Chapter Thirteen – Chuck Norris in Hell

The first thing I notice is not the gag in my mouth, not the putrid odor from the humid air, not even the chain clamped to my left ankle nor the ropes on my hands; the thing I notice first is the warmth and steady breathing of the body I’m lying on.

My eyes barely open to find my best friend knocked out on the ground beneath me. My body was strewn across him as if the demons had piled us on top of each other like discarded laundry. And the way my muscles are aching, I’d say it’s a safe bet to the demons did exactly that.

I slowly awaken, taking in my surroundings and sitting myself up. The wooden wall supports my weight, taking it off Xander entirely. He stirs with the lack of pressure on his chest but keeps unconscious. Wiggling my hands out of the ropes is easy enough and I untie both our mouth and wrist bonds. The chain isn’t as easy to get off. One cuff each keeps us together. I turn back to figuring out where I am.

Dust and spider webs cover each corner of what looks like a regular old attic. A tan old mannequin stands a few feet away with its base hidden by boxes. Black sharpie marks each one of them off as toys or ‘Lily’s dolls’ or old videos. By every standard, this is a normal attic; almost too normal.

I don’t want it to be true but I know it is. Xander and I are trapped but I don’t think it’s as bad as I thought it would be. It isn’t hell, that’s for sure but the heat of the place is probably the same. I remove my sweatshirt leaving me in my tank top and pajama shorts. I also take Xan’s leather jacket off him before he too gets a heat stroke. The boy coughs when I do it, finally waking up. A moan rumbles in his throat as I grab onto him and help him sit.

“What the hell happened?” He groans and struggles to get up. I feel the same pain he’s feeling, aching all over and barely keeping my eyes open. We were taken by demons but how am I to tell him that? The truth just keeps getting harder and harder to explain.

“I don’t know,” I lie. Then again it is the truth. Or at least it’s half of it. Xander gets to his feet and turns back to help me up. Our chains rattle on our ankles over the floorboards which make me cautious. I don’t know where the demons are and they could be below us. That unknowingness freaks me out a bit but now that I’m standing, I see more of the attic and it calms me down. The roof is slanted on both sides making the room look like a giant triangular prism. I stretch my arms and rub my tender muscles.

“You have to know a little something,” Xan grills me as he hobbles toward the other side of the attic. I follow him having no other choice. It’s a very strange walk trying to hold onto the chain to make the least amount of noise possible. A circular window lets in the only light which shines delicately on the wooden floor. Xander moves a box out of his way trying to get closer to it. “After all, they were after you.”

“If they were after me then why are you here?”

Xander opens his mouth with a comeback but ends up tripping over a knob on the floor. A misshapen brass ring is poking out from its cavity of the handle. It’s the door to the floor below! Xan bends down to pull on it but I move closer to stop him before he has a grip.

“What if they’re waiting for us to go down there?”

“Then we need to figure out some way to get out of here,” he says removing his fingers and standing back up. I take another look at our surroundings. “What about the boxes?”

“I’ll check this side,” I tell him pointing to the left. “You get the right. See if there’s anything to help us escape or at least fight them off.”

My words don’t hit me until Xander starts to follow my orders. He shuffles through the cardboard boxes frantically while my feet stay glued to where they are. We’ve been taken and forced to go somewhere by demons! They’re appetite is not a thing I’d like to remember but somehow it creeps into my mind. They want my Tempest energy and they would kill me to get it. The Emerald was very clear on saying demons knew no mercy or kindness, only the lust for power. My lungs start hitching from the dread tainting my senses. I can’t find it in myself to move my feet.

“Gail,” Xander calls out to me softly, noting I haven’t moved. The moisture on my face is wiped clean by my trembling hands but I’m cracking under the pressure of everything and my mind is not taking this well.

A vision pops suddenly in my mind. Trevor stands at my house’s front door where he’s talking to Scott. Neither of them knows where I am. Michelle is standing in the background watching TV. I’m pretty sure she thinks I snuck off somewhere. A tear or two rolls down her cheek. Our sister plans! We were supposed to do things today. My eyes water harder when I realize these demons are breaking my promises to her. She cuddles up under the blanket pretending she’s not in the room but rather in the movie. My heart reaches out to her but I know she can’t feel it.

I gasp as the mental picture releases its hold on me. My head turns to where Xander was sitting but I jump when I find him standing right next to me.

“Gail, we will get through this,” he tells me confidently. I stay with my arms at my side. He doesn’t even know how bad this really is but he’s determined to keep me calm. I’m surprised; with everything that has happened to him in the last few hours I figured he would be curled in a corner crying out for his mother. I know I would be…

Xan pulls me in for a firm embrace but my arms don’t have the strength to wrap around his back. There is so much guilt and fear weighing them down. I shake my head and push Xander away finally having enough myself.

“I can’t do this,” I say with tears blurring my vision. My eyelids blink rapidly trying to expel the water. It’s time he knew and whether he believes me or not, he can’t run away in fear without pulling my ankle with him. We’re both prisoners so at least I have that to my advantage. “I have to tell you something.”

And so I do. I tell him about the whole thing. Seeing as we’re trapped with nothing else to do, I explain every detail from the night of the bonfire to the bracelets and the visions. Xander stays quiet which make me fear he thinks I’m insane. I don’t mind it either; I’d think the same if Katie were telling me she’s a witch with the power to read minds and see into the future and what not.

An hour, or what feels like it, passes as I relay everything to him. He interjects a few thoughts or questions but nothing too much that breaks my story-telling. I didn’t realize my life had turned into an adventure. It’s kind of nice to know I’ll have something to ‘tell the grandkids’. I mean, if I get out of here and actually have children myself first.

“Why do they only feed on Tempest power,” Xander questions me. “Why can’t they be like a normal demon and like giant turkey legs or something?”

I half-smile at his comment. Same Xan-Xan: after a bit of freaking out he turns back to his sarcastic self.

“I don’t know,” I tell him. “But we really need to get out of here. I’m surprised the demons haven’t tried to fetch us or—”

“Abigail, I call to thee.”

My hands fly to cover my ears over my pounding head. What was that?! My skull feels like there’s a bass trapped inside, reverberating throughout my body.

“Gail, what’s going—?”

“Abigail we don’t have much time. If you can hear me speak, shout ‘yes’ in your thoughts.”

Yes!

“Good. Can you tell me where you are?”

I pant in relief as the Emerald releases her communication with my thoughts. Xan is jolting me awake since I apparently fell to the floor in pain. I brush his arms off and sit back up.

“Stop shaking me,” I order him and scurry to stand up. “It worked once but if you keep doing it, you’ll knock something loose.”

“That’s already happened,” he tells me flatly. “What was that? Why did you faint?”

“The Emerald. She’s calling out to me.” Xander nods his head having no alternative but to follow along. I can tell he still doesn’t believe me fully but he helps me back to my feet as I turn to the window. There might be one way to find out.

The glass is covered with not only a thick layer of dust but an intricate swirling pattern making it impossible to see through. My fingers pull at the latch which has been painted shut. Xander tries next but he too doesn’t get anywhere. He lets out a bunch of swear words while I shout back in my mind to Fiona.

There’s a window but I can’t open it. We’re stuck in an attic.

“Do not worry,” she tries to calm me. The searing pain in my head is almost unbearable as she keeps talking. “Demons most always keep underground or in a basement. They are nocturnal creatures and heavy sleepers. The Mrs. Fletcher character you encountered was an anomaly. Break the glass if you must but I need to figure out where you are. Our connection is wearing thin.”

As soon as my head clears up, I look into Xander’s grey-green eyes. Trying to regain my bearings, I whisper to him, “Find something to open the window with. She says we need to see outside.”

Xander nods in understanding. He searches through the boxes of old toys again but only finds stuffed animals and dolls which hardly have weight to them. The mannequin is too heavy to do anything with. Seeing stuff like this in movies, I force Xan back to the opposite side of the room, grab my sweatshirt and wrap it around my elbow.

“I wonder how much it’ll hurt,” I whisper to myself. Xander follows, figuring out what I’m trying to do before I do it. He grabs my sweatshirt and takes it from me, tossing it back to his leather jacket.

“Let me try something before you go and break your arm.”

“I wouldn’t—”

Before I get the chance to say anything, Xander lifts his leg gently to test the height of the window. It’s the same height as my shoulder and far too high for us to kick. I’m about to say that out loud but Xan has another plan. Suddenly I’m whipped around in his arms for balance as he swings his leg wildly at the glass, lifting into the air slightly for more height. We stumble back as the window shatters onto the lawn below us. I gawk at what just happened, turning from the breezy broken pane to my best friend.

“Who are you, fucking Chuck Norris?"

“I wasn’t the most popular kid in school,” Xander explains picking glass out of the wood slots and tossing them outside. “Mom saw other students hit me once and decided to put me in a self defense class. But since I was so young, her boyfriend at the time suggested a sport instead. I chose kickboxing.”

“The more you know,” I mumble sarcastically. We move closer to the window and try to see above its ledge.

“There are no fiery pits or screaming souls so we’re not in the demon’s hell,” he replies with his own sense of humor. He can’t see past the tree outside so he picks me up so I can have a better look. The asphalt is clean and perfectly smooth. Pastel colored homes line the dead end street in a horseshoe shape. A few houses down there are plastic flamingos and birdbaths in one yard and a rose garden in the next. I sigh like a horse and Xander puts me back on the floor.

“We’re in the suburbs,” I tell him. “It’s one of those cul-de-sacs where everyone is your next door neighbor.”

Xan looks out the window to the sunny sky nodding his head and amending his previous statement to, “So we have been dragged to hell.”

“It’s just suburbia,” I point out. He nods his head and returns to checking the boxes.

“Same thing,” I hear him mutter.

“I’m sending help,” the Emerald whispers painfully in my mind. “Find a way outside. You must be outside when they get there.”

My head nods even though I know she can’t see me. After relaying the information to my best friend, we grab our jackets, tie them to our waist and head back to the brass ring and trapdoor. I’m nervous even with the Emerald saying the demons are asleep. Xander interlaces our fingers in one hand and grabs the handle in the other.

“Ready?” he questions me. I’m not but it’s not like we have a choice. I nod my head and we stare at the wooden panel. The tension in the humid air makes me more anxious. Xander’s breathing quickens as does mine. Tightening his grip, the door is lifted quickly and I gasp.

Nothing is there. Below us is a seemingly normal home with teal painted walls and much cooler air.

“How are we going to get down?” Xan looks my way. Instead of verbalizing his answer, he shows me by moving his feet to the hole in the floor and making me do the same.

“Don’t think, just do it,” he orders me.

My fingers hold onto him tighter. It’s hard enough to even sit here let alone look at the gap below us. Demons are down there. It could take hours for the Emerald’s rescuers to find us. All our hope is being thrown into the guess that the demons are nocturnal and in the basement. I let loose a large exhale and count backward with Xander.

“3…2…1… Jump!”

We plummet onto the floor, making a ruckus and crumbling to our backs. The joint of my ankle doesn’t take too kindly to that landing. Xander hurries over to me and helps me stand. It’s hard putting pressure on my foot but we have to get outside.

“What if they heard that,” I whisper shakily to Xan. Our bodies keep still and our breathing lowers for a few seconds. Only the hums of the air ducts break the absolute hush. We take barely any steps and the ones we do take are bent over to keep the chain connecting us quiet.

The house is gorgeous inside. Dried and pressed flowers are hung on the walls in simple picture frames. Each room looks tidy with the sheets of their beds smooth and their dressers and tables uncluttered. I wonder if anyone even lives here. Maybe we were taken to a housing development and this is the example residence. It fits the stereotypical suburbs family. It almost makes me gag on how perfect this house is for an All-American family.

Finally we get to the top of the stairs. The wooden steps seem safe enough but my heart is pounding non-stop. Something doesn’t feel right. My instincts rage at me not to go down there. Xander takes a step forward but I grab onto him.

“This is wrong,” I whisper to him even though nothing but my gut says it’s bad. “I don’t know why but we can’t go down there yet.”

“Are you crazy? We need to get out of this house.”

“Not that way,” I heatedly answer. Xander moves me, attempting to push me down the hall closer but I refuse. The hollow sensation in my chest screams that it’s the wrong way to go.

“Gail we have to get out of the house,” he yells at me while keeping his voice barely above a whisper. “Come on, get going.”

A scrape of a chair downstairs stops us both in our tracks. Blood thumps in my veins through my fingertips. The demons aren’t as sound of sleepers as the Emerald thought. Xander and I slowly retreat from view of the bottom of the steps and escape into one of the empty rooms.

In this room there is a large wooden dresser, a twin bed and a closet filled only with simple white hangers. The window above the bed is opened with only a screen keeping the bugs out. There’s a tree outside though, big enough for us to climb down on. I point Xander over and we scramble onto the bed. Voices downstairs make me whip my head around as my best friend fiddles with the screen. I can’t quite make out what they say but I know in my heart it isn’t good. My pulse quickens and I urge Xan to go faster.

“The spring is stuck,” he tells me. I pull at it too but it’s no use.

Multiple people outside the room steadily ascend the stairs. Our frightened eyes meet knowing we can’t be caught. Xander and I rush off the bed as silent as we can and huddle in the closet. The comforter is left a mess but we’re not seen. Our bodies press into one another with Xander’s back to the wall and my chest pushed against him. The door closes behind me and we silently plead for them to ignore this room. A few more steps and they’re at the top landing. Xan and I hold our breath as a loud, energetic man rounds the corner and steps through the doorway.

“And this is the first out of three bedrooms on this floor,” he says to a giggling couple following his every move. Their whispers echo the empty room beside us happily while realtor continues. “The master bedroom is across and down the hall so this room can easily be transformed into an office or gym if you wanted.”

As the couple examines the space, I feel Xander sigh in relief. But my nerves were far from relaxed. This still isn’t right. My head and heart pound against the very feeling of the people in the next room but Xander inches over to the door and bursts from the closet.

“Wait,” I murmur harshly and grab him. It’s too late; the door is already swung wide open.

“Thank God you’re here,” he says gratefully to the trio. Xander pulls me out but we stop as their grey skin and the ripped flesh of their necks comes into view. All three are demons and they’re ready to rip us apart.

The realtor grabs Xander by the neck angrily, pinning him to the wall and lifting him roughly a few inches in the air. The suddenness of the motion takes the balance from my chained ankle and has me plunge onto the floor. My elbow hits hard as I hear Xan gurgle out my name.

“I’m so sorry for this,” the man informs the couple while Xander chokes in his grip. “These two were to be your house-warming present.”

Their bright blue eyes pierce into mine like daggers and they let out a sickening hiss. I gulp and whimper with fear. This is to be my death: a present to a suburban demonic couple. My arms cower over my face as the man and woman prepare to feast.

I really hate suburbia!