Wingless ~Book Two of Winged~

Found

Etheriel

Day 16 Morning

Trinity's been gone for 16 days. That's over a year in Hell. None of us have slept, not that Dominic needs to sleep anyways. As days go by, the more I find myself believing Nathan's theory that Dominic knows where she is, but he is just not telling us. I'm worried sick.

Nathan and I cautiously approach an abandon house along with Michael. Someone called Michael and told him that they spotted Demons going in and out of this house. Dominic took a passage inside already which Nathan and I didn't exactly agree on. As we are about to go in the front door it opens and Dominic is on the other side. He shakes his head signaling that Trinity wasn't inside and Nathan and I both let out a loud sigh. Michael kicks the side of the house and mumbles something under his breath. I look around at the houses around this one. I look back at Dominic and a shadowy figure moving behind him catches my eye.

"Dominic, behind you!" I alert him as Eli emerges from the shadows and catches Dominic in headlock. Eli drags Dominic back into the dark house and the door slams shut.

Dominic

Eli drags me back into the dark house before slamming me onto the ground.

"Why don't you give up? She's gone anyways." Eli circles around me as I climb onto my feet. An unfamiliar sensation stabs my heart.

"Gone?" I question as I pull out my dagger that matches my brother's. He laughs and stops circling as he shrugs. He lunges at me with his knife and I dodge, grabbing the hand the knife is in and twisting it away from me. I happen to glance at the hand with the knife except it's no longer in that hand. His other hand comes around and is stabbed deep into my side. I stumble back, holding my side and forcing the injury to stop bleeding before Eli swings the knife at me again and I barely dodge. He was always a better fighter than I. I strike and graze his chest. I hear someone beat on the door and I expect that it locked behind us. He tries to stab my abdomen, but I block with my arm causing it to stab into it. I grit my teeth in pain and stab Eli in his shoulder. He quickly slashes at me again and grazes my arm. I walk backwards until I am against the wall. Eli laughs again and chucks his knife at me. It barely misses my head and lodges itself into the wall. It disappears as it reappears in Eli's hand. I lunge again at him and he grabs my arm, jamming his fingers into the stab wound and slamming me back into the wall.

"You should've heard how she cried out." He jams his knife into my stomach before twisting and roughly pulling it out. He goes to slam me against the wall again, but I open a passage behind me on the wall and fall through it with nowhere in particular in mind to go. Eli can't follow me through the passage because Demons can't use each other's passages. I stumble out a passage and into a cold dark concrete room in Hell. I look around, confused on why I came out in an unknown small room then I notice someone lying curled up in the corner. She stares at me with blank eyes and I realize what Eli meant when he said that Trinity was gone.

"Trinity..." I whisper and she blinks. Her eyes stare straight through me like she doesn't recognize me. I then notice the dried blood on her shirt and the beginning of some on the back, but I can't see her full back so I don't know how bad it is. I quickly go to her and break the chains around her wrists. There are bruises around her wrists. I sit her up and check her for more wounds. I look at her back and the whole back of her shirt is covered in blood. I look back at her face and she just watches me as a strange feeling grows in my chest. She lost hope long ago. Her soul is so damage, it is barely intact. I carefully pick her up and stand as the door to the room flies open. Eli lunges toward us, but I quickly go into a passage and come out in the hotel room of Etheriel and Nathan. I set her on one of the beds. For the first time, I notice she is sweating and is burning up like that one time in the hotel room, only way worse. I quickly start digging through Etheriel's belongings, making a mess. In the midst of my searching Etheriel, Nathan, and Michael come in sighing and huffing. They stop when they see me and slowly walk further in until they come into view of Trinity. Etheriel rushes to her side and she stares at him the same way she stared at me. I grab the necklace with the vial of my blood and go back to her and put it around her neck so I don't make her even sicker. Nathan and Michael come closer to her.

"Her soul is so damaged and unstable." Michael comments quietly then glances at me. "You should leave until I can try and nurture it back to stability."

Etheriel

Dominic reluctantly leaves when Michael tells him to.

"Let's get her back home." Michael orders once Dominic is gone. I look back at Trinity and she stares at me with empty eyes. Her clothes are covered in blood and it pisses me off thinking about what Eli did to her to make her bleed that much. Michael pushes past me and picks her up. He walks toward the door, not even bothering to wait for us to even pack. I go to the mess around my suitcase and quickly shove articles of clothing back in. Nathan grabs his suitcase and rushes after Michael.

Trinity

Michael puts me into the passenger seat of his car and doesn't even wait for Etheriel or Nathan as he drives away. When I saw Dominic in that cell, I felt a little spark of something and then nothing. Why? What was that spark? It was familiar, but it is just out of reach for me to recognize. When I saw Etheriel and Nathan, I felt absolutely nothing. What is wrong with me?

I wake up a couple hours later when the car comes to a stop. I look around and see we are back at my house. Michael gets out of the car and I go to open my door, but find myself to weak to push open the door. Michael comes to the door and opens it allowing me to get out. I stand up and almost immediately collapse. Michael catches me and wraps an arm around me, helping me to the front door.

"What are you feeling right now?" Michael asks as we slowly ascend the stairs to my room. I glance at him and he is just staring straight ahead. What am I feeling?

"I don't know. Weak?" I whisper and advert my gaze from him to my clasped hands. Michael carries me into my room and carefully sets me on the bed. He immediately goes to my dresser and pulls out comfortable clothing.

"What are you doing?" I question and lick my chapped lips.

"You have been in Hell for over a year and I doubt that man allowed you to take a bath." He comes back to me and hands me the clothes, picking me up again and carrying me into the bathroom. He sets me on the edge of the tub and turns on the faucet, filling the tub with steamy hot water. Michael slowly dips my hand into the hot water and goose bumps travel up my arm and spreads to my other arm. The water feels so nice, I accidently let out a small sound of delight as a small smile forms on my face.

"What are you feeling now?" Michael asks and I look at him and my mind becomes confused. Is it joy? Delight? Pleasure? Happiness? Relief?

"Pleasure." Michael smiles a bit before standing and taking the clothes in my hand, putting them on the counter and then getting a towel out of the small closet and hanging it on a hook near the shower. "Take your time." He softly shuts the door behind him as he walks out. I take my hand out of the hot water and turn off the water. I don't try to stand as I slip out of my filthy clothes and slide down into the burning hot water. Without meaning to, a low moan escapes my lips. My skin tingles as I scrub off dried blood, sweat, and dirt. I carefully scrub the lash marks from the recent whippings from Eli. When all the dried blood is gone, I can see the scars from the previous lashes that tried to heal.

Whenever I finish bathing, I have to use the wall as support to get out of the tub, dry off, and get dressed. I barely stay standing against the wall as I exit the bathroom. Michael leans away from the wall and comes to my side, helping me back to my bed.

"Where is everyone else?" I question, wondering why the house is so silent.

"I sent your mom to a spa getaway so she wouldn't be in any danger. Etheriel and Nathan are keeping perimeter outside, making sure Eli doesn't come to take you back." He props me up with pillows after bringing a fleece blanket up to under my arms. I watch as he starts to walk toward the door.

"What about Dominic?" He stops and glances back at me.

"He is not allowed in my house nor will I allow him to be around you."