The Deadly Treasure

Chapter 4: Into the Flame

     "You're really telling me you couldn't have done that yourself." I said. Fate just gave me an evil eye and stayed shut so I put my arm around her. "What's wrong?" "Are you really fucking asking that, look around!" she yelled pushing me away. I tried to calm her down but I didn't know how it felt to be stuck here alone for so long. "Look i'm sorry." she said "I've just seen things that have changed me and it's not something you could just let go." "I can't even begin to understand what you've been through but just know you're not alone now." I was honestly expecting a kiss but she just hugged me. I tried not to think too much about it though.

    As we followed the map deeper into the city we came across a river with pristine water. I headed straight towards the refreshing water and Fate quickly yelled "Don't touch it!" "That's the river of lost souls, if you simply touch it, you become one." "How are we getting across without touching the water?" I asked. "See that canoe over there, we're using it!" I looked at her like if she was crazy but I quickly tried acting manly and said "Oh that's nothing." We got on and I took a deep breath, while contemplating my life. Afterwards, I began paddling slowly and very carefully. "I hope to God this canoe ain't broken." I said as we moved onto the water. "We'll just have to wait and see I guess." said Fate.

     Eventually we made it across without touching the water to a beautiful island with clean white sand. Once we stepped out of the canoe it was all a mirage. The flame burned even brighter and the stench grew even stronger and that's when it hit me. "Wait, isn't that hell?" Fate looked at me as if I had said what she was dreading all along. She said,"Yeah, it is. I didn't want to tell you yet so that you wouldn't be discouraged." "You mean to tell me that we're going into the depths of hell to save you and you couldn't even come to tell me this earlier." "But--" "But nothing you selfish bitch, this was all about you wasn't it. I never should have listened to you in the first place!" Fate's face lit up and she slapped me so hard it numbed my cheek. "You piece of shit, you're not even man enough to help me. Why did I even think you would account to anything? You're just a stuck up asshole."

    She started crying and I immediately began to regret everything I said. I didn't mean for things to escalate so much but now there was no taking it back. I apologized but she couldn't even bring herself to look at me. We just moved forward anyways, into the flame. It couldn't burn us because we were still human but I could hear the voices of the tormented souls. Little did we know we would soon have bigger issues. I tried not to dwell on the fact that I was going into hell, but instead I thought of the reason why.