Defeating Heaven

Chapter Eight

It was a good thing Crowley was the king of Hell. If he'd been anything different, the demons under his command would never have gathered together at his command and agreed to storm the gates of Heaven. His mother had managed to find six powerful witches to join them, all of which were questionable in Crowley's eyes.

Rowena was walking them through the battle plan. Of course, Crowley's plan had just been to find an angel and beat it until it told them how to get into Heaven. Once they got into Heaven, they were supposed to wreak havoc until they found Lauren.

Apparently, Rowena didn't agree with the plan so she came up with one of her own. Her and the witches were going to do some research and find a spell that would open a portal into Heaven. They would open the portal and get them inside. Once there, they would search the place until they found an angel that could lead them to the angel in charge.

"Are you finished yet, Mother?" Crowley asked, bored of sitting on his throne and doing nothing. "I'm growing rather tired of all this talk and no action."

Rowena looked over from where she stood at the table, eyebrow raised and mouth quirked up in a sarcastic smile. "Would you like to lead one hundred, uninformed people into battle with a legion of angels? That's suicide, Fergus, and I don't have a death wish."

Crowley waved a hand, signaling for her to continue. Somewhere in Rowena's babbling, Crowley had a drink or seven and then Rowena stopped and asked if anybody had any questions. Nobody said anything and Rowena nodded toward Crowley, satisfied.

"When do we leave?" Rowena asked.

* * * * * * * * * *

Malachi threw open the door to see Sage still strapped to the same chair she'd been in for the last six weeks. The band around her head was gone now, leaving only dried trails of blood where the screws used to be, and she was pale and sweaty. Her head was hanging low, strands of hair hanging down around her face. She didn't look too good but Malachi didn't particularly care.

He made his way to her and gripped her hair by the roots, pulling back and making Sage look up at him. He smirked as Sage's head lolled back in his hand.

"Good morning, sunshine," he sneered.

"Leave her alone," Gabriel spat, his own chair creaking and shaking as he struggled against the straps that he'd him down. "Leave her alone."

Malachi had almost forgotten that Gabriel was in the same room but now folded his arms and leaned against the wall. "You know what I want Gabriel. Give it to me and nobody has to get hurt."

"You're a real sick bastard," Gabriel snarled, baring his teeth at Malachi who was being so nonchalant it was rude. Gabriel had the screws in his head now, the band around his head holding the metal rods in place, and Malachi wanted to push them deeper into his brain, dissecting the archangel until he found God.

"Don't tell him anything, Gabriel," Sage managed, her voice cracking.

For just a moment, Gabriel's expression broke as he looked over at her. But it hardened again as soon as he looked back at Malachi. "Let her go."

"Tell me what you know about God," Malachi retorted.

Gabriel shook his head. "I'm not telling you anything."

Malachi shook his head and closed his fist. Sage immediately cried out, curling in on herself as much as she could while being strapped to a chair. Manipulating an angel's grace to torment one was easy, something Malachi had learned when he was young. It was what he was doing now. "I don't even have to get my hands dirty."

"Leave her alone," Gabriel screamed, Sage still thrashing in her chair.

Malachi finally released her and Sage panted heavily in her chair, her eyes squeezed shut as she trembled in her restraints. "Tell me what you know about God. Tell me everything you know. Where is He?"

Gabriel shook his head. "Why do you care? He left us to fend for ourselves, okay?"

Malachi's face got hot with rage and he flicked his wrist, throwing Sage's chair against the wall, her head cracking as it smacked into the wall. Gabriel screamed in rage, spit flying from his lips as he fought against his restraints to no avail. "He didn't leave us," Malachi growled, flicking his wrist again and throwing Sage into the opposite wall. "He loves us. We are just too blind to find him."

Gabriel shook his head, almost defeated. "I can't...I can't."

"You can't?" Malachi cried. "Well I can." With another twist of his hand, Sage was choking, a trick he'd learned from his old mentor, Zachariah--pulling someone's lungs from their insides to their outsides. Angels were tough, but they still needed their vessels' to work properly.

"Fine," Gabriel screamed. "Fine, I'll tell you everything you wanna know. Just...please," he huffed, his chest heaving up and down. "Please leave her alone. I'll tell you everything."

Malachi smiled. "That's more like it." He released Sage and pushed her aside as he walked to Gabriel and gripped his chin, forcing Gabriel to look at him. "Tell me what you know."

A/N: I know it's a little shorter than my previous chapters but I wanted to update now before I leave for the next week. Give you guys a little something o remember me by :) Anyway, see you guys in a little while.

Stay lovely!

Abigail