by A L Fogerty
"And in local sports, the Arizona Silverbacks won their meet against the New Mexico Vultures. It was close for the entire game, but in the final moments…"
The newscaster went on to describe what Sid came to understand was a basketball game, although he didn't know anything about human sports. Moreover, seeing the game play out on one of the strange black screens that he'd witnessed for decades confused him.
"I can't believe it," he muttered. He stood there watching the screen until his legs started to hurt. Then he sat down on the bed and watched the programming that flashed before him. It wasn't until deep in the night that he went to sleep. The working TV had been such a shock.
In the morning, he woke and turned on the TV again, just wanting to make sure that he'd really seen what he thought he'd seen. And there it was again. This time, the screen showed several women in short skirts and high heels speaking casually, as if they were sitting in their living rooms, about people Sid had no concept of. But that didn't stop the whole experience from being endlessly entertaining. He almost couldn't turn away. Then he realized it was time to go to the café. He went to the bathroom and washed his face before heading outside into the bright light of day.
Sid hurried out into the street, observing the people going about their morning routines. There were more cars out than the previous night, and mothers and children were going about their business. Sid arrived at the café and spotted the waitress from the day before.
She walked up and greeted him. "I wasn't sure if you were going to show up."
"Why wouldn't I show up?"
"You never know with new arrivals. Let's get you started."
She walked him into the back of the restaurant, where he'd worked the day before, and he put on his apron before grabbing what she called a bus tub. As Sid was clearing tables of dirty dishes in the restaurant, he thought about the fact that there were so many people in this place who represented what the world had once been like. They'd probably all been here since before the cataclysm, more than twenty-five years ago. That was a long time to spend in purgatory. He wondered whether anyone had moved on or if the souls had been stuck here that whole time.
He went about his day, cleaning tables and washing dishes and keeping an eye out for the rest of the party. Sid hoped that eventually they would find him, but he didn't know how long he could wait. He wouldn't be staying in this place for twenty-five years—that was for sure.
Chapter 17
After the breakfast rush, there was a short period of rest, and the waitress told him to go take a coffee break. Sid hadn’t liked the coffee at the witches’ compound, but he did as she asked and poured himself a cup. Then he walked outside behind the restaurant to enjoy the day.
As he was sipping his coffee in the shade, leaning against the building, he saw a familiar face. It was Gloria. She immediately caught his eye and rushed toward him.
He stood up, relieved to see a member of his party. "Where is everyone else?"
"Sid, I'm so glad I found you. Things went terribly wrong after you walked through the portal."
"What happened?" he asked, walking with her around the back of the building and through the alley. Behind the café was a large open field that led into the desert.
Gloria bit her lip and didn't answer him.
"Where is Kayla?" he asked.
"They're all still in the jungle, as far as I know," she said.
"Why is the rest of the party in a jungle?"
"After you walked through the portal, we were attacked by Veronica, and then we tried to escape through the portal. But we ended up far from where we should have been, in a jungle to the south.”
"How is that possible?" he asked.
"Malik assumed it was because Veronica cast a spell and his chaos magic backfired. We were unable to do magic. We were attacked by animal zombies and survived only because other monsters scared them off. Those monsters took me away, probably intending to eat me. But right before they took me underground with them, I opened a portal and was able to go through. I meant to go back to the fortress, but I ended up at the entrance to hell in a deep cavern. Each time I tried to open another portal, I ended up in the same place. I think my magic is still malfunctioning. I walked down the tunnel and was in darkness. Luckily, I had my witch-magic fire to light the way. I finally came out into the desert and walked for miles along the highway until I found this town, and then there you were, standing outside this café.”
"So you don't know where the others are," he said.
"I'm afraid not. I wish I did. Malik will be so worried.”
"At least we found each other."
"It is such a relief to see you."
"I have to go back to work," Sid said, "but you can get something to eat and drink inside the café. I will use my wages for the day to pay for your food.”
"You have a job?" she asked.
"It all happened by accident. I needed money to pay for my food, and the waitress was kind enough to give me a job instead of calling the police on me."
"What is this place?"
"I can only assume that it's the first level of hell. Felix said it is like a way station for souls. Purgatory, he called it. They come here awaiting final judgment to see whether they can move on or will have to go to deeper levels of hell.”
"But this place is like the world before the cataclysm. Does that mean the souls have been here this whole time?"
"I hate to say it," Sid said, "but I think that must be what is happening here.”
"So none of them have moved on?"
"I guess not. But it makes sense if you think about it. The imbalance of darkness would make it impossible for lighter souls to move on to the afterlife. They would be trapped here for eternity."
"And we thought things were bad in our world.”
“So far, this place doesn't seem so bad," Sid said. "Come on in. I'll introduce you to my boss."
Gloria followed Sid into the diner, where he introduced her to Tiffany. The waitress didn't seem pleased, but Sid asked her to give Gloria some food and drink out of his wages. Gloria would have to be thirsty from her walk through the desert even though it had happened at night.
Tiffany showed Gloria a place to sit and brought her some water while Sid went back to working in the scullery. As he was walking through the restaurant with his bus tub, he saw a man in a dark-blue uniform walk into the establishment. Tiffany went to speak with him and cocked her chin toward Sid and Gloria.
Sid caught Gloria's eye. He slowly continued clearing the table as the officer passed Gloria on his way toward him. Sid felt a deep apprehension. Something was about to go terribly wrong.
Just as Sid was deciding what to do, the officer stepped in front of him. “I've had some complaints about you."
"Complaints?"
"Appears you haven’t been paying your bills. Got free food here yesterday.”
"I worked that off.” Sid set the bus tub on the table and wiped his hands on his apron.
“Not according to Tiffany," the officer said.
"She gave me a job here.”
“Says you've been hanging around, pretending like you got a job here."
Sid looked at Tiffany, who crossed her arms and looked away. Gloria was already standing to leave.
"Not so fast, honey," the officer said. “Seems like you two are in cahoots. I’ll have to take you down to the station."
"We haven't done anything wrong," Sid said.
“Not according to reports from locals. And I'm afraid I take their word more seriously than that of a couple of strangers.”
He caught Gloria's and Sid's arms in a vise grip and pulled them both out of the restaurant. Sid was a strong man, and he'd never felt a grip so intense, not even from an alpha wolf like Kayla.
The officer dragged them across the street to the police station and opened the cell, where he threw them both inside. "You two are going to stay here until I figure out what to do with you."
"There's been a m
istake," Sid said. “Tiffany gave me that job.”
“There’s no mistake," the officer said. “Stay quiet. I'm gonna start the booking process." The cop turned away and walked into the next room. Sid and Gloria were left alone in the cell.
"What's going on?" Gloria asked.
“Seems like maybe Tiffany was jealous of you and decided to take back her kindness. When I first got here, I thought the people weren't so bad, but now I’m not so sure."
"Sorry to disappoint you, Sid, but this is hell. Even if the people in this place aren't the worst of the worst, they are also not good souls.”
"I guess I got to figure that out the hard way. Do you think that guy's a demon?" Sid asked, looking at the guard in the other room.
"I don't know." Gloria crossed her arms and leaned against the wall. "He very well could be. What do you think he's planning to do with us?"
"Nothing good," Sid said. "We should leave. Could you portal us out of here?"
"My portals have not been very reliable, I'm afraid," Gloria admitted. “We'd likely end up back at the entrance to hell.”
"That's better than here, especially if this guy is a demon. He’ll tell Veronica, and she’ll find me again.”
“You saw her too?" Gloria asked.
"After I waited for everyone, she appeared and chased me into that tunnel. I was in there for ages, completely blinded. One of the worst experiences of my life.”
“I was so glad I had my witch fire. I can only imagine how hard it was for you."
"I’d definitely prefer not to repeat that," Sid said. “But I'd rather be there than here."
"Here goes nothing, then." Gloria stood and waved her arms in the air, muttering the incantation for her spell. A moment later, the portal opened in the middle of the cell. She and Sid looked at each other reluctantly.
"I'll go first," Sid said, prepared for whatever lay ahead. It couldn't be any worse than whatever that cop had planned for them. He stepped through the portal and found himself on the sidewalk. Gloria emerged a moment later, looking worried and confused.
"What happened?" he asked.
"Veronica. She was in the police station."
"She's found us," Sid said. "We need to get out of here."
"Where are we going to go?"
“This way. I have an idea." He hurried across the street and found an empty vehicle, and Gloria followed. Standing beside it, he inspected its contents.
“Are you planning to take that?" Gloria asked.
“It's our best option."
“We are already in enough trouble as it is."
“We need to get away from here as fast as we can. It's not like it's a real car.” Sid tried opening the car door and found that it was unlocked. "Get in."
He jumped behind the wheel, and Gloria sat down next to him. Sid turned the key in the ignition. It was almost as if it had been waiting there for him. He wondered if stealing a car would damn his soul to hell, but he decided not to think about it for too long. He had to get Gloria away from there as fast as possible and figure out how to get back to the others. They couldn't forget the mission. Finding their daughter was all that mattered.
He started the car, and they began to move. He'd never driven a car before, but he'd gotten the idea from all the TV he'd watched the night before. It was really choppy at first, but soon, he got the hang of it, and they were rolling down the street and away from the police station and Veronica.
Chapter 18
Felix trudged through the jungle step-by-step, going deeper and deeper into the tangled mass of branches and vines. Malik led the party, using his magic, and Felix observed the forest as they walked through it. He felt that at any moment, they would be confronted by the zombies or the land sharks again. Fear coursed through his belly, but he kept it to himself.
Felix was handy with a gun, but he wasn’t a warrior like his brothers or Kayla. Sometimes it made him feel small and weak, but he knew that fighting was not his greatest asset, and with a woman like Kayla, there was no need for him to try to prove his worth with strength—she had strength enough for all of them. He sincerely hoped that they would make it to the rift without being confronted by zombies again, but he knew that the perils of hell would be far worse than the perils of this jungle.
Suddenly, he heard a crack behind him and whirled around to find a host of zombie beasts staring at him. "Guys," he said as an angry-looking monkey eyed him hungrily. “They’re back."
"Who's back?" Kayla said, turning to him. "Oh," she said, her eyes growing wide. "I'll try to finish them off this time."
Jagger and Riddick drew their weapons, and Malik began to draw his magic into a spell as Kayla closed her eyes and breathed deeply. All at once, the animals surged toward them. Their numbers measured in the hundreds. Felix had used most of his bullets in the last battle and had almost none left.
The animals charged at the warriors. Riddick and Jagger slashed and bashed, defending Kayla as she focused on her magic. Felix stood beside her, his guns ready if any of the beasts got too close. Kayla threw her head back and opened her arms wide, her face pointed toward the sky. A deep moan escaped her lips as if she'd been possessed by the light.
She let out a short scream, and her wings emerged from her back. With a ferocious bellow, she took to the air, sword of light in hand. With one sweep of her arms, the zombie animals fell before her. Then she slowly descended until her feet touched the ground.
"Well done, Kayla," Jagger said, slapping her on the back.
"I think I've got it now," she said. "At least, I hope I do."
"That was the most magnificent thing I've ever witnessed," Riddick said.
"I think it's the most magnificent thing most of us have ever witnessed," Jagger said.
"Now that we've gotten somewhere, could you two possibly stop fighting?" Kayla glared at them, her wings retracting into her back. Riddick and Jagger looked dumbly at her and nodded.
"I will if he does.” Riddick pointed his thumb at his older brother.
"I can ignore his incompetence," Jagger said. "I'm used to having to be the bigger man."
Kayla rolled her eyes at them and turned to Felix. "Thank you for protecting me during the fight. I didn't know if I was going to be able to find my power. It makes me vulnerable."
"I will always defend you," Felix said, "with every breath I take."
"The rift is close. Not much farther.” Malik held a divining rod and made small adjustments as he walked.
The group continued through the jungle, leaving the mass of zombie-animal bodies on the forest floor. They arrived at a deep fissure in the ground, the smell of sulfur wafting up through the moist jungle air. Felix gazed down into the open wound in the face of the earth, contemplating how they could possibly get down there.
"Now what?" Riddick grumbled and crossed his arms.
"That's a good question.” Malik put his divining rod away in his pack. "Any ideas?"
"Kayla could fly us down one by one.” Riddick stroked his sheathed daggers.
"It will be good practice for me," Kayla said. "Calling on my angelic power and using it in combination with my alpha strength—that's something I'm not used to doing. Who wants to go first?"
"I will.”
"Okay, Felix, whenever you're ready.” Kayla called her wings out again.
She groaned, the sound somewhere between torment and ecstasy, and her wings appeared on her back. She opened her arms to Felix, and he walked toward her. The knowledge that his mate was the strongest of all of them tingled on his skin. He stepped into Kayla's embrace, and she launched into the air, rising high and then slowly descending into the chasm in the earth. The smell of sulfur grew stronger, and the light grew dim. It was a long way down into the fissure.
Finally, Kayla's feet touched the ground, and she let him go. “I'll be right back," she said. "Don't get lost on me like Sid."
"I'll be right here, waiting for you." Felix knew she was worried about Sid and wondering what had become o
f the big warrior.
Kayla flew away, and Felix was left in the dark.
Chapter 19
Kayla landed with Jagger, the last of the party. They were all gathered at the bottom of the rift.
"I've been exploring the area," Felix said, "and it appears that there is a tunnel leading deeper into the rift. I suggest we go that way."
"Does anyone have any other ideas?" Kayla asked.
No one said anything, so they decided to take Felix's suggestion. The party lit lanterns, using Malik’s witch fire. The deeper into the canyon they traveled, the darker it grew and the narrower the path became. There was only a tiny sliver of light above them. The air grew cool and moist, and the smell of sulfur intensified. As they walked on and on, with no end in sight, Riddick began to grumble about his stomach. Jagger must have remembered their agreement not to fight, because he managed not to snap at him.
They found a dry place to sit and pulled out their rations for a quick meal. They had enough food to last several weeks, including jerky and oatcakes that the witches had infused with extra nutrients. But Kayla hoped their journey would not take that long. Felix's research into the levels of hell might or might not prove accurate. It was based on the astral projections of witches, not firsthand experience. And there was no telling what tricks the lord of darkness might play on the witches visiting this realm in their astral bodies. She hoped there was some accuracy to the reports, but they couldn't depend on anything.
After eating her jerky, she stood and brushed off her knees, ready to continue the journey. As the others were standing to join her, there was a great rumbling of the earth. The cavern shook so violently that it threw her off her feet. Dust, rocks, and debris fell from the ceiling, and Kayla tumbled to her knees. The ground vibrated all around, and she couldn't get up. The dust clouds grew thicker and heavier, obscuring her view of the others. She called out to them.
"Follow the sound of my voice," Jagger yelled.