Salvation (Book #3 - Sacred Blood Series)

Part 1 - Gabe

Gabe

The cold air against Gabe's face was invigorating. Every time her skin prickled it reminded her she was home. But the fact that she was paralyzed - a prisoner inside her own mind - reminded her she was far from safe. Alex was sitting right beside her, silent and almost as statuesque as she was. She wanted to reach out to him, to grab his hand or tell him it was all going to be okay, but she couldn't; it wouldn't let her. And this time, she wasn't so sure everything was going to be okay.

Alex hadn't been this quiet and distant since he had rescued her from Samael in the Amazon nearly two weeks ago. He seemed to make every effort to talk to Gabe as if nothing was wrong with her, and she appreciated it deeply. The others, however, seemed to be doubtful that there was any consciousness in her. She couldn't blame them. But now it seemed that maybe Alex was having doubts of his own. She wanted to tell him she was right there with him, aware of everything and everyone, but she just couldn't.

She could feel it to her very soul, and she knew immediately that what she felt was pure evil. The peaceful numbness that engulfed her when she was near the Fallen had been replaced by complete and terrifying paralysis; she was completely under its control.

Gabe still wasn't completely sure what was happening to her. She was sure, however, that it something, a creature of some demonic nature, had entered her body. The details of the ceremony were a little foggy due to all the Fallen that had surrounded her, and she wasn't even aware of that they were doing until she felt It in her. There was a lot of chanting in a language that sounded an awful lot like Latin, her nostrils had been accosted by a musky incense, she drank a foul tasting liquid from a large goblet, and finally something cold and slimy was placed on her stomach. It slid and wriggled before she felt an intense burning in the area of her belly button and she lost complete control of her body. She pushed those memories to the furthest corners of her mind; at least she was consoled by the knowledge that he could never do something like that ever again.

Almost instantly Gabe had become Samaels puppet. He commanded and her body would betray her and obey him. It was demeaning, but the worst had been when she was forced to walk past Alex to be at Samaels side. But that was also the beginning of Samael's undoing. This time she did not question if she had actually been responsible for destroying the Fallen; it was just a matter of how.

Gabe wasn't trying to produce the light blast that destroyed the Fallen; she just knew with every fiber of her being that she could not just stand there and watch Alex die. The demon inside her fought her, held her back, but when Gabe sensed that it was actually going to enjoy watching Alex die, it inadvertently tipped the scales. Every ounce of love, hate, fear, anger, passion and strength Gabe had came bursting from her all at once, concentrated in the ball of light that flooded out of every pore in her body.

In doing so, however, she was left even weaker against the demon inside her, and it became even stronger as each day passed. She wondered how long before it was obvious to the others that she had something demonic inside her. What was going to happen to her? Was she going to be like this forever? What would that do to Alex? Gabe knew it would probably destroy him. Would they ever be able to get past this? It might not matter anyhow. There was a nagging inside her, possibly from the Thing itself, that told her she wasn't going to survive long enough to find out.

Gabe just wanted to cry, but the demon wouldn't even afford her that luxury.

"Is there anything I can do?" Mia asked as she walked up behind them. Gabe hardly recognized her friend anymore. Mia was far from herself since Gabe had returned. The stress and worry that had avoided her in the weeks before Samael showed had obviously hit her hard now. Her normally bright, warm skin seemed pale. Crows feet had found their way to the corners of eyes, which too had seemed to dull. Her beautifully full hair was in a constant ponytail. Mia hardly left Gabrielle's side since she had returned, and though she tried hard to keep a brave face, Gabe didn't buy it for a second.