Kieran had no choice but to open the door as he could not refuse an order from the prince.
A dead-looking butler was at the door wearing a suit a tad too large for him. He had dark green skin and horrid dark circles. Leila presumed he would be a zombie.
"I've come to pick up Miss. Leila," he slowly and weakly said. Leila was afraid, she stood behind Kieran hoping he would do something.
"Could we have the chance to talk alone, I'll send her out soon," he requested of the zombie butler. He stood there staring at them for a while before finally nodding and walking away. They closed the door after him.
"I'm not ready," she said with tears threatening to come. "We haven't even practiced yet. What if they evaluate me and I fail and they kill me." Leila was panicking.
"Calm down," he told her. "It's not your only chance. He said he'll evaluate you a couple of times, meaning that you have a couple of chances. The prince knows that it's impossible to become a witch on such short notice." Kieran tried to reassure her. She moved back and forth trying to breathe normally again. He placed his hands on her shoulders to mobilize her. "It's going to be fine. I cannot come with you but I'll wait for you here." He gently put the dark cape on her.
She smirked completely changing her expression, "You should try being nice more often. I'm going now." Leila went out of the apartment without hesitating.
"It was all an act," Kieran said in bewilderment. He could still not figure her out.No matter how much he peeled, he couldn't get to the core.
But as soon as she walked out, her legs started giving out. The zombie butler walked in front as they made their way downstairs. Leila had pretended to be okay in front of Kieran at the end to not worry him. It wasn't all an act, it was a last-minute decision. She was in fact nervous to death. But she was good. She was good at creating masks to hide her original self. The way that it was so natural showed that there had been many other times where she had to. Life on earth was like that. People constantly hide their real selves.
They had arrived downstairs the building and a long limousine waited. Leila was surprised by the scale. The zombie butler opened the door for Leila. She entered the car to find darkness. It was pitch black on the inside. She heard the door closing next to her. There seemed to be no one sitting near her as there were no sounds or presences. Soon enough, the car had gone away. The car moved, however, it did not make a sound. There was no motor sound or rolling tire sound. Leila felt a strange sensation in this car. She could not even see her own body in the pitch-black interior. She tried moving around but found herself restricted by a metal belt that automatically strapped itself onto her. She relentlessly tried to take the belt off but it was solid. The fact that she was trapped against her own will in darkness worried her. Maybe it was not such an innocent outing. It could be a trap. But there was no reason for that trap as Leila obeyed the prince's orders and never showed defiance. Kieran had also accepted the role he was given.
While in deep thought, Leila never stopped to attempt an escape from the belt. But every time she did, it got tighter or at least it felt that way. She grabbed the end of the belt and with all her force she tried to take it away. She winced from the pain her hands were receiving. Her hands had become red and the shape of the belt traced itself on her palms. She groaned before finally letting go. Her hands gave out. She had spent too much energy. Her face was burning red. All of a sudden, she felt the car stop and the belt she had been fighting so fiercely, removed itself. The door had opened and let warm light enter the car.
"We're here," said the zombie butler holding the handle. Leila stood and looked at her surrounding. It was a long road made of black and red rocks. The sky is always dark in Hell but strangely, here it was lightened. On each side of the road was a large hole. From there came immense orange-coloured light and heat. Leila approached the edge of the road to see what was at the bottom. Her mouth was wide open when she saw the pool of lava. It was very low and so the steam didn't reach the road, however, the light it emitted rose to the sky. She could hear the flow of the lava and its bubbles popping. The kingdom was the hottest place of Hell as it was made on top of a pit of lava.
"Follow me," the zombie butler said.
The car hadn't brought them in front of the kingdom, for an unknown reason, they had to walk on the long road. As they advanced, more details could be seen. It was a large black castle, it was round rather than rectangular. It had many sharp tours surrounding it. They were tall and slim and probably didn't contain space for rooms. Some thicker towers had been placed in the middle.
Due to the near lava, Leila had felt some heat. She was gasping for air in the hot and dry environment. The dark cape she wore only made things worst for her. Sweat dripped from her forehead and hydrated the dry road. This heat reminded Leila of the expectations she had for Hell. When she first arrived, she was surprised by how normal and anti-climatic it was. But now, she definitely knew that she was indeed present in Hell.
"The main door is near, it will open on its own. Do walk in, I'll need to leave as I am not allowed to use this door," he quietly said before disappearing without a sound. Just as he said, a large semicircular black door appeared in front of Leila.
"He said it would open on its own," she said as she placed her hands on the gigantic and solid door. Leila soon removed her hand in pain, the metal door was burning hot.
"He should have warned me to not touch the door," Leila said blowing on her hand that was now red. Without a warning, the door began rising up slowly making some dust fly in its surroundings.
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