THE MA'LAK BOX
CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Though it stood far from her, the mysteriousness of the box and its large size wasn't any less intimidating to Dani. The entire time Matthew, Calum and Nick were loading it out of the car's trunk and onto a platform cart, the brunette found herself doing nothing but staring. It was the same rusty, metallic box with sigils wielded onto the top that Dani had seen the first time she entered her dad's office. Even despite the several times she had seen it when in her dad's office when being taught about the history of the Monroe's and witches, Dani had always been repelled from it. Maybe it was how ancient it or how secure it looked... how it was big enough for a person to be trapped in. She never liked tight spaces. There was just something about it that told Dani to stay away.

Her eyes only left the large object when the sound of footsteps made their way to Dani's ears. She turned around to see Sabrina in a beautiful, gold dress making her way toward them with her aunts, Ambrose, Harvey, Theo, Roz and a few unfamiliar faces made their way towards her. "Everyone knows the plan, right?" Sabrina glanced between everyone but made sure to ignore Nick. "Where's the Acheron Configuration?"

"There's no way it'll be strong enough to hold him." Calum patted the box. "This might be, though."

"What is it?" Harvey asked, stepping forward to eye it. It seemed that Dani wasn't the only one who felt uncomfortable being near it. Everyone aside from the two hunters avoided standing too close.

"It's a Ma'lak Box. Secured and warded. Once inside, nothing gets out... " Matthew explained, tracing his hand over one of the sigils. "Not even an archangel."

"It's never been used before, so there's no guarantee it'll work but it's our best shot," Calum added and Matthew nodded in agreement.

While the others continued taking, Zelda approached Dani with folded material in her hands. "Put this on. You'll need it if you're coming in." She handed Dani the lilac dress, setting a matching mask with pink and indigo gems on top of it when it was in the younger girl's hands. Dani nodded and walked behind the car to slip it on. It was a beautiful silk dress that flowed to her feet. She would have been so excited to wear such a stunning dress had it been for a dance or any other fun occasion. Tonight, she hadn't even given herself a few seconds to look at it before putting it on to register how pretty it was.

Coughing to rid herself of the dryness in her throat, Dani walked back into the small crowd of witches, warlocks and people. With both of her icy but sweaty hands, she gripped onto the skirt of her dress to try her best to hide how much they were shaking. "How are we going to get it in there?" Dani asked after noticing they were still discussing the box. The more they discussed the plan, the faster her heart raced. While of course everyone was nervous, they all managed to stay cool and collected unlike Dani who could barely stop her teeth from clattering. Lucifer was right passed the door they were standing by, waiting for the masquerade to begin so he could crown Sabrina his queen. Noticing her inability to stay still, Nick rested a hand on Dani's shoulder, giving it a reassuring squeeze.

"I'll use a Glamour." Nick said, a small side-smirk on his face as he continued speaking, "the Dark Lord won't see what's coming."

"Good. This is the spell everyone needs to read while Sabrina distracts Satan. It'll get him into the box." Calum held out a wrinkled sheet of paper that a few sentences were written on. "Can you remember this?" He looked at everyone, hoping to receive nods.

"We know this one," a girl Dani didn't recognize with dark skin and buzzed, platinum-blonde hair confirmed after reading over it. Hilda, Zelda, Ambrose and some others agreed.

"Do you guys think you can memorize this?" Sabrina asked Theo, Harvey and Roz, handing the paper to them.

"I think so," Roz said, nodding after looking over the Latin words. The three repetitively read the spell under their breaths to engrave it in their brains. Just the thought of possibly forgetting the incantation put Dani on edge and she started chewing on her bottom lip. She had been given the paper in the car so she could memorize the spell by the time they arrived. While she was seated in the car, she had it covered. Now that the ball was only seconds away from starting, though, Dani struggled to recall the words in her head.

"Hey, don't worry about it, Daniella. This is going to go well." Nick rubbed her back soothingly. "You look beautiful, by the way," he added, his eyes twinkling as he looked her up and down to take in her staggering appearance. When she only gave him a tiny, forced smile before turning away and continuing to tap her foot anxiously, he repositioned himself to stand directly in front of her. "You don't have to come in, you know? You should sit in the car like your father suggested."

"No, I want to be there to help," Dani shook her head, forcing herself to stand up straight and attempt to wipe the concern off her face to look confident. "I'm fine, I swear." Nick sighed and nodded, returning his attention back to the discussion everyone else was having regarding the plan to trap Lucifer.

"Is everyone ready?" Ambrose rubbed his hands together, stepping closer to the big door in front of them. "Lilith will be calling us in any minute so everyone, put your masks on. Nicholas, get the box ready." The warlock nodded and pulled the Ma'lak Box away to put a Glamour on it.

Too nervous about the event that was about to follow, Dani couldn't even look at Nick to watch him do the spell that, any other day, she would have been interested to see. She leaned against the car, arms folded over her chest and eyes closed. While she wanted to help save Sabrina and get this entire thing over with, part of her hoped that Lilith wouldn't give them the signal to come in any time soon. Dani was the one who wanted to be a part of taking down the Dark Lord and she still did, but she couldn't help the quick heaving of her chest and the tremors that traveled throughout her body. No matter how much she tried to push it away, she couldn't seem to stop her gut from trying to convince her not to go in. Dani knew that no matter how persuasive the terrified part of her was, there was nothing that could overpower her burning desire to help and protect her friends.

"You okay, kiddo?" Dani jumped, her eyes flying open when an arm was slung around her shoulders. She relaxed when she saw it was her brother, quickly blinking back the tears that had involuntarily sprung into her eyes.

"I think so." She sighed. Staying out of the conversation that everyone else was having did help Dani calm down to some extent. Her hands were still icy cold but at least the sound of her pulse wasn't loud enough to prevent her from hearing anything else. She closed her eyes once again and leaned into her brother's side in attempts to settle her heartbeat a little bit more before the ball began. To Dani's dismay, her eyes flew open once again to the sound of loud clapping that echoed from downstairs, all the way up to the entrance that they were stood at.

"Here we go."

Sabrina entered first, the mask on her face serving as an accessory to her dress rather than concealing her identity. Everyone followed after her, Dani staying close to her dad, brother, and Nicholas. Ascending down the stairs, her body was numb. She could barely feel her feet touching the floor.

Her shaking hand scrambled around by her side, searching for Nick's. When she finally found his warm touch, she sighed in relief, holding onto his hand tightly. Caressing her the back of her hand with his thumb was a small action but enough for Dani's stiff shoulders to loosen ever so slightly. When she emerged low enough on the staircase to see a throne that looked like exactly what a king would sit on, Dani hadn't tensed as much as she'd expected to; Satan was not more than just a man. His confident posture in his seat and the way he eyed Sabrina with such admiration was eerie, but Dani hadn't trembled or gasped upon seeing him like she thought she would. She was even more surprised to see Ms Wardwell standing beside him, dressed in an ash-red dress. Ms Wardwell is Lilith... She furrowed her eyebrows in thought. Was this why their principal always seemed to be so fond of Sabrina?

The Spellman girl started singing, her angelic voice filling the spacious ballroom as she reached the bottom of the staircase. Though her voice was shaky and cracked several times in fear, Dani chorused along with everyone else. She stopped singing when she reached the bottom of the stairs and was forced to part from Nick. Her breathing suddenly quickened at the feeling of being alone. She followed Hilda and Zelda, the two of them having the only familiar faces she could recognize. She found a space on the left side to stand and watch the dance between Sabrina and the Dark Lord.

Dani looked around, searching for comfort in the eyes of someone she knew. Her breath hitched when her eyes couldn't spot Nick's, Calum's or her dad's masks, everyone moving too much for her to focus on a person. Clenching the skirt of her dress, she forced herself to remain calm.

Latin words soon started being whispered, and after realizing that the spell was being said, Dani quickly immersed herself in the quiet chanting, distracted from her anxiousness of being alone. She held tightly onto her necklace as a remote form of comfort, eyes closed so tightly she could see white dots splattering around in the darkness. "Omnipotentis Dei p-potestatem invoco..." Dani recited, inhaling sharply and mentally cursing at herself for stuttering. Shakily, she followed everyone else's lead to continue. "Omnipotentis Dei potestatem invoco. Abborro te ut... Angelum omnium obsequendum. Domine e-expuet." As the volume of the chanting increased, the Dark Lord seemed to catch on to what was happening. Thrown off by his frightening, panicked yells demanding everyone to stop, Dani almost forgot to continue the spell. The more frantic The Dark Lord was, the louder they spoke the spell. "Domine expuet. Deum adempiremus veritas!" As the last words flowed out of everyone's mouths in sync, Sabrina stepped back and joined in. Everyone threw their masks off to reveal their identities, taking the Dark Lord by surprise. Ms Wardwell– Lilith– raised her hand, and with the click of her finger, a number of the guests vanished, disappearing into a red mist that matched her dress. The echoing gust of air that sounded made Dani flinch, but she kept a hard stare on the Dark Lord and repeated the spell with the others.

"Now, Nicholas!" Sabrina yelled, a proud, confident smirk crossing her face as she glared at the archangel they were all about to put an end to. With a bright flash of light that made everyone wince, the Ma'lak box appeared in front of the Dark Lord as though it had been there the entire time. As everyone in the room repeated the spell for a third and final time, the box flew open, the sound of an explosion following immediately after with another flash of light, this time more blinding. When Dani regained her vision and blinked away the black dots that temporarily impaired her sight, the Dark Lord was replaced by a large puff of red smoke swirling in the air. Dani watched silently, her ears ringing from the loud sound and her heart racing in anticipation. When the fiery gust of red traveled into the large box that awaited it, Ambrose hurried forward to seal it. The room was silent for a moment, everyone staring at the Ma'lak box, awestruck. Dani almost choked on air, so shocked by the scene that took place right before her eyes that she hadn't realized she was holding her breath.

"It worked..." Ambrose enthused, looking at everyone with a disbelieving grin. "It worked!" he repeated, the volume of his voice breaking everyone out of their dumbfounded trances.

Dani watched Harvey, Theo and Roz run up to Sabrina, eyes filled with excitement. Instinctively, when she saw them all hugging and cheering for the blonde, Dani hurried toward them to join in, surprising herself with how she walked near the Ma'lak box to her friends without even the slightest bit of hesitation; she was too grateful about Sabrina being safe to care about the fact that she was only two meters from the object that contained a dangerous archangel.

"I can't believe it," Sabrina gushed, pulling the four that surrounded her into a tight embrace that everyone else joined in on. "This couldn't have happened without you guys."

"Everyone, step back," Matthew called, his voice blurred by the teenagers' happy cheers and laughter. "Step back!"

It wasn't until she could feel and hear a loud rumbling under her feet that Dani turned around to see what the commotion was. The Ma'lak box shook in its place, making the floor jiggle so much it seemed as though a herd of animals were stampeding into the room. Dani stepped back, eyes widening as the box only started to move quicker, looking like it was going to topple over. The locks on the side of it clattered against the metal, getting louder and louder with every second that passed. Dani's eyes stung and her breath hitched when golden light seeped out of the sights that covered the ancient box.

"Everyone, move! Move!"

Like a TV was set on rewind, the box flew open once again and a deafening crashing noise made its way into Dani's ears. Even with the blinding flash of light, she couldn't look away. Her heart rate accelerated as the red mist swarmed out of the open box. She couldn't control the muscles in her numb, frozen body. She couldn't move away. The smoke spun and spun and spun, the hypnotizing red reflecting in her spellbound eyes.

"Dani!"

"Dani, get back!

"Daniella!"

She didn't see the red smoke stop spinning. She didn't see it coming toward her. Not until she could feel all her thoughts, her feelings, her breath, her life being thrown out of her body when a vigorous force slammed into her chest. When red smoke was all she could see.

_____ ♔_____

→ author's note

just so you guys know, the first spell in this chapter is one i took from an episode of supernatural where they exercise an archangel. the rest of the spells are from the caos finale itself.

i hope you guys liked this chapter! it was really fun to write.