The Most Powerful (The Unforgiven)

Chapter 23 (Crossed)

I slowly came back into reality, sitting upright on Katherine's bedroom floor. The others were sleeping peacefully still, and I was about to ruin it. I went to Leah and Hazel first, shaking both of them with each hand. Leah sat up, dazed and confused. Hazel swatted my hand away, stuffing her face into the carpet. I scrambled to Alex next, who didn't respond at first.

"No," she groaned, shoving me away.

"Guys, we have to go back for Katherine," I stated, watching the others, who slowly arose like zombies from graves.

"How? She transported us. We don't know where to go," Leah pointed out the obvious, as usual. Alex finally sat up, her usually unemotional expression still stuck upon her face.

"We have powers too?" I questioned hopefully, waiting for Leah to slap me silly. But for once, she was at ease with this ridiculousness.

"All right. Let's try it."

Hazel still laid on the floor. I lifted her into my arms. She sat upright, her eyes still closed in stubbornness to wake up. We circled up anyway, me trying to channel Hazel's powers myself.

After opening our eyes, we stood in front of Katherine. Tears filled my eyes, my soul filling with sorrow. She wasn't dead, but in these conditions, it would be best.

She hung upon a cross, nails stabbed into her hands and feet, half-naked and beaten. A sign above her head read "Queen of the Chosen Ones", imitating Jesus's crucifixion. King of the Jews... Normally I would be thrilled to see a girl half-naked, but now, like this, I felt her pain mentally.

We all hurried to her, Hazel standing behind as we ripped the nails from her hands and feet. I stabilized her as the others tore the nails out. She groaned in pain, although she should be screaming out.

I laid her on the ground, everyone surrounding her.

"She needs to go to a hospital, Cody," Leah started, watching her sprawl on the ground in pain.

"What are we supposed to tell them? Who almost beat her to death?" Alex pointed out, holding Katherine's hand.

"We could tell them she got jumped?" Hazel suggested.

"Coleman... Ethan," Katherine moaned, rolling her eyes around under her eyelids.

"Guys, someone's coming!" Alex stood abruptly, hitting my shoulder. Everyone circled up, and in a flash, we were in the hospital waiting room, surrounded by strangers that panicked after seeing us appear out of thin air.

**********

"Five months. The two of you have been in the afterlife dimensions for five months. Tell me, how do you feel?" Satan chuckled, bumping me on the shoulder. Now I couldn't cry. Whenever I did in Hell, the fire burnt them up, alongside my feelings. You're not allowed to cry.

Coleman looked worse than me. I was a daze, sure. I couldn't feel emotions, otherwise this overwhelming fear would take over, and I would be involved in another massacre, also fearing the fire that scarred me for life. But Coleman couldn't focus on anything. He stared off, whispering to himself, rocking in a fetal position.

"So, be on my side, and I'll make sure you never go to an afterlife that made you regret living," he offered, holding a hand out to Coleman.

I recognized the look in Coleman's eyes: the fear that you'd do anything to cure. Even taking the Devil's hand as the lesser evil over what goes through your head after experiencing minutes in one of Satan's worlds.