'Yes, that's right...' Benjamin thought as his stinging eyes kept as sharp of a focus as he could strain upon the creatures before him. Even if Justice herself could never conceive Benjamin's reasoning, he did feel it right to remain behind a little longer. Hopefully it would be the best decision, although even then he strongly doubted it would. The angel wasn't meant to survive...he felt it, he knew it, and it was just as well he'd not spread his taint to the rest of heaven, at least in his opinion. That didn't mean he would give up on the fight, oh no, far from it in fact. Earth was slowly becoming just as prominent of a battle ground, and perhaps it was meant to be. It went without saying that Benjamin had sacrificed a great majority of his power by refusing to inhabit a body that was not truly "his"--to be a half angel kept him at that disadvantage but at the same time it seemed the most worth it. Benjamin may have very well been one of the few alter beings left that believed that humans had a right to make their own choices, even though each side very well did negate that cause...so when Justice unleashed the fury of her beautiful angel wings, Benjamin merely shook his thoughts away, because in all honesty wings weren't something that he missed.
Then Justice was off, leaving him in a blaze of ethereal warrior prowess that he'd never compete with. Benjamin felt ready to follow in her footsteps and make his escape but fate had other plans. All rational thought halted at the sight of Masochism grinning ever so wickedly--triumphantly--at the grounded angel. He didn't know what to expect from the morphing creature when suddenly he felt a strange warmth in his body. He struggled to stand but gasped at a sudden weakness in his limbs. Something was so very wrong. All of a sudden he felt so very nausesous. He doubled over with a contorted expression of agony as he retched violently, a black and putrid substance akin to tar pooled before him. It was massive, the amount that he purged from his system. He felt shaky, unbearably hot and tinglying with numbness and pain. Then he was cold, hot again, vomiting again while he dug his fingernails into the crumbling mansion floor. A whimper choked at the back of his burning throat while he heaved dry gasps of air. His watering eyes stared down at the black substance rotting with the stench of death and corruption. He blinked, suddenly at a pressure in his ears, in his head, in the sinuses and the eyes.
"N..N..gh..." His incoherent words were hoarse while his mangled muscles began trembling with new found weakness. He couldn't move, couldn't think and it hurt his chest to breathe. Benjamin gasped once in pain before dissolving into furious gagging while his pupils rolled back in their sockets. Out from the corners of his eyes, seeping from the nasal passages, the ear canals and finally from the quvering lips, trickles of that nasty black tar followed by a vivid set of voices in and around his head. Why, why why why why why?! He'd deserved this, he suddenly realized while he collapsed. Stupid he was for even letting himself get caught in his position. He was of no use to anyone...
...Well, except perhaps to Seil, who'd suddenly renewed interest in the struggling halfling and had taken the chance to bind the angel with remants of his hideously disfigured form. It didn't take much for Benjamin to be ensnared, although a whimper died in his throat as tentacles began to writhe about his limbs, biting and binding him to whatever his brandholder willed. Useless, he could have very well snickered in his delierious state of mind. Mason's plague had done quite a number on him in such a short amount of time, the only thing that managed to work from Ben's mouth was a hiss. His throat hurt too much to scream. Maybe this was what dying felt like? From the corner of his fading vision he noted the blinding flash of light. The holy sword relic of Justic, slicing and dicing through flesh and metal like butter, or at least it should have been able to. At the moment he was too busy shuddering in internal agony to make note of anything to his advantage.
Just as it was, Benjamin had thrown himself into the extremes on account of lack of thought. He'd lowered himself to an irrational level, and truth be told he was no better than that "half demon spawn" he'd insulted only moments prior. Even still he realized that he was no match against a full fledged sin...there was some other train of logic behind his act. Maybe he was hoping for a miracle that was unlikely to come--an instant smite or backlash that would sink the foundation of that very mansion back into the earth. It wasn't coming, and just like that he'd given up every chance of sanctity instead for a thoughtless act on his own. It was too late to stop it. He kept his hands on the belly and the throat of the beast while he stared coldly back into those inhuman eyes. He had so much to retort, words like how he wasn't so fucking impressed with Mason's "father", because any idiot could say no. It's what happened in the after that made the incident so remarkable. "No?" he asked in a soft whisper towards said beast. "I care, and that's really all the reason I need..."
He trailed off as he felt the blood slipping down between his fingers. It didn't occur to Benjamin to remove his hands until it was too late. Unholy sin, far faster than he could have thought it, had taken grip around his fragile build of wrist and dug into the skin. At once a waterfall of crimson was splashing over the alabaster. Coal eyes grew wide with pain and panic, the former of which he had to grit his teeth against. He couldn't stifle the groan of anguish and agony in his throat. First instinct demanded he be tense, but he was helpless to watch with horror as the blood...his own running lifestream...intermingled with the disgusting demon's own fluids. He could almost feel it running beneath punctured flesh, the tainted blood swimming through his body like acid. It stung, brought tears to his eyes that he wasn't willing to shed. Before he could protest it further he was assaulted with a new kind of pain, one ripping from the seal within his stomach, a fire that finally drew an outcry of anger from the boy as he snapped a blurry, heated gaze back towards his "owner".
Even with Justice in wake there was an onslaught of sensation that Benjamin simply couldn't compete with. He felt his knees buckle once and he near lost balance, and judging by the slight tearing sensation in his arm he knew that the wound had been somewhat disturbed further. He needed to keep focus...he'd damn himself if he lost or passed out right there. Seil's remark..."wrathful"...Benjamin jerked his gaze up towards the Liar in shock as if he'd been slapped. Him? Wrathful? No, he couldn't, not in the likeness of that sin--well, maybe so, but he'd never admit to it. He needed to be cold and stern, and that was so he'd told himself for all those years, but never wrathful, never. He should have shivered with terror at the thought of being picked apart by each and every sin. Benjamin knew it was coming...the terrifying thought was not understanding to what extent he'd have to endure.
With that distinction, Benjamin himself knew that he had no right back into heaven...allowing himself to be branded and further bloodmarked like cattle, possibly to be later tossed around like a cheap whore before being disposed of permenantly, were he even given the kindness of death at that point. The offer for a trade of lives had him surprised, however, and Benjamin looked back towards the direction of where the half sin had last been. Seil was willing to trade his own child, not even speak of him like a child but more like a mistake...that rather irked Benjamin in a way that in a different life he and Harold may have held some sort of understanding and comradery over the fact. Still, to take a sin back...what the hell would heaven do to him? Then something else spoken from the lips of Justice came to mind. 'You said...the souls here...they can be set free?' An almost hopeful tone to the otherwise voiceless words. Even if he himself couldn't come back with her, there was a chance Justice would at least destroy the house around them. Hell, that may have given him what he needed to escape. Just take what was worth saving (which he doubted included himself anymore, at that point), if any, otherwise, lower heaven upon this bitch was what he was essentially trying to implore. He'd have to find his own way to repentance and salvation.
Sure enough Benjamin resumed occupation as a foot rest. He'd just barely begun to lean himself up once the vibrant pain of the seal began to dim down to little more than a tingle, but before he could, Masochism slammed him back down with a foot. It didn't quite hurt as bad as the other dealings he'd sustained, but it was enough to knock the wind out of him and had the boy gasping and choking for breath. Something of his own may have very well cracked if Masochism chose to be forceful enough. He took in a sharp lungful, grimacing as the pressure finally let loose on his abdomen. He was wishing that he'd taken the chance to use abit more force against the sin.
He pushed himself away, listening with an ever present redness to his veins. Each word Masochism spoke managed to work itself underneath Benjamin's frozen skin and dig in, but not painfully so. His face dissolved of its anger, rationale seemed precedent while it wasn't in his actions. He picked away a sizeable piece of the crumbling wall, palming it close before chucking it at the back of Mason's head. If anything just to create some kind of distraction or gain some focus. It was simply not the time for Benjamin to coil up into his isolated mental shield. "Fucking lowlife imbicile..." Benjamin hissed. "Listen to yourself, or maybe...shut the hell up."
Benjamin wasn't too pleased with the way he was approaching Justice. Two sins on one pure angel would have been difficult enough. "Is being hypocritical your "unique function?" Talking as if the angels are part of some brainless cattle drive. That mindfuck you call dear old Lucifer is just as potent in your domain as God is among ours. You may fuck around and say you're independent, raping humanity with your filth, but who is it that barbs your ass when you get out of line in HIS terms?" The sneer was lingering in the halfling's voice. He wasn't going to take any more chances with a wavering guard, and instead dove at Masochism once again, taking aim with one flattened at the bloody assortment of fractured ribs and the other hand at the neck, although hindered by the pain within his own body. To that affect he'd even thoughtlessly risked himself to the pain of the seal once again should Justice choose to give space in his presence.
Justice's sense of humour seemed to peek at the strangest of moments, but then again, Benjamin had only met the woman under the most extreme of circumstances. He turned his focus back onto Mason, his expression dead as to not give any suggestion...or so it had been until his eyes widened, gaze snapped back towards Justice with the dawning realization. That...could they even cleanse such an evil, even for just a moment? For a moment he felt a sense of doubt, but was quick to recognize that doubt would yet another weakness to compensate. He had to prove his assets, didn't he? Justice couldn't very well do all the work herself. Masochism seemed to pay Benjamin no regard, which the angelic being used to his advantage. Without another word the halfling slid past Justice with that furious inhuman speed, though not to one that couldn't be outmatched. He was careful enough to avoid the blood puddle forming, but it was precious seconds ticking away. Mason wasn't willing to move? Fine, Benjamin would have been more than happy to move him. One sharp elbow bone jabbed towards the demon's adam's apple of the host, the other hand striking blunt force across the abdomen to more push the sin back than cause any real damange. "I'm really sick of all this horseshit!" he growled, for once really losing his cool. "We're not going to play by any rules, especially not--" Benjamin would have been thrilled to continue, but suddenly he fell away, collapsing back towards the ground as agony crippled his form. He writhed and squirmed as the seal of Lies ignited under the approaching sin's presence. Benjamin had foolishly left himself exposed by leaving Justice's side for a mere moment. "S-son of a bitch" he ground out through clenched teeth while he struggled to pick himself up, all the while looking on for the better solution as he and the other angel were boxed in.
Besides the minor offense in ettiquete (which may have been humorous on another occassion, due to Justice's lack of understanding to the word), Benjamin was racked with another weight in just how severe the situation truly was. Up to that point the halfling had forced himself to grit through the fraction of what the Sins were willing to dish out, yet it was the chilling revalation that the fellow angels within the bloodsoaked halls were...essentially trapped until the end. To him that would be a fate worse than gruesome torture. In a way he felt it disrespectful to leave the still living bretheren there..."There's nothing at all we can do?" he said lowly, eyeing the boy demon once more with a little less distaste, but still no more friendly. He knew it was his duty still to carry on, and so he put away the personal affect and followed after Justice without further hesitance.
Benjamin eyed the crumbling expanse--the places touched and scourned by the pure essence of the anti-sin--with some sort of fascination. He'd seen the work of the magnificient against the tides of hellish destruction plenty of times before, but never against an evil such as this. Maybe he'd simply forgotten his time in the realm above mortality. Away with that thought as well, as he kept pace with the frightfully powered being, and once again Benjamin's thoughts were delving into the coincidences. He wondered perhaps that Justice had been on a mission of sorts. Even if it was the empire of sin, with the mansion as its palace, nobody ever seemed to care about it before. The war far too personal to break away from to investigate a doomed city. She had to have been there for something else...maybe he was missing something important.
As expected the pair were not going to be able to leave that dwelling without a few more approaches, it seemed. Benjamin couldn't possibly recognize the dank odor the awoken sin seemed to be marinating in but...he didn't quite want to find out. Masochism pointed out the obvious fact and seemed to mimic Benjamin's very thoughts--confusion to the situation and perhaps "what the hell is that stench?" That gave the boy no liscence to speak up, however, and after a calculated gaze towards the sin, he trained back towards Justice with some sort of idea as to what next might occur, never letting his own guard waver.
A heartbeat seperate of his own seemed to pound in his ears. Benjamin was intimately aware of the sacred entity that fell before the swine of the household--they didn't deserve her prescence, and neither did he himself. Be her eyes upon him or not, he kept his gaze steady towards the ground...at the very least it kept the world from spinning, until she spoke, which prompted his attention to divert towards her directly. A look of surprise flitted upon his face, then one of understanding. The language he knew, though not to the degree he may have once utilized the heavily tongue, but nonetheless it stood to reason that she bade him rise from his inferior mental state. Again that strength flooded within him and he didn't feel quite so defeated, even if he was dirtied in both physical and emotional length.
The gentle touch upon his skin almost made his heavy eyelids slip close, as his posture demanded he relax. It was warm, comforting, both of which he'd not experienced in quite some time. That moment wasn't the time to fall peacefully; Benjamin needed to be stronger. He turned a cold gaze onto the sin-child as he was mentioned, though Benjamin highly doubted that the demon mother would care much for her spawn. His gaze flickered momentarily as the hand of smiting Justice wrapped around the teen's neck, and almost once was the half-angel tempted to speak, say anything, but he fell short at the sudden sensation of warmth crawling over his flesh. There was a tingle across his skin as though age-old blood was finally gaining passage through his veins, restoring feeling, then came the tug and push of unfolding skin. Bones were snapping back into place, sealing cracks and stitching pink body into one.
The screams again erupted, a shrill cry that crashed against his eardrums. Benjamin's second gaze towards the boy held none of the sympathy that it perhaps should have. Instead he watched in a silent cold equivilent to the throes of the anti-sin's wrath. Stupid demon should have left while he had the chance, as far as he was concerned. Hadn't Harold learned by Benjamin's example? Get out before it was too late, or else face the consequences, just as the half-angel had suffered them. As the pain released hold on his body, Benjamin stood once more, taking a place beside the angel. Justice was right--there were many within range and could strike easily, and true enough did she wield enormous power, but there was still but one of her.
"Had you been less of a prick, we wouldn't be in this position right now..." Benjamin intoned, almost sarcastic in his own right, finally giving Harold some sort of acknowledgement to the fallen boy. "There was nothing complex about revealing an exit, now was there? To deem it impossible would be ignorant. Maybe you should let go of the other angels as well...I know they're here, but I doubt they are also here by choice. Where are they?"
Pain blossomed in the center of his forehead and wrapped tightly around his cranium, digging thorns into his eyes and hugging unbearable leaves against his temples. Benjamin's body was fighting against him, demanding, pleading that he surrender, resign himself to defeat he was resisting with every ounce of energy he had left. His vision was barely of use at that point, blurred, stinging as though the eyes had been washed with acid. He could make out the blur of red, the crimson puddle forming around his limp hand. two fingers down to their knuckle joints were gone, chewed up in the fowl mouth of the ravenous liar-beast. The index was not more than a mere nub, and the pinky was twisted at an odd angle in bowing under the strength of the jaws. Only the thumb was spared and even it was painfully numb. Would he not die of his torture, he would certainly die of his wounds, but thank the graces that he was not a mere human, even his slight advantage was enough to see to his survival...for the moment.
His neck grew too weak to hold his head, and so he bowed forward, shoulders haunched but relaxed, and the pain burst forward against the front of his head. Just as he felt the collapse, however, he was suddenly enlightened by a burst of pure strength. The kindness, the gentle angelic light he had for so long abstained from in his mortal frame...Slowly his gaze lifted towards the dazzling source, unafraid of its power but all the same mystified. This was true God light, embodied by the anti-sin herself, and it was giving him power. The aches in his body were soothened and he found it within himself to stand, albeit drunkenly and shouldered with the burden of lies etched into his organs.
As he began a slow approach, Benjamin could hear the wailing and tortured cries of Sadistic--it did him no sense of victory for himself, but he felt no pity for the demon. The light finally ebbed away after so long of an intense expulsion of the sin, and the half-angel stopped short of Justice and Harold. Seil, Manipulation...they weren't in his sight at the moment, but he would proabably find just how terrible things were to be for him should Seil return and brandish the power he engraved into Benjamin. Harold's question seemed to be answered by Benjamin's blood stricken lips. "Our Lady Justice..." he whispered, for once that hard edge to his voice not more than a death in the back of his throat. She had come...what did this mean for the human realm as a whole? For a brief moment he turned a side glance onto the sin-spawn. It perhaps did not need to be said that if the brat valued his life, he'd leave the vicinity. Instead he turned full attention back onto Justice before kneeling, gaze lowered towards the ground in the respect the revered anti-sin deserved.
Swirls of red and black were beginning to swirl within the angel's vision. His chest was beginning to burn with acid coated fire in his lungs, one unquenchable by the air he was starved of by the Sin's chokehold. This was it, he was going to die at the merciless hands...yet silently he prayed that were he to die with a single glimmer of fear, that he be damned to hell just as quick as the rest of those bastard devil spawn. Fear was not for him, it wasn't...it wasn't...Bravery? The sin thought he had bravery? No, that meant nothing spoken from the mouth of a liar. One leg rose to sharply knee Seil in the fleshless gut, perhaps in vain, but in anycase his attempts did not matter; the moment that hand struck against his skin all thoughts simply vanished.
The pain, god, the agony...He wouldn't scream...couldn't...The angel's body arched and spasmed under the rising torrent of curse literally wrapping around his insides in malicious tendrils. Dark eyes bulged in horror, anguish, agony. His fists smacked against the floor hard, knuckles clenching and splitting on impact. Bile rose in the back of his throat, and as his head jerked the foul contents spilled over his lips in a mix of sour saliva and blood. Not a scream sounded as he grit his teeth...Lies...he could feel them scraping over his bone with foul words and imagery. Words screamed in his ear. Benjamin was weak, he couldn't fight back. His strength failed him...Damn them all...
The abrupt moment it all seemed to stop, Benjamin was lost in a flash of light; not another God's light, a light of wavering consciousness, but he wasn't going to give the demon the satisfaction of having his limp body to do whatever he pleased with it. He jerked again, gasping with dry and bloody lips as his groin was crushed beneath Seil's foot. Insult to injury, it didn't hurt anywhere as much as that branding...this was humiliation, it was the knowledge of defeat, and his opponent was relishing in his blood coated victory. His fingers twitched to pry the foot from his aching genitals...he hurt all over, there wasn't anything he could do. The withering look he shot up at the demon was one through blurry eyes, a sweaty gaze and teeth grinding. He wasn't going to submit so easily.
The impact of the wall behind him cost him his breath. Twinges of shock erupted around his spine, his neck, the back of his head. He felt nauseous again...if only he could vomit in the demon's face, maybe that would give him the distraction he needed. The sudden approach of the demon's lips...no...no that he wasn't going to let happen. He twisted his head to the side and strained his muscles to force a hand between their faces, pushing up against the hideous mouth in attempt to ward him off. Those filthy lips...The words wouldn't erupt from his own throat, but what Benjamin had to say was no less than spiteful. Where Seil had been prompt to bite to Benjamin's tongue...instead he got himself a casing of fingers. The digits were snapped liked twigs against Seil's nashing teeth, bones crushing under the skin, tissue ripping like little more than paper. Benjamin's eyes widened in horror, the agony threshold was too low to endure anything more and so he groaned, shuddering weakly as crimson flashed in his vision. Everything was going dark, and even in the moment he was released, helpless Benjamin slid down the wall before collapsing to the floor. He wasn't entirely unconscious, but he was at that point, vulnerable.
Run, run, run...it was all he could do, and yet with every step Benjamin found himself falling further and further behind. It was as if he was playing right into the demons' very claws. That damn half-sin had been right, he stood no chance, and he wasn't meant to survive. Funny that all he had been through this is what it had come down to. Hell's damned wailed behind him in thunderous echos; they swarmed him, beating against his eardrums. The sins' screams were of a a challenge...no, a decreement of a true slaughter, and it was Benjamin's blood they wished to sqaundor and soak themselves in. Despite these thoughts, they settled no more fear within the angel boy than being within their presence had. That was simply him--far too cold, he saw a bigger picture than himself...his sacrifice, the damnation of his ravaged body and life would be worthwhile, where his life was meaningless. People were simply better off dead, they were far more valuable that way. Yet still there was innate, primal urge to carry on his survival, and even Benjamin, even angels were slaves to it. No, alive he was a warrior...his use pertained to scraping the demon lives away from this beautiful world...or it should have been a beautiful world. Wasn't it better just to imagine that there was no afterlife? His knee gave beneath him, something inside snapped painfully, coiled around the nerves-- he fell forward just slightly, it was enough to make him lose precious footing. DAMN THEM ALL! Just as he regained himself was he stricken down. Air throttled away from his lungs and something quite audibly popped as his exposed back was slammed against the ground. Coal eyes flew wide with pain yet not a sound was uttered. No, he dared not give the satisfaction of a scream. In the process of muffling such a cry he punctured his tongue with a stray tooth. Blood bubbled up to the surface in his mouth. This mad man, this doctor above him gripping his throat so tightly it caused Benjamin to choke. Copper taste washed against the back of his throat that made him gag. His body contorted as he tried to buck the demon off. "God...God damn you" he hissed and spat a hot lather of saliva and blood at the creature's hideously morphed, burned face, aiming for the empty sockets. "Go b..back...t...t..." There was a hell from, wence Lies and his family crawled from, at the very least he could go crawl back to it. He was woozy, weak even before that point, and he knew there was a troubling sign when he could spot red, blue and black circles dancing behind his vision. His struggles renewed.
Tension locked itself in the air, wove into his eyes with a gaze that pierced right back at the annoying sin child. It was getting to the point where Benjamin would have felt no little satisfaction in ripping at Harold's head until it fell off, if that was what it took as he was still unarmed. It didn't matter to him, that was what he as former angel (half now) was designed for, killing the damned. Even still, he knew the boy was right--Benjamin stood no chance against a household bewitched by demons, powerful ones at that, and especially in his weakened state...It was true, he'd have to pick his words carefully, and yet being around Harold made that so very difficult. "None of your fucking bus--" He gasped out in a sudden twist of shock as that brat launched forward and got a sturdy grip beneath his chin. The motion left then right sent jolts of pain down his neck, and it did no justice towards his aching head. Benjamin should have had the notion to vomit on the lad as he was rough handled. "Damn you..." he had been far too easily caught off guard. Even as Harold backed away, Benjamin made a motion to a rough shove at the boy's chest. The angel hated touch of any kind, it aggrivated him so. "You insult my intelligence with your words, demon" came the cold reply. "If what you say of this house is true, I'm safe neither here nor anywhere else..." Sooner than the devil words were spoken, he could already feel the chills sweeping over him--damnation etched along the walls and his nostrils were filled with the scent of blood. The first he saw above the sin-child's head, but before he could have made any indication to Harold, Sadistic made his presence well known. It should have been well thought by that point that demons were not always friendly amongst each other. Benjamin tensed, eyeing the ringleader in his approach. This man was a force to be reckoned with. Then again, so was the one suddenly unleashed behind him. The angel could have gagged on the scent of human detriment hanging from the demon's mouth; he dared not turn around. A third arrival, Manipulation...bizarre, utterly unpredictable but child-like demented in some way...the angel was trapped. Other angels had been the key to this picture, and of course by that time Benjamin should have likened the manor to a gateway to hell...far place worse. If there were other angels there...what had happened to them all? This war had been thrusted upon his shoulders, he recoiled at the thought but was forced to embrace. There was but one chance he sought. "To think that you'll keep me is a sad thought indeed...I intend not to let that happen." The holy essence ripped through his alabaster skin, revealing itself in a brilliance of holy light--God's Light, the longevity of the divine. He broke away the first moment he could, tearing sharp left in the direction yet left to his availability. The only question was whether or not there was another hallway there. It was only a time-waster, and a futile one with the way his energy was depleting, but he'd run so long as there was space left to run. He had no other alternative. His mind spoke his final volume for the moment, "For all that can hear me...so help us, tell me where you are..." At the very least if they were locked away, he might be lucky enough to find them first...Hell, options were limited.
The angel should have known what was coming--the way the hair on the back of his neck rose, the tingle in his palms and chill across his arms--they were all warning signs to what lurked just around the corner. Benjamin, however, had been caught unawares. something he would have never forgiven himself at a different time. Right then he was just too weary, all of his energy put towards finding a way out, he had left himself bare to the unknown threats. Benjamin whipped himself about to face Harold the moment the angel heard the voice, eyes narrowing in sharply on the features of that creature. Already could he feel the stirrings of ancient animosity that existed between their kind, one that made him more willing for the strike. Benjamin was the last angel that would ever be caught strumming a harp while singing pretty hymns.
A glare filtered in as he listened to Harold's words, but he did not respond--didn't plan to, not just yet. Benjamin wasn't fond of the taunting lit to the demon's voice, but he would bare with it so long as it allowed him to bide his time. One brow quirked at the oh so kind "suggestion" for him to find a way out. Any oblivious fool of a mortal would have easily made such an assumption that they needed to escape the dreadful place. Telling him something he already knew was nothing of service, not that Benjamin would ever rely on anyone's service. Where Harold moved, coal black gaze followed with valid distrust. He was waiting for every trick known in his book to be pulled.
What surprised him was the sudden offer for help; for a second Benjamin was taken aback, and perhaps it reflected in those generally blank features. Full lips bit into a frown as he studied the teen. Finally he spoke in a cold, callous tone of voice: "Your smile releases too much of your foul breath, it poisons this starving air. Close your lips and you might be more tolerable." He took one step forward as if to follow behind the demon (a movement that sent yet another dizzying rush to his head, prompting a slight grimace), then stopped short. "I've no reason to trust you, demon, nor you any reason to attempt "helping" me. If anything you would lead me further in to this place...and as I think it, you're not the only thing within this household..."
There was a raging stormcloud in his head, one that pounded heavily along his temples and flashed painful light behind his eyelids. Every twist of the neck sent a new spasm up and down. It was cloudy with a chance of hemmoraging, and at once the angel felt sick again, but there was nothing left for him to actually expel from his worn body. Sour taste caked his mouth, but moreso there was a dryness of a thirst that had not been quenched in days. Benjamin wanted to sleep, so very much so--and it was one of the few times he very well could have layed himself down and fallen into slumber right away...but he couldn't afford to do so, not in his position. Still was he unaware to his present location, but he was under the full impression that it wasn't somewhere he belonged. Moreso was there this detestable sensation...it sent a terrible shiver up his spine as chills broke out over his skin in waves. His heart was pounding violently in his chest, so loud that he was worried that it could be heard (he simply knew the house wasn't empty), and for some reason there was no other explanation than to believe that something was wrong with the place he had found himself entrapped in.
As he progressed along a new corridor, he found little shadows swimming behind his eyelids. There was a lightheadedness building as though he were fixing to pass out, yet he felt no more weaker than he had at the beginning of his morbid journey. Again there was a desire to stop, at least long enough for his head to clear. Where was he again? He swept his gaze back behind him in attempt to pinpoint any sort of direction. A huff of frustration died in Benjamin's throat at the realization that he was a rat trapped in a distorted maze. If he had stayed in one area at least he wouldn't have gotten lost...then again, he probably would have been found far sooner, and why he was so worried about being found was again lost to him.
It was as if Benjamin knew deep in his bones the maliciousness of the house and its occupants, a warning sensation that came as instinct just as quickly as it was engrained to breathe and think. At the moment that seemed to be his problem--it hurt too much to think, therefore his decisions were turning out to be poor ones. It wasn't an environment or condition at his advantage, in fact, he was the sitting duck under the hunter's gun. Shadows danced around him, playing upon the hallway walls and doorframes as if to taunt him. It was at points like this where his own imagination turned out to be an enemy as well. He could almost imagine the laughter and whispers in his ear. One shoulder brushed harshly against the sidewall as he leaned against it, closing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose between thumb and index finger. He couldn't concentrate like this.
An objective, at least one came to his mind quickly enough. The intent was finding a new way out, yes, but he couldn't do it alone. There were tools necessary to each plan, wasn't there? Now all he had to do was just find...find something...whatever it was that his mind was screaming for yet was completely clueless to. Some help that was, to look for something he couldn't recognize. With a soft sigh he reluctantly opened his eyes, not willing to face sight again that would more than likely set his head ablaze with pain. A moment's delay was all he would allow, and soon enough Benjamin found himself staggering off, keeping a whole hearted attempt to have attention at every level, for both fellow oxygen wasters and that treasure lurking in his mind.
Tue Dec 28, 2010 9:44 am
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