The House at the End of the Street

Chapter Twenty: Palace

Jack was standing there in the flesh. He was alive. I'd never thought I'd see him again, but he was there... alive.
"Jack? You died! We all saw you die!" Mae said.
"Well, I got thrown out of the treehouse when it exploded and Salvullaz captured me and brought me down to hell. Then, he put me to work with some of the worst serial killers of all time. People like Harold Shipman who killed over 100 people as a doctor, Belle Gunness who married to kill, John Wayne Gacy was a clown who stalked people and killed them, Ted Bundy who killed over a decade, and Jeffery Dahmer who killed over seventeen people. All of these people were sent to hell and have been working labour no stop since then," Jack finished.
"That... terrifying," Conner said, shivering.
"Yeah. Why are you here then?" Kaycie asked.
"I escaped from one of the demons and am now trying to find Ruby's Knife to kill Salvullaz," Jack replied.
"I believe this is the right palace we're supposed to look in, right?" I asked Jack.
"Yeah, this is Salvullaz's palace where the Knife is placed at the very bottom of the dungeons," Jack answered.
"So, let's get going," I said, peeking my head out from one of the sides.
We saw the front entrance of the palace and started walking towards it. We ducked most of the way since it would be an easy way for the demons to catch us. We snuck towards the entrance and all stood outside, last being me. We were all scared that something would catch us.
"Keep going!" I whisper-yelled to the others.
They did as I said and kept walking toward the entrance. The front gate was open, probably for new souls to be transferred down to hell. We walked inside and hid on the wall to the left.
The palace was huge, with a stairwell going upwards to some rooms that demon servants stayed in. There were two doors to either side of the stairwell, probably down to the dungeons and Ruby's Knife.
"Do you want to take the chance?" I asked.
"It's the only way we're going to kill Salvullaz, so I think we should," Mae replied.
"Yup," I said back, starting for the door on the left.
We started sprinting towards the left door and I opened it, pushing everyone inside so we wouldn't be seen. Once we were all inside, we all took a breath of relief. In the door was a spiral stairwell that went deep into the bottom of hell.
"Too many stairs," Kaycie said.
"Oh god," Mae said.
We started down the deep spiral staircase and hoped for the best. We walked for probably twenty minutes just going down in a circle.
"How much longer?" Kaycie complained.
"It should only be a few more minutes," Jack replied.
I looked over the side and saw we had a little bit longer than a few minutes.
"This is what you get for coming into hell!" Conner yelled, her voice echoing.
I was in the back, trying to calculate(nerd) how much longer it would be before we made it. It looked to be about three hours.
"Damn," I mumbled under my breath.
"Screw this," Jack said, jumping onto the handle that separated the stairs from the endless circle and sliding down.
It was surprisingly effective and Jack slid down the railing four times as fast as walking would have taken. Jhett, Kaycie, Mae, Conner, and I all did the same and slid down the railing. After about thirty seconds of sliding, we made it to the bottom and literally hit the wall.
We all got up and started looking around. I took the book out of the bag and opened it to bag 107, which was which page the Ruby's Knife was on. I started reading, but it didn't specify where the knife was.
"Guys, stop!" Jhett whispered over to us.
He was standing outside a room and motioned for us to come towards him. I shoved the book back into the bag and ran to him. I could hear a female voice that I recognized. It was Gracie.
"C'mon, Salvullaz! I got you what you wanted! I got you Zack!" Gracie said, angry.
"I don't think you understood the objective. It was to CAPTURE Zack, not just to betray him! You're such an idiot!" Salvullaz yelled at Gracie.
"I gained everyone's trust and then betrayed them. That was the objective that you told me," Gracie replied.
"Gracie. It wasn't that hard. I said to capture Zack and bring him here. You failed miserably!" Salvullaz said.
"Don't get started with that crap. You don't even care to protect the Ruby's Knife and that's literally the only thing that can kill you," Gracie pointed out.
"How the hell did the conversation turn to this?" Salvullaz asked.
"It's cause you don't care! If you die, I die!" Gracie yelled.
"You're lucky I brought YOU back from hell and not Ted!"
"Ted's an idiot! I don't even know why you considered him!"
"He's good at betraying and capturing people! He is a goddamn serial killer!"
"I'm done. I need a breath," Gracie finished, walking to the door.
We jumped into a cell and hid until Gracie left. When she did, we stood in silence for five minutes until Salvullaz left his 'Office' he was in. After he did, he opened up a door that led to an elevator and brought him up. We all came out and started looking in every place possible for the knife.
I grabbed the book from my bag and kept reading, trying to figure out if there was a map of some kind anywhere in the book, but there was nothing.
"Damn!" I yelled, angry.
I kept reading.
"Guys!" Jack yelled.
I put the book back into the bag and ran to him. Once I got to him, I realized why he yelled. Across the room was a Ruby two foot 'Knife'. It was shining in all its glory.
"The book said that the weapon itself cannot kill Salvullaz, but the magic behind it. It was cursed by a witch five thousand years ago and now is the only source of magic that can kill Salvullaz," I said, reading from the book.
"Is the room booby-trapped?" Mae asked.
"The book says that the room is usually guarded by the souls of Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini that will kill you within seconds of entering the room," I replied.
"That's reassuring," Conner said, sarcastically.
"Where's Hitler and Mussolini?" Jhett asked.
I looked around, but didn't see either of them. We looked around in silence, but nothing happened.
"Never say that again," I told Jhett.
"Is the room itself booby-trapped, or is it just the souls of two horrible dictators?" Mae asked.
"It says that the room has many traps, but only a few work due to being unused for millennia," I replied.
I grabbed a rock that was sitting next to me and threw it into the room. A rust-covered Axe came flying down and sliced the rock split into two. We were all shocked.
"I've got an idea," I said, dropping the book and running toward the area.
The axe flew down, I dodged it, and sliced the wood above the rusted axe, breaking it. The axe came flying across the room and stuck into the wall. I stood still, not knowing what to do if the room had any more traps. I slowly walked towards the Ruby's Knife and grabbed it. All of a sudden, the ground started shaking and under me a pit of lava started to open up.
"Oh no," I said, running for the door.
I jumped and missed, but I was hanging on by Mae's hand. I threw the Ruby's Knife behind everyone and grabbed Jack's hand to try and pull me up.
"C'mon!" Jack yelled, pulling me up.
After twenty seconds of struggling, they pulled me up and I was alright. Everyone sighed in relief and we went for the elevator door. Once I opened up the door, the elevator was there, waiting for us.
"What are the chances that we chose the right door to go into?" Jhett asked.
"It was a 50/50 chance," Jack replied.
It was a small elevator, so only two people at a time could go up. Jack and Jhett went up first, Conner and Kaycie went up next, and Mae and I went up last. As we were in the elevator, we could hear the sounds of people working.
"Remember in Band where that Clarinetist screwed up a solo?" Mae asked.
"Was that you?" I asked.
"Yup," Mae said, laughing.
"Euphoniums maybe had one or two good solos. I got that one in the train song we played in October," I said.
"That was you!? Every since person in the woodwinds all said that it was the best solo from the brass they'd ever heard, but had no idea who it was!" Mae said.
We both laughed, but the elevator stopped and opened. Mae and I went out.
"Where's the Ruby's Knife?" Kaycie asked.
"I have it in the bag with the book," I replied, starting out the palace door.
"Let's get outta here before someone comes out of nowhere and kills us," Jack said, right behind me.
Then, a voice. It was a girl... Gracie had returned.
"Well, hey guys," Gracie said, standing on the upper floor of the palace.
"Where have you been?" Jack asked.
"Hell. Salvullaz took me down here and now I live down here. Honestly, I think Ima come back up with you guys since Salvullaz is an asshole and I'm tired of his antics," Gracie said, walking down the stairs.
"So, you're turning back to us?" I asked.
"Yup. Let's get outta here before Salvullaz finds out," Gracie said, opening the door.
"What the hell just happened?" Jhett whispered to me.
"I think she's turning back to our side, but honestly, I think she's just gonna turn back to Salvullaz," I whispered back.
Gracie opened the door, but Salvullaz was standing there.
"What are you doing down here?" Salvullaz asked, looking at the group.
"Nothing! Absolutely nothing!" Gracie said, standing in front of Salvullaz.
Unfortunately for us, Salvullaz saw us trying to get away.
"Well, if it isn't the losers, Zack, Jhett, Conner, Mae, and Kaycie. Oh, and Jack. So you escaped your punishment," Salvullaz said, grabbing Gracie and pushing her into a room.
"Let her out!" Jack yelled, but Salvullaz just smacked him upside his face and launched him across the room.
"Y'all are coming with me," Salvullaz said, walking out the door leaving Jack and Gracie in the palace.