Unsainted

16: From the Pinnacle, to thy Pit

Tarja sped back to the church, looking for Atrox. She had gone a small spree of theft, taking small and large arms from the police station along with; bullets, armour, water, money. And the local hospital's supply of donated blood. The back seat and boot of the car where completely full, and the car felt the extra weight. She spotted a silhouette in the thick of the smoke and slammed her brakes, the muddy rain didn't help and after her wheels locked up she slid across the road; before coming to a complete stop. 

Atrox walked out from the smoke, startled that Tarja could have run him over,

"get in the car!" Tarja yelled at him through the window. 

Atrox got the message and ran around to the passenger side of the car and climbed in, there wasent much room for him to sit; and even less to make himself comfortable. He put his seatbelt on as Tarja sped away, splashing the area around them in black water.

"So are you done?" Tarja asked over the roar of the engine and the frequent bolts of lightning,

Atrox nodded not wanting to talk; an answer Tarja wasn't going to take. She sniffed the air around her and glanced at Atrox,

"that's not just one person's blood is it?" she said motioning to the several different shades of dried and wet blood on Atrox's skin, "who else did you kill?"

Atrox sighed and lent his head against the window, "everyone..." he said softly.

Tarja drove faster and soon the car broke through the smoke, and into an open field. A single road was the only way out of the town, leading to a freeway. But to get past that Tarja would need to drive past the fire that engulfed the forest at the edge of the dry field. She exhaled through her mouth nervously, before pushing the accelerator to the floor.

It was only a fifty meter wall of white hot fire she would have to get past, with the road being the break she needed. 

"Scared?" Tarja asked Atrox, 

"very" Atrox said grabbing the side of the door as he watched Tarja drive towards the fire. 

Lightning crackled through the sky with the rain, making it look like static before several; massive bolts of lightning exploded from the clouds and hit the grass. The dry grass ignited instantaneously, and soon the whole field burst into flames. The sudden loss of oxygen and change in air pressure rocked the car sideways, but Tarja never let it go off the road.

"Please drive faster" Atrox said nervously watching the walls of fire around the road, burn so high and hot that that they nearly blocked out the sky. Tarja squealed through her teeth as the car flew through the fields and entered the forest.

The forrest road was much less forgiving, burning branches laid on the winding road and burning trees threatened to fall on the car. Tarja almost gave Atrox and herself whiplash as she violently turned the wheel from left to right, dodging debris and moving fast through sharp corners. But when they had nearly reached their freedom, and the exit to the forest was just in sight; a tall tree collapsed under its on burning weight and fell onto the road.

Tarja slammed the brakes, sending some of the smaller items in the car forwards and bruising her collarbone on the seat belt. The car came to a complete stop just a few meters in front of the fallen tree,

"Shit!" Tarja screamed before throwing the car in reverse and backing away from the tree.

Atrox could see what Tarja was going to try to do, just from the speed at which she backed away and the fear stricken on her face; 

"Tarja, what are you doing?" Atrox asked nervously,

Tarja didn't answer, instead she brought the car to a stop and floored the accelerator. The car roared with power as it launched forwards. Atrox grabbed the side of the door; and nearly Tarja's arm, as the car drove towards the tree with incredible speed. For a brief moment time seemed to slow down, just before they hit the tree; flames licked the sides of the car and the road, individual embers disappeared in tiny explosion on the windshield. And a vaguely evil face appeared in the flames engulfing the tree.

The car rammed through the tree with almost no resistance, the fire had destroyed much of the tree's structural integrity. Unfortunately that didn't change the temperature of the fire, as it ignited the rubber wheels. Now Tarja began to panic, they could see the edge of the forest just ahead of them; the road leading to safety. 

"Please just stay a little longer" Tarja begged, pressing the accelerator further into the floor than what should have been possible. The tires exploded despite Tarja's wishes and the car dropped to the ground, moving forwards whilst spinning uncontrollably on the axles. Spark flew in every direction, metal scratched and cracked on the road as Atrox and Tarja where thrown against the side of the car.

Soon enough the car to a jolting stop, passing on the momentum to Atrox and Tarja; before they bounced off the car. But they had made it, the car had slid the last hundred meters and stopped in the dirt. Tarja laughed and hit the steering wheel, ecstatic that they survived;

"we fucking did it!" Tarja said shaking Atrox's shoulder,

"yeah, but now we don't have a car" Atrox said looking out the window,

despite their loss of a vehicle the smoke stretched out to the horizon giving the protection they needed from the sun.

"Oh lighten up" Tarja said pushing Atrox in a friendly manner. 

A pair of bright white lights distracted the pair, and they both looked out Tarja's window. The lights disappeared and stopped just a few meters from the car, was a large SUV. A man and a woman stepped out of either side of the car and ran towards Tarja and Atrox, distressed to say the least.

"There" Tarja said looking at Atrox and pointing at the pair with her thumb,

"there's your car" she said before opening her door and stepping out.

The woman ran towards Tarja with her arms outstretched,

"oh my god are you ok?" she said frantically.

Once the woman was within reach, Tarja trapped her arms in a bear hug and clamped her jaws into her neck. The woman rightfully screamed as Tarja kicked one of her legs out from under her, and brought the pair to the ground. Atrox leapt out of the car from his side, and onto the roof; stopping the man from approaching to save his partner. His very presence was enough to stop the man, and it was the hateful stare from Atrox that froze him in place.

Atrox knew the life he had back in the town was gone, even now it seemed like another lifetime. Father John had stolen it, and the fire had made sure he could never get it back. This was all he had left, given with less than he had started with; no cloths or even the skin on his back. It was gone. The only way to stay alive was to embrace the new life he found himself in, one where he was going to take everything; and everyone. Andrey was wrong, Atrox wasn't a monster;

He was the cruel, the banished, the maladjusted;

Here the saint, the fool died in Atrox.

Now he would deem himself; 

Unsainted.