Swan Song

Greensleeves

"Let me go," Alice demanded, sitting on the sofa in her house's living room.

"I can't do that," replied Sebastian.

"You mean you won't do that."

The man frowned. "No, I mean that I can't do that. That place isn't going to be safe for much longer, and I have no intention of letting you anywhere near it." He gestured toward the corner of the room, where Oscar was tied to a chair, his face bruised and bloody. "It took me a bit, but I managed to get the location out of him. He stopped being disobedient just around the time I began peeling off the fourth nail." Alice winced. "For some reason, though, we aren't capable of approaching the house. My guess is that some sort of angel's power was used to make it safe from people who haven't been invited, similar to the disability sleepers have."

"You're not going to touch them," the girl snarled.

"That has never been my goal," Sebastian said in turn. "All we need from them is Ozymandias. Well, actually, I suppose that Lock would also be a viable option now that Samael is gone. We need one of those boys, and we'll get our family back, Ali. I don't see why you're opposing me."

She leaned forward and slammed her fist on the table. "We could have been a family all along. You just preferred sticking with your petty criminal bullshit. You could've been a brother to me; You just chose not to. I'm not handing over the two people I actually do consider family."

Sebastian's eyes gleaned dangerously, like a predator's. "How about I kill his uncle? Think he'd still consider you family if he knew your actions lead to dear Oscar's death?"

Alice glanced at said man again, but he still wasn't moving, his head slumped down. "Lock loves his uncle, but he loves his brother more. He'd never forgive me if I ratted him out. You're wasting your time, brother. I'm not going to help you with a damn thing."

Her brother stood up, reaching into his coat, and started walking over to Oscar. He pulled out a knife, then pressed it to the man's throat. "Do you think I'm bluffing, little sister?"

"No."

"So you know I'll actually do it?"

"No." Sebastian looked confused, so she continued. "It takes guts to kill someone. You? You don't have it in you. You're the same scared little bitch you've always been."

Hissing, the man dropped the knife to the floor. "Abaddon, get over here and start burning some more." Said woman walked into the room, looking bruised all over. "Last chance for you. I won't be tolerating failure again."

Abby looked ready to snap back, but murderous intent was practically coming off of Sebastian in waves, making her reconsider that course of action. Instead, she quietly approached Oscar, her fingers ablaze, then put her index on his chin. Lock's uncle woke up instantly, screaming at the pain, and Alice forced herself to look at him. She wanted to scream for them to stop. She wanted to look away. Still, she knew showing weakness in front of her brother comes with disastrous consequences, so she forced herself to endure. If Oscar was capable of forming sentences, he didn't show it, making the red-haired girl wonder just how much he'd been tortured already, and if he would ever be the same again.

Sebastian got in her face. "That treatment continues until you tell me what I want to know."

Back at the hideout, Lock finally woke up. When he got downstairs, he was thoroughly perplexed by the presences of Rem and Charlotte. He noticed Alice was gone right away, and that Oz had a bandage around his leg.

"What the hell happened?" he asked, approaching his brother. "Are you alright? Does it hurt?"

"Enough, brother bear," said Lily, getting between the two. "Stop helicoptering him; Seriously, preacher, it's lame."