Out of the World

38. Holy Moly

Nina

Gulping hard, I turned around slowly and looked at the tall and muscular man behind me. He had a classic demon look, red skin, black eyes and a goatee beard. Why were goatee beards a thing in Hell? The expression on his face was even more disturbing than his words, his eyes were narrowed with a threat, yet he was smiling. He was good at the mixed-signals thing.

I too narrowed my eyes at him and asked, “Who are you?” I knew that I should be afraid of the Demon, but there was something I learned about bullies that worked both in Hell, Spain or with JerKings; don’t show them that you are afraid and vulnerable.

“I am the one who will put you, Little Bird, into a cage,” he gruffed, wrapping his very warm big hands around my shoulders. I did the only thing I could: I tried to kick him where it matters, but moving his hand in a very fast movement, he immobilised me.

“Help!” I screamed, looking at the bar girl.

“Sorry, girl. There is nothing I can do,” The bar girl gave me a hopeless look. Only now did I notice the fear in her eyes. She knew this Demon and he surely wasn’t good news.

Squirming like crazy, I tried to look behind the hall Demon, ask for help or something. Other Demons with the same appearance and black leather clothes were behind him. Were they a Hell Gang or something?

He placed me over his shoulders as if I was a weighless sack of potatoes. I would show him that I wasn’t any sack of potatoes, but a kickass one. Moving my right leg as fast as I could, I tried to kick him. He simply ignored my protest, and walked towards the door, followed by his four evil copies. Yes, they all looked almost the exact same.

“Let me go! What the hell do you want with me? I am just a human!” I yelled, thrashing around and trying to kick him non-stop.

“Yes, sure. You are human,” he let out a humourless laugh and took me to a big red sports car. Was it a Hell’s edition of a Ferrari?

More important than that, what did he think I was?

My screams and struggle were of no help as he threw me in the back of the car between two Demons and started driving faster than any Human car could go.

“Are you lost, Baby Bird?” one of the demons asked me, licking his lips and his weird fangs. His expression made my stomach churn, as that was the same way the drunk men looked at the girls in the Night Club and I always hated it.

“Don’t touch the merchandise, Mattel! Any scratch or bruise will make the value decrease!” the Demon that brought me to the car grumbled from the front seat. To my relief, the Mattel-Demon looked away, cursing under his breath.

Wait, I was the merchandise! What did they want to do to me? “Merchandise? What are you talking about? And why do you all call me a bird? Where are you taking me?” I asked them.

“So many questions!” the driver laughed, “I’ve already told you, Little Bird. I am taking you to your cage. Don’t you know that good girls like you shouldn’t roam around in Hell? It’s dangerous,” he laughed even harder.

“Why do you even think I am a good girl?” I blurted and every Demon in the car laughed as if I had just said the funniest thing ever.

Gosh, Nina! You are out of your mind! Stop riling up these Demons, stop making things even worse for yourself! That would be the smart and logical thing to do. But it seemed like Hell-Nina knew no logic. Somehow, a little flame was vibrating within me and I couldn’t only lower my head and follow my k!dnappers' orders, everything in me wanted to fight back.

The light glowing in my hands attracted my eyes. Why was I even glowing? I was anything but happy now. I looked at my purse, I could use my phone and call for help as soon as I had the opportunity.

“Don’t do any tricks, Bird!” the Mattel-Demon gruffed with a low growl.

“I won’t if you answer my questions. Are you selling me off?” I insisted.

“You are in no position to bargain, Dear! Shut your trap or I will gag you!” the Demon on my other side, who hadn’t said anything until then, threatened me. I sighed hard, trying to think of something, a way out of this mess.

Suddenly, the car stopped with a jolt, and both the grumpy Demon and the driver held me firmly, tugging me to the basement of an old gothic mansion. It was completely dark, except for a little dim-lit lamp on the bottom of the ample room.

“Welcome to your cage, Bird!” the grumpy Demon said, pretty much pushing me further into the room, heading upstairs and closing the heavy door behind him.

A deep sigh left me as I stood up slowly, trying to recover my bearings.

I gasped and almost jumped back as I heard a little voice and saw her, “Holy Moly!”

~ * ~

Lola

Mum, Dad, Lena, Da Elric and I were all in the living room, watching Zorion, trying to think about a way to help them. Dad had already sent a few nice Demons to the Human Realm to look for Nina, but so far they haven’t found her anywhere.

Normally, Zo would be able to feel his mate, and locate her easily, but he was completely out of his mind and couldn’t even think straight.

“Av, finally you are here!” Lena broke the silence as soon as she saw a gloomy and worried-looking Avalon walk into the living room.

“What’s happening to him?” he asked, rushing to Zorion. He was still restricted, thrashing around and mumbling incoherently.

“Nina faded into thin air like a fart, puff, and now that Darkness curse thing that grows on old guys like you three Daddies is growing on him,” Lena explained, shaking her head and fidgeting with her hands. She was pretty much snuggled into Da Elric’s embrace.

“That is impossible! He is too young, that wasn’t supposed to happen for the next five centuries or more,” Avalon grumbled, his face growing livid.

“Possible or impossible, it’s happening, Av. We have to deal with it now. We have to find a solution asap. Time is ticking dangerously, the darkness is growing faster than the Pixie plague,” Lena mumbled.

A guttural sound, something similar to a growl, left Avalon’s throat as he paced around the living room. I’d never seen him so out of his mind, so angry, that he started breaking a few objects with the blue magic rays emanating from his fingers. “How did that happen? That’s a Goddess’ curse, she is still doing it!”

“Baby, stop!” Mum ran towards him, wrapping her arms around his waist and successfully calming him down in the way that only the embrace of a mate could do, “It’s not the Goddess’ fault. Zorion is very powerful and, as you know the maths, the more powerful the being, the faster and more aggressively the Darkness grows. Well, in this case, everything just went down the freaking hill. Nina left suddenly and, without saying anything, their souls were too close, their love too powerful. That’s why he is like this,” Mum said, sighing deeply.

“It can’t be. It can’t be, Livia! I told Nina to go away in order to avoid it and now things are escalating unexpectedly, fast and senselessly!” Avalon grumbled, looking away, his eyes filled with restlessness.

Mum took a few steps back, taking her arms off him. Her eyes were narrowed and her face contorted with something between shock and indignation, “Avalon! My ears must be broken, because what I heard was a mix of absurd and impossible. So, let’s try it again. You did what?”