They Called Her the Devil

Chapter 4, Xander

Our truck wound along the beat up road to the safe house. We were lucky to have found a vehicle from before the war; the limited technology would keep the Legion of Hell from tracking us.

We had blindfolded and tied the Devil in the back of the truck. I had welded a metal ring to the floor of the truck specifically to hold her. She was dangerous and we couldn't afford to take any risks.

Izzie grinned at me as I drove the truck down the road. The mood in the truck was that of celebration, and why wouldn't it be, we had won.

"I can't believe it went so great!" Izzie said with a huge grin. "We actually have the devil!"

"Almost too great," I replied as I made a left turn onto the old path, "It shouldn't have been this easy."

"Oh stop being so paranoid man, your spoiling the fun!" Leo joked before adopting a more serious face, "You are right though, we need to keep an eye on her."

"I just wish we had some tranquilizer left so we could keep her unconscious," Izzie added.

"Couldn't you have said that BEFORE we used it all on those guards!" I berated her with a smile.

She stuck her tongue out at me, my god she was gorgeous when she laughed.

We spent the rest of the ride contemplating ways to keep the Devil before realizing we had already planned out our best option. It had to work.

The girl had been far too easy to capture though. I had heard rumors of the Devil. Of how she had killed five of my father's heavily armed men with nothing but a knife, of how she was the true brains behind the legion of hell, and of how she trained until she passed out from exhaustion, then when she woke up she chugged an energy drink and trained even more. Yet here she was tied in the back of our truck.

The Legion of Hell had risen to power 25 years after WWIII had wiped out every country except for America. Death had managed to blackmail the entire government into following his every order. He was evil and needed to be stopped.

I almost tried to drive up the hill before I realized we had to walk, the one downside to a pre-war vehicle was that it didn't run well up steep hills.

It felt weird returning to my childhood home. The place had been abandoned for years and was in ruins but still livable, my old tire swing still hung in the front yard. The formerly white paint was faded and chipped and the shutters were all but gone, still orange California poppies grew across the yard.

Being here brought back memories that I had spent years repressing, memories I had no interest in reliving. Memories of my mother.

Then I noticed the Devil reaching for her bonds, she was trying something. Without a second thought I pulled my gun and circled to the back of the truck. She saw me and her face immediately fell, so she had been trying something.

My friends circled around to the back of the truck where Ian pulled the Devil out of the truck. Izzie, Leo and I pointed our guns at her head in case she tried anything. You could never be too careful.

We pulled the Devil into the concrete basement where we had set up chains to prevent her escape. Ian fastened the chains around her ankles; I couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy for the Devil as she casually leaned against the wall allowing Ian to restrain her.

Then I made the mistake of looking into her piercing blue eyes, they seemed to bore into my very soul as if asking for something. I heard her chains rattle as she tried to step towards me.

Then Izzie spoke in a snarky, mean voice that I had never heard her use before; "That isn't for you Devil," she said "It's for whoever has the unfortunate task of guarding you"

I realized that she was referring to the cot we had set up by the wall. The Devil had been moving towards the cot, not me. The cot had actually been set up for the Devil but Izzie's plan to station a guard in the basement made sense so I didn't speak up. I was the leader, not the dictator.

The Devil just rolled her eyes and smiled this bone-chilling smile as my friends ascended the stairs. I gave the Devil one last look as I followed; I felt bad for her alone in the cold dark room, despite the fact that she was the enemy; anyway there was nothing I could do to help her anyway.

But she wasn't alone. Ian was nowhere to be found leaving the only explanation being that he had stayed downstairs. I really hoped he didn't try anything, Ian had been known to go overboard at times.

Luckily I heard no screaming or other sounds of a fight. Even if I had I wasn't sure what I would have done. She was the enemy after all.

When Ian joined us upstairs we had already seated ourselves around the old kitchen table. They all looked at me expectantly. I didn't know what they expected of me until I caught Izzie's eye and she helpfully mouthed the word 'speech'.

My father had always told me that a good speech was both inspiring and relatable to the listeners. Rising to my feet I dug deep into my mind searching for the right words to say. I had never been good at this.

"The second most powerful person in the Legion of Hell is sitting chained in our basement. Step one of our plan has gone perfectly thanks to you guys, not to mention your brilliant leader." Leo and Izzie smiled at my joke, I shifted my weight from foot to foot as I continued, "In a little over a week we will bring the Legion to its knees freeing the world from tyranny. It only gets harder from here but I know we can do this."

I finished lamely but it could have gone a lot worse. Leo and Izzie jestingly clapped as I took an overly dramatic bow.

A moment later I heard pounding as Ian angrily ascended the steps. He had an I-don't-want-to-talk-about-it-so-leave-me-alone kind of look on his face. I decided to leave him be, and to ignore the bruise appearing on his jawline.

Ignoring Ian's scowl we began step two. I watched as Izzie retrieved her x-com and opened the message tab. She had spent over a week hacking into the Legions computer system to get Death's x-com link. She sent the message we had drafted as a group:

Death,

By now you have realized that your daughter, the Devil, has been abducted. As you are a smart man you will realize that she could be anywhere by now and you have no chance of finding her. If you ever want to see her again alive you will surrender and send all of your missile codes to this link as insurance. You have five days.

The Silver Order

We all cheered before Leo suggested a game of Egyptian Ratscrew, an intense card slapping game. We ended up playing for a few hours laughing and having fun before Leo took the first shift guarding the Devil and the rest of us went to sleep.

***

So what do you think so far. Should Xander have stood up for Kate? Will the plan work? Please let me know what you think. And don't forget to vote and comment if you like They Called Her The Devil so far!

-Jade