Raziel woke up. Alexis still slept next to him. So placid. He looked outside of the room’s window and jumped. The gangsters that stole Samael were talking to a nurse, no doubt asking where Alexis’s room was. Raziel cursed. He got out of his chair and tried to wake Alexis up.
“Hey! Wake up! Alexis!” It was of no use. The gangsters were already through the door. “What are you doing here!?” Raziel yelled.
One of them laughed. “We’re here for the girl. Looks like we’ll have to take you as well.” Raziel was at the man’s throat in a moment. He reached to his back, and realized that he did not have his axe with him, for blending purposes. One of the gangsters did something, Raziel couldn’t tell what, and all went black.
I’m in a castle. How the hell did I get here? Raziel wondered. He looked about, at the stone walls, the tapestries. That design looks German. How do I know that? He inspected the tapestry further but could not figure out why it was familiar. “Guess I shouldn’t worry about that. Where’s Alexis?” He said aloud. He went to the door and turned the knob, it did not open. He felt a flash of uneasiness and resumed demon form for a moment. “What…? It has been a few days already, hasn’t it?” He did not have much time. The most pressing matter at the moment, though, was the fact that he was cut off from anything other than this small room.
“These hinges… They’re old and rusty. Should be easy to break.” He said as he examined the door further. One scan around the room found him what he needed; a stool by a writing desk. He broke a leg off of the chair, and put it between the hinges and the door. A little leverage the hinges came right off, causing the door to almost fall on Raziel. Stepping through the threshold, he found himself in a hallway leading to a large dining room. So it seems that it’s a real castle… Why here? What are those punks up to? He wondered. Passing into the dining hall, Raziel noticed that the placed were set with napkins, plates, and silverware; but there was no food at all. Not even scraps. Possibly there was a banquet to be had soon. He entered the kitchen and immediately heard a muffled sound. Opening a small door by a cupboard, he was greeted by an equally small flight of stairs, and the sounds grew louder. Halfway down the flight, he could tell that the sounds were people’s voices. Drawing closer, he picked up the words.
“She’s perfect. We just need to wait for the Night of Samhain, and the Curse shall be ours!” One said.
“You sure she’s a virgin? With girls her age…” Another began.
“No, no, no, it’s certain. The tests prove it.” Said yet another.
“Tests? Is this Alexis? What are they doing to her?” Raziel muttered, unable to see the events around the corner at the bottom of the stairs. He heard Alexis mutter and the people gasp, but all quickly settled.
“Do we have to wait for Samhain? What’s so important about then?” The second one asked.
“It’s the night when the dead may walk among the living. Easier than normal, anyway. If we don’t enact the Curse then, we cannot hope to have enough control.” The third replied. Raziel took a chance and peaked around the corner. Alexis was on a stone table with a pentagram drawn under her in red. Around her stood the gangsters, in more black magic-esque attire. Raziel recognized some of their faces. He slipped back behind the corner.
Curse… Samhain… What are they talking about? It sounds… so familiar? Could this be part of my forgotten past? Curses, why did I have to forget!? He thought to himself.
“And what of Samael?” A forth asked.
“He is also important to the ritual. The only way to properly sacrifice the girl is with his magic. Otherwise, she’ll just die and it will all be a waste.”
Raziel’s face twisted in anger. They were going to kill her? Why did they break her and leave her if they needed her for this? He had so many questions, which only added to his fury. He calmed himself and brought logic to mind. If they had to use Samael, then he was likely in the castle. The only matter was to find him.
“Now, we can’t afford for anyone else to die. Terasus was an unfortunate loss, but he was a fool and left the girl when she could be so useful. All of you be careful. One more loss and all of our effort will be for naught.” The third said. Raziel began up the stairs but one creaked, loudly. Hissing came from the room.
“Someone’s here!”
Raziel ran.
Hiding in a closet, Raziel peered out. One of the gangsters was searching around the room, a good few feet from the closet. He had changed. His skin was a more pale blue, his teeth were fangs. “A Caransareli!” Raziel gasped. He knew of these beings and knew it was wise to avoid them. A wave of pain shot threw him and he regained demon form for a moment. The Caransareli began to move towards the closet. Raziel had to quickly think of a way to dispatch this one without alerting the others. It had it’s hand on the closet door when Raziel’s hand shot out and grabbed its mouth, preventing it from shrieking. Raziel was careful to make sure it wouldn’t bite him. “Where do you have Samael?” He asked. The Caransareli pointed to a door at the other end of the room. Raziel snapped its neck and headed toward the door.
Through the door was a flight of stairs that led to the top of a tower. In the room at the top was a chair, and chained in it was Samael. Plebnus hung from the back of the chair by his tail. “Ah, Raziel. I was wondering when you’d show up.” Samael said.
“We need to hurry, they have Alexis.”
“Oh, that girl you were with? That is problematic. Well, it is for you. I’ll help you, if you get me out of this infernal chair.”
Raziel traced the chains until he found the lock. “Now how will I unlock this?”
“One of those guys has the key…”
“No, I’ve figured out a faster way.” Raziel put his finger to the lock, and channeled his energy into regaining demon form for an instant. His claws were large and strong enough to destroy it.
“Ingenious.” Samael commented.
“Now release me!” Plebnus requested. Raziel pulled at the nail through the gremlin’s tail until it came loose.
“That must have hurt something wicked.” The demon said.
“Nah, that part of my tail’s mostly thin membrane and cartelage.”
“Shall we go?” Samael asked.
Back down the stairs, they ran into two more of the Caransareli. Samael crushed one’s head with his mighty hand, but not before the other one let out a screech. Raziel punched it with a deafening crack of bone. “The others will come. We must go get Alexis.” He said.
She still lay on the altar, as peaceful and beautiful as ever. Raziel shook her and called her name. He eyes shot open. “Where am I? Richard? What happened?”
He hugged her tight. “You were beaten and kidnapped; I’m here to save you. Can you walk?”
Alexis attempted to move, but didn’t achieve more than a few inches. “No…” Raziel helped her up and allowed her to uses him as a crutch. She was very weak.
“But Raziel, won’t you need to fight?” Samael wondered. Raziel hadn’t considered this.
“Allow me,” said Plebnus. His form changed to that of a dapper young gentleman. “I shall aid her.”
Raziel handed her over to Plebnus. “Thank you.” He said to the gremlin.
Up the stairs once more, they faced the remaining Caransareli. One of them hissed. Samael charged and knocked one on the ground and pounded its face with his fists. Raziel took to a more agile mode of combat.
“A-are those vampires?” Alexis muttered to Plebnus.
“They’ve probably inspired your people’s legends. They are the Caransareli, nasty beasts that have taken up permanent residence on Earth and cause all sorts of trouble.”
Alexis wondered what he meant by “your people”, but was too weak to ask. Now, only one Caransareli remained alive.
“No! Our plans! You have destroyed us!” It screeched.
“Why are you doing this!?” Raziel asked, holding it up by its hood.
It chuckled. “You really want to know? We want power and an army. We plan to take over Earth. To do that, we plan to use the Black Curse, which must be activated on the night of Samhain to bring control to an army of undead. A virgin must be sacrificed, hence the girl, and one with power equivalent to Samael’s must be present. Such a procedure takes a lot of energy.”
“Then why did you bring me?” Raziel wondered.
“You looked like you would make a nice meal.”
“Typical. Now how do we get out of this blessed castle?”
“If I tell you, will you let me live?”
After a pause, “yes,” is what Raziel replied. He released the beast.
“Down that hall, to the left, and through the large, wooden doors.” He then smiled and disappeared in a cloud of black smoke.
Once they stepped through the door, their surroundings changed and they were back outside of the hospital.
“So, what do we do now?” Samael asked.
“We check Alexis back into the hospital, and then I take you back to the Underworld.” Raziel replied.
“Sounds like a plan. Whether it’s good or bad? I don’t know.”
Once Alexis was safe, back in the hospital bed, Raziel wrote her a note and laid it on the bedside table.
To Be Continued...
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