Hell Hath No Fury

Hell Hath No Fury Chapter Nineteen
Disclaimers Apply

A/N Goddess Foxfeather is a wondermous albeit VERY busy beta…
Readers/Reviewers: I know, I know… I'm slow. *sigh * This chapter is
a bit bloody…

Kitty threw up for the third time in an hour as Liz paced furiously.
The stone room they were in had no portal or door of any sort and
seemed to be exuding a foul, sulfurous stench, growing stronger with
each passing moment. Liz was muttering to herself, seemingly going
through a litany of curse words and partially formed plans, wincing
each time Kitty hiccoughed and heaved. "You done?" she asked as
kindly as she could when Kitty rocked back on her heels.
"God, I hope so," she muttered, standing shakily. "I guess water is
too much to hope for down here."
Liz sighed and pushed her hair back from her eyes, some strands
sticking in the drying blood from the small gash on her forehead.
"This isn't Hell," she said quietly. "It's some trick…" She pressed
her fingers to the stone wall and vented a long breath. "I don't know
how long we've been gone, but that's the funny thing about time… It
doesn't pass the same everywhere." She bit her lower lip and closed
her eyes. "We fell, but we were in the library… then what happened?"
"Then…" Kitty blinked, wincing at the taste in her mouth. "I don't
know… oh God," she groaned, feeling her body convulse then the stone
floor under her knees. "Ow…"
Liz knelt beside her and held her hair back as she dry-heaved. "Can
you phase us out?" she asked softly as Kitty shuddered and moaned.
"I'm sorry to ask now but…"
"I don't know what's on the other side," she sighed wearily. "Or how
thick the walls are."
"All you need to do is ask," a now familiar voice purred. Azazel
materialized from the shadows and smiled. "You're quite right. This
isn't Hell." As he spoke, the room shimmered with some dark light and
became the library again. "It's anywhere I need for it to be." The
room was bare then, white walls and floor reflecting some hidden light
source that made the girls' heads ache. "Consider this home for the
next…well, however long it takes," his smile became more edged, less
cordial. "You're useful to me, you see… There's some places a demon
just can't go these days and we need to find…" He paused and raised a
brow. "We need to be creative," he amended, spreading his hands in an
apologetic gesture.
Liz jerked her chin defiantly, wishing she cut a more imposing
figure, wishing she had on something other than old boxer shorts and a
washed out t-shirt from some band that had broken up years before.
"Be creative on your own time. You want Kurt, we know. But you can't
get him through us. Hellboy won't let you. We know the risks…"
"Uh, Liz?" Kitty asked, her voice shaking just a little. "Shut up…"
Azazel laughed outright at that, an oddly human sound that made the
girls jump slightly. Liz leveled her gaze at Azazel and said calmly,
"I've lived among demons my whole life. You aren't scaring me."
Azazel cocked his head to one side and considered her. "I'm not?
That's too bad. It's so much easier when my …associates…cooperate."
He opened his hand and curled his fingers, making a fist. He struck
out, seemingly pinching thin air, but a rift appeared around his hand.
He grabbed a corner of the tear and pulled.
Kitty gasped and clung to Liz. "What the Hell is he doing?"
Liz swallowed hard. "Sometimes I find it's best not to ask too many
questions with demons, you know? Might not like the answers."
Azazel was before them suddenly, close enough for them to see the
marks and textures of his skin and the dark, fine veins in his golden
eyes. "Fear is a great motivator, Katherine." He shoved Kitty towards
the tear he had made in the ether. She gasped anew and would have
fallen if it had not been for Liz grabbing her arm. Both girls
stopped in their tracks, though, and did not move from the odd
half-crouched tangle they had become. Before them lay scenes of
unimaginable horror: people flayed alive, strips of flesh hanging in
tatters from still-breathing bodies, children burning on pyres of
bones that exuded a stench and heat the likes of which could not be
described in human words, women tearing their hair out in desperation,
trying to get free from manacles of pure pain, men who had become
nothing more than living skeletons, forced to torture their loved ones
for eternity. "This is nothing, dear Katherine and Elizabeth. This
is for show. But consider the possibilities…"
Kitty closed her eyes and swallowed repeatedly, feeling sicker than
ever. "You're lying. If you're a demon, you're lying."
"Kitty, not all demons lie," Liz muttered, transfixed on the scene
before her. "Hellboy won't risk Kurt just to save us," she repeated
to Azazel. "You're out of luck."
Azazel smiled again and inhaled, seemingly satisfied. "Good." With
a sudden, sharp shove, he sent both girls tumbling through the rift,
closing it behind them.