Without turning his head, he chuckles. “I’ve been waiting and waiting for you,” he says.
She expected death. What she got was another chance at life. However, second chances always come with a price tag.
The beast’s voice is ghastly and horrible. As he walks, he hunches forward. His ribs protrude against thin flesh. Yet, there is a strength within him, a darkness she will no doubt have to overcome.
Is he alpha? No. He lacks the markings and strong physicality.
Rae squints her eyes to see through the darkness. Candles create an eerie ambiance over red rock. The atmosphere is damp and cold.
Rae can only come to one conclusion: she has died and ended up in some hell. Somewhere worse than before.
Though she scrambles to break free, his grip is secure. He continues to drag her through clay-baked halls with strange, hand-painted symbols on the walls. It’s blood.
They reach a small cave with no exit, a place that mimics a small sanctuary. A golden ouroboros statue stands in the center of the room. “This is our sleeping quarters until I can fix the synthesis tank,” he says.
“The what?”
“Don’t you worry. Next time, it will not fail,” he says.
Without memory, Rae desperately tries to understand his words. “I...”
The beast falls to his brittle knees. Staring in silence, his pupils seem to grow wider and wider, until her breathing snaps him out of his trance.
Rae chokes up with fear. “The blood on the walls...”
“My blood,” he says. “The reason for my appearance. I give my blood as a token of my sacrifice to Him.”
“Who… are… you?”
The fragile devil smiles. His weathered lips part to reveal his razor blade teeth. “I have been waiting my whole life for this moment,” he whispers, eyes fluttering as if the entire world just became his.
Rae falls back against the stone walkway. She can feel the dirt cake over her wounds. “I must be dead,” she says.
“Not dead,” he says.
Rising back to his feet, the beast circles around the golden statue. “Our lifeline… it must remain… forever...”
Confused, Rae places her palms over her face. “What are you trying to tell me?”
Through her fingers, she watches as his expression drops. The evil in his eye flickers. “He chose me to be your keeper. And I need you to bring us salvation.”
Lucas
When Lucas left the ouroboros vessel, he half-expected himself to give in to Vash’s leadership. But the more he walks across the shore, the more he can feel her. It’s like she is there with him.
Sometimes, it’s the way the tide rolls in. Other times, it’s a smell in the air. Doesn’t matter where he is–she’s always there.
“She’s not dead,” he whispers.
He saw it himself. That thing she stepped into, the one with the coils… It wasn’t a death trap. It was a machine designed for a reason.
She can only be in one place.
Someone else’s voice breaks his thoughts. “It brought her somewhere.”
Before Lucas can look up, he has his revolver cocked, aimed, and ready to blow a hole through whatever intruder is on his tail.
A man with a sharp grin stands on a tall boulder away from the water. He puts his hands above his head and steps forward. “May I intrude on this precious moment?”