This is one of the few chapters where I had a lot to of images to share! I hope you'll enjoy the chapter!

Raziel's POV

"You're going to Hell now!" Kai exclaims, pacing up and down Zorander's living room.

Over the weekend, Zorander and I agreed to move up the trial run to Hell, and we settled on going on Monday after school. Unfortunately, I didn't get much alone time with Kai once his father showed up on Saturday evening, so Kai was only now finding out about our plans.

Harvey was true to his word and treated Kai and me to an all you can eat sushi buffet which was absolutely delicious, but his presence meant that I didn't get to sleep in the same bed with Kai and that Kai paid more attention to his father than me. I wasn't complaining though. I was happy that at least one of the brothers was trying to mend their relationship with their father.

"Yes, it'll be a quick trip, just to see what it's like for Zorander to transport me to Hell," I reply, holding out my arms to Kai, who sits on my lap and snuggles into my embrace as soon as he notices my outstretched arms.

"So you're not going all the way to the gateway today?" Kai's voice comes out muffled since his head is buried in the crook of my neck.

"No. I'll show Raziel where it is, and we'll walk a short distance so he can get used to the feeling of being transported. I've heard it can be jarring for angels and demons who aren't bonded to each other." Zorander frowns. "I returned to Hell to check for the gateway yesterday. It's still there, but there's another complication. You'll see when we get there."

Kai's grip around my waist tightens, and I plant a kiss in his hair before nodding in response to Zorander's comment.

After a little while, Kai lifts his head and peeks around the room. "Raz? Why is there a tarp laid out in the middle of the room?" he whispers, pointing to the large, thick but transparent sheet on the floor. Zorander's coffee table is pushed to the side of the room and all the chairs are positioned right up against the walls to make room for the tarp.

"It's for the human sacrifice," Zorander snarls, his beady eyes flashing completely black as his lips curve up into a malicious smile.

Kai sucks in a sharp breath, and I hear a spike in his heartbeat. I'm about to scold Zorander for scaring him when Kai says, "What's the tarp really for?"

Zorander snickers. The slight quirk of his eyebrows is the only indication that he's impressed with Kai for not believing him, and the demon gets up from his chair and moves towards the tarp after grabbing a golden skull bowl. 

Here is a photo of what the golden skull bowl would look like ^^

"It's a nightmare getting blood out of the grooves of the tiles, so this is much easier," he mutters, dipping his fingers into the bowl. When he pulls it out, his fingers are coated in a thick, dark red substance which he starts smearing onto the tarp.

Kai gasps. "Is that blood!"

"Yes, the sigil we need to take us to Hell needs to be drawn in human blood. My friend who works at the hospital was very useful in getting this for me," Zorander drawls.

Kai wriggles out of my arms and approaches the demon, sitting on the floor near him. "Is this the only way to get to Hell?"

"No, there are several gateways on earth which I can walk through, but this one ensures that I have a way back." Kai tilts his head to the side curiously and Zorander continues. "The sigil keeps me tethered to earth and pulls me back here from anywhere in Hell after two hours, even if I wanted to stay longer."

"But you can return to earth before two hours are up?"

"Yes."

After Zorander is finished, he briefly exits the room and when he returns his hands are washed and he's carrying a dagger; a simple dagger with a black handle and gold embroidery. A red stone sits at the top of the hilt, which glows when Zorander slices his hand with the blade.

Here is a photo of what the dagger would look like ^^

Black blood oozes from the wound, and he uses that blood to draw what looks like a combination of a cursive Z and a slanted number three smack in the middle of the sigil. He wipes his hand in a towel which is tossed over the back of the couch before admiring his work with a pleased smile.

The completed sigil is simple. It consists of a circle overlaid by a pentagram with the symbol drawn in Zorander's blood in the middle. A sudden spark of flames shoots up from the sigil, causing Kai to scamper backwards. 

Here is a photo of what the completed sigil would look like ^^

"We'll be gone for a few minutes. The only thing you're not allowed to touch or go near is the sigil, it could mess with our return trip and drag you to Hell." Kai nods, and Zorander turns towards me. "Ready?"

I get up from off the couch and approach my human. "We won't be long."

"Be careful," he says before attaching his lips to mine and giving me a kiss that I'm sure to be thinking about until I return to his side.

I'm still in a daze when I walk over to Zorander, and he makes a retching sound which has Kai giggling and me rolling my eyes before he latches onto my arm.

"Leave the room, kid, and do not, under any circumstances, come back in until we've returned," Zorander says, shifting his gaze towards Kai, who nods and exits the room after blowing me a kiss and waving to Zorander.

With Kai gone, Zorander begins to change into his true demonic form. His eyes grow pitched black and cracks appear in his porcelain skin. Multiple, small bumps manifest on his lips, and they become a charcoal colour before his body starts increasing in size, turning into a giant shaped body of compact, black smoke.

His sulphuric smell increases tenfold, assaulting my nose and creating a burning sensation. My body starts dissolving into thick black smoke from the point where his hand is touching mine, and my head immediately starts spinning.

My stomach feels queasy and my mouth is suddenly dry. The sulphuric smell is overwhelming. I splutter trying to fill my lungs with fresh air only to be sucked deeper into the disgusting smell. I can't discern my head from my feet, yet my head is pounding.

This is a bad idea.

Calm down! A voice booms in my head.

By the angels, do you have to be so loud! I groan, trying to get used to the smell and calm my racing heart.

Zorander scoffs. Ready?

I nod, or try to, before I realise that my body is now nonexistent. It has been completely overrun with black smoke and absorbed into Zorander's demonic form. I force myself to remain calm. Once we're back, Zorander will spit me out, and I will be myself again. Yes.

Zorander moves from outside of the sigil to the middle of it in one huge step, and the flames shoot upwards, engulfing our smoky form.

When the flames fade, I gasp at the scene before me. This is Hell?

A huge castle with sharp, pointed roofs as thin as needles floats atop a luscious, green island in front of a massive flowing waterfall. Water cascades from the cliffs on either side of the castle, flooding over bouts of beautiful green plants with vibrant red flowers that sway in the light wind. The water underneath is still, with barely a ripple in sight while fragments of old buildings are scattered throughout its stillness. 

Here is a visual of what Raziel is seeing ^^

Shit! We're in the wrong section. This is even further away than last time, Zorander grumbles, trudging through the clear, bluish-green water. When he lifts his foot, which is in the form of thick smoke, a cluster of tiny black worms are attached to it. As he continues to walk, more and more clusters of worms attach themselves to his feet.

Is that normal?

What? He looks downwards. Oh yeah, they're just meant to slow you down so you don't reach Satan's spring home quickly. He and the higher demons who live there hate dealing with complaints and talking to the demons they supervise in this section or the souls who remain in this part of Hell, so these Vertatormis slow your progression as you approach them.

Spring home?

Yes, he has his spring, winter and summer homes in different sections of Hell. We need to get to the section with the summer home. That part of Hell is where the most cunning and despicable souls are kept, and is also where the gateway can be found. You'll feel the most pain in this section. Zorander flips over what looks like the remnants of a metal door. Oh! Found it. Orange flames shoot out from the door, dragging us through a minuscule hole in its centre.

It feels like we've been set to high speed in a blender. Everything hurts, and I feel like I'm going to throw up. I take a few deep breaths, trying to ignore the suffocating smell. I've barely calmed myself down when a sudden wave of exhaustion overcomes me, and I feel myself drifting off to sleep.

I am jolted awake by a scorching pain shooting through my body. The screams and torment of the souls ring through the air above the thumps of my racing heart.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

The sound of whips echoes around us. With each crack, it feels like air is being sucked out of my lungs, the pungent sulphur smell once again trying to suffocate me.

This is more like what I remember. Even forming that thought for Zorander to hear was painful and seemed to burn my brain.

Your subjectivity to Hell is making me sick. Zorander has barely formed his thoughts before he starts throwing up on the ash filled ground of this part of Hell.

He coughs and straightens up, ignoring the odd looks he's getting from the demons nearby. He turns to the left and I see the jagged tips of a large castle which looks like it was constructed from shadows. The eerie edges stretch up into the bleak grey and black sky, towering over everything below it.

Flashes of fork lightning and the vague outline of a moon cast a chilling glow over the castle sending shivers down my spine. The castle taunts us as it seems more distorted and closer with each flash. Haunting screams and menacing laughter boom from the blood red light within as fire rages on either side of the ash stricken ground, increasing in intensity and width as it approaches the tower.

Here is an idea of what the summer home looks like ^^

Zorander turns away from the tower, heading in the opposite direction. Each step he takes feels like sharp needles are worming their way up our feet and towards my heart. If I can barely breathe as it is, how can I sustain myself and carry a soul with me?

When angels carry souls within their bodies, usually to transport them from one location to another, they need to be very careful. Any extreme stress can permanently affect the soul, so when Zorander and I do bring Lance with us, I'll need to be much better at controlling my emotions and managing the pain, or Lance could get seriously hurt.

Do you see the bridge? Zorander's voice pulls me from my concerns about Lance. He focuses his eyes so that the bridge appears closer to us.

One end of the bridge is bathed in flames and darkness while at the other end stands a golden gate surrounded by a glowing white light. The bridge itself looks worn and unsteady, not to mention the flames on either side and underneath it waiting to engulf you should you make one tiny misstep.

Is that a break in the bridge! About halfway across the bridge is a large gap, and what looks like flaming lava seems to be leaping up between the gap in the bridge. 

Here is an idea of what the bridge looks like ^^

Yes, that's the complication I mentioned. The bridge allows passage only when granted by God or Satan, but I've been asking around to see if any of the demons know another way to get across. So far nothing. Zorander coughs and clutches his chest. Can we leave?

Please.

Darkness surrounds us, followed by a vibrant orange flash before the sigil spits us back out into the living room. Zorander and I are tossed to opposite ends of the room, both of us back to our corporal human-like forms.

I immediately throw up on his floor, the dizziness, the pain and the overwhelming smells finally catching up to me.

"Raz! Zor!" Kai yells, rushing into the room, carrying a Serignipen, a creature from Hell.

"I see you met Melkopnius," Zorander chokes out between coughs. 

Thank you for reading! ❤

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