Hellraiser: Beyond the Gates of Hell
Disclaimer: Well, well, well... My first Hellraiser fic. Look at that. It's about time I did one of these. Remember this, readers: I take CONSTRUCTIVE criticism, but not flamers. So kindly step away if you feel such an urge. This story is going to be written for the fun in it, but I have done as much research as one can. Clive Barker owns all things flesh and blood in Hellraiser, but I own the plot and the few characters he DIDN'T make. Well, since I got the okay, I want to dedicate this fic to laura 101 and Blue Kitsune. They're real hardcore Hellraiser romance fans! Gotta love that!
"The flesh endures the storms of the present alone, the mind those of the past and future as well as the present."
-Epicurus
"Do not bite at the bait of pleasure, till you know there is no hook beneath it."
-Thomas Jefferson
By: VampireQueenAkasha
We have such sights to show you...
Chapter Three: Hand-Me-Down Box
"I'm not going!"
Alice sat at the edge of her bed, rubbing her forehead with dismay as Katie and her best friend's boyfriend, Lucas Fischer were going through her closet for a proper dinner outfit like a pack of rabid wolves hungry for the scavenge. Lucas poked his head out from the expansive closet after the two were in the middle of muffled conversation.
Lucas was a pretty decent guy who was very comfortable and sometimes widely open with his sexuality. You'd take one look at him and you could tell and even ignorantly guess that he could be quite a homosexual person. But that was just Lucas; blue - eyed, handsome, outgoing and very easy to get along with. Alice really didn't consider her and Lucas to be GOOD friends because she felt that it was weird being good friends with your best friend's man.
"Alice, do these boots fit you anymore?" he asked, holding out a pair of high-heeled boots.
Alice sighed, her eyes raised to heaven. "No."
Katie quickly tossed a pair of dress pants onto the bed and frowned at Alice skeptically. "Come on, don't you want to know why your mother did what she did?" she asked, "After all, you talk about it quite a lot. It'd be good for you."
Alice groaned in frustration and stood up. "Yeah, but this is Barry we're talking about here. 2 hours with him ... me ... at the Tribute ... alone ... " She trailed off and thought about that for a moment before she groaned again when she realized what a boring situation that would be.
"Don't worry," Katie laughed, trying hard not to, but she was no good. The idea of seeing Alice alone with Barry Miller was almost too much. "It's not so bad."
"Shut up ... "
Alice relaxed and she shook her head. There was no reason whatsoever for Barry to make a fool out of her. She was going to call, cancel and just go to work late. "I'm just going to cancel this date anyway, so there's no reason ... "
Katie laughed and shook her head. "No you're not!" She took her friend's arm even against her angry protests. "Look, you always chicken out at the last minute when it comes to everything you do. So just go, listen to the asshole for 2 hours and then come home. I'll buy you something really heavy and then you can forget his face after a few glasses."
Now that didn't sound very bad. Alice cracked a small smile. "Sounds fun."
Lucas poked his head out from the closet, holding a black embroidered scarf with Alice's initials in it. He wrapped it around his neck and blew a loud, smacking kiss to them. "Hey, ladies, how does this super emo Goth scarf make me look?"
"Gay." both women answered, simply.
O
Pinhead was bored.
Sitting here in this lavished restaurant with the petty thoughts of the humans surrounding him did nothing to ease his impatience as he ran his finger over the rim of his wine glass, watching the red liquid swirling around inside of it. Despite the Leviathan's orders, he still couldn't resist his disgust with the idea of a more...passive way to collect the girl. He was not Angelique. The Princess' motives were outdated and useless. But the Leviathan's word was Law. Law and Order. He wanted the girl this way. He wanted her to slowly break down until she had nothing left to live for in the human world. Until she was merely pain and ruin.
As he sat there, alone, he could hear many, many thoughts rushing rather rampantly through his head. Most of them were utterly sinful beyond all measure. The men pondered over how well or in what condition they would take the women they have brought here. Not much had changed since the Dark Ages. Ah, those were quite the times...
They're like little swine, he thought, Eat and mate ... Eat and mate ...
He looked up and noticed that Alice was just entering the restaurant and a smile lit his face. The Hostess pointed to his table and Alice walked over. She was dressed in neat shoes and slacks, her blouse covered with a very tidy business jacket. My, she looked almost tasty with her flesh exposed to the world. So much untouched flesh to explore ...
"Hi ... " she greeted, taking a spot across from him.
"Good evening, Alice," he answered, "I ordered the wine. I hope you do not mind."
Alice shook her head. Be polite. It's only for 2 hours. "Not at all."
Pinhead smiled at her and he could feel the change in her thoughts. She wasn't fond of being here with him right now. She hated this man that he was posing as and only wanted to deal with him long enough to get the information that her tiny human mind craved.
"Well, perhaps we should begin," he told her, "Do you like fish? We're having fish for dinner."
Alice looked somewhat surprised by that. How did he know she liked fish? Barry and Alice had never really gotten involved on that kind of emotional level before. This was getting weird. Very weird. "Uh ... yeah. Yeah, I do. Thanks."
He nodded and crossed his fingers against his chin, leaning forward with his eyes locked onto her. "Alright. What would you like to know, Alice?"
"What was my mom doing?' Alice asked, getting straight to the point, "She rambled on and on about demons, saving me from something. What did she tell you? I want to know everything. Everything down to the last second."
Pinhead stared at her with that same position. A grin slithered onto his lips and he was driven with the urge to just throw down the persona right now and show her himself. Ohhh, she wants to know EVERYTHING? If only I could tell her everything and she'd understand.
Instead, he leaned back with a casual sigh. "Ahh, Kirsty Cotton ... your mother was a gem, Alice, quite the rarity," he told her, "We don't see many like her these days. They always give up so easily. But not your mother. No. She did whatever she could to protect you."
Alice frowned. There was a glimmer of pain that lingered briefly there in her eyes, but it disappeared just as quickly as it had come. "That's impossible, Barry ... She didn't want a thing to do with me. Even when I was just a kid ... "
"Oh now that is not true, Alice," Pinhead continued, "You were her world. Now why do you believe that she had no affection for her only daughter?"
Alice thought about her mother; Kirsty. Ever since she was a little girl, her mother had always been strange. She acted as if someone was going to kidnap her overnight or something. Sure, Alice knew that people would do that sort of thing, but she never understood why her mother always obsessed over it. And when she was older, she started talking about the "demons" of other worlds who would be out to get her unless she did something about it.
But besides the bad, there were those rare, fleeting moments when Alice and Kirsty did things together, mostly when she was a kid. Alice had always enjoyed just sitting next to her and talking or going out to the park where she'd play with the kids or at least try to. Most of the children stayed away from her. Then there was that one day...that one day that made everything change between Alice and her mother.
"When you're a kid and don't understand anything ... " Alice began, studying her empty wine glass, "you think when you grow up it will all make sense. Then when you grow up, you keep waiting for the day. You think it ever happens?"
Pinhead smiled at her and poured some wine into her glass. "Smart girl," he told her.
"There was this time ... I was 8 years old," Alice told him, taking a small, tentative drink of her wine, "I was playing near a puddle with some of my toys. I didn't like the stuff that girls played with. Mom always called me an oddball because I wasn't like little girls. Anyway, I was playing by myself, my mom sitting close by and watching me. A bigger kid came up to me. He must have been 12 years old as far as I could tell.
Well, my mom must have had her back turned for two minutes and the big kid pushed me into the puddle. I didn't know why. I was just a little girl. I wasn't too familiar with bullies. Most kids usually left me alone. Never could understand why." A thoughtful look crossed the young woman's face, her brow puckering as she delved into her mind to seek out that fateful day. Pinhead watched her intently, looking for that sweet glimmer of pain once again. "The kid was huge, very scary looking. I remember feeling like I should have done something, but I was so confused. He laughed at me and said that the cops were gonna take me to the whacky shack just like they did my mother.
I didn't know what he was talking about. I ran to my mom and asked her why they'd take me away. She didn't know what to say. She asked me who told me that and I answered. She started to cry. I've never seen mom cry before. It made me feel a little sick inside. Mom's are never supposed to cry. Especially my mom. She was always so tough and she never cried for anything. Ever."
Hm. She must have changed since last we met ... Pinhead thought.
Alice chuckled and there was that sadness again. "I don't know why I'm telling you this ... " she muttered, lowering her head so that he couldn't see her face.
"Because you want to." Pinhead answered. He watched her slowly look up at him with confusion. "You've done your best, Alice. Where are you now? You are alone. You are alone because your mother deemed it that way to protect you."
"From what?" Alice demanded, her voice slowly hardening. She was getting angry.
Pinhead's lips pulled upwards and he showed his teeth. He couldn't resist his next lines. "Why ... the demons of course."
Alice laughed and shook her head angrily. She couldn't believe it, but she knew that this shouldn't have come as a surprise to her. "I knew it. I fucking knew you were going to dick around with this," she snapped, starting to get up. His hand on hers stopped her and she glared at him. "Thank you for taking my whole situation fucking seriously, Barry!" She wrenched her way out of his grasp and stormed out of the restaurant.
Pinhead tilted his head to one side, chuckling softly. My, what a hellcat this one was. She would be so fun to break. He slowly rose from his seat and followed her. She was outside, storming for her car and fumbling angrily with the keys.
"Alice! Alice, don't leave just yet," he told her, "I must apologize. I meant no disrespect."
"Then what did you mean?" she snapped, whirling so that she faced him, "You - You shoot your mouth off at me one second, the next you're a fucking Prince Charming and now, you're laughing at me like my life is funny to you?"
"It isn't a joke, Alice," he told her, gently, "Your mother knew dark secrets, secrets which would shake the very foundation of Earth itself and make grown men shudder in their beds, babies weep in their cribs and dogs wail to the darkness of the moon. I think that she wanted to tell you the very same thing, to feel it, to know it and embrace it."
Alice relaxed but her voice was still hard, deadpanned somewhat. She was at her end with no patience left. "And what is that?"
Pinhead smiled and reached into his coat, pulling out the box. He placed it into her hands and she reacted with shock and even anger at the sight. There was a small glint of fear there as well. "Where the hell did you get this?"
"An old hand - me - down, my dear," he answered, turning to go, "You shouldn't throw the past out the window, it will always find its way back to you, knocking on your front door. Question is: Will you answer it?"
Alice watched him walking away before he called over his shoulder. "I'll be in touch!" He chuckled softly to himself, as if the very words held more meaning than even HE intended.
He disappeared into his car, drove away and left her there, alone.
O
When Alice returned home, she stared at the puzzle box in front of her on the kitchen table, watching it as if she was waiting for it to do something. She had an open bottle of wine sitting there beside her and she just waited... Alice didn't know why, but she had a strange feeling that something was supposed to happen.
She took a drink from her bottle and continued to watch the box.
"This is crazy ... " she murmured, to herself, taking another drink.
Soon, after several drinks, Alice began to feel a little woozy. She blinked her exhaustion away, but it was no good. The digits that read 12:34 A.M. on the microwave were melting and blending together like a lava lamp in her vision. She had no strength to make it to bed, so she simply let her head fall on the kitchen table with a dull thud and she was out cold. The idea of having to go to work the following day didn't even matter. A few hours of sleep wouldn't hurt ...
And she didn't just sleep, she dreamed.
Alice found herself in a strange world; a world of stone, corridors and endless tunnels, walls of stained gray stone broken up by vaguely medieval-looking arches. There were screams echoing all around her, tormented wails of the damned and wet, sticky sounds of flesh being sliced to ribbons. She moved slowly down the length of stone, trying to decide where to turn.
"Hello?"
Her cautious voice had an unpleasant ring in the acoustics of these corridors and it echoed horribly around her. She grimaced somewhat before turning down another corridor. She suddenly found herself inside a beautiful family sitting room. There was a gentle, warm light shining in through a stained glass window. The room was simple in decor; real wood furnishings and decorative porcelain ornaments. Alice recognized the room and she couldn't resist a smile of pure pleasure. She slowly ran a finger over some of the furniture, to assure herself that it was real.
This reminded her of fun times, good times...
"Alice?"
The woman whirled and she gasped softly at the sight of her mother, Kirsty Cotton standing there. She was wearing a denim jacket and tight, jeans and a stained white t-shirt. Her eyes had dark rings beneath them and yet, despite her haggard appearance, she looked happy to see her daughter standing there. She wasn't aged; she looked almost like how Alice remembered her from when she was just a little girl.
"Mom?" Alice whispered.
Kirsty smiled and there was a bit of sadness in her eyes. "Yeah, sweetie, mama's here. But not entirely." She paused and strolled around the room. "Those shitheads only give me a short time to see you. I guess that's what I get for ... " She cut herself off and closed her eyes, shame written all over her face.
"Get for what?" Alice asked, her voice choking off at the end. "Is this real? Am I dreaming?"
Kirsty shook her head and took a few steps close to Alice. She reached out to hold her, but the woman stepped back from her touch. Kirsty chuckled sadly. "I deserve that, kiddo," she replied, "I deserve everything."
Alice looked away from her and her chest suddenly burned. It was a dull aching sensation that she was only familiar with when she was going to cry. But she wasn't. She wasn't going to cry this time. She hadn't cried since she was 10 and she wasn't about to start now.
"Alice, you deserve to know the truth," she told her, "I'm only allowed to appear in your dreams, like this," She gestured to herself, "because it's the only happy memory you have of me."
Alice laughed angrily. "Mom, I've had enough of your superstitious bullshit! Why can't you just stop fucking with me and tell me the goddamn truth?"
Kirsty frowned at her. "I am trying to tell you the truth."
The air seemed to change around them. It was suddenly difficult to breathe and the light of the room gradually became murkier; not exactly dark but more like an oppressive colorlessness that descended before a thunderstorm suddenly broke out through the window. Little hissing noises filled the air from the walls themselves, which almost sounded like labored breathing.
"They can only have you if you go willingly to them, that was the deal!" Kirsty shouted, over the now roaring sounds that echoed all around them, "Whatever he tells you, whatever he offers, don't listen! Everything he says is a lie! I gave him to them to protect you!"
Alice covered her ears against the horrible sounds and tried to block them out, but it felt like they were actually inside her head, trying to get into her very soul.
"Don't listen!" Kirsty continued, and she sounded further away, "Please, don't listen!"
Another voice filled Alice's ears now, a dark and powerful one. Ancient and wicked. "ALICE ... "
When the woman's eyes popped open, the room had changed and Kirsty was gone. The walls seemed to gush with bright red blood, flowing from nearly every orifice. The screams seemed to echo louder here and Alice screamed in anguish, holding her head with both hands.
"Nooooo!"
The walls began to turn soft and pulpy like flabby skin before her eyes, swelling and turning purple like something had bruised it severely. The whole room has given in to decay now. The happiness stripped away almost in the blink of an eye. The sofa, the chairs ... everything ridden with woodworm and rot. A skinless figure sat on the sofa, holding a remote control and flipping channels and whistling as if there was nothing wrong at all.
Alice backed away from the sight and the skinless being smiled widely at her. There was something about him ... something that she should have remembered, but her heart didn't want to. Something she KNEW deep inside.
"Life's a fucking blast, ain't it?" the man sneered, in a gurgled voice, "Then you're fucking dead."
Alice closed her eyes and she could hear the deep, heavy voice in her head once more. "WE WANT YOU ... WE WANT TO TASTE ... YOUR SOUL ... YOUR HAPPINESS ... YOUR FLESH ... COME TO ME ... COME AND DIE ... "
Alice snapped out of her dream with a shout of terror and pain. She relaxed and rubbed her forehead with a grumble when she realized that she had only been dreaming. She exhaled and stood up, sniffling to clear her sinuses and to grab some coffee. As she stared at the digital clock, her eyes widened in horror.
8:26 A.M.
She was an hour late for work.
"Great!" she shouted, angrily.
O
Note- Anyone think that skinless guy watching TV in hell was weird? I sure as hell did!
