Glassy...
Glassy, indistinct, and distant...
That was the old world, an endless, dreamscape road stretching to an unreachable horizon, with Mayberry asleep at the wheel.
Asleep at the wheel...
May stirred awake in a soft, wide bed, gradually taking in the opulence of the bedroom.
'A hotel? A home, maybe. Maybe the rich slept here,' she figured. 'Who do I know who's rich?'
Leverage.
Her stomach sank, and half-formed theories ran through her worried mind as to how she was caught. No answer would matter. No excuses would stop the wrath that was only too kind enough to wait until she was fully awake to appreciate what was coming.
May looked around and noticed the morning light. "I was here all night?"
Nothing was now threatening or amiss, but then she felt something under her covers. Bare skin.
Looking down, May saw that she was clad in just her underwear. Her outfit, hat, and mask sat folded on a chair in a corner. Apart from her undies, however, she felt something else.
She ran a hand gently across her stomach and felt snug linen wrapped around her waist. The wound was tended to and bandaged well; its ache was just an unpleasant memory. Odd, did Leverage patch her up just so she could have the pleasure of tearing her open?
Maybe if she ran into them, she could convince Dunstan and Colleen to help her escape without getting them into too much trouble. She then wondered, off-hand, how they were holding up after the death of their son.
'No time for questions,' she goaded, getting out of bed. "I gotta get out of here."
Mayberry opened the bedroom door as softly as possible and checked the corridor leading to the main upstairs landing. Then, something called her attention.
The grand, sweeping architecture of the upper floor convinced May that she was in a mansion. Yet, the décor was different from what she remembered about Spider Manse. This place touched her mood, making her sullen for a moment.
There was something in its ambiance. The way the daylight played across the hall and cast it in a wistful light. How the shadows clung to the high corners of the gaudy ceiling and walls and gave an air of palpable melancholy as if the place reminisced of better days.
Whatever the case, May was someone's prisoner, if not Leverage's, which only lent more urgency to her needing to leave.
Not running into security or the bustling help, Mayberry soon came upon the ostentatious staircase that unfurled to possible freedom. She eased into her walk, endeavoring to keep her hoof beats as quiet as possible.
After a few seconds of loud creeping, May looked at one of the smooth, curving handrails. Ignoring the inner voice that chided her for being so silly, she straddled over the banister and slid.
Reaching the baluster at the end, she dismounted and soon stood before the front doors. Again, she saw no staff and briefly wondered who had brought her there.
May grasped the brass door handles gently and turned. The locks quietly relented, and the doors swung free onto an open courtyard.
A breeze puffed around May, not from out front but behind. She recalled passing no open windows, but her revelry was cut short by the sight of a smirking, young male demon in a fashionable tracksuit and matching sneakers standing on the threshold.
"Don't you want a tour first?" he asked.
Mayberry jumped back from him with a squeak. With no thought of replying, the teacher barged her way passed the youth before he vanished in a blur.
Power-walking across the expansive lawn, Mayberry swept the landscape for her car and saw nothing but statuary, a central fountain, and, with another start, the cocky demon from before, now appearing beside her.
"Relax, GD," he said.
Her eyes widened. GD? He knew?
"Wanna come back in so we can explain ourselves?" he asked.
"No!" she said simply before erupting in her demonic aura. "Where's my car?"
The youngster grinned. "Tell you what. Let's play a game. It's called 'How far can you get?' On the other side of the courtyard is the main gate. All you have to do is get there. It's that easy!"
From his annoying smirk, he wasn't spooked by her display, so May extinguished herself and ran for the cobblestone path that threaded to the gate.
A wide ring of fire sprung up and corraled her moments later.
She paused, then a notion made her posit, "Wait! I'm a demon. I won't burn." She brought out a hand to the flames.
"If it were any other fire, you'd be right," the young demon advised. "But hellfire doesn't feel so nice, y'know?"
May drew back her hand and felt a finger pluck the sensitive tip of her ear. She turned, and there was no one around. Then, he appeared again, giving her a pat on her head and a light punch in her arm on another return.
"Stand still!" she yelled at the vacant air. "I can't break your arms if I can't catch you!"
He returned a few feet from her. "Why so emotional?"
"You'll find out when I get a hold of you."
"Oh, big talk! I'm running rings around you!"
In her mind, it clicked. Running. Superspeed?
'One problem at a time,' May thought. 'The fire's got me pinned, but if Smart Mouth's a demon, then maybe he's trapped here, too. This could work.'
Judging from his jibes, he delighted in his overconfidence; a young adult but a child in spirit, and as a teacher, she had years of experience dealing with that.
"You just have to slip up once, little man!" she taunted.
She reignited her demonic form and hunched down as if readying to charge at the pest once he showed up again and waited.
"Not today!" Smart Mouth popped into existence and gave her a soft boot to the backside before running off again.
May quickly twisted in the direction where she was kicked, raised her fists, and then hammered them into the ground.
Turf surrendered in a small, radial explosion around her epicenter, and a yelp was heard from the far side of her. The body of the young demon visualized again, this time caught off-guard and clumsily trying to navigate the now uneven earth.
His unsteady gait painfully flexed his ankles, slowing him to a rapid stumble, unable to stop until he fell or made it to a more level grade. But, with a smirk, May had spotted him and launched into him with a running tackle.
"Hey! Wh-What are you-" he gasped, wriggling.
"Quit squirming!" she commanded while she pinned him.
He gave another yelp as he felt a clawed hand grip his testicles firmly but securely.
"Don't run off, Zippy, unless you want to sing castrato," May warned. "Now, where's my car?"
"P-Parked outside the house!"
"Alright, put out this fire."
"It's not me! It's Amy!"
"Then tell her to let me through, or there'll be three girls out here instead of two."
This time, he had to laugh. "Hey, that rhymes, but Amy's not...Ah! Okay, okay!"
Craning his neck, he yelled in the smoky air. "Amy! Knock it off! We-We got her!" Without further prompting, the fires sputtered back into the ground, and the air cleared soon after.
A few yards from the charred ring, a chubby, short-statured demon in aristocratic robes that looked more like a loose muu-muu stood guard.
As the smoke rose away and the scene cleared, his initial satisfaction dropped to concern when Mayberry stood in grim triumph on the burning lawn, carrying the contrite, younger demon over her shoulder, one hand clutching his crotch.
The rotund demon's body was suddenly drenched in fire, and he assumed an attack posture. Although the magical flames didn't harm the grass he stood on, this time, he warily watched the Sinner cautiously walk by with her hostage.
Above them, a wide shadow glided across the yard.
Clip-clopping up the cobblestone path, May quickly beelined to the main gate, wishing she could call the police and press charges.
"I don't want to sound ungrateful," May said to her insurance policy. "But, you'll understand if I err on the side of caution and just get the hell out of here."
"But, if you do, you'll miss the best part!"
"And what's that?"
Looking up, the demon crowed, "The boss battle!"
From overhead, a fierce length of flame lanced into the ground just three paces from Mayberry, blasting burning clods into her face and making her stagger from its hot winds.
"Again?" she yelled through the fiery roar.
Her hand loosed its hold on her hostage for more stability, and the demon took the opportunity to zip away.
Her demonic aura faded in exasperation. "Dammit!"
The next thing that came from on high was a strong gust, blowing loose, warm soil and rent grass into her eyes. She was so close to getting out of there, she fumed. What was happening now?
Blinking at the debris, May beheld something she wasn't prepared for in all her months in Hell.
A bestial shape fell to the ground and landed in a feral crouch. He towered almost half her body length when he fully stood in challenge. It was a giant of a beast.
Wiping her eyes clear, Mayberry regarded him better. He was unmistakably canine, his pelt, a thunderstorm of black fur woven through with grey streaks. He wore courtly clothing, with a tunic that struggled to stay unripped over his proud, muscular chest.
'A Hellhound?' May thought. Possibly security for the home, but in any case, she wasn't keen to make his acquaintance.
He was, literally, the guardian of the gates, yet, as imposing as his presence was, there were two things she found even more striking about him.
The first was the powerful pair of contrasting white wings that flexed and folded upon his broad back. They spread out to such a span that she knew they could easily bolt him to the skies with a single flap. The sudden gust of which knocked her over like a toy.
The second thing was the long serpent's tail that coiled and lashed confidently.
The beast took a swaggering step toward her, a hard glint in his dark, brilliant eyes. "Seir! Amy!" he called out. "Do you still think she's worth our time?"
Before getting back on her hooves, May gave her jacket pockets a quick pat and felt small objects within.
'Good,' she thought relievedly. 'They're still there.'
Standing up to the sentinel, May yelled, "I don't think it's time well spent with you clowns, either! Now, get out of my way!"
The wolf-thing beckoned to her with a paw-hand the size of a catcher's mitt. "If you get by me, I'll let you go."
"I don't have time for this crap! Let me go!"
"Get by me."
Her aura flared again. "All right, Scruffy!"
"Ha!" came the cry as he charged.
May's hand flashed in her pocket, taking out a bag of her mix of sneezing and itching powder. The scoring on the bag's surface made it explode against the beast's muzzle, prompting a whining yelp and frantic scratching of his face, followed by a bout of sneezes that blasted fireballs into the ground.
His spasms bought her time to take the next thing from her pocket, a Wally Wackford Judgement Day joy buzzer, advertised to be more potent than what was considered safe on Earth.
"Always spay and neuter your pets, Scruffy!" she called out.
Slipping it over her ring finger, palm-side, she rushed to her opponent and slapped an electrifying hold to his crotch.
A scream more akin to a roar heralded a font of flame from his throat. Lightning ran helter-skelter through his body, stiffening both his muscles and fur.
May looked back and saw the gate a few tantalizing yards up the path, released her victim, and tore off for it as the wolf-thing fell to his knees, growling, gasping, and gathering strength.
The goal was so close now. If she could get to her car, there was a chance she could outpace these weirdos and then, later, concentrate on finding the twins.
Mayberry lengthened her stride as far as she could, hoof beats echoing across the courtyard. So close!
The gate's bars beckoned. A few more feet. Her hand reached for it.
"Whoof!"
Mayberry was snatched from the gate before she could touch it. A reptilian tail was coiled around her and clutched the breath out of her.
A moment later, she had an almost bird's-eye view of the yard as the tail whipped her up. She could see the gryphonic beast standing below as she was shaken near-senseless. Then, the tail lashed downward and slammed May into the turf twice as though this were his preferred hunting tactic.
Dazed, her demon's light sputtered out, and she was flung back to the center of the yard, crashing and rolling to a stop on her back.
Lying on the grass and staring at the spinning, pinkish sky seemed almost calming, reminiscent of salad days on Earth. But modern Earth didn't have large, flying creatures that darkened one underneath with their shadows. Hell, however, did.
The ground and her body trembled from the beast's landing. Before she could gather the strength to run again, a paw reached out with terrible force and pinned her down, her vision filled with a close-up of his blazing maw.
"Let me...go!" Mayberry struggled like a mouse caught under his irresistible restraint. "They'll die!" The wolf-thing didn't relent.
She closed her eyes, not just from fatigue and fear, but from shame. Contrition not borne of the bruises she collected but of her constant faults.
Her failure to escape meant that the twins may yet die. She could be dragged back into the mansion, and she could die.
But, she couldn't dwell on that possibility, instead taking cold comfort that if she managed to resurrect afterward, she could only apologize to those lost innocents of the night. And in that instance, Hell would have claimed a victory over such impotent morality.
But for now, all she could do was scream in useless rage.
Another scream lost in Hell.