Chapter 5

Bo gaped at the temple that had appeared in front of her. It was small and looked ancient. Two straight pillars, with their tops carved into the shape of lotus flowers, held the entrance gate.

On each side of the entrance gate, there was a trapezoidal wall. Both had paintings or writings on them once, but now nothing was legible.

Above the gate, there was a stone bas-relief of a winged creature. The paint on the wings had faded almost completely, with only a few streaks of green and blue left. The face of the creature was scraped off.

Bo swallowed hard and turned to find Tamsin, but the Angel was nowhere to be seen. In fact, everything around her was gone. It was as if she was in a void of darkness and the temple in front of her was the only thing that existed.

Bo took a few deep breaths as she pulled her dagger out. After having scanned the surroundings, she entered the gate cautiously.

Inside it was lit by hundreds of candles and braziers floating in the middle of the air. Just like Gary Myers had described, they all had ghostly pale flames.

There was no one else inside, but she sensed many presences, like the place was crowded but she was the only one that was visible.

She stood there as she looked at the altar - a small stand carved out from a solid piece of stone. On its flat top, there was a small bunch of fragrant blue lotuses. They looked as if they had been picked no more than five minutes ago. Somehow, such fresh flowers being in a place like this made the hair on the back of Bo's neck stand.

Behind the altar there was a tall statue. Its shape vaguely resembled a female. The details of its face or any part of its body were long gone.

Bo's attention was drawn to the paintings on the walls, especially those behind the statue.

As she stared at them, the paintings came to life on the walls.

There was a bird, a black bird standing right beside a pit of fire. When Bo laid her eyes on it, it shook its head and soared into the flaming sky.

Next to it was a pale horse. When Bo's eyes moved to it, it started to walk, then run, then gallope. It jumped over layers of flames, before it disappeared into the darkness.

Under the horse's front right hoof, there was something small and bright. Before Bo could even make out its shape, it slithered into a river, into the thick patches of reeds, into the unknown.

The flames on the wall flared and roared. Behind the flames she started to see figures. Someone was trapped in the fire.

She heard voices. Someone was shouting and screaming.

"You'll never have it!" Someone bit those words out.

A ray of light burst out, so bright that it blinded everything.

As the light subsided, the sky was lit by scorching flames. The smell of sulfur and iron was so thick that she could taste it in the back of her throat.

A loud clash, like the gate of a fortress had fallen. More screams and cries. Now not only did she see the flames, she felt them as well. She felt the searing heat on her skin. She felt it inside her body, inside her soul.

Excruciating pain seized her. She clutched her chest and fell. In vertigo, she blacked out.

When Bo woke up, she found herself inside a dark room with no windows or doors.

This must be the crypt. She thought as she stood up and looked around.

The room was lit by a small brazier. Beside it, there was a stone casket with hieroglyphs inscribed all over: a standing pot, a seated woman, an eye, a flower, a feather….

Strangely, she had the feeling that she knew the meaning of those hieroglyphs, that she could read them, that she could understand them.

She found the standing black bird. She found the horse. She found the small and bright thing lurking in the corner of the casket.

The hieroglyphs started to dance in front of her. It was then that she had the sudden urge to open the casket.

Don't do it. She told herself. Don't open it.

But she couldn't help herself. She was no longer in control.

She lifted the cover with all her strength and pushed it aside.

Inside there were more hieroglyphs. In the middle there lay a sarcophagus. Carved out from a solid piece of obsidian, it had the shape of a woman. Two wings were carved on her side, like she was an Angel and she had her wings wrapped around her body.

Bo stared at the sarcophagus as a strong rush of sorrow seized her. Tears poured out, and she started to sob. The sorrow was so out of the blue, but so real that she couldn't breathe. It was as if she had lost the most precious thing in her life. It was as if she had nothing left to live for.

She opened the sarcophagus while choking in her tears. Inside there rested a woman. Her lips were still full and her cheeks were flushed with a rosy color. Her dark hair was carefully braided, adorned with fresh flowers. She had a tiara, where a thin band of blue, green and red gemstones arched over her forehead. It extended to her temples where two wings cradled her face.

She had her arms crossed in front of her chest. There was something sparkling on her right index finger, but it was too dark to see exactly what it was.

The woman looked so peaceful. She looked as if she was just fast asleep.

Bo hesitantly reached to check if she was still breathing. Just as she placed her finger under her nose, the woman's eyes shot open.

Those eyes. What are they?! They are two black holes. They were the bottom of a bottomless abyss. They were swirls of darkness, hatred and pain.

They stared into Bo, not just into her eyes, but into the deepest corner of her soul.

Bo stumbled back, trembling. There was an indescribable pain inside her, like her soul was being wrenched out.

She wanted to run away, but everywhere she turned, the woman was there right in front of her. No matter at which angle she was facing the woman, those black hole eyes were staring right back at her.

The things she had seen crashed through. The bird, the horse and the slithering creature. The ray of light. The voices. The burning sky. The casket. The woman's eyes. The hieroglyphs. They tossed her into a torrential darkness. She held her head and screamed.

Inside the barn, Tamsin flinched when she saw Bo reappearing out of nowhere. The brunette lay there lifelessly, the look on her face numb. Her eyes were wide open.

"Shit…" Tamsin cursed as she noticed how empty and dull Bo's eyes were. "Bo, can you hear me?"

Bo did not answer her. If it wasn't for her slightly heaving chest, Tamsin would think that she was already dead.

"Damn it! Bo, wake up! Wake up!" Tamsin held Bo's shoulders and shook her. "Can you hear me?!"

Bo didn't respond at all. The black of her eyes grew rapidly and the white of her eyes was quickly disappearing. She reeked of dark energy and death.

Suddenly, Tamsin felt a strong tug on her neck. She looked down and found that the silver ring that she had been wearing was pulling away from her. It fluttered and turned on its own as it moved towards Bo. The chain that was holding it had been stretched to its limit.

Tamsin frowned as she hesitantly unclasped the chain. The ring, along with the chain, immediately flew to Bo and stuck to her chest like a paperclip sticking to a magnet.

The ring vibrated, letting out a slight buzz like it was resonating with a certain energy that was coming from Bo. It started to spin on its own like a wheel. It spun faster and faster. Then, all of a sudden, it stopped, and Bo's eyes shut.

A few seconds later, Bo flinched. With a loud, sharp gasp, she opened her eyes again. They had returned to normal.

She struggled to sit up, confused and full of fear. Then, she met Tamsin's eyes. Somehow, the Angel's concerned eyes calmed her.

"I was...I was there!" She exclaimed, panting, "Tamsin, I was in Dark Temple. I saw…I saw everything! The…the black bird, a horse, something…something small…the casket! I saw the casket! I saw her, Tamsin. I saw her!"

"Calm the fuck down, sweetheart. You are not making any sense."

Bo swallowed hard and closed her eyes. Painstakingly, she described everything she had seen in the Dark Temple - everything that she still remembered anyway: the paintings, the casket, the hieroglyphs….

"Who is that woman in the coffin?"

"I don't know," Bo shook her head. "I tried to have a good look at her face but no matter how closely I looked her face was just a…blur. I mean, not that it was blurry but…I just can't describe it at all."

"Do you remember any of the hieroglyphs?"

Bo shook her head and let out a weak laugh. "I wish. I wanted to but…I couldn't. It was weird that…when I was in there I just felt that I knew how to read them, but when I tried to understand the meaning of them I just had this intense headache and ..."

Tamsin sighed. "Consider yourself lucky that you actually came back in one piece."

Bo frowned a little at that comment. Then she noticed the ring, which was still stuck to her chest. "Wow…a ring? Are we really there yet?" She teased.

Tamsin rolled her eyes. "A thank you would be nice." She snorted. "This might be what actually pulled your consciousness back from…wherever."

"What do you mean?"

"When you…well, you got off my truck and ran towards the barn like a lunatic. Then you just disappeared. I must have waited in the barn for at least ten minutes before you reappeared."

"So…when I disappeared, I guess I was actually in the Dark Temple?"

"I would assume so. Anyway, when you came back you weren't responding at all. And you had these dark eyes like they were just empty holes or something."

"And the ring?"

"It just…flew to you on its own and then…you woke up."

"Really?" Bo caressed the ring with the tip of her finger as she examined it. It was just a plain silver ring. She found no markings, engravings or gems. "What is this ring? Does it have some type of special power or something?"

Tamsin shrugged. "It's just an old ring. I don't know if there is anything special about it but…it is said that it would ward off evil spirits. Maybe it really could.…"

"Oh…" Bo was about to return it to the blonde, but Tamsin stopped her.

"Just…keep it for now. One Gary Myers is enough. I don't want you to turn into some serial killer who is also able to fuck people until their brains come out."

Bo chuckled. "I feel okay, but…I guess we can't be too careful, right?"

She put the ring around her neck. It rested right above her cleavage. She rubbed the tip of her finger along the edge of the ring a couple of times, before she asked, "what are we gonna do now?"

"Now, both of us go research the shit out of this Dark Temple thing and see if anything useful pops up."

"Okay. I'll see you tomorrow night at Pale Beak then?"

"Be careful there. You make it sound like a date," Tamsin grinned. Then, she briefly brushed her fingertip over the ring, before she said, "don't lose it, okay?"

Bo nodded. Somehow the heat from the Angel's finger lingered and it was…both comforting and enticing.

After she had returned to Hell, Bo went to her suite first. The day had been eventful and she was dying to share it with Bilith.

"How was your day?" The little panther raised his head and greeted her lazily.

"You wouldn't believe what happened today!" Bo sat down and ran her hand along his spine. "Have you heard of the Dark Temple?"

Bilith gave her a lazy glance. "Of course I have. Why did you ask?"

"I saw it and I went in, today."

"You did?" Bilith sat up, his ears propped.

Bo nodded firmly.

"Are you alright?" The feline asked her, concerned. "Many humans who have gone in lost their minds afterwards."

"I'm…okay. I mean, I feel okay," Bo answered. "I think for a brief moment I was…unconscious but…."

She fidgeted the ring absentmindedly. She remembered the dark vortex that had pulled her in after she had stared into that woman's eyes. She thought she would be trapped inside forever but according to Tamsin, the ring had pulled her out of it.

"I see that you've got a new bling," the little panther snorted as he flicked his claw on the ring. "Didn't know your date went so well."

Bo chuckled. Somehow she suddenly recalled the moment when Tamsin brushed her fingertip over the ring. It was as if the lingering heat was still there.

Bilith sniffed it. "Cheap knock off," he announced after flicking it again. "It has the stench of Heaven all over."

"Supposedly it has this power that wards off evil spirits."

"Pfft," Bilith drawled loudly. "You are a demon, Bo. You are one of those evil spirits."

Bo giggled. But, it did pull me out of the Dark Temple. She thought to herself.

"The Dark Temple, what did you see there?"

"Candles, braziers, a statue with no face…when I was in there I felt that…I was being watched even though it was empty."

"Mhm."

"I remember seeing these paintings on the wall. They were…it was like those images could move or something. Like…I was watching a movie, you know."

"What was the movie about?"

"Just incoherent clips here and there…I remember seeing a black bird, maybe a raven or something? Then…there was a pale horse running like it had no tomorrow."

"What else?"

"I remember the smell of sulfur and…fire. Screams, yelling, someone arguing maybe? It was all so…chaotic and confusing."

"Then what happened?"

"I passed out for a little bit. Then I was in this crypt. There was a casket. There was a woman inside. Her eyes…I can't-I don't know how I can describe them. They were like black holes and they sucked me in…."

"Did you see her face?"

"Of course I did, but I just don't remember. She had a tiara, I think."

"What kind of tiara?"

"Umm…it has this thin band over her forehead, with a ton of gemstones. It…extended to a pair of wings that covered both sides of her face." Bo described.

"Sounds nice and expensive," Bilith commented.

Bo wanted to tell him about those hieroglyphs but then she remembered that her father had told her not to talk to any demon about this mission. "Anyway it was just so weird, and a bit scary actually," she said after letting out a deep breath.

"Mhm," Bilith nodded lazily.

"What do you know about the Dark Temple?" Bo asked.

"Not much, just a temple that pops up every now and then. Whoever goes in goes insane."

"Do you know where it has come from or…I mean anything about how or why it appears?"

"No, no one knows really, but I do know one thing."

"What?"

"Only those with a soul could see and enter the Dark Temple," Bilith explained, "Angels and Demons can't see or enter the Dark Temple."

"So I was able to go in because-"

"-you are only half Demon and you have a human soul."

Bilith paused for a long time as he eyed Bo intently.

"What?"

"I don't know why you are suddenly so interested in the Dark Temple but…I'd be very careful if I were you."

"What do you mean?" Bo frowned at his tone - the little panther seldom spoke with such seriousness.

"The Dark Temple is…a place full of mysteries, to say the least. We don't know what exactly it is and we don't know its origin. What we do know is that it can somehow damage human souls to the point where it is just…completely broken. You really should be very careful, Bo. You do not want to get your soul damaged like that. It is the very thing that-"

"-harnesses my demon inside, yes I know, it's important to me."

"It's a lot more important than you'd think," Bilith muttered in a whisper.

"What was that?"

"Nothing," Bilith shook his head. "Don't you need to report back to your father or something?"

"Right, I need to go."

The little panther watched her leave. Then, he left the room in haste.

Bilith headed down to the River of Mist. There he met a hellhound and had a brief conversation.

The hellhound got into the river afterwards. He swam along the river until he had reached the edge of Hell. He wandered into the darkest corner and scratched his ear until a fly came out.

The fly buzzed, disappearing into a small puff of gray dust.

A while later, the fly reappeared in the human world. On the windowsill inside a sweets shop it rested, rubbing its front legs.

An old man came out from the back of the store, his back slightly hunched and his eyes nebulous. Every step he took, he would pant slightly. It took him a long time to reach the windowsill.

Instead of swatting the fly or shooing it away, he picked it up gently with his index finger and thumb. He held it to his ear and listened to its buzz intently. Then, he let the fly go.

Walking back behind the counter, he sat beside a table, on which there was a plate of assorted sweets. He picked up a chunk of caramel and tossed it into his mouth. He chewed the candy noisily while muttering, "the little one is so grown up now. How great would it be if you could see her again, even just for one brief moment…."