I spent the next two weeks in a peaceful solitude. Luke mostly dealt with his Hell-related business, leaving me to my exploration of his ginormous castle. In fact, the only time I spoke to him was when he was delivering the dress I was supposed to wear to the gala. Otherwise, it was a curt nod and a suspicious look in passing. Not that I minded.
The castle was actually much more elegant than the moldy, concrete rooms I’d had the pleasure of inhabiting. Once I regained enough energy to physically get out of bed, I found that I was on the top floor, in some tower dungeon of sorts. Connecting to the lower floors was a grand staircase, made of some metal that looked quite valuable (though I was curious as to how the residents of Hell determined currency and value). The floors were tiled and nearly spotless, but I never saw anyone cleaning them. The furniture was all very old, and to be honest, very dusty. I once made the mistake of sitting down on a sofa, and walked around for the next two hours with a ton of dust and lint on my butt. It wasn’t exactly pleasant when Lyon pointed it out as I was going to get something to eat.
On occasion, I passed by what I assumed to be a demon, though it was quite disconcerting to make eye contact with any of them, with their black, pitiless eyes that seemed to bore into your soul. And perhaps I was imagining things, but it seemed like those eyes were the only thing I could ever notice about the demons. I could never picture the rest of their faces, or their bodies, for that matter, without physically being in their presence.
Luke’s castle grew boring. It was the same old walls, and the same old floors and stairs and sofas. I wanted to go outside. I curious about what Hell was like outside of this castle. Did it look like Earth? Like a city, or the countryside? It was as though not a single window could be found in the entirety of the castle. The one time I caught a glimpse out of a window, I was quickly ushered away to meet Luke about my gala dress.
In all honestly, despite the disturbing fact that I was in Hell, I was quite comfortable. I’d been moved to a room on the lower floors with a much larger (and bouncier) bed and was given a multitude of clothing choices for my stay in Hell. The food was edible and nobody bothered me. And about a week into my stay, I returned to my room to find a guitar on my bed with a note that read ‘I hope this stops your foolish wandering around the castle.’ in some old-timey barely legible calligraphy. I didn’t even want to imagine how he knew I played the guitar. I smiled and took the guitar without complaint, spending more time lying on my bed, listening to the chords echo throughout my room. And sometimes, when I was playing, I swore I could see Luke’s shadow in the hall outside my room.
When the day of the gala came, I felt somewhat melancholy, yet relieved at the same time. I took a deep breath as I looked at my reflection in the mirror, wearing a light blue, halter-top, floor-length dress. It was lined with sequins along the waist, and the skirts flared out in a silky material that brushed the floor when I spun. It felt like I was attending my prom a year early.
“You look great.” Said a voice from behind me. I spun around to see Lyon, accompanied by Luke and Death. They looked quite dashing in their suits, though, they hadn’t done much to fix their hair. It looked like they’d just rolled out of bed.
I blushed. “Blue looks horrible with my hair. Bright red and light blue is a fashion crime.” I said, with a modest smile.
“I think it’s more of an auburn.” Said Luke. I met his eyes, which were staring intently into mine.
I bit my lip and patted my hair down, not knowing how to respond. “Oh!” I exclaimed. “I didn’t get a chance to say thank you for the guitar. It was… It was really nice.” I finished lamely.
He leaned against the doorframe and continued staring at me. “No problem.” He smirked. “The castle demons were complaining about the smell, I had to do something.”
Death snorted. I glared at Luke. “Very funny. Maybe I should go bathe in some carcasses, would that smell better? Well, surely it would, that’s all you eat here, isn’t it?”
“Actually, we eat souls, there’s a difference.” He replied slyly. I grimaced.
Death sighed loudly. “So are we leaving now? If I remember correctly, the Angels are big on punctuality and they hate us enough as it is.”
Luke grinned before tearing his eyes away from mine. He began to make his way out the door. “Eh, they’ll start the party with or without us. If anything, the later the better. The more drunk they are, the more inclined they’ll be to believe us. Let’s just hope God’s been having a good day…”
The three of them left the room, with me tagging along behind them. They whispered to amongst themselves as I tried my hardest to keep up with them. Even at above average height, Death and Luke towered over me by a good seven inches. And Lyon… well, he might be the size of an eight-year-old, but he took strides the length of a grown man. I puffed a bit and Luke turned to glance at me suspiciously.
“What are you doing?” he asked, narrowing his eyes at me. I stared at him in disbelief.
“I’m walking! Actually, more like jogging, because you weird creatures have abnormally long legs. Can’t you walk any slower? How are we getting to the gala, anyways?”
Death rolled her eyes. “Do you humans ever ask one question at a time? It’s like you just blurt out everything that comes to mind.”
Luke chuckled, then flung my body over his shoulder like I was a paperweight. I flailed my arms and legs wildly, punching his back. “Put me down!!! I changed my mind, I can use my unfairly short human legs!!!”
“Pshh. Don’t be ridiculous. Besides,” he started, adjusting my position on his shoulder, “this is how we’re getting there.”
“What are you talking about? What’s ‘this’ supposed to mean?” I almost shrieked.
I couldn’t see his face, but I was sure he was grinning mischievously. “What else could it mean? We’re flying.”
With every beat of Luke’s massive, powerful wings, I got a huge whoosh of air in my face.
“You should know,” I yelled over the sounds of us flying through the air, “you’re totally screwing with my hair right now. Those Angels won’t be too happy that your guest has a horrendous hairdo.”
“Eh.” He yelled back. “Either way, once you see the Angels, you’ll feel ginormously inferior, self-conscious, and horrible about yourself. And to them, every mortal looks the same. No amount of hairspray with change how they think of you—naïve, stupid, and ugly.”
“Way to make me feel good about myself.”
“Anytime.”
I looked down at Hell, sprawling before us. My first look at it was severely disappointing. The huge castle I’d resided in was essentially the only structure in the entire, desolate land. Surrounding it was something like a desert. I couldn’t see clearly from so far up, but as I squinted, I was sure that I caught sight of tiny, cactus plants. Suddenly, a huge… geyser, I suppose, of fire burst out of a hole in the ground. I screamed a little and jerked, kicking so hard that Luke nearly dropped me. I slipped from my position on his shoulder, startled, but he caught me with one arm holding my back and the other under the back of my knee. Wide eyed, I grasped his shoulder and tried to look back to see the fire geysers again. In between flaps of his wings, I saw the flames flying out of the ground like the breaths of a fire-breathing dragon.
“Oh, my God.” I said. “Dear God. That’s… What was that??”
Luke glanced at me. “What was what?”
I turned on him, absolutely flabbergasted. “The fire!!! There was fire coming out of the ground!!!”
“Oh!” He laughed a hearty laugh. “Those are the Hellhounds!! They don’t usually do the fire show for visitors, they must like you!!”
I slammed my forehead on Luke’s shoulder. “Hellhounds.” I repeated weakly. “The Hellhounds… They… Hellhounds... like me. I don’t know if I should be insulted or not.”
“The Hellhounds are hilarious, you’d love them. Everyone who meets them loves them. They’re always depicted with the red eyes, and the stink, and the super strength, like the grim, but they’re really adorable!”
“Hellhounds.” I repeated again, somewhat stupidly. “Adorable… Hellhounds.”
“Is it too much for your puny mortal brain to handle?” Death sneered, though I thought I heard a hint of amusement behind her words.
Lyon laughed. “If that’s too much, your brain might explode before the night is over.”
I really thought it might.
ns 15.158.61.48da2
