A Little Piece Of Heaven

Lilith was no longer sure if she was giggling or screaming.
No, the screaming was someone else. Someone she was sure she knew but thinking around anything but the burning pain was too hard and there was really something else that she should remember. Breathing in stopped being an issue and she felt herself drift and open her eyes. Of course, the screaming was Syn.
“You fucking leave her alone. We ain’t doing shit for you.”
Gerard smiled, enjoying the sight of Syn forced to his knees by two large zombie soldiers. His face was bleeding, the demon showing in his eyes as he continued to struggle and curse. Matt was holding Johnny, the smaller man hardly conscious on the floor as Jimmy too was held fast by the rotting creatures. Above their heads the translucent shadow continued to circle, the whispering and distant rumbling ebbed and flowed with its progress around the crypt.
“You will and you know it. We will raise the tomb properly and then I will let her up. Until then Syn, you get to hear her scream.”
Another bolt of light hit the girl hard and now Lilith did scream, the burning pain from the thing in her head combined with the assault physically was worse than death, worse than any hell and Lilith knew that if they raised it she would release Patollo just to make it stop whether the world burned or not. Every fibre of her wanted to give in and it took anything not to scream Syn’s name and beg him to give in.
“No way, we’re not releasing your bitch god. Lilith knows we won’t, she knew about Raven before any of us.”
The savage grin on Syn’s face was not mirrored by the incredulous pained look on Lilith’s although only Jimmy saw that. He knew Syn was bluffing, there was nothing in any of them that would let them see Gerard torture Lilith much longer but he hoped that help was coming. He didn’t want to think about Raven being in danger, hoping against reason that Claire had found another way. Stalling was currently all they could do.
Johnny coughed, blood working its way from both his chest and nose. He knew he couldn’t die as such but there was no guarantee which of the many dimensions he would find himself in if his body gave up and if Stefanie would be able to get him back. He had moved to slow, the deflection of the knife into his chest had happened so fast and he hadn’t felt anything more than a hard punch before Matt had pulled the ghoul’s head from its shoulder. It hurt now, the pain made worse by knowing that Lilith was basically dying in front of him. The hoist on the machine was just inches away and he wanted to grab the damn thing and do the one thing that Syn had told him not to.
“Let’s ask her shall we ?”
Gerard leant down, grabbing Lilith by the hair and pulling her up until he could slap her sharply around the face. The malicious delight lit his handsome face up and Syn had never wanted to rip someone apart so badly. Lilith moaned, opening her eyes a little but unfocused and clearly not seeing much of anything. He leaned closer, the fingers running down her face now gentle and almost loving.
“Lilith darling, don’t you want the pain to stop ? I can still give you everything when you release our Lord. You don’t have to suffer like this…”
“Fuck…..you….”
Gerard giggled, his eyes finding Matt’s and holding them for a second. He knew every one of them wanted to rip his head off and enjoyed this small taste of power as the cavern continued to rumble and echo around them. Patollo roared and screamed in his ear, annoyed at the delay and the energy it was expending to allow Gerard to touch the woman in his arms. The thing could feel that delay now could cost it the many centuries of waiting and planning.
“So rude.”
Lilith fixed her eyes on him properly, the venom in her face telling Gerard that whatever hopes he had harboured of her switching sides were in vain. She might have valued her life but hatred for him now overwhelmed the basic urge to save her own skin. She smirked at him, one hand raised in a single finger salute.
“No really. FUCK YOU!”
He dropped her, the angry god in his head combined with Gerard’s own rage to unleash another round of violent light on Lilith, the agonised screams building and combining with Syn’s and Matt’s until Jimmy couldn’t take another second of it. He twisted, breaking the arm of the creature on the left and decapitating the one on his right to stand free. With a single back handed blow he knocked Gerard from his feet and onto the floor. As the entire zombie army seemed to swell and be about to fall upon him, Jimmy raised his hand.
“Enough. You win. We will pull the casket out the ground but if you want her to be alive to raise the damn thing you need to stop now.”
Gerard looked down, Lilith was no longer moving and he knew that if she didn’t complete the ritual then the god would surely burn him. It told him so, screaming in his head and promising to send him into an eternity of pain if he didn’t get this right. The light died away and Gerard looked closely at Jimmy before nodding and raising a hand to the zombies holding onto the men. Matt laid Johnny gently on the floor, propping him up and kissing his forehead before going towards the gian winch with Jimmy.
Syn hesitated, about to go to check Lilith before Gerard stood over her and pointed at the machine where his friends now stood. There was a tense second or more before Syn stepped back, his fists clenched and face twisted into an embodiment of pure psychotic anger. He would find a way to rip Gerard apart even if it meant that they all burned. The satisfaction would be worth it.
“You know this isn’t going to end in what you want Gerard.”
“I will be at Patollo’s right hand.”
Syn shrugged, the thing whirling in the air over his head. He could hear it sniggering and whispering that it only needed Gerard for the physical body in the casket, that it was Syn that could have it all if he helped Patollo. That he would let Lilith live and they could cause chaos all over the planet and beyond the known realms. It was tempting, oh so tempting.
“Tempting but a lie. He’s going to burn you all up.”
Gerard pouted and leered over Lilith, one hand threatening to call down the pain again until Syn moved over to the huge wheel. He braced himself against it, leaning in to look at Matt with concern. The taller man was bleeding badly from a head wound, his face pale and drawn.
“You ok Matt ?”
“Been better. Hope the cavalry is coming.”
Syn nodded, Jimmy winking at him over Matt’s shoulder. They knew that Claire and Dani would be cooking something up if Zacky wasn’t bringing a one man army back. It was Raven they all wondered about, all of them knowing that the odds were that the girls would be forced to try and free the fallen angel within Jimmy’s girl. Jimmy himself was torn, there was only so much stalling they could do even now and he desperately wanted to hold her again even if it was for the last time. Angel or not, he would have given both their souls for that one moment.
“That’s what I’m worried about. Raven is stubborn.”
Syn grunted, adding more pressure to the wheel as the cogs groaned and began to turn. They found themselves sandwiched between the undead, Gerard directing the creatures to help as inch by inch the wheels and cogs began to turn.
“Raven is the only one that can stop this now. I can’t imagine Claire and Dani could risk a trip halfway across the country on a whim knowing we were down here.”
Matt spat blood onto the floor and nodded.
“Zacky still has a bargaining chip, they took Mikey.”
The ground shudder and more dust began to fall as the winch gears rose and pulled the sarcophagus up inch by inch. Johnny had dragged himself towards Lilith, unnoticed by Gerard who was now watching anxiously as the framework strained under the immense weight. Part of him hoped the calculations were wrong and the thing would fall back down into the hell it came from even if they died but he knew it wouldn’t. Pulling himself forward, Johnny reached Lilith who had opened her eyes, blankly staring at the ceiling.
“Stay with me, Claire is coming.”
Lilith smiled dreamily at Johnny, past caring and now headed towards a comfortable dark that looked so inviting. Gerard had miscalculated in his fury and now she almost looked forward to dying just to spite the bitch. She stared up at her friend, hating the pain showing on his face.
“I know, let’s hope they can stop it. I won’t do the spell Johnny, I won’t let it get out.”
“Do what you have to, stay alive.”
“You think Raven is going to save us ?”
Johnny held her closer, rocking her gently as the sarcophagus came into view. Syn and Jimmy grabbed another set of wheels and swung it over, the sweat and heat on their faces mirrored in the smoke and grime. It was hard to breathe, the air potent with dust and fear.
“I do. I don’t think she would do anything but try even if she dies.”
Lilith groaned, trying to bury her head in Johnny’s shirt as the ground jumped and shook from the weight of the tomb hitting the floor. That part was not so good, she had neglected to mention the damage a fallen angel could do to the surrounding…continent. Bit late now and she really didn’t want to make the situation worse.
“Let’s hope she doesn’t. She doesn’t deserve to die. I might but not Raven.”
Both of them looked up as a shadow fell over them and Gerard appeared to block out the light. He reached down and pulled Lilith up, her feet barely touching the floor. Of course his power would be increasing she thought, the god was so close now and so very loud. It roared in triumph and anticipation as he dragged Lilith over to where the huge stone tomb now lay. Syn reached for her, dragged back by a zombie as Gerard handed her a book.
“Do it.”
Lilith hesitated, looking at her friends and giving them a wan smile before throwing it down on the floor. She pulled herself up, letting the god fill her head and take away some of the ache. It helped restore her energy, neither the god or the man realising that her magic could be refilled in this way as well.
“No.”
Gerard snarled, he knew one sure way of getting the bitch to cooperate and now used it. The zombie holding Syn let go and lunged at Johnny. The injured man was unable to protest as it dragged him to the abyss, the others held back by the throng of creatures. Syn and Matt continued to fight as Gerard turned back to Lilith.
“Do it.”
Lilith closed her eyes, hearing Johnny screaming at her not to give in and Jimmy yelling at her to stay calm, they would get to the gnome just don’t do it, don’t do it. She shook her head, tears running down her cheeks as she retrieved the book, only the look on Matt’s face telling her he understood as Syn disappeared under a pile of the creatures trying to hold him down.
She turned, beginning the incantations and trying to block out everything else as fire and light rose and filled the room. The magic was black and strong, helped along by the god and she knew it was now too late to stop it. Patollo would rise, the world would fall and her friends would die. It was all too late and all her fault.
The world turned to bright white fire.

Notes