Survivor's Guilt

XXIII (Because Revenge is All I Haven't Lost)

The interior of The Facility reminded me of the interior of The Umbrella Corporation from The Resident Evil videogames. Keeping my hands raised I walk down the hallways with the guards escorting me. They didn't bother to search me; Beelzebub's dagger remains strapped to my thigh. Cookie cast some type of concealment spell on it. They seem to be single-minded focusing on taking me straight to Kincaid's office. Passing each room, I dare a glance into the small window. The visibility isn't the greatest but I can make out my stage crew and my merch crew standing unnaturally still with black eyes.

They'd been in this situation before during the first part of the tour. Leviathan and Asmodeus had taken their souls having them to be possessed by demons. This would be no different. The first part of the plan involved freeing Kincaid. With him back in the driver's seat he would undo their trances and set them free. Then I could enact the second phase exorcising their demons and helping them escape. This would be the last blow to weaken Lucifer. Without any horsemen or princes, his only ally topside would be Lilith.

And she was nowhere to be found.

"Wait here," the guard on my left says. We stopped in front of his office. I can sense the demonic presence awaiting me behind this door. I lower my hands placing them in my pockets. They don't seem to be particularly worried about the lowly human standing in the hallway. Left Guard enters the room speaking in a hushed whisper. Right Guard remains quiet. I have half a mind to relieve him of his assault rifle. Finally, the door opens Doctor Kincaid stands in the doorway his black eyes fall on me.

"Kaitlynn Charnas, this is quite the surprise." He greets.

"Consider this my white flag." I show him my hands, conveying once again that I'm unarmed.

He raises an eyebrow suspicion already heavy in his eyes. I'd spent this whole time saying I wouldn't allow Hell to take me and here I was. He had every right to be wary of this encounter. It would be his last moment on this plane.

"Did we finally wear you down?"

It's an honest question. The guards allow me to enter his office. It's Kincaid who shuts the door leaving very little distance between us. He looks down at me, his expression torn it seems. I slip out from under his arm and look around. This office resembles his more. At the same time, it feels different. It feels wrong somehow. Just like it felt during the tour when he gave us Famine's identity. The metronome sits in its normal place although this one looks peculiar.

This one feels alive.

"You've taken most of my merch crew. Death took out the stage crew. The tour is pretty much fucked because of your father." My voice drips with bitterness.

He doesn't react to my outburst he walks over to the metronome and activates it. My body freezes torn between listening to the beat and staying focused on Kincaid. Beelzebub my mind corrects me. He's my last obstacle. The one before the final boss. Those thoughts ground me. I would not be broken, not again, never again.

"You have been making your own waves Kaitlynn. How many princes have you taken? How many horsemen? Mother is missing and father grows tired of her games." He explains. "Even so we do not require—"

"Wrong."

My objection startles him. This had been a question Johnny asked for my benefit to Cookie during our Virginia show. If we trapped the horsemen and the sins could Hell make more? The answer is, not with the rings being placed in boxes armed to the teeth with angelic warding. The daggers were made with angelic steel, there was no escape. Hell wouldn't have a leg to stand on when I was through with it.

"Here is what is going to happen." I walk over to the metronome picking it up and smashing it against the wall. He lunges at me, and I counter pinning him down to the ground. The commotion calls the attention of the guards. I apply pressure to Kincaid's arm hearing the bones threatening to break.