Fire clung to every little bit of the lower levels that I could see. Before me was a bridge hanging seemingly in midair. I took one step onto the bridge and glanced behind me. The vortex I had stepped through was gone. It was all or nothing now.
Cautiously I walked out onto the bridge and nearly lost my footing when a little fox-demon ran around my legs. "New blood," it said, its sharp little teeth curved into a grin.
"Fuck off," I said, pushing it away from me with my leg.
It cackled in glee. "Ooh. And such foul language it uses too! This is going to be fun."
"I'm looking for a friend of mine. She was taken last night from Los Angeles. Do you know where she is?" I asked it.
"If she was taken by the hellhounds, she's in the ninth dimension and you'll never get her back because he won't let you have her. But if she was just taken by demons, she may still be in one of the lower levels."
"So she's not on this level?"
"No. Us 'lesser demons' can't go outside the gates. Only the upper level demons can do that." The little fox looked like it was scorned.
"I'll tell you what. You help me find her, and I'll try to figure a way to let you out. If you promise you won't cause too much trouble."
The little fox smiled in delight. "You promise?"
"I promise."
"Then I'll help you. My name's Arashi," he said.
"I'm Lochlan."
Arashi's eyes widened in surprise. "You're the one they're looking for. You'd better stay close to me or any bounty-hunting demon will grab you and you'll never find your friend."
"Thanks for the warning, Arashi. Shall we get going then?"
"Absolutely. I'll lead the way. Otherwise, we'll get lost. These bridges change directions sometimes. And other times there are huge giant demons that try to eat your soul to keep you from going across the bridge."
I followed Arashi into the first dimension. It was like a slave market where upper demons came to buy and sell humans. "Do you know why they're looking for me?" I asked Arashi, eying the other demons warily.
"No idea. But trust me, if it's the upper demons that are hunting you, it's not for your soul or to sell you into the slave market. There's more to it than that." Arashi led me into a house on the outskirts of the dimension.
"What are we doing here, Arashi?"
"Getting provisions for the road. It's a long road and you're going to want food."
I made a face. "Food? In Hell?"
Arashi scowled. "We have human food as well. We can't feed the slaves the same shit we eat. They don't like it."
"Oh."
"Yeah. So no complaining about anything I pack, all right?" Arashi finished packing the bag and then we were off.
About midway into the second dimension, Arashi stopped at a house hidden behind all the others. "Why are we stopping here?"
"There's someone here who might be able to help locate your friend. Hell is a big place. We can't just go on a wild goose chase around Hell. We have to have some sort of destination in mind, otherwise we'll never find her."
Arashi led me into the house and it took my eyes a while to adjust to the darkness. "Arashi!" I called. "Fuck!" I said, hitting my leg a table in the darkness. "Arashi!"
"Mmm. What have you brought me, Arashi? Fresh blood?"
"He's not for eating, Chiya. We're here for information," Arashi's voice came from the dark.
"Poo. You never bring me anything to eat anymore."
"Chiya, we need to find his friend. And you're the only source of information around here that wouldn't rat us out to the big man in the ninth dimension. Please, Chiya. We need your help."
"Fine. I'll see what I can do. But it'll cost you."
"What? What's the cost?"
Chiya grinned. "A lock of that boy's hair. He's the one they're all searching for. Until they catch him, the price on his head will keep going up. That means any part of him is worth something. And a girl needs to eat."
"Fine." Arashi yanked out a clump of my hair. "Ouch!" I exclaimed.
"It'll grow back!" Arashi said, annoyed. "Here," he said handing it to Chiya.
"Excellent."
