~~Young~~

Chapter Twenty One

Sera's grief abated with her words, "he...what? Are...are you sure he was from God?"

She was panicked now. What if it was Lucifer, come to steal her sister in revenge for Gage killing her Uncle? Dammit she knew he shouldn't have done that, knew the devil wouldn't let something like that go so easily.

"Well...no, but...no he had to be from God. I didn't care for him much at first but he showed your sister nothing but compassion. And she went peacefully, gripping your necklace until her last moment. I hadn't even known you had sent it to her-"

Death knocked the phone out of Sera's hand and wrenched her off the ground unexpectedly, tugging her towards the staircase, "something's wrong," she said anxiously.

No kidding. "Why would he do that," Sera felt her heart breaking all over again, "why would Gage take her from me?"

"That's not what I'm-"

Before Death could finish a bolt of lightning crashed sending both Death and Sera flying away from the door to the other end of the roof. They skidded to a halt in the pea gravel lining the tar on the roof as Sera's ears began ringing deafeningly. She shook her head trying to get that buzz out of there and slowly voices began making their way through that tinny sound. It was the earpiece...the doors were all locked, everyone was trapped in their rooms...try the window... no they're stuck too...that's impossible...then the line went dead.

What the hell was going on?

Groaning Sera tried to push herself up, but the blast left her shakier then from Jerry's little disappearing trick.

"Death," Sera coughed once, "Death are you alright?"

It seemed silly to be asking Death if she was alright because as she put it, she was an immortal God...but apparently Gods could fall too. Death was lying awkwardly on her back. One arm twisted behind her and those pretty pink eyes shut behind her lids. Her mouth was open slightly, just enough for the blood to dribble out.

"Death!" Sera shouted only to choke once more. It was as if her lungs had been burned, and coughing made her head hurt. She reached up to press the heel of her palm against it only to recoil instantly. She was bleeding too. This time she carefully touched it, oh that was a bad gash, and as if it took her brain that long to catch up with the situation she swooned.

She caught herself with her hands before she could face plant into the roof again, but the jostling sent her stomach in a lurch now and she began to heave. A concussion for sure.

"Mmm, helpless, just the way I like them," a deep voiced purred from behind her.

Sera shot around in time to see the hand coming at her, she ducked, and managed to send the man stumbling into her vomit. Only that wasn't a man. Sera's eyes went wide and she tried to scramble away from that...that...that thing. He was positively enormous, like, eight feet tall and...were those scales on his shoulders and body?

"Go ahead meat," the thing laughed, "run, please."

It turned around with a grin on its face, holy shit, his eyes were orange.

Get it together Sera, she scolded herself. Orange was just a shade away from pink, and Death's pink eyes didn't bother her anymore...oh shit. Shit! That thing was immortal!

"Pretty aren't I?" it stalked her and she continued to clamber away from it, "the name's Bane, and you must be Gage's mortal."

It, Bane knew Gage? Then...then he must be from hell. Somehow Sera knew he was nothing like Gage though. Maybe it was the eyes, cold despite their color, as if she could see her own pain reflected back at her at his hands.