Chp 24
~Chapter 24~
AJ woke up with a major headache. His eyesight was blurry, but he could tell that he was in a dark room of some sort, the only light source being candles. He tried moving his arms, but couldn't. They were chained up against the wall.
"What the---"
He pulled and rattled them with all his might, but not even his immortal strength could free him. He looked to his side. A skeleton was in the same situation as he was. A surge of fear rushed throughout his body.
"What the hell's going on?! Where the fuck am I?!" he yelled at no one in particular. Again, he tried desperately to free himself. "God dammit! How the fuck do I get myself into these situations?! I'm gonna kill the fuckin' bastard or bitch that did this to me!"
"There's no need for that vulgar language, Mr. McLean," came a deep voice from a dark corner of the room. "Tsk tsk tsk. Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?"
"Yes I do and I also tear people apart with it! Who the fuck are you and what do you want from me?!"
"From you? Nothing. I have nothing against you personally. I have bigger fish to fry."
"Well that's funny considering you chained me to a wall! Who are you?!"
His captor stepped into the limited light. He was a Daemoniacus. But he seemed to be smarter than all the others that AJ had come in contact with. AJ's eyes widened.
"B-b-but you're supposed to have gone back to Romania! What are you doing here?!"
"I did, but that was just to mislead Valencia. After she abandoned you, I returned to complete my revenge. She's going to pay for all the damage she has done to me and my clan."
"Damian?"
"In the flesh! My my my, you new ones are getting stranger everyday! What's with the blue hair? Maybe I don't want to know. Hey, whatever tickles Valencia's pickle! Oh how she loves her new ones. She's especially fond of you. It's going to be great watching her squirm!"
"You're going to hurt her by killing me?! Is that your master plan?!"
"Oh no! I wouldn't dream of it! Like I said before, I have nothing against you. I'm simply using you as bait. Once she finds out I have captured you, she'll fly to your rescue and that's when I'll get her!"
"No! You can kill me! Just don't hurt her!"
"Oh how noble of you! But sorry, it doesn't work that way. I have no intention of ending your pathetic after life." He pulled out a small wooden box and opened it, revealing a bottle of holy water and a sharp dagger. He wore a ghastly grin.
"But that doesn't mean I won't get to have any fun."
Four hours later, Denise was pacing back and forth in the living room worried. 'Where is he?! It's been over four hours since he left! I know I shouldn't be worried. He can certainly take care of himself, but…what if something did happen?!'
Her thoughts were interrupted by frantic knocking at her door. She expected it to be AJ although she knew it was strange for him to knock because he had the key. But when she opened the door, she came face to face with a very frightened Valencia.
"Valencia?! What are you doing here?!"
"Where's Alex?!"
"He-he went for a walk! What's going on?!"
"I received a message from---"
Suddenly, something crashed through a window in the kitchen. Denise and Valencia ran into the kitchen and found a rock on the floor. It was thrown from outside.
"Oh my God!"
Valencia picked it up and removed a piece of paper that was attached to it. It was a note.
"What does it say?!" Denise shrieked.
Valencia unfolded it and read it out loud…
There's no need to identify myself for you know, Valencia, who I am.
Meet me under the St. Joseph's Church as soon as you finish reading
this. I'm sure your precious Alex will be very happy to see you. If you
don't show up, he dies, and his blood will be on your hands. His death
will be far worse than Nicholae's, mark my words.
Denise gasped and covered her mouth. "Oh my God, they've got AJ! No! You can't let them hurt him! You can't---" She began to cry. Valencia held her by her shoulders and looked her in the eye.
"Denise, listen to me. I will not let anything happen to Alex. I'm going to bring him back---"
"I'm going with you!"
"No you're not."
"Yes, I am! He's my son!'
"But he's my responsibility! You stay here. He only wants me there. I will bring him back to you, I promise. Alright?"
Denise nodded her head.
"Alright. Good bye." She ran out the door and took flight searching for St. Joseph's Church. It wasn't too far, luckily. She crawled into a manhole and began to wander the sewers looking for AJ.
"Alex?! Alex! Please say something! Let me know that you're alright!" she yelled into the dark tunnels. She splashed through the stagnant puddles of water. "Damian! I'm here! Now let him go!"
No answer.
She looked straight ahead and noticed a flickering illumination coming from a chamber. She cautiously entered it and gasped. "Alex?!" He was hanging limply from the shackles on the wall. He had burn marks, bruises, cuts, and stab wounds all over his face and body. Blood was oozing from a deep gash on the side of his forehead. He had been tortured for hours. "Oh my---" She ran to him and gently held up his head. "Alex?! Alex, come on, wake up! You're going to be ok now! I'm here! I'm here, Alex! Wake up!" She desperately pulled on his chains. "Dammit, come on!" No success. AJ started coming around.
"Val?"
He was so weakened that his voice barely came out a whisper.
"Yes! Yes, it's me! Don't worry, I'm going to get you out of here! Just stay with me!"
"You…you have to get out of here…Damian…he's---he wants to hurt you…"
"I'm not leaving without you!"
"Go…I'll be fine."
"You're delirious! I have to get you out of here!"
"I'm…so tired…just get out…just leave me here."
"Alex, don't close your eyes! No, Alex, look at me! Don't close your eyes! That's an order!"
He tried focusing on her, but all he could see was a fuzzy image of a woman he thought he knew.
"You're going to be ok!" She turned around and started screaming into the darkness. "Dammit, Damian! You got what you wanted! I'm here! Now let him go!"
She heard evil snickering from a dark corner in the room. Damian stepped out.
"Aww, such a heart warming scene!" He pretended to wipe a tear from his eye. "So moving, so touching, so…so disgusting!"
"Let him go now! This has nothing to do with him!" she said defiantly.
"Oh, but I so enjoy seeing you hurt. Watching your precious new addition to the family die right before your eyes, gotta love it!"
"He is NOT going to die!"
"Oh really? Who said?"
"I did!"
Damian laughed then walked over to AJ and ran his claws down the side of his face. "I think it's more up to me than you. Wouldn't it be so much fun to see an instant replay of Nicholae's demise? Only the star of this reanactment would be our dear little Alex right here."
"No, Damian! I beg you! Don't hurt him!"
Valencia had tears in her eyes. This made Damian very happy.
"I like being in control! Valencia, you've hurt me and mine for the past five centuries! I swore I would make you feel the pain I've felt! I thought I succeeded when I gutted your beloved Nicholae, but I guess you forgot about him, now that you have this one."
"I can never forget Nicholae! But I've learned that I can't change the past!"
"That's great. Yes, you did suffer immensely over the last couple of hundreds of years. But then you met Alex, and your pain seemed to lessen. We can't have that now, can't we. You must suffer for all eternity. Now, Alex, close your eyes. This won't hurt a bit…" Damian raised his hand ready to strike.
"DAMIAN, NO!!!"
He looked at Valencia, who was now bawling, then to AJ, who did close his eyes, and then back at Valencia. He put his hand down and shrugged.
"Ok."
"W-what?"
"I said ok. I won't kill him."
They looked at him increduously.
"What? Us bad guys have our moments." He started walking away. "Oh yeah, here's the key." He threw Valencia the key to unshackle AJ. She couldn't believe what was happening, but she took advantage of the moment and unlocked his chains.
"Alex, are you alright?"
"I'll…be…ok," he replied as he collapsed into her arms.
"Alex!" He was hurt really badly and there was no way she could carry him out without some help.
"Alex, listen. Stay right here, don't move. I'm going to go get some help. Then I'll come back for you, ok?" He nodded as she helped him gently set himself down on the floor. "Ok, I'll be right back." She started running out the entrance, but Damian suddenly blocked her way.
"Oh yeah, I forgot something else."
He plunged his claws into her gut. AJ watched in horror as Valencia's blood spilled onto the floor and Damian removed her from his deadly grip. She didn't make a sound. She just dropped to the floor like a stone.
"Have a nice day!" he added as he disappeared into the darkness.
"NOOOOOOO! YOU SON OF A BITCH!!!"
AJ crawled to her side. He was glad that she was still alive…for the moment. She reached out her hand to him with tears in her eyes.
"Val! Oh God, Val, I'm so sorry!" he cried as he took her hand.
"Shhh, i-i-it's not y-your f-f-fault. It w-was only a matter of t-time…"
"No! It's not---don't go, Val! Don't leave me here alone!"
"Y-y-you're not alone…"
He took her into his arms.
"Val, please," he begged, the sobs escaping his throat and the tears rolling down his cheeks.
"A-A-Alex, please d-do me a favor," she whispered. The poison was taking affect. It was making its way to her heart.
"Anything."
"Sing t-to me? That way I-I-I can leave this world listening t-t-to an angel…"
"Val? Do we go to h-h-heaven when we die?"
She smiled at him.
"I'll l-let you know."
He sniffed, sighed, then began singing…
"We belong together
And you know that I am right
Why do you play with my heart
Why do you play with my mind
Said we'd be forever
Said it'd never die
How could you love me and leave me and never
Say goodbye
When I can't sleep at night
Without holding you tight
Girl, each time I try I just break down and cry
Pain in my head
Oh, I'd rather be dead
Spinning around and around
Although we've come
To the end of the road
Still I can't let go
It's unnatural
You belong to me
I belong to you
Although we've come
To the end of the road
Still I can't let go
It's unnatural
You belong to me
I belong to you…"
That was all AJ could handle. Valencia nodded, then put her hand against his cheek.
"Thank you."
Her hand slid off his cheek and fell to her side. She closed her eyes.
"Val?"
All of a sudden, *poof* nothing was left of her except a pile of dust and ashes. She was gone forever. Breathing heavily, AJ dug his hands into the pile and let it pass in between his fingers. He sobbed quietly.
Chp 25
Chp 23
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