Chapter 26 Angel

Shrieks and hisses were drowned by the explosive bangs of sticks on scales. The lamias were fast and adamant but not enough to escape the fire. The team roared as they fought with everything they had. It was dark but they could see just fine. Cold but they felt hot.

In the midst of the battle, Matt gazed up to the sky and clenched his jaw at the full moon. Half of it was already overshadowed. A lamia went for him, but he smacked it away to smithereens.

Alejandro landed away from him and rolled over. He forced the jaws of a lamia apart with his bamboo stick. It pressed harder against him, dripping saliva on him. Alejandro shouted and got Matt's attention who hit the lamia.

"Are you all right?" Matt asked Alejandro as he helped him up.

"Yes I am but you seem out of it." Alejandro remarked, concerned.

Matt pointed to the moon, "We are running out of time." he stressed.

"We have taken out more than half of these things already!" Alejandro shouted over the explosion to their left.

"Yes, but we can't afford to waste any more time here!" Matt shouted back.

Anna, who was still in her lamia form, looked at the ashes of her fallen sisters in disbelief. Wrinkles formed on her forehead and her fangs stretched longer. She spread her claws apart and hissed demonically in fury. Her sharp eyes spotted Fernanda fighting off her sisters.

"You bitch, why can't you just die!?" she screamed as she charged at her.

Her fellow lamias saw her coming and gave way to her. Anna violently swept across the forest—knocking down a tree Adrianna was in. Anna drew closer to Fernanda's back and opened her jaw wide. She was just about to touch her when a bright light appeared out of nowhere. Anna raised her hands up and screamed so loud in pain.

Fernanda grinned at Anna, "Don't touch my anointed; saith the Lord."

The sight of the flames engulfing Anna petrified the surviving lamias that they immediately retreated back to the river. Anna screamed in anguish. The flames grew fierce. Her hand fell off and turned to ash before the other one met the same fate. Anna threw her head back and it fell off. Her remaining body burst into ash. Fernanda coldly watched the wind blew Anna’s remains away. Anna’s screams of pain still echoed in her ears.

The team dashed into the forest, each running as fast they could. The darkening moon in the sky constantly reminded them of how much little time was left. Matt was in the lead. His expression was of stress and frustration.

Matt’s heart skipped at the sight of the mansion. Ruth, his Ruth, was in there and for once she no longer felt so far away.

****

Ruth, in her wedding dress, sat still by the mirror. Her pale face depicted nothing but sadness. She didn't even have the strength to look at herself. She kept her gaze away from the mirror as much as she could. A maid sprayed her with a lavender scented perfume but Ruth was unfazed by it.

Her tears stung, she pressed her lips together and took in the tight knot in her throat. Raising her gaze to the mirror, she ignored the maid setting a black crown on her head but instead focused on her teary eyes.

The feeling of two soft hands on her arms made her stand up. One maid opened the bedroom door, and Ruth walked out with two following her behind. They were joined by four armed men who escorted them downstairs.

They met Hendricks at the bottom. He gladly led them to the brightly lit ballroom. Ruth's stomach churned at the moans and groans. She froze in her steps in shock at the crowd of men and women having sex with each other.

Ruth turned her gaze away from a woman who was getting humped by a dog whilst giving a man a blow job. When she spotted two men going at it so loudly, she chose to keep her eyes closed.

Ruth walked past women rubbing their breasts against each other as two others fondled with their plump asses. A goat screamed but Ruth was too afraid to even allow herself to see what was being done to it. The stench of lust and sin was so suffocating that Ruth couldn't believe it.

Asmodues stood on the stage with a proud smug. Behind him were two priests and a table with lit red candles. He held onto his jacket and chuckled at Ruth's reaction. His henchmen standing guard joined him laughing.

Ruth couldn't stand the sound of the sexual moans. They kept her mind so preoccupied that she missed a step and fell back screaming. A hand grabbed her in the nick of time, she forced her eyes open only to regret.

"Why must you always be so careless?" Asmodues asked her and pulled her up. He twirled her around and hugged her from behind. Forcefully clutching her jaw in place, he forced her to look at the orgy, "Isn't it beautiful?" he snickered.

"Let go of me." Ruth grunted in annoyance.

"How can you honestly be appalled by such beauty?" Asmodues pointed to a dark skinned old man and biracial middle-aged woman kissing whilst grinding each other aggressively. "Those two are father and daughter."

"You sick fuck." Ruth spat.

"Oh yes, you can say that. After all, I am the demon of lust. Incest, fornication, adultery, bestiality and everything lustful is welcome in my presence."

Asmodues turned Ruth around, and she unwillingly set her hands on his shoulders. He crushed his lips against hers as she helplessly tried to push him away. Asmodues forced Ruth on the table, and pinned her down.

Ruth screamed as she tried to sit up, but she was forced back down. A curtain was dropped and the lunar eclipse was revealed. Only a small part of the moon hadn't yet been covered.

"Now you and I will become one under the lunar power." he spread her legs apart.

"No," Ruth cried.

"Impossible, this is the last of the rituals to be done. You starved for a week, I slept with you after laying with a woman on her menses and you ate human meat and drank blood. Remember the fellow who owns this body? Well, he was chosen because he killed his unborn child. All this was for my greatest body possession ritual. An immortal body that will enable me to walk the face of this earth in both night and day!" Asmodues leaned closer, "The only thing left now is to nourish my shell at the embrace of the eclipse."

Asmodues stroked Ruth's hair, but she moved her head disgusted. "Get away from me!" she screamed in tears.

"Our marriage ceremony will be over soon." Asmodues spread her legs apart and forced his hand on her neck. "You just hold still."

The door suddenly burst open. Everyone paused and shifted their eyes to the doorway. Asmodues loosened his hold on Ruth and straightened his back annoyed. His henchmen guarding the ballroom took out their guns and aimed them at the door. Asmodues blinked at the sound of boots hitting the wooden floor.

"Who dares?!" he roared.

"That would be me." Matt appeared by the door, eyeballing Asmodues.

Ruth gasped at the sound of his voice. Her tears of joy poured out profusely at her love. Matt caught sight of her and widened his eyes in disbelief. They kept their loving eyes locked as Fernanda, Alejandro, Stephanie and Adrianna found their way beside Matt. Asmodues scowled at Matt but when his eyes met Fernanda's, his tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth.

"Matt!" Ruth screamed with so much emotion.

"Babe!" Matt responded back with the same intensity.

Hendricks snuck behind the team. He hit Fernanda at the back of her head with a baseball bat. Stephanie shouted at her bloody unconscious state on the floor. The henchmen opened fire at the team, and they took cover. Asmodues pulled Ruth off the table and dashed out whilst bullets rained from both sides.

Matt peeped at Asmodues pulling down a painting. A secret door was revealed and Asmodues forced Ruth in before closing it behind them. Matt lost his mind and charged across the ballroom shooting the naked people running around screaming.

He plunged a dagger into the skull of a shooter and shot another one to his right. Matt kicked one more in the chest and finished him off with a hole in his head. He kicked the door down and stepped into a dark tunnel with no sight of Ruth.

"Asmodues!"