Kill Me, My Love

Chapter 8

Inside, there was even more trash than outside. Needles, rotten food remnants, puddles of some liquid reSambling urine were scattered everywhere. The longer they walked, passing room after room, the less the girl wanted to stay in the building. Just when she was ready to head back to the car, Sam stopped by tall metal doors. Scratched into them was a strange symbol: a circle with inscriptions, inside which was a pentagram, within which someone had drawn a goat's head.

"The Seal of Baphomet," Nathan said, approaching us.

"Do you think this is the 'Servants of Darkness'?" Sam asked without losing his smirk.

"Until I see the whole picture, I won’t think anything," replied the light one, and with a heavy sigh, he opened the door.

Inside reigned absolute darkness and the stench of rotten human flesh, which made the contents of her stomach surge sharply to her throat.

"Lux," Nathaniel said, and even light illuminated the room with a bright glow.

What was inside would make even the most immoral killer shudder. Lina screamed and clutched Sam's hand painfully, feeling as though she might faint.

The floor was littered with mutilated human bodies. They lay in unnatural poses with their eyes wide open, frozen, and mouths twisted. The walls and ceiling were painted with their blood. And the inscriptions were eerily familiar to the girl. They were excerpts from scripture, talking about the end of the world. Talking about her.

"Let’s get out of here," Sam quietly told the girl. "Nathan, you have until tomorrow. We’ll meet precisely at eight by the eastern bridge."

"Okay," replied the light one, entering inside and closing the door behind him.

"What will he do in there?" Lina asked fearfully.

"Come on, you need to calm down," Sam repeated and gently patted her head. "I'm sorry you had to see that."

"What will he do in there?" the girl trembled, like an aspen leaf, repeating.

Her eyes were already full of moisture, and in her ears echoed a rapid heartbeat.

"Lina," Sam sighed heavily and gently lifted her into his arms, carrying her towards the exit. "We’ll talk about this later."

But the girl didn’t hear what he was saying; images of the recently witnessed nightmare loomed in her mind. Children, pregnant women, young men and girls. So many lives taken and forever destroyed... For some reason, Lina felt guilty, as if she were the cause of the brutal murders.

In the car, the air conditioner was running, and the girl flinched from the cold as soon as she settled into the front seat.

Samael was searching for something under the driver's seat, and after a few seconds, he pulled out a bottle of rum.

"Here, take a swig," he offered the drink.

But Lina shook her head adamantly:

"I won't."

"Are you sure?" he pierced her with a burning glance.

"Sure," she nodded resolutely and wiped her wet eyes.

"As you wish, but it might ease your mind," Sam said and, uncorking the rum, took a few swigs. "Strong stuff, damn it."

Stuffing the cork back into the bottle, he hid the drink under his seat again and drove away from the deserted street.

Lina looked at her knees. Her jeans were currently hiding all her flaws.

At night, when her brothers and sisters slept soundly in their cells, the girl lay on her bed, exploring her body with her fingers. She knew the placement of every mole, every bone, and every scar. And there were many scars. Although she didn’t exactly know where and when they appeared. Most of them were on her legs. Thin whitish lines covered her thighs, calves, even veins, under her knees. Lina hated them, feeling ugly and spoiled, as if they were proof of her illegitimate birth.

"We've arrived," Samael said, stopping the car in front of a café with a lovely sign reading "At Catalina's." "Their donuts are so delicious you could swallow your tongue."

Lina stepped out of the car without much looking around. Inside, the café was cozy. Fresh flowers adorned the vases, it smelled of fresh pastries and vanilla. Waitresses fluttered about in crisp white starched aprons. The girl was not surprised that nearly all the tables were occupied.

As soon as the couple entered, a woman in a floral dress with a wide, genuine smile approached them.

"Oh, what a pleasant surprise, Mr. Adams. It's been a while since you visited Catalina's."

"Too much work," Samael smiled dazzlingly, and Lina looked at him in astonishment. "I hope to have breakfast with my friend?"

"Yes, of course, Mr. Adams. Just a moment," the woman said as she headed into the hall, and the girl couldn’t help but ask.

"Adams? Don’t the dark ones have surnames?"

"Not now, Lina," the man gritted through his teeth.

A few minutes later, the floral lady returned:

"We'll serve your favorite breakfast in a private room. A triple espresso and a tuna sandwich. And what would your friend like?"

"She’ll have cocoa, scrambled eggs with sausages, and two donuts of your choice," Samael didn’t give any chance for choice. "Can we go?"

"Yes, of course," smiled the woman, giving the man an admiring glance.

After that, Sam strode past all the tables to a small door at the end of the room. Above it hung a sign reading "VIP." Lina didn't understand why they couldn't sit at a regular table but decided not to ask anything, so she silently entered the room.

Inside was dimly lit. Candles hung on the walls, a shiny black table stood in the middle, and two leather chairs were set around it.

"Sit down," Sam said.

"It was much cozier in the other room," the girl said and carefully perched on the edge of a chair.

"But I feel more comfortable here," the dark one replied. "And I’m used to it; I love spending time here."

"Really? What do you do here?"

"Eat or have sex," Samael answered, winking slyly. "At night, this lovely café transforms into an elite private club for men with enough money to color their leisure."

"So all these waitresses are prostitutes?" the girl exclaimed in shock.

"Not all, but most of them are."

"I'm not eating here."

"You will!" the man countered.

"No," Lina decisively replied.

Their conversation was interrupted by a steady knock at the door. It was the waitress with breakfast. While she laid the food on the tray, Samael scrutinized Lina, and Lina scrutinized Samael. As soon as the door closed behind the girl, the argument resumed:

"You will eat. The kitchen has nothing to do with debauchery, and I’m not planning on fussing over a girl who can barely move from exhaustion."

"But this is a brothel!" the girl exclaimed indignantly.

"Only at night. Right now, it's a café. If you don't want me to force-feed you, then you’ll have breakfast by yourself," the man shot daggers with his eyes.

Suddenly, a fork with a sausage began to rise into the air, slowly approaching Lina's mouth.

"So what do you choose?" Sam asked.

Clenching her teeth, the girl finally took the fork in her hand.

"I'll eat by myself, but I’ll remind you of this later!"

"I have no doubt," the dark one smiled and downed his coffee in one go.

They ate in silence. Sam savored his sandwich with appetite while Lina, radiating dissatisfaction with the entire situation, slowly poked at her plate. It was only when there was no food left on the table that the man leaned back in his chair in satisfaction and continued the dialogue.

"Sam Adams is my name in the world of gray. To them, I’m a successful businessman who owns several airlines."

"Why do you need that? Why do you even live here?" Lina asked, as she understood nothing at all.

Everything she had ever heard about the real world didn’t match at all with what was actually happening!

"Hmm... Did the order tell you anything about the light and dark besides various religious nonsense?"

"The Abbess said that the dark ones are servants of the Prince of Darkness, who possess powers beyond my understanding. She said the same about the light ones, but in the context of Elysium," she replied, reciting the words.

"Servants?" Samael hissed. "We don’t serve anyone! We can execute orders at our own desire. But to be slaves! No, Lina, that information is dog shit," the man became seriously angry.

A vein on his forehead throbbed rapidly. Lina was taken aback by such an aggressive reaction, but she feigned indifference:

"I just repeated their words," she shrugged.

"The dark and light are both interested in the world of gray. There are so many more opportunities here than in our worlds. Just think for a moment, wouldn’t you get tired of sitting in Abaddon, among eternal flames and the moans of sinners? Perhaps for the first few hundred years, torturing them is still interesting, but then it loses its meaning. The light ones are in the same situation: they sit in Elysium among eternal spring and chatter incessantly about their own immortality."

The man rose from his seat and irritably paced around the room. Observing him intently, Lina caught herself thinking that she could stare at him all day. He was tall, broad-shouldered, and slim, and the way his pants hugged his thighs was quite appealing... A few times he ran a hand through his unruly hair, and the girl felt a flush creep to her cheeks. To distract herself from these inappropriate thoughts, she asked:

"If you have so many powers, then why do we move by car?"

"In the gray world, our powers have no potency, and we can only use them partially," Samael explained immediately. "Personally, I can move objects, compel people to do whatever I want, penetrate their subconscious, see dreams..."

"And the light ones? What can the light ones do?" Lina cut in immediately, as he had ventured onto forbidden territory.

"You’ll have to ask Nathaniel about that," the dark one frowned.

"Okay. Then tell me about this murder... Why did Nathan stay there?"

"It’s just his job. Unfortunately, we can't just drop onto the earth. If we want to settle here, we must perform the functions of controllers between good and evil. So that the scales never tip, and mortals remain blissfully unaware of the existence of Elysium and Abaddon. Basically, such rules have helped us save the world since your birth. But things have changed in the last hundred years. The outbreaks of ritual murders have drastically shifted the balance. And Nathaniel investigates these events, punishes the guilty, and conceals crimes from mortals."

"So it was the dark ones who killed all those people?" the girl concluded horrified.

"No, Lina. Other people killed all those people."

"But why? How can that be? Why kill your own kind?!"

"This question torments everyone, believe me..." he said, and upon returning to his chair, looked straight at Lina. "Alright, enough talk. Today we need to unwind and have some fun. I can't leave you alone... So we’ll both have to go to Balthazar's party. And in that outfit, no one will let you in."

Sam grinned slyly, and Lina realized that this smile didn’t bode well for her.