It was dark. The streetlights illuminated their path casting shadows of trees and edges across the street. Insects danced on the luminous lamp enjoying the warmth away from the cold, cold night. But side by side as they walked in silence, she could not feel even the slightest hint of cold.
This was after dropping off Adam and Akira in their homes. Cain had insisted on walking her home, and since neither had a thing to talk about it led to a horrendous silence.
"Should I ask him about the other day, or will he get mad?"
From time to time, she looked at him furtively her cheeks red as sauce. What was he thinking? What was the meaning of this silence for him? Was he mad? A bountiful question was raised continuously in her head.
"Are you okay?" he asked as if he had read her mind.
"Am fine," she replied instantly and nervously.
"You seem agitated, you've been sighing the whole time, am I making you uncomfortable?"
"No . . ." she said and continued after a pause, "it's just that I've had a lot in my mind you know."
"I see, in that case, let me apologize about last time, I wasn't myself. Gabriel told me I should go to jail. Funny huh." He said with a slight smile.
This stimulated a slight laughter from her. For some reason, she felt relieved by his words, like a heavy load had been yanked out of her chest. She elbowed him slightly as she walked.
"I don't hate you, for some reason, I feel like you're not that kind of person,"
"You think so?" he asked blushing slightly, "Thanks that means a lot to me."
By now they were outside Kitsune's apartment building. She stopped by the gate signaling him in turn.
"Well, this is it, I guess it's goodbye," she said.
"Mmmh. Goodnight," said Cain.
As he turned to walk away, he felt a tag on his sleeves. Pinching it slightly. He turned to her, she was torn as if she was about to cry.
"Cain, I know it's not my place to judge, but please be careful. Don't get hurt again . . . okay?"
He was silent at this. She eventually let go of his jacket, but just then he pulled her hand and hugged her. Again, relieving her of her worries.
"Thanks, but don't worry about me. Just focus on living a normal life," he said.
"You dummy," she whispered.
She did not know how long she held on to him. A minute, maybe two. But she wanted to feel his warmth, his smell, his heartbeat, filled with a burning need to preserve that moment.
* * *
Situated in the middle of the room surrounded by books she gnawed her thumbnails. The room was messy, with books scattered at every corner, and ink splattered on a piece of paper she was struggling to compose.
Her hair, dark and unkempt, was hard as she scratched it, eye bags under her eyes, and from time to time she gave a deep yawn that the edge of her mouth was visible. She looked at the artifacts around her and sighed. They were all useless.
She wondered if it had been her bad lack or if her time was up. Sure enough, sooner or later The Order would come looking for her. After all, she was an Outcaste. The thought frustrated her, she could not sleep despite her attempts.
A knock rapidly tore through the door. She looked at it petrified. Was the Oder already on her? So soon.
"Miss," came Adam's voice, she was relieved. "There is someone who wishes to speak with you."
"Tell them to go away," she said.
In contradiction, the door was forced open, the books falling at the dragging noise. She was irritated by the audacity of that person, her eyes squinted as the sun permeated through the door.
"Now, that won't do," said a familiar voice she was used to. "It's not good to stay in a dark room like this."
She sighed as she looked at Cain's face. For some reason, she felt relieved, like she had been anxiously waiting for that moment and she hadn't had to wait any longer.
"Guess you're here to kill me," she said.
"Now who said that?"
He walked over to the other side of the room and pulled the window curtains open. The burst of light in the room annoyed her. He then pulled a chair making a simple dragging noise and sat looking at her. Adam closed the door and left them to their chat.
She pulled the strap of her dress up and pulled a chair for herself.
"You look like you've seen better days," he said.
"Are you here to mock me?" she asked faintly, "What do you want with me?" she asked.
"You sound more docile than the last time we met,"
"TSK," she clicked.
Cain looked around and saw some records he was familiar with. He sighed as he looked at the old material. He was also surprised.
"I doubt you found much about me in history."
"I found enough. Cain Philip Joseph, the eleventh son of Jacob, one of the founding members of The Order and one of the Legendary Heroes that ended the Holy War."
"You flatter me but am not a Hero. But all that is just superficial. I didn't come here to talk about myself though. I need a favor."
"A favor from your enemy?"
"You're not an enemy, you're just a child playing, if you were, trust me you would be dead by now."
She grits her teeth at the remark. He was looking down at her, she could see the condescending gaze of his
"How cute," he said, "you look a lot like my sister. Maybe that's why I want to bully you so much."
"What do you want?" she asked sounding slightly impatient.
"Like I said, Cute," he said. "I want you to open a gate for me?"
"A gate to where?" she asked.
"The underworld."
She felt lighter as she watched the serious expression on his face. she felt dizzy, a noxious feeling engulfing her as beads of sweat formed on her scalp. She was instantly filled with trepidation.
"Are you ok?" asked Cain.
"Of course, am not! You want to go to hell!"
"Are you not willing to do it?"
"I can't . . . a spell of such magnitude is impossible. And it's forbidden If anything goes wrong there will be serious consequences."
"Don't worry nothing will go wrong if you do as I say that is."
Cain looked at the closed gigantic door and then back at her again.
"You see when Adam came to me, I promised to help him. Which is more than you did for him."
She bowed her head and smiled nervously full of sadness.
"You took advantage of a boy with a big dream to achieve your own, I wonder, how do you feel about it?"
"I must be a monster," she said in a low tone, "I took him in seeing his potential, he had talent, and I knew that he had dreams. So, I used him, promising that the cause I followed was just. I made him a soldier instead of a Hero. Isn't it funny?"
"And in doing so, you created a split personality disorder for the boy, the Adam I met yesterday was clumsy and polite, his speech seemed to lack confidence but, as I talked to him, I felt good. So, your assessment was correct, you are a monster for taking a child's dream away but am not one to judge."
She looked away and sighed. She had a remorseful look on her face and was in deep thought before she made her verdict.
"It may sound childish but when I found Adam, he was so adamant about being a superhero it's almost funny?"
"I know, he told me." Cain leaned closer.
As he looked at her, he was amazed at how much she resembled his sister. He felt sorry for her, because if she believed she was a monster then what word would be used to define him?
"I am giving you a last chance; I want you to open this gate for me. If you don't, I am taking Adam away and am sure I will find another mage before dawn. More so, your life as an Outcast comes to an end."
She then took a deep breath and appeared more determined than earlier.
"Ok, let's open Pandora's box," she said.
* * *
"My lord, you are aware that opening a gate to hell is an open provocation to the Oder," Cain recalled Gabriel's words.
"I know," he said curtly, "I am also sending him a message."
"A reckless but effective message, hopefully, he gets it."
In his mind, the conversation played. It was a way of announcing that he was back from hell. The place he had sent him to.
"Besides I have some unfinished business with the Ruler of Hades."
Annabel was amazed at how easy it was to set up the runes. It was an intricate layer of magic symbols that she scribbled and once complete she had to coat it with mercury. As she did it her heart raced with excitement, to perform such a spell and live to tell the tale was nothing short of a miracle. Soon she was finished with the preparations.
"It may look simple said Cain but in reality, we are cheating," he said.
"Cheating? How so?"
"I have a ticket of free passage to hell if you attempted it without the ticket then you would surely die. And also have the curse of Hades on yourself."
"A curse, what curse?"
"Don't worry you have my word. Nothing will happen to you, at least not from hell."
He picked up a knife and cut his palm. The blood dripped and started flowing on the circle. Soon it was bright red a crimson glow filling the room. Annabel stared in amazement at what was happening.
"Don't worry I made preparations to ensure "The Oder" would never track us down."
At the same time, there was the same red glow in various other locations. In the North Pole, South Pole, the Sahara Desert in Africa, the Gobi Desert, and the Amazone forest. Numerous locations to throw them off.
"Just remember, keep the doors and windows closed, we don't want any soles escaping hell."
Cain walked to the center of the circle the put the knife on his neck. Then he ran it through slitting it. Annabel was somewhat shocked and watched as his body fell to the ground.
"Was crucified, died and buried, . . . he descended into hell," Annabelle said these words as she watched Cain's body turn pale.
Cain woke with a startle his eyes darting everywhere. It is war red, the vast ground bare as far as the eyes could stretch, and he could hear cries in the distance. Then, before him, he saw a fleet of stairs with a base formed of human skulls.
"Cain, help me." a voice spoke, behind him.
He felt a cold touch on his back that made him freeze. He clenched his fist and gritted his teeth.
"If I look back now, I will turn into a pillar of salt,"
"Cain, don't look away from me, it's cold, here help me,"
"Sorry, but you're not her, devil."
The voice changed into a twisted laugh, that seemed to mock Cain.
"The Prodigal son returns, am sure the empress of death will be pleased to see you. You're an abomination even in hell . . . but she favors you."
"Maybe, maybe not."
He felt a bit of sweat form. His neck was stiff, he had wanted to turn and see her so badly. He pushed aside his urge and closed his eyes. The distance between him and the giant door at the end of the fleet of stairs felt endless. But then it started to close instantly. Before long he was standing right in front of the door.
He pushed it open and suddenly he was in a new terrain.
In front of him was a huge throne a woman was sitting on. She had smooth dark hair resting over her shoulders. Her eyes had a crimson color blending in with her pale complete and petite face.
She wore a pink dress worn mostly in modern balls and red carpets. The cleavage of her breasts was visible, and the nipples were visible through the dress. It had a long slit that exposed half of her thighs as she nonchalantly rested one leg over the other.
"I see you are back so soon," she said.
Cain went down on one knee, She extended her foot, and he kissed it slightly.
"Empress Hela, you look as beautiful, even more than ever."
"Cain, you flatter me as always, stand, you have my permission."
"As you wish," He stood making eye contact. As he did, he felt the pressure.
Even after all the time here, he could not help but feel intimidated by the pressure. This was the Goddess of Death, as such, in her presence Cain had to be careful not to provoke her. She was easily tempered, even the slightest disrespect to her, she always did something unorthodox. Cain knew this.
Her attitude toward everyone was condescending, especially to mortals. To them, lesser beings were nothing more than insects to her.
"Sit," she said.
A huge chair dragged on the ground appeared behind Cain and he felt an involuntary force push him on the chair. Cain kept an expressionless face and a clear mind. She smiled slightly.
"Gone for just a while and I already miss your screams, the days you fought me for freedom,"
"Am glad you remembered such days." said Cain with a fake smile, " but as you may already know, I am not here for nostalgic memories."
"Cain if you weren't so adorable, I would have killed you for saying that. I will dismiss it as you are being tacky,"
"In that case, I am here for it,"
"Yes, yes, we did have a deal, I help you kill the Sons of Jacob, you grant my greatest wish, I feel disgusted that I have to rely on a lesser being. But I suppose I need a pawn."
"So can I have it?"
"Sure, it is in your world now, to be honest, I would have reconsidered if it was anyone but you, and as a gesture, I have one more gift for you, you will know it when the time comes."
She stood up silently and walked behind him. She placed her hands on his neck. Cain leaned forward on the chair a bead of sweat forming, she pulled him back and sat on his lap. He could feel her body pressed against his, she felt so soft and fragile.
"I hope this time you won't fail."
"Hope. Rather Ironic don't you think? You are the god of death, how can you hope."
The remark made her chuckle slightly. She smiled.
"It's a shame we can't have fun together, time is up."
Cain inhaled deeply as he woke up. It was like a dream where he was falling, and he had just landed. He felt slightly disoriented unsure where he was or what he was doing. It started coming back to him as he took heavy breaths.
"Damn that woman," he said out loud, "I have to be extra careful next time."
"Cain, are you feeling well?" asked Annabelle.
"Am better than ever," he said getting up.
"So, it's none of my business, but you kept saying the name "Rachel" over and over again, do you mind sharing?"
"You're right about one thing, it is none of your business."
Cain rose and walked out of the door. She noticed a look of excitement on his face as he walked away. He had an ear-to-ear grin like he had found an epiphany. She had a premonition.
"Jericho. I dare you to ignore me now," said Cain.