Into The Abyss

Daniel

There was a pit in the front yard. It hadn’t been there when we had come charging up to the house. But it was there now.

Just an empty black hole.

Okay. Not like the one that had been in Sam’s backyard that had resembled a bottomless sinkhole with tentacles of dark possession reaching for the sky. No. Not like that.

This one was like a tunnel that angled gently up. The rampway to hell seemed like an easy jog with a slight descent. Which was almost worse. One – and when I say ‘one’ I mean me –one could almost convince oneself that it was the entrance to a subway or a natural cave entrance.

If one ignored the fucking growls, howls, and torturous screams counter-pointing the demonic chanting coming from it. A bloody symphony of the freaking damned. Or the reddish glow. It wasn’t steady like a light. It flickered. Flickered like a flame.

Because it was the glow emanating from the fires of hell. Of hell. I realize I’m about to have a full-blown panic attack. This is insane. We can’t go into hell.

THE HELL.

Sam sidles up beside me and I take a deep steadying breath in the hopes that she doesn’t notice me freaking out inside my mind. Thankfully she can’t read my thoughts anymore or she might be a tad bit peeved that my common sense is telling me to ‘Go Home. Go home now before shit gets real.’

But I don’t show that on my face. I don’t say it. And I keep taking deep even breaths that make my nostrils flare. Can she tell by the fact that I’m breathing hard that something’s up with me? I don’t know. What I do know is that every instinct in my body is screaming at me to turn tail and run. Run and don’t look back. If I do, everything will be fine.

I know those instincts are lying.

I know, because I can look up over the houses around me, and the horizon is filled with the tentacles from various hell mouths opening up elsewhere in the city. It’s taken a while, but sirens are filling the air now as first responders are called to the scenes of unexplainable events. I can’t imagine, but I can. And the screams I thought were just coming from the hell mouth in front of me? They are coming from around the city in the distance as well.

Victims like Caleb and Sam fleeing demons and tentacle pits.

So, I know my instincts are compromised. And I can’t trust them. Sam doesn’t seem to have this problem. She is laser-focused on that unnatural wound in her mother’s front lawn.

She’s decked out with a big gaudy crucifix like my own. A bandolier of water balloon grenades is loped over one shoulder and over her breasts. Under the crucifix. Of course.

Somewhere, she found a bandolier of throwing knives and those are under the water balloons. We’ve got rock salt and air pump BB rifles. Around her hips rests a belt with a sword sheath attached. I had no idea Sam could use a sword or throw knives. Apparently, she had a pretty serious Medieval cosplay larping phase in late high school to early college.

There’s a spare bandolier but it doesn’t fit me.

I’ve got a sword on my own and we are both laden down with hiking backpacks crammed to the brim with holy water – water balloons and water guns.

It is unironically ironic that Caleb’s dad had gotten her into all this and now we were using her old mementos to save that deadbeat’s kid. There’s a gnawing in my gut from that thought. A kind of flittering, nagging, concern that won’t fully manifest itself. This mom just happened to have all the stuff that might be necessary to save the kid who was being stalked by demons?

But that’s a thought I’ll need to mull over another time when I don’t have to be focused on my surroundings to avoid losing my soul. I take another glance at Sam. She’s fussing with her backpack and shoving granola bars and water bottles into them like we’re going on a day hike. When she’d done with hers she walk around behind me to shove a few into mine.

“What are you doing?” I’ve already got the weight distributed comfortably and I’m afraid she’s going to mess up my balance.

“You should have some rations and water in case we get separated.” She murmurs distractedly.

“Rations?” I almost want to laugh at her. It’s not like she’s ever been a soldier. What does she know about packing supplies? But then I figure that it might not be a bad idea to carry my own water. I’m bound to get thirsty if I’m going into the fires of hell.

“Sorry.” She comes around next to me and glances at me shyly, the most shyly I’ve ever seen her look and her face is blushing hard. “They’re high-calorie meal replacement bars for ultralight backpacking. It’s what the supply department orders for some of the ‘more rugged’ work that our security personnel are contracted to do.”

“Oh. Right!” It was my turn to blush as I should have known that. I’d eaten the damn things more than once and they were…better…than some of the meals I’d had when I was enlisted. For sure they were better than my cooking so… Maybe she couldn’t see the red coloring my face.

We stood there silently for a few moments. Uncertainty plaguing us both. Fear of the immediate future. The knowledge that we might not survive the next few hours and that even if we did it might just be as disembodied souls trapped in an eternity of unpleasantness.

“All right,” Sam’s mom interrupted the moment, startling us and making us both jump. “Let’s head out.” I turned as ‘Grandma’ or ‘Mom’, I hadn’t gotten her name yet or I’d forgotten it in the excitement if I had, tromped up behind us. The little old lady was decked out from head to toe like Sam and me.

“Ooohhh, no no no. Mom.” Sam chided her mother. “This is too dangerous. You cannot come with us.” She tried to herd her mother away from her course straight at the hell mouth the way a person might try to distract an over-excited child.

And Mom certainly looked…excited.

“I’m coming to save my grandson. It’s partially my fault that he didn’t get listened to the way he should have been.” The woman was adamant and determined. I really didn’t think Sam was going to be able to talk her down.

“Look, Mom.” I recognized the ‘reasonable’ and even tone of voice that Sam was using. It was the voice she used when she was in no uncertain terms going to get her way. “It’s too dangerous for you. You can’t run if you need to right? You’ll be in more danger if we have to run. But…” Sam paused for emphasis, “…you can stay here and guard the entrance of the hell mouth. You know, make sure nothing comes in behind us or give us a shout and warning if it does.”

“Oh. You’re right Samantha. Excellent idea.” Her brow had been furrowing as her daughter spoke and Mom, just rolled right over. Besides, I can kill anything that tries to sneak up on you from behind.”

And there it was.

No reasonable retreat to safety for Mom. I smiled.

“Fine. Let’s go, Daniel.” Sam gave her mom a hug and then took off. I followed her. Without stopping to think about it.

I Followed her into hell.