Chapter 2: The Chrysalis

Ines didn't know what hit her. All she knew was the darkness she suddenly found herself engulfed in. She felt nothing besides the red colors glowing from her veins. She then felt warmth hitting her. As she struggled to open her eyes, the majestic glow nearly blinded her. She then saw it, a large indigo-colored owl butterfly flapping its massive wings. They wrapped around her, smothering her into a cocoon of blue lights. Ines closed her eyes again, unaware of the cocoon's falling, the crashing and explosions, and the screams. All she could think about was her younger self cuddling on her father's lap on the sofa as they went through the pages of the butterfly book he just received for the bookstore.

A younger Ines had gone through the pages until the picture of the brown butterfly with eyespots had caught her attention.

"Pretty!"

"You like it, Ines? It's part of the Genus Caligo. Butterflies that can only be found in Central and South America. The only butterflies in the world that have owl eyes on their wings."

"Why?"

"The owl eyes can spook away mean animals that try to eat the Caligo…"

"No, Daddy. Why are they the only butterflies with owl eyes in the whole world? Why are they only one color?"

"Well, sometimes there can only be one type of butterfly in the whole world." Ines' father had poked her stomach, tickling her. "Just like how there is only one Ines Coeurdor. My Ines. My little indigo caligo."

The cracks then appeared… and the cocoon was destroyed.

Ines gasped for air. Sticky liquid coated her and she jumped to her feet, yanking it off her. She then noticed the crater of pitch black earth and red cracks she was on. This didn't look like the parking lot.

"Dad?" She asked. She looked up at the sky. Rather than the beautiful starry night sky she had seen from the car, she was greeted by a dark red sky, a large pentagram glowing on it with minor hints of dark clouds. Confused, Ines climbed up the crater. It was a good thing she passed the rock-climbing test in P.E.

To her biggest surprise, her small town had been replaced by a large city. The crater was in the middle of a desolate field, suggesting that whatever caused a lot of nearby buildings to be destroyed. Nearly all the lit windows were red. Neon signs promoting drugs, weapons, and sex were everywhere, freaking out Ines, being the asexual virgin who never smoked, drank, overdosed, or even drove in her life.

Then she saw the WELCOME TO HELL sign.

"This can't be real… Dad!" Ines ran as far away from the crater. She didn't want to accept it! Was this Hell? Was she in Hell?

Most importantly, WHY WAS SHE IN HELL? She never even jaywalked in her life!

She ran towards the nearest sidewalk. She stopped running when she saw that she nearly ran into some four-eyed-shark.

"What ya looking at?" It snapped.

All Ines did was scream and run away. This couldn't be happening! A humanoid shark with four eyes talked to her!

"Yeah, run off, ya creep!" The shark snapped.

Ines kept running despite being aware how lost she was. She ran past more sinful shops, cafés, and clubs. She almost ran into two cars crashing into one another and did her best to avoid the diversity of crazy creatures going around with their business. She froze when a television was thrown through a shop window and two human-sized rats ran out with their loot of electronics. The shop clerk, some sort of humanoid bear, ran after them with a gun.

This must be a nightmare, Ines mentally begged.

That's when she finally noticed her appearance on the window's broken glass.

She no longer saw the brunette, brown-eyed girl she was. Her hair had reached her chest level and was a nest of indigo curls, her skin icy blue, and her eyes were now a mismatched palette of black-and-blue, crazier than David Bowie's eyes. The black one-strap that she wore for the restaurant outing had changed. The black top remained, but the skirt had transformed into a brown, frilly one designed like a caligo wing with blue membranes and tips. Owl eyes went on her strap and wing skirt, blinking when she wasn't. She wore two black elbow-long bracelets with golden sequin, the left one bearing a loose black ribbon while the right one had indigo lace that went to her armpit. Her tights' right leg was yellow while the left leg was blue. Her black boots had three stripes, right ones being blue and left ones being yellow. Each eye had three eyelashes shaped like butterfly antennas. Her tattoo, which had been a simple black-ink design, was now a desaturated lilac that blended with her skin tone. When she opened her mouth, Ines saw her light blue fangs.

This is a nightmare, she kept saying in her head. I'm in Hell… I'm in Hell… I'm an actual indigo caligo… I'M IN HELL AND I'M AN INDIGO CALIGO! I WANT TO GO HOME!

A fight broke out across the street and Ines made a run for it. She took a right turn, only to witness another fight. This place was worse than the high school hallways!

The new fight, however, got her attention. Hiding behind a drug vending machine, she saw two goat-like demons tormenting a plant demon. What caught Ines' attention was the bad state of the plant demon. Messy brown hair with leaves sticking from each strand, sickly green skin, a torn green sweater too big for him, and worn out rainboots. A forest green mask covered the lower half of his face, yet for some reason, green smoke escaped from underneath the fabric. The plant demon was hugging a scrap of cardboard to hide the tin mug behind it.

"Come on, Bush Head! We know ya hoarding cash!"

The plant demon shook his head, desperately. It finally dawned on Ines that the goat demons were trying to steal that demon's money.

"Not like you'll need it! With ya foul breath, I heard not even the whores would pay ya if ya sucked their dicks for free!" The goat demons laughed. One of them grabbed the plant demon's cardboard and hit his face with it. The tin mug fell and out came the few coins he had.

"What? That's all the shit you have?"

"Ya holding out on us, Bush Head! Ya expect us to believe that ya don't even have enough to buy a fucking candy bar? Where's the money ya holding?"

Ines felt herself get angry as the goat demons beat up the poor plant demon. She briefly closed her eyes and she suddenly saw purple. The eyes on her dress closed as well. When all eyes reopened, the scene seemed the same… minus the part where the goat demons were fighting among themselves. They rammed their horns against each other.

"I am FUCKING sick of you being in charge! Your boss skills are just too fucking good and you make me feel like shit! I don't know why I'm even friends with you!"

"Oh yeah? Well I'm sick of you being such a broad buck, you even get Valentino's whores to suck ya dick while I just get their ugly escorts! I'm sick of being your ugly best friend!"

Ines watched in confusion. The goat demons were now violently beating each other. One of them threw the other at the vending machine. Ines ran out of the way when the fighting got worse. When one of the goat demons suddenly grabbed a broken vending machine scrap to plunge into his partner's throat, the plant demon grabbed Ines hand and pulled her into the alley.

"Hey! Let go!" Ines told him. He kept dragging her into the alley while a poor demon screamed in agony behind them. When it seemed like they reached a dead end, the plant demon put his carboard and tin mug in Ines' hold. He raised his free, scarred hands in the air. Thyme vines grew and pulled down the fire escape ladder.

"Wait… you're helping me?" Ines asked. The plant demon tilted his head in exasperation and pulled a dumpster to use as a stepping ladder. Once he and Ines got to the fire escape, his thyme vines kicked away the dumpster. He didn't want to suggest to any potential sour mind of their escape route.

They climbed several flights of stairs. Ines was unnerved by the grey bricks, cracked windows, and the dark buildings that went high into the sky. The plant demon finally led her to the rooftop. From there, Ines could see the vast city she was trapped in. Gunshots, crashes, and screams echoed everywhere. A clocktower gonged, indicating that it was 10pm.

Seriously? Ines thought. I've been her for a couple of hours?

Ines looked at the plant demon. He walked towards the rooftop's water silo. Nobody must have been on top of the building in a while since the plant-demon had made some sort of shack out of crates and ripped waterproof sheets under the silo. Buckets were stacked on the floor, all filled with water. Ines realized how thirsty she was when she tried to grab a bucket. The plant demon pulled her away from the bucket. He took his tin mug and went to a makeshift faucet attached to the silo, pouring clear water in the tin mug and giving it to Ines.

"Thank you…" Ines hesitantly accepted the tin mug. Then the plant demon took off his mask. His mouth was horribly dried up like a withered plant, but the worse part was his features. Ines saw that he couldn't be much older than her. He kept his mouth shut but green smoke still escaped him. The plant demon dunked his head in the bucket, the liquid creating hissing sounds while he groaned in pain. Ines almost dropped the mug when he pulled his head up and his lips were burned. He might as well have drunk acid.

"You… might… want to… drink…" He gasped. "It's plain water."

Ines' grip tightened on the mug. "What did you just do?"

"Drank acid rain leftovers…" He cleared his throat. "Any liquid… clears off my breath. Sorry, but I have anesthesia powers… I could neutralize people just by talking to them, that's why I wear a mask in public…"

Ines felt pity for the demon. "I can't… why… How are you able to not knock yourself out by accident? And why did these guys pick on you?"

The demon drank from a bucket full of blood this time. He spat in it. Ines was sort of disgusted when she saw the green mucus floating in the blood he just spat out. "You really need a doctor!"

The plant demon started laughing. When puffs of green smoke came out through his teeth, he drank and spat from another bucket. "Christ, are you real? How are you still around and yet so clueless? Did you die yesterday? Because I've met some pretty delusional sinners who still can't believe they're dead!"

Ines dropped the mug. She then dropped on her knees. The plant demon stared at her, confused until he saw her shattered expression. "Wait… how long have you been in Hell? Did you just get here?"

Ines couldn't hide her tears. "Why am I dead?"

Later

The plant demon let Ines hang around his makeshift shaft. Using whatever small scraps he had, he tossed them in a rusty fire bin to warm them up. It was getting close to midnight and Hell nights were ironically cold. Ines came to a very good conclusion that her new acquaintance was rather homeless. This rooftop shack was just one of many he secretly built near many water silos. Much safer from the ground levels. The plant demon also struggled to beg for money. Ines was upset to find that her wallet didn't come with her in Hell, she would have gladly given him the $20 bill she had. The goat demons who had bullied him had been serious. The plant demon didn't even have enough money to buy a candy bar. Whatever granola bars he had to offer in his shack were all 5 years past expiration dates.

Ines was done telling him her story when he was done throwing stuff in his fire bin. "Let me get this straight," he said. "You left the restaurant, you waited for your old man in the car, and you just died?"

"I don't know HOW I died!" Ines hugged her legs as she sat on the dirty rooftop. "I don't even know why I'm in Hell! I never did anything wrong in my life!"

"If I had a nickel for every sinner that comes down saying they did nothing to come here, I'd have an actual roof to sleep under," the plant demon snarked. "Do you have any idea of the amount of whack jobs who come down every Tuesday saying that they had to murder their cheating girlfriends but didn't deserve to come here because they volunteer to charities like the fucking Samaritans they are? Every day! You probably died from a heart attack or brain tumor and got sent to Hell for being one of those murderous high school bullies in every human teen movies."

"I think you're confusing me for the bad guy in Carrie," Ines pointed out.

"Look, overtime, you'll get over it." The plant demon shrugged. "Take me for instance…"

"I'm sorry…" Ines apologized. "I should have asked for your name."

"Never go by your human name. All demons have nicknames." The plant demon shook his herbal hair, losing some leaves. "I'm Kyle Ketamine. No, I wasn't a Kyle when I was human, and yes, Ketamine like the drug."

"What's ketamine?"

Kyle Ketamine looked baffled at her questions. "Christ, you really must have no clue on your sin!" He exclaimed. "It's a drug! Used for anesthesia or the occasional antidepressant!"

"I never used drugs…" Ines curled in a ball. "But… why did you use it then?"

Kyle Ketamine sighed. He looked upset while he rubbed his hands near the fire. "I'll just say that my life on Earth was shit… I've been on prescriptions to deal with my depression, and I used the same drugs to knock out my bullies… I overdosed before I could be sent to a mental hospital. Now I'm homeless, Hell punishes me by becoming a thyme demon with ketamine breath. Nobody wants to be near me, so I got no job to pay for anything, I got no home because landlords don't want me stinking up the neighbors, and my social life is pathetic. Like I said, I barely even have enough coins from begging to buy a candy bar…"

Ines raised her hand.

"And NO, there are no homeless shelters. It's Hell."

"That's horrible. How long has it been now? Since you died?"

"Six years. I was eighteen. Why?"

Ines just stared at Kyle Ketamine. "You really are only a couple years older than me…" She gulped and looked at the city around them. "I want my Dad… I don't want to be in Hell… I don't want to be dead!" Ines began to hyperventilate, unaware that the tears coming from her eyes (dress and actual eyes) turned into pearly eggs that popped into caterpillars. Ines freaked out when she saw that. "WHY AM I CRYING CATERPILLARS?"

"Calm down!" Kyle Ketamine tried to shush her.

"How can I calm down?" Ines screamed, more caterpillars emerging from her hysterical tears. "I want to go home! I don't know where I can go here! I have no money and I don't want to survive by sinning! I can't be homeless, and I don't have friends!"

Kyle Ketamine was getting frustrated. Ines figured out as much when a thyme vine suddenly slapped her on the face. "I'm sorry…" He breathed deeply and sipped from an acid bucket. "Your obliviousness is frustrating… but I owe it to you. You're right. Knowing you from the few seconds I've met you, you're not going to survive the night… and I hate saying this, but being a street rat is not your cup of tea. Luckily for you, I know a place where you don't need to pay or sin. Free food and a bed."

Ines stopped crying. She wiped the tears away. "Really?"
"Yeah! I'll take you there… as soon as we clear your tear caterpillars from my space…"

Again, later

Ines still didn't understand why nights were colder in Hell. She was glad that the caterpillars were alright. Hell caterpillars were rather cute. The ones she created from her tears were of blue hues with red marks, she couldn't kill them. Seeing how the caterpillars made her calm down, Kyle Ketamine gave her a cracked glass jar to put them in. They were smaller than toenail clips.

Before reaching the ground level to walk to the location, Kyle Ketamine threw a patched quilt of trash bags over her as a makeshift poncho. According to him, she still smelled like a freshly dead sinner. There would always be demons in the streets seeking 'fresh meat' to either rob, kill, eat, make out, and the terrible list went on. The quilt's trashy odor would hide her scent and appearance.

Kyle Ketamine guided her through the streets, wrapping his arm over her shoulders while his spare arm carried a carboard with the following sentence written in marker:

MAY SATAN PITY YOU MOTHERFUCKERS.

It seemed like the night was continuously busy. Demons lining up for clubs or outdoor dining. Gunshots in the distance, cars breaking, and the clocktower ticking. Demons must be all-nighters.

Kyle Ketamine kept his mask on. Ines understood why he never talked with the thing on. It caused him to cough terribly. Still, he took the trouble of talking to her.

"OK, pop quiz. A demon comes to you and asks to have sex with you?"

"Get lost?" Ines asked. She smiled when Kyle Ketamine nodded in approval.

"I want you to join my gang?"

"Get lost."

"I'm a super powerful demon who wants you to sign this once in a lifetime opportunity and you just need to sign this contract."

"I run for the hills."

"Yeah, I think you'll be OK! Oh, most important! Have you figured out your demon name? You can't go around saying you're Ines Coeurdor. Either your name gets used against you or you get laughed at."

"But you're name's Kyle," Ines bluntly pointed out.

"Yeah, because Kyle Ketamine sounds badass! Come on, what's your nickname?"

Ines tried to think. Her thoughts just went back to her father, to her youth…

My little indigo caligo.

"What about… Indigo Caligo?"

Kyle Ketamine just stared at her.

"What?" She asked.

"Dude, that's THE COOLEST shit I heard anyone come up with two hours after death!" He seemed to grin under his mask. "That would be awesome on a music tour T-shirt! You should pitch it!"

Indigo smiled. Despite how bad his situation was, Kyle Ketamine was really going through a lot to help her. She hugged her jar of caterpillars close to her. "Hey, Kyle… is it OK if I call you Kyle?"

"As long as you don't call me Kiki. I gladly knocked out the last demon that called me that." The thyme demon said. They crossed the street after some snail demon took too long to drive.

"OK. I wanted to ask… If where we're going has free food and a bed, how come you don't go there?"

"Rule of thumb when you live on the street: never hoard too long the charity of higher demons," Kyle pointed out. "Even if the people running the place are slightly more decent than the average Joes here, they'll just expect too much out of me. And in case you forgot, I have anesthetic breath? They'd barely tolerate me. But the place isn't crowded. If you tell them you just died and would gladly clean the rooms until you have enough to pay your own rent, I'm sure they wouldn't mind."

"I don't know how I could ever thank you, Kyle." Indigo hugged him. She didn't see his surprise and how he managed to hide his tears. Considering how he didn't push her away, it sounded like he hadn't been hugged in ages.

"Oh, before I forget!" Kyle broke off the hug and continued talking. They crossed through some more streets and avoided demons. Far in the distance, lights flashed from a pink tower labeled PORN STUDIOS. "Try to stay as long as you can in the building. I don't want you to go outside on exterminations."

Indigo froze in her tracks, nearly dropping her jar of caterpillars. "I'm sorry… Exterminations?"

"New Year's Eve. Angels known as exterminators come from Heaven." Kyle explained. "Because humanity is so bad, Hell is overloaded with sinners. Last time I read the census on a newspaper, even after cleanses, sinners make up most of Hell's population, Hellborns being next. The numbers are so high, they send exterminators whoever they can find outside of buildings. Any living demon on the streets is fair game from 12am to 11:59pm."

"Wait… how did you manage to survive?"

"My powers!" Kyle chuckled, green smoke puffs coming out. He coughed, releasing more smoke. Indigo buried her nose deeper in her poncho to avoid smelling the smoke. "First year I was here, I found out that if I held my breath long enough, my powers could temporarily flatline my heart. I hide in dumpsters and car junkyards. They always think I'm dead…"

The sound of tires screeching interrupted him. Indigo felt Kyle pull her towards an alley. They hid behind a dumpster. When the tires stopped screeching and footsteps could be heard, Kyle signaled Indigo to keep quiet.

"Well?" A male voice snarled.

"We're sorry, sir." Another male voice spoke up. "He's not on Debauchery Boulevard."

"Did you check Debauchery Boulevard?" The snarling got worse, sending shivers down Indigo's spine.

"We… we did!"

The sounds of a gunshot and dying screams were enough. Whoever was snarling was not happy with the response. Indigo bit her lip, trying not to cry.

"You boys better have a nicer answer than your pal Vegas here! Did. You. Find. ANGEL DUST?" The voice shouted.

"We looked through every single street, block, and club you assigned him, sir," a third male voice spoke up. "We even shot his 11pm appointment when the john said that Angel Dust was a no-show."

"That whore knows I don't like my time being wasted! Find him!"

"Yes, sir!"

Indigo felt terrible. She didn't know who this Angel Dust was, but after seeing how a homeless kid like Kyle Ketamine was treated on the streets, Indigo didn't want to imagine what could await this 'Angel Dust' if his boss found out. She just wanted to leave.

The voices didn't seem to go away.

"Is everything alright, sir?"

A few seconds of pause.

"I think our night's not wasted, boys. I smell lube."

Indigo looked at Kyle in confusion, as if to ask what it meant.

"Female, new, and very young."

Kyle held a gasp behind his mask. Quickly, he used his finger to write something on the mud near his foot.

I underestimated Valentino's sex tracking skills. My garbage poncho didn't hide your hormones.

Appalled, Indigo wrote in the mud as well.

That is SICK and DISGUSTING on SO MANY LEVELS, KYLE! It's bad enough I smell like fresh meat, you're telling me that he can smell my virginity?

"Boys, I smell a virgin!" Snickers and whistles followed the victorious snarls of this 'Valentino'. "And… ugh, an asexual."

"Then she's not worth it, right?" A male voice meekly asked. "I mean, they're not into…"

"Nevada, you know what Mistah Valentino always says. They're just bitches who've never enjoyed themselves until they've tried it. It's not a real orientation."

It's not a real orientation.

That was something that always frustrated Indigo back on Earth. Nobody at her high school understood or related with asexuality, so they thought she was making stuff up to fit in. Even Dimitri was confused of the notion. But being the nice person she was, she never lashed out or yelled that they needed to learn.

But the idea that some lustful demons didn't even acknowledge it in Hell? That was upsetting.

They don't know what they're missing out.

Indigo didn't know where the echoing voices came from. She then noticed that the few caterpillars she had in her jar were suddenly replaced by a flock of orange butterflies, cluttered and trying to escape the small space.

They don't see how good it is to you.

They're too prideful.

They don't see what's special about you.

If they did, they'd fight tooth and nail to have what you have.

She recognized the new butterflies in her jar.

Dryas iulia. Julia butterflies. Butterflies from South America and some states in the south that drank the tears of reptiles. Indigo was quite sure the voices came from them.

Let us help you.

We want them to see clearly.

We want them to envy you.

Like Pandora opening her box, Indigo Caligo opened her jar of Julia butterflies. By some miracle, a whole flock of them flew out. The cloud of orange wings fluttered and attacked the demons on the street. Indigo could hear their screams. If she had to make a guess, the demonic Julia butterflies were having a feast by draining the tears out of their eyes. Well, if demons had tears.

"GET THEM OFF! GET THEM OFF! GET THOSE FUCKING INSECTS OFF ME!" Valentino screamed.

Thank goodness it wasn't one of those dead-end valleys. Kyle urged Indigo to follow her. She didn't look behind her to see the butterflies attack the demons. She just looked ahead and followed Kyle. They turned right after exiting the alley and made their way by walking faster.

"That was way too close!" Kyle coughed. "God, I wouldn't forgive myself if… Indigo? What's wrong?"

"I… I'm feeling dizzy…" Indigo felt the world spinning around her. Kyle put his arm over her shoulders and helped her walk.

"Come on, Indigo. We're almost there!"

Indigo's legs were feeling weak and her eyesight blacking out. All the running for her life, well, afterlife, must have drained her energy. Eventually, after more streets, they finally got to the location. Indigo couldn't see clearly, but she could have sworn that it was a large, worn down building in the middle of a grey hill. Perhaps the only building on the hill. She couldn't pick up the name of the place, but she definitely saw the drive-through of ambers shaping up a snake towards the front door.

Kyle knocked on the door. Nobody answered, but he found the door to be unlocked. "Rich people, can't afford a proper lock," he muttered. In her dizziness, Indigo stumbled on the door, opening it up. She didn't see much of the dark lobby. Somebody was snoring in the shadows, probably sleeping. Kyle snorted something about the lobby's mess until he helped her settled down on the sofa.

"Try to rest here. Wait until they come down…" Kyle told her. "Remember what I told you. You gotta survive if you want to find out why you're in Hell, Indigo."

"Can't you stay?" Indigo asked.

"I told you, Indigo, I can't." Kyle shook his head. "Look, stay safe. I'll try to stop by this Saturday. To make sure you survived the week. OK?"

Indigo nodded. "Thanks, Kyle… Thank you for everything…"

Kyle smiled. He must have heard something, because he then wished Indigo good luck and ran out the front door. Terribly exhausted by her arrival in Hell, Indigo succumbed to her tiredness and fell asleep on the couch.