Lucas ✔️

Forty-Six

Memphis' cold hand wrapped around the back of my neck and he jerked me up, ignoring my kicks and laughing at my yells.

"Let her go!" Cole yelled loudly, his voice only just edging over the top of Janie's sobs.

My feet dragged along the ground as I tried to catch something–anything–that could stop him from dragging me away from them. Amy hung in silence, stabbed against the car, her eyes catching mine sadly.

"Where are you taking me?" I wheezed out, trying to keep up with his long strides as his hand tightened on my neck.

As expected, he didn't reply. Instead, he pulled me out of the harsh glow of the floodlights, pulling me into the darkness and away from the Janie and Cole who were both screaming my name. We didn't move far before he tossed me against a van roughly. I cried out as my spine hit the metal and my already bleeding skull smashed against the ground as I fell.

Tears streamed down my face, their salty warmth running into my mouth as I glared up at Memphis. I coughed and breathed deeply, trying to suck in as much air as I could but only managing to catch my own hair. He didn't wait to recover before he grabbed me again and pulled me up, pressing me against the van with a hand around my throat.

"What... do you want?" I rasped out, glaring at him and clawing at his fingers.

My throat screamed in pain – the already bruised skin aching under his tight grip. Flashbacks ran through my mind and my blood ran cold, the memory of nearly dying against that tree. How did I always manage to get into these situations?

"Lucifer shouldn't be here," Memphis muttered at me angrily. "I've waited long enough!"

"I don't... understand!" I argued, pulling one of his fingers roughly, trying to snap it back. It didn't seem to bother him.

"It doesn't matter anyway. You don't need to understand."

Memphis' hold on my neck loosened slightly and I breathed in, sending him a glare as I kicked my leg out at his shin.

"Let me go you bastard!" I yelled angrily, struggling against his hold. "I can't believe I almost thought of you as a friend!"

"Yeah, well..." Memphis trailed off and looked thoughtful for a moment before he shrugged. "I kinda liked you too. But we could never be friends."

I stopped struggling as he let go of my throat, but he didn't step back. I wanted to ask why – why couldn't we have been friends – but I didn't bother. It didn't matter anymore, did it? We weren't friends, and we wouldn't be friends after this. Why didn't matter anymore.

"I'm sorry, Lilith."

Before I could open my mouth, Memphis' forearm was pressing me back against the cold metal harshly, his other arm lifted to line his hand up with my chest.

"Oh, what's this?" Memphis paused and grabbed the leather strap around my neck, pulling it to reveal the gold ring. I jerked my neck, trying to get it out of his grasp. "It's important to you?" Memphis looked at it for a moment before dropping it back down the neck line of my shirt. "Did it belong to your father?"

"Fuck you!" I snapped, using my hands to try and push him away, even though he felt like a brick wall. Memphis sighed and lifted his arm again, lining it up with my heart.

"What the fuck?!" I screamed as his nails grew out into exceptionally sharp points, darkening in colour at the tip to pitch black.

He didn't hesitate to poke the thin tip of his nail into my chest. It was small – exceptionally small – but it hurt more than anything I had ever felt. I thrashed against him, smashing my head on the metal as I tried to escape. A deep chill spread through my chest as though I was freezing from the inside out. My movements grew sluggish and my brain fogged as I tried to escape his grasp. It didn't take long before I had stilled completely, my body refusing to move as tears streamed down my face.

Memphis took a step back, pulling his long nails out of my chest roughly. They receded into his fingertips slowly, but the tips were no longer black – they were red with my blood, but the darkness had completely disappeared. He rubbed on his nails as I stood frozen, screaming internally for someone to save me.

"It always feels weird afterwards," he explained, looking up at me with a smirk. "Not that you asked, anyway."

He paused for a moment and watched me, the smirk falling from his face as he looked around.

"It sounds like the guest of honour is nearly here." He moved away slightly before stopping and turning to look at me. "Come on, then. We need to prepare for his arrival."

Memphis jerked his head and my body moved instinctually, even though I was screaming internally to stay still, to attack him, to run away – anything but listen to his orders. My body didn't listen though, and I followed him obediently back into the light.

Amy looked at me sadly and swore, and I realised she already knew what Memphis could do. She knew that he could control people – control me – and I wondered if she had ever been doing anything about it. They had been looking for Pearl and Pearl was under Memphis' control... did that mean every missing girl was because of Memphis?

"Pearl, take that sword out of her and keep it handy." Memphis pointed at Amy and Pearl moved swiftly, ripping the sword from Amy's shoulder as she cried out in pain and relief. Her feet touched the ground and she sagged, her hands still stuck in place with knives.

"Right, hold it to her neck," Memphis said softly, moving to stand next to Pearl and Amy. Pearl lifted the sword and placed it against Amy's neck as I stood frozen in place where he left me in the centre of the scrapyard.

"Run, Lilith!" Cole screamed.

"Lil!" Janie yelled even louder, shaking herself against the chains.

My eyes edged to look at them as Memphis' laugh broke the night. I wanted to run to them, and save them, but I couldn't. I was absolutely useless, as usual. There was no point – I couldn't save anyone even if I tried.

"Don't bother. She can't go anywhere without my permission. She's just like cute little Pearl here – a puppet," Memphis sneered in their direction.

"What did you do to her?" Cole said slowly as Janie broke down even more, her eyes catching mine helplessly.

"Oh, I almost forgot! Lilith, here you go," Memphis walked over quickly and pulled something from his jacket, placing the cold metal in my hand. "Aim it at those two." He lifted his finger and pointed at Janie and Cole.

I did as I was ordered, lifting the gun with both hands and aiming it at them, my hand straight and strong even though I felt like I wanted to collapse on the ground.

"That's a good girl." Memphis moved back to stand next to Pearl with a smile. "Now we wait."

We didn't have to wait long – I felt him before he was there. There was a heat that came with him, hot and burning bright, one that singed my skin and dried my eyes. I knew he was there, and I knew he was mad.

"Let her go," Lucas' deep voice rattled darkly, his voice deeper and darker than I had ever heard it.

Shax stepped into the light, his eyes darting around and surveying the situation. His eyes caught mine and floated to the gun in the hand before he frowned, turning to look at Amy, who was panting loudly.

"What the fuck took you so long?" She snapped at him angrily.

"Sorry, we stopped for coffee," Shax replied with a cheeky grin and a chuckle.

"Now's not the time for jokes, asshole," Amy replied with a small chuckle and a smirk.

"Shax, how nice of you to join us. Lucifer, why don't you step into the light too?" Memphis said calmly. "I've been waiting for you."

"Don't tempt him too much. He's not happy," Shax said, glancing behind him.

"I don't want him happy."

"Mephistopheles," Lucas said roughly, his foot stepping into the light. "I thought I told you to let her go."