demonbelthazor | Suite 518/520 and elsewhere, Monday night [NFB]

Returning to his room after a visit to the Underworld to oversee preparations, Bel appeared in his room in a blaze of fire.

Which should've been empty, but wasn't. Cally was sitting on the couch, staring at him as the flames died away.

This would have to be dealt with.

	Cally shook herself out of her sudden shock. "I thought your powers were gone," Cally said. "And since when did you flame so much?"
	"You're seeing things, Cally," Bel said, stalking toward her. "You don't know what you're talking about."
	"I saw flames," Cally said. "Look, if you want me to go, that's fine, but you've got a little explaining to do."
	"I don't have to explain myself to you," Bel said. "Just because you like to pry into your ex-boyfriend's life doesn't mean you get to pry into mine."
	"No, but the fact you got me to get a spell from the Book of Shadows on a complete lie does," Cally said
	"I see you've been talking to Piper," Bel chuckled, putting himself between Cally and the door.
	"Yeah," Cally said. "So I want to know whether or not I should still be able to trust you."
	"Of course you can trust me, Cally," Bel said smoothly. "The spell was just something the Underworld was forcing me to get, or they'd kill my father. You understand that, don't you?"
	"...I'd understand that better if you'd said that in the first place," Cally said.
	"I couldn't," Bel said. "I couldn't take the risk that you'd say no. Or tell someone who wouldn't understand."
	"Great, so it's a 'I can trust you but you can't trust me' situation. Thanks, Nadia," Cally said. "So when did you get your demon powers back?"
	"You're mistaken," Bel said in a low voice. "I'm human now, you know that."
	"You appeared out of nowhere in a big flamey flameness thing," Cally said. "I'm so not seeing things.
	"Cally, I can't believe you'd even think that I'm a demon again," Bel scolded. "We should get you to the clinic. You're seeing things."
	Cally raised an eyebrow. "You're sure?"
	"Of course I'm sure," Bel said, taking a step closer. "And you're not going to repeat these silly stories to anyone else, are you?"
	"What, that you're completely flaming?" Cally joked.
	Bel made a quick movement and seized Cally's wrist. His eyes turned first to flame, then completely black. "You always did have a sense of humor," he said.
	"What the frak!?" Cally sputtered. "You can stop joking now."
	Bel's free hand snaked up to encircle Cally's throat. "You're the one making the jokes," he said. "Not me."
	"Stop right now or I'm gonna scream," Cally said, her eyes filled with fear.
	"We can't have that now, can we?" Bel said. "I don't want you attracting any attention." Flames rose around them, magically transporting them to a more private place, the preserves near the edge of town.
	"Stop, please," Cally said, not fighting but simply frozen with fear. Tears began to trickle down her cheeks. "This isn't funny."
	Bel let go of Cally's throat and moved his hand up to catch her tears on his fingers tips. "I hate to see a woman cry," he said. "No, wait. Actually, I enjoy it."
	Cally trembled where she stood, completely unable to force herself to move. "Why?"
	"You know my secret, Cally," Bel said calmly. "And I won't have you telling anyone else." He stepped back and conjured a ball of fire in his hand.
	Cally shut her eyes and looked away. "No please, I promise I won't tell anyone. My lips are sealed."
	Bel shook his head. "Any girl who puts out a survey to try to find out who her ex is sleeping with can't be trusted to keep her mouth shut," he said.
	Cally lashed out, trying to claw at Bel's face with her fingers. "Let me go!"
	Bel extinguished the fireball for the moment. He caught Cally's wrist, then drew his free hand back and punched her in the face.
	Cally reeled from the pain, trying to summon the strength to scream, but she was too dazed from the punch. All she could do was cry and try to pull away.
	Fireballs or even an athame would be quicker, but he was more in the mood for a hands on approach tonight. Bel reached out and grabbed a handful of Cally's hair, yanking her head back. "You're putting up more of a fight than Wilson," he commented as he viciously struck her in the face again, and then a third time.
	Cally tried her best to pound her free hand against Bel's chest, but wasn't effective at all. "Get off me!"
	Bel tightened his grip on Cally's wrist, twisting, smirking as he watched her face.
	Cally tried to pull away with all her might, letting out weak shrieks of panic.
	Bel waited until she was off balance, then released his hold on her, intending for her to go crashing to the ground.
	Cally hit the ground with a thump, and managed to turn over onto her back. She was out of breath, but still full of panic. She tried to scream but had no air.
	Bel put his foot on Cally's chest, pinning her to the ground. He conjured another ball of fire and bounced it in his hand. "It's a pity. Someone as naive and trusting as you, I'm certain I could've found additional uses for you."
	Cally was frozen with fear for a moment, then spit the blood from her mouth. "Frak you," she said, eyes welling with tears.
	"I'm already 'frakking' your ex-boyfriend," Bel said, smirking. "I hardly have the time for you, too."
	Cally gritted her teeth, and weakly pounded at the foot on her chest.
	Bel moved his foot, savagely kicking Cally squarely in the jaw.
	The sickening crack was only matched in intensity by the pain that shot through her, knocking her almost completely out. Her head lolled weakly, blood sputtering from her mouth and out her nose.
	Bel crouched down beside Cally, still holding the fireball. So easy to finish her off and keep his secret hidden. But he hesitated. No. Bel growled and extinguished the fireball. "Alieno is," he snapped, holding his hand in front of Cally's face.
	Cally put up no resistance, merely lay there, the blood beginning to pool around her head.
	Bel stood up and prodded Cally's limp body with his foot. If she died, she died. If she didn't, the spell would take care of her memory. Either way, he was safe, but it was a pity Belthazor was hindering his urge to just kill her and be done with it. This was growing tiresome. Didn't stop him from giving her a final brutal kick to the ribs, however. He vanished in a blaze of fire.
	A few long minutes after Bel vanished, Nadia came sprinting up along the edge of the preserve, calling Cally's name. She spotted the blood before she spotted her friend, then skidded to a stop beside her and dropped to her knees, her hands hovering over Cally's chest without daring to touch. "Cally? Cally, can you hear me?"
	Cally couldn't have responded if she was conscious, which thankfully for her, she wasn't. Her breathing was shallow, the blood gurgling from her mouth and nose.
	Nadia gave herself about half a second in which to just mutter panicked "Oh dios"s under her breath before inhaling deeply and letting her training take over. First aid and triage were vital for any decent agent, after all. She pulled off her jacket and then her over shirt to make some rudimentary bandages, applying gentle pressure to Cally's nose, then running her fingers over the other girl's neck and jaw line. Something was definitely off. Which means there was no chance that Nadia would be able to get her to the clinic by herself without hurting her even more. "Just hang on, Cally," she told the unconscious girl, setting her jacket very carefully around her neck and head to keep her spine stable without moving her, then pulling out her cellphone. She called the only person she could think of who might be able to get Cally to the clinic without moving her, forgetting for the time being that he couldn't actually shimmer any more. "Come on, Bel, pick up, pick up,"
	Back at the school, Bel looked at his phone as it began to ring. Why would Nadia be calling him? "Hello?" he said, answering the phone.
	"Bel!" Nadia's voice was hurried, but calm. "I need your help. I've just found Cally. Something must have attacked her, she's in bad shape, but I can't carry her without possibly hurting her more. Can you--crap, no, wait, you can't teleport any more, can you." There went that plan. . . .
	"No, I can't," Bel said. "Where are you? How close are you to the clinic?"
	Nadia looked around, thinking quickly. Cally was still breathing (she could hear it, what with the gurgling blood, and wasn't that a happy thought), but she didn't know how long that would last. "We're on the edge of town, in the preserve. It's too far for me to carry her by myself, and I don't want to risk hurting her neck or anything. But . . . maybe if there's two of us we can make a stretcher or something, and get her over there. Or get someone from the clinic out here."
	"I'll be there as fast as I can," Bel said solemnly. It might look good for him to play the hero. "I'll bring some blankets and something we can carry her on."
	"Good. I'll try to keep her warm and stable until you get here. Thanks, Bel." True to her word and despite the cold, Nadia pulled off a third layer of clothing (she was wearing several) to wrap it over Cally's shoulders, keeping an eye on the girl's breathing and occasionally peering into the dark preserve around them for . . . what- or whoever might have done this.
	In about ten minutes, Bel rushed into the clearing, putting on a good show of worry. He was carrying blankets which he dropped when he saw Cally. "What the hell happened?" he said, putting on a perfect show of shock and dismay. "Who did this to her?"
	Nadia shook her head, grabbing the blankets and casting Bel a sympathetic look. As usual, when it was someone other than her in immediate danger, she was the picture of calm leadership. "I don't know. I found her like this. I dreamed that she got attacked, but I couldn't tell by who." She started gently tucking the blankets around Cally, taking extra care any time she came anywhere near the other girl's neck. "We need to shift her onto one of the blankets, but we have to be careful. I don't want to hurt her any more than she already is."
	Bel nodded. "Get her feet. I'll take her shoulders." He crouched down at Cally's head and waited for Nadia to do the same at her feet. Gently, carefully, they lifted her and eased her back down on top of the blankets. "We can pick up the ends of the blanket and carry her," he said. "The clinic's not far from here."
	Nadia nodded, shifting her grip to the edges of the blanket. "That's a good idea. We just have to be careful not to shift her around too much."
	"We'll take it slow," Bel said. "We don't want to aggravate her injuries at all." When Nadia was ready, he took a firm hold on the edges of the blanket and smoothly lifted it so that Cally was cradled between them.
	Nadia didn't waste her breath answering, she just held the blanket firmly but carefully, keeping her eyes on Cally as they started toward the clinic, to make sure she stayed stable.