Seth looked at Ilaria who was jumping up and down on the spot to keep warm. She was excited. That was very clear by the look on her face. It was her idea and he was only going along for the ride because she wouldn't shut up about it.
"It's just a tourist attraction, right? Like a haunted house for Halloween," he said.
She turned her baby blue eyes over to him and shook her head no. Her silver blonde hair put up in high pigtails was flying around the air.
"It's real," she said.
"You can't be serious," he said.
"But I am," she grinned.
Maybe she bought into this whole thing but he wasn't. Nothing like that could be real.
"How did you even find this place?" He asked.
"You can find anything if you know where to look for it," she said.
"Very helpful," he said.
He knew she had some shady friends that knew about things that couldn't be found through normal channels. One of them had to be behind telling her about this place. The city of the dead. It had to be a haunted house or some sort of tourist attraction designed to scare people. That was all it was. A scare tactic that people could laugh about later.
"Here they come," she said.
He turned his head and saw a black van pull up. It stopped in front of them and the man in the passenger seat jumped out and looked at them.
"Names?" He asked.
"Ilaria Hannelore and Seth Rollins," Ilaria answered.
The man opened the side door to the van and they looked inside. Mattresses and pillows were covering the floor so it wouldn't be an unpleasant ride in the darkness.
"Get in," the man said.
"Ilaria, are you sure?" Seth whispered.
"Come on, cutie patootie. Live a little," Ilaria laughed.
Ilaria got into the van first and Seth followed. The man closed the side door and left them in the darkness. Seth sighed loudly and found Ilaria's hand.
"We're gonna fucking die in here," he said.
"Stop it," she laughed. "This is top secret. Of course they're not gonna show us where we're going. People can die from this. They need to protect themselves."
He gritted his teeth and tried blocking out those words while they drove for a little over 30 minutes. People could die. The city of the dead. He was still sure it had to be a haunted house or something similar. There was no way he had agreed to something that could kill them.
The van stopped and shortly after the side door was opened again. They got out of the van and looked around. The two men that had been in the van went to stand behind a third man who clearly had been waiting for them. He spread out his arms and smiled.
"Welcome to the city of the dead," he said. "My name is Finn Balor and I'm the one who'll escort you to the gate."
Seth couldn't help but snicker at how ridiculous it all sounded.
"You laugh but it is no joking matter," Finn said.
"Forgive me for being amused," Seth said. "But this isn't real, is it?"
"Follow me," Finn said.
They followed Finn into a field. He stopped in front of two open graves. Seth gasped but Ilaria chuckled and clapped her hands together.
"What the fuck?" Seth asked.
"We're not gonna bury you but you will be in those with the lid closed," Finn said.
"That's fucked up," Seth said.
"It's the only way," Finn said.
"I'm not doing it," Seth said.
"Very well," Finn nodded. "My men will take you back. However, there's no refund. Ilaria already paid. I can't let anyone go there alone. She needs a partner or she will never make it back out. That place is scary and dangerous. I've been there several times myself. We always travel in pairs or they will win us over."
"Seth, please," Ilaria said.
"I'll pay you back. Let's just go," Seth said.
Ilaria grabbed Seth's arm and pressed her fingers into it hard. He made a sound of pain but she kept holding on to him. In that moment he had a hard time seeing the woman he first fell in love with. It had been this crazy, impulsive side of her that he first had been attracted to but it quickly grew old. She was beginning to be too crazy for him.
"You are not doing this to me!" She hissed.
"I'm not getting in a fucking grave," he said.
"You are," she pressed her fingers into his flesh harder. "You are not fucking me over today, Seth. I paid good money for this experience. If you love me, you're gonna do this for me. If you don't, we're fucking done. The moment we get back, I'm blocking your number and you can forget all about me."
Seth wasn't one to have a public breakup in front of three strangers who weren't even trying to hide their interest in the conversation. He looked from man to man and couldn't help but feel nervous. They weren't giving him any reason to think they might harm him if he didn't go through with it but the thought was still planted in his head. That scared him into nodding.
"Fine," Seth finally said. "Let's do it."
"Yes!" Ilaria laughed.
"That's what I like to hear," Finn said. "You need to take these."
Finn handed them a pill each. Ilaria swallowed hers right away while Seth hesitated.
"How did you even find this place?" Seth said.
"Drugs and experiments," Finn shrugged. "I'm not even sure if I found this place or if it found me. Either way, we found a gateway between our world and theirs."
Finn snapped his fingers and his two helpers came over with gold crowns in their hands. They placed them on the heads of Seth and Ilaria.
"In the land of the dead, the living man is king. In the land of the dead, the living woman is queen. As long as you keep those crowns on your heads, you are in control. If you take them off, you've accepted to stay there forever," Finn said.
"This is so fucked up," Seth whispered.
"I hope you're wearing a good outfit. If you stay, it will be the one you'll wear forever," Finn said.
"I'm wearing my favorite dress," Ilaria said.
Seth glanced over at Ilaria. She was wearing a white dress with strawberries on it. Such a weird, cute look for her today with her dress and pigtails. She wore a red cardigan and red leggings to finish the look along with her white lita boots.
"Seth," Finn said. "The pill."
"Right," Seth said.
Seth swallowed the pill and Finn smiled at both of them before taking a step aside and holding out his hand towards the wooden coffins.
"Get in," Finn said.
"I'm so fucking dead," Seth said.
"That is not my choice to make," Finn said. "Remember, don't get separated. You need each other."
Seth and Ilaria got into a coffin each. Finn's two helpers put the lid on them and left the two people in darkness. Seth waited for what seemed like forever. There was nothing but darkness.
"Ilaria? Can you hear me?" He asked.
"We're here," she said.
He felt her hand in his and suddenly everything looked different. They were standing in front of a black metal gate looking in at a city of people that had once been alive.
"Welcome to the city of the dead," Ilaria giggled. "It's real, Seth. I told you so."
"I don't like this," he said.
"Don't be such a pussy," she said. "Let's go."
She pulled him through the gate and he followed her down the street. The people in there all smiled and welcomed them. They were too friendly in his opinion but she seemed to love it.
"A funfair!" She shrieked. "Let's go."
She started running and he had no other choice but to run after her.
"Ilaria! Wait up!" He yelled. "We need to stay together!"
He caught up with her at the ferris wheel. She was already on it and waiting for him. He got into the seat next to her and the ride started. They went up in the air and got a good look around the entire place.
"Wow!" He said.
"It's beautiful," she said.
"It sure is," he said.
They enjoyed the ride and made it back on safe ground. This place was something else. Something out of the world. Something warming and welcoming but he could feel the danger lurk under the surface.
"We should probably go," he said.
"I wanna try the rollercoaster," she said.
"I wanna go back, Ilaria," he said firmly. "Right now!"
She laughed and ran towards the rollercoaster. She was on it before he could do anything. It took off and he heard her laugh as she rode around. He looked around and felt everyone staring at him. Something was off. Ilaria wasn't laughing anymore. The people around him slowly came closer as if they were trying to box him in. The rollercoaster stopped in front of him and he saw the one thing he had dreaded the most. She wasn't wearing her crown anymore. She got off the rollercoaster and walked towards him with the same scary look on her face as everyone else had. She was smiling and trying to sound welcoming but she was scaring him more than anything.
"What did you do?" He whispered.
"I love it here," she said.
"Ilaria, what the fuck did you do?" He almost yelled. "Where's your crown?"
"I wanna stay here, and you wanna stay here too. With me. Together. Give me your crown, Seth," she said.
"No," he felt tears in his eyes. "I wanna go home. I never wanted to come here to begin with. This was all your idea."
"Give me your fucking crown!" She screamed.
He spun around and saw that everyone was right there. He had to push his way through the crowd of dead people, all while hearing Ilaria scream behind him and trying to follow. No one reached for his crown and he wasn't sure if they were actually allowed to take it off him or if they would just hold him back until he did it himself. He knew that the longer he stayed in that place, the more it would sink its teeth into him and convince him to stay.
"Let me go!" He snarled.
He made his way through the horde of people and started running through the abandoned streets of the city.
"Seth!" Ilaria screamed. "You can't leave me, Seth! You can't ever fucking leave!"
He could hear she was chasing after him but he didn't stop or even look back. He made it back to the black metal gate and ran through it. He ran into the darkness and kept running until he suddenly saw sunlight. He gasped for air and felt hands pull him up from the coffin. He landed on the grass and coughed. He saw feet walk past him and stop in front of Ilaria's coffin.
"She's gone," Finn said.
"What?" Seth coughed.
"She's gone, Seth," Finn said. "She took off her crown."
"No!" Seth snapped.
Seth crawled over the ground and looked down in Ilaria's coffin. She wasn't moving. She looked like she was sleeping. He grabbed her and tried pulling her up.
"Come on, baby. Wake up," he said. "Wake the fuck up, Ilaria!"
"It will look like a heart attack in her sleep. We'll put her in her bed with some pills next to her. They'll trace the drug in her blood. It will be another sad accident by an overdoze," Finn said.
"Fuck you!" Seth yelled. "You're not fucking touching her, you murderer!"
"I didn't murder anyone. You both knew the risk traveling there. You chose to come back and she chose to stay," Finn said.
"If you touch her..." Seth started.
Hands grabbed Seth and a cloth was placed over his mouth and nose. He tried fighting back but it didn't take long before he found himself back in a darkness he couldn't fight his way out of. When he finally woke up, he was lying in his own bed. He sat up and rubbed his temples. It felt like a bad dream. He looked at his phone and saw several hours had passed.
"Ilaria," he whispered.
He tried calling her but she didn't pick up. He felt sweaty all of the sudden. It hadn't been a dream. He knew that. They had traveled to the city of the dead and she had remained there for all eternity.
Tears ran down his face while he got up and walked out to put his shoes on. He knew he had to go to her apartment and find her body. He knew he had to cry many tears in front of her family and friends and the police officers that would come and look into it. He knew he would have to grieve despite having made the decision earlier that day that he wanted to break up with her after this experience. It didn't make it hurt any less. He had loved her no matter how crazy she had been. He had loved her and lost her. She had come undone.