Grounded ~Book Four of Winged~

Brotherly Conflict

Dominic approaches fast and reaches out to touch the bandage on my head, but I pull back making him freeze.

"I'm fine." I say lowly and he tilts his head, staring at me with hurt in his eyes. Dominic looks away and at Eli.

"Belphegor told me you were... injured... but I see that you are back on your feet." Dominic states to Eli and Eli tilts his head.

"As Trinity said, I am fine." Eli replies in a hostile tone suddenly. I look at him confused and so does Dominic.

"Eli?" Dominic questions and glances at me and then back at him since both Eli and I are being hostile toward him, Eli more than I. Belphegor casually strolls through the door and looks at all of us. He uses a passage to get next to me and wraps an arm casually around me.

"What's up my favorite person in Hell... and others?" Belphegor playfully flirts while gently shaking me. Dominic and Eli stare at each other intensely. "I see the brother rivalry between you two is stronger than ever. Come on... Asmodeus... Mammon... Snap out of it!" Dominic looks over at Belphegor and suddenly Eli throws a punch that makes contact with Dominic's face.

"Eli!" I yell and Eli looks at me as Dominic swings around and goes to punch Eli, but Belphegor suddenly appears behind Dominic and stops him from punching Eli back whose full attention is on me now.

"Mammon, what is wrong with you?" Eli looks away from me and at Belphegor and Dominic. Eli looks back at me and then at them again. He seems like he is finally in full control of himself again.

"Belphegor, Asmodeus... Could you please leave... I have something to attend to. I apologize." Eli escorts them quickly to the door and shuts it. He looks across the room at the bookshelves lined with books and starts in their direction. He starts skimming the spine of books, pulling out a few and looking at the books on tables and picking some of them up. He puts them all on the bed and then gets on the bed and starts searching through them without saying a single word to me. I go to the side of the bed and look at all the books.

"What are you looking for?" I question and Eli looks up at me, he looks like he almost forgot I was here.

"I did extensive research on the Pits, that's how I discovered how to bring people back, but I didn't find anything that would point to this happening. Maybe I missed something... or I didn't read some material that mentioned this... I don't know." I pick up one of the books that he is not currently looking at and open it. Its old, but it's in English so not as old as I'm sure some of these books are. I go to the title page and read the faded font on the yellowed page. Angels and Demons: After Death. It's a mythology book, most likely written by a non-angel and non-demon person. It could probably be all based off of misconceptions and lies. I set the book down. My stomach grumbles quietly, but Eli hears and looks up.

"Go to the kitchen and tell one of the servants you want something to eat. They'll make you something." I nod and turn away, going toward the door. "Oh, and try to stay away from the family besides my Mother, Belphegor, Asmodeus, and... well... just them." I look back at him and he continues to look down at the books, shifting through pages fast. I leave the room and shut the door softly behind me. I use my memory to get to the dining hall. I open the door to the dining hall, expecting to cut through to the kitchen, but some people in the room stop me in the door way. They don't see me or notice that I have walked in. I hear a grunt of pain before I register what is happening. Lucifer, one of Dominic and Eli's siblings, stands in front of several servants and he holds a leather whip. All the servants are facing the wall with no shirts on, their bare backs facing Lucifer. Cresil sits in a chair watching the scene as Lucifer cracks the whip before striking the servants. They all cry out and flinch.

"I said no noise!" Lucifer yells and I flinch.

"That means more lashes." Cresil comments and Lucifer laughs, whipping them again. The backs of the servants are extremely bloody and shredded. These people are slaves. Lucifer goes to whip them again.

"Stop!" I yell and quickly come into the room. Lucifer's arm stops in midair and he turns his head to my direction while Cresil quickly stands startled by my entrance.

"Excuse me? Human girl, you have no right to be telling me what to do. You may be protected by this family by our Father's word, but he is foolish letting a mortal into this family. You have no right here. Go back to Mammon and be his lap dog." Lucifer turns his attention back to the servants and I continue to approach him. He raises his arm again. I break out into a sprint and grab onto his arm, stopping him.

"I said stop! These people did nothing to you and do not deserve to be treated like this." Lucifer looks at my hands on his arm and looks absolutely disgusted by me. He shoves me off and I fly back from his immense strength. I hit the ground and the air is knocked out of me for a couple seconds. He brings the whip down on the servants again and one cries out. Lucifer takes a step forward and puts his foot on the back of that servant before shoving him down with it. He brings the whip back again and before he can strike a servant I jump in front of it and it hits me instead. It hurts way more than it should and I scream out in pain. It must be enchanted. I collapse holding my abdomen in pain. My clothing is ripped and blood soaks the edges.

"Dumb girl." Cresil comments. The pain leaves it hard to breathe. Lucifer reaches down and drags me up by my throat. He holds me so I have the same height as him and therefore my feet are dangling above the ground a lot. I claw at his hand, not able to breathe. I begin to draw blood as I'm desperate for air.

"Learn your place." He throws me to the side like trash and I hit the wall before falling into several stacks of chairs, making them topple on me when I fall off to the ground. I accidently let out a whimper and I hear Lucifer and Cresil chuckle before the crack of a whip. I can't move. I'm in way too much pain.

"What did you do?" I hear Eli's voice, but I don't hear any further talking because everything becomes a distant hum as I struggle to keep consciousness. I feel the weight on me lighten as Eli begins to get the fallen chairs off of me. When I'm uncovered, he scoops me up and holds me tightly. My head lulls to the side and I see Cresil commanding the servants to clean up the blood on the carpet from their wounds. Lucifer watches Eli and I closely. Eli stands, holding me.

"You do not touch her!" Eli growls at the two of them. "She is a part of this family now. Accept that or do not be a part of this family anymore. She saved me. She's special... You. Do. Not. Touch. Her!" Eli turns and carries me out of the room. I lose consciousness.