We Must Get Out of Purgatory

Chapter 2: Pride

Pride breaks... Whenever you do something easily and it gives someone else a hard time... the satisfaction, knowing that you can do something... that you have talent. You're so prideful in yourself. Every human being feels pride. It's a great feeling... but it can get out of hand, like it did for a woman in Olympian times. She was always the fastest. Always winning, always challenging people, and gloating about it afterwards. Always took pride in herself. Then one day... someone in a cloak with holes at the top for their antlers to go through. Yes, they had antlers. He asked her, "Let's have a race. If you win, I will give you what you desire most... if I win, you will give me something I want." She said, "Okay, deal... I'm the fastest in Olympus anyway!" They agreed that they would go across Olympus, and that whoever got to the end first would win. They started, and the man even gave the girl (Harpera) a head start. He flew into the air and went to the other side in a matter of seconds, beating her by miles. She arrived. "You cheated!" She yelled. "No I didn't, I said whoever got to the end first won, I never explicitly said that you had to run to the other side." "Well I don't care, I'm not giving you anything!" "It's okay... I'll get it myself." Later that night when she fell asleep she suddenly felt her heart stop, then it felt like she was falling. She fell into a place of darkness, pitch black. A red light appeared above her, and she saw the silhouette of the cloaked man, antlers and all. "I told you I would get what I wanted myself..." He said. The light created a reflective surface on the ground she was standing on. She looked at her reflection, screaming at what she saw. Her body, and face were covered with feathers, she tried pulling them out, but they were attached to her skin like hair. "Pride gets the best of us..." The man said.

Back in Purgatory...

Everyone had split up into two different directions, different groups. The harpy flew into the air, scoping out her next prey. One group had Jobe, Nene, Sophia, Arron, Bella, Micheal, Gavin, Lilah, and Jessie. The other group had Ava, Mia, Matt, Meredith, Brodie, Lily, Max, Owen, Leila, Ariel, Ella, and Hailey. The 2 groups found each other back at the mansion, meeting up again. "Okay everyone, you all need to listen to me. Me and Ava have a way out of here! You guys are going to be alive again. You just need to follow-" Evan interrupted Jobe. "There's a paper on the table right here." He said. "Wait what?" Jobe said. "Read it." Ava said. "We know that you are in Purgatory right now, and that you think you can get out through where you came in. However, there is only one way to get out once you have got in. That is by going through its seven levels. Not the same levels as the trapped have to go through, the seven layers of Purgatory. Each layer is guarded by its horrific monster that Mortemo, the Grim Reaper has put as its guard. He knows that you are here as well. He is releasing the souls that have gone through their 2000 years of Purgatory. When he is done with them, he will come back there. At 6 he will come back and trigger a spell that will take 30 minutes to work. When he is done with it, you will all be sent to Hell. You will be stuck there for all of eternity if you don't make it out by then. Adalyn is there right now because she was caught by the first guard, the Harpy. If you get caught by a guard, you also get sent there. To get past a layer of purgatory, two of you will have to go into a challenge to the death where only one of you will stay in Purgatory, and one of you will be sent to the place of eternal torment, forever. You can choose how you will pick who will go in. In the place where the challenge takes place, after the guard of the layer of purgatory that you are in kills the person who lost, they will reward you with an ancient artifact that you can use to go to the next layer. When you get the last artifact, you may use it to finally be out of Purgatory and go back into the real world. Beware however... once someone is in Hell, there is no way to get them out." Evan read. "What the fuck?" Brodie said. "I thought you guys were here to save us!" Arron said. "I'm sorry..." Jobe said. "We didn't think that this would happen." Ava said. "So, whoever dies tonight... is never coming back." Sophia said. "Welp, I guess we're all fucked then! Only 3 of us ever survive!" Nene said. Suddenly, they heard the screech of the Harpy. She burst into the mansion, angrier than ever. Nene grabbed a metal candle stick as the Harpy grabbed Arron. She whacked her in the head with it, disheveling her. They ran out of the mansion, finding a card outside. Mia picked it up, running into the woods with the group. "Guys!" She yelled in a whispery tone. "I found another card!" She held it out. "Read it." Leila said. "The death challenge will take place in the front yard. Choose who will go, and then head there." Mia read. "How are we gonna choose the 2 who we basically want to literally go to Hell!" Lilah said. They heard something in a bush, "Who's there!" Gavin yelled. A head peered out of the bush. "Soterio?" Ava said. "Ooh... my bae!" Nene yelled. Jobe nudged Nene with his elbow. "He tried to kill us!" Jobe said. "I'm dead right now, I can't die again, dummy!" Nene replied. "Did you not listen to what Evan read off of the card earlier? We can die again, and if we do we go to Hell!" Sophia said. "Oh... well being dead makes my memory suck, so... yeah." "And nobody asked you Soph!" "I asked myself." "Don't make me beat your ass again like I did earlier, girl." Nene said. "You're so rude." Soph said. "He didn't try to kill us?" Brodie said. "He did after you died!" Jobe said. "Look, I'm sorry! I didn't have a choice, my purpose in life is to serve! I'm the God of serving people! Pandora needed me to serve her, I had to! Please forgive me!" Soterio said. "We will, but you have to help us first." Ava said. "How are you out here in the first place, how did you not set off whatever this is?" Ella asked. "I am part of Porrima's Prophecy, I was in the box that you opened. I snuck off because there were so many of you and I thought you would try and hurt me, so I hid in the bushes right here. Then you guys came into the woods so I was trying to scoot away... I guess I made the bushes move when I moved." Soterio said. "Wait, do you have your powers?" Jessie asked. "You think that you keep your powers after death?" Soterio added. They had gone deeper into the woods, and eventually found a clearing. They sat in a circle. "So you need me to help you guys vote again." Soterio said. "Yeah." Jobe said. "I have an idea." "Close your eyes, and I'll say one of your names, raise your hand if you want to vote for them. The two who had the most hands raised have to go in." "Are you all ready?" Everyone nodded. After choosing who they wanted to vote for, Soterio had seen who had the most hands raised. He had come to a conclusion on the two who would go in. "Open your eyes everyone..." "After seeing who the two with the most votes are, I have come to a conclusion. Matt and Owen are the two going into the challenge." Soterio said. "Wow... you didn't learn last time Matt?" Brodie said. "Oop..." Ava said. "Dang Brodie... that's harsh..." Mia said. "I heard you were killed by a stake going through your head? Couldn't you see it coming?" Matt said. "At least I wasn't split into 2 pieces by 9pm?" "Okay... stop it!" Arron said. "Y'all are just being messy now..." Ariel said. "You guys can go to the front now to participate in the death challenge." Soterio said. They went into the yard, everyone followed. The Harpy was waiting for them. There were 2 seats for Owen and Matt. They went to sit in them. "You might know my sister, the Sphinx. We were all made with different purposes. As everyone is, but... we had one thing in common. All 3 of us. We each have a deathly riddle... that we tell to people. Just a fun little game! This time... Your punishment is worse than death." Her voice was so raspy, like her larynx was barely connected to her body. "Instead of dying once, you get to die over... and over... and over again. So exciting, huh!" "I actually heard from Mortemo that you all killed my sister!" "Do you want to know what happens to people who kill my family!" "What?" Sophia questioned. "They die!" "I would kill all of you, but I'm in a good mood from being released so I'll only kill 2 of you." "2 of us?" Leila said. "Yes, two of you!" The Harpy said. Owen and Matt's eyes widened. They tried to leave but their skin was stuck to the chairs. When they tried to pull their hands off of the side, they would just stretch their skin. The Harpy ran towards them, flying in the air with her claws out to the side. The sharp ends were aimed towards both of their necks. The chairs were only about a foot away from each other, so her arm span stretched to both of them. She reached them, black blood flowing out of them from the claws. They were gone. 2 more of their friends, gone forever. Everyone screamed in terror. The Harpy threw the artifact to the ground in front of them. "Take it." She said. She disappeared into the air. Jobe walked up to the artifact and picked it up. "Are you guys ready?" Jobe asked. Everyone nodded. Jobe lifted the artifact into the sky. It looked like a crown. It glowed, and it felt like they were falling for a few seconds. Then they landed on the ground. They were in the second layer of Purgatory.