Everything was dark. And silent. No matter how much I blinked or looked around, I couldn't see anything at all. It was as if I as floating in an endless, black abyss. I could feel the panic and hysteria quickly creeping in.

I tried to move, but was paralyzed. My body was limp and numb. I couldn't do anything. And that freaked me out quite a bit.

I called Logan's name, but no sound escaped my mouth. I was starting to hyperventilate.

I awoke from my weird state of unconsciousness gasping for air and blinking in confusion.

"Good. You're awake."

I looked up to find a girl standing over me. She had purple skin, one slender horn on the left side of her skull, and half of one on the other side. She flicked her waist-length, hot pink and orange waves over her shoulder. I just stared.

"Well, don't just sit there. Get up."

I did as I was told, seeing Logan sprawled next to me and rubbing his head tenderly.

"Who are you?" I asked the girl, a little stunned due to the fall and also due to the fact that she was actually kinda hot.

She crossed her arms moodily. "Name's Circe. You?" She spoke with a thick Brooklyn accent, and was glancing at me in what looked to be disappointment.

"Ean (Y/L/N)."

She arched an eyebrow. "(Y/L/N)? Well, not the (Y/L/N) I was aiming for, but I guess you'll do," she told me flippantly with a wave of her hand.

"Wait, you brought us here?" Logan asked, brushing himself off and coming to stand beside me.

She nodded. "Yeah. I did."

"So..... what are you? And where are we??" I asked, looking at the dirty, pale city around me.

"I," she replied, spreading her arms wide, "am a demon. And welcome to hell. Well, sort of. You're in the Netherworld, now."

Logan and I exchanged a worried glance.

"Are we...."

"Dead? No."

She motioned for us to follow her, and I mean, we had no choice but to obey.

"This," she said, motioning to the dilapidated, crumbling buildings and murky grey/purple/red sky, "is where people go when they die. We call them the recently deceased, but when you breathers see them on the surface, you call them phantoms or ghosts."

"Wait, breathers?" Logan said in confusion.

Circe sighed and rolled her eyes. "Alive people."

"So, you're dead?" I asked her, prying my eyes away from the way she was sassily swaying her hips.

Logan leaned over to me. "Now that's what I call sexy," he whispered.

I tried to keep a straight face, but it was hard.

Circe spoke up to answer my question, snapping Logan and me out of our little trance.

"Technically, yes. I never actually died, though. I was born here."

I nodded. "I'm still kind of trying to process the fact that ghosts and all these things are real."

Circe looked at me and arched an eyebrow. "Your mom never told you?"

My brow furrowed as I met her gaze. "My mom? She never told me what?"

As we were about to walk around the corner of a building, the demon stopped Logan and me in our tracks.

"What's wrong?" I asked her in a hushed tone as she peeked around the corner uneasily. She glanced back at the two of us, her brow furrowed.

"We can't have you two traipsing around the Netherworld looking, well..... alive."

"But... we are alive," Logan said.

Circe sighed and massaged her temples tiredly. "Okay, yes, I know you're alive. But the other inhabitants here don't. And I'd like to keep it that way. Cuz if someone sees you're alive, you don't leave."

"Well, what do you suggest?" I asked her, trying to ignore the pit forming in my stomach.

"You'll need some sort of disguises, for sure."

"Hey," Logan said suddenly. "Ean's really good at stage makeup. I'm sure he could come up with something."

"If I had some paint and makeup, I could try."

Circe looked back at me, arching an eyebrow. She seemed to do that a lot whenever I said anything. "You're a theater kid?" I nodded. "Yeah, that makes sense."

I was about to ask exactly what she meant by that when the demon stood up all of a sudden.

"Okay, we're gonna stop by a store real quick and get some stuff for you guys, but we'll have to stick to the back alleys until then. Got it?"

Logan and I nodded in response.

"Alright. Well, let's get a move on."

X

We hid behind a dumpster while Circe was getting the makeup and other supplies that we would need.

"So, what do you think this whole thing's about?" Logan asked me, stretching his leg out as we sat in the alley.

I looked over at him and shrugged. "I have no idea. But she acts like she knows me. Or my mom, at least."

"How in the world would she know your mom?"

"I'm not sure," I replied as I watched Circe pay then walk out of the convenience store. "But I intend to find out."

We stood as she walked over to us. She had a few bags full of stuff.

"Alright, I've got some stuff for disguises," she said, setting the bags down and pulling out a bunch of stuff.

I took a breath. "Okay. Before I go a step further, I'm gonna need some answers."

Circe looked up at me. I was determined not to crack under her intense stare. "What answers?"

"Okay.... you mentioned my mom. You know her?"

"More like know of her," Circe answered, continuing to go through the bags. "My parents said she used to visit when I was a baby, but I don't remember her."

"So.... your parents and my mom were friends?"

She nodded. "Undoubtedly."

"Okay, so.... why did you bring me here? And why hasn't my mom said anything about all this?" I was starting to ramble.

"As for the whole mom not telling you anything goes, I have no idea. Maybe she was just trying to protect you." She shrugged.

"Yeah. Maybe..."

"But," she said, standing back up, "the reason I brought you here is because I need help. I was trying to get your mom, but I got you two on accident, instead."

"Gee, thanks. Still hasn't answered the question about why you need us, though."

"I was getting to that. We think we may have found someone she used to work with that was kidnapped a long time ago."

My mind immediately went back to the cork board in the secret basement. "And why do you need my help?"

"Well, your (Y/N)'s kid, so surely you'll be able to do something."

"Yeah, that definitely clears that all up, thanks."

The demon rolled her eyes. "Okay, theater boy. Here's the stuff. Work your magic."

Looking at the array of special effects makeup, face paint, and other cosmetics products, I quickly got to work, still uneasy about how in the world my mother was connected in this secret web of confusion.