Sacrifice Me: The Complete Season One (45 page)

In some cultures, human sacrifice was a religious
ritual, offering up a human life to appease a god or spirit.

But the idea of being sacrificed in order to give
new life to my own father felt so backwards. So against the natural
order of things. What god would demand such a sacrifice?

But there was no god here. Only monsters and
devils. This was a house of pure evil, and I would not allow myself
to become their sacrifice.

As the maidens dressed me, I vowed to find a way
to put a stop to the Devil's plans. Even if I died in the process, I
could not let him complete the ritual.

When they were finished, the women in white led me
toward the wooden door and knocked once.

Smoke seeped in from beneath the door and a
faceless guard appeared. He studied me, nodded to the women in white,
and then lifted the chain binding the door, crushing its links in his
fist until it turned to silvery dust in his hand. He opened the door
and motioned for me to move.

I knew by instinct that he was not allowed to
touch me. I was a holy vessel now, a sacrificial lamb led to the
slaughter.

I contemplated running, but wondered if that would
mean having to go through all those horrible preparations again. It
would buy me some time in case Rend was still trying to get to me,
but I wasn't sure I could push against the darkness and pain much
longer. Its presence was heavy inside me.

No, I needed to save my energy. I would wait and
keep my eyes open for any chance to put an end to their plans.

The four guards from earlier positioned themselves
around me in a square—two in front, two behind. We walked down
the row of cells in the dungeon. I studied them one last time,
looking for my friends.

The young girl I’d locked eyes with earlier
had retreated to the back of her cell, lost in the shadows somewhere.
There was no sign of Annabelle. Had they taken her? Killed her? How
long had they been torturing me?

There was also no sign of my friends. Only
strangers whose fate was similar to my own. These women were all
nothing but blood and fuel to these demon vampires. Nothing but
meaningless sacrifices.

I walked up the steps, leaving the dungeon area
for the first time since they'd brought me into the Devil's castle.
The guards led me down an even longer hallway to a circular staircase
that seemed to go on forever. I counted the steps as we went, to
occupy my mind. Anything not to think about the fate that awaited me
once we got upstairs.

I lost count at one hundred when my knees buckled
and I collapsed onto the steps. The guards shared a nervous look. I
pressed my hands against the dirty stone step, smiling up at them,
sure that my gown and cleansed skin would be marred with dirt and
blood.

But when I stood, every inch of me was still
pristine, as if the preparations had put an invisible barrier around
me to keep impurities out.

Or to keep the darkness in.

At the top of the long staircase, the room opened
into a large chamber adorned with intricately woven tapestries and
oversized wooden furniture that dated back centuries. The guards led
me past suits of polished armor and weapons that seemed to be created
for giants, not men.

What was this place?

The ceilings were high and the guard's footsteps
echoed as we crossed the chamber and entered another hallway. They
took me through several rooms before we reached a narrow hallway
lined with a deep red carpet.

The guards stopped, motioning for me to continue
alone.

I held my ground. They couldn't seriously expect
me to walk freely to my own death. But something propelled me forward
against my will. My bare feet rose from the stone floor, hovering for
a moment above the ground. I moved forward through the narrow
hallway, the bottom of my gown trailing along the red carpet.

I kicked my legs and reached out for anything I
might grab onto, but the room at the end of the hall beckoned me
forward. Just before I reached the large wooden door, it opened,
revealing a room lit with thousands of red candles that hovered in
the air above.

My hands fell to my side, no longer under my own
control.

As I entered the room, fear crashed over me like a
mighty wave. The heavy door slammed closed behind me, leaving no
escape.

The red carpet continued all the way up through
the great ritual room. All along each side of the carpet, hundreds of
vampires stood in rows, here to witness my death and the rebirth of
one of their founders. They were dressed in black cloaks, their faces
hidden under thick hoods, only their red eyes visible through the
shadows.

I floated forward, my body trembling as their red
eyes watched.

As I passed near the front of the crowd of
vampires, a row of trembling witches caught my eye and I gasped,
tears springing to my eyes.

Lyla, Misty, and Shay were bound together in
chains, along with the child who'd been in the cell across from mine.
They all wept as I passed by them, and I prayed that somehow, we
would all make it through this horror alive.

I turned my eyes forward and there, at the end of
the carpet, was a large black altar. Behind it stood the Devil. He
was cloaked in dark robes of his own, adorned with red jewels. He
wore no hood, but his eyes were the reddest of all, hungry for my
death and the power it would bring to him.

A flash of fire spread through me and my eyes were
suddenly drawn to a stone. The woman I'd known my whole life as my
mother wore it around her neck. She smiled when my eyes met hers,
pure evil reflected in her gaze.

She wore a long black dress that looked like
something from a century ago. Layers of fabric stretched out behind
her, the gown covering her completely, except for her hands and her
chest. The large black stone rested above her heart and when my eyes
landed on it, I felt Solomon's power locked within its murky depths.

My mother's smile faded and her hand fluttered to
the stone. She tried to pull it away from her skin, but it wouldn't
move. Her face twisted into a grimace of pain.

I hoped it was burning the shit out of her.

She fell to her knees and some of the vampires in
the room shifted uncomfortably.

The Devil narrowed his red eyes at her and she
swallowed. She gripped the edge of the black altar and pulled herself
up, but her eyes were now wide with panic and fear.

When I reached the front of the room, my body
dropped to the floor near the steps leading up to the platform where
the Devil and my mother waited. My head bowed to them as if someone
were physically holding me down. My hands pressed deep into the lush
red carpet.

“Stand, girl.” The Devil's voice
echoed through the room.

I lifted my eyes to him, hatred burning inside me.

A thin smile spread across his pale lips. He
wanted me to hate him. He wanted me to embrace every dark corner of
my heart.

Part of me fought against it, wanting to go back
to that place of love I had found earlier, but my anger was too
strong now. I had never asked for any of this. A child should not be
punished for the evil deeds of its parents. I should not be judged by
my father's darkness.

The hatred that lived inside me was not born of
evil or a thirst for power. It was born of strength and light and a
desire for life.

I pushed myself up from the ground, placing my
feet carefully beneath me. I stood straight and tall, wanting him to
see that his torture had not broken me. Darkness had not claimed me
yet.

The Devil raised his hands and the vampires moved
in unison, their eyes and bodies facing forward like obedient
soldiers.

Shadows danced across his face.

“Mary Francis, spawn of Solomon, come to
me.”

I fought against the puppetry that moved my feet
forward, but it was no use. I was compelled to obey. My bare feet
walked up the six steps leading to the altar, the black gown flowing
softly against my legs.

When I reached the top step, my entire body rose
into the air and twisted so that my eyes looked toward the ceiling
and my back was now prostrate to the altar. The Devil pulled his hand
toward him and I floated just above the flat, black stone. He lowered
his hand and my body obeyed, slowly lowering me to the cold surface.

He nodded to my mother and she rushed forward,
taking my left hand in hers. For all her talk of power and revenge,
her fear was evident in the cold clammy hand that clasped mine.

The stone around her neck seemed to respond to me.
It began to emit a dark glow. My mother's hand gripped me tighter and
a whimper escaped from her throat.

She closed her eyes and clenched her teeth, her
chest rising rapidly with each fear-filled breath.

When her eyes snapped open again, they were
darker, the whites of her eyes turning murky as shadows swirled
inside them. She yanked on my arm, pulling it straight out to the
side. She pressed my wrist down on the shiny black surface of the
stone and an onyx chain snapped around it, locking my left arm in
place.

My mouth went dry. All my hopes of escape or
sabotage were quickly disappearing. I had been a fool to think I
would have any control over this situation. The Devil's magic was too
strong. His plans too detailed.

My mother moved around to the other side and
clasped my right hand.

Another wave of pain rushed through her and she
jerked, her muscles tensing. Her lips parted and she cried out, but
did not lose hold of my hand.

As she had done on the other side, she pressed my
right wrist against the stone and another onyx shackle locked my hand
in place. She repeated the gesture with both of my ankles.

My breaths came in rapid succession, my heart
beating so fast I thought it might burst right out of my chest. I
couldn't let this happen. I would not let them sacrifice me. I
couldn't allow Solomon's spirit to be reborn. I would not be the
cause of so much pain and death in this world.

Rend, where the hell are you? I need you now.

I struggled against the glass-like shackles that
held me to the altar, but I knew my strength was not in my arms and
legs or my physical body. My true power was within. I had to find a
way to connect to that power.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath in. I
focused on the light inside. The light I knew still burned for all
that was good and beautiful in this world. I calmed my racing heart,
knowing this was my one chance to save myself.

A breeze blew across my skin, ruffling the fabric
of my gown.

I reached deeper, imagining an endless well of
power at my core. I thrust my consciousness into that well, tapping
into that unseen essence and letting it flow through me like the
blood pulsing through my veins.

My hair blew around my face as the power ignited
within me.

My eyes snapped open and I saw the flash of fear
in the Devil's eyes. His nostrils flared and his fangs extended as
his lips parted. He snarled and snapped his fingers.

“Bring me the sword.” His voice was
deep and commanding.

Footsteps sounded on the steps and Fallon
appeared. He handed the Devil a large sword made of pure silver, a
diamond embedded in its hilt.

Solomon's sword.

I knew it without question. I could feel his power
surrounding it. The memories of the evil deeds he had committed with
this sword clung to it.

The Devil wrapped both his bony hands around it,
lifting it up with its sharp blade pointed downward toward my heart.

The room around us hung thick with anticipation.

He pressed the tip of the blade against my chest,
just above my heart. I cried out as a black shadow forced its way
through my body and out of my mouth. The smoke swirled around my body
rapidly and the darkness of my father's spirit threatened to consume
me. It pushed against my skin, boiling to the surface.

All around us, a great wind roared as my power
begged for release.

“Solomon, my brother, how I have waited for
this day,” the Devil said, his voice rising above the sound of
the whirlwind I'd created.

I had held back for far too long, afraid that if I
let the dark side of my heritage grow, I would be lost to it forever.
But at the moment just before death, I knew that the only way to win
was to embrace both sides of myself. To welcome the darkness and use
it in my own way. For my own purpose.

Fallon was right. I could no longer deny who I
was.

“Do it,” my mother screamed. Long
tendrils of hair blew across her face and she clasped a hand around
the stone at her neck. “Do it now.”

I sucked in a breath, taking those dark shadows
back into my body. I stopped fighting the dark side of my power,
drawing it into myself instead.

The spell that held my power at bay, shattered. My
spirit broke free, power blazing through me like hot flames.

I lifted my arms and the onyx shackles exploded. I
gripped the blade of the sword with both hands and pulled it upward.

The Devil fell back, taking the sword with him.
The sharp blade sliced through my skin and my hands began to bleed,
but I ignored the pain. I rose, breaking the shackles that bound my
legs and flying into the air. Great black wings spread out from my
back.

The vampires near the front cowered, their robes
whipping around them as the wind grew stronger.

“Seize her,” the Devil cried.

Several of his servants shifted to smoke and flew
toward me. I drew my hands inward, close to my body, then pushed out.
The vampires sailed back into the crowd, slamming against the floor
at their brothers' feet.

I waited for the next wave to attack, but the
assault came from behind. The Devil sliced through one of my wings
with his sword and I cried out in pain. I fell, descending to the
altar as a black rope of smoke curled around my neck, cutting off my
breath.