She wanted to beg Alex to take her away. She wanted nothing to do with this horrendous place. These livid fears gave birth to more treachorous thoughts. But she recalled why she was doing this in the first place- and even that was not enough to strengthen her resolve. Somehow, she knw the destination would be a hundred times worse than the journey.
Finally, they appeared to be slowing down for the first time since their descent into the earth that began over a minute ago. But almost immediately, Eliana wished the journey had delayed a little longer.
They soon exited the tunnel. Hell was not what Eliana had expected it to be.
The sky was covered with a blackness that was better seen than described. The entire landscape was replete with a deathlike dryness. The ground was dry, hard and black like tar. The air was heavy with sulphur. Breathing proved to be a real herculean task. It was the absence of life that choked her. Every single fibre of her being screamed at her to leave. But, even if she wanted to she simply could not. Hell sucked people in with a horizontal-like gravitational force. Even now, she could feel it.
Eliana thought she was scared before, but that was nothing compared to the overwhelming terror that engulfed her on the spot. It occured on a primal level. It was like she could feel the weight of every single bad thing she had ever done. Every snide comment, every lie, every lustful thought, even the sins of her ancestors bore down on her, making her blood curdle like milk within her.
What was worse was she was not here as a deceased soul. And yet, she could feel the sheer hopelessness of this dreadful place.
As they both advanced, the oppressive darkness grew only heavier and a gigantic structure greeted them. Morphed into this structure was a mighty and condescending facade that weighed down and infused hopelessness on every soul that walked through it. At first, it looked like a gate, but only in form. It was like a landmark of two age old towering mountains that happened to be near each other. The mountain tops disappeared in a thick mist of black smoke, as if dissuading anyone from peering further. They looked ageless, indesctructible, formiddable, and most of all- alive.
Eliana almost collapsed to the floor when she saw that the gates/mountains were two feet of a ridiculously large entity. Raw terror coursed through her as fear gripped her fragile form. It was so humongous that it played the terrfying role of both the gate, and the gatekeeper. At the feet of this gatekeper was a black river. It was stagnant. It just stayed there like a black pool of toxicity.
But that was the first of many shocks to come.
Then came the most horrendous and most atrocious sound she would ever hear. It sounded like a stadium filled with people. Only they were not cheering happily at a football game, they were collectively weeping and screaming all at once. They cried for release. They begged for reprieve from their pains. It was so loud and so pronounced, she felt the ground quake with the anguished cries of the damned.
It was at this point that Alex's voice dropped in her mind for the first time since they arrived;
"Don't worry, she's not there with them. She's being held in a different location so follow closely."
Eliana tried to put on a brave face. But she was relieved as hell. They crossed the sturdy stonelike bridge over the murky black waters, and passed underneath the gatekeeper with no problems. Apparently, his job was to keep people from getting out and not with people going in. Behind them, an endless line of freshly dead souls trudged on in a single file, bound in chains, as they made their way towards their eternal destination.
They passed the shadowless region under the entity's thighs and came upon the outermost part of hell. It looked like the ruins of an ancient city. In the landscape was a dull reddish haze that lazily lined up the horizon. It was the closest thing to illumination here. But even Eliana knew that it was from the blazing fire from the center. The thundering cries from that region was evidence enough.
Alex took a sharp left, and meandered through the city that had the very outlook and atmosphere of death's chambers. The trail of Scarlett's essence was visible to him, and it was getting stronger and stronger by the second. After a while, located just a few meters east of the gate was the space that served as Scarlett's cell.
It was a rough shanty prison that might have been called a cave.
Eliana gasped in shock when she saw her sister. She was chained up like a slave. She still had on the clothes her physical body was wearing. But it was the ghostly look in her eye that made Eliana want to weep for the things her dear sister had had to endure. She rushed to hug her and comfort her with soothing words.
"Scar it's me! Ana's here for you! Please say something...!"
Alex rasped;
"There'll be plenty of time later for hugs and kisses. We need to get out of here right now!"
He lifted up the chains that bound her and snapped them like they were ordinary twigs. He beckoned on Eliana to stay close as he hoisted the fragile form of the older sister on his shoulders. Unencumbered, they made their way back the same way they came from. The blackness did not deter them. Once in a while, a stream of molten lava shot up in the distance, momentarily lighting up the horizon. But they did not need to see. In this state, the sense of sight was the weakest of their senses.
Eliana's pounding heart started to pace itself when it looked like their mission was going to be successful. But her rejoicing came way to early.
When they got to the bridge, they encountered a major hurdle. As soon as Alex's feet touched the bridge, an invisible force stopped him from moving forward. It was as if a wall was before him. Eliana froze. This was her worst nightmare.
"Alex what's happening?? Are we going to be stuck here?"
He paused for a moment. "Something's wrong..."
"You think?!!! OF COURSE SOMETHING'S WRONG! WE'RE GONNNA DIE HERE!!!"
"No. That's not it. It's your sister, she can't get through because she's not whole yet."
Eliana stared at him like he was speaking arabic or something. Alex put down Scarlett and explained;
"Look at her. She's literally a zombie right now. Has she said a word since we picked her up?"
Eliana frowned. Truthfully, Scarlett had been aimlessly wandering in that cave when they found her. She had the alertly stupid look of a retard, but Eliana had just assumed that she was in shock or something. She replied him unsurely;
"I thought it was becau---"
"I know what you're thinking and it's not that." He paused as he thought of the best way to explain it. "Someone has taken a part of her soul Ana. She can't leave Hell like this. Your sister is an incomplete soul."
Before this, Eliana did not think their situation could possibly get any worse. Her heart sank at the revelation. Despair set in quickly and covered her with with its black robes once again. Just as she was about to ask him what the next move was, a noisome crackling voice came from behind her;
"Well, well, well...I knew I sensed you here!"
Eliana swerved with a quickness and turned in the direction of the bone chilling voice. The tall, lanky form of a middle-aged looking man appeared out of nowhere. She thought in her heart that they were definitely done for this time.
But much to her surprise, Alex answered this entity cheerfully;
"Acheron Charon you buffon! Is that really you?!"
"Indeed it is! It's been ages! How've you been bud???"
Eliana could only gawk as the two entities exchanged pleasantries like old high school mates who had only just run into each other at the mall. It was creepy how they treated meeting in Hell like a normal thing. Before now, Eliana had never heard nor seen Alex laugh before. But he laughed freely with this sinister entity as they both recounted the old day. Their chemistry was undeniable. Their booming laughter was testimony enough.