I reached the edge of the bank looking into the dirty water. It was a slow river swirling with gray and white. It looked like I saw the movement like it was under glass though. I looked across to see a gaping mouth in the stone wall. So that was where souls entered hell. Unfortunately for me, from what I had heard, it was a one way cave.
My eyes focused in on the entrance to see gray shadows moving. Next to the bank on my side was a boat. It was blood red with intricate gold embelishments along the sides. It came up to points on each end and I shivered as I saw the skull on the front tip. With a complaining groan and a creak it pulled away from the bank. Without thinking I ran to it leaping just in time to land with a thump inside the boat. I quickly pulled my legs in from thier dangling position on the edge. I stood up balancing myself by holding the front board keeping away from the skull.
It gently wade through the river, but the water did not ripple in response. Staying the same calm glass like upper appearance. It soon thumped gently against the edge of the bank. The grey shadows moved closer taking shape. The shadows were the creatures themselves, and they looked human. In thier midst was a man, looking much more solid than anything else there. He had a young face and brown curls with good natured eyes; however, his gentle face was in a frown.
"Who are you? Perhaps you work with The Mistress, either way my business with hell goes no farther than this bank so it does not concern me. Just make sure my special souls end up in The Mistress' hands." He went along with his business leaving me there dumbfounded. He pulled out a paper with writing on it mumbling out names, as he did this he seperated the shadowed humans.
"There to Styx you go!" He herded several confused looking shadows into the dirty water. I gasped as they were sucked into the water becoming just another gray swirl under the glass like surface. "These two go to the mistress, they were the worst in the bunch. Here take them and I'll be off." He shoved two shadows stumbling onto the boat. Then turned stuffing away the paper and snapping his finger. With a light pop he disapeared and a black and red butterfly fluttered out of the opening.
The boat groaned again as it waded towards the other shore. I looked up at the two shadows, up close they were much easier to see and I gasped at the familairity Of the one furthest from me. I crawled up to him reaching towards him, "Anthony?" He looked up at me with subtle surprise then his face settled with an annoyed expression.
"Your kidding me right? I can't get away from you." He turned his back on me making my small burst of hope shatter. I was frozen on my aching knees with my hand reaching out. "N-no this can't be right." I felt betraying tears score down my face again. Suddenly I felt a painfully strong grip on my extended arm.
I turned stunned to see a man with a shaved head and coldly cruel features. He pushed me up against the edge of the boat while licking his lip he grasped my other wrist. "Well you sure look, tasty. I think you could be fun!" He leaned foreward as my eyes widened. I felt the boat thump to a stop as he licked the side of my face. "No! Don't!" He laughed, "God I love it when they scream!" He grabbed my face and I could hear a whistling sound and then a loud slap noise as he screamed out.
I looked up to see a woman. She had sheer white skin and black hair that came downto the bottom of her back. Her full lips were painted black. She had dangerous crimson eyes and her right arm and leg were surrounded in markings. She was clad in skimpy outfit adorned in metal. She had slightly curled horns and bat-like wings. In her arm she was holding a whip. "Can't trust you souls for two seconds can I?" She commanded rhetorically in a cold voice.
She flung out her whip and with a slap it wrapped around the man's throat. Reaching with her other arm she gripped Anthony's neck and he grimaced. She hadn't registered I was there yet and almost instinctively I grabbed onto Anthony's legs. "Eh, what's this a tag along? hm, your not a shade? Who are you?" She stated as she stared at me coldly.
"V-victoria, Alastar sent me here" I stated in a monotone voice. A smile crept on the woman's face. "Catch" She stated throwing the other two on the ground after freeing my grip from Anthony. With a hiss two winged woman with long razorsharp claws descended on them. I screamed when they stood up allowing me to see thier faces.
They had razorsharp teeth showing from a grimace. Thier faces looked purely animalistic. They were contorted with deep creases giving them frightening features. In response to my scream they let out an ear piercing screech.
The woman lifted her arm in an attempt to block them from view, "Pay no mind to the harpies. Your reputation precedes you, the infamous Victoria." She offered her hand to me and nervously I put my frozen hand in her's. She clasped my hand and lifted me up. Still holding my hand she led me in a different direction motioning for the harpies to follow.
"I am known as the Mistress, the keeper of the torture chambers. I take care of the bad shades and give them a sentence of my choice. Once they have served the sentence, the stay at the firepits keeping them warm." When she said shades she motioned her hand to Anthony and the other man. When she mentioned the firepits, she pointed straight ahead to the ominous orange glow.
"The firepits keep alot of things running and keep Hell warm. Of course the harpies run most of my torture chambers, my little assistants. Although I still have to pick up the souls myself, lucky for you too. If it was the harpies alone, you would have been devoured."
We walked through the blistering hot firepits as shades moved around them keeping them warm. I avoided looking at them as we passed. We kept going on until we reached a stone building. the Mistress pushed open the doors leading me inside.
"Let's see the sentence for these two..." She let me go the walked up to the man forcing his jaw open and yanking his tongue out. She read the characters on his tongue then shoved his mouth shut, "Hm rape of twenty - three girls forcing families to watch and seventeen murders. Plus attempted rape of the Lady Victoria."
I looked at her confused, "Lady?" She waved my question away and moved onto Anthony. "Two child molestations, and three murders. Not to mention the disrespecting the dead. Two bad eggs what shall be the punishment?For the first room six, for the second room one forty - seven.
She grabbed my arm and pulled me along corridors. Each hall had at least ten rooms each without doors. Everywhere we went we could hear screams of pain echoing throughout the halls, and I saw the many tortures. Some shades had the skin whipped off of them. Some were put in odd complicated machines contorting them, causing them to scream. At each room one or two of the animalstic harpies ran things.
"Ah here we are room one forty - seven. Go on set him up." I looked as the harpy holding Anthony flew into the room carrying him. She strapped him to a stone table then grabbed a glass bottle from the wall. She poured the oily liquid over him as he fought against the straps that held him down. "Ever burning oil, one of my favorites, ah light him. Since shades have no vessels their pain will never numb or subside."
The harpy moved to the wall pulling a rope. Fire spouted downwards from the ceiling above him instantly lighting him on fire. He writhed screaming and begging for mercy. My eyes went wide and I tried to run to him screaming out his name. My way was barred by the Mistress; however, and I found my struggling to not last for long as I fell to my knees sobbing.
"My dear girl do not shed tears for the damned. You heard what he had done, he is not one to feel pity for. What you see and hear here the only lies you will encounter are those of the shades screaming their innocence or that they have learned and are sorry. For they are not and given the chance they would repeat what the have done already"
I wiped my tears and got up numbly staring forlornly at Anthony. I wished him a final farewell before following the Mistress. We walked through many more corridors. It seemed like a maze that you could get lost in, but she seemed to know where she was going.
She stopped arubtly almost making me walk into her. "Room six, you know the rooms one through twenty are for our really bad shades. Anyways let's finish up our business here."She motioned to the harpy who flew to the middle of the room. She hovered a couple of feet above the ground holding the man. The Mistress snapped her fingers and glowing blue bands appeared around the man's ankles and wrists.
The harpy let him go and he stayed there unable to move. She let out a blood curdling screech. The Mistress pulled me behind her to hide me from view. Soon two more harpies looking as fearsome as the others flew in. Then they circled the man and flew down screeching.
Using their talons they tore the man apart shredding his skin off of his body. The man screamed and when they had skinned him new skin grew to cover him. Soon they started thier vicious attack again. I hid my face unable to look anymore thinking of the three fates and thier razor sharp talons.
The mistress picked me up and moved swiftly out of the building and away from all of the haunting screams. "Now wasn't that just delightful! Ah I love it in there!" We were moving towards the fire pits with two new harpies following suit. I looked at them nervously when the Mistress tried to calm my fears, "Oh they always follow me so that I always have them handy for orders."
We were back into the place of fire pits and she sat me down near one of the blazing bonfires. I simply watched her with wide eyes as she spoke to the harpies. "Now lets return Lady Victoria to where she belongs. I want you to fetch Alastar for me tell him we have his little pet waiting for him." She then turned to me, "We will get you safely back to the castle m'lady"
I thought of Samuel and Alastar and everything that had happened there. As the harpies flew off I shook my head, "No, I won't go!" I stood up and spinning around I started running. I heard the harpies screech as they changed courses but soon I had a hand clamped over my mouth and an arm around my waist.
zAmberV Community Member 
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