37. Wherefore Art Thou?

Leaning against the door frame, Lily watched Katy lace up her worn, scuffed hiking boots.  Katy had used this guestroom so many times, the closet was filled with an assortment of her clothes and shoes.  Deciding to dress for a trek into an unknown landscape, they layered their clothes, wore sturdy boots and planned to carry a few essentials. 

Standing, Katy shook down one leg of her jeans until it settled over the high top of the boot, then hands on hips, she glared at Lily.  “How long have they been gone?”

Lily looked at her watch.  “Twenty minutes.  Granddad said he wouldn’t have any trouble tracking the creature, so it shouldn’t be too much longer.”

“That’s twenty more minutes Dom has been in Hell.”  Katy absently wound her long braid around her hand.  “What do you think is happening to them?” she whispered.  Lily could only shake her head, afraid to acknowledge the nightmares that scuttled at the edge of her thoughts.

 “I don’t know exactly what kind of experience Daniel has had in the Abyss, but he’s spent most of his life in and out of the Ethereal.  Best case scenario, between the two of them, they should be able to hold their own.”  She blew out a breath.  “Worse case?  They kill each other before we get there.”

With a snort, Katy grabbed a jacket and a small pack off the bed.  “Let’s get something to eat while we wait for the bossy and rude Warden guy to show up.”

Lily smiled as they walked down the hall toward the kitchen.  “I can’t believe you’re actually hungry.”

“It’s not that so much as I just don’t want to be tempted to eat any seeds or berries and end up stuck like what’s her name.”

“Persephone.  But Hades had kidnapped her.  I’m sure she didn’t really believe a few pomegranate seeds would be enough to trap her in Hel—”  Lily abruptly stopped speaking.  After a short pause, she murmured, “Good thinking.  Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to eat a little something before we leave, just to cover all the bases.”

They stood at one end of the table, staring down the length.  Bizarrely, it looked as if everyone had just stepped away for a moment, mugs still marking their places.  With a sigh, Katy began to clear the table while Lily took out some bread and the toaster.  They worked silently for several minutes, each absorbed in her own thoughts.

 Katy made one final swipe across the polished wood, then Lily brought a tray loaded with toast, jam, silverware, two mugs and a pot of tea and set them on the clean table.  She went back for two small plates and they settled down across from each other.  Spreading a thick layer of jam on her toast, Katy said quietly, “What do you think about all this, Lil?  I can’t believe that just yesterday morning all I could think about was the Halloween party and being with Dom…”  Her voice trailed off, eyes shimmering in the low kitchen light, toast forgotten in the hand half-raised toward her mouth.

“I don’t know what to think.  There’s so much to take in, even about my grandfather, that I just can’t wrap my head around any of it.”  She reached over and gave Katy’s hand a light squeeze.  “Remember what my father used to say when we were kids?”

Katy frowned.  “Vive la France?”

Lily laughed, the unexpected sound echoing around the kitchen.  It only took a moment before Katy joined in, both women laughing until they were doubled over.  “God, Lil, I really needed that,” Katy was finally able to gasp, “though I guess I don’t remember what he used to say.”

“Être aussi audacieux que le tournesol,” Lily said, picturing her father standing in a field of brilliant yellow giants, arms spread wide as he smiled down at two rapt little girls.

“That’s right,” Katy grinned, “he was always telling us to be as bold as a sunflower.”  Then she added, “Though he also said Vive la France every chance he got.”  They smiled at each other across the table, tension and anxiety briefly overshadowed by happy childhood memories.  In the quiet, Lily savored her toast and jam, then as she poured tea into both mugs, she said wistfully, “Remember the year my father took us—”

Katy suddenly surged to her feet, staring toward the living room.  “I can smell that foul dog thing,” she hissed.  Without a second thought, she grabbed her butter knife and stormed out of the kitchen.  Lily, one step behind, didn’t even pause as she wrenched the largest butcher knife out of the wooden block on the counter and followed.

Mickey stared in amazement at the two women and their impromptu weaponry.  “What exactly was your plan then?  Chop the beastie into wee pieces, then butter him?”

“More or less,” Katy replied. “Though I was thinking more chopping, less buttering.”

As her grandfather smiled with approval, Lily frowned, waving her hands in front of her face.  “Granddad, you reek of acrid smoke and rotten eggs.”

“I had to hold the filthy git until Taurin caught up.  He fought like a rabid dog and now my clothes will need burning and it will take more than one scrubbing to rid myself of the stench.”  He sighed regretfully.  “I had hoped to postpone the inevitable confrontation with your grandmother, but that prayer won’t be answered.”  He looked down at the dirt and grime.  “She’ll smell me coming before I get within a hundred yards.”

“Where’s that Warden?” Katy asked with a scowl.  “He’d better be coming back.”

“He returned the creature.”  Mickey had a devilish look in his eye and a smirk curled his lips.  “He was heading for the rim of the Abyss, and I believe his intent was to drop the fiend in…er, off and then rejoin us.”  But then his mood dampened.  Somberly, he looked first at Katy, then at his beloved granddaughter.  “I’ve been rethinking this scheme, lassies.  There must be another way to—”

 “There is no other way,” Lily said.  “I’m the only one who can return the book, and I’m not leaving Daniel to suffer a horrible fate because he was tricked into stealing it, or for trying to help his new brother.”

“And I’m the only one who can find Dom.”  Pacing, Katy muttered, “If we can get that blasted Warden back here before Hell freezes over—”

“A good portion of it is already frozen,” a strident voice barked from the broken front door.  Taurin stood at the entrance, angry, disheveled and possibly reeking worse than Mickey.  It was clear his centuries-old calm and orderly demeanor had been replaced by a surly, belligerent attitude.  He glared at Katy, who returned the look as she snapped, “Well, at last, the taxi has arrived.”  Taurin narrowed his eyes and took a step toward her, but Lily quickly intervened.

“Warden, did you see or hear anything of Daniel, or Dominic?” she asked.

He continued to stare at Katy for a tense moment, then turned to answer Lily.  “No, but I wasn’t there long.  I just dropped the hound and came back.”  He looked at Mickey.  “I should have gone to Syrus, but if we’re continuing with this foolishness, I’m counting on the element of surprise to divert his wrath.”

“Syrus will see reason,” Mickey said, “though I reckon it will take some convincing.”  He swept his hand out in a gesture encompassing Katy and Lily as he smiled broadly.  “Let them do the talking.”

“Great,” Taurin muttered.  Resigned, he asked Mickey if he was prepared to leave.  At the affirmative nod, he stood in front of the man and placed a firm hand on his shoulder.  “I’ve never been to your home Warden, so you must guide us.  Touch the medallion when you’re ready.”

“I would love a hug, Granddad, but under the circumstances, if you don’t mind I’ll wait until we get back.”  Lily smiled at her grandfather, suddenly feeling a bit uneasy without him guarding her back.

“Keep your head, lass, and don’t take any unnecessary risks.  Syrus will not fail you, you have but to listen to him.”  Mickey winked at Katy.  “That goes for you too, my girl.”  He raised his hand toward the medallion, but before he touched it, he said softly, “I love you both.  God speed.”  The instant his fingers made contact, both men vanished.

Katy dashed into the kitchen and retrieved her small pack. Wrapping the last slices of toast in a napkin, she stuffed them inside a side pocket.  Wordlessly, Lily handed her two water bottles and a handful of bandages, then lifting her shirt, she picked the book up off the table and tucked it into a pouch that was buckled around her waist.  After checking the other items inside, she zipped it closed and shifted the pouch into a more comfortable position.  As prepared as possible, they walked out to the living room and waited nervously for the Warden's return.

“Are you scared?” Katy asked quietly, adjusting the shoulder straps on her pack.

“No.  You?”  Lily murmured, fidgeting with the zipper tab on her jacket.

“No way.”

They looked at each other, then laughed.

“Terrified?”  Katy asked, grinning.

“Petrified.”

“I’m glad you both find this so amusing,” Taurin growled, appearing without a sound at the front door.  “We’ll see how funny you find Syrus.”  He stalked toward them with a certain satisfaction at their impending doom and gripped a wrist in each hand.

The front door shifted gently in a nebulous breath of air, then only a hushed stillness remained to fill the empty, silent rooms.
 

36. Or, In English: One Abyss Invokes Another

Daniel stared at the vague shape of his brother's broad back as they walked silently through a roughly hewn tunnel, so dark it seemed like midnight had solidified around them.

“Sure this is the right direction?” Daniel asked quietly.

“Feel the heat?  Yeah, this is the right direction,” Dom muttered.

They cautiously approached a cross tunnel.  Though it was nearly impossible for Daniel to see very far, Dom was having no trouble.  Looking both ways, he started forward then stopped so abruptly, Daniel plowed into him with a grunt.  Around a bend in the left tunnel a pair of creatures shuffled toward them.  Tall, with loose flaps of black skin hanging from skeletal frames, the pair froze as if stunned to find others wandering across their path.  One hissed before a tongue, long and forked, darted out to taste the air, then with a low, hungry growl, fangs descended.  Daniel took a step back when viscous, green globules sizzled and smoked as they dropped onto the stone floor.

Without hesitation, Dom reached back, pulled Daniel forward and had him in a tight choke hold so quickly he wasn’t able to react fast enough to fight.  As he began to struggle, Dom whispered, “Trust me.”

As black dots began forming at the edges of his rapidly fading vision, Daniel wondered if trust was even possible.  The guy was still a Cantrell, still a demon.  Then Lily’s face rose out of the darkness in his mind as she tossed him—a virtual stranger—the keys to her apartment.  To trust someone required a great leap of faith.  He would give his brother the same chance Lily had given him.  He went limp against Dom’s body in apparent surrender.

The two creatures began to sidle toward them, venom dripping like a leaky faucet, their tattered black skin trembling with anticipation.  Dom suddenly seemed to expand just as the tunnel filled with a scarlet blaze that caused the fiends to cower.  Red fire shooting from his eyes, Dom’s voice went inhumanly deep as he growled, “Mine.”

There was a high-pitched squeal, a susurration of dried membranes, and the tunnel was empty.  Dom dropped his arm, releasing Daniel then bent over with his hands on his knees and took great gulps of air as Daniel fell against the stone wall gasping for breath.

“Sorry about that.  You all right?”  Staying hunched over, Dom lifted his head to look at Daniel.

“I think so,” Daniel muttered hoarsely, rubbing his throat.  “What were those things?”

“No idea.”  He straightened.  “But I’m betting they don’t live down here alone.  We need to get out of here.”

As they resumed their trek, Daniel said quietly, “That was some trick, with the glowing eyes and that Darth Vader voice.  I’m thinking it’s not so bad having the baddest kid in the sandbox be my big brother.”  He glanced over at Dom.  “How’d you do that?”

“I don’t know,” he snapped, “it’s not like I come with a manual.”  When Daniel laughed, Dom relaxed slightly and murmured, “It’s like getting mad and saying you see red, only with me it’s actually true.”  Softly, he said, “The voice was new.  I’ve never done that before.”

For several minutes they walked in silence, then Dom asked, “Why did you listen to me back there?  When I said to trust me?”  He stopped unexpectedly and turned to face Daniel, a scowl on his face.  “And what were you thinking, latching on to me in the first place?  You shouldn’t even be here.”

Their gazes locked.  “I’ve been alone my whole life, then I find out I have a brother and you think I’m just going to let him disappear into the Abyss?”  Daniel shrugged.  “Guess I figured you might need some help.”  He stepped past Dom and began to walk, tossing the next words over his shoulder, “I trusted you because you asked me to.”

Dom followed a few steps behind, his mind in turmoil, his world so out of kilter he felt drunkenly off balance from it.  For more years than he could remember he’d been plotting against his father, revenge the only thing driving him forward.  Then, in one short week, Katy had shaken him to the core, as had the man who’d chosen to walk with him through Hell.  His woman and his brother.  He shook his head in wonder and disbelief.

While Dom was ruminating, Daniel was reliving moments with Lily, already missing her smile, her face.   Earlier, back at her place, when he’d realized Dom’s plan, he hadn’t spared a thought when tossing Lily out of harm’s way or in diving for his brother.  In actuality, he’d expected to land on the hearth with an irate brother beneath him.  It hadn’t even entered his mind that he would end up in the netherworld of the Abyss.  The instantaneous jolt from Lily’s living room to Hell had completely disoriented him for several seconds until the outraged bellow from Dom brought Daniel staggering to his feet.  Just in time to see Dom lunge forward to grasp Razeph; too late, the demon lord vanished in a smoky cloud of brimstone.

Immersed in their own thoughts, the two men walked quietly for over an hour as the heat escalated and the air became singed with an acrid sting.  As they rounded a sharp bend in the tunnel, the way forward was suddenly illuminated with the harsh orange glow of what appeared to be fire.

“What’s that?” Daniel asked.

“I think it’s the River of Tears.  If it is, then I know where we are.”

The heat was intense, almost unbearable, though Daniel followed Dom to the mouth of the tunnel.  Wiping the sweat off his face with his shirt, he stood at the edge and looked across a surprisingly intricate and lovely arched bridge to the opening of a tunnel on the other side.  Then he glanced down.  Far below them snaked a wide, undulating river of fiery lava, and bobbing in the waves and currents were all manner of people and creatures, sobbing and screaming, their cries of anguish echoing and reverberating up the steep canyon walls.

 “Failing the tests at the Toll Houses dumps you into the River of Tears.  From here, you go to your own personal version of Hell.”  He gingerly stepped out onto the bridge and walked to the middle.  Rolling waves of heat rippled around him, making his body look like a desert mirage.

“How do you know this stuff?” Daniel asked.

“Bedtime stories.”

Before Daniel could respond to the horror in that offhand remark, Dom looked up.  And smiled.  Curious, Daniel carefully left the tunnel and went to stand next to Dom on the bridge before raising his head.  Above them, nearly lost in the oppressive miasma, was the barest glimmer of a golden light; a mere speck of salvation from the hellish inferno where they stood.

“Can you climb?” Dom asked casually, as if they were contemplating a short hike before lunch.

Daniel turned to look at the lunatic beside him.  “Seriously?  What do you figure, a couple miles up, with no gear, no ropes, heat that will probably melt the skin off our bones, and a nice splash in the fiery deep if we screw up?  Sure, no problem.”

 
     With a small grin, Dom repeated his question.  “Can you climb?”

“Yes, I can climb,” Daniel barked, “though I don’t know squat about doing it in Hell.”

“Not many do.  In fact, you might be the first.”

Daniel narrowed his eyes.  “What do you mean, I might be the first?  We will be the first.”

 Lowering his head to watch the flotsam tumbling in the river, Dom sighed.  “I doubt I can get out, thanks to my father.  Being half a demon probably counts for full down here.”  He turned to Daniel.  “You should be able to get out though.  And you could do me one last, great favor if you make it.”  He laid a hand on Daniel’s shoulder.  “Tell Katy I will never, ever forget her.”

“No.”

Dom blinked.  “No?  What do you mean no?  I’m going to be stuck in fucking Hell and you’re saying no to me?”

“That’s right.  I’m saying no because you’re coming with me.”  He angrily jabbed Dom in the chest with a hard finger, then sneered, “What kind of half demon chicken shit are you?  How do you know you can’t get out?  You’re not even going to try?”

Slapping his hand away, Dom turned to stare down at the river.  “I knew this was a one-way trip.  The point was to bring my father back here.  I’ve done it, the rest doesn’t matter.”

“I’m sure Katy will appreciate hearing that,” Daniel said as he walked toward the wall, calculating his ascent.

“Hearing what?” Dom snapped.

Absently, spotting his first handhold in a fissure of the rock wall, he said, “That she didn’t matter, that she means nothing to you.”

“I never said she didn’t matter!  She’s everything!”

Daniel spun around, shouting, “If you can’t do whatever it takes to get back to her, then she doesn’t matter!  How stupid are you?”

They glowered at each other, then Daniel turned his back, went to the wall, reached high above his head to slide his hand into the cleft, and pulled himself up into the first leg of the climb.

He smiled to himself when he glanced down a few minutes later and saw Dominic coming up behind him, muttering and cursing.  Then he grinned widely at the threats of death and dismemberment that followed him up the chasm.  He didn’t care what violence Dom promised as long as he didn’t stay in this hellhole.

 

Concentrating on the climb, neither man noticed two figures in the mouth of the tunnel staring with rapacious eyes as the brothers made their cautious way upward.