In that same darkness, they had disappeared and reappeared. Both of their silhouettes were out in the open.
"We're here," he quietly said.
"I don't see anything, it's all so dark and fuzzy. Is hell just dark?" She questioned as her vision was blurry.
"In a minute you'll be able to see."
Leila closed her eyes for a second and when she had opened them again, a whole new world took shape in front of her. Leila had her eyes wide open along with her mouth. She was surprised by the appearance of Hell. Never would she have imagined it to look like this.
"Wow! That's Hell?" she said.
In front of her was a modern city. There were tall buildings on every street, most were Aegean blue with black sides. it was a city at night where many windows were lit. They all showed the same warm yellow light. It seemed to be a busy night where everybody was awake. On top of those buildings was a layer of red light, it seemed to be reflected from somewhere. Leila had looked up to find the source of this red light. Her eyes fell upon something that left her in awe, it was a gigantic red moon. She was mesmerized by it as on earth she was a selenophile, lover of the moon. The moon seemed to be right on top of their heads. It was hypnotizing, Leila had a hard time taking her eyes off it. But the pain in her stretching neck called her to bring her eyes back to the ground. The light had also come from elsewhere, neon signs. Hell was a neon sign paradise. Wherever she laid eyes on, a neon sign was near. Leila was still at the entrance so she could not see everything. There was much more to discover in Hell.
"What do you think of Hell?" he asked as he focused on her face.
"It's normal." She calmly responded.
"NORMAL?" He was shocked."When you look at the earth you think it's normal. When you look at Hell you think otherwise. You're a human but you're not the least surprised by seeing Hell?" He said in astonishment.
"I am surprised. I'm surprised it looks this normal. It's like any other city on earth."
"Don't underestimate Hell. You've seen nothing yet. There are many things here that do not exist on earth. You'll never say that it's similar after that." He replied as he lightly chuckled. Following that chuckle, Leila looked at him in confusion.
"Anyways, what now? If this is Hell and what you told me is real, what now?" She asked unfazed by the current situation.
"Would like to look around Hell first. You'll be here for long and so it would make your life easier if you knew of your environment." He pointed his hand towards the dark city.
"I don't think I'll be here for long but okay. And by the way, what's your name?" Leila thought that it was all a dream and decided to simply go along with it for now.
The demon looked at her for a while until he decided to speak again, "I guess I should tell you my name, I'm Kieran now let's go," he said as he walked ahead.
"Well I'm Leila!" she was offended by his impatience.
"I know. Walk behind me, there are many night creatures roaming. They'll probably know that you're a human and they'll want to torture you and or eat you. If you're behind me, I can mask your presence with my dark presence."
"And or?!" she exclaimed.
"Hurry!"
With his words, Leila hurriedly hid behind him. Her only sight was his back. As they walked, she felt warmth. This warmth came from the feeling of being protected. All these fluffy thoughts soon disappeared when she had a sudden realization.
"You're a demon so I suppose also a night creature. Don't you want to eat me too? Are you suppressing your hunger?" She asked as she peeped her head to the side.
"I am a night creature but I don't care much for humans, I don't think they taste good or even look good. Besides, you are a quest given to me by the Prince of Hell. What good would it do to me if I ate you?" He responded as he pushed her head back.
"I see…" Leila said as she looked on the floor instead. She was still a bit confused by this situation. She thought again of her conclusion of earlier. 'Maybe this isn't a dream, it's too clear and elaborate,' she thought.
Kieran suddenly stopped walking making Leila bump her head onto his back.
"I think the visit will have to wait," he quietly said.
"Is there something wrong?" Leila asked worriedly.
Kieran looked around and noticed the growing number of night creatures.
"There are more people than I thought. I think your scent has been discovered or maybe just noticed." Kieran took her wrist and ran to a dark alley on the right. Leila was taken by surprise but she ran along.
"Where are we going?"
"My home."
Upon hearing that Leila strangely loosened up. She felt that she was going somewhere safe. She did not know Kieran at all, he was a stranger and above all a demon. But she still felt that she could trust him. He was the first person she saw in Hell, the one who reached a hand and answered her questions. Of course, Leila still had a lot of doubts and didn't fully trust him nor did she enjoy his company.
"I usually don't go to strangers' houses but I know you can't hurt me because of your prince of Hell and so I'll go."
Kieran could only laugh at her words, "Don't be so sure, I only need to keep you alive."
"Should I be scared by this?" Leila said in return.
"Definitely."
"Well, I'm not scared. You'll have to try harder."
He sneered in response.
They ran to the end of the alley and arrived in front of a tall building. Out of all the windows, none were lit. It was also in a weird placement, there should be other buildings next to it but it was empty. It was a lone building in the middle of nowhere.
"You live here?" Asked Leila as she looked around.
"I prefer quiet places now let's go." He said as he entered the building.
"At least we have something in common," she said while being dragged inside.
The first thing she remarked at the entrance was a yellow light that flickered from the ceiling. The walls were grey, dirty and run down. The floors were filled with grey powder that probably came from the walls.
"Now I can see and smell Hell. You were right, I should be more surprised." Leila said in a sarcastic tone.
Kieran looked at her slightly annoyed, "Very funny, you won't be able to make jokes for long." He said with a smile forming on his face.
"You act like you have a hidden trick under your sleeve but I'm sure there's nothing. Also, can we even use the elevator or the stairs?" Leila as the stairs was in the same state as the walls and the metal on the elevator was rotting away.
"How do you think I go home, stop whining and follow me if you don't want to be eaten alive." He said annoyed as he clicked on the elevator button. The doors were quick to open and they both went in. The inside was pitch black and before Leila could comment about the darkness, the doors abruptly closed with a loud noise. It left Leila speechless. Now it was really pitch black. The buttons inside turned red, a bright red. Kieran pressed a button, it was so dark that Leila could not see which one he pressed. As soon as the button was pressed, the elevator went up at incredible speed. It was so fast that it made her fall down. She felt her heart drop along with her legs. In an instant, the doors opened again. Keiran went out leaving Leila on the floor.
"Are you coming?" he said tapping his foot.
"Give me a minute," she said catching her breath.
"If you don't come out it'll go down again."
Fearing this outcome, Leila quickly crawled out of the elevator.
Comments (0)
See all