Ashes || Book 3 of 'I Caught Fire Series'

Chapter 12 - The Rising Son

Thunder echoes and lightening rolls through the sky as we stumble through the
apocalyptic waste land of this new world. The ground has no life, but rubble from fallen people and civilisation. I walk alongside Mary, being a buffer between her and my brother, who hasn't shut up since the moment we got here.

"Mary, not to be critical but if we are ever gonna find a way out of here, uh, you gotta pick up the pace." He says, snapping his fingers, "We've got a lot of ground to cover."

I roll my eyes and she takes a seat on the side of the dirt hill, needing a break. Lucifer groans as we stop and Mary looks to him, "Not sure I see the point, since... No matter how this plays out, you're going to kill me."

"Yeah, that's not happening." I state.

"Why would I kill you?" He asks, raising an eyebrow before exhaling, "Oh that's right, cause I'm evil. Yeah, let me tell you a couple of things, all right? You don't get to defy God and beat the Cage without having a modicum of intelligence, all right? A game plan, i.e. I don't want either of you dead because I need you alive. All right, look, in a perfect world, I would probably kill you and your plodding sons. But life isn't fair, your sons have my boy. So, I'm gonna exchange you for my son."

"You can't possibly care about raising a child." She argues and he speaks intensely, "You have no idea what I care about."

"Lucifer, I don't know what your game plan is with that child, but you're never getting your hands on him." I say and he turns to me, "What, so you can play fake Mommy with him since your own kid died?"

My nostrils flare in anger as I clench my fist, causing him to crumple down in pain. I lean over him and meet his eyes, "Don't you ever talk about my daughter again, do you hear me?"

A bright light fills the sky and I look up, noticing a steaming ball of fire come our way. I run and dive to cover Mary as an explosion comes beside us. I hear Lucifer through the cloud of dust and I whisper to Mary, "Let's go, now"

We scurry to our feet and run up and over the hill, leaving my brother behind to deal with whatever was in that ball of fire.

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It's been awhile since we ran away, and I can see that Mary is growing tired. The uneven ground puts a strain in her legs and I know they must be sore by now.

"Come on, let's sit for a bit." I say, gesturing to the hill.

She nods and walks over, slumping against the ground and catching her breath. I take a seat down next to her and grab a handful of dirt, allowing it to fall through my fingers back to the ground.

"How're we going to get out of here?" Mary asks.

A grab another handful,of dirt and repeat my actions, "I don't know, but I reckon Sam and Dean are gonna find a way. After they burn Cas..."

My heart aches as the image of the blade being driven through my brother's back runs through my mind over and over. I close my eyes and drop the dirt, resting my head in my hands as I try my best not to cry. Mary reaches over and places a hand on my back, "I'm sorry about, Cas."

I sniffle and wipe at my eyes with the back of my hand, "Thanks."

I open my eyes and look around, "Sam and Dean, they'll take care of Jack. And maybe when he's older, he can open up another rift and they can come save us. Or Rowena may have a spell in the Book of the Damned. Either way, they'll find us."