A Realm of Hell

Chapter 7

"You're late," is the first words I hear from Abaddon that aren't mockery or threats. He stands just outside the fortress his feet cushioned under green, purple grass that litters the hills.

"She said noon," I eye the blackened sky, "how am I suppose to know what that means?"

His reply is a snicker, "shall we get started?"

I nod my head with a bubble of anxiety weighing my stomach. How does one train to fight evil?

"That is very simple," he says shocking me, "you must first train your mind."

"Did you just..?" I ask, wondering if I said those words out loud.

"I read your emotions and made a guess from there. Anxiety mixed with fear," he licks his bottom lip, "delightful." Sending a chill down my spine.

"Can you all do that..?" I ask in sudden fear, if SHE could do that. If she knew how I felt...

"Yes," he says knowingly, "but she tends to block other's emotions out".

"Why?" I ask. If I had that skill life would be a whole lot easier.

He looks me up and down for a moment, "I think that is a conversation for another time," he begins to walk a circle around me, sizing me up, "you need to build a wall, a fortress inside your mind, inside your soul, so no one can snatch it". I begin to hear a whisper, a tickle inside my brain as he makes his rounds around my body. It caresses it, stoking its surface before I feel a pinch and the whispers surround me shutting down my nerves and leaving me immobile. I stand there stiff unable to communicate, to lift a finger, to move a muscle, to breath.

"When you do not have a fortress to surround your soul, darkness will come and it will eat you alive," I can hear him, but can't make my eyes find where he's coming from.

"And when darkness devours you," the voice whispers, deep inside my concessions, "you will never see the light again".

"Focus," he breathes into my ear from behind. My eyes begin to water from not blinking, the view of the hills becoming hazy, "picture a wall. A strong wall that stands for miles. Pictures it's color, its texture. Picture the way it encases your thoughts, your dreams, your feelings. Bottle them up and push me out".

I try, I try to picture it. The walls red, no blue, no white. The whispers, they eat away taking each brick down before they can even be lain. My walls, they don't stand a chance as the whispers greedily take my my soul. It indulges as the gate to my mind remains wide open.

"Focus," he whispers, "picture strength, picture protection," he sighs when the wall collapses, "picture..picture danger, picture a wall so dangerous that no one would want to be near it. So strong that no one would want to touch it. So intimidating that they would run away from it."

Dangerous? Tears run down my face, their trail tickling my skin. Something dangerous..something...

A black wall.

A black wall it's charcoal bricks laying tightly next to each other, not even a crack in their seams. The rough texture could cut skin, so high it runs endlessly. It starts small. The circle ripping the whispers from my soul and then it expands, fast. The fortress pushes, shoves, and grinds against the dying whispers. Theirs hisses no longer heard. The white light now incased inside the black fortress.

And then I can blink. Large droplets fall from my eyes and my body slumps as the imaginary chains release their restraints.

"Don't let go," he says as I start to relax, the whisper's influence scratching at my gate. He circles to stand in front of me, my breath ragged as the mental restrain weighs on my body, "don't let go of the image, of the wall. Ever. You must, from now on, have a wall that encases your mind. No matter what you are doing. You must not let anyone in".

We stand like that for awhile, me breathing heavy focusing on the high wall i built and him standing in front of me, his influence looking for a crack, for a sliver in my walls that would let him in. We are there for what seems like hours, my walls pulsing as fatigue begins to take over.

"So," he says withdrawing his whispers, giving me a break, "what color is it?"

"What color is what?" I ask, relaxing as the pressure eases.

"What color is you wall? What does it look like?" He asks again with a tilt of his head. Mild curiosity taking over his striking face.

"They are...black...black walls protecting a white light," i answer confused.

His eyes shoot into mine shocked, "I'd say Im not surprised..but that would be a lie."

"Why is that so shocking?" Starting to feel concerned, the look on his face, was he..happy?

"It doesn't really matter the color. It's just..," he strokes his chin, analyzing me, "your mind is very open to darkness," he chuckles but it sounds more like a scoff, "what an interesting creature you are".

"You have no reason to be interested in me," I reply, eyeing him.

He opens his mouth to make a snarky reply but stops short. His body freezing, his nostiles flaring, "build your wall" He whispers suddenly, I look at him confused "Now!"

I do as he says the wall quivering from overuse. The black wall pieces together brick by brick, not nearly as tall as it was before and then I feel it. Like an avalanche, a harsh cold weight presses down on my consciousness so rough that it makes me stagger.

"What.." I begin only to be cut off,a cloud of smoke flashing to Abaddon's side. She appears, the licking black shadows moving restlessly. My heart skips a beat.

"When?" Lyith questions, paying me no mind.

"Soon, too soon," he reports, his gaze staring forward.

"They felt him," she snarls, her features shapening.

The quake in my mind sharpens. The beeeze so chilling it presses harder and harder, the walls groan as they begin to crack.

"Whatever you do, do not let them consume you," she says, she continues to stare into the distance. I try, I push and shove but then I hear it. No longer just whispers but shouts, they scream, they shriek. The darkness no longer alluring. It was no longer trying to persuade. No, it was trying to enslave.

"You won't," I can hear her whisper, "you can't have him" she promises. I watch as she strides forward, toward the rolling meadows of grass. Each step she takes seems to pulse against the dirt, her power almost tangible. The shadows around her dip, flashing her from transparent to normal. It was as if they were angry, as if they were the ones who were being threatened and it was as if they had a mind of their own.

I take a step forward to follow her only to have Abaddon stop me.

"Unless you want to lose your light, stay here," he says while staying behind, fear licking his gaze.

"Where is she going? What are you so afraid of?" I ask, eyeing his gawking gaze.

"Her." There was nothing more to be said after that. No words that could explain the way that she walked up those hills. The way that the darkness followed her, kissing her feet. The way night began to rage around us, as if it too was angered that anyone would even think of touching what was hers.

The screams in my head began to muffle and stop. Their absence leaving a ring in my ear but soon I could hear them again. This time they sounded strange, this time they were no longer close. No they were in the distance, gradually growing closer and closer. It took me a moment to realize they were no longer inside my head. No, they were somewhere outside, running closer and closer to the villain that stood upon a hill, the wind catching her hair and pushing it away from her face.

She turns her head to the side. Her gaze catching mine and as I stand there gawking at the lone wolf that stood before her pack I finally realize this feeling I felt for her. Admiration, curiosity, disbelief, and.. something along the lines of love. But not quiet, no I could not love a person I did not know. There was something about her, something about the way she looked at me, it was as if I was made for her.

It was as it our souls fit.

I didn't have much time to think about my new found revaluation before they came and when they did, the world stopped breathing. Because in front of this lone wolf was a small army of broken souls.