Power (9 page)

Chapter 9
The Enemy

***Damien***

I stood there, looking around wondering what the hell I was doing. I hated life, everything about it. I didn’t understand why I was even put here; to kill as many people as I can? To hate and spread hate? To hurt? Ugh, where was the glory in that?

I cannot even tell the world what I am, what I could be. And this damn girl, she is supposed to be more powerful than I am? The bile began to rise in my throat. Not even close. I will kill her. Squish her to the ground. Show everyone how puny she is compared to me. No more playing around. Next time I see her, she will suffer. But only for a little while, I just want the wench dead. Then I will forever more, and undisputedly, be the most powerful being on this wretched planet.

As I was sitting in the lounge, wallowing in my own glory, Lilith walked in. Lilith was the most manipulative and beautiful roach I had ever met, and one of the most powerful beings I had come across. She was going to play a large part in my next plan. Finally her skills would prove useful.

“Come in, Lilith, I have a challenge for you.” Challenge? Not likely, she would master this easy enough. Though she needed to have the proper motivation to succeed, and a couple of lashings wouldn’t work this time. “This task is of the utmost importance. Please tell me I am right in choosing you to perform it?” I loved the sound of my own voice, so velvety and smooth. I resisted the urge to sigh in appreciation, as that would put a damper on the atmosphere of fear I was trying to create.

She stepped back, just slightly, realizing what it would mean if she failed. Her head dropped as I let her remember the last time she and her partner at the time had failed at a task; I could almost still smell the aroma of his burning flesh…

I raised my right eyebrow slightly and took one step back, not one person, Rising member or not, had ever refused a job I had given them.

Lilith, are you having doubts?
I did not have to speak the words, as I knew she was fully capable of hearing my thoughts when I allowed her to. I was not accusatory in my question, though so many had been tortured and killed for the mere suspicion of disloyalty.

Every member of The Rising knew how we worked and had an absolute understanding of fear-based loyalty. Do as you are told, or die; unless you are able to kill the one making the demand. That is how I rose to the very top. I was born with the ability to kill – quickly, easily, and absolutely. I have more power than anyone else and people respect that or
die
.

Hearing my unspoken words, she stepped forward, stood up straight, and confidently said, “You have no need to worry, neither about my loyalty to you and the Rising, nor in my ability to perform any task you have for me.” Her words dripped with sincerity, though I had to remind myself that she was the best deceiver in the world.

I nodded, intentionally thinking loudly,
Wonderful…

I turned and began walking toward my study. We did not own the cliché “bad guy lair.” It was not spooky and did not have coffins or demonic statues. It was not draped in black and red from top to bottom. We had no need for such things. What we did have to do was keep up the pretense of being normal people. Ugh, normal… So, our “lair” consisted of a high rise building in New York City. There was not a better place in the entire world to be. With the stuff that went on here, we could blend and mingle just fine.

When I reached the door, I placed my palm down on the scanner. The door opened and allowed me access to the most prestigious room in the world. This room was made for and used by the Leader of The Rising. Oh how that just rolled off the tongue. I had to stifle the urge to say it out loud.

She sat just in front of my desk, in a chair that was much too large for her small, supple frame. I too sat, trying to sift through the thoughts in her brain. She was focusing on the Rising, her loyalty, and her new passion for the task she had not yet received. There were no thoughts of doubt, some curiosity at what her new task would be, and no other anxieties, or misgivings. Undoubtedly, she could feel me wandering around inside her head, looking for any qualms, but she held back, allowing me to search within.

I could feel the taste of her power entangling with mine, smell the aphrodisiac aroma that was seeping out of her. For the briefest of seconds, my shield went down; my power succumbed to her magnetism. She drew me out, and for that brief second I was vulnerable, nearly allowing myself to be taken by her appeal. I blocked her then. Pulling myself together and leaving the confines of her thoughts.

A fury was raging inside me then. How could I be so weak as to let this promiscuous fiend tempt me into letting my guard down? I felt the urge to burn her, to kill her where she sat, to rip her head from her neck and pull out that brain that had captured me. Obviously I could not do that, I still needed her. This was my mistake, a mistake that would never happen again. I took a deep breath, realizing I had definitely chosen the correct person for this job, and tried to hide that she had rattled me. As if to prove my point, she leaned back in her chair, raised an eyebrow, and crossed her left leg over the right, allowing her skirt to shift and her leg to be seen nearly all the way up.

“Lilly, my dear,” I oozed, allowing for absolutely no discomfort from the previous few seconds to show, “how much do you know about my last trip?” Pausing for a response, I read her features, not allowing myself to be tempted by her mind again.

She looked at me, still confident, and stated, “I only know that you went out to rid us of a potential problem.” Hmm… that was exactly how much she should know, though I would almost guarantee she knew more than that.

“I see… well, let me elaborate for you.” I had to be careful, I could not let her see the fear I had about this… ghoul; the girl who haunted me.

Focus, Damien! You are fearless! No one can touch you!

“Do you remember a legend from when you first joined The Rising? Up until recently, we believed it to be just that, a legend.” Her eyes opened just slightly wider. It had always been taught that the tale of the woman – a descendant of all the Primitus - who would take down the Rising was ridiculous; a tale of false hope for the Order.

Right before I killed Malachai, my predecessor, he warned me that the legend was true, and that the time would come for her to rise to power. He told me that I had to destroy her before she could find out who she was and what she was capable of if she were to appear while I was still the leader. He also stated that I was bound by Decree of the Office to pass this on to the next leader before I died.

However, we could not have the members of the Rising believe that we were inevitably going to lose, so the fact remained a secret. I didn’t even know how much I believed it, truth be told. I was Damien. I was the best at everything. It’s more than unlikely that she should have any power over me. And I had already begun fulfilling my dream. I had already opened the first two Seals and the third would be opened soon enough. After that was all done, no one could stop me.

“You see, Lilly, we have been given information leading us to believe that the legend might have some truth behind it and that the female involved may be alive today.” I paused to let my words sink in, allowing the doubt to begin. She would hide it. She would never let me see her fear. But it would be there.

I continued before she could ask any questions. “My task for you is to infiltrate the Order.” It was a task which had been tried several times in the past and had never been successful. I opened my right drawer, picked up the manila envelope I had put together earlier, and handed it over to her. “Inside you will find a picture of the female who we believe might be the one.” I could not bring myself to call her the Descendant. “You will also find some information on your subject, his picture, where he goes, and where you can find him. He should be close to her and thus be able to give us valuable information about her, the Order, and what their plans are.”

She looked at me quizzically, perhaps trying to decide how I felt about all of this. Could I honestly believe a woman, a deplorable worm of a human being, could not only bring
me
down, but the Rising as well? Did she think I feared this woman? Leaning forward she asked, “So, my task is just to gather information on her?”

Normally I would not only have her gather information, or manipulate someone’s mind for our benefit, but she often had to kill the subject of her task. This time I had not mentioned anything about her killing anyone. I wouldn’t mind if she killed a few of the Order, the more we could rid the world of, the more we could spread and grow unmolested. However, I would not have her cover blown just to kill a few meaningless humans – whether they had power or not. And I would not allow her to kill the bitch haunting me. I would kill her. She was mine to do with as I wanted. She was my challenge. I did not fear her but I did want to hear her scream under my power once again. I wanted to taste the fear rolling from her. From the first time I went to her in her dreams, I couldn’t get enough of the fear I instilled in her. It was so strong, so delicious. No, I would not allow Lilith to kill this slut, she would be mine to torture.

“Now, Lilith, I wouldn’t want your need for blood to interfere with your duties.” I had long ago realized that the best tactic with the snake before me was to always insult her, challenge her, and belittle her. Of course her killings would never get in the way of her task. But I couldn’t very well let her know how much this woman that they thought was the one, this nothing of a girl, had gotten under my skin.

I could tell the insult stung. She had only once failed a task, and it hadn’t been her fault. Despite that, she would not let me see how much it hurt. Her loyalty to me was almost blasphemous. She should be loyal to Him alone, the true leader of evil, the Mighty Lucifer. Just thinking His name, I felt the urge to bow my head. However, I liked the way she revered me above all others, almost more than Lucifer Himself. In my opinion, all who walked this earth should cower before me, or at least bow to me.

She stood, held the envelope to her chest, and readied herself for her departure, saying, “I understand. I will not kill anyone from the Compound until I have direct orders from you to do so. Let me know when I should leave, and I will be on my way.”

“In order to complete this task efficiently, you may be out for a while. You will have to earn his trust while also shielding your power from him. He is powerful himself. It may be a challenge to deceive him. It will take time. That being said, I want you gone today. You will have to find him and make yourself known to him without raising his suspicions.”

She nodded, and turned to leave, stopping only briefly to say, “I will not disappoint you, my Leader.”

***Allison***

“So, those are the individual abilities we have,” David said. “Now, just because a person has descended from more than one Primitus, doesn’t mean that they will automatically have the abilities from each one. For example, if you descend from Peony and Esperance, you could be able to both create a shield and heal people, but you may only be able to do one or the other. There are abilities we all share, however those too are in varying amounts. We are all faster than the powerless. We heal faster, we age slower, and we are stronger than the powerless. These are all abilities that the Rising members have as well. The original source of the power is the same after all, even if its intentions have been twisted. The power that flows through us all is so in tune with our bodies that allows us these general abilities.” He paused to let me take that in, and then continued, “Now I want to talk to you about the Rising, and about Damien.”

He was looking at me as he spoke, and I’m almost positive he saw me flinch as he said
his
name. It’s not fair I should be afraid of him. But I was scared of him before I even knew he actually existed. I had feared sleeping for so long, merely because I knew what awaited me, that knowing he was real only made things worse. “How is it that I was dreaming about him before I even knew anything about this?”

“The Rising members have different abilities, just as we do. We don’t know everything they are able to do, but we do know some. We know that some are able to read minds, just as some of us are. We know that they use some form of mind control – or rather, they can be so manipulative and deceitful that they can make you believe almost anything, and thus influence you to do their bidding. We know they can be telekinetic and can create shields. They are faster and stronger than non-powerful beings, just as we are. And they can kill you just by infusing you with their power.” He stopped there as he realized that I had seen
that
first hand. His features changed from a neutral, informative expression, to one of sadness and compassion. It was odd, knowing that Damien had killed Alex. Knowing that I was right there and if I had known what I could do and how to do it, I could have saved him.

My eyes started to tear up as thoughts of Alex surfaced. I had flashes of all the years we laughed and played – the years I truly had loved him – and all the times we danced and were happy just being together.

I thought of when Sam was born, and how he had looked at her. I thought of the times she ran up to him and he gathered her in his arms. Then I thought of the future; the future that had been stolen from us. Not necessarily from me, I’m not sure Alex and I would have actually ended up together. I mean, we had been engaged for 2 years and still had no plans for the actual wedding. But instead, the years that Damien had stolen from Sam. She would never have the chance to really know her father. Never have him defend her against boys’ advances. Never have the chance to dance with him, or have him walk her down the aisle at her wedding.

No one would say that Alex was a perfect man. He was slightly controlling and usually angry but he had a great heart and eventually would have been the father Sam needed. He could have been there for her. He should have been given that chance.