Blood and Beasts

Chapter 49

The pool was only a couple inches away from full. The corner of Abraham's mouth couldn't help but twitch up in a smile. All he had dreamt of for decades, his life's work. But it was so much more than that. It was generations of work by previous leaders of the Imperial Cult, the Illuminati, the Free Masons, each iteration that worked to strengthen Lucifer's dominance over the planet, and now finally release him unto the Earth. 

Abraham felt the immense weight of the task at hand, the great honour that fell on him to usher in this great age. He wondered in a passive sense if the True God would keep him and the other followers alive after he rose. Abraham was willing to die at a moment's notice, whatever his Lord asked of him, but still he wondered out of vague curiosity.

"Brother Abraham," a voice interrupted from behind him. "He has transformed again." Abraham stood, pleased.

"Thank you, Brother. I will be right there." He turned to make his way to the cells. He had seen the werewolf in full form numerous times now, an impressive specimen for sure. Abraham could see as he looked at the beast that there was no doubt this time. This was the werewolf whose blood would give Lucifer's physical form power beyond measure. However when the guards stationed outside the cells reported to him that the wolf had transformed back into a human, for a few minutes anyway, this sparked a great interest in Abraham. He had never heard of this happening, and there was little in the world that Abraham was not aware of.

He walked past the numerous guards posted at the entrance to the chamber, many more posted up by the cells. He had quadrupled the number of guards in this room after the debacle with John Delaney, and upped their arsenal to automatic weapons. There would be no mistakes this time, not now that they were so close.

The cells were arranged with the werewolf's at the very centre, flanked on the right by John Delaney, and on the left by the vampire, Elias, starving slowly as Nefertari recommended. Past John Delaney a few of the cells held future sacrifices for the pool; they had more than enough to make it till the end. And past Elias a few of the cells still held other werewolves that they had collected while searching for their prize. A few had starved to death, but many were still rabid and vicious. Abraham didn't know exactly what purpose they could serve, but he felt it better to keep them now that they had them.

He strode forward to the centre cell and peered in through the window. Where there had previously been a hulking monster chained into the wall, with course black fur, a jaw full of fangs that could devour a man's head whole and inhuman yellow eyes, now there simply stood a man. Not particularly old or strong, just naked and meek.

"Open the door for me," Abraham ordered. The man's hands were completely covered by metal restraints, hiding them from sight, with thick chains latching them into the wall. His ankles were locked together with similar metal restraints, also chained to the wall. The wolf had so far failed to break free, and Abraham highly doubted that this tiny man would fair better.

He stepped inside and walked forward, keeping his distance to five feet in case the wolf should show itself. The man did not glance up.

"What is your name?" Abraham asked. The man did not answer, did not give any acknowledgement that he had heard him. "Do you know where you are?" Still nothing. "Do you care?" The man shook his head slightly. Abraham felt dissatisfied. He wanted to have a sense of the man who was so vital. He'd had plenty of talks with John Delaney, frivolous as they were, and he had talked with Elias a few times, though that mostly consisted of the boy screaming obscenities at him or begging to be put down.

Abraham knelt in front of him. "Is there nothing you care about now? Nothing you wish to know about this situation, about your captors? No, I suppose they may have told you about us, Logan and Caroline." The man flinched at that. "Aren't you worried about them? No?" Abraham stood up and made to leave.

"What happened to them?" he asked, looking up finally.

"Tell me your name, just that, and I'll tell you."

"Daniel," he said with a grimace.

"Daniel," Abraham mused. "It fits."

"Now tell me what happened to them."

"Well they're dead of course. Logan was shot when they raided the house, he died instantly." This part at least was true and Abraham was pleased about it, Logan and his brother had been thorns for far too long, now both gone. "Caroline is dead too, but not as quickly. I sacrificed her to the True God yesterday." Abraham watched as Daniel's face contorted, fighting to suppress the pain and rage.

"You're lying." 

Abraham smiled now, a rare moment of fun. He was of course, but he wanted Daniel to picture and really believe the possibility. They had all caused him far too much grief over the past few months.

"Let me tell you what we do when we make a sacrifice to the True God. First we strip them down bare, and then strap them to a cross. I do not consider this sexual, but I admit that even I enjoyed the sight of her naked body, strained and helpless. She didn't cry of course, but I saw the humiliation in her eyes." Daniel's teeth were clenched, tears welling in his eyes. "I slit her throat myself, and then we spun the cross around to let her blood drip down her pretty face into the pool. Had I known though that you cared so deeply for her, I would have simply let you free from the shackles and sent her in here. That would have been far more enjoyable."

"You're a fucking monster!" Daniel spat through his teeth. No, they were closer to fangs now.

"Aren't we all?" 

Abraham turned to leave, this time for real. Daniel screamed as the transformation took effect. Once on the other side of the door, Abraham turned and watched. The wolf continued to cry out. Abraham couldn't place it exactly, but he felt a chill run up his spine as he looked at the werewolf's yellow eyes. It stared right back at him.