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“Hey, Megan,” a gentle, male voice calls from my left.
I turn and drop the black rose I am about to pick from the thorny bush. It’s the same kind of flower that Aiden gave to me at his place once. I wonder how flowers grow here without sunlight.
Forrest stands down the pathway waving. What is he doing here?
“Oh, hey,” I greet him with a warm smile and wave off the guards blocking him from coming to me. You have no idea how sick I am of being followed by guards. I thought it was bad back at Aiden’s house, but at least then they would leave me alone. These ones follow my every move, and I can’t make them leave, which I assume is because Aiden’s compelled them not to listen to me if I tell them to leave my side, so I don’t get myself into trouble. Speaking of Aiden, I haven’t seen him since we arrived here in hell yesterday.
“What are you doing out here? Shouldn’t you be inside where it’s safe?” Forrest asks me.
I give him a shrug. When I’m inside I feel like Rapunzel stuck in her tower. “I just needed some fresh air. I think I have enough guards to keep me safe.”
He nods and takes them all in. “I bet you’re not used to that,” he mutters with a flimsy smile.
I shake my head and take a seat on a wooden bench. I motion for him to take a seat beside me. I like Terry, and I’d like to get to know his son. Not only that, but Forrest is a demidemon. A son of a human and changeling. They’re extremely rare, and I’m a little curious about him.
He sits next to me and sighs.
“What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be in Halmo?” I ask him.
A devilish smirk lights up his face. “I’m not from Halmo. I’m from here. I’ve just been Halmo on a job for a few days.”
My eyebrows merge together. “Doing what?”
“Just errands. I get things, information and people usually, for whoever pays. I make a living by sneaking around stealing shit from people for other people,” he explains with a wide grin.
“That sounds dangerous.” I run my hand through my tangled hair. “Aren’t you a demidemon? Doesn’t that mean that you should be enslaved or guarding?”
He shrugs. “Nah. I earned my way out of slavery. They let me go. I made a deal with the devil so to speak. Compulsions never worked on me so compelling me to be a slave...well, it didn’t work.”
I wait for him to continue.
“Years ago, Lucian sent a bunch of guards to kill this old guy who had been killing the human slaves for their souls which is frowned upon. None of them came back, so he sent more. He even sent some demons. None came back. I was a servant at the time, and I offered to do the job in exchange for my freedom. He accepted the deal, likely thinking I’d be slaughtered. I killed the guy and won my freedom. I am as free as any pure blood demon. Well, I can’t legally own slaves or have guards, but I wouldn’t want them anyhow.”
“You’re freer than your dad,” I state. This seems weird.
He nods. “Yeah. One day I’ll make a deal for his freedom too.”
“So do you live in this place?” I ask him, pointing to the near castle I live in now.
“Yeah. I live in my dad’s section of the basement. He was Lucian’s favorite so the place is decent. I’ve had it to myself for a while, since he’s been topside. It’s been quiet.”
“Topside?”
“That’s what I call it,” he jokes.
Demidemons aren’t allowed to leave hell which means that Forrest has likely never been to the human realm. That is terrifying to me.
He crosses his legs and looks up at the sky. “How’s Mr. Castile?”
“I haven’t seen him since we got here,” I admit, hearing the sadness in my tone.
“He’s probably extremely busy I’d imagine. I like him. He’s definitely my favorite pure blood. He puts on a good act for the others, but I see through it.”
I suck in a breath. Does Forrest know about Aiden’s act? Is this a bad thing?
He begins chuckling. “I’m exceptionally good at reading people,” he tells me. He then eyes the guards around us who look weary, because I’m sitting next to Forrest. “My dad likes you, both you and Mr. Castile. That’s enough for me. If you ever need anything, come find me.”
I nod, and a moment later he is gone.
A few hours later while I’m getting ready to go get something to eat from the kitchen, I run into Forrest again. Literally, I run into him in the hallway.
“Oops! Sorry,” I chime, assuming he’s a servant doing food rounds.
He laughs and pulls me from him, steadying me. “Gee. Careful. I was just coming to get you.” He then looks around the hall. “Where are your guards?”
“They seem to leave me alone on this floor. They’re guards at every door in this place so they know who comes and goes. They don’t need to be looking right at me and getting all up in my bubble,” I answer and look down the hall. Literally every doorway has a guard outside of it.
Forrest glances around again quickly and then throws his hand over my mouth and pulls me into a room on our left. To my surprise, the guard in the doorway does nothing. Why do I always trust people that I shouldn’t? Why do I even trust anyone after everything?
Forrest closes the door and throws the lock shut. The guard looks to be in a daze.
“He’s fine. I just compelled him,” Forrest reassures me.
“How? You’re a demidemon,” I wonder confused.
“So?”
I look at him blankly.
“Demidemons usually inherit their changeling parent’s abilities. My dad can use compulsion, so that means so can I, only not as well. Talents fade the further they go down the line,” Forrest says slowly as if I’m stupid. “Anyways...back to me trying to be badass and scare you...apparently that didn’t work.”
Right. “Yeah, why did you just do that?” I ask him, a little annoyed now.
“I just wanted to talk to you where the guards couldn’t hear,” he grumbles. “I expected you to flip the hell out. I’m not used to people from the human world. I thought you’d be all flinchy. Isn’t it all butterflies and rainbows there in the human realm? The only people solely from the human realm that I know are halflings who have been made into pure bloods and they’re no fun. They’re all crabby like all pure bloods.”
“I think I’m out of flip outs honestly. I’ve been kidnapped more than once and attacked and...” I roll my eyes and shake my head. “I’m going to die in a few month anyways. I’m seriously just sick of all this. I’m more annoyed than scared. Also, no it’s not all butterflies and rainbows there for your information.”
He grins. “Why would someone in your position choose death over becoming a pure blood anyway?”
“I don’t want to give up my chance at living again after this life,” I answer him. “I don’t want to give up my soul or have to kill people for eternity.”
“Your life would be long like Lucian's and full of luxury. You wouldn’t need other lives. You wouldn’t have to kill anyone either. You could just learn to take parts of people's souls. They recover you know. People’s souls can heal themselves after time. You would be doing no harm.”
I’m silent for a moment in thought. I didn’t know souls could heal. “Why are you still a demidemon?” I ask, wanting his view.
“Well, for starters, I don’t want to lose my free will and go all nutso clingy to a pure blood and feel the need to serve them for eternity,” he mutters, tossing around a hacky sack in his hands.
I suppose that’d be a major turn off.
“Plus, I’m more changeling than human. I have all the perks of being a demon. I mean besides the speed and strength. I mean, I’m still way faster and stronger than a human. I can use compulsion, I have a soul, I have free will, and I have eternal life as long as no one kills me.”
More good points.
“Anyways, I wanted to talk to you about a possible mutual interest. A certain favorite servant of mine has been getting extra rations and from the sounds of it, you’re the culprit,” he accuses me, pointing a finger into my chest and everything.
I nod. “Yeah, well she’s far too skinny if you haven’t noticed,” I blurt.
He laughs and nods. “Yeah, but no one ever gives the servants extra rations. You care about the lives and wellbeing and rights of the servants. So do I. You obviously have power to change things around here. I do not. I do however have the ability to sneak people around,” Forrest says smoothly in a softer voice as if he thinks the sound proof walls might not be enough to keep people from hearing us.
“What are you saying?” I ask him.
“I’ve been planning a way to get the human servants back to where they should be which is out of hell. I have a plan to get the humans out of here, but I need help. I can’t overrule the compulsion they’re stuck in because my compulsion is far from as strong as Lucian’s or Mr. Castile’s. They’re compelled to listen to the royals. I’m not a royal, far from it. You, on the other hand, apparently they’ve been told to listen to you. You have authority. They won’t leave without someone allowing them to do so. You don’t need to be able to use compulsion to get them to drop their compulsion because they’ve been compelled to listen to anything a master says. Know what I’m saying? You just have to tell them to forget everything they’ve seen, and tell them they don’t have to listen to the masters anymore.”
“You want me to help you free the servants?” I ask for reassurance. This is against so many laws. We could both get killed for sneaking servants from hell.
He nods. “You say you’re just going to die anyways right? Well, I have my soul intact, so I’m not afraid to give up my life this round if that’s what it comes to.”
I debate this. Could the two of us really change anything? We’re merely a halfling and a demidemon. Surely someone has tried to free the slaves before, and surely they didn’t live to tell the tale. What would Aiden say about this? Why do I care what he’d say when I know this is the right thing to do?
Before I overthink it, I nod. “Yeah, okay, let’s do it.”
“I’m also going to need your blood to open a portal to the other realm. Demidemons can’t get through the damn things. Also, obviously you can’t tell anyone about this, Megan, especially not Mr. Castile.”
He’s right, so I agree.
“You called me Megan. No one calls me Megan,” I realize, smiling. No one besides Aiden that is. I’m ecstatic to hear someone call me by my actual name.
He grins, his lips arranging themselves in a quirky half smile. “Yeah, I don’t like to follow the rules, Megan. You better get used to that.”
I snort out a laugh. “How did you compel that guard?” I ask him curiously. Not even compulsion can make a guard go against their master’s wishes. They are by nature too loyal to the ones they serve.
“I didn’t. Apparently fake contacts are a thing in your world. That there isn’t a guard. It’s an uncompelled human I smuggled from one of the soul kitchens and dressed up like a guard.” He laughs hysterically like he’s hilarious. “You’d be right in assuming that he wants out of here pretty badly, so he’s cooperating well.”
I eye the man dressed as a guard and see that he isn’t in a daze as I thought he was, no, he is quivering in his boots out of fright.
“Isn’t someone going to hear his heartbeat and think something is up?” I wonder skeptically.
“No, because they’re going to think it’s my heart beat. You’ll see. Okay, come with me,” Forrest instructs and unlocks the room. “Remember that there are eyes and ears everywhere.”
The human follows us down the halls, gripping Forrest’s wrist while he cusses and swears as if he’s pissed off. The two are pretending that Forrest was up to no good and got caught by a guard. Smart thinking because it covers up the humans surely rapid heartbeat. Forrest is very smart that much is obvious.
I’m half surprised when none of the other guards follow us. I guess they trust me leaving this floor with the ‘guard’ and a seemingly incapacitated Forrest, and it’s not like there won’t be guards on the floor beneath this one. We go down many steps all the way to the basement where there is a grungy hallway filled with tiny rooms branching off of it. Forrest leads me to the room furthest down the hall and picks the lock with two shiny silver tools. Neat trick. I’ve always wanted to learn how to pick a lock.
Inside is what looks to be a boiler room. He leads me around a tangle of pipes to where there is a metal hatch in the floor. He lifts it up and orange light floods into the dark room.
I get closer and look down the hole a tiny, old ladder is all that’s there. Are we really going down that?
“This goes down to where the souls are sorted. It goes to a section that isn’t used anymore. They used to use this hatch to dump pure bloods who broke the law and were sentenced to death. They’d be thrown into hell fire. Now, if they break the law, their punishment is worse than death. They are usually tortured and locked up for years, decades, or centuries sometimes, before they are slowly sliced up with a brass knife enough to kill them.”
Forrest begins down the ladder and motions for me to follow. I swallow hard and gaze down the hole. It doesn’t look like somewhere I want to be going. It sure doesn’t smell like it either. The smell coming up from the hole is rancid. I try not to make guesses as to what the smell could be.
I follow him and the human comes after us robotically. It takes almost fifteen minutes for us to get to the bottom. When we do, I begin to sweat. It’s insanely hot down here to top everything off.
“Hurry, we don’t have much time. I’m sure someone will notice you’re missing soon,” Forrest encourages and leads me down a rocky path. There are blackish grey rocks all over. I still don’t see where the orange light is coming from. “Don’t touch the white rocks,” he warns. “They’re so hot that they could kill you.”
Taken aback, I stop for a moment before continuing to follow him. As we walk, the orange glow gets brighter and brighter. Then he stops. He points into what looks to me like darkness. “This path leads to Halmo, right to gateway. We just have to get them down here, down the path, and through the gate.” He brought me all this way just to look down a hole?
I nod, sweating like a pig and wanting to go back up the hole. “What happens if you follow that glow?” I ask him and point to where the orange is coming from down the hall.
“You come to a bunch of hellfire and things that you would never want to see. The true hell is down there.” He nods towards the glow. “Don’t go there unless you’re prepared to die, and I don’t mean because it’s dangerous. I mean because you’ll see things that will screw you up so badly that you’ll want to die. You’ll pray for death. Trust me. I’ve seen people with souls come out of there. They never last long. That is a demon’s place.”
He looks at me so seriously that I cringe and step back from him. He nods back to the way we came. “Let’s go.”
I nod quickly. If I thought that climbing down the stupid ladder sucked, climbing up is far suckier. When we get to the top I’m out of breath. The other two look at me like I’m a child but don’t say anything. We get back upstairs, and I take off to the kitchen while Forrest whispers something to the guard.
“Megan!” A deep voice calls thankfully down the hall. I whip around and meet Aiden’s eyes. “Where have you been? I’ve had half the place looking for you.”
“I was exploring...” I try quickly, hoping he doesn’t catch me in the lie. I can’t tell Aiden what Forrest and I are up to, because I know he’ll try to stop us, and he’ll probably succeed.
“What? Where?” he asks and cocks an eyebrow. “Why wasn’t there a guard with you?”
“There was. Forrest found me. He was showing me around. There was a guard with us. One.” I answer seriously. This isn’t exactly a lie. Well, actually it kind of is.
He nods one slow nod. “Forrest is trouble. You should stay away from him. He gets people in trouble often.”
Aiden’s voice is thick with something that I don’t understand. Is he mad at me?
“Where have you been?” I ask him.
He shrugs. “Working. I’ve been busy.”
The last time Aiden came here to hell, he came back in a daze. The evil entirety of hell got to him and influenced him. That time, he was only here for a few hours. He’s now been here longer than last time.
“Ah, how are you feeling?” I ask him carefully. Has he taken any breaks from hell yet?
“I’m fine. A little edgy but fine,” he answers sternly. There is no joy or light-heartedness in his tone which worries me.
I smile softly and point to the kitchen down the hall. “I was just going to get something to eat.”
“Okay. I’ll accompany you,” he promises, and we walk to the kitchen.
I eat some salad and call it good. I’m so nervous about the thing with Forrest that I can’t really eat anything. The whole time Aiden doesn’t say anything.
Afterwards, we go up to his new office, and he shuts the door behind us.
“My father was murdered,” he states blankly. “He left a letter. Someone was after him. He didn’t know who or why, but I’ve officially rules it a homicide.”
Worry spikes in my chest. Worry for Aiden. If someone killed his father, then that someone is probably going to go after him too. “But the hellfire thing...” I start, not sure how to phrase my question.
He shrugs. “I don’t know. I really don’t. Nothing is impossible. Thinking that things are impossible makes us weak and vulnerable. The only thing I can think of is that there could be...” He doesn’t finish. He glances up at the ceiling, turns, grabs a book from one of the many shelves around the room and sets it in front of me.
I stare at it. The thing looks so ancient that it might fall apart. On the spine there is one word scrolled. I can’t read it, because it’s not in English.
“Lucian confirmed in his letter that I am the only descendant of his that can use hellfire. This leaves me dumbfounded. There are legends though that claim there used to be a weapon that could utilize hellfire. It hasn’t been seen in...” he stops to shake his head. “...who knows how long? I asked Terry if he knew anything of it, and he had no idea. Terry is the oldest person I know.”
“So you think that someone has a weapon capable of killing people using hellfire? Why wouldn’t it have been used years ago? Like why now?” I ask him, confused.
He shrugs. “What doesn’t make sense is that if they did it to gain power, they could’ve easily come after me. They haven’t done that. They seem to have disappeared now that my father is dead. Why?”
“Maybe they were sick of your dad being in power and wanted to change shit up?” I attempt, a tad bit of humor in my voice.
He contemplates this. “Maybe, but what made them think I’d be any better at the job? I’m too young for this.”
“What is this book about?” I ask him, confused as to why he hasn’t explained it yet.
“It’s about the mythological weapon that uses hellfire,” Aiden explains as there is a knock on the door. It causes me to jump. Aiden opens the door and in comes Forrest.
“Mr. Castile,” he greets Aiden with a slight bow and a smile. “What is it that I can do for you?”
Aiden motions him in and closes the door behind him. Forrest’s eyes land on me, and his jaw tightens. He probably thinks I’ve tattled. I smile and shake my head in the slightest to reassure him I haven’t. He doesn’t seem so sure. Aiden motions for him to take the seat beside me across from Aiden’s spot at his desk. They both take their seats, and Aiden smiles at Forrest pleasantly. I am surprised by how stable Aiden seems after all this time in hell. It isn’t what I was expecting.
“Forrest, I have a task for you,” Aiden explains and slides the old book across the desk to him.
Forrest glances at Aiden and then picks up the book. “Talon?” Forrest opens the book and seems to skim the pages. I look over his shoulder. It’s all in another language to my disappointment. “The talon?” Apparently Forrest can read this mysterious language.
Aiden nods.
“It’s real?” Forrest asks, sounding surprised.
Aiden shrugs. “That’s what I want you to find out. You seem to be skilled in this area of expertise. See what you can find out, using whatever measures you need. If you find that it’s real, then I need you to bring it to me.”
Forrest looks intrigued and excited by this opportunity.
“I know I’m in no position to ask anything from you, but...” Forrest begins. “If I find this thing and bring it to you, will you grant my brother freedom from guard duty and slavery?” Forrest looks extremely hopeful.
Aiden seemed to expect this from Forrest. He isn’t fazed by Forrest’s condition.
“Yes, of course,” Aiden answers. “Take the book with you. It might help you in your research and hunt. Be careful.”
Aiden stands and opens the door for Forrest. Once Forrest is gone, Aiden smiles at me.
“How is he okay with just risking his life like that?” I ask Aiden who begins rifling through papers.
“It’s his job. He’s insanely good at it too. It’s risky, but I need that weapon, he wants his brother’s freedom. I wish the best for Forrest and Maxwell his brother. It’s a win-win-win.”
“Unless he dies trying to get it,” I argue. “Then you don’t get the weapon, this Maxwell is still getting bossed around for eternity, Forrest loses his life, Terry loses his son. That’s a lose-lose-lose-lose.”
“He’s been doing shit like this his whole life. Five hundred years, Megan. Did he look worried to you, or did he look excited?” Aiden asks me.
He looked excited. I also had no idea that Forrest was so old. For some reason, I thought he was closer to my age. Why is everyone so damn old?
“He gets a thrill out of it. He’ll be fine. Don’t worry about him. Not even Terry worries about him.”
I nod. I guess Forrest is old enough to make his own decisions and things. Why should I be worrying? It’s not my place to worry about everyone.
“Do you think he’ll be able to get it?” I wonder. If this thing hasn’t been seen in forever...I just don’t see how it’s going to be found. It might be a myth. It might not ever have existed or might have been lost or destroyed a very long time ago.
“If anyone can, it’s him. He has his brother’s freedom for motivation which is a lot. If the thing exists, he’ll find it. Trust me.” Aiden shuffles through some papers. “Anyways, how are you, Megan?”
I shrug. “I’m fine. Just bored. Do you have something I can do or something?” I ask. “Is there a training room around?”
