Destiny's Three Stars

16

"Michael!" I screamed, pacing the bathroom. The lights were too bright and the floor too cold under my feet and my face was too black.

He ran into the room and stopped when he saw me. "What's the - oh."

"What the hell is going on?"

He lifted my chin and stared at my face. My eyes were still black but the streaks on my face had spread to my hair line. "It's getting worse."

"I can see that. But why?"

He dropped his hand to his side and sighed. "It's going to keep getting worse until it overtakes your body."

"Then what happens?"

"You'll be demon for good. Right now is only temporary."

"A demon for good." I mumbled to myself. My condition was a tad positive seeing as it wasn't permanent yet.

"You won't be able to come to Earth after that. You'll be trapped in Hell forever."

Instead of responding to him verbally, I punched him in the arm. "Why the hell won't you do what your father says then? Do you want me to become a demon?"

"What? No? Of course I don't want that."

I stared down at the floor. How were we supposed to 'switch me back' if he didn't want to reunite with his father and I didn't want to let him go? We were both being selfish.

"Destiny, we're going to talk to him and figure this out."

"We're running out of time."

"Call the girls. We'll leave tonight."

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Michael and I didn't have to pack any bags. We weren't going some place where we would need them. It would only weigh us down. How ironic.

Nona was eating Chinese food out of a carton, sitting on the arm of the couch beside me. "Are you nervous?"

I shrugged. "Things are already so slim. I don't have anything to lose if this doesn't work out."

"You have us." She pointed out quietly.

I frowned. Through all of this, I'd forgotten about the girls. I kept thinking of myself and while that was okay to an extent, I forgot that the girls were worried about me, too. They cared about me. They weren't going to let me suffer if they could help it. "Sorry. I'm just really stressed."

Nona leaned into my side and rested her head on my shoulder. "We're gonna figure this out, Des."

"What's the plan?" Decuma asked, eyes focused on Michael.

Michael took a deep breath. "We're going to try and reason with my father. See if there's another way to fix Destiny and bring her back without me having to stay down there. "

"And if that doesn't work?"

"I haven't thought that far ahead. But if I know my father, he can be persuaded."

"Did you have anything else in mind?" Nona asked.

He shook his head. "That's all I have."

"And what if that doesn't work?"

"Then I can't come back." I said softly.

Everyone turned and looked at me, each offering looks of pity. Even Nona beside me was silent. No one knew what was going to happen or if I was going to survive this. It wasn't every day that Michael and I traveled to Hell to negotiate with the devil.

Decuma leaned close to me and squeezed my knee. Of the three of them, she seemed the most level-headed, especially in a time of crisis such as this. "We'll pray for you, Des. We're not letting him win without putting up a fight first."

I wrapped my arms around her and hugged her tightly. Nona soon joined, tears spilling onto my shirt, and Morta followed. Michael stayed where he was, giving us some time together before we had to leave.

I pulled back and looked at him, my palms starting to sweat. "I think I'm ready."

He nodded once and got to his feet. He pulled a set of keys from his pocket and handed them to Morta. "You guys can come and go here if you need. Just lock up if you leave."

"Where will you be when you come back?" She asked, a serious expression on her face.

Michael took a deep breath and let it out. "I'm not sure. I can try and get us to your place."

She nodded. "Do you know when?"

"Not a clue."

"We'll keep our schedules open and wait for you then."

He put a hand on her shoulder and squeezed it. "Thank you, Morta."

"Take care of our girl for us."

He smiled. "I will."

I hugged Nona one last time before I walked to Michael's side. "Let's get this over with."

He took my hand in his and a breeze fell over me. One second we were standing in his living room with the girls and the next we were in a hot room. It was pitch black and I couldn't see a thing. Michael pulled me forward and a 'beep' filled the room. He pushed a door open that I couldn't see and light poured in.

"Welcome to Hell." He muttered, leading me through the doorway.