The Angelic Chronicles

A Scar to End All Scars- Chp 5

Nadia had sunken to her knees, in an apparent shock. She stared to turn her head up at Katarina, "I let you help me. I would rather die. You killed her!"

"Why yes." Katarina's word's seemed to shatter Nadia's control. Her wings burst forth in a blur of white and feathers. She shot like a bullet through the air, toward the Witch. In an instant, Katarina stood and swung her hand up, firing an array of yellow vapors of magic, knocking Nadia to the floor. It was quite a fall, and she hit the icy surface with an ear- shattering crunch.

"Shall I restart the organ failure? Or are you willing to cooperate?" In a massive show of power, the once innocent yellow wisps of magic erupted in an awful darkness. It swelled around Katarina, her eyes blazing with it. The same tearing wind as in the portal whipped through the room. The darkness kept Gabriel and Alec from running to Nadia. By now, due to the immense terror and anger, Gabriel's indigo wings also exploded from his back. It was like an invisible shield was keeping them in place. It was horrible; watching Nadia limp and bloodied, unable to help. Again.

"Gabriel, listen to her." Gabriel stared at Alec, but Alec's face was a painting of horror, "She'll kill Nadia." Gabriel immediately stopped trying to hack away at the invisible wall with the thrashing force of his wings. Jace pressed his hands against the wall and stared down at Nadia's almost lifeless body. Gabriel, who had always been the most fierce and confident of them, the most opinionated and strong, sunk to his knees. "Alright." Gabriel shouted at Katarina over the raging darkness. " You win. Just don't hurt her."

"What a good boy." Katarina remarked slyly. In an instant, the darkness was sucked out of the air. It seemed to let out a cry as it reentered Katarina's body.

Alec almost cried out himself. It was a lifeform. A creature of conscience. She was using it as a weapon against them. He turned to Gabriel and mouthed the word, "demon."

Katarina's eyes were still blazing with black fire. She turned to the vampires in the room, who's faces conveyed a look of wide-eyed horror. Though some were just hissing. "Guards." A handful of vamps stepped forward obediently, yet cautiously. "Escort he guests to the catacombs." When Gabriel's brown eyes narrowed, the witch woman smirked, "But leave the girl."

"No!" Gabriel yelled, "She needs help!"

Katarina eyed him notoriously, "And soon, my dear boys, so will you." In sudden bursts of movement, the vampires swarmed around them. "If you fight," Katarina continued, and gestured to the limp body on the floor, "She will suffer a death most horrible ." She said this with a sickening sweetness in her voice.

So the only thing that was left to do was let the vamps lead them away. Gabriel heard two cries. One was Alec's, pained and anguished. The other belonged to Nadia, filled with much deeper pain. He should have called out to her, he knew that. But he found himself doing the exact opposite. "Alec!" His voice was a blur in his own ears. Gabriel had only enough time to realize that the blue haired vamp wasn't among them, before being whisked away from Alec by the inhuman speed of the vampires.

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"Alec!" He heard Gabriel's cry for him. He'd never heard him sound so vulnerable and hurt. But the pain was excruciating. He was coughing violently now, blood was spraying out of his mouth as he did. The woman in the lapis lazuli chair cackled. "Take him away." She cackled again. He felt weak, weak to the point of not being able to fight against the force of the vampires pushing him towards the hallway, were Gabriel had disappeared. He could taste blood in his mouth, choking him to bits. He was being dragged slowly forward. He could have sworn that he saw a flash of metal as Katarina opened her mouth to cackle again. Just as his vision was beginning to clear, he was jerked around to face the hallway ahead. It was much darker than when they had entered.