Gateway to Pandemonium [Open Novella Contest III] || Completed

III

Nowhere to go but on I guess. Alyssa's story and the rhyme never actually made clear if I would be able to find the Devil. For all I knew I would be stuck here forever. Or I would be killed by whatever horrible creatures lived down here. These thoughts did not reassure me in the slightest. I pushed them to the back of my mind and started walking towards the treeline. I was determined to find the king of hell and get what I came for. And to get out of this horrifying place as soon as possible.

A pathway cut through the trees, leading deeper into the woods. Although it might not have been the safest option to follow an obvious path, I had no other lead to follow, so I followed the only way I saw. I didn't know where I was going, but I needed to go somewhere.

The eerie, twisted cries had not stopped and seemed to be following me as I entered the woods. I tried to ignore them as much as possible and set forth ahead with apprehensive steps. My whole body shivered despite the heat. I knew what kind of place the underworld was; one of pain, death and misery. Demons fed on these three thing and would surely tear me to pieces if I came across them.

Maybe it was smarted for me to walk between the trees. Maybe that was the place the demons where hiding. It probably wasn't safe anywhere. This was Hell after all.

The cries around me carried on and seemed to grow louder the deeper I went into the forest. I pleaded silently for them to go away. They were maddening to hear for more than a minute straight and God knows how long it was already carrying on.

Beside the cries I heard other strange noises, screams and cries coming from everywhere around me, but I couldn't see what was making them. There was nothing hidden between the trees as far as I could see. Some screams where definitely human and others where so terribly unearthly I had to do everything not to put my hands over my ears and scream myself. I had to push myself to keep walking. Every loud, unsettling sound made me jump.

The path went on and on, making so many twists and turns I had no way to keep track of where I was. The longer I walked, the more overwhelmed I became. Loud sounds hurt my ears and made me jump, the red trees looked like in blood covered humans and every shadow that moved looked like a inhumane creature ready to attack me. With the pulsating pain in my palms and the terrible cries I couldn't take it anymore.

"Can you just shut up?!" The desperate scream just escaped me. I clasped my hands over my mouth with shock, realising the big mistake I might just have made. My wish was granted as everything turned silent. I froze with the silent hoping that it might not mean that something bad was about to happen. Hopefully my scream didn't attract anything dangerous.

But as minutes passed and nothing happened I let my body relax – if that was even possible right now – and slowly started walking again. It turned out I couldn't hear anything now; no wind, no creaking of the trees or any of the other sounds you hear in the woods. All I could hear were my own footsteps and my heavy breathing. With every step both grew louder.

The silence was somehow worse than the screams. It made me aware of every little movement around me. I had no indication if anything was near or of there was anything lurking around or following me. My heartbeat sped up. My eyes darted around the forest with every little movement that came into vision.

I didn't know how long I had been walking. I had lost all sense of time. Suddenly a rushing feeling came over me and everything around me started spinning. I stopped dead in my tracks and closed my eyes. A unusual pressure pressed unto my ears along with a weird drumming sensation. It felt like I was about to puke. I put a hand to my stomach and tried to breath slowly until the feeling subsided, but all came out where shallow, rapid breaths. Gradually the pressure in my ears started to fade and the drumming sensation turned into something else. It took me a full minute to realise I was hearing the sound of rushing water.