The Hanged Man

The twins come back the next day to check on Alex, his condition is worse than the day before only embraced by a touch of sleep.

"At this rate, Lady Avic can readily consume him..."The first adds.

"Despair is eating his heart alive, Master Dominique has also stolen Alice's soul."

Alex's eyes slowly open viewing the twins through blurry vision, "You said Alice's name..."

"Lady Avic has absorbed her Alex, she exists with us now..."

They move apart to show her walking in betwixt them both, her image almost a ghostly one, a simple smile on her face reaching out to touch him.

She places her head on his rubbing against his gradually coming in for a small kiss, "Love..."

"Alice...this is my fault..."

"I know...but we are together, all I need you to do is sleep..." Alice expresses in a soft voice, Alex laments weeping to obey by letting himself envelop in her words drifting off to sleep.

"Thanks to you Alex will be Lady Avic's for now on..."One of the twins chime, the other takes Alice's hand leading her away from Alex.

Dominique shows up into Avic's world of hopelessness to get a better look, "Lady Avic?"He shouts glancing around the place till she presents herself.

"I never expected to see you here Master Dominique, Alex is slowly giving up it looks."

"Wonderful...I will be working on Christian soon enough as I know his weakness."

He pulls up an illusion of a screen where they view Christian being tempted by the newcomer, a beautiful woman who is now the victim of the vampires living in the compound.

The Devils Assistant fades away every time he crosses the door, his mind only reeling over the guilt he felt like a human not too long ago, he gives in opening it up to visit the lady.

She is scared crawling onto the bed, the look of terror in her eyes, but he is convinced he was the same when in truth he was never.

"Please...calm down...I lived in this room before you." He confirms sticking his hand out to her.

"But now you aren't like me!" She yells, he draws his hand up to his face feeling his eye patch instantly bringing him back to reality.

"You are right...even in the beginning I was never like you..."

"So then why are you here then?"

"I wanted to rescue you from here..."

Dominique and Avic keep their eyes on him through the looking glass only smiling as he unwinds to this stranger from a place of melancholy.

Christian observes her placing her hands around her elbow covering a bandaged wound.

"I want to go home...I am so scared..."

"Please trust me, we will go from here...if anyone deserves to be rescued it's you."

Avic laughs till she coughs out, "What a gentleman he is, how sad his fate is!"

"This is your stage Lady Avic..."Dominique smirks bidding her farewell as she fades away, he turns to concentrate on Christian.

He picks the woman up, his eyes dart around every nook and cranny before shooting out the main hall door making a break for the outside, he puts her down on the plush grass.

"Get on my back please, it will be faster for me to get through the woods." He reassures her.

She does as he says, he thinks to himself for a moment looking back before taking off into the maze of forestry ahead of them going as fast as he can; she screams excitedly as they hang high into the air before he lands again.

Christian does this on and off, something blocks his view causing him to shield in front of him.

"Hang on tightly please!"He begs to push through the excessive brush ahead hitting them both from above and below, they both wail the further he gets into the maze of the thicket.

He feels he is hallucinating rubbing his eyes when a human-like figure enters his range of view.

The mirage swings her arms out sending a barrage of threads snatching Christian up by the hands hanging him up in the branches, the woman drops from his hands to the ground.

Christian growls, The Devil's Assistant instantly takes overstraining to move caught in the spider's web, "Show yourself you coward!"

"Who knew it would be so easy to catch you Christian, all I needed was to bait you..." Avic shrieks lifting the woman up by her head.

"Don't you dare!" Christian responds in a thunderous tone, "She is just a human!"

"When did the Devil's Assistant grow a heart?" Avic asks licking her prey's cheek, she makes motions with her hands releasing him from the webs restraining.

"My heart depends on my owner..."

"How pitiful." She replies biting into the woman's neck draining her till she is choking out for air lunging for Christian frightened inching till she lays motionless.

"I am so sorry Christian..."He whispers to himself, "I really didn't want this..."

Avic saunters toward Christian grabbing his face, "Time to join Alice!" she calls out cheerfully.

Christian collapses to the ground laying beside the woman he tried to rescue, she squats down to lift the eye patch taking a peak of his other eye, "Oh you've been branded...that is useful."