Entombed In the Underworld

It all started with my philosophy on death. I don't know how it happened, one thing just king of led into the other. But one thing is for sure I'm trapped and I need help. So I'll take you back to where it started.

"Class, today you will be creating your own philosophy about what you believe in and at the end of the session we will share them with the class. You may now begin," said our English teacher Mrs Nicholson.

Death, Dying, Dead I read.

From the moment you are born you are dying,

No matter who you are, or where you are, you will die.

Death is inevitable. There is no escaping it.

Today you are dying,

Yesterday you were dying,

And tomorrow you'll be dying,

There is no denying death.

When I finished reading mine out to the class my friends rolled their eyes because they say that I'm always 'harping on' about my philosophy on death. We worked our way through our other five subjects then finally, the day was over. My friends Thalia and Bernadette came over to my place so we could do our homework together, but I didn't see any sign of my dad. Probably on the golf course I thought to myself. Once we'd finished our home work we messed around for a bit then my friends had to go home because it was getting late. I was going up to my room when my father suddenly appeared out of nowhere startling me. "I received a call from your English teacher today," he said, "She told me that you wrote a philosophy on death and told the whole class that they were dying." Mrs Nicholson is such a blabbermouth I thought to my self.

"She said to write a philosophy of your own about your own beliefs," I answered

"It's all very good and well to write your own philosophy on your beliefs," he said " but must you write about such morbid topics."

"Dad," I said. "It's a free country, and she didn't even give us guidelines as to what topics we were supposed to write about anyway."

"Are you answering back at me?" my dad asked.

"No," I replied hotly. "Just giving you the full details, like how she'd use any excuse just to talk to you."

"Alanna," he said sternly "You have no right and are in no position to make that sort of comment."

"I have every right and my position is irrelevant. The truth is the truth and you obviously can't see it, so it's my job to point it out to you." I hissed, now overcome with anger. What right did he have to treat me like a child and act as if he knew me? My dad is a famous movie actor and I hardly see him, and when he is home it's not as if he spends any time with me. So I left him fuming on the stairs, as I walked past into my bedroom slamming the door shut behind me. I grabbed my ipod and book, shoving my earphones into my ears. I started playing 'doodle jump' but soon got frustrated with it because I kept dying, so I picked up my book and started reading. I couldn't help thinking as I read my latest book 'Goddess Test', what might've it been like if my mum was still alive? Would dad be different? Would I be different? Deep in thought I'd drifted into a daze. Shaking myself back into reality I realised I wasn't in reality, where had my bedroom gone, and why the heck was I in a forest just like my book. Where on earth was my book? If I was still on earth!

"AAAHHH!" I heard a blood curdling scream. Without hesitation I ran in the direction of where the scream came from. When I broke out on to the other side of the forest I was stopped by a fast flowing river. When I peered closely at the water I realised that it was tinged with red, then the body of a girl floated towards me on the water. I stood there shocked and horrified at the same time. Then another girl appeared out of nowhere on the other side of the river, though this one was alive. "Kate!" she gasped. Oh My God! I thought, thiscannotbe happening. There is no way in the world this could be happening. It's not physically possible I reasoned with myself. But there was no denying it now, somehow I'd managed to transport myself into my book. "Help me get her out!" cried the girl on the other side, snapping me out of my shock. I crossed over to her side on some stepping stones, then helped her drag the girl's body out of the water. A man with a limp appeared suddenly and I guessed that he must have been the girl Kate's bodyguard, his name was Nicholas I remembered from the book. He looked at me strangely then picked up the girl's body. The other girl and I followed him. We ended up in a huge mansion which I thought was probably the home of 'Henry', also known as Hades. In my book Kate was going through a series of tests based on the seven deadly sins. If Kate succeeded in every test she would be granted immortality, become the Queen of the Underworld and Henry's wife, and save Henry from losing his power and the Underworld. But right now her chances didn't seem too good, seeing as though she was dead. Lucky for her the King /God of the Underworld was in love with her and would do just about anything to bring her back. We were all inside Kate's bedroom when Henry arrived. He rolled up his sleeves, then set to work. Placing his hands on her body he closed his eyes and concentrated. In only a few minutes I saw the strain starting to show. His brow was covered in beads of sweat and his face contorted with a mixture of pain and concentration. Her body was bathed in light radiating from his hands giving it an unearthly glow. Then suddenly he released her body and stood up, opening his eyes. We all crowded forward, except for Henry. Who drifted off towards the far corner. Suddenly the girl's eyes fluttered open. "Am I dead?" she asked. I couldn't believe it, he'd actually brought a dead girl back to life, right before my eyes. I stood there stunned and amazed. This guy was AWESOME I thought. Then he turned to me. "Who the hell are you?" he asked me.

"My name's Alanna," I said flicking my auburn hair.

"Where did you come from?" he asked eyeing me warily.

"I live in Brisbane, in a house." I replied.

"What are you doing here," he questioned.

"To be honest I have no idea. One minute I was in my room reading my book, the next I'm down here with you guys inside my book!" I replied. "I know it's crazy right, but I've always wanted to meet a Greek god, and guess what? I get to meet one of the big three, I mean what joke. Now if you'll excuse me, I must pinch myself to return to reality." He looked at me as if I was some weird animal. Whatever I thought, he's the one with the freaky powers. Using my forefinger and thumb I pinched my arm and closed my eyes. When I opened my eyes they were all still staring at me. "What!" I yelled. "Technical malfunction people."

They must've thought I was crazy because they all took a step back when I yelled at them.

"Nicholas," Henry said. "Could you please escort this girl to one of the guest rooms. Make sure no one goes in or out, mortals are not meant to be here."

Nicholas gestured for me to follow and we left the room. When I entered my room I was surprised with the sight of an old fashioned bedroom. The bed had four posts and a canopy above, the walls were a soft pink and had an oval mirror on the central wall. The bed was in the centre and off to the right were two armchairs and a small table, and an ensuite off to the left. Nicholas closed the door behind me and stood guard outside. Now alone, I didn't know what to do. What happens now, I thought? How do I get home? Am I going to be stuck here forever? Clearing these thoughts from my mind I went and had a shower. After my shower I found a clean pair of jeans and a white t-shirt in the wardrobe and got dressed. I opened the door and Nicholas looked at me.

"Can I look around?" I asked. "Because it's really boring in their." He looked at me and shook his head. "No one is to go in or out of this room including you," he replied as impassive as ever. Fine I thought. So I went back in my room, no way was I going to stay in I just wanted to go home. The whole situation was starting to freak me out and I didn't like being in quarantine. So I tied together all the bed sheets creating a rope, then smashed one of the windows. I didn't know if Nicholas had heard, but I quickly descended along the outside of the building through my window with the sheets tied securely to the bed. Nearing the end, I realised I was short a few meters, so I jumped and did a roll landing. I then started running. I didn't know where I was going, but I knew that I couldn't stay here. If I stayed I knew I would never return home. So I ran towards the sound of the river but was soon stopped by an impassive Nicholas. I tried swerving around him, but he shot out an arm catching me as I ran. Damn I thought. Still desperate to escape, I tried wriggling out of his grasp but his grip was like iron. My chances of escape were now next to nothing. When I looked up I saw Henry appear round the corner. Looking at him, the fight instantly drained from my body. I could tell by his walk that he was 'not' happy.

"WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?" Henry thundered. "How dare you disobey my orders and vandalise my property. You disrespect me and my property and act like the impulsive mortal that you are. You are but a mere mortal meddling in the affairs of gods, and I shall not tolerate it!"

So without another word I was picked up by Nicholas and taken to another room. The room was little more than the size of a shoebox. There was an iron framed bed, plain wooden chair and table with a small basic bathroom off to one side. The walls were white just like the bed sheets, and the floor was concrete, just like a prison cell.

"You will stay here until you die or unless I believe it is necessary for you to return to the mortal world!" Henry declared. "You are forbidden to leave this cell, and no one, is allowed to enter it. You will be brought a meal of bread and water three times a day. Have I made everything clear to you?"

I nodded, so now I was his prisoner locked in the underworld. I sat there on the bed staring at the wall, hours passed into days, and days turned into weeks. It was then that I realised that my chances of being saved now, are very slim. So now I must accept my fate to die in this cell, where I wait for death to collect me, entombed in the underworld.

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