SSV: The Raven- Part 2

Chapter 9

Pam stared across the room from behind her girlfriend. Her former mentor turned tormentor loomed in the doorway looking as menacing as ever. She suspected that this would happen sooner rather than later and had been proved correct. Her eyes remained focused on the small vial that was in her hand. That little piece of glass was the root of Jake’s nightmares and the only cause for fear for her in this moment.

Perhaps, she should have been more afraid at the sight of her, but that emotion was resting in a far corner of her mind. She was more angry at the sight of Goth than anything else. The woman was interrupting what should have been a happy moment and threatening her beloved. Anger was quickly overshadowing all other emotions and the more Goth spoke the angrier she got.

“It’s fitting, really,” Goth said with a look of smug satisfaction on her face, “This all started with us, Jake, and now it all ends with us. Elizabeth has been a thorn in my side and stood in our way for too long. She has taken my most promising disciple and turned her against me on top of stealing you away from me! I am going to enjoy snuffing out this worthless little slave.”

“That is enough!” Pam spat out and fought to get back to her feet.

Beth turned to look at her lover and tried to reason with her, “Pam, please just stay put and-”

Pam shot her pet a stern look as she spoke, “No, Beth, I will not stand by any longer and listen to this. Stand aside, Kitten, if this is to our last moments then I will say my piece.”

Beth looked like she wanted to protest, but she did as she was told, “Yes, mistress.”

Goth canted her head to the side and grinned, “Very well, I will let you prattle on for a moment. Do not tarry, my patience is wearing thin.”

“You are little more than a tyrant!” Pam exclaimed as she took a step forward, “I foolishly believed you to be as you claim, a Goddess, and I followed you blindly even when you tried to recollar my love!”

“I was as much a fool then as you are now! You speak of love as though you understand what it is, all the while you plan on subjecting Jake to an eternity of torment. I will not sit idly by and let you hurt the woman I love or the friend I have found in the boy you forsook!”

Goth’s eyes narrowed at Pam’s words, “Forsook, me? He is the one who has chosen this path time and again. I will not have you speak such lies about me!”

Pam scoffed at her, “You are more diluted than I ever thought possible! You have pushed, punished, and broken him to the point where he almost believed your disgusting lies! If it weren’t for his friend and your actions against him then he would have succumbed to your filthy lies and your sick desires! Now, when faced with defeat rather than simply accept it, you resort to forbidden and repulsive magic! I will not let you take them from me, you are-”

“I’ve heard enough!” Goth roared and a shockwave of unseen force rippled across the room, “I have been gracious enough to let you speak, but this slander and disrespect goes too far.”

Pam snarled and held out a hand to summon her strength. It was difficult to focus, but she knew what was at stake within the contents of that vial. Her eyes flashed a vibrant purple for a second as she stole the small glass from Goth. She looked to Jake and Beth to warn them, “Whatever happens, you cannot let her have this damn bottle. Finish her, now!”

“Give me that, Pamela,” Goth said more calmly than she felt, “Return to me what is mine and maybe I will let you and your little pet live.”

“Do you take me for a fool?” Pam demanded before looking at Beth, “What are you waiting for, Kitten? Do what you could not all those months ago, end this!”

Beth blinked before looking over to Jake who nodded his understanding. She opened fire on her adversary in hopes of catching the woman off guard. The gunshots rang out and echoed throughout the empty building, but Goth was too fast for her and easily dodged the bullets. Her body spun in a fluid motion to avoid the first set of projectiles and held out a hand to stop the remaining ones that threatened her.

With a simple flick of her wrist the bullets were hurled back at her. Beth ducked and spun around to avoid the returning fire and tried once again to catch Goth with another round of shots. She growled as Goth laughed at her attempts were once again thwarted by her magic. Her laughter echoed around the room in a cacophony that rivaled that of the gunshots as she disappeared for the briefest of seconds. She reappeared behind Beth, took the back of her head, and slammed her face to the carpet.

“A mouthful of carpet, this is nothing new for you, is it Elizabeth?” Goth mocked before recoiling from a sudden pain in her side.

“Get away from her!” Jake bellowed as he resumed his fighting stance.

“You need to wait your turn, beloved,” Goth said as her eyes began to glow. She tried to activate his runes, but to her chagrin she found that they had no effect, “What is this?! What did you do?!”

Jake smirked for the first time in a long time in the presence of his ex, “Pam and Beth told me about what your tattoos were really for. Decided it would be time to remove them that way you wouldn’t be able to cheat your way to victory again.”

Goth snarled and growled, “I will make sure that you all suffer for defying me. I beat you both before and I will do it again!”

Jake didn’t reply as he sprung into action. He vaulted into a feint kick before dropping to a surprise legsweep that managed to catch Goth. Her legs felt like iron and instead of knocking her off of her feet, it simply caused her to stumble back. He had anticipated this reaction and immediately rose with his staff in hand in a fierce uppercut that slammed into her jaw. The blow caused her to step back as the pain set in and he knew that she was beyond angry at his actions.

Before she could recover and retaliate, she felt another wave of force push her forward. Her eyes turned to Pam who stood with her free hand outstretched. Her attention was focused on the wrong opponent and she felt another sharp pain in her side from Jake’s staff. She was beginning to grow more and more irritated by the second and with each consecutive strike that landed. She heard the staff slicing through the wind and her hand snapped out to take hold of it. She caught it before it could hit her again and was more aggravated than ever when she felt a painful shock pulse through her. She fought through the pain of the weapon she had bestowed on her Raven and ripped it from his hands before snapping the staff in half.

Jake grimaced as he watched Goth snap the titanium staff in half as though it were little more than a twig. He knew how strong she was, he had experienced that both in battle and in bed. Knowing it and having the reminder in front of him were two different things. He felt a tinge of fear within him that he promptly pushed down. He could do this, he could stand his ground so long as his friends were here with him.

He leapt into the air and went for a kick, but his ankle was snagged in Goth’s grip. She spun him to the side and sent him soaring into the wall. She turned her attention back to Pam, who was still holding her vial in hand. Her eyes began to glow and with a snap of her fingers and a flick of her wrist she had her former disciple suspended in the air and her prized concoction floating back to her. Her hand closed around it and she smirked vicariously. She howled in pain as she felt a weight on her back and a stabbing pain in her shoulder.

A shockwave of energy shot from her and sent Beth flying backwards. She was on her feet in a second and rushing over to Pam. Her surprise attack had been enough to free her girlfriend, but it wasn’t enough to finish Goth. She fired off several shots blindly while she sprinted across the room. Another cry of agony came from their tormentor just as she reached her beloved, “Pam are you alright?!” she asked.

“That hurt,” Goth spat as she reached behind her and yanked the dagger out of her shoulder, “That actually hurt, Elizabeth. How dare you draw blood from a Goddess?!”

“I already told you cunt of a sister before I killed her,” Beth said as she moved to stand in front of Pam, “It’s a bad time to be a God. Last I checked, Gods don’t bleed.”

Goth’s face went from a perturbed snarl to an almost unnerving smile. She popped the cork on the vial and brought the bottle to her lips. She turned it up before tossing the bottle to the side, “For once, I suppose you have a point, Elizabeth. I want you to know that you brought this wrath down on yourself, your beloved, and your friend. No more mercy, all any of you will know is pain and suffering. Then….”

She paused as her body began to convulse and she doubled over. Beth watched with a sick sense of curiosity before she felt a familiar hand on her arm, “I really wish that either of you understood magic,” Pam said, “Those items you two gathered for her weren’t just for a binding ritual…”

Jake had recovered from the blow to his back and moved to stand beside his friends, “What do you mean?”

He felt a sense of dread welling up within him as he watched Goth’s body continue to jerk and twitch in unnatural movements. She fell to her knees and brought her hands to her face before crying out. “You are about to find out…” Pam replied.

Goth’s body continued to shift as a pool of darkness appeared around her and began bubbling up. Her voice continued to scream, but it took on a strange and distorted sound to it. Her back arched and her spine became startlingly visible as it began to bulge out. Her fingers began to grow and elongate before morphing to claw-like appendages. The bubbling mass of shadow beneath her slowly started to rise up and envelope her body. It took on the form of a bubble at first and pulsated for a moment. The air in the room began to grow cold and heavy as the seconds ticked by.

Beth growled and fired the remainder of her clip into the mass of darkness before them, but the bullets stopped outside of it before slowly falling into the inky blackness. The sphere of energy started to shrink and take on the silhouette of Goth once more. The distorted cries of Goth had ceased and had been replaced by an eerie silence that was only broken by gunshots and a foreboding swirling. Silence began to reign once more as a disgusting figure started to rise out of the darkness.

First came the arms, spindly and porcelain white bones had replaced the once firm and toned limbs from before. Those clawed fingers they had all seen moments ago were still there, but the flesh on them seemed to have disappeared. Worse than that, what little flesh remained appeared to be rotting and falling off. Her clothes consisted of the same rippling darkness that had once surrounded her and rolled off of her body in a mist that slowly filled the air. Somehow her height had been increased by another half a foot.

What was most horrifying, however, was the face that had replaced the visage of a skull with wispy pitch hair waving off the top. Blood red rubies glinted through the sockets where her eyes had been and a dark toothy grin was on her face. Same as her arms, what little flesh remained seemed to ooze and drip off of her in a way that none of the trio would soon forget. A distorted and ominous cackle filled the room and sent chills down their spines, “Consider this the face of this world’s new God. I am going to enjoy this and then...then I will have my Jake! I told you, Jake, we would be together!”

The voice echoed from everywhere and nowhere somehow at the same time. Jake and Beth winced as the distorted and double toned voice filled their heads. Pam stepped forward to act as a sort of barrier between the two and the newfound horror that stood before them, “This creature...it’s still Goth, but she has done the unthinkable,” she said, “That potion she drank was the essence of desire and has given birth to something powerful and dark. What you see before you is no God, it is a lich and the power she has is beyond comprehension.”

“Isn’t that something from Dungeons and Dragons?” Beth asked, “This can’t be real, there is no way!”

“This is as real as anything, Elizabeth, I am here and I exist because of you!” that evil voice boomed in their heads once again.

“We have to stop her,” Pam said, “We have to try, if we fail then there will be nothing left to stand between her and the rest of the world. Our lives will be but a drop in the bucket compared to the devastation that she will sow.”

Jake swallowed the lump that was in his throat as he stared at the terror before he and his friends. Pam’s words were little comfort to him in this moment, but he knew, deep down, that she was right. This was the creature from his nightmares brought to life in the very room that he had dreamt of. He thought of Dilatrix’s final words about how this time could be different, this time he wasn’t alone in this fight. He would face his fears and give everything he had to banish them once and for all.

“Who wants to go first?” Goth asked in their heads, “Since you seem so adamant, Pamela, and pose the threat of knowledge, why don’t we make an example of you? Come, let me show you what happens when you defy the will of this world’s God!”

None of them were prepared for the sudden surge of power that erupted from the disfigured woman in front of them. The shockwave caused all of their knees to buckle and caused them all to falter for the briefest of moments. It was all the opening that Goth needed. A set of ethereal chains burst from the floors and wrapped tightly around Pam’s arms and legs to hoist her into the air. Before any of them could react, there was another pulse of energy as a skeletal hand emerged from the floor before her. The hand’s fingers extended and slowly bore into Pam’s stomach as the young woman cried out in pain just before those cries morphed to a sickening gurgle.

The decrepit and white fingers of the hand slowly took on a crimson stain as Pam’s blood seeped out and coated them. “Pam!” Beth cried out as she reloaded her guns and fired at the hand.

“Foolish girl, your weapons will do you no good here, not anymore,” the voice thrummed in her head.

It was a painful sight to see that Goth wasn’t bluffing. The bullets did little more than sink into the bone. The hand continued to dig into Pam’s flesh unimpeded and without mercy. Beth watched as her girlfriend coughed up blood and did all that she could think of. She charged forward and threw herself at the hand in an attempt to dislodge it from her lover. The air grew colder as she approached and as soon as her skin made contact with the bones she felt a freezing sensation that almost burned her. She fought through the pain and called on all of her might to force the hand backwards.

Against all odds, the hand slowly started to pull back and remove itself from the gut of her mistress. Whatever relief she felt was short lived as the hand shifted to a fist and slammed into her before dissipating into ghostly strands of ethereal energy. She was sent careening backwards across the room and skidded to a halt just before she hit the wall. She was on her feet and rushing to check on Pam in an instant.

“Your affection makes you predictable, Elizabeth,” Goth’s voice boomed, “Why don’t we revisit our last encounter, hm?”

Beth paid her little mind as she continued to run across the room. It seemed that no matter how far she ran, however, that she wasn’t getting any closer. The dark drab of the room slowly faded away and was replaced by a familiar setting. Cold stone and the stench of feet mixed with body odor filled her senses. The crackle of torches burning hit her ears and her blood ran cold for a moment as she looked around. She was once again in the throne room of the castle and it was far larger than she remembered. A thunderous sound followed by a quake that knocked her onto her ass sounded, and she looked over to see the source of the unnatural sensation. The color drained from her face as she stared at the leather boot of Goth and her eyes trailed upwards to the giantess Goddess from her first showdown. She panicked and tried to run as the hand that had wrought so much pain on her life rushed towards her.

Pam lay in a puddle of her own blood and tried desperately to summon the will to heal herself. Concentration was difficult enough with the pain, but seeing Beth fall into the trap of a trance made it impossible. Her girlfriend had been moving to her side only to be stopped in her tracks and freeze in a statuesque pose. She forced herself to crawl forward and try to check on her. If she could just get close enough, then maybe her voice could cut through whatever illusionary hell Goth was subjecting her to. She made it all of a couple of feet before a prison of bone burst from the ground and halted all of her efforts. She tried to reach out through the bone bars, but that merely caused the cage to shrink further around her.

“Beth!” she cried out through a mouthful of blood, “Beth, please, you have to fight it!”

The menacing cackle filled her head as well as Goth’s voice, “Your little pet is too weak and too stupid to snap out of this one. She may have broken free of my last illusion thanks to Jake, but my spells won’t be so easily undone anymore. Now, you will watch as her greatest fears come to life in her mind before she finally does something right. She will kill herself and I will force you to watch. Your last moments will be spent in a puddle of your own blood, knowing that you could do nothing to save your precious kitten.”

Jake looked on in horror at the events that had just unfolded. He had been inactive for only a few minutes, but in that short time Goth had managed to bring down both of his friends. The sight of Beth in that trance-like state was enough to break his heart, but seeing Pam trapped and longing to help her shattered it. He had to do something, he couldn’t just let this happen. He would play the part of the hero one final time and do whatever he could to save his friends. If this was to be his end, then so be it.

His mind raced as he tried to find some way for him to hurt the monster that was his ex. Guns did nothing, his staff was split, and he doubted that any attacks he could land would do anything. Pam was the only one who had a chance at damaging her, but even if he could get her out of that prison he doubted she would be able to do much. He growled in frustration as the feeling of helplessness washed over him once again. He was sick of being unable to help his friends when they needed it. He would do everything that he could to stop this, if nothing else then at least he could say that he tried.

He retrieved several birdarangs from his belt that were rigged to explode upon impact. He pressed the button on them and launched them at the gooey mass that was Goth’s body. They found their mark and flashed for a second before a firestorm erupted inside of the lich that had taken the place of his former lover. The fires froze before beginning to swirl around her and retreat into body. The monster was still there unharmed and seemingly unphased. He really needed to look into getting some blessed birdarangs or something for these types of situations…

That bloody gaze was turned on him and his blood froze for a second before beginning to burn. The voice that sounded in his head only fueled his growing ire, “You wish to join me so soon, my Raven? Very well, it was bound to happen sooner or later. Come and take your place within me where we will be together forever!”

He snarled as he did the only thing he could think of. He charged at and set his sights on that grotesque skull of hers. He knew that there was a high chance that he was playing right into her hands, but he was out of options and out of time. He leapt into the air and brought his fist down to connect with the boney face in front of him. His knuckles felt like they had been dunked in ice and he wasn’t surprised to see that all his blow did was cause the face to turn to the side. He was now only inches from the freezing mass of pitch and shadow and he could feel his terror welling up.

“Let them go!” he cried out as he took a swing at the shadowy mass that was her body.

His fist halted as tendrils of darkness shot out and wrapped around his wrist. He tried to pull his hand away, but the icy grip was too much for him. There was another cackle that was followed by more scathing words directed at him, “They chose this path, Jake, and now they will pay the price for it. Did you think that giving yourself to me would stop this? I am a Goddess and one does not slight a God! Now watch as their lives unravel before you join me for eternity.”

More tendrils shot out of the dark mist that rolled off of Goth and wrapped themselves around his legs. He was yanked off of his feet and his back slammed to the ground. He struggled and writhed against the darkness that pulled at him. His fight did nothing to halt the slow approach of darkness. His feet were sucked into the shadows and he felt his body begin to take on an unnatural chill that sent waves of panic rushing through him along with pain that he couldn’t describe. He threw his head back to cry out and instantly regretted his decision to do so.

The sight before him was that of his friend’s last moments. Beth stood still, say for the hand that was slowly moving her gun to her temple. Pam lay on the ground in a pool of blood and tears that streamed down her face. All the while he was faced with the punishing knowledge that there was nothing that he could do to stop this. He had done just as Dilatrix had said and he had still failed. The darkness that pulled him in was beginning to seep into his vision. Everything was starting to go dark. Time seemed to slow down in his last few moments and it gave him ample time to realize the folly of his decisions. This, everything, was his fault. He had given in to Goth months ago, dated her before that, and defied her at the behest of his friends. They would die and he would be engulfed in the darkness; his body began to shake as tears welled up in his eyes.

He closed his eyes and waited for the inevitable to come. He was sure that he would hear the deafening gunshot that signified Beth’s demise accompanied by the pained scream of Pam as she watched her beloved fall to the floor. The sound never came, though. Instead, he felt a strange wave of power rush over him and begin to pull him away from his fate.

“What is this?! What have you done?!” Goth’s voice called out.

“I have done what is written, the heroes have fought and in order for things to play out properly I must be here,” a familiar voice answered, “You, my dear Rebecca, must be dealt with for me to continue my observations.”

Jake’s eyes snapped open as he was flung from the icy grip of absolution just in time to see Dilatrix standing before Goth. Time bent to the woman’s will and it slowly began to warp around the room. Beth was frozen in place as was Pam, but he and Goth were left to watch the sorceress work. A large sphere of varying colors wrapped around Goth and began to spin in a counterclockwise motion that picked up velocity at a rapid rate. Dilatrix wove her hands back and forth and the distorted screams of Goth filled the room as an unseen wind began to whip through the air.

Slowly, the dual toned distortion faded back to the recognizable screams of Goth's base form. Jake scooted himself away and brought his knees to his chest. The screams echoed throughout his mind as he realized that even with his best efforts he stood no chance against Goth. It took the magic of time to undo her. The realization hit him hard and his body began to shake with the feeling of inequity overwhelmed him. The rest of the scene became a blur to him as he found himself trapped within his own mind.

Goth's body fell limp to the ground and Dilatrix turned her attention to Pam and Beth. It was short work to undo the damage that had been done to the two of them. Beth shook her head as she came back to reality and rushed to Pam's side. She helped the blonde back to her feet just as Goth cried out in rage, "You think this stops anything?! I am more than a match for all of you even without the powers of a lich!"

She raised her hands and tried to summon her powers, but found it impossible. Dilatrix smirked at her as she elaborated, "That may have been true, but I've taken your powers and your knowledge. You are no better than the slaves you claimed dominion over. All is as it was before you stole your powers."

"You miserable cur!" Goth roared, "I will see you strung up by your entrails!"

Beth snarled as she realized she had the chance she had sought for so long. She grabbed her pistol and stormed over to Goth. She drove her boot into the amazon's shoulder and forced her to the ground. Before she could retaliate, Beth slammed the barrel of her gun across her face. "You're finished, you self centered cunt!"

Goth growled as she tried once again to use her magic. Nothing came of it, though, and her face fell as the barrel of the gun was pressed to her forehead. She prepared for death's embrace, but the room fell silent as sobs filled the air. Beth's finger was a millisecond from pulling the trigger when Pam called out to her, "Beth stop!"

She wheeled on her girlfriend and demanded, "Why?! Why should I when this bitch has been the sole reason for everything Jake and I have endured?! Give me one reason why I should spare her life!"

Pam gestured to the corner of the room where Jake sat rocking back and forth. His hands were covering his face, but the sight was still clear as day. The color had drained from the boy and he was wracked with sobs of misery the likes of which no one in the room had seen before. Beth lowered her gun and bolted to her friend's side, "Jake, Jake! It's me, your friend. It's okay, it's finally over."

Through the heart wrenching sobs a single syllable was heard, "No."

Over and over he repeated these words. Beth put a hand on his shoulder and tried to reassure him, but nothing seemed to work. She began to grow frantic when Pam cut in, "Kitten...there is nothing that we can do for him."

"No!" Beth cried out as tears welled up in her eyes, "There has to be something! Please, can't you use your magic on him?"

Pam shook her head, "I wish it was as simple as that, but that wouldn't work. The state that he's in...he needs someone to help him the same way that I helped you. There is...only one person who can help him."

Beth didn't even try to fight the tears as they streamed down her face, "No," she repeated and moved to Dilatrix to plead with her, "You can fix him, right?! You can use your magic to undo this, please!"

Beth was on her knees and clutching at Dilatrix's gown. The woman gently placed her hands on hers and removed them as she spoke, "My magic can only remove physical damage, Elizabeth, the scars and wounds that plague our hero run deeper than his skin. Your mistress and lover is correct, Rebecca broke him and she must be the one to repair him."

Beth couldn't believe what she was hearing. There had to be another way, there had to be! Goth's voice cut through the harmonic sobs of both heroes with a wry chuckle, "How fitting and ironic is it that you have failed not once, but twice? You sought to take my Jake from me and to erase me from this world, but now...now I am the only hope you have to save your friend. Once a failure, always a failure I suppose."

Beth's eye twitched and she clutched at her guns and lunged at Goth. Her hand was around her throat and the barrel was once more pressing her head to the ground, "I am not a failure! We beat you, now fix him! Do it before I put a bullet in that smug face of yours."

"It isn't that simple, Elizabeth," Goth replied and gently pushed the barrel away from her, "Undoing the damage to my Raven will take time and care. How long did it take Pamela to repair your fractured state of mind? From where I stand, it seems to still be a work in progress."

"Beth, she's right," Pam said as she slowly walked over and placed a hand on her pet's shoulder, "It isn't something that can be done overnight. I know that you don't want it to be this way, but we have to let her leave with us. We can take them back to Metropolis and get them settled in."

Beth leered down at Goth for another moment before the sounds of Jake's sobs touched her ears once again. Her breath hitched and her gun clattered to the floor as she threw herself into Pam's arms. She cried. She cried harder than she had in a long time while Pam held her and gently stroked her back. "It's not fair," she said between sobs, "She doesn't deserve him, she doesn't even deserve to live!"

Pam noticed Goth reaching for Beth's gun and slammed her booted foot down onto it. She glared at the woman, but kept her attention focused on Beth. She shushed her and cooed into her ear, "I know, you're right, Kitten. The world is seldom a fair place, though, and this is the way it has to be. We will work together to make sure that she doesn't try anything."

"Do you hear me, Rebecca?" Pam asked in a forceful tone that underlined the woman's given name, "If you so much as breathe a word of malice at Jake, myself, or my beloved Kitten then I won't hesitate to eviscerate you! I'll let Beth have her fun and send your scraps back to hell where they belong!"

Goth scoffed both at being called by her old name and Pam's threat, "Yes, yes I understand you, Pamela. It isn't like I can do much without my powers, you have nothing to worry about."

"I spent enough time under you to know that not all strength comes from magic," Pam replied, "The mind can be warped without the use of magic, just through a skilled tongue. You taught me that first and foremost."

"You were always too sharp for your own good," Goth replied bitterly, "You have my word, I will not try anything, honest."

"Coming from you, that means nothing," Pam said, "It will have to do for now."

Pam held Beth close to her as the girl continued to cry. The feeling of helplessness and failure from the night of her death were back and stronger than ever. She would need to work to reinforce the girl's sense of self. This wasn't her fault, this was inevitable. She turned to Dilatrix who was helping Jake to his feet. The boy was in rough shape and she hoped that the drive home would help him to settle down. As he was now, he was in no shape or use to anyone. The hero had returned, if only for a moment, but now they were left with the shattered remnants of his former self. It hurt to know that she had played a role in his torment and helped to get him to this place.

"Do not think that way, Pamela," Dilatrix commented, "If things had played out differently then neither you nor Elizabeth would have one another. There is always some light in the darkness."

Pam couldn't argue with that. By that logic, she should be thanking Goth. That was never going to happen, not anytime soon anyways. She gently pulled Beth away from her, just enough to look at the girl. Her punk hair was matted from the right and her eyes were red from her tears. She placed a finger beneath her chin and tilted her head up to look at her, "Let's get out of this wretched city, Kitten, and put this behind us. We will get them set up and then return to your home. What did you do with your aunt and Jake's sister?"

Beth blinked and nodded. It took a moment for her to catch her breath before she could reply, "Salley and Sam got us here. We need to find and tell them that...that we're alive. Sam won't like this news anymore than I do, but if you say it's the only way then I believe you."

Pam smiled and leaned in to kiss her pet. She had missed the sweet taste of her girlfriend's lips against her own. She cut it shorter than she would have liked, but there would be time for more later. Right now, she was needed as the anchor to keep her group together, "There's my good girl," she praised and ran her thumb along her cheek before turning to Dilatrix, "What will you do now?"

"I shall return to my home and observe," she said as she started to take her leave, "We will see each other again, Pamela, the answer to your query is yes. You will need your strength to face what comes next and to protect your love and your friends."

Those were the last words any of them heard before the woman all but disappeared. The four of them were left alone and Pam, reluctantly, helped Goth to her feet. She gestured to Jake, "Go to him, he needs you, Rebecca. Do not mess this chance up."

Goth stared into the eyes of her disciple and saw something behind them. There was a glint of hope in there that she felt conflicted by. Part of her despised the trio, but there was another part, a far more distant part of her, that valued Pam's words. She walked over to Jake and spoke to him, "Jake, come on. It's time we go home. I will take care of you, I will always take care of you."

Her words stirred something in him and for the first time he looked up at her. His heart and mind were at war with one another, but he couldn't stop the words that left his mouth, "Yes...Goddess."

She smiled at him even as she felt Beth sneer, "Good boy."

The four of them exited the room and silently walked down the stairs to the exit. They would need a vehicle and would need to find Salley and Sam. Beth insisted on retrieving them and refused to leave the city without the women. Pam was happy to oblige and more so to see that her pet had found some family. It was something that she herself didn't have, but she knew it was something that Beth and Jake needed. Goth wasn't happy about the delay, but the trio paid her little mind, outside of Jake that is. The boy wasn't hanging on her every word per say, but he minded in a way that evidenced his need for her firm hand. It would be a long road before he was fine again, but it was one that they would all walk together. They were finally free from the castle walls that had held them all in chains for so long, some without even realizing it. Their lives could begin again in earnest and none of them knew what awaited them next.