Forbidden Love

Chapter 13

*Rose's POV*

We finally reach the end of the third circle after walking for what felt like hours and the things we saw along the way is too terrible to even describe. It's very clear that the main goal of this horrible place is unimaginable misery. I just want to get to Eric so we can get out of here and return to our lives.

"I think this is the fourth circle," Carrol says next to me as we enter a different part. We're in a dark hall that stretches as far as the eye can see. There are more prison cells on one side and rooms on the other side. The place is very dark and smells of mold. Carrol and I start walking down the long hall and look into each cell as we pass them. There are people in all of them, but unlike what we've seen so far, these people are too weak to even ask for help.

After we passed about twenty cells, we noticed two demons coming around the corner ahead of us. They look exactly like the one we saw earlier, only bigger and completely black. We watch as they bang on the bars of each cell as they pass it and laugh at the torment the people inside the cells have to go through.

"We have to hide!" Carrol whispers and pulls me into one of the rooms. The room is small, dark and damp. There are two tables, one in the middle of the room and one in the corner against the wall and a fireplace with burning coals sits on the other side of the room. We hear the footsteps of the demons as they get closer and we dive under the table that is against the wall, it has a variety of rusted torture instruments on it. We listen as the demons open one of the cells and within seconds, we hear them walking in our direction again. It doesn't take long for them to enter the room and I'm mortified by what I'm seeing.

They're carrying Eric into the room, both of them has a grip on his arms. His massive wings are dragging on the ground behind him, he's dressed in no more than a pair of black jeans and he doesn't even lift his head. They throw him onto the table that's in the middle of the room and I can finally see his face. His eyes are closed and his lips are slightly parted, it looks like he's asleep. I say his name in my head over and over again, hoping with everything in me that he'll be able to hear me, and he does. He turns his head and looks at me. At first, he just narrows he's eyes, as if he's not sure if I'm really there. I smile and nod at him and I see a hint of a smile on his perfect face. One of the demons approaches the table that we're hiding under and blocks my view of Eric. He fumbles with something on the table before making his way over to Eric again.

"Don't look," Eric mouthes the words at me when both of the demons has their backs turned to him, but I can't look away from him. I just want to jump out and help him, but if I do that, I'll put all of us in danger. Eric looks away from me and closes his eyes as one of the demons pins him down on the table. The other demon has a rusty knife in one of his claws and he uses it to cut open Eric's abdomen. Eric doesn't make a single sound, he just clenches his jaw and takes it. The demon turns to the fireplace and takes out some of the hot coals with a shovel. He walks over to Eric again and proceeds to stuff the coals into the open wound in Eric's abdomen and it's only then that he screams. The sound penetrates my ears and I have to put a hand over my mouth to silence my own cries. Carrol grabs my hand and I try to look away from what's happening, but I can't, my eyes stay fixed on Eric. After they stuffed his wound with burning coals, they stitched him up with what looked like dirty old rope before they carried him back to his cell. Carrol and I wait until the sound of the demons' footsteps disappear down the hall before we crawl out from under the table. We don't waste any time and immediately leave the room. It doesn't take long for us to find Eric's cell and I'm surprised to find that it isn't even locked.

Eric is laying on the damp concrete floor, he doesn't even hear us when we enter the cell. One of his wings is stretched out on the floor while the other one is covering his body. The cracks on his skin aren't glowing as brightly as they normally would and the flow of blood from his eyes looks very weak. I rush over to him and lift his head onto my lap.