Gemma gasped and sat forward, excitement danced in her eyes. “Then it’s true? There really is life in hell?”
“You know what we are talking about?” I asked, leaning up and forward toward Gemma. I ignored the pull on my chest and the protest in my stomach. My vision blurred, but only for a second before refocusing.
“Of course I have heard of the Island of Life in hell… The angels used to gossip about that place all the time. But we all thought it was just gossip and not true.”
“The Devourer took you to an island?” Riley asked skeptically.
Sam shot him a look. “Yeah, and I find it a little odd that The Devourer didn’t want you along for the ride. Why is that, Riley?”
“You want me to tell you what a dragon thinks?” Riley asked dubiously. But I saw something move behind his eyes.
“Tell us about the island, Sam.” Logan urged. I smiled at the eagerness in his voice.
“Actually, we aren’t really supposed to tell anyone. We were sworn to secrecy.” Sam said, lowering his voice to match the secret.
This seemed to entice Logan even more. “We won’t tell anyone!”
Sam laughed. Everyone was watching him, waiting, hoping he would spill the beans. He glanced at me and I smiled. “As long as they all swear not to tell.” I said, loudly.
Everyone agreed immediately. Except of course, for Riley.
All eyes turned toward him. He sighed dramatically. “Fine. I won’t say anything.”
Logan grinned.
I collapsed back against the pillow, thankful Sam could explain about the island. I was exhausted and I closed my eyes. Visions of hell flashed in my head and I went with them, looking at the depressing wasteland. It didn’t scare me like before. It was almost welcoming.
Sam’s deep voice soothed me as he told everyone about the island that no one could see and about the woman who lived there. He was a good story teller.
I wasn’t prepared for what happened next. I made the mistake of dropping my guard and I slipped right into sleep. The visions of hell solidified around me and I knew I was there now. I shook my head. I had a headache, but that was pretty much a permanent thing now… Had Beelzebub pulled me down here? How had he managed with Sam right next to me?
I pushed myself up off the ground and began walking. I had no idea where I was going, only feeling like I was being pulled in a certain direction. I walked for what seemed like hours and my feet were sore, but then I came upon what looked like freestanding mountains in the middle of nowhere. Maybe a more apt description of this place would be massive mounds of dirt and rock that had been carved out into caves just sitting in the middle of burnt up landscape. The land was barren and the atmosphere was even more so. In fact, I struggled to breathe. I began to feel anxious, a real feeling like I might climb out of my skin at any second. Something inside me began to shake and a guttural sound ripped from my throat. I hurried to slap my hand over my mouth, trying to silence myself.
I was losing control. This… this… thing inside me was beginning to take over. If it couldn’t get out, then it would take over. It would own me.
I took a step backward and then another, rushing, tripping over my feet and falling down onto the hard, ashy ground. But the beast wouldn’t have it. It wanted to be here and it began knocking against my insides, trying to push me forward. I fought against it until I felt strained and exhausted. Finally, I gave in and crawled toward the caves. The entrances were dark and carnivorous and I knew something heinous lurked inside. At least now that the beast thought I was complying, it seemed to have calmed. I could still feel my insides rattling and my back hurt, but at least it wasn’t fighting me.
A few feet from the entrance to the largest cave, I stopped. I wasn’t going any farther. The beast pushed against me and I fell onto my knees. Another inhuman sound ripped from my throat.
Something inside the cave took notice. I heard a scuffle and an answering noise that matched the one I made. Had the beast been calling it? I began to shake as heavy breathing drew near. I didn’t bother to get up. I was frozen with fear and the thing inside me wanted me to stay here. There wasn’t much I could do.
Then I saw movement from just inside and a huge, hulking figure stepped out.
It could have been a hellhound, a hellhound that had been hexed and cursed with vile deformations. It walked on four paws like a hound. It had a long tail like a hound, large wide-set eyes and an over-exaggerated long snout. But that’s where the similarities ended.
Its eyes were the color of blood.
Its gums and teeth were coated with what looked like flesh, and I was pretty sure tiny maggots crawled along at the base of its overcrowded rows of razor sharp teeth.
It had a huge humpback and walked like it favored its left side over its right. One ear was larger than the other. The ear that was biggest (the right) was covered in hair, but the deformed one was just black skin. Most of its body was covered in hair, hair that was the color of the gray ash that covered the ground. Actually, I think it was black (like a hellhound), but only looked gray because it lay on the ground and got dirty.
It walked over, controlling its awkward, massive weight with ease, and stood over me. I scrambled back, trying to move away, but the thing inside me let out another one of those sounds. The beast staring at me cocked its head to the side and let out a deafening roar. Within seconds, I was surrounded by identical beasts who came pouring out from the other caves.
Were they going to eat me?
One stepped forward and sniffed at me. I flinched and it snarled. It began to drool, or rather its mouth began to ooze with some sort of light red substance. The thing in me let out another wail and all of them sniffed at the air.
That’s when it hit me.
This beast inside me was trying to get out. It belonged here. This was its home. It brought me here because it wanted these things to kill me. The minute my body was torn apart, it would be free.
And I would be dead.
Chapter Twenty
Heven
A massive paw reached for me, its claws extending until they looked like sharp daggers. I threw myself to the side and the paw swiped into the ground, slashing the shale and rock where I had been.
Another massive wail left my throat and I screamed. “Stop it!”
Of course, no one listened.
The original beast that found me lunged and pounced on my back. Suddenly, I had a flash from the attack that left me disfigured. Of a heavy, dark beast throwing itself on me and clawing me within an inch of my life.
“No,” I cried as the claws dug into my flesh and seared me with pain.