The Mark of Mortem

Chapter 14

She looks between me and Lucifer. "I would say it's nice to see you, too, but why the hell is Cori on fire and why aren't you helping her?"

Lucifer looks at her sheepishly. "Um, because I'm the one who set her on fire."

The fire on my side starts to go out slowly and I lay there, trying to catch my breath. My side still hurts but I don't know if it's from the scratch or the fire.

Will rushes forward but Lucifer stops him, too. "She'll be ok."

"You set her on fire?!" Malli exclaims, shocked. "Why?"

"Because, that's a wound from hell. When you leave hell, it worsens until it becomes unbearable. The only way to heal it was by fire from me," Lucifer explains. He glances down at a watch on his wrist. "I've got to go. Don't touch her for another few minutes, she'll be fine after that. If anything happens, you know where to find me."

He walks past me and gives me a small wave as he steps into the fireplace. The fire consumes him, and he disappears. The room is filled with an awkward silence after he leaves. Finally, Will rushes forward and kneels beside me. "Are you ok?" He asks. He doesn't touch me as I manage to roll over to face them.

"I'm fine," I nod. I struggle to sit up and notice the only pain in my side is an ache and soreness. "It worked."

Mortem looks at me furious and when he notices me looking, his face softens. "I'm not angry at you. I'm angry with him. He just set you on fire and told us not to help. Then he left and told us you would be fine? I'm going to kill him the next time I see him," he sighs.

"It's ok, Mortem. I'm fine. He's right, I feel better," I tell him. I grab Will's hand to steady myself as I stand. He holds on for a few seconds until I'm not shaky. "See?"

He looks at me and sighs. "You are dismissed. Take it easy the next few days, all of you. You've had a rough first week."

We nod and shuffle out awkwardly. In the hallway, we walk silently, and I go to my room without a word. I flop down on the bed and immediately fall asleep.

. . .

I am shaken awake suddenly and before I can say anything, a hand covers my mouth. My eyes fly open and I struggle against the figure holding me down.

"Cori, it's me. Stop," the figure whispers urgently.

"Will?"

"Yeah, c'mon, we gotta go," he tells me. When I don't move for a moment he pulls me up.

"What's going on?" I ask.

"Elijah's here."

"Elijah's here?" I ask in disbelief. "Why?"

"Probably for you. I've come to take you somewhere else," he explains. "So get ready we don't have much time. Mortem and the others are stalling for us."

I nod although he can't see me in the dark. I jump out of bed and realize that I fell asleep in the clothes from yesterday. I look at Will and nod.

We make our way into the hallway and he leads me to one of the stairwells where he opens a panel along the wall. He gestures for me to go inside and I crawl through the opening. Inside the wall, it's narrow and dark, but I have enough room to stand up. Will comes in behind me and closes the panel so it's pitch black inside.

"Let me get passed you," he whispers. I hear footsteps behind me and then his body is pressed against mine as he shuffles against the wall.

At that moment, I hear tapping noises behind us, where Will opened the panel. "Will," I whisper urgently.

He stops moving and I hear his breathing stop when he hears it. He finally squeezes passed and grabs my hand. "Follow me."

He takes off sprinting, and at first I'm stumbling because he is dragging me, but I finally get my footing and keep pace behind him. I still trip as I run because of the uneven ground but manage to stay up. The panel opens behind us, but we are far enough away that no one can see us. We keep running and eventually Will slows down and stops. He kneels and pulls out another panel. I follow him out and shield my eyes for a moment. We are in a part of the building that I don't know.

"Go down the stairs up ahead. They'll lead you down to the parking garage. Malli will meet you down there and help," Will instructs.

"You're not coming with me?" I ask nervously.

He shakes his head. "Elijah will be looking for me. I have to go. You'll be ok."

I watch as he disappears back into the wall. Leaving me alone in the mysterious hallway. I start jogging down the hallway to the stairs that Will instructed me to go down, eager to get out before Elijah finds me. I see the stairs at the end of the hallway, I pick up my speed and reach it quickly. The stairs are spiral and steep, and I slow down so I don't trip.

A figure in black jumps out of nowhere and pounces on me. I cry out as we tumble down the stairs, wrestling to get out of their grasp. When we hit the bottom, I roll out from under them and get up quickly. I look back to see the figure on the ground doing the same.

"Elijah?" I ask shocked.

He looks at me angrily. "You knocked me and out took the souls."

"You stole them first," I shrug. 

He rolls his eyes. "For good reason."

"That wasn't good reason! You stole them for yourself," I snap. 

"Whatever. I just have a question," he explains. "Then I'll leave."

I sigh. "What?"

"Were you telling the truth in the cave? Did you really believe that I could become Mortem or were you just faking all of that, too?" He asks. 

"I was telling the truth, well, what I thought was the truth. I believed you could've become Mortem, but now... I'm not so sure," I admit. 

He laughs. "Me neither."

"Why not?" I ask. I knew that Mortem would never choose Elijah, he told me himself, but I was curious why Elijah lost hope. 

"Any crime against this place, no matter how big or small, is death. And I'll admit, I've committed too many for them to let me off the hook this time."