.
“Master…”

Notes