Chapter Twenty-Four
Sam and I sat side by side on the couch in the living room in complete silence. I was trying to figure out where the best place to start this story was. With a sigh I turned to face Sam, "You already know about the night I died, so..." Sam gave me a small smile while placing his hand over my own, giving it a small squeeze.
"Just take your time."
I gave a bitter laugh, "Time. The one thing I have more than enough of except when I really need it." Sam squeezed my hand again and I gave him a forced smile, "I guess I should start where I left off." Sam nodded and I closed my eyes.
My eyes snapped open. Every sound around me was hitting my eardrums without mercy. Every color and shape assaulted my eyes. It was like someone turned my senses to the max. I could hear everything. Footsteps that sounded as if they were miles away and the light fluttering of wings. I don't remember ever being able to hear wings before. "Hey." My head snapped to my left where I saw a girl with dark matted hair and bruises on her arms laying on the stone floor in a cage next to me. It was then that I realized that I was in a cage too. I stared at the girl as she turned to face me fully. I jumped back. Her eyes were red.
I took a deep breath, finding that I didn't really need it, "What's wrong with your eyes?"
A grim smile spread on her lips, "The same thing that's wrong with yours." I jumped to my feet and paced around the cage, searching for some reflective surface, while clutching at my face. She was lying. I didn't have red eyes.
There was nothing around that I would be able to see my reflection in, so I turned to her, "You're lying."
She shook her head, "I'm looking at them right now. They're as red as blood." She coughed and I noticed something red splatter on the ground in front of her. She wiped her mouth, "Everyone in this hall has red eyes." I stood up straighter and looked around to see cages on the other side of the hall. Three other girls were laying in them, looking tired and broken. They all had red eyes.
"Why?"
The girl stared at me, "That's what happens when you die." Everything stopped. There wasn't a single sound to be heard. I stumbled back, grabbing the cold wall for support. I couldn't be dead. She was lying. I knew she was. My free hand flew to my neck, pressing hard on the skin. Redness swelled in my eyes. She was right. There was no steady thumping of my heart against my hands. No pulse. I was dead.
I felt rough hands cup my cheeks and gentle strokes across the skin under my eyes. Sam was wiping away the tears that I hadn't even realized were falling. I pulled away from him, "I've never told this story to anyone before." I felt Sam's hand start to rub circles on my back, but he didn't say anything. For that I was grateful.
Those thudding footsteps sounded like they were getting closer and I could feel the blood in my body running faster than it had been a minute ago. I looked at the other girls in the room as they all slid into the back corners of their cells, folding themselves up, hugging their knees to their chests. I moved closer to the bars, trying to get a good look at the stairs that led down to the hall. The girl next to me was hissing at me, telling me to get back, but I wanted to know what was going on. If I had no pulse, then how was I still walking and talking? I wanted answers and whoever was going to come down those stairs would be able to give them to me. The door at the top of the stairs creaked open and I shuddered at the shrill sound as it greeted my sensitive ears. I could barely see a pair of legs make their way down the steps, slowly and heavily, followed by a torso and then a very pale neck, and then a sinister face. I recoiled slightly, the twisted smile on this man's face was quite unnerving. I heard his deep chuckle as he made it to the hall and walked past the cages, staring at the inhabitants of each. He turned at the end of the hall and stared at the girl next to me for a moment before his gaze fell to me, the bars of the cell still clutched in my shaking hands. He smirked and walked closer. I kept my gaze on him even though I wanted nothing more than to shrink back and curl up in a ball on the floor like the others. A long, slender finger reached through the bars and glided down my cheek. I moved back slightly as the cold of his skin shocked me. He chuckled again, "My new toy." I jerked back, away from the bars, eliciting another chuckle from the mystery man. He turned away and unlocked one of the cells across the way. The girl inside whimpered and pushed herself farther into the corner. The man took no notice as he pulled open the cell door and stormed inside. Picking her up by her dirty hair, he dragged her roughly into the hallway. She cried out and stumbled to her knees. All of the previous mirth from the man was gone as he sneered at her and pulled her to her feet again. He hauled her up the stairs while red tears poured from her eyes.
I watched them go before turning back to the others, "Where is he taking her?"
The girl next to me frowned, "Nowhere you wanna be."
"She never came back." Sam stared at me as I looked at my hands, "I thought I saw her body in The Room once, but I couldn't be sure."
"The Room?"
I nodded, "That's where he used to take us for his...experiments." Sam squeezed my hand and I smiled for a brief moment before frowning, "The first time I ever went there..."
I fell to the stone floor. Erebus hovered above me, smirk present on his face, "Isn't this an exciting day? You're first time." He chuckled and I tried to crawl away from him, but he slammed his boot down on my leg, digging his heel in as hard as he could. I whimpered, which only prompted him to step down on me harder, "It's important that you feel as much pain as possible today. That will help it take." I couldn't even begin to fathom what he meant by that and I was truly afraid. More afraid than I had been when I felt the icy grip of death around my throat and more afraid than when I realized that my eyes truly were red. Erebus pulled a long knife from a nearby table and held it tightly, "Let's get started, shall we?"
"Why was it important that you feel pain?"
I looked up at Sam, "I think the pain was for his own pleasure, but we needed to be injured and weak so that the blood would take to our systems better. Erebus would use faerie magick to enchant the blood from other supernatural creatures so that any powers in the blood would surface and bind to our bodies. Vampires need blood to survive. When we're seriously injured, which takes a lot," I looked down and sighed, "the blood you drink has to work harder to heal you, so it binds to whatever is in your system to make you stronger. And the residual powers bind to your system too, so you can use them."
Sam nodded, "Okay, I get it. I think."
"My heightened sense of smell and hearing comes from the werewolf blood that I've consumed in Erebus' experiments." I held my hand up and flicked my wrist, so that my nails grew sharper and longer, "Claws, also from werewolf blood." Sam nodded and I went on, "Inclination to magick, faerie blood." I half-heartedly struck a model pose, "Glowing beauty..." Sam chuckled. "Succubus." I relaxed and frowned, "And then there's all my vampire stuff from when Erebus killed me."
Sam took my hand in his, "So what happened next?" I looked up at him and he smiled at me, "After all the experiments and everything. How did you get out? How did you find this place?" He gestured around us at the living room.
I sighed, "One day Erebus brought a new girl down to the empty cell next to mine."
"Wait, empty cell? What happened to the girl that was in there?"
I stared ahead at the wall, "The blood wasn't agreeing in her and so she ripped herself apart." I looked back at Sam, "Literally."
Sam squeezed my hand, "Scarlett, I'm sorry."
Shaking my head, I squeezed his hand back, "It's okay. After that I wasn't afraid of Erebus anymore. At that moment I wanted nothing more than to rip him to pieces, so that he looked just like her. So that he would scream in pain and terror just like her. He was never going to stop. He was going to keep murdering innocent girls and experimenting on them until they ended up either destroying themselves or ripping innocent people apart. I had to stop him." I sighed again, "He brought another girl down the stairs..."
A thud caught my attention as something was thrown down the steps and landed in a heap on the floor. I was alone in the hall now. All the other cages were empty and the smell of blood overpowered anything else. I stared at the girl who was lying on the floor, not daring to move. I knew she was awake because I could hear her whimpering. Erebus followed her shortly after, dragging her into a cell by her auburn hair. She cried out when he threw her to the ground and then glided out of the cell, locking the door behind him. He smirked over at me before making his way back up the steps and out sight. I looked over at the girl, her curls already matted and dirty. She curled up in a ball and just laid there for what was probably hours before she turned to me, "Where am I?"
I stared into her red eyes, "You're dead."
She sniffed and looked around, "So is this hell?"
I shook my head, "As far as I can tell, we're still on Earth." I nodded my head to the stairs, "That's our master. He killed you, just like he killed me and now he experiments on us."
She sat up, "Experiments? What kind of experiments?" Shaking my head, I looked away from her, drawing my knee to my chest. "I'm Amelia." I looked over at her to see red streaks on her cheeks. She was crying. I turned away from her. It was silent for a few minutes before she spoke up again, "Do you have a name?"
I stared at her, "Scarlett."
"I promised that I was going to get her out. She was not going to end up like the others and Erebus was never going to experiment on anyone ever again because I knew what I had to do. I knew that he would come back for her soon and then her "transformation" would begin. I knew he would underestimate me..."
Amelia was laying on the cold ground while I stood as close to the bars of my cell as I could. I was listening to Erebus' footsteps from somewhere above us, waiting for him to make his way to the staircase. Amelia looked at me, "What are you doing?" I shushed her and kept my attention on Erebus. His footsteps started to make their way to our staircase. Stepping back from the cell door, I got myself ready for what was about to happen. I was going to kill him. I was strong enough now. All that blood he gave me had made me stronger and more dangerous. I could things that he couldn't. I just knew it. Erebus' footsteps sounded on the stairs and I clenched my fists. He moved past my cage just as I knew he would and unlocked the door to Amelia's. She slid back towards the wall as he walked towards her. He grabbed her hair and pulled her to her feet. She barely tried to fight him off. She must not have had any blood to drink since he first turned her.
After Erebus had pulled her into the hall, I spoke up, "Why don't you leave her. Take me." He chuckled as he looked over at me.
"Why would I do that? Scarlett, you're already so strong. I don't think you need any more. You're already my greatest creation."
"So fight me then."
He laughed, "You think you can beat me?" I nodded and he laughed again, throwing Amelia back into her cage, "I'm going to really enjoy teaching you this lesson." The lock on her cell door clicked as the door shut. Erebus stepped over to my cell, opening my door and stepping back. He beckoned me forward, "Come on then, my dear. Fight me." I moved slowly to the door, watching his every move. He smirked at me. Once I reached the hall, I lunged at him, but he sidestepped me easily, tsking at my poor attempt. He quickly moved forward and slammed me to the ground, "You are pathetic." He lifted me off the ground and quickly slammed me back onto the stone. He stood up, walking a few paces away, allowing me to get back to my feet and try again. The second time I had been a bit more successful as I was able to graze his chest with my claws before he could completely move away. He tsked again and threw me into the wall. I bounced back quicker this time, going after him with everything I had. He moved away easily, although I was able to land a few blows to him. None of them seemed to have any kind of effect though. And he only smirked at me the whole time. Amelia gasped as he threw me into the bars of the cell for the third time and I slumped to the ground. Erebus chuckled and kneeled next to me, "You still have a lot to learn about fighting." He moved in closer, so that I could feel his lips right against my ear. I took that opportunity to pull back and swipe my claws against his face. He stumbled back from the shock, holding his cheek where long, red marks had taken residence. He looked at him hand to see tiny droplets of blood before looking back at me, "You little bitch." He threw me back into my cage before storming up the steps and slamming the door behind him. I laid on the ground, unmoving.
I could hear Amelia scrambling over to me, "Scarlett, are you okay?" I didn't say anything, I just held up the rusty key for her to see. She gasped as I pulled myself to my feet, making my way to my cell door. Reaching around the bars, I slid the key into the lock, turning it and waiting for the click. I sighed with relief when I heard it and moved over to Amelia's cage. I unlocked the door and caught Amelia as she threw herself at me. I let her hug me for a second before pushing her away and then leading her up the stairs. I stopped at the top and listened for Erebus' footsteps. They sounded far off, so I opened the door and stepped into the musty hall. My nose was assaulted with a million different smells and I took a minute to make sense of them all. Erebus' scent was far off, so I figured we were safe for now. I needed to latch onto an outdoor smell so that I would be able to find my way out of here. I looked back when I heard Amelia slump against the wall. Her eyes seemed to be glowing brighter than they were earlier and she looked like she was falling into some kind of haze. I nudged her shoulder causing her to shake her head and stare at me.
"Let's go." She nodded and I walked down the hall in the opposite direction from The Room. I could smell grass, but I knew that would lead to faeries, so I ignored that and latched onto a water smell that grew stronger the farther down the hall I went. I don't remember this smell. I took that as a good sign and continued to follow it down several halls and through several doors. I pushed on a heavy looking door, but it wouldn't budge. Amelia looked around, her eyes growing hungrier by the second. My attention was back on the door as I could hear footsteps. Erebus was making his way back to our hall. My eyes searched the metal before landing on a deadbolt. I pulled it, but the door still wouldn't open. My eyes landed on another lock, only this one was much higher up. I jumped up and I still couldn't reach it. Turning to Amelia, I bent down a bit and held my hands out, "I'm gonna give you a boost. You have to unlock it." She stared at me with blank eyes. "Did you hear me?" She stood still, staring at me. "Amelia!" She jolted, so I tried again, "Amelia, I'm gonna give you a boost. Unlock the door." She nodded and stepped into my hands, allowing me to lift her up to where she could reach the lock and pull it. It clicked, so I dropped her back to her feet and pushed the door open. She ran out ahead of me and I pulled the door shut behind us. I heard the locks click back into place and I sighed in relief, hoping that would buy us some time once we were discovered to be missing. Lucky for us, it was pitch black, so we were able to run through the forest without getting burned. We had made a good distance from Erebus when Amelia fell to the ground. I kneeled next to her, shaking her shoulder, "Hey. I know it's hard, but you gotta get up." She didn't say anything. She just sat on the ground, shaking. I tapped her, "Amelia, come on." It happened so quickly that I almost didn't realize what was going on, but Amelia had turned and lunged at me. Her eyes were burning with hunger and desperation. She clawed at me, but I pushed her away, "What the hell are you doing?" She didn't answer, she just tried to bite at me. I threw her to the ground before taking a few steps back towards a tree. She was on her feet in seconds and advancing on me. I could hear deep breathing coming from one of the branches on the tree. I swung myself up to the branch to see a sleeping squirrel. I could hear Amelia at the base of the tree as I grabbed the squirrel and snapped its neck. I tossed the animal down to Amelia, who greedily tore into it. She lapped up the blood as I climbed down and checked some of the other trees for animals.
"Scarlett?" I turned to see Amelia with blood smeared on her face and hands, dead squirrel clutched to her chest. "I'm sorry."
Shaking my head, I continued my search, "It's not your fault. You haven't fed in a while." I heard the squirrel drop to the ground.
"Thank you." I nodded, but I didn't look at her. I couldn't. "You're a good friend." I spun on my heel to face her, ready to say that no, we are not friends, but I shut my mouth before the words came out. She looked so scared. I shook my head and turned back around. "What are we going to do now?"
"We eventually made our way to New York and found this house and started taking in drifters." I looked up at Sam to see him already staring at me. He smiled. "I have to kill him, Sam." He nodded and pulled me into his arms. I let him crush me against his chest, so that I could hear his heart beating. I pushed in further and closed my eyes, "I have to."
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Thank you so much for everyone who has been voting and commenting. It really means a lot to me. And of course I am so sorry for the delay in updating. I have been really busy with my school work. And now it is with a heavy heart that I announce that the next chapter of Flawlessly Beautiful will be the last one. I have been writing this story for years and I love it, but I have lost inspiration for it. I have the last chapter planned and it will complete Scarlett and Erebus' story arc and honestly once that's done I don't really know where to go with it, so I think it would be best to end it. I have enjoyed writing this story immensely and will be sad to see it go, but I have a ton of other new ideas. I have already published the first chapter of a fanfiction based on the AMC original series Preacher, so if anyone watches that show and wants to check out my story, it's called Hungry Eyes. If you like Scarlett then I think you'll like Thistle. She a lot of fun to write and I'm really excited about this story. That story will also have an element of the supernatural. And once I finish Flawlessly Beautiful, I will be starting a Walking Dead fic about Daryl, so feel free to check that out too. Once again, thank you for all the comments and votes. And thanks for sticking with this story. Stay tuned for the final chapter.