Chapter 6

The sensory overload I got as I peered through the doorway was almost too much for me to handle. Different sights and sounds were flooding towards me, bombarding so ferociously that it took a few moments for me to get my bearings. My eyes were wide as my heart thrummed in my chest so loudly that it only added to the roar in my ears.

The door led directly onto a bridge that was hovering proudly over a slow moving river. The bridge itself was dainty and ornate, looking more like a model than something that could actually hold the weight of a person with its little metal slats and the silver gildings on the side panels. I was more entranced by the river itself that was flowing gently five feet below. It was glowing softly, the water itself made up of different colours that was giving off a startling array of emotions. Joy; love; happiness; contentment, each filled my heart to the brim so I swayed back and forth in front of the gateway to hell feeling a little love drunk.

Unwillingly I pulled my gaze away from the soothing waters and let my eyes roam the other side of the river. The opposite back was made up of a lush green meadow that swept up the hill as it was bathed in a strange pink glow that was emitting from the sky above, almost like the evening sky before the sun dipped below the horizon. The bank swept over a great big hill before halting at the foot of a thriving city.

The city was how I would have pictured Pompeii to look before Vesuvius obliterated it. The streets were alive with activity as horses drew carts down the streets and voices shouted over the masses offering their wares to pedestrians wearing a vivid array of colours. All of this was nestled at the foot of a huge obsidian castle formed purely out of black crystal that was illuminated by the lights of the city below causing it to flicker like the castle itself was made from fire. With the red haze on the horizon, it truly looked like a castle born out of fire.

A hand on my shoulder startled me to the present and I turned to regard Lucius feeling completely befuddled. I wanted nothing more than to gaze back at the strangely idyllic landscape beyond but I knew that I would forget the purpose of my speech if I did let my gaze wander. Instead I gulped to try and moisten my mouth which had become dry.

“That is- that is hell?” I whispered as allowed my eyes to fall upon the man with a mask of disbelief firmly on my features.

It couldn’t be hell I thought incredulously, it was one step away from wonderland not the fiery pits of damnation that I had been expecting. Lucius saw the expression on my face and let out a great belly shaking laugh that would give Santa a run for his money.

“It makes me laugh that humans truly expect demons to live in pits of fire, what do they think we are? Masochists?” Lucius gave another loud laugh before taking Danny from my arms and then grasping my hand with one of his as he used the other to keep Danny’s sleeping form propped snugly against his chest. “Come on, I’ll show you around.”

Without any other words he pulled me through the doorway and onto the bridge over the beautiful water that caused me to stumble as I walked over it. The emotions again attacked me from all sides and I felt my entire body relax as I gazed at the back of Lucius’ head and felt a goofy smile appear upon my face. Lucius was a truly handsome man I thought to myself as I followed behind him like an eager puppy. With each step the emotions swelling within my heart and I was getting the overwhelming urge to halt Lucius and give him a huge sloppy kiss. Some lingering self-control kept me trailing after him with a bounce in my step but I did nothing to hide the huge beaming smile on my lips.

As soon as my feet touched down on the solid ground on the other end of the bridge, I felt as if I had just come down from a sugar rush and I felt slightly at odds with the fact that I had been love sick with Lucius. I shook my head back and forth to clear the thought and then blushed and looked away when he gave me a knowing grin.

“Sorry about that, I kind of forgot how it affects people. I actually felt a twinge myself that time which is odd in itself.” His voice trailed off ponderingly while I just looked between him and the strange river gurgling behind me that was singing an enticing tune that had me wanting the dip my toes in the water.

“What is it?” I questioned dreamily as my eyes became entranced by the ever-changing colour of the water. It was a beauty that sought out my very soul and had emotions rocking through my body as I took an unsteady step back towards it.

A hand tugging on mine drew my gaze back to Lucius and he shook his head back and forth. “Don’t ever touch that water.” His voice sent chills up my spine and the pretty sparkling water took on an ominous note within my heart.

“W-why?” I stuttered glancing back at it with longing.

“If you step into that water you will fail to be you. It strips away all of your memories and everything that makes you until you are pure essence and you are returned back to the source so that you can be reborn. Usually soul mates choose that path because it is a well-known fact that soul mates usually find each other again.” Lucius squeezed my hand tightly and urged me away from the temptation of the water that was still beckoning me with it otherworldly allure. “It’s a remnant of the Greek underworld,” He added when he caught my quizzical expression. “As beliefs shift the underworlds change. The Elysian Fields are now part of heaven. We in hell got the rivers of the underworld and Tartarus. This is where the entire premise of the fiery pits comes from.”

I gulped and nodded my head as I tried to conjure up my knowledge of the Ancient Greeks but only came up with the limited knowledge of gods and goddesses. This made me question something else. If the Greek underworld existed, did that mean that the Gods and Goddesses did too? I opened my mouth to question Lucius but he gave me a look to shut up just as a carriage drew near to us. I noted that it was pulled by a large black stallion – that had three heads. I was unnerved by its eyes. They were red, pure untainted red that bore straight into my soul.

“Savannah please meet Crimson Shadow -the most beautiful horse in all of my hellish lands.” Lucius cooed the end of the sentence at the horse as he dropped my hand so that he could step closer and smooth each head affectionately. “Get in the carriage, I just need to talk to the ferryman and we will set off.” He informed me, his gaze moving to the eerie old man perched upon the driver’s seat of the carriage with reigns held firmly within his grasp.

It didn’t take me long to figure out that the ferryman was another left over from the Greek rule. Still, I did as Lucius asked and climbed into the carriage and sat back into the plush seats that were covered in black velvet. My fingers drummed against my knees as I looked at the possibilities before me. How could Hell be so – unlike hell? It was more like an ancient city than a place for the tortured and evil souls. No doubt there was something more to it and it probably had something to do with Tartarus but I would have to find out from Lucius when he felt a little more forthcoming.

I waited patiently for Lucius to climb in the back and when he did so, his face was taut and his eyes held a look of pure malice. Gulping, I quickly averted my gaze from him to look out of the window. Even after all this time around him I still got scared when he was angry. It was one of the few times that I got to see that he was in actual fact the devil and possessed a coldness and callousness that would allow him to do bad things if pushed to it.

My eyes were blurred for a moment and were focused on the red light on the horizon. If possible it was more terrifying than the eyes of the man accompanying me in the carriage. I could feel and hear things coming from the red light but there was no way to clearly define them other than they sounded tortured – they sounded wrong.

A shiver wracked my body and I pulled my gaze back into the carriage to see that Lucius was slouched next to me, his head leaning back against the plush velvet as he absently smoothed Danny’s dark hair. It made me smile as an image of Gabriel filled my mind; Danny definitely inherited his looks from his father, it just hurt Gabriel wouldn’t be there to see Danny grow up. A lock of Lucius’ hair had fallen across his brow so with a soft sigh I stretched out my hand and brushed the hair from his face before caressing the back of my son’s head.  I kind of felt like a bad parent for bringing my son to hell but I had Lucius’ assurances that he would be safe here. I could only hope that he was right.

“Ask me a question then Savannah, I know you are dying to.”

I started at the sudden interruption to the silence of the carriage and lifted my gaze back up to Lucius’ eyes and saw that he was looking at me through lowered lids so that his eyelashes brushed against his cheeks. It made him look rather cute and totally allowed me to forget the frightening intensity that had been in them when he climbed into the carriage.

“Okay, how is this hell? Shouldn’t it be a pit of fire or non-stop torture?” I glanced back out of the window as we were drawing closer to the city and noted that I could now define individual figures. “I know you said that demons didn’t live in them but how are the results so different to what we expected. If the formation of the underworld is dependent on the beliefs of human kind, how is the end result so altered?”

“It’s not, if you see the red on the horizon and that horrible unsettled feeling it gives you – well that is hell as you know it.” Lucius raised his hand and waved it offhandedly like it was the answer to everything. “We need somewhere to live our lives when we aren’t working which is why we have the city and my lovely palace. All the souls that come here cannot be burdened with the same stick. Some sold their souls for vanity and other worthless things, they become slaves in the town or they spend 100 years in Tartarus before they are allowed to have a meeting with myself and Hades. We then decide whether they have learnt anything. If they are truly repentant, we allow them to enter the river and start over again or live peacefully within one of the colonies down here. While we are here however we will be offering some of the souls a chance to become demon as we are rather understaffed at present.”

“So Hades is still down here?” I questioned tentatively as my eyes once again flew out the window to that ominous red that was burning brightly on the horizon.

“Yeah, he got bored with retirement so we share tasks. Mine is mainly governing the top side but we take it in turns so in 75 years it will be my turn to be stuck down here for a while. Not that I’m complaining - ultimate luxury and unwavering fealty from the masses, sounds like perfection to me.”

I chuckled as grinned widely and let out a contented sigh. He made it sound like his own heaven but I supposed that it was the closest he was ever going to get now that he was one of the fallen.

“Will I get to meet Hades?”

There was no hiding the curiosity in my tone but who wouldn’t be when they discovered that one of the Greek gods actually existed.

Lucius lips quirked up at the corners and a little chuckle escaped his lips before he slipped into silence. I waited for a few moments for him to answer my question but in the end he just smiled and continued to ignore my question. It was probably one of those wait and see situations that would leave me guessing as to whether I would get to see the god himself.

The carriage began to slow and as I glanced out of the window I noted we were riding around the outskirts of the town. I was startled as each person that we passed was knelt on the ground and had their heads bent and their hands over their hearts in respect. No doubt Lucius was a big hit down here.

It took a further five minutes of bumpy travel before the carriage halted completely. A peep out of the window revealed that we were directly before the huge ornate front doors of the castle that looked as if it continued on forever up into the sky. I felt my neck aching just trying to see to the top of it.

I was leant so far out of the window that when someone opened it from the outside, I toppled from the carriage and straight into the footman who happened to be a 7ft mountain of a man. For a moment I did nothing but gape at the chest that my face had become melded to and secretly enjoyed the feeling of being in the arms of a nice strong man. Lucius however brought me back to reality.

“Savannah, can’t you keep out of trouble for five minutes?” He teased as he jumped from the carriage with Danny still in his arms.

Lucius stepped forward to greet the man and it was only then realised I was still clinging to the huge mountain man. Hurriedly I released my hold on him and stepped backwards, my gaze lifting to take in the entirety of him which was a difficult thing in itself as there was just so much of him. I gulped and backed up a step. His long hair was pure white and hung loosely around his shoulders but it did nothing to detract from the rugged beauty of the man -though he would definitely look better if he had shorter hair. I eyed his toga warily as he did a fancy bow that made me glad I wasn’t standing behind him at that precise moment.

Lucius chose that moment to step forward and clap the man on the shoulder with a grin upon his face before he turned back to face me.

“Savannah, meet Hades.”