After making sure Rae was still safe, the four of them left her to her capsule. The golden door opened, loudly scraping through the lava rock. And then a voice echoed behind them, still shrouded in darkness and evil in nature.
“Go forth.”
Killian dropped back and grunted. “Enough! Where are we, and what do you want?”
A man with green and peeling skin appeared from one of the halls still shrouded in darkness. His eyes were red. His teeth were as sharp as fangs and doubled up like a shark’s. His mouth was big, and though he wore a smile, it seemed more like the son of some demonic force. He was neither alpha nor beta.
His jaw unhinged and cut tongue extended. His body was hunched like the elderly, but his muscles were horrifyingly bulbous. He bowed his head forward, revealing a pale, bald scalp covered in scabs.
“My ideas… proliferation… you have come and brought me her. Finally.”
Though a sharp shiver ran throughout Killian’s body, he took a daring step forward and cracked his knuckles. “Listen. Just let her go. You don’t need us. Don’t need her. We’re a family.”
The children started to cry loudly, and the devil’s eyes grew redder. “The well of souls…”
Ruby closed her eyes and started to weep. Now that the door had opened, they could see what was inside. Rae’s capsule slowly moved into the room until it reached the middle, an altar of carved stone with a sphinx in the center. Surrounding her were beautiful tapestries with complex geometrical shapes. Six burning candles lit the room.
Ruby attempted to run inside after her, but as soon as she got close to the door, it sealed, loudly, shutting them out. The horrid creature leaned over their shoulders, clicking his teeth together. “Mikvah.” He slithered back and hissed, “Kodesh Hakodashim.”
“Speak clearly,” Lucas muttered, trying his best not to stutter and panic.
“My ideas… proliferation… you have brought me her. It is time for the final chapter.”
The devilish brute merely laughed and turned back into the darkness. He walked through one of many caves, disappearing entirely.
Ruby, the alphas, and the children stood in absolute silence and darkness. Now, there was no way out. They were truly trapped, and if the world above were really ending, what would happen down here? And what was the nonsense that issued from that man’s mouth.
Together, they held each other’s hands, weakened by their circumstances. Vash swallowed loudly and said the first thing that was on his mind. “I think we’ve finally made it, everyone. Welcome to Hell.”
Ruby knelt and shivered. Hurried cries escaped the children’s lips, but she calmed them as much as she could with feminine whispers. “Hell or not, we have a duty to save my sister. We will force the hands of evil and end the misery of mankind, once and for all.”
“Sure,” Lucas said. “But where the fuck do we go next?”
They peered forward as best as they could. So many hallways. So many paths toward mysterious areas. They had hoped that this journey would provide answers that led to something concrete. Instead, life eluded them once again. And who knew who else lurked inside these chambers?
And yet, they marched forward into the unknown with little more than frustration. They had sacrificed so much already. It wasn’t time to give up now.
*** *** ***