Tension jarred my boneswith every swift footstep I took. Frank led the way, flying down darkpassages with his long loping gait. My new height and longer legsmade it easy for me to keep time with him, though we were heading forThe Pits, and although the tunnels passed in a blur I was back infamiliar territory, I wouldn't be getting lost. Jesse kept in closetime beside me and Lucas brought up the rear with scowlingreluctance.
We all knew we werewalking into a trap Malick himself had sprung for us, and we'd allmanaged to reach some grim acceptance of the fact – everything forthe greater good and all that – all, that was except for Lucas, andthis had me worried.
It was with somedisappointment that I realised just how tentative our alliance was,and at such a crucial stage in the game; one big push in the wrongdirection and it could all crumble around us.
Bringing Jesse backinto the fold should have been strengthening, solidifying our base ofpower so that we could reach our full potential, however ever sincewe'd won him back things with Lucas stood on ever shakier ground. Thefact that Jesse stood beside us now only through the power ofborrowed memories did little to bolster my confidence. What would ittake for all of reality to come crashing back in and blow everythingapart?
Lucas had always beenchangeable as the weather on the surface, shifting alliances to whereit suited him most – we were all the same I couldn't lie and Icouldn't blame him for what was so much a part of our very nature,however, the downside lay in the fact that everything we were aimingfor hinged on us working perfectly together no matter what happenedand I trusted him to stick to the plan least of all. When – and Iknew it would be when and not if – things went awry, how long wouldit take for Lucas to bolt?
"So, go over it forme one more time. What do we do once we get there?" Jesse mutteredin my ear as our footsteps thundered in tandem.
We'd prepared as muchas we'd been able to, although a lot we were just going to have toplay by ear, not knowing the full details of what was waiting for us.I think Jesse was asking again just to stave off the nerves as wedrew closer to The Pits.
"Well, we need tosneak in, stay as unnoticed as possible until we can assess where isbest to work from. Ideally we need to be in the middle of the crowdsomewhere, it's the regular demon population we need to hit with thispower, so the more of them close to our triangle I figure the betterit'll work."
"And what aboutMalick and this trap of his that Lucas is so afraid we're walkinginto?"
I could almost feel thescowl Lucas would be throwing in our direction if he'd overheardJesse's words burning through the back of my skull, as alive andfiery as I'd mistakenly made my hair. Part of the time we'd spent inpreparation had seen me hidden away trying to disguise the brilliantwhite shock that my hair had become. I'd intended it to help me blendin with the crowd a little better, however my go-to red colour thatwas easiest to whip up didn't take quite so well to my newtransparent locks leaving me with tresses on the brighter side oforange.
Lucas had concluded itbetter than the white, noting that with all the fires down in ThePits it'd probably blend in pretty well. Jesse had been renderedspeechless in shock and Frank had all but laughed himself silly.Either way it had been too late to change again so would have tosuffice with me swearing to myself I would break the habit of tryingto change my appearance for every new mission I undertook.
Lucas had made nocomment, and I dared not turn back to look at him so I shrugged. "Forthe most part we just need to ignore Malick for as long as possible.He's planning something, but until we get there we can't even beginto guess what that is. So our best option is not to think about it atall, not let anything he does derail our own mission. This is ourprime opportunity to expose the truth to a great majority of Hell allat one, we can't let it slip through our fingers."
"Hah, easier saidthan done and you know it! We do this and Lucifer will know we'reonto his plans to control all of Hell, he'll know you fulfilled theprophecy he tried so hard to keep you away from, and he'll no longerhave any qualms about just slaughtering us all, and we don't have thesupport to oppose him yet. I still say we're being too hasty aboutthis.
"We'd be betterkeeping our operation covert until we can meet him head on and havethe other Faces back us to take him down. We're exposing ourselvestoo readily and playing straight into all of their hands."
Lucas argued his pointpassionately as he moved around in front of Jesse and myself, drawingour quick steps to a stop. "Can't we rethink this again?" heimplored and I could not argue that he made a compelling argument.
I sighed and ran myhands through my hair, they came away sticky with a film of red.
"I know all of this,don't you see, I know it, I do. And I know you're right abouteverything. This is a stupid plan, a fairly suicidal one at best andif we weren't running out of time I would definitely be followingyour ideas every step of the way. But we are, we're all out of timefor thinking and planning, for playing it safe and keeping it secret.We let Lucifer go through with this execution and we can all but callour cause lost.
"I don't know exactlyhow this helps him, but I know he's been working on these plans ofhis for a hell of a long. Creating our breed was the beginning, a wayfor him to gather a greater number of souls for his own. My birthshould have been the next big step, it didn't work but you know hedidn't give up. That's how long he's been working on this, and iftonight is the time he's going public with something, then he'sreached one hell of a breakthrough, and we can't wait any longer."
"Well you certainlycan throw together a rousing speech when the time calls for it, can'tyou, Love."
I wondered how farFrank had walked ahead before he realised we were no longer keepingin step behind him and he to turn back, not too far I'd wager if he'dheard that much of my rant.
"But like you say, wecan't wait any longer, so let's get a move on before this executionis done and dusted and we're too late to play the big heroes."
It was Lucas I lookedat then. I knew the other two were still game for whatever was coming– Jesse'd been brainwashed for want of a better term and would goalong with pretty much anything that was required of him, and Frank,well he was always up for a fight. But if Lucas refused to come withus then we may as well give it all up now.
"So, you coming?" Iasked simply.
"Fine. You made yourpoint. Let's go get this over with, if we're going to die might aswell make it quick."
Rolling my eyes Iclapped him on the shoulder. "That's the spirit, now let's go."
The rest of our shortjourney passed in silence, the only sound the echoing of our rhythmicfootsteps pounding out the distance towards our fate.
Rising heat was thefirst sign of how close we'd come to The Pits, then the noise hit ourears just before the stairs slipped into view.
"Sounds like thisspecial execution has drawn quite the crowd," Frank remarked, hissharp angular features twisting into a wicked grin.
"Good, hopefully thenwe'll be able to slip into the crowd relatively unnoticed."
I pushed past Frank andstarted down the stairs first, I wasn't so much eager as nervous andafraid that I might change my mind if I didn't dive headlong downthose stairs. Heat and noise washed over me as I descended, twostairs at a time in my initial haste until sense caught up with meand I slowed down. We want to slip in, blend in with the crowd, notburst through into the fray like a hound who'd caught the scent offox.
The crowd was thick andpacked in tight all the way to the mouth of the stairs and I couldn'thelp but smile at our luck. We might not look like the mostinconspicuous bunch amongst a group of humans, but amongst thethrongs of demons, demons of every sort, we'd blend in with fewtroubles.
I stopped on the edgeof the crowd, two more steps and we would be swallowed in the mass ofbodies. So far the towering scaffold was empty save for a couple ofBerserker guards who flanked either end of the raised platform.
"Good, it looks likethey've not started yet. If we can begin spreading this power aboutbefore Malick and his victim show up, the longer we'll go unnoticed."
I took a second andsurveyed the crowd, assessing where we'd be best positioningourselves for maximum effect, too close to the platform and we'd bespotted quickly, I had no doubt Malick's beady eyes would be lookingout for us. No, somewhere over to the right would be best. They'denter from the left so we'd stay furthest view, and the shape of theground in The Pits created a very wide expanse of space that wasthickly packed with demons.
"Over there," Ipointed. "Frank cleave us a path through the crowd. Make sure I'min the middle of our group, you two on either side of me. I'm goingto project my own memories this time, so you'll just be magnifyingthe power to hit as many of the demons as possible. So don't fightit, be ready and embrace it when it hits you."
"Alright, Love.Enough with the pep-talk, I think we're as prepared as we're everlikely to be."
"I wish we'd beenable to practice this a bit," Jesse added, looking around him withan unmistakeably nervous expression on his face.
"Or maybe not..."Frank muttered as he pushed ahead and started to break a path throughthe crowd of demons.
Grabbing Jesse's arm Ifollowed behind and felt Lucas fall into step, not wanting to be leftbehind.
"Don't worry aboutit, just try to relax and let the power flow through you and out intothe crowd, you'll know what I mean when you feel it."
"We'd better get ashift on, Love, looks like they're about to bring in the prisoner."
We stopped and looked,all as one, sure enough over to the far left of the platform therewas definitely some activity and movement going on. Our prime momentwas slipping away. We weren't quite in the spot I'd selected, but itwould suffice in a pinch, and we were certainly in one now.
"Fine, here'll workjust fine. Now concentrate, we need to get this flowing quick beforethe prisoner is..." But I got no further.
I'd spared the briefestof moments to glance up and see them walking the pale and tremblingprisoner out onto the platform, the face I saw in those fleetingsecond undeniably familiar so that my words caught in my throat andall I managed to utter in completion was "Oh shit..."
It was then that theyfollowed my gaze and found what had rendered me speechless,discovered exactly what trap Malick had sprung for us, and Jesse hadseen it before I had a chance to tell him not to look.
His brown eyes werewide, his hands trembling and his voice shaking as it formed a singleword.
"Dad?"