For Godness' Sake! (Short Story Part 3)

Check out the story so far...

Part 1

Part 2

Marcus continued to chip away at the seal. It was annoyed that he had been tricked this way and that only time could get him free. He didn't want to go full demonic, yes it would speed up the process, but he would kill everything within his radius, and so continues with the slow chipping away and listening to Helena chatter within his head. Every so often she would ask if he had reconsidered her terms and every time he said no. Then she would tell him how sorry she was as the shot of pain ran through his body, as power was drained from his body and channelled into hurting the vampire he protected.

He looked over at his daughter Moon, as she slept peacefully. He had wiped the blood away from her cheek when she had screamed out in pain. But he didn't allow her pain to distract him from the mission at hand. He needed to break the seal and not allow Helena words to sway him. But as the hours passed and Helena continued to whisper their past history, and he heard the screams of pain as Moon suffered, he feared they wouldn't survive the abuse until he could bring the seal down. He wonder for their sake, should he consider Helena offer. 

Marcus continued chipping away at the seal had payed off. He crawled over to Moon. "Sweetheart I have made a chink. It's only small, but enough for you to pass through." She remained sleeping, but he knew she heard his word and once awake would follow his wishes. "Do not return to this place, do not worry about me, I can take care of myself." He pulled a small blade from his pocket and made a small cut on Moon's arm. He used the blood to draw a line that ran from her forehead to her toes. Once done he muttered a few words and the clicked his fingers. Moments later Moon appeared on the healing slab back in the vampire home, The Villa.

Marcus crawled onto the bed that Moon, moments before had occupied and allowed himself a little shut eye. It wasn't a sleep to recharge his power that could only occur once he stepped below. No this was more a break to allow his brain to function to come up with a plan. 

As his eyes closed Helena came into his mind. " Oh what evil plans...." Helena was about to start he montage of evil, but Marcus cut her off.

"Stop it Helena, I care little for your plans. I have rescued the one I cared about, you no longer have the swaying power of threatening the ones I love."

"But I still have you my dear, and I plan to milk my advantage to the last second. We both know you will break my seal eventually, but until such time I plan to grind you down in the hope you..."

"Go away Helena, I bore of you. accept your purgatory with some grace and leave me be."

She feel silent for a time and Marcus lay in a light sleep as his mind tortured him with all the things he had to deal with, once he had left Helena's trap, unable to sleep and clear his mind to formulate a plan, he returned to the breaking of the seal. The monotony of the task seemed to free his mind of the stress of hell's demands and he continued with the task.

"Marcus... Are you ok?" Helena's whisper danced around the cell.

"No." He snapped into the air. "This is humiliating. In all our fights I never used your seal on you."

Source

"It was my last shot. I don't know why, but these villa residents seem to always cross into my plans. I don't seek them out, they just have a nasty habit of crossing me, hunting out the ones who serve me and try and destroy them. I need out of here Marcus, because the rate they are going it won't be long before I slip..." Her voice trailed off for a moment as she tried to control her emotions, when it came back it was just a mutter of fear. "I am scared of the fire ocean. I see them float by me their arms clawing at me, asking for my help, asking me to pull them into my Haven. I wrap my beautiful  wings around myself until they pass. I can not help, because I don't have the power to pull them free, I know they will pull me down with them. I know it's a trick."

Marcus stopped his chanting and smudging of the symbols of the stone floor. He wiped the blood from his scuffed hands on the material of his trousers as he thought on her words.

She could tell he was thinking and hoped he was thinking about helping her, so she stayed silent, hoping this was her moment.

"What if I could give you a guaranteed power source, that would keep your haven safe from the fiery sea?"

She knew he was only hours away from breaking her seal, this offer was the best she was going to get from this situation. Once safe in her haven, she had a chance to fight another day. A chance to get her head so she could walk the earth again. So she took the deal.

"Tell me of your plan."  

Helena looked round her haven, and smiled. To the west a giant forest stretched out into the distance. She could no longer see the fiery ocean, as far as the eye could see was rolling hills or deep forests. The sky was blue above, far off she saw the edging of pink that would seep into red and fiery storms, but their heat was no longer touching her thanks to the power source she was now connected to. She closed her eyes and felt the power that flowed through her new world. She was connected to a magnificent power source now.

Marcus sat at his desk, no one knew where he had been the passed 48 hours and he planned to keep it that way. He buried himself in his work, trying to make a dent on the backlog that had built up in his absence. The copper band around his ankle itched and he gave it a subconscious scratch as he read through another pact.  

The copper band connected him to Helena Haven, he powered it, keeping the fires at bay.