Breath taker

Part 3- Life Down Below

Lorelai hummed to herself as she led the spirits to her home, Hades. It rested below the ground, in the darkness. She had created it herself, to hide from Pitch and to keep the dead souls safe and happy.

Hades consisted of two levels, one as beautiful and as dark as the night sky and one of black tar. The first one was where most people went. It was where the innocent went. Children, heroes, kind elderly, even the average people who have morals and empathy, they all go to this world. They all reside in bliss, a painless death surrounded by their beloved, full of joy.

The world of tar was a cursed world where only the wicked went. Torturers, murderers, rapists, terrorists, true monsters. Their afterlives were spent experiencing pain ten times worse than what they gave to their victims, for all eternity. The only sound to be heard down there was their screams, unheard by the innocent dead above.

She flew, with Eli in her arms and Naomi by her side as she took them to one of the many entrances to the underworld.

All of the entrances to Hades were hidden caves, carved into mountains. The caves open to staircases which all lead to one place; Hades' gates.

"What's that song you're humming?" Eli asked her as she carried him down the stairs.

"Hm? Oh, it's a lullaby that I used to sing to my brother when I was alive."

"You were alive?" he asked, confused.

"Of course I was alive, everything was once alive."

"You weren't born with your power?" Naomi asked.

"Nope."

"Then how'd you get it?"

"I died. And then the Moon gave me the power to take away people's breath."

"Why?" the young boy asked.

"That... is an excellent question. I don't know. It never told me."

"Why not?"

"Another excellent question, another answer that I don't know."

"What was your brother's name?"

"George."

"I wish I had a brother. Then I'd have had someone to play with, and then my mom wouldn't have to be alone now."

"She'll be alright. And she'll be here sooner than you think. When you're down here, time just sort of slips away." they'd passed the gates and could now clearly see the underworld.

"Wooooowwwww" Eli gasped.

"Beautiful, isn't it?"

"Is that where you live?" he asked pointing at the castle in the distance.

"Uh huh, and that's where you'll live soon. Do you want to explore here more, or go back up so you and Naomi can go on your adventures?"

Eli paused for a second, thinking. "Can we explore, just a little bit more?"

Lorelai laughs. "Sure." she says as she drops the boy gently to the ground so he can walk by himself. Almost immediately though, he starts rising in the air, unable to control his flight. Giggling, he grabbed Lorelai's hand to stop him from flying away.

"Yeah, that happens sometimes when you're getting used to flying. Pretty soon though, you'll get the hang of it."

Lorelai led them through her home, pointing out things that they'd find interesting. The courtyards where Eli could play with other dead children, the dining room that was always filled with delicious foods, forever with an empty seat so that an extra person could join the table, the ballroom which had dancing and music and happiness radiated from within, the endless bedrooms where they could sleep, the kitchens where they could grab a snack if they didn't want to have a meal in the dining room, and they parlors and tearooms where they could talk and reunite with their family members and friends who had passed before them.