When Heaven meets Hell

Chapter Twenty Three

Warning: This chapter contains a brief scene of violence.

Power. Avander could feel it surging through him. Amidst the cries and crackle of flames, he lost himself in the flow of energy, reveling in its exhilarating and intoxicating effect. In that short span of time, his strength grew, the evil in the souls feeding him. He felt almost unstoppable. Almost . That was where the problem lay. Something had gone wrong.

The fires died, leaving not a single particle of ash behind. Avander emerged from the shadows, his gaze drifting towards the girl. She stood with her head bent, her hair obscuring her face. She was chuckling.

He moved closer, coming up from behind. Without warning he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her to him and putting his mouth close to her ear.

"A job well done. I have to say, I rather enjoyed my meal." He whispered . "However there is a problem. That was one soul less than promised."

She jerked away at once, spinning around with a furious look on her face. Avander wondered with a smirk what had angered her more; the fact that he had dared to touch her or that one of the men had gotten away. But it seemed she was more focused on the latter.

"Find him." She hissed, her face close to his. "And while you're at it, destroy this place. Kill everyone."

It was then that Avander noticed the change that had come over her. She was no longer the same girl who had summoned him months earlier. He could sense a strange power radiating from her, those red eyes clouded over with darkness. Avander hated to admit it, but her appearance was intimidating. However, he hid his alarm, knowing he had his orders to carry out.

"As you wish." He said smoothly, retreating into the shadows and reappearing in the main hall where th Amaki men were seated, waiting silently for the Hallows Eve rituals to begin. They appeared unaware of the fates of the Amaki Elders and Avander suspected the girl had something to do with that.

Across the hall were a single file of young women and two or three men. They were standing close together, heads bowed, hands bound and dressed in grey robes. They were the sacrifices for that evening.

Avander started with one of the women standing in the middle. Slicing his finger lazily through the air, he watched with amusement as a large red slash appeared on her body, stretching from her left shoulder to the right thigh with the sound of ripping fabric. A dark stain quickly spread and the woman let out a low gasp before collapsing. Silence followed as everyone took a moment to register what had happened. At that moment, one of the daggers that had been laid out for the sacrifices shot into the air and directed itself at one of the Amaki men standing next to the prisoners. The man only had time to open his mouth to scream, but only managed a strange sort of gurgle as the dagger's pointed end entered into his mouth and slashed straight through the nape of his neck. One could actually hear the splintering of bones as beads of blood flew everywhere. The man joined the woman on the floor in a pool of blood.

Panic rippled through the crowd as people began leaping to their feet, the need for self preservation taking over. People jostled and tripped over one another to make for the church entrance, only for the bolts to slide into place on their own. Knowing that supernatural forces were at work, the higher class Amaki men made and attempt to summon their demons, only to find that their calls went unanswered.

All around the hall stood wrought iron candle stands, which at Avander's command tipped over, setting fire to the wooden benches and heavy curtains. The scarlet flames roared and began to spread, consuming everything in it's path. This was no ordinary fire of course. Avander stood in the shadows controlling it, wrecking as much damage as possible. Those unfortunate enough to be touched by the flames were incinerated, lost in a ball of flames. Soon, the whole building became a funeral pyre. Still, the demon was far from done yet.