Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 440

Mark Glassner – Seattle City Hall

I was death as I strode through the building with Chasity at my side. Every daughter of Lilith fell before my blade or the weapons of my ghosts. Even now, the spirits were sweeping through the building, trying to find Lilith and killing any monsters they found. My blade rose and fell, hacking through monstrous flesh; gore splattered my golden armor.

“Lilith!” I roared, and kicked in the next door.

Fiona looked up at me, her face stained with tears. Two monsters lay dead in the room, bronze daggers buried in their flesh. Next to Fiona, Thamina sobbed onto the chest of a tawny-haired monster, while Fiona comforted her. Sam had drilled the various aspects of Lilith's daughters into my head; one of the corpses was a dever, and the other was a tir, both plague-causing monsters.

“She's not here,” Fiona hissed. “You can find her in the bunker!”

“What trick is this?” I demanded.

“That bitch needs to pay! She killed my daughter!” Fiona snarled at me. “The bunker's in the basement.” She pulled an amulet from around her neck and tossed it to me. “You'll need that to enter. And Mark...”

“Yes?” I asked, barely keeping my rage in check. I wanted to squeeze Lilith's throat with my bare hands. No, I needed to. My hands itched to feel her fear pulsing through her throat.

“Make the bitch suffer!”

“She will,” I promised, clutching the amulet in my hand.

“Mark,” a pitiful voice croaked. Thamina's voice. “You don't need to worry about Lilith unleashing the plague. W-we killed...” Her voice trailed off as a fresh bout of tears overwhelmed her. I glanced at the two corpses, and nodded in understanding.

“The basement!” I barked at Chasity. “Recall the ghosts!”

“Yes, sir!” she snapped.

As we marched through the building, more and more ghosts streamed silver through the walls, following us, their faces grim. There were eleven by the time we descended the stairs; the other ten unsummoned by wounds from Lilith's daughters.

“For Mother!” roared a leonine woman, leaping out of an alcove as we reached the basement. She spat a spine that struck 32 in the eye; the Korean ghost melted into mist.

The leonine monster barreled straight at me. I didn't have fucking time for this! My sword flickered; her head went sailing, rolling to rest before an iron-black door carved with symbols. I strode to the door, kicking the head savagely down the hall, and held up the bronze amulet Fiona gave me. It was triangular, carved with a single character, and matched a recessed hole in the door. I shoved it into the slot, and there was a groaning shudder as the iron door swung slowly outward.

“Mark,” Lilith purred as I strode in. She was naked, her lush body invitingly on display as she stretched out on a table. Her Lust washed uselessly over me; I was armored by the Gift. “Your wife was a beautiful woman, for a mortal, but think of the delights you could have with me as your consort. I know you grieve for her, but that will pass in time. And together, think of all we can accomplish!”

I strode forward, letting my sword vanish into golden motes and my armor dissolve. She writhed; a serpent waiting for its prey, triumph shining in her eyes. “Yes, come to me. Together, Mark, together we can—”

My fist gripped her throat, silencing the bitch; I slammed her back, delighting in her head snapping against the table. “Mary still lives,” I smiled. “For now.” I let my words sink into her, watched the fear blossom in her eyes. She clawed at my hand; I ignored the burning pain of her raking nails, and savored her terror. “Get me something to bind the bitch.”

“Over here, Master,” a weak voice said.

I glanced; I almost let go of Lilith in shock. A pale, emaciated Jessica was manacled to the wall in the corner of the bunker. I could see her ribs, and her skin hung in loose folds around her stomach. The ghosts flowed around her, freeing her from the chains, and helped Jessica to her feet. She tottered over to me, a look of disbelieving hope on her face.

“You came for me, Master,” she sobbed.

“I didn't know you were missing,” I answered, my hand tightening about Lilith's throat. “But you're safe now.” I left Lilith to the ghosts, and the demoness howled as Karen took out her revenge. I hugged Jessica's bony body.

“Master,” she sobbed. “I dreamed of this so many times. Please let this be real!”

“It is,” I whispered, stroking her skin. “Tsariy!”

Red light engulfed the bony woman as I healed her. Her flesh filled out, the muscles growing beneath my hands, and the trembling withdrew as her strength returned. The light faded. She was still dirty, but no longer looked half-starved. She smiled at me, and kissed me with passion and writhed her warm, lithe form against me. My body responded for a moment, but I could still feel Mary burning through our life-forces.

“Later,” I whispered to her. “Mary's dying. That has to wait.”

Jessica's dark eyes widened in fear. “Of course, Master.”

I carved the Portal, then threw Lilith over my shoulder, and strode into the Shadows. The demoness struggling in vain against her bonds. She had been cruelly bound by Karen, who seemed to delight in hurting the demoness. And Lilith so deserved to suffer. If Mary's life was bleeding away, I would have the demoness experience all the torments I could inflict upon her.

“I can give you pleasures no mortal man has experienced,” she begged.

“I have all the pleasures I need.”

I led us through the Shadows to Bradley Park in South Hill. Months ago, we chose this as the spot to execute Lilith. It was a wide, open field of grass surrounded by trees and a small lake. There were no civilians living nearby anymore. The entirety of the bodyguards had formed a perimeter around the field, hunkered down and ready for anything.

Mary lay unconscious in the center of the field. The golden rod—necessary to bind the Devil—lay next to her, ready for her to wield it. Around the field, five women—Sam, Candy, Alison, Desiree, and Xiu, Jessica’s replacement—stood around Mary, forming a large pentagram. Each held a brass rod, ready to help my wife focus the binding spell when she recovered.

“Get to safety, Jessica,” I ordered. “Chasity, you and your spirits will surround us.”

Chasity nodded as Jessica ran towards the perimeter where the other sluts waited. Anger burned in me. Jessica had been in that room for a year, never allowed to get up, to even be free of her manacles. I dragged Lilith by the hair towards Mary, savoring her screams as she wiggled in her tight bonds, and waited for Jessica to clear the field; I owed my slut that much for all she suffered for me the last year.

Once she reached safety, I yanked Lilith up by her silver hair so she knelt above Mary. Chasity and Noel grabbed her, holding her struggling form as I raised up my sword. I focused on the back of the demoness's neck.

“Please, Mark,” she begged. “Your queen! Think of all we can do together. Think of the power we'll have!”

“For Mary,” I whispered, and condemned the world to darkness.

Power surged into me, an overwhelming, lustful energy as Lilith's blood spilled red upon my wife's body. Mary gasped, her eyes shooting open. Then she shuddered, moaning with lust as Lilith's power flowed from my soul into hers. I groaned, my knees buckling, as the incredible lust burned inside me. Desire burned in my beating heart, then pumped through my arteries, spreading the passion to every inch of my body. I fell to my knees beside my wife, struggling to contain this newfound ardor—the succubus's lust.

“Mark!” she gasped, her hands reaching mine. Blood stained her body. “What did you do?”

“I saved you.”

The earth groaned, a deep, violent moan rising up from the depths. Then the world shook. I grabbed my wife's hands, and held onto her as the ground rolled, rippled, cracked. Trees creaked and snapped, and streetlamps crashed to the ground. I pulled her to me, and we clutched each other as we were tossed about. The sound of a thousand, a million, a billion souls crying out in agony filled the air as the veil between worlds was torn asunder.

The screams grew louder. The earth shook harder. I could feel the ground rippling like waves beneath us, leaving gaps and tears in the grassy field. I thought I was going to die; Mary clutched me with a death's grip. I had killed us all. The world was going to tear itself to pieces. All I could do was hold onto my wife and hope.

I couldn't think; the screams of the damned overwhelming my ears, driving into my brain like hot needles. I squeezed Mary tighter. I killed us all for love. I roared wordlessly, adding one more, terrified voice to the symphony of agony resounding through the fabric of reality. Mary trembled; her fear yelling in my ear; her arms wrapped like steel chains about my chest.

The quaking lessened. Darkness fell upon us.

I looked up; the sun was slowly being swallowed by darkness, working its way in from the outside edge. This wasn't an eclipse; no moon or other celestial body was slowly passing in front of the sun and blocking its light from the earth. A black stain spilled across its surface, spreading insidiously, the yellow orb shrinking, shrinking, until only a pinpoint of light remained.

And then it was gone.

Everything became silent; the earth stopped rumbling, and the screams of the damned were snuffed out. I stood up, gripping my sword. A few streetlamps had survived the earthquake, flickering to life, mere pools amidst the ink of night. Mary stood up beside me, the golden rod gripped in her hands; disbelief painted on her face.

“You should have let me die,” she whispered in horror. “The world, Mark!”

“I couldn't,” I told her, staring into her green eyes. I reached out and squeezed her hand; she squeezed me back. “I'm sorry, Mare. I just couldn't let you die.”

“Of course you couldn't, Mark,” a voice boomed from everywhere and from nowhere. “You love her. It's absolutely amazing what a human in love will do. They are capable of doing absolutely any monstrous thing!”

A light bloomed next to us, burning my eyes. The light was so bright it hurt even through my closed eyelids, through my hands covering my face. A new sun was born to replace the one swallowed up by darkness.

Lucifer, the Shining One, the Son of the Morning, was free.

The light dimmed; I opened my eyes. He stood a few feet away, still shining bright, but no longer blinding. I gripped my sword, stepping before my wife, and I faced the Devil. Mary and the other five women began their binding spell. I had condemned the world to darkness, and now I had the chance to save it. I pushed down my fear. I just had to keep him distracted for a minute. Then he'd be bound forever.

Just one minute for Mary and the rest to recite the spell seven times, and then he'd be trapped in the diamond for eternity.

His light was bright, almost pure white, but scintillated with colors around the edges. I could vaguely make out the figure of a man in the center of the nimbus. Everything about him glowed, except his eyes: two black pits focused on my sword. His face shone too radiant to see his expression, but I could feel his smug smile nonetheless.

“Do you think you can trap me, Mark?” he asked with amusement, black pits focusing on Mary as she chanted. “I have known all of your plans from the beginning. This ritual will fail.”

“Then why did you come before us? You stepped right into our trap. Can you feel it? The walls of your cage are around you, and the door is about to be slammed shut.” The ritual was almost finished. “You'll be trapped forever, Lucifer.”

Lucifer laughed, his voice booming across the field. “Unless the trap is mine, worm. I led the hosts of heaven once, and you think to outwit me? I shaped your entire life. I nudged the people around you, whispered into your dreams, and led you like a bull by the nose ring into summoning me. I changed the destiny of countless people to guide you to this exact moment.

“I released Lilith, and played the stupid whore like a lyre. I tricked even the mighty Archangel Gabriel. He destroyed the last of his nuns, and catapulted you into godhood with that attack. And you think you can trick me? Deceive me? Do you think you had any more chance of succeeding than a little worm crawling on his belly in the dirt thinking he's better than the filth he wallows in?

“I predicted you would build the Matmown, so I wormed my spy into your confidence. You loved her, fucked her, and made her your whore, never knowing the serpent nestling in her breast. I know all of your secrets. I know exactly the spell you think to trap me with. And it will not work!”

None of my sluts could be spies. They loved me and were bound with the Zimmah spell. This was all some desperate attempt to stop the inevitable. “You need better lies, Lucifer,” I laughed. He wasted all of his time; Mary was on the last phrase. “You made the classic villain mistake; you shouldn't have monologued. It's too late to stop the spell now.”

Lucifer glowed more brightly, shining with triumph. The idiot.

Mary spoke the last word; the diamond tipping her golden rod flared to life for a moment, then exploded into dust. I looked over my shoulder; my wife stared in disbelief at the diamond. What went wrong? Did one of the women mispronounce? But they had practiced for months. All of them could say the phrase flawlessly. Unless one of them really was a spy. No, that couldn't be. My sluts all loved—

“The fool trusted me, my bridegroom,” Alison breathed, throwing her rod to the ground. “Just like you said he would. I have completed my final task and await my reward.”

Shock passed through me like a physical weight, and I staggered back. That couldn't be possible. Not my Alison!

“And you shall be rewarded, my bride,” Lucifer promised.

To be continued...