Callie's Shadow Ch. 10

"Is someone there?" she called.

At the sound of her voice, the breathing stopped, leaving her in a soundless void so intense her ears seemed to ring. "Please," she called. "I can't see anything. Please make some noises so I can find you."

A low rumble sounded from behind her and she twisted frantically, trying to figure out what it was. A small line of light appeared on the floor of the room, seeming so bright it hurt her eyes. It also showed what else was in the room and she gasped in horror.

Running toward the middle of the room, she cried out as her eyes fell on the feathers that littered the floor, feathers that were tinged with blood. A few stray pieces floated in the air around them. "Marcus?" she breathed, going and putting her hands against his face. "Open your eyes baby, look at me."

He did, but it was almost as painful for her as it was for him. One eye was completely swollen shut, the other was bloodshot, the green iris surround in blood.

He'd been whipped, badly enough that his skin hung in tatters on his back and his chest. A large red welt lay upon his upper thigh, the sign of the fleur d'lis, the brand of the traitor burnt into his skin. His face was swollen and bruised, his wings gone, he simple hung from his arms by a chain in the center of the room.

"Who did this to you?" she cried, trying to pull the chains apart to get him down.

He opened his mouth to speak, his teeth shattered painfully. His voice was slurred when he spoke. "Dorian."

Angel gasped, seeing the fang marks on his neck, on his back, even on the inside of his upper thigh so close to his testicles that they almost hid the bite. "They fed from you? I'm going to kill him, Marcus.

"So you think," Dorian said, his voice coming through a speaker set just above the door. "You might try but I'd think you'd notice by now that you actually don't have long to live yourself."

Angel glanced around the room, suddenly seeing what he meant. The line on the floor was sunlight, let in as the ceiling of the room they were in was slowly being pulled back. The line had turned into a square and was growing bigger with every second.

Her eyes went to Marcus.

"Get out of here," he muttered hoarsely. "Go before it gets any bigger."

"I can't leave you."

"Don't be an idiot, Angel. Go!"

She took one last look at him, tears streaming down her face. Then she ran for the door, pulling it open on to hiss and fell back. The only door in the place led to a wide front yard, well groomed with no trees for shade. The sun shone down brightly. She was trapped.

She turned, seeing the light coming in faster and faster, filling every corner of the room with the brightness of the sun. Angel slid down on the floor, her back to the wall, hugging her arms around her legs. She stared at Marcus but he'd passed out once more from the pain. She was trapped and virtually alone.

The sun touched the tip of her toes and she let out a hiss at the burning pain. Her feet began to smoke, to smolder and then catch fire. Her screams were hoarse and loud as the fire spread up her legs and over her body, taking her face last.

When it was done, a perfectly shaped ash statue of Angel sat where she'd been until a slight breeze hit it, then that too was gone.