the garden | michael langdon

chapter nine; revelations (and the whore of babylon.)

author's note: flashbacks r over!! we r now back to the apocalypse timeline yaay.

"Not causeless is this journey to the abyss;
Thus it is willed on high, where Michael wrought
Vengeance upon the proud adultery.

So fell the cruel monster to the earth."
-Inferno, Dante Alighieri.

-

Primrose had fallen asleep soon after they had made love, and whilst she was deeply lost in the abyss of her own unconsciousness, she felt as though someone was calling out to her, willing her to wake up. The sensation within her head grew stronger and stronger until she was jolted awake, her body involuntarily lurching forward from the bed. A thin layer of sweat was evident on her brow, her breathing shallow and uneven. She cast her eyes around the room, searching desperately for Michael.

Instead, her gaze fell upon the bleeding corpse of Ms. Venable, and it took every ounce of her being to not vomit at the sight. Using her hand, Prim muffled the sound of the scream that forced it's way out of her throat at the sight of her body laying there, lifeless.

She jumped out of bed, pausing only to grab the robe that was hung on the back of Michael's chair, before yanking the door open and hurrying down the hall.

Prim considered two possibilities as she tied the cords of Michael's robe together around her waist; someone had either killed Ms. Venable and was now about to harm Michael, or rather Michael had simply murdered her himself. She couldn't decide which one was worse.

As she rounded the corner of the hallway, she heard a familiar female voice speaking.

"Where is she?" The voice asked.

She heard a man laugh before responding; "Where she belongs. With me."

She entered the room and everything came into view; her heart almost stopped at the sight of her mother.

"Mom!" She exclaimed, drawing everyone's attention to herself in the process.

"Prim!" Cordelia desperately cried out as she started to run towards her daughter, but with a wave of Michael's hand she was stopped in her tracks. Primrose ran down the staircase to embrace her, but Ms. Meade and her strong grip prevented her from going any further.

All the joy at seeing her daughter again now evaporated, her face grew ashen as she took in her daughter's disheveled appearance. "Is it not enough that you have destroyed this world, you have to take my daughter too?"

"My sentiments exactly." Myrtle chimed in. "If you want to wallow in this putrid, subterranean underworld of yours, that's perfectly fine with us, just don't drag our poor dear Primrose down with you."

"What have you done to her?" Cordelia seethed.

"Nothing she did not want." He replied, earnestly.

"Well it ends now." She said sternly. "You will release her immediately."

"Or?" He asked, amusement evident on his face.

Cordelia stared him down fiercely. "Or I will."

Michael shrugged his shoulders and clasped his hands together behind his back. "I'm afraid that won't be possible." He calmly replied.

Madison scoffed as she crossed her arms against her chest. "The world's been blown to shit, anything's possible."

Michael smiled at the young witch's naivety. He turned his attention to Prim, extending his hand out to her. For reasons she couldn't quite comprehend, she found herself incapable of resisting. She placed her hand in his and descended the last few steps to stand at his side.