Rose of Passion

Chapter 14; Stuck But Not Abandoned

Iscariot pushed her forward and many demons grabbed her. Kate tried to run back, but they drew her into the mass of demons. A thick wall of body odor, vomit, blood, bodily fluids, ash, mud, heat, and humidity felt like a slap across to the face and she gagged.

Hand over her mouth, Kate looked back at the open hall doors, noticing that Iscariot had disappeared already. Strangely, no one entered Hell's castle. Out of fear, probably. There was a wall of demons, climbing all over each other until those who could not escape from underneath collapsed and were crushed under all of the weight, in front of the door. It almost looked as though there was an invisible wall keeping them from entering. But it was just fear, Kate knew.

She screamed as they pulled her further and further away from her safe haven. She reached out and shrieked and kicked, but it only made her blend in with the crowd. There was no thinking this through logically and escaping. There would be no escape period.

Must escape quickly became no escape. 

Kate was dragged, screaming and kicking and crying, deeper into the chaotic crowd. Someone shoved her down and a fresh wave of fear washed over her. What if they all stampede over me? Her next thought made her nauseous: What if that's the best option?

The demons continued to grab her, this time tearing her clothes. Laughter filled the hot air. Kate kicked out, tripping at least one. Another fell on top of her, enticing a shrill scream from her that made the demon scramble back and cover his ear.

But they just kept coming. More and more. They hovered over her. So many. She lost sight of the darkness, what looked like the night sky. Under, above, all around there were demons taunting her. She tried to curl into a ball, but they kept prying her open. She never felt so vulnerable.

Then, Kate started to loose oxygen from the hysteria and mass of demons enveloping her. She lost strength in her limbs, and everything started turning different colors and going blurry.  Kate was glad to go numb, knowing that she would then be unable to see what the demons were doing to her. She finally escaped into the darkness.

Kate screamed herself awake. Aesc sat straight up from where he lay at the edge of the bed, eyes wide with a frazzled yet alarmed expression. She panted and looked around. They were in the bedroom that she slept in, the bedroom that they were supposed to share. Despite the safe atmosphere, Kate felt nothing but fear. As much as she prayed Iscariot's betrayal wasn't real, the pitiful expression on Aesc's face said it all, and she burst into tears.

Aesc crawled up onto the bed and wrapped his arms around her, rocking her back and forth. He had never felt Kate sob or tremble so much, and it scared him.

He closed his eyes and remembered the fury he felt when informed that Kate had been thrown to the wolves. He had almost sent others to do the rescue job, but selfish pride and selfish love overpowered his cowardice. Aesc had left the castle and entered the hell hole. No one dared to touch him, making it fairly easy to weave his way through the crowd and find her - unconscious, bleeding, half naked.

Rage consumed him and everyone near the castle was ordered to be slaughtered. One brave, bold demon tried to jump on his back as he carried Kate back to the castle. Snapping its neck was pleasant and calming, more so than when he'd killed Ravus.

Once he knew Kate would be okay enough for him to leave her side, Aesc was planning for Iscariot to experience the same pain Kate had felt, but on a much more extreme level. And watching and holding Kate as she sobbed into his shoulder and clung onto his shirt solidified his belief that revenge was the only fair way to solve the problem.

When his shirt sported a large wet spot and her knuckles hurt from grasping the shirt so tightly, when there were no more tears left to cry, Kate steadily stopped sobbing. Her breathing remained ragged and neither said a word for hours.