Chapter 4.
As Elyria descends through the levels of Hell, she gazes about her at the examples of human idiocy. How could people end up in such a place as this? It is not difficult to be God fearing, she thinks. She was, once upon a time. But now what had happened to her; she was undead and a serial liar, carrying out the direct orders of the Devil. Upon reaching her humble abode she opens her dark coffin and lies in it, the lid wide open due to the heat. She pulls off the black gloves and inspects her ivory hands, looking for any flaws in the luminous paleness of her skin. She finds none, and flings the gloves away from her. Closing her eyes, she looks back upon her life and for the millionth time tries to find out where she has gone wrong…
"Mother! Mother, come quickly and see!" The child was excited and happy, running along a grassy path on a warm June day. The woman behind the little girl tried to pick up her skirts a little, but her heavy boots prevented her from picking up much more speed. The woman's chest was heaving underneath the tight whalebone corset, but she did not complain as she followed her daughter into the woods. Eventually, they stopped under a tall tree and sat upon the moss-covered boulders.
"What are you showing me, sweet child?" The woman tried to catch her breath, but she could feel herself growing dizzy.
"The magic of God, Mother. See how the moss grows in a pattern? And how all the animals just live happily? It's magic, I know it is." The woman smiled.
"My dear, you should always have your faith. As long as you have faith, you will have a Father who loves you and a mother who will never leave you."
"Don't dwell on that, Elyria. It is passed now, and there is nothing either of us could ever do." A voice cuts through her thoughts. She opens her eyes and sees a smartly dressed man gazing down at her, his smile sad and meaningful.
"Oh, Master. It's you." She sits up in the coffin and stretches out in a feline manner. "I wasn't expecting company."
"I know. I just thought I'd… well I don't know entirely what I thought. I wanted to see you, to make sure all is well with Barker."
"Yes Master, all is well on the surface. Am I to assume you are making a journey to the living?"
"Indeed; that Jack the Ripper fellow has finally got to go, and I don't trust anyone else with the job. I can rely upon you to be there when I bring him down?"
"Yes, Master." Elyria looks at her hands and is shrouded in guilt at the horrors she has inflicted upon the many souls kept in eternal damnation. She closes her eyes and feels a hand burning like fire upon her own.
"Do not worry so, my love. There was a time you never did." She opens her eyes and smiles graciously, and feels his kiss as cold as ice against her cheek. She feels nothing as he turns and leaves, his gaze still upon her.
She doesn't remember when it began. Her time in this underworld has ceased to be formed of years and is instead an eternity. But one night, after she has returned from a course of torture, her Master is awaiting her. He speaks softly to her, words of love and passion she did not know could exist in such a place. Finally, he kisses her gently and she responds, seeking to be consoled. The iciness of his kiss never changes, the intensity of his passion when he takes her, or the emptiness that remains with her throughout. She knows she can never touch him the way he longs for her to touch him. She can never feel for him the way he feels for her. She is emotionless, and has been since the day her mother died.
"Mother? Are you well?" Her frightened voice filled the room as she stepped into it. There is no reply from the white, overtly clinical bed and the girl takes another terrified step forward. There was a cough, and her mother made a wheezy attempt to inhale some more air and catch her breath. Drawing closer to the bed, the golden haired child sat down on the chair and laid her head gingerly on the bedding. Her mother's hand found her head and stroked it gently. Her breath rattled around her dry throat and the little girl licked her lips nervously.
"Water, Mother?"
"No child. Just sit a while with your mother, and tell her about your day."
"Well I went with Father to town and we bought some lovely flowers to brighten the room a little, but the doctor said the pollen would irritate you so we left them in the hall for you to see when you get well. Then I went and played in the garden and Nurse came out and asked me what I wanted for tea so I said went to the kitchens and said jelly and then Cook boxed my ears and said jelly was not for tea. And then I prayed in the chapel that you would not die. I found my diary in there, and it says you have been ill for three months now. Mother?" The woman was no longer stroking her hair, and the rasping had ceased. Hysterical now, the child cries for her mother until she has no tears left and the doctors pull her away from the bed. The next time she sees her mother, she is lying in a velvet lined coffin.
The tears are beads in Elyria's eyes as she lies in her coffin. She sniffs gently and rolls on to her side, wondering what the next day will bring.