I took each step with shaking limbs. My body and soul were tired. I had been walking around for too long. I had left the pits at my back and had started through the maze of buildings. Would I ever find my way out?
Each building called to me. Each in its own twisted weary way. I could see the black ooze writhing and changing. The buildings were so close where I was. I could touch them if I lifted my arms just a little bit. This place was starting to get crowded. I had no clue as to where I was. Each building had a distinct shape the only problem was there was so many of them. There was no road that I could see. There was nothing at all but the dead.
What was I going to do? I couldn't shuffle along forever. I had no idea where the path was. I had no idea if I was even close. I could be miles away from its original source. There was nothing I could do about it. I just slowly walked along. My ears keen to the noises around me. I did my best to block out the screams from the damned. I had to keep my ears out for anything unusual. I couldn't let my guard down for one moment.
It pained me to think that Calypso was stuck here. I could just imagine her face screaming from the black slime on the wall. If I listened hard enough, I could almost hear it...No! I couldn't believe that. Calypso was alive! I could feel it!
I could not let despair creep under my skin. If I made it though, then so did she. I just had to keep an eye out. I lost the path easily enough, maybe she did too. Maybe we both were down here searching and searching. That portal had to be around here somewhere! It didn't just get up and disappear. It was the damn voices! They had confused my mind and made me wander. It was a good enough trick because it had worked.
I had lost the path and almost fell into the pit of flames. Awesome. If I didn't watch where I was going I was sure to be doomed. All's it took was one mistake, and I'd be lost for good. No one can save you once you are claimed down here. Already I could feel its toll on me. My limbs were starting to feel heavy. My eyes hurt from all the debris in the air. My throat was parched. This sure felt like Hell to me.
I slowly kept going. All I focused on was putting one foot ahead at a time. I needed to keep focused. I needed to find that path. The paths were the only true way through this place. Once a soul has Fallen, they begin on the path. The only difference between me and them, is they never find the way out. I was going to get out of here one way or another. I just needed to find a way.
It couldn't be that hard. How else did Hell's Demons find their way around? Surely, they traveled between the Realms. Surely, they knew how to get from point A to point B. Why couldn't I figure it out? What was keeping me behind? There had to be a trick about this, there just had to be. Maybe I just wasn't thinking hard enough.
I was tired. My limbs felt like they were carrying weights. My wings were stiff and dirty. I could feel the ache deep in the feathers. My wings needed air, they needed flight. On Heaven there wasn't a day where I didn't go flying. How many days has it been now? I couldn't tell from down here. The sky betrayed no change of light. It was always the same dark grey ashy color it had always been. Clouds of ash and soot hung above me. Thunder crackled in the distance. This place was definitely not cheerful at all.
I kept on struggling forward. After ten minutes I had to take a break. My feet were blackened and cracked. I was starting to feel the pain in all parts of my body. I needed to rest. I sat Indian style on the ground. I needed to just rest for a moment. Before I knew it, I was asleep.
Angels don't sleep, not like you think anyway. We just drift off into our heads and almost daydream. Boy was I daydreaming now.
I was back on Heaven. My wings spread majestically. Each beat of a wing sent air currents spiraling out. I felt weightless, light. I felt like I could do anything. I shot off into the sky. Deep into the clouds, I laughed. I loved flying more than anything else. I loved the feel of the mist as I went through the clouds. I loved feeling the air take me to places I have never seen before.
I floated on my back up in the clouds. The air was moist and was drenching me by the second. I didn't care. I was happy here. Floating blissfully through the clouds. I was startled when I felt someone fly next to me. I opened my eyes wide.
"Calypso! There you are!" I say merrily.
My friend was floating next to me. Her demeanor the same as when I had last seen her. Her smiles lit up her whole face.
"Oh Bella, it's so nice to see you." she said.
I floated close to her and put my arms around her. I loved the smell of her, the smell of ash.
Wait.
Why did she smell like this? Angels didn't smell like this? I tore my arms from her and looked at her. She didn't look dirty or burned so where was the smell coming from? This just didn't make any sense. I looked at my hands and saw smudges od ash in the creases. What was happening?
I backed away from Calypso. A deep sense of dread filling my body. Calypso stayed where she was, her smile lighting up her face. Her smile seemed off somehow. I don't recall her smiling like that before? Why did she look different? She didn't look like the same girl who I travelled across Heaven with. She was different. This wasn't my Calypso.
Her smile grew wider and wider. I could see razor sharp teeth starting to come forward. Calypso's face changed into a mask of darkness. Her eyes went from purple to black. Her skin crumbled around her revealing dark leathery skin. She was transforming before my very eyes. I started to move backwards. I didn't know what was happening.
The creature extended a clawed hand in my direction.
"Come to me Bella." it hissed.
I felt fear creep deep inside me. That voice was nothing but pure evil.
"Come to me Bella. You have a place down here. Everyone has a place. Let me find you your place." it wheezed through its teeth. I didn't like this. Not one bit. I could smell the creature. Its foul breath was staining the air around us. I could smell the decay and the rot. This creature did not belong here.
I backed away, my hands raised. "Get back foul beast. You do not belong here."
The creature laughed, "But Bella, it is you, who doesn't belong here."
I jerked awake. My heart pounded painfully in my chest. I looked around me for any signs of danger. I could see none. I let out a breath of held in air and tried to calm myself. That dream shook me to my core. I had imagined the worst thing possible. Calypso turned into a monster of this Realm. It could not be, it just couldn't.
I was now a little rested, freaked out as well. I needed to get moving. I got to my feet and looked around. Still the same area. I started to walk in the direction I had been heading. I figured this was a good direction as any. I shuffled along as quickly as I could. I was just starting to come to a break in the buildings. In front of me ranged a wide expanse mass of screaming souls. I could only go left or right. Okay, simple enough.
I stopped at the wall and looked at it. The faces were menacingly looking back at me. Their mouths twisted into grimaces. I stared at them, trying to spot a familiar face. I didn't really hope to find anything. There were thousands of buildings like this. I wouldn't be so lucky to find the one on my first try. Not that I hoped to see her face in them anyway.
I was startled when I heard a noise. A noise unlike the noises of those trapped forever. I snapped my head to the right and seen nothing. I snapped my head to the left, someone was down there! A figure was huddled down the road. I could hear her soft cries echoing toward me. Was that Calypso? My heart leaped inside my chest. It had to be!
I suddenly felt a burst of energy. If this was her, we could leave right away. With both of us, I'm sure we could find the way. I felt energy building inside me. I started running for the figure. She was a few miles down. I couldn't quite make out her appearance clearly. I stopped a few feet away. This woman was not Calypso.
Her hair was a scraggly black. Her build bigger than Calypso's. From the far distance I couldn't have made out those features. Now I was close enough to know that this was not who I was searching for. Her head was in her hands and she wept. I started to walk slowly toward her. Maybe she needed my help.
When I was a few feet away she turned around. Her wild eyes were sightless. The smell coming from her made me want to wretch. I stepped back a few feet.
"Who is there? Have you come to take me away?" she said eerily. I stepped back a few feet.
"My friends missing, a small girl with red hair. Have you seen her?" I ask politely.
The woman appeared to not have heard me. Her eyes which were the color of ditch water continued to roll inside her head. I heard her mumbling to herself.
"They will get you too...don't you worry." she says. She then lifted her head back and started to laugh. Her laugh made my skin crawl. Her voice was deep and throaty. I felt fear creep inside me.
"Who will get me?" I ask. My feet in a stance ready to run. I would not hesitate to flee from this woman should she try anything.
The woman looked at me and smiled. Her crooked broken teeth made up her mouth. She stared at me with her sightless eyes. I was starting to get uncomfortable. What was she seeing? She stopped smiling and continued to mumble. Was this woman in her right mind?
There was nothing I could do. There was nothing I wanted to do. I didn't want to get close to this woman. I did not want to be anywhere near her. Her stench and the way she acted just made my skin crawl. There was something not right with her. She was one of those that belonged here. I would not meddle with that.
I started to step back. I kept my eyes on her the whole time. I slowly edged my feet, step by step, taking me farther and farther away. Her eyes were locked on mine the whole time. I felt more and more fear the farther I got. This woman had eyes of the dead. She would stare and mumble, and sometimes laugh out of nowhere. She was freaking me out. I started moving back faster and faster.
When I was about a mile away, I turned around. I had seen enough of that lady. I was a fool to think that Calypso would have been down there crying. I should have never even gone down there. I did not need that experience lodged into my mind. I started to walk away. I needed to find the path and get out of here. I could not help her. I could not offer and comfort. That woman was damned like the rest.
Then why did I still feel guilty?
I stopped, my hands clenched at my sides. I couldn't just leave her there. She was as lost as I was. She was the only near normal being I had found down here. Maybe she knew more than what she was saying. She appeared to have been down here longer than me. Her clothes were filthy and unkept. She might know where the path was. I turned back around and the lady was gone.
What the?
I squinted my eyes and could see nothing but the empty road. The buildings were the same on both sides. Where could she have gone? There was nothing except a straight stretch? Where had she disappeared too? This didn't make any sense. She couldn't have just flown away. She certainly didn't run away. So, where was she? Where did she go?
And then I heard it. Soft noises of something moving around. I strained my ears and tried to hear where it was coming from. I could hear scraping noises. What could be making those noises. I looked hard at the ground where I thought the woman had last been. I could see nothing. There was nothing there. I felt fear once again resurface inside me.
My mistake was that I had kept my eyes to the ground. I had not bothered to look up. When at last I finally did, I found out the source. Clinging to the walls, their claws embedded deep into the masses of souls. They clung there. Beasts the size of large dogs with eyes that glinted red. They hung there on the sides of the walls. There was three of them. One of them was holding something.
It was the woman! I could hear her mumblings now. The beast was holding her in its paws. They had not noticed me yet. I started to edge backwards, keeping my eyes on them at all times. The one holding the woman started making weird cackling noises. I covered my ears at the odd sound. The beast cradled the woman close to it. I would have died of fright by then if that were me.
The beast started pushing the woman towards the wall. The black ooze started madly writhing about. I could see limbs, hands, reaching for this woman who now lay still in the beasts' grip. They black hands started to touch her. The woman started screaming. Deep awful screams vibrated through the air. I once again had to clap my hands over my ears. The hands were slowly pulling the woman to them. I watched as the woman slowly started to succumb to the masses.
Her skin started to melt right in front of my eyes. It started to turn black. She was halfway into the wall by this point. The beast still held her firm. She had stopped her screaming. I watched as she slowly was pushed and pulled into the souls. Her eyes were sightless but they seemed to stare right at me. As if to blame me for her terrible fate. When at last the limbs had pulled her in, the beast let go. The three creatures cackled merrily. The black ooze didn't seem to mind them there at all. Seeing as how their claws were stuck in some of their faces.
I felt panic rise inside me. If those things seen me I was done for. They could surely outdistance me if I tried to run. I had my small sword but what good would that do against beasts such as these? I still had to try. I started to walk as quietly as I could away from them. I just hoped that I would get far enough away that they wouldn't notice me. I had not expected to stumble and fall over a board that was lying in the way.
I landed hard, the breath knocked clear out of me. I was dazed for only a second. I leapt to my feet and spun around. Oh shit. They had seen me. There red eyes were now focused on me. Their heads were cocked at an odd angle, as if to say How can she still have the energy to fight? They could sense I was different. They could sense my willingness to live. They also knew that I needed to be caught. I watched as all three dropped to the ground. The ground shook as they landed on their claws. I could see their leathery bodies heaving in the thrill of the hunt. They were coming for me.
I didn't waste any time. I ran. I ran as hard as I could. My heart pumping erratically inside my chest. Fear rising inside me every second. I cannot let these things capture me! Either I would become one with the wall, or else they'd do something worse to me. I didn't even want to think of what that could be. I dug my heels into the dirt and I ran like I had never ran before.
It didn't do me any good. I could hear them racing after me. Their paws slamming into the ground as they took chase. These things would be on me in minutes! I could already smell their awful stench. They smelled of rotting sewage. I almost choked. They were getting closer and closer with every second. I had to think of something quick or they would be on me! I couldn't even fathom what would happen if they caught me. Sick twisted scenes flashed through my head. I could not let them catch me!
But what was I supposed to do? There was nowhere to run and nowhere to hide. The buildings trapped me in. I could only go straight or go back where I came from. There was nothing back where I came from, I had to go forward. But I wouldn't make it very far. They were closing in and closing in fast. I had to think of something or I was a goner.
I had to make it through! I had to think of something. Calypso's life depended on mine! I had to find her and make everything right. I just had too! But how was I supposed to do that? These creatures would not let me kindly by. They were coming after me and there was nothing I could do about it. They could catch me and tear me limb from limb. My wings would be...
Wait! My Wings!
I had not wanted to use them just for purpose's sake. But if there was a better time than this one to use them I couldn't see it. I reached blindly for the itchy blanket. I wouldn't be sorry to see the last of it. I pulled it off me in one quick grab. I could hear the creatures right behind me. They had caught up! It didn't matter.
With one leap I was in the air. My wings unfurled billowing behind me. They were stiff and it was weird being in the air after so many hours of walking. I hovered above them. Their whines at not being able to catch me made me laugh. I hovered there just enjoying the feeling of my flight. The biggest beast out of the three started to snarl. With one leap it leaped high into the air. I dodged back, and it was lucky I did. I felt the air as he tried to slice me out of it. His claws had narrowly missed me. I needed to fly higher.
I flew straight up into the smoky clouded air. Leaving the beasts down in the streets. I had escaped! I was alive! I was free! I was so overjoyed that I twirled. I was damn near hysterical but I had made it. I had outwitted my opponents and I had won. I could see everything from up here! I looked all around me for any signs of the path. I almost was winded when I seen the sign.
I could see the path from here. Why hadn't I done this earlier? Up high I could see above all the buildings. I could see deep into each street. I easily found the path. It was a few miles away from where I was. I could have never found it! I shuddered at the thought. I flew above it and kept my eye trained on it. I would not lose it this time. I followed it for an hour or so before it finally ended.
I dropped to the ground and was not happy at what I looked at. Set deep in the wall of black ooze a door was stationed. The door was black and mysterious. I would never have noticed it from up high. It blended very well with the wall itself. I dreaded the very thought of getting close to those souls. I didn't want them touching me. I still remembered how the woman had screamed as they touched her. I would have to be careful.
I extended my hand and grasped the knob. The souls screamed around me. They tried to reach out and touch me. I was too far away. Their screams of anguish rang so loud inside my head. I opened the door and with one final breath I stepped through. Making extra sure that those things didn't touch my skin. On the other end a portal awaited.
It sat on its pedestal in a small room. A pink glow emitted from it. For some reason this portal felt different than the others. Its frame was a network of ivy and roses. Roses? I was confused as I was perplexed. Whatever, I had found it! I had found the next portal! I had come so close to being in Hell's grip and I had survived! I had found the portal and I was one step closer. I felt exhilarated. I had made it.
I extended my hand and closed my eyes. I walked into the pink light and watched as the Realm of Greed disappeared around me.
I am coming Calypso, just hold on.
