A gray wooden hatch appeared right in front of us. Tituba walked forward and gripped the steel latch, pulling it open as hastily as she dared. I looked down and saw a decrepit winding metal staircase that led down into the darkness. I couldn’t see where it ended.
“We’ll find who we’re looking for in the Hall of Innocents,” she whispered, before descending herself. I followed even though I really didn’t want to.
Upon entering through the gates of hell, I thought I would encounter burning flames and even more hellish sights. Instead, it was dark and hidden in shadow, but as we plunged downward deeper than ever, I began to see a soft glow far beneath. The closer we drew toward it, the brighter that light became. Along with it though, so did the haunting echo of the screaming prisoners of this dark place.
When we finally entered the Hall of Innocents, we were greeted with piles of burnt bones, terrified faces of the damned in cages, and the piercing screams of those being tortured not far away. In the center of the entryway was an even bigger cage with only a single person inside it. The first thing I saw was a pair of brilliantly white angel wings that would have been magnificent if they had been pristine, but they were vividly stained with blood. Many of the feathers were askew, marring their beauty in a painful presentation of the cruelty he had endured in his time trapped down here in hell.
He turned toward us. His face was familiar. His features strongly resembled Cain’s.
“Abel,” I breathed softly, almost in wonder.
His cheeks were wet with tears; eyes red with sorrow.
I walked closer to the cage and curled my fingers around the thick, round bars, staring into the eyes of this man who had been trapped here for so very long.
“Cain traded your soul for his magic, didn’t he?” I murmured. “You’ve been imprisoned here since the beginning of time, since he killed you.”
“I have,” he answered. His voice gave away none of his agony or how much he had suffered. I didn’t know if I would have been able to do the same.
“I aim to fight your brother. I want to weaken him, but I need something from you in order to do it,” I said next as Tituba handed me a small vial. “I need a few of your tears.”
Abel took it from my hand and pressed it against his cheek, gathering them for me without a single word of protest. He handed me back the vial and he continued to stare at me, his expression perplexed and thoughtful.
“You bear the mark of Cain, don’t you?” he said.
I nodded.
His expression hardened.
“I want to set you free,” I replied softly.
“You don’t want to do that,” he said evasively.
“Why wouldn’t you want your freedom?” I asked.
“Because if you let me out, I’m going to kill you.”
Chapter Eight
I took a step back in alarm.
“I have been down here for an eternity. The devil has had endless amounts of time to make his golden angel suffer and he’s made good use of it. It’s Cain’s fault that I’ve had to endure all these years of torture. I vowed revenge on him a very long time ago for that. Your very existence will prevent me from getting what I want,” Abel answered.
“I’ve never even met you before,” I exclaimed.
“It doesn’t matter. Cain is an ancient evil creature and I’m the only one capable of stopping him. You see, if you continue to live, I won’t be able to succeed. You exist to protect him. There is nothing that will ever prevent that, except for your death. I’m sorry, but your life in exchange for the lives of the many he will kill in cold blood isn’t something I’m willing to overlook,” he said. There was a faint shred of insanity hidden deep in his gaze and I swallowed my anxiety.
His face was hard. He may be an angel, but he had changed. Hell had ruined him, perhaps even broken him. He wasn’t a good man anymore. If he ever got out, he would be the end of me, and I was sure of it.
“We have to go,” Tituba said quietly. Her voice sounded nervous but there was a menacing layer to it that made me uneasy.
The room had gone dead quiet. Even the screams stopped. Something clicked noisily and the door to Abel’s cage swung open very slowly.
He climbed out, each step echoing menacingly loud in the sudden silence.
Abel stretched his wings as he stared me down, flapping them slowly and I swallowed in fear. I needed to get out of here and fast. I took several steps backwards before I pivoted and sprinted up the stairs. Tituba ran after me and the two of us dashed back to the Great Hall as if the hellhounds were nipping at our heels.
Was it her? Had she unlocked his cage and freed him?