River
“We have to go!” I grasped Hawk’s arm and propelled him away from the gamekeeper. I had no idea what would happen if he realized it was Kobal who had marked me. Would we be set free of this place? Or killed on the spot? Or worse, taken to Lucifer? I wasn’t willing to take the chance of that happening in this bizarre and terrifying world.
“Come here! Play this game! Well hello, beautiful! Aren’t you the most handsome man, ever!”
The calls of numerous men and women standing behind the game booths followed us as we made our way down the main thoroughfare of the carnival. The further we went, the more the sweet scents of sugary treats and the aromas of cooking meat filled the air. My stomach rumbled in response, but I did not want to know what they were cooking here.
“Where do we go?” I inquired when the booths faded away to be replaced with rides, none of which I was willing to climb onto.
All of the skeletal rides looked as if a breeze might knock them over, never mind be able to hold our weight. I was pretty sure the one with black carts at the ends of it were actually attached to some kind of tentacle. As I stared at it, the arms rolled open to reveal the suction cups lining the tentacles and all the carts swung down before rising into the air once more.
“I think we keep going,” Hawk replied.
My eyes went everywhere as I followed him through the maze-like pathways of the carnival. I kept waiting for something to pop out and attack us, but nothing stirred. We were making our way back toward the main thoroughfare when we turned onto a road with a large tent in the center of it. Pictures of demons and people hung on the walls of the red and yellow tent, bringing to mind the barker’s words.
“You’ll see the bearded woman, the two-ton gallapos demon, and the fifteen-foot salavandor demon.” I didn’t have to see them; looking at their pictures outside of the tent was enough to make me realize I’d have nightmares for years about the things gathered within this tent.
“Come see the attractions!” My eyes slid to the man standing outside the tent. It was the same waxy-looking guy who had been at the entrance to the carnival.
“No thanks,” I said and took a step back.
The man leaned across his stand, his elbow resting on it as he surveyed us. “You cannot avoid them forever. Things won’t change if you continue the same pattern. That’s insanity to believe so.”
“River—”
“We have to go in,” I said before Hawk could finish his statement.
“Of course you do!” the barker cried as he threw his hands into the air. “There’s nothing more interesting than the freak show!”
“I can think of a million things more interesting,” Hawk retorted.
The barker simply smiled at him, revealing a mouthful of piranha teeth. Delightful.
“Let’s go,” I muttered and nudged Hawk in the side.
The man gave an elegant bow and gestured for us to step inside. A sly smile spread across his lips when he rose once more. Before I could stop him, he reached out to brush my hair back from my neck, revealing Kobal’s marks there. I slapped his hand away, and my hands balled at my sides as I resisted punching him.
“How is it that a human is the Chosen of the rightful king of Hell, and you have managed to survive this deep into Hell?” he inquired.
“If you know who my Chosen is, then maybe you should rethink your course of action right now,” I replied.
His eyes shone with amusement as he stepped back. “Oh no, dear human. I’ll know your secrets first. I’m thinking there’s more to you than meets the eye.” He glanced at Hawk. “And he most certainly isn’t human. Not anymore.”
Hawk’s mouth fell open; he took an abrupt step toward the man. I rested my hand on his chest to keep him back. We both knew he wasn’t the same anymore, but neither of us had any idea of what we were dealing with here and with this guy. I doubted much of what came out of this man’s mouth was actually the truth.
I was half-tempted to burn his nuts off, but that would give away the secrets he was looking for, and I couldn’t do that. Unless it was absolutely necessary, there was no way I would reveal anything about me to this freak.
“Go on now,” he encouraged and pulled back the flap of the tent for us to enter. “Some things can never be unseen, and others are often life-altering.”
Wiping my sweaty palms on my pants, I thrust my shoulders back as I prepared myself for what was inside. I ignored the sweat trickling down my neck and the raw thirst burning my throat as I stepped inside the tent. My nose wrinkled at the potent aroma inside the place. It smelled like a hamster cage that hadn’t been cleaned in a year, of urine and waste and something musty, something I couldn’t quite put my finger on.
The barker leaned toward me as he spoke in a low voice. “A note of warning, it’s the salavandor’s mating time.”
My mouth pursed and my eyes narrowed on him as I rethought my whole not revealing what I could do to him stance. Hawk grabbed my arm and dragged me into the tent. The barker’s laughter followed us as the entrance flap settled into place with a rustle that reminded me of my first days with Kobal, when I had shared his tent with him. Longing speared through my chest for him.
“Try not to look,” Hawk said.
He led me through the aisles crammed with shelves full of stuff floating in jars, stuff that had obviously once belonged to something else, or was actually something else. I shuddered when my eyes fell on a small, fluffy creature resembling a chinchilla floating in the hideous yellow liquid that filled all the jars. The thing probably ate eyeballs or something when it was alive, but dead and floating it was really cute.
“Don’t get lured in by the fluffy monsters,” I murmured to myself and tore my gaze away from the creature.
“I’m really not entirely human anymore, am I?” Hawk asked.
I glanced at him out of the corner of my eyes. “No, I don’t think you are.”
“Something happened when Lilitu sliced me open and her blood mingled with mine.”
Kobal had said her blood healed Hawk faster, but it had obviously done much more if he was still standing in Hell with me. “Yes.”
Sweat dotted his upper lip when his eyes fell on me. “Am I like one of them now? Am I becoming or have I turned into a canagh demon? Is that why Sarah is so obsessed with me?”
“I don’t know. Maybe you’re more like me, still human with demon tendencies or something like that.”
His full lips compressed into a thin line as he kept his gaze focused straight ahead. “Maybe,” he muttered, but he didn’t sound at all convinced by my words, and neither was I.
We wound our way through the aisles toward the back where we found the live “show.” If I’d ever been to a carnival on Earth, I would have hated the human version of this tent. The demon version made me want to scrub my skin in a bath for a week.
The demons trapped behind the glass cages set up on a stage were all alive, but their vacant gazes were focused on something far beyond us as we walked before them. The bearded lady looked human. I wondered if she had somehow stumbled into this mess like us. Maybe she’d perished and her soul had been sent here, and now she was trapped within a hell mimicking what her life had been.
Her blue eyes fell on me. There was no acknowledgment within them before she looked away again. We made our way past more creatures and a couple more humans before coming across the gallapos demon. Jabba the Hutt would have been jealous of the rolls on the gallapos. It was so heavy it was impossible to see its legs; all that could be seen were tiny feet poking out from under its belly. Those feet were better suited to a two-year-old than a two-ton demon.
“Keep going,” Hawk said.
He rested his hand on my back and nudged me forward until we came to the end and the salavandor demon. Slime coated the glass front, the walls, and ceiling of its cage. Its blue tongue rolled out when it spotted us; its stubby arms flailed as it flattened its chest against the glass.
Looking like a much larger version of the salamander its name resembled, it rose on its hind legs to a height of fifteen feet. Mostly black, its body had yellow circles over its backside that became brighter in color as it stared at us. A three-foot penis slid out from between its back legs; it slammed against the glass, leaving behind a fresh trail of slime. I took a stumbling step back and spun away from the over-sized, horny lizard.
A scream of frustration burned my throat. I couldn’t take much more of the oppressive feel of this place. The stench of the living and dead gathered within the musty confines made my head pound.
Hawk rested his hand on my shoulder as I inhaled a shaky breath and bent over to rest my hands on my knees. All the suffering of those trapped within pressed down on me as misery clawed at my chest. I was struck by the overwhelming urge to sob out the anguish choking me. I hadn’t felt like this since my early days of standing beside the gateway.
This was Hell, and it was living up to its reputation. All I wanted was to out, but I had a feeling we were captured in some sort of sinister trap and breaking free would be next to impossible.
“River, are you okay?” Hawk inquired.
I was ashamed to realize a few tears had slid free, and I hastily wiped them away. I’d worked so hard to be able to handle this place, to keep myself under control, but within this foul-smelling tent, I was unraveling faster than a yo-yo on its string. I’d never survive Hell if I didn’t get it together and keep it that way.
“I’m fine,” I assured him.
“Come on, let’s get out of here.”
“I don’t think it’s going to be that easy. He’s trying to test us in here, but so far all that’s been tested is our ability not to puke.”
His hand squeezed my shoulder, but he didn’t argue with me; we both knew I was right.
Never break free. I hated the thought blazing through my mind, but as I straightened and started walking through the crowded aisles of the tent again, I became convinced we would never be free of this place.
I was so entrenched in trying to shed my desolation and not see what surrounded me that I didn’t notice anything out of place until I heard a distinct click. My heart leapt into my throat. Had the salavandor gotten out? Was it hunting us within these aisles, looking to breed? I couldn’t imagine a more unsettling notion, but once it was there, I became convinced the demon was leaving behind a slimy trail of desire as it slid toward us.