There was something heavy on Grace’s back. It was putting a lot of pressure on the back of her neck, making it hard to breathe. Her left arm was being held down by it has well, her hand warm, wet, and sticky. The scent of blood reached her nostrils.
Her head was pounding. She wanted to to touch it, make sure it wasn’t injured, but when she moved the pressure on her neck and arm increase. The inability to move caused her to panic. She tried to move more, but it only resulted in the pressure increasing once again. It just made her panic all the more and fight whatever it was on top of her, resulting in the same outcome. A vicious circle that she repeated several times before she finally gave up.
People were shouting. What they were saying, Grace had no idea. Her ears were ringing. It had to do something with her head. She must have hit it. That had to be why she didn’t remember what happened. All she could recall was the demon coming toward her and Tony. Then everything went blank. Maybe she hit her head? She had read somewhere, or watched something, that said when people received head injuries, they could forget what had led to the injury. That was the only thing she could think of. Though it was hard to think, when it felt like someone was repeatedly bashing your head with a hammer.
All she could do was move her eyes. It hurt to do so, but she had to see what was going on. Her view was limited, but she could tell something terrible had happened. There was dark blood staining the red carpet. The wall across from her was cracked, with more blood smeared on it. A disembodied hand was floating in her face, bouncing up and down slightly. The hand, a man’s hand, was still attached to its arm, and body, but the rest was out of Grace’s vision.
The voices were starting to come to her, the ringing in her ears subsiding. A woman was shouting something. It wasn’t Ashtat. The voice was quieter, gentler, and there was a Southern accent. Though it was gentle and sweet, something about it made the hair on the back of Grace’s neck stand on end. That woman was not someone she wanted to trifle with, and from the sounds of it, Grace had already gotten on her bad side. She couldn’t hear exactly what the woman said, but caught words like “kill,” “bitch,” and “Lucifer.” All words, she was pretty sure were directed toward her.
A voice came from above her, and Grace recognized it instantly. Lucifer. And he was the one pinning her to the ground. That realization snapped her out of her groggy state. The headache was still there, but she no longer felt confused. Just pissed. Not only was he touching her, he was forcing her on the ground. “Get the fuck off of me,” she growled, trying to crane her neck to glare at him.
He stared at her for a moment, head tilted to the side. Then, he released her without a word. Grace scrambled to her feet, at the same time trying get away from him and avoid the blood. The last was a bit tricky since it was everywhere, including on her. It was the reason her hand was wet and sticky. And the smell. It was overwhelming. More so that it was all demon blood. The scent tickled her nose in a way that made her hate herself. She liked it, and wanted a taste of it. It took a lot to keep her hand away from her mouth and suck on her fingers. Instead, she tried to focus on her surroundings.
Tony was the her left, breathing heavily, holding onto his side. There was blood on him as well, but she couldn’t tell if it was his. And she didn’t think he wanted her near him. The way he was looking at her. A mixture of fear and loathing. So she turned from him only to spot the demon that had charged her. Baphomet had been his name. He was alive, but barely. The small movements of his chest and the sound of a slow heartbeat the only signs of him being alive. There was a woman holding him, the one that had spoken, Grace guessed. She glared at her with a hatred in her bright green eyes Grace had never seen before. She turned away, not being able to stand it. Her eyes landed on Iblis and Ashtat, both of whom were unharmed, but had fear in their eyes.
No one needed to tell Grace who had done that. The way they were looking at her was enough. Somehow, someway, she had put Baphomet at the brink of death and possibly had hurt Tony. She had been enough of a problem that Lucifer had to come and pin her down to stop her. The worst part of it all was she couldn’t remember any of it. It was just a black spot in her memory. As if she had been asleep. That frightened her more than the act itself. What other terrible stuff could she have done and had no memory of it.
Lucifer moved to her, nearly touching her. “We must go,” he said. Grace just nodded, not having anything to say. She wanted to get out there. As far from the scene as possible, and just forget about it. Out of sight, out of mind. The sight made her glad that she didn’t have dreams anymore. The nightmares of this would have haunted her forever.
The woman released a bark of laughter. “Do you really think I would allow you to leave after your sin eater killed my son.”
That caught Grace’s attention. The woman was about to say more, but she cut her off. “He’s not dead.” The woman just gazed at her blankly. As if she wasn’t fully comprehending what Grace was saying. “He’s even still breathing.” Her voice was sharp. It pissed her off that the woman was trying to blame her for something she didn’t do. She might have nearly killed him, but she wasn’t going to let the bitch say she killed him. And she just stood there, staring at her, which pissed Grace off even more. “Are you fucking stupid?!”
The woman’s hand lashed out, and Grace closed her eyes, waiting for the sting. It never came. When she opened her eyes, Lucifer was holding the woman’s arm. The stare he was giving her would have wilted anyone’s will, but the woman just glared back. Neither of them said anything, just stared each other down. When Lucifer did release the woman, he did so with a violent shove. Then, he turned to Grace. “We are leaving, now.” Grace didn’t argue when he grabbed her upper arm and yanked her to him. He wrapped his arms tightly around her, and turned to Tony. “I suggest you leave as well.” His attention turned back to her. “This will not be pleasant.”
Something snarky was about to come out of her mouth, but was cut off by pain. It felt as if her body was being ripped apart in a million pieces at the same time something was putting her back together. She was hot and cold, and her headache grew even more intense. As suddenly as it all started, it stopped. Lucifer released her, and she fell to the floor panting. Unpleasant had been an understatement. She hoped never to experience that, ever again.
The dirty floor she was staring at told Grace they were back in her apartment. She had never been happy to be in such a shitty place. On hands and knees, she crawled to her bed. Though, she thought maybe she should head to the bathroom. She was starting to feel a little nauseated. Then again, she didn’t have anything in her stomach so did it matter? Whatever. If she puked, she would just clean it up. She made it to the bed and rested her head and arms on the mattress. Lying fully down might have been a bad idea at the moment.
Lucifer crossed the room and shut the door. The hounds must have opened it to get out. How they did that, she had no idea, but it was the only way they could get out. They were highly intelligent, but didn’t have the equipment to open windows. It was hard to believe that they opened the door, lacking opposable thumbs. They could though. She had never took the time to look at their paws. She just assumed they were like regular dogs.
I take offense to that, said Brother. There was teasing in his tone, and Grace needed it. It put a smile on her face and she felt her heart warm. She sent him a thank you.
There was movement out of the corner of her eye, and then Lucifer was squatting in front of her. He took her chin in his hand, his pure black pools boring into her hazel ones. She tried to turn from him, but his grip tightened on her chin. “What happened?” he asked. His voice was calm, quiet, but demanded an answer. An answer she could not give them.
“I don’t know,” she replied, shaking her head. Tears were starting to build, her vision blurred. “The last thing I remember is that guy coming toward me and Tony, and then nothing.” She could handle killing Anthony Thomas and Andrew Wood, she couldn’t handle nearly killing a demon. The difference was she had been aware of what she was doing to the two men, had even enjoyed it. With Baphomet, everything was blank. Nothing was there. As if she had been asleep when it had all happened. And that was frightening, knowing that her body could do such a thing on its own.
Lucifer held her gaze for a few moments longer, and then released her. His eyes drifted to the right, staring at nothing, his face unreadable. Grace would have loved to know what he was thinking. He wouldn’t tell her, of course. He never told her anything. Just like he wasn’t going to tell her what was wrong with her. Even she knew what had happened was not natural. All of their faces told her that.
When he turned back to her, he looked defeated. His eyes were tired and showed their many, many years. His face drooped into a frown. It looked as if he were carrying the weight of the world on top of it all. And for the first time, Grace felt sorry for the angel. Sorry that she had caused him so much grief. She would never tell him that, never show it, but she couldn’t stop herself from feeling it.
“What’s wrong with me?” she asked, voice cracking.
He shook his head. “I have no idea.” That wasn’t very reassuring, but at least he told her something. “Where are your hounds?”
“On the roof,” Grace replied without any thought. She could feel their anxiousness of returning to her, but they still waited until the two were done speaking. It had not been necessary, they knew exactly what was being said, but the gesture was appreciated. Still, Grace couldn’t help but think how strange it was to have animals that were that intelligent. Just not what a once human would be used to. “I don’t think I got that job.” It was her attempt at lightening the mood. It seemed to work. Lucifer gave the briefest of smiles. Grace almost didn’t believe her eyes.
“The job wasn’t the goal. I wished to have you trained by Iblis. But that is, as humans say ‘out the window.’” He was being surprisingly talkative, and Grace just kept silent, not wanting to ruin the moment. “I will have to train you myself.”
There really was no point in that, but Grace kept it to herself. Lucifer would train her whether she wanted it or not, and she most definitely did not. She didn’t see a point in it. Everything that she was possibly going to fight was much stronger that her, and more than likely had a few centuries on her in practice. Well, there are the humans she might have to go after. She had gotten lucky with Andrew Wood and Anthony Thomas. Neither of them had known how to fight. She may be stronger than the average human, but that meant nothing if they had a weapon and were proceeding to kick her ass. Learning to fight might be a good thing. “When do we start?”
“Tomorrow.” His hand briefly touched her face and then dropped away. “Rest for now.” Then, he was gone.
The vanishing act always annoyed Grace to no end, but that night, she could care less. All she wanted was to get some rest. The previous day she had not rested too well, afraid to wake up in that cage once again. This night, she would sleep good, possibly. As long as she didn’t think about what had happened at Desires. Not to worry about that. She didn’t want to think about it ever again.
The hunger clawed its way back into her mind with a vengeance. It didn’t seem to enjoy being forgotten. The pain that shot up her body made her double over. She was going to need to feed and it needed to be soon. The hounds agreed.
Getting to her feet, Grace headed toward the closet. She grabbed a shirt and a hoodie and tossed them on the edge of the bed, the hangers still swinging from the violent yank. She took off the shirt Tony had made for her, and set it on the bed carefully, making sure it was completely flat. Her heart sank. There were three little blood drops on the shirt all clustered together. Tony was not going to be happy with her. That was, if he didn’t already know. He had been glaring at her when she had came to. Maybe that was why he had been angry. She doubted it, but it was a nice thought. An apology was in order the next she saw him. Whenever that was.
It was not now. That was clear. If she went to see him as hungry as she was, she would probably attack him. Besides, it might be best to stay clear of him for a while. Maybe let the tension settle before she tried to approach him. She hoped it wouldn’t be too long. She liked speaking with him, and she wanted to know how to remove the stains. That was something she would usually look up on the internet, but that was something she lacked at the moment.
The hunger struck again, punishing her for not moving fast enough. Quickly, Grace got her shirt and hoodie on, and headed out of the door. It was time to feed.
Sin Eater 