Eternal Night

(III) Chapter 37: The Fall

Lyra screamed as Lilith dug her talon-like nails into her cursed arm, struggling to wretch the woman free from Frankie's grip. But Francesca held onto her beloved friend for dear life, dangling in mid-air with a chain tangled painfully around her ankle and calf, keeping them suspended. Lyra was shouting obscenities, struggling to kick what remained of her mother's demonic spirit off of her before it could latch on properly, but the constant movement was impacting the strength of Francesca's hold.

She could barely even take in her surroundings. All she knew was that this place was unbearably hot – stiflingly so – and there was something about it that left an unsettling stone of dread in the pit of her stomach.

"LET GO OF ME, YOU CUNT!" Lyra shrieked, trying to pry the demon's clawed hands from her arm, but Lilith was only digging in further. She was evidently beyond common speech. Whatever the ex-queen of hell was saying, even if she couldn't understand a word of it, it would undoubtedly haunt Frankie's nightmares for centuries to come.

Before she could get a better handle on her bearings, she felt the chain give way for a moment and they started to plummet again, deeper into this hellish cavern until it went taut again, snapping her ankle in half.

Frankie bit down hard on her tongue to keep from screaming at the pain, instead concentrating whatever she could on holding tightly to Lyra's hand and forearm. The heat of this place only seemed to get worse as they were now surrounded by a raging falls on all sides, the roar deafening. But this was no ordinary waterfall – it was almost black as pitch, but with the faintest sheen of crimson to it. Like blood in the moonlight.

Blood.

Her heart fell into her throat as she realized where they were, what they were surrounded by.

Mariella had warned them.

This was hellblood – a corrosive liquid that would completely destroy all flesh to the point where they would be unable to heal if it so much as touched them. The stench was unlike anything she had ever encountered before – somewhat like the old blood in the sewer system running beneath the lycan district, only this was somehow worse – infinitely worse. A wave of nausea roiled through her belly, gravity already trying to pull the bile down to her throat, but she swallowed hard, struggling to hold herself together.

Somewhere, somehow, over the roar of this inferno, she could hear someone shouting her name.

"Francesca, hold on!"

They sounded so distant, whoever they were. She couldn't quite tell if it was her brother or Vladislaus, but whoever it was, she attempted to crane her head back to look up at them before shouting, "Pull us up!"

"We can't!" another familiar voice bellowed from above. "It's too heavy!"

Francesca glanced down at the still struggling Lilith and Lyra beneath her and she realized what extra weight was keeping them from being rescued from this awful place.

It was Lilith.

----

Vladislaus tried to wrap the taut chain around his hands to gain more purchase, but to no avail. Whatever was keeping them down there, it was beyond what his own strength could bear. Jacob was quickly using his magic to weld the end of the chain to several more so they could share the load, but Vlad wasn't sure what good it would do.

"Don't let go, Vlad," Rémy was begging him. "Whatever you do, don't you dare let my sister go!"

"I don't intend to," he managed through gritted teeth.

"There! That should do it!" Jacob shouted. "Everyone grab on!"

Dracula nearly sighed in relief as he felt some of the burden offset by the fact that Rémy, Jacob, and his children had all taken a portion of the new extended chain, but even as they all attempted to heave and struggle, they were unable to pull up so much as an inch.