Crossroads

by Wendy Saunders

  ‘I’m here and I’m fine,’ she looked down at him smiling, ‘and you’re okay.’

  She stumbled and fell forward as Jake grabbed her hand firmly and yanked her towards him so she fell on the bed and he could wrap his arms around her tightly.

  ‘You’re okay,’ Roni whispered more to reassure herself than him, her eyes filling with tears.

  She pulled back just far enough so she could look into Jake’s eyes.

  ‘I had the strangest dream,’ he croaked, running her silky hair through his fingers. ‘I dreamed you were shooting bottles with my gun.’

  She chuckled lightly and reached back to the waistband of her jeans, pulling out his gun.

  ‘What, you mean this one?’

  ‘Why have you got my gun?’ he frowned. ‘What the hell happened.’

  ‘Your girl is pretty bad ass,’ Danae stepped into the room and leaned up against the door jamb with a cocky smile.

  ‘What?’

  ‘We arrived just in time to see you getting your soul ripped out of your chest, when Roni here sprints after the soul stealing demon and flat out tackles him.’

  ‘What?’ Jake’s face drained of color as he turned to Roni angrily. ‘Are you insane, putting yourself in danger like that? What the hell were you thinking?’

  ‘To be honest I stopped thinking at that point,’ Roni replied ruefully. ‘I just knew I couldn’t let him escape with your soul.’

  ‘Jesus Roni,’ he raked his hand shakily through his hair.

  ‘Look she’s making it sound worse than it was,’ Roni told him. ‘He couldn’t hurt me because I was wearing your amulet.’

  ‘To be fair,’ Danae interrupted, ‘you didn’t actually know that at the time. It was just sheer dumb luck that thing worked.’

  ‘Not helping,’ she hissed.

  ‘We’ll discuss this later,’ Jake threw Roni a look, ‘why don’t you tell me what happened after.’

  ‘He got away,’ Roni continued, ‘but not before Danae managed to get some of his blood. She used a tracking spell and we managed to track him to the North West woods.’

  ‘Where the Bachelier place is,’ Danae supplied.

  ‘Why was he there?’ Jake frowned.

  ‘It seems he was using the old Hoodoo bottle tree Clea Bachelier put up, to trap the souls he’d stolen so he could feed off them at his leisure.’

  Jake suppressed a shudder at the thought of the demon feeding off his soul. ‘So how did you stop him?’

  ‘We didn’t,’ Roni told him softly. ‘It was Olivia and Theo.’

  ‘What?’ Louisa piped up, ‘they’re back? Where are they? Are they hurt?’

  ‘No, they’re not here and I don’t think so,’ Danae answered each of her questions in turn.

  ‘Where are they then?’ Jake asked.

  Danae shrugged.

  ‘I don’t know,’ she replied, ‘there was some sort of disturbance in the air close to the tree. I’m not a hundred percent certain but I think it may have been a smaller gateway than the one we saw on the lake. Olivia and Theo grabbed the Soul Collector and dragged him through and then they disappeared too.’

  ‘And the souls?’

  ‘Released,’ Roni told him, ‘all of them. Those who are able to return to their bodies should be able to, like you did. The others should be able to move on to whichever afterlife they are destined for.’

  ‘Jesus,’ Jake rubbed his eyes in exhaustion, ‘so we still don’t know where Olivia and Theo are?’

  ‘No,’ Danae shook her head. ‘I just hope wherever they are that they’re okay.’

  Olivia and Theo hit the ground hard and rolled out the reach of the Soul Collector. The wind howled like a hurricane tearing at their hair and clothes, raking their skin with its severity. They scrambled back out of the way as the gateway crumbled and disappeared into the encroaching vortex of blackness. The Soul Collector began to slide across the ground, caught up in the suction of that great black gaping maw. He stopped struggling with the collar glowing at his shredded bloodied throat and rolled over onto his stomach clawing frantically at the earth, trying to stop his inexorable slide backwards toward oblivion. His eyes were wide with madness and his mouth was wide rimmed with frothing spittle.

  The wind picked up pace even more until it was like being caught in the path of an approaching tornado. Bridget's feet were pulled out from under her and she slid across the ground towards the Void and the demon desperately trying to claw his way out of its path of destruction.

  ‘BRIDGET!’ Olivia screamed as she reached out and caught Bridget’s hand.

  Theo’s hand snatched out and grabbed the back of Olivia’s backpack to stop her from being dragged forward and he reached back with his other hand so Sam could grab him and anchor him to something.

  Bridget cried out in pain as the demon grabbed her ankle and sunk his sharp claw like nails deeply into her flesh. He speared her calf with the claws of his other hand and began to painfully claw his way up her body, tearing her flesh as he went.

  ‘Olivia let me go,’ Bridget cried in pain as he embedded his claws into her lower back.

  ‘NO!’ she shook her head.

  ‘You have to,’ she whispered smiling through the pain, ‘just remember…it was always meant to be you…’

  ‘NO!’ Olivia screamed and reached out desperately as Bridget ripped her hand from Olivia’s grasp. Rolling over she wrapped her arms and legs around the demon, rolling them both to the edge and over into the darkness.

  ‘Olivia we have to go,’ Theo dragged her back and hauled her to her feet, as the wall of nothingness inched closer to them. ‘WE HAVE TO GO NOW!’

  He grabbed her hand and dragged her away from the edge. She felt Sam grasp her other hand and the chaos around her blurred and shifted. She found herself running, being dragged along by Sam and Theo. In the distance she could see the giant wrought iron archway and the words Mercy Cemetery in elegant spidery letters.

  She risked a look behind them and her stomach leapt in fear. Despite them running flat out, the world they knew was disappearing behind them fast, consumed by the roaring black inferno churning up everything in its path. She pushed herself to move faster, her breath was coming in big labored gasps and her heart hammered in her chest. The muscles in her legs screamed in protest and her backpack banged painfully against her spine with every step but she didn’t dare stop or even slow down.

  Her palms were sweaty with exertion and she kept losing her grip on Sam and then Theo. Sam allowed her to release his grip and kept pace next to her but Theo wouldn’t let her go. His death like grip on her hand would have been amusing under any other circumstances, but at this particular point she couldn’t be anything other than profoundly grateful. They ran under the huge archway and down the small winding path which ran between rows and rows of gravestones.

  Behind them came a loud ominous grinding, the heart stopping sound of metal twisting and bending under great strain, but they didn’t dare turn back to look. If they had they would have seen the great iron archway folding in on itself and disappearing into the wall of blackness. They cut across graves, leaping over decorative borders and urns, trying desperately not to trip and fall. They skirted around smaller Mausoleums and towering statues of Angels but nothing survived. All fell before the destructive might of the Void, they all crumbled into the deep well of forever, never to be seen again.

  ‘Is it much further?’ Olivia panted as she stumbled from sheer exhaustion.

  ‘It’s not far,’ Sam turned back in time to see Olivia trip over the decorative edging of an old grave, which had been partially concealed by overgrown weeds.

  Olivia felt her foot tangle and she went down, unable to stop herself. She rolled over helpless to do anything but watch the endless Void rushing towards her. She felt strong familiar arms lifting her as Theo pulled her roughly into his arms and began to run once again.

  ‘Sam, get to the entrance!’ Theo breathed heav
ily.

  Olivia looked up and saw a large rectangular building with pale walls which may have been white once but had faded to light grey. It was surrounded by majestic Greek style columns, small archways lined the walls where windows would have been. There was a pitched roof and on the smooth front gable was the name West deeply etched into the stonework. It was weird, she’d been to the West section of Mercy Cemetery back in the real world. She’d explored it thoroughly with Theo when they were searching for Charlotte West’s grave and she’d never come across a family Mausoleum like this one. They skidded to a halt outside the entrance which was a heavy oak door overlaid with an iron gate.

  ‘Hurry up and open it,’ Theo dropped Olivia to the ground holding onto her tightly.

  ‘I’m working on it,’ Sam breathed heavily as he laid his hands against the rusted metal.

  Olivia and Theo turned, pressing their backs closer to Sam and shoving him forward as the Void churned up the grounds in front of them. Gravestones were ripped loose and swallowed, trees were yanked roughly out at the roots and devoured. Grass and paths and urns and flowers all toppled helplessly into the Void.

  ‘SAM!’ Olivia yelled above the noise, ‘ANYTIME NOW WOULD BE GOOD!’

  ‘YOU’RE NOT HELPING!’ he hissed in frustration.

  ‘SAM!’ Theo shouted in desperation.

  ‘Got you,’ Sam breathed as the door swung open inwards and all three of them leapt into the dark entrance to find themselves tumbling into a deep well of blackness like Alice falling down the rabbit hole.

  Part 2.

  The Underworld

  Chapter 20.

  Like Alice, it felt as if they had been falling through the dark silence forever, with no concept of time or distance. Olivia began to wonder idly if the Underworld was so far below the surface it was indeed located at the very center of the Earth, or maybe it wasn’t under the Earth at all but somewhere else entirely. She was so lost in her wandering thoughts it came as a surprise when they finally hit the ground with a collective humph, in a vicious tangle of arms, elbows and bodies.

  ‘Get off,’ Olivia wheezed. She wasn’t sure who it was but someone was crushing her.

  ‘Sorry,’ Sam whispered and the pressure on her chest eased.

  ‘Olivia?’ she heard Theo’s voice in the darkness and she felt a hand groping her breast.

  ‘That’d better be you copping a feel Theo,’ she whispered.

  His quiet chuckle made her smile despite her aching limbs. ‘Sorry’ he replied, running his hand down her arm to touch her hand.

  ‘Hang on a minute this is no good, I can’t see a damn thing.’ Olivia snapped her fingers and two of her dragonflies burst into flames but instead of the warm gold and red of her Earth fire they blazed the fiery black and sapphire blue of Hellfire.

  The dragonflies hovered close casting an eerie blue glow over them, but it was enough to see by. The boys were already standing and Theo leaned down and grasped a hand, pulling her gently to her feet.

  ‘Are you okay?’ he cupped her neck gently as he checked her for injuries.

  ‘I’m fine’ she smiled, ‘just bumps and bruises.’

  ‘You went down pretty hard in the cemetery.’

  ‘I’m good’ she nodded, ‘I banged up my elbow a bit but like I said it’s just bruises. What about you?’

  ‘I am uninjured,’ Theo reassured her.

  ‘Sam?’

  ‘I’m good.’ He turned to them both, ‘so this is the Underworld?’

  ‘I take it you’ve never been before?’ Olivia asked curiously.

  ‘Nope, first timer’ he replied, ‘so I hope you weren’t hoping for a guide because I’ve got no clue.’

  ‘I guess we will just have to figure it out together.’ Theo took Olivia’s hand and turned to look around, unable to see anything outside of the circle of blue light. ‘I can’t see anything,’ he frowned, ‘why don’t you try the compass?’

  Reaching into her shirt and pulling out the small golden compass, she flicked the lid open and stared down at it. Nothing happened. She shook it a few times and waited. Definitely nothing. She was beginning to wonder if Hades realized he’d given her a dud, either that or he was having a joke at her expense.

  ‘Zip,’ she snapped it shut irritably.

  ‘So now what?’ Sam frowned, ‘there’s nothing here. We could end up wandering aimlessly for eternity.’

  ‘Well I don’t have that long,’ Olivia sighed. ‘I just want to go home, so let’s find my mom and get this done.’

  ‘Any ideas?’

  ‘I guess we just start walking’ she shrugged, and squeezing Theo’s hand reassuringly they set off at a brisk pace.

  ‘You know we could be walking in completely the wrong direction,’ Sam grumbled.

  ‘Not helping,’ Olivia blew out a frustrated breath.

  ‘Sorry,’ he muttered.

  They walked in silence for the most part. There was something about the darkness that seemed to set a quiet reflective mood. Olivia’s mind wandered and she found herself relaxing. She could now feel the low hum of power beneath her feet and that feeling of eternal vastness. She cocked her head unconsciously as they moved, trying to listen. It almost felt like the darkness was whispering to her. To the left, at the edge of her peripheral vision, she thought she caught something. She turned her head quickly but it vanished.

  ‘What is it?’ Theo asked in concern.

  ‘Nothing,’ she murmured, ‘I just thought I saw…’ she shook her head, ‘nothing…never mind.’

  They pressed on into the darkness, their way lit by the glow of her dragonflies but after a while the strange apparition came again, ghosting along at the edge of her vision, dancing just out of sight. She turned her head again and caught a wisp of fine smoke-like vapor.

  ‘I don’t think we’re alone,’ Olivia whispered to Theo as he wrapped his arm around her and pulled her in closer.

  The ground under their feet gradually began to change and the smooth surface changed to a more uneven gravel-like consistency. Even the ground itself seemed more uneven, rising and falling in mounds and dips. They began to pass by boulders and outcroppings of dark grey rock. The strange silvery blue smoke once again brushed past them, this time remaining visible. Theo sucked in a sharp breath as a pale ghostly figure swept past them, followed by another. All three of them stopped and looked around, realizing they were surrounded by them. Like a bloom of jellyfish, they drifted along silently, completely unaware of the three mortals standing in their midst.

  ‘Are they ghosts?’ Theo asked.

  ‘Shades’ Sam murmured, as an old man sailed past him, blissfully ignorant.

  They were for the most part in human form. They were made up of a thin wraith like mist and seemed to be hollowed out shells of their former selves, content to drift along not knowing or caring about anything around them. Although they still had heads, arms and torsos their legs had disappeared to be replaced with filmy tentacle tendrils which floated and billowed as if they were underwater.

  ‘I think I know where we are,’ Olivia whispered.

  ‘What?’ Sam frowned, ‘where?’

  She suddenly grabbed both Sam and Theo and dragged them behind a large outcropping of rock.

  ‘What the hell Olivia?’ Sam grumbled.

  ‘We can’t follow them,’ she shook her head.

  ‘What’s going on Livy?’ Theo asked his voice low and soft. ‘Where are we?’

  ‘Erebus,’ she whispered, ‘a place of darkness between Earth and Hades.’

  ‘Hades?’ he asked in confusion.

  ‘Hades the place, not Hades the person,’ she clarified. ‘The first level of the Underworld was named for the God that ruled it.’

  ‘Okay,’ Theo guessed, ‘so this is what? A place where the dead pass after dying?’

  ‘That’s exactly what it is,’ she nodded.

  ‘So this is an in-between place’, Sam spoke up, ‘not the actu
al Underworld?’

  ‘No,’ she looked over and pointed, ‘that’s the Underworld.’

  As they turned to look, Theo gasped and Sam’s mouth fell open in disbelief.

  ‘Holy mother of God,’ Sam breathed, his eyes wide. ‘That thing must be nearly five hundred meters tall.’

  Olivia gazed up at the colossal stone gateway. She realized Sam was probably right, and at around five hundred meters it was probably higher than the Empire State Building. The word Hades was etched deeply into the crest of the arch and the rest of the stonework was engraved with lettering that she couldn’t make out at this distance. Inside the great stone archway were two gigantic thick oak doors, each with a huge black metal ring on the door to serve as a handle that no mortal could ever possibly open.

  ‘We need to get closer,’ Olivia whispered. She glanced up at her dragonflies which were now hovering close to her shoulder and had dulled to a muted throbbing blue, as if they knew to make themselves as unobtrusive as possible. ‘Stay low and use the rocks as cover.’

  ‘Olivia’ Theo frowned, ‘I don’t think the shades can see us and even if they can, I don’t think they care.’

  ‘It’s not them I’m worried about,’ she replied.

  ‘What then?’

  ‘That,’ she pointed.

  ‘Jesus Christ.’ he gasped, ‘what the fuck is that?’

  Olivia’s mouth curved in fleeting amusement. Theo never swore but he’d obviously been around Jake and Tommy too much as the word had fallen easily from his startled lips. She turned back to the creature he was staring at, which prowled back and forth across the gateway. It was enormous and padded slowly on thick paws. Its body sleek, shiny and back glimmered in the pale light of the huge torches burning either side of the vast doors. Three heads sprouted from its powerful shoulders as it growled at the shades approaching the gates.

  ‘Cerberus,’ Olivia breathed, ‘he’s Hades’ pet.’

  ‘That’s a pet?’

  ‘He guards the gateway. From what I understand he’s there to prevent anyone trying to escape the Underworld, rather than to stop anyone trying to enter,’ Olivia told him.