Strigoi

Chapter 12: The King of the Crossroads

Catherine

I watched as the poor souls, came and went one after another. It seemed endless. The groups never stopped coming.

It was one group of souls dragged by those shadow creatures, followed by another.

I even wondered if it would ever stop. Hell had to run out of souls at some point, right?

My body was trembling as I watched them from afar. Not only was I terrified, but I was freezing. You'd expect hell to be burning hot, but it was actually cold.

So cold, that I could see my skin begin to turn shades of pink and purple. My limbs were stiff and my whole body ached. Every breathe I took came out frosty. The feeling of miserable cold, you'd go crazy at some point.

The sky was dark. I swore I had been standing in the same spot for hours, but the sky hadn't lightened up. Maybe daylight doesn't exist in hell.

My heart ached, I didn't know why. I felt so betrayed. So alone.

One more second standing there and I would rip my heart out.

I just wanted to run, find some sort of comfort. I wanted to cry and scream my eyes and lungs out. I wanted to grip my hair and pull as hard as I could. To feel something else but fear.

I grinded my teeth to stop them from chattering.

I had to get out of here.

The shadows. The shadows. They held chains, dragging people. They weren't even people anymore. Their skin was a light shade of purple and grey. Their eyes, swollen and red from crying. Their mouths were chapped and turning black. They all wore rags, barely any clothing on their body. Their arms and legs wrapped in chains. They simply walked, limp and lifeless, making moaning sounds like zombies.

The shadows sent chills down my spine. You couldn't make a shape out of them. They were just a silhouette of something that looked like a gigantic monster. They had two big glowing red circles for eyes. They had an open snout with rows of teeth like a shark.

You could hear chanting coming from them all.

Ad castra. Ad castra. Ubi autem perdiderit animam.

They chanted over and over, the people.

As I was watching closely, my shoulder was suddenly gripped by a cold hand. My eyes turned to the hand. Another hand going over my mouth to suppress my scream.

I flailed around like a fish trying to get out of its grip. Before I knew it my vision went dark and I lost consciousness.

•••
I awoke to a dark and damp room,  alone on the cold hard ground. The air smelled of humidity and rotting flesh. I turned to my left to witness long rows of steel bars.

I was locked up in a dungeon.

I was alone until this small and cramped cell, but I could hearing whimpering voices that reassured me that I was not the only taken prisoner.

I could hear the brief sound of dripping, of what I was not sure. Unlike the outside, this place was overwhelmingly quiet. You would think a dungeon would be full of sound, screams of tortured and hopeless souls, but there was actually dead silence. This sent chills down my spine, why was everyone so quiet? Why did all the noise stop?

I closed my eyes and took a deep breathe. Who brought me here and how will I get out?

Thinking of all the events that brought me here, the death of my father, my meeting of the lycans, the witch coven, and the demons now too. It's odd, for some reason all these strange creatures know me and have been passing me around like an object. And I still have not received any answers.

The sound of flat footsteps snapped me out of my train of thought. Before I could even react the steps stopped right in front of me just right outside my cell door. I did not want to open my eyes, I clenched them shut hoping this would be all a nightmare I would be able to wake up from.

A strange voice spoke up, "We were expecting you."
I flashed my eyes open to behold a stubby looking old man, dressed elegantly in a suit. He stood there with crossed arms and a smirk across his face:

"Who are you?"

"Oh well how rude of me. Allow me to introduce myself, I am the King of the Crossroads." He said with a reverent bow. "I knew you would be visiting us, we have been waiting for you for a long time."

"Why me?"

"You have to be patient Catherine. You will soon come to find out your prophecy."

"Prophecy?"

•••
Omega
I stood once again at the crossroads once again.
"What now?" I asked Khilo

He chuckled, "you see here's where it's difficult, so I ask you to consider one more time before-"

I interrupted him, "I'm not changing my mind!"

"Fine." He said with a snap of his fingers, "I still had a couple hours before this body gives out, I can't believe I'm wasting precious time outside for your stupid requests."

I growled, "just drag me to hell alrea-"

Before I could even finish my words Khilo and I were falling down a large crack in the earth.

•••

For what seemed like an eternity of falling, I finally landed on a hard surface. My head ached and I had difficulty adjusting my vision to this darkness. Immediately my body was overtaken my the freezing cold air, so cold that even I a Lycan could feel it.

As soon as I recovered my sense I came into view of a large human like shadow, "Khilo?"

"This is my true form, the more time you spend here the more your human form gets degraded. You'll eventually become this too, just another shadow in the realm of hell."

The shadow of Khilo finally vanished and I was left alone in this unfamiliar land.
•••