Welcome to Hell Box Set: Paranormal Romantic Comedy (Mel Goes to Hell Series Book 123)

by Demelza Carlton

The Vestibule is separated from Hell proper by the Acheron River.

  Acheron River

  This river gets its own special mention, as the souls of the damned need to cross it in Charon’s ferry to reach Hell proper. In Greco-Roman myth, Acheron was originally a god who got himself turned into a river by offering the wrong gods refreshment during battle.

  First Circle of Hell

  This circle is described as a lesser version of Heaven for unbelievers who have lived good lives – similar to the Greco-Roman Elysian Fields. It has a castle with gardens.

  Second Circle of Hell

  This one’s reserved for those who’ve committed the sins of lust or adultery and their punishment is to live in a realm of constant storms. Strong winds, hail, heavy rain…blowing them around the way their passions did in life. Because of the constant storms, they know neither peace nor rest.

  Third Circle of Hell

  The third circle of Hell is for gluttons – those with addictive habits, be it food, drink or drugs. Their realm is one with continuous, icy rain, turning the ground into a constant, muddy slush. This is where Cerberus, the legendary three-headed dog lives.

  Fourth Circle of Hell

  This is where greedy people get sent. The guardian of this realm is Ploutus, the god of wealth. Souls sent to the fourth circle of Hell spend their time fighting each other with great weights, pushing either the weights or each other with their chests, much like a pack of aggressive elephant seals.

  Fifth Circle of Hell

  Angry and sullen souls end up in the fifth circle of Hell, which is in the swampy River Styx. The angry ones fight each other on the surface, while the sullen ones gurgle on the riverbed.

  The River Styx guards the walls of the underworld city of Dis, which contains the deeper, darker circles of Hell.

  City of Dis

  Dis is a walled underworld city, surrounded by the River Styx. Guarded by fallen angels, the city gates can only be opened by an angel.

  Sixth Circle of Hell

  The sixth circle of Hell is for heretics, whose fate is to buried in flaming tombs, burning for eternity.

  Seventh Circle of Hell

  This one’s for violent criminals, divided into three circles, each of which has differing levels of punishment. Those in the outer circle are submerged in a river of boiling blood and fire. The depth they’re submerged is dependent on their crime – and there are centaur archers patrolling the outside of the circle, ready to fire arrows at anyone who tries to get out of the river. Those in the middle circle are at the mercy of the harpies and whatever punishment the harpies conjure up. The inner circle is subject to burning rain falling from the sky in a desert of burning sand – and this includes usurers or anyone who lends money for interest.

  Eighth Circle of Hell

  A demon named Geryon presides over the eighth circle of Hell, which is divided into ten “bolgies” – each bolgia separated from the others by stony ditches with bridges between them. Punishments and crimes vary between each of the bolgies, but they include being forced to march while being whipped by demons; burial head-first in a rock; having their heads twisted around so they walk backwards; sitting in a lake of boiling pitch if you’re a corrupt politician; being bitten by snakes and lizards if you’re a thief; concealment in individual flames; repeated dismemberment by demons; and affliction with various diseases if you’re an alchemist.

  Ninth Circle of Hell

  This circle is reserved for treachery. All the residents of the ninth circle are frozen in an icy lake. The depth they’re frozen in depends on the extent of their crimes. This part of Hell really is frozen over.

  Centre of Hell

  The centre of Hell is where Lucifer lives in his own icy prison. If you make it there, he might give you a guided tour.

  The Immortals Who Inhabit Heaven and Hell

  Alecto

  Alecto is one of the three Dirae. Alecto's name means endless or unceasing in anger.

  Ananiel

  Ananiel's name means rain of God and she's a fallen angel.

  As one of the harpies in Level Seven in Hell, Ananiel's job is to mete out punishment to damned souls at the end of a whip, burning brand or other torture implement. Far from being a natural dominatrix like Lilith or Jezebeth, Ananiel prefers to be on the receiving end of such treatment, so she's frequently in trouble for turning the tables and allowing damned souls to enjoy themselves as they punish her instead.

  In the HELL Corporation, Ana works in Human Resources, recruiting administrative staff for Lucifer to corrupt before using them as prostitutes in her illegal brothel in the HELL Corporation building's food court toilets. She has a deep, abiding hatred for Mel.

  Acheron

  Acheron is both a river in Hell and a man. It's also a river in the Epirus region of Greece, but this entry is only about the man and the infernal river Acheron.

  Acheron was the son of Helios by Demeter, though some say his mother was Gaia. As he shares a mother with Persephone, this makes him Persephone's half-brother. When Zeus was fighting the Titans, Acheron offered the Titans a drink, which refreshed them and prolonged the fight. The angry, victorious Zeus cursed him, turning him into the river.

  Now, Acheron crouches in the river in Hell that bears his name, lonely and forgotten, as no one can see through Hell's illusions to the man in the water.

  Asmodeus

  Rumour has it that Asmodeus is the son of the angel of prostitution, Naamah, and Adam, the first human man, so it may come as no surprise that he's the demon of lust. He's also responsible for inciting gambling and most of the gambling in Hell is overseen by him.

  He once fell in love with a woman named Sara, murdering her husbands until the archangel Raphael chased him away from her and back to Hell. His favourite pastime is tormenting newlyweds with all sorts of problems – both in the bedroom and in the rest of their lives.

  In Hell, he guards the gates to the underworld city of Dis, along with Kasyade and Merihim. They generally play cards to pass the time. He once had a brief love affair with Lilith, before she grew bored.

  In the HELL Corporation, he's known as Mo, the policy officer in the Brothel Regulation Unit who seems to always have to fill the printer with paper – a dangerous task in stationery shortages.

  Baraqiel

  A fallen angel and former Grigori whose name means lightning of God. He is reputed to have taught humans astrology in the time of Jared or Yered. He's possibly also the father of Hazael.

  In the modern day, he was the first Chief Financial Officer at the HELL Corporation, because of his (self-reported) talent at financial predictions. When his talent proved to be losing money on bad investments, Lucifer sent him back to Hell in disgrace and didn't replace him. The HELL Corporation's financial standing improved immediately.

  Beelzebub

  A prince of demons known as Lord of the Flies, Beelzebub was originally a Philistine deity and oracle. There are rumours that he once successfully led a revolt of the forces of Hell against Lucifer, but this seems unlikely, as Beelzebub is one of the demons Lucifer often leaves in charge of Hell in his absence.

  Not only is Beelzebub one of Lucifer's most senior demons, he's married to another, equally important demon – Mephistopheles, who calls him Bob. Occasionally, he acts as CEO to the HELL Corporation when Lucifer is called away on urgent business. He lacks Lucifer's long-term views on business strategy and makes some very short-sighted decisions as a result.

  Belial

  Once an angel, Belial is now one of Lucifer's most senior demons. With a name meaning without worth, Belial brings about both wickedness and guilt. In the HELL Corporation, he's known as Lial and he's the director of the state-run art school.

  Camael

  Samael and Camael are twin fallen angels whose names mean the blind God and one who sees God, respectively. People often confuse the two, because the brothers are identical. They were the angels of death before Lilith seduced the two brothers and they both fell together.<
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  Cerberus

  Cerberus is the giant, three-headed dog who guards the gates of Hell. Some accounts say he has more or less than three heads and others give him other roles, too. One particularly lovely description says he has three heads, a dragon's tail, a mane of snakes and the claws of a lion.

  Apparently, he fawns over those entering Hell, but he'll attack anyone who tries to leave. The exception to this is Persephone, who he adores.

  He seems to pop up in various places. Some say the mouth of the Acheron River; others the gates of Hell and Dante places him as the overlord of the third level of Hell, where the gluttonous and greedy writhe in their own filth.

  When Mel encounters him on Level Three, all three heads are hungry because the lazy demons who feed him have been slack. She takes pity on the poor, mutated puppy and gives him a snack fresh from the butcher.

  Charon

  Charon is the cloaked ferryman in Hades who ferries newly dead souls over the River Acheron and possibly the River Styx to the underworld. He requires payment, in the form of a coin that was placed in the dead body's mouth after death.

  He's described in various sources as being an old man with a long beard and poor hygiene.

  In Dante's Divine Comedy, he's said to beat slow-moving souls with his oar to get them into his boat.

  When he sees Mel, he refuses to carry her across the river – and he's even more emphatic in his refusal when he recognises her.

  Chiron

  Chiron is a centaur – half-man and half-horse – but he's unlike the others of his kind. This might be because he was the son of the nymph Philyra and Kronos, who transformed himself into a horse so his wife wouldn't recognise him while he was busy with Philyra. Other centaurs are the children of King Ixion and the cloud nymph Nephele.

  Considered very wise and just, Chiron was a teacher and mentor to many mythical heroes, including Jason, Hercules, Peleus, Asclepius, Patroclus and Achilles.

  He died after being accidentally struck by one of Hercules' hydra-poisoned arrows.

  Chiron is the leader of the centaurs in Hell, where they patrol the banks of the River Phlegethon in Level Seven, firing arrows at any of the violent souls who attempt to leave the river of fire and blood.

  Cresil

  Cresil is known as Sil in the HELL Corporation, where she works in the Human Resources department, conducting orientation and training for new staff. Cresil is a demon of impurity and laziness.

  Demeter

  Demeter is known in Greco-Roman mythology as the goddess of agriculture, fertility and the harvest. She had several children by different fathers, including Ploutos, Acheron and Persephone. While it's believed that Persephone's father was Zeus, Demeter will only say that Persephone's father was built like a Greek god, but about as useless in bed as one of his statues. She's Mel's cousin.

  One of the Dynameis, Demeter is responsible for agriculture and the conditions required to ensure its sustainability – though this is not always what humans would prefer, as droughts, floods and other weather variabilities still occur under her care.

  Dirae

  The Dirae are also known as the Furies or the Erinyes. They're the three daughters of Uranus and Gaia – Megaera, Alecto and Tisiphone. The furies are the bat-winged spirits of vengeance and they guard the gates of Dis, the city of the underworld. As well as administering punishment to those in Level Six in Hell, they take new souls down to the lower levels when they're delivered to the gates of Dis.

  These three are so implacable in their fury that most called them the Eumenides (soothed ones) or Semnai Theai (honourable goddesses) so as not to incur their wrath.

  Freyja

  Freyja is a goddess in Norse mythology. She chooses which souls may be suitable to be trained as Powers or Exousiai – so called for their power to banish demons. After they are trained, she selects which warrior souls are worthy of fighting demons on Earth in the present day and at the apocalypse.

  Gabrielle

  Gabriel (or Gabrielle, also called Jibra’il) can be either male or female. This angel’s name means both man of God and God is mighty. She chooses to be female at the time of Mel Goes to Hell.

  As an archangel, Gabriel is responsible for delivering messages from Heaven to individual humans. Some of the more notable people who received these messages were Daniel in the Book of Daniel; the Prophet Mohammad in the Qur’an; Mary, Jesus’ mother, and Zacharias, John the Baptist’s father. Because of Gabriel’s important role as a messenger, he’s considered to be the patron saint of communications workers.

  Gabriel is the archangel who first appeared to the Prophet Mohammad and revealed the scriptures of the Qur'an to him.

  At the beginning of the Mel Goes to Hell series, Gabi is working with the archangel Uriel, her partner, in Russia. As the situation in the HELL Corporation heats up, Raphael summons her to Perth to help Mel out in the office – and to positively identify Lucifer. Being the patron saint of communications workers, she’s ideal for the position of temporary receptionist and switchboard operator.

  Gabrielle is a very traditional angel, who believes that demons are damned and should be shunned at all costs. You can’t trust them not to taint anything – including the office coffee machine.

  A fan of sweet, iced, frothy coffee, Gabi makes it her mission to keep Mel out of Lucifer’s clutches, enlisting the help of some well-built Grigori angels in the Agency – though Mel has already made her own plans.

  George

  Saint George was born in the third century AD in Cappadocia, which is modern-day Turkey. Following the death of his father, he became a soldier in the army of the Roman Emperor Diocletian. He rose to the rank of Tribune, but he objected to the Emperor's campaign of persecution of Christians.

  In punishment, he was imprisoned, tortured and dragged through the streets of Diospolis (present-day Lodd) or Nicomedia (present-day Izmit) before he was beheaded. Understandably, he's a bit hazy on the details of which city it was.

  He's most famous for his defeat of a dragon. This dragon lived in a lake outside the city of Silene in Libya, where it terrorised the city and the surrounding countryside. The people of Silene appeased it by sacrificing sheep and then its own people. The human sacrifices were chosen by lot and one day the lot chose the king's unmarried daughter.

  George approached the gates of the city and noticed the princess, who exhorted him to leave before the dragon attacked him. Instead, he battled the dragon and had the princess lead the dragon into the city, where he killed it.

  The story of Saint George and the dragon first appeared in the 13th century in England, suggesting that this may have occurred as a miracle after his death and not during his life.

  As an angel, Saint George is one of leaders among the Exousiai, warrior angels whose sole purpose is to battle and banish demons.

  Geryon

  Geryon was the grandson of Medusa, but he quietly kept red cattle on the island of Erytheia with the help of Cerberus' two-headed dog brother, Orthrus. That is, until Hercules came to fulfil his tenth labour, by stealing Geryon's cattle. Hercules clubbed Orthrus, the watchdog, then Eurytion, Geryon's herdsman, so Geryon donned his armour and attacked Hercules. Hercules was the victor – Geryon died with a poison-tipped arrow in his forehead.

  Geryon is the guardian of the eighth level of Hell, where some of the worst sinners are sent. His demonic form has a human face, lion's paws and a wyvern's body, complete with leathery wings, and a tail with a venomous tip. He lives in the caves in the cliffs between Level Seven and Level Eight in Hell with his wife, the harpy Jezebeth.

  In the HELL Corporation, he's known as Gerry and he reports to Merihim in the Health Unit. He's particularly partial to a bit of bondage and discipline with his wife, Jezebeth, when he dons his mankini and she pulls out the flogger.

  Grigori

  Grigori are in the lowest choir of angels. With no wings and no higher rank than that of an angel, they are still very important. These angels are Watchers, watching
humans and occasionally stepping in to assist them.

  Some of the first Grigori fell when they went native, taking human wives and siring children with them. These half-angel children are known as Nephilim.

  Working as a Grigori does have its risks because they work so closely with humans and forming close, personal relationships is very easy to do.

  Hades

  Known as the Greek god of the Underworld, Hades was Lord of the Underworld when Lucifer was still an angel. Neither an angel or a demon, he feels he's been hard done by in ruling over the dead and not the living. His main interest is in increasing his subjects. His weapon is a bident, much like Lucifer's.

  When Persephone was very young, Hades abducted her from her mother, Demeter, ostensibly so that the girl could become his wife. Demeter went to great lengths to rescue her daughter from Hades, enlisting the favours of several other immortals before the girl was freed.

  Harpies