Thump thump thump
The sound of my boots scuffing along the forest floor brought me back to reality.
I can't believe that actually happened to me.
I sighed and kept walking, trying to find a good place to set up camp when night fell. I had been hiking through the forest most of the day and I finally felt safe enough to sit down, eat and rest.
I looked at my surroundings and smiled when I realised that I was in a meadow. I breathed in the air and frowned when I smelt a hint of smoke.
Where is that smell coming from?
I looked around to see if there was a fire, but there wasn't.
Strangely enough, the smell seemed to be calling out to me, whispering my name ever so quietly.
I cautiously looked around to see if something was there, watching me in the shadows, when something suspicious caught my eye.
In the meadow, there was a patch of dead flowers. There seemed to be only a small patch of them and I wondered what had caused them to die.
I decided to take a closer look.
As I walked towards the flowers, I discovered that there wasn't just a small patch of dead flowers, but a massive circle of them surrounding a big hole.
It seemed so out of place in such a beautiful meadow.
I circled the dead flowers, trying to find the source of their death.
I knelt down and touched the flowers, when I realised that the smoke smell was coming from them. They had been burnt.
I carefully stepped closer to the hole, so I wouldn't accidentally fall in. I frowned when I noticed stairs that were leading down into the hole. They were a deep purple and seemed to be made out of bricks.
I wonder what's down there?
It was too dark to see past the first few steps, so I searched my travel pack for my torch. I switched it on and pointed it into the hole, but I could only see more stairs.
It seemed to be never-ending.
I looked up at the sky and calculated that there would still be a few more hours of sunlight left.
I contemplated about whether or not I should go down the steps and find out what was at the bottom.
I am a very curious person and I didn't see the harm in walking down some stairs, but - then again - curiosity did kill the cat and it would waste a lot of time.
Time that I didn't have.
One day off wouldn't hurt, though, right?
I sighed. It was decided.
I started my escapade down the stairs. I looked around the hole and saw that the walls were just made of an earthy red coloured dirt.
Strange...
I kept walking down the stairs. A few minutes has gone by.
This is taking longer that I thought. Maybe I should just turn back.
I looked up and gasped when I saw that it was already starting to turn dark. I thought about going back to set up camp as I still needed to eat and rest, but decided against it, seeing that I so desperately wanted to find out where these steps lead to.
Eventually, I reached the last step. I shone my torch back up the stairs and was shocked to discover that the hole was about twenty metres deep.
I turned back around and pointed by torch back into the darkness that lay ahead.
There weren't anymore steps, but there was a pathway. It was quite wide and tall, but there were no lights.
I quietly followed the pathway, as to not make too much noise because I had no clue about who or what could be down here with me, lurking in the shadows.
I continued down the path until I froze in awe.
In front of me stood an enormous French door.
It was the same dark purple colour as the steps and was also made out of some type of brick. It was shaped in a perfect arch and had circular antique cast iron handles. On the rim of the door, there was intricate gold lettering in a language I had never seen before.
I stepped forward - admiring the mysterious door - and traced my fingers over the small lettering, wondering what it meant.
I placed my torch down on the floor and carefully placed my hands in the circular door handles. They were surprisingly warm, but not too warm that they could burn my skin.
All of a sudden, the fancy gold words started to light up, until it was so blinding, I couldn't bear to look anymore.
I immediately let go of the handles and words stopped glowing. I stood back, wondering if I should open the door or not.
I had absolutely no idea what was inside, but I guess that was a risk I was willing to take.
I carefully placed my hands in the warm circular hand holds again, counted to three, and slowly started to pull the doors open.
The words lit up again and were so bright, I had to squeeze my eyes closed.
The doors were so heavy and they made an awful screeching noise, as if they hadn't been opened in a thousand years.
I let go of the doors and looked into the ongoing darkness.
Suddenly, small fires began popping up on either sides of what looked like a never-ending hallway.
I was so intrigued by these fires, that I failed to notice a tall man who was wearing a crisp black suit. His back was facing me as he stood in the centre of the hallway.
I gasped in shock as he turned around.
He was so unlike any man I had ever laid my eyes on before. He was so beautiful it was scary.
His hair was jet black and was sculpted into a perfect quiff that I so badly wanted to run my fingers through.
His eyes were a striking green that seemed to hold me in my spot.
His lips looked so plump and soft and were curved into a devilish smirk.
He stared at me with his piercing gaze, opened his mouth and said, "Welcome to Hell. I've been expecting you."
