The Monster Under the Bed

The Gateway to Hell

The plan is simple. We must defeat her in the only way possible: send her to hell.

'And how do we do that?,' Sarah munched.

Leave that part to me. What you must do is coax her here. But you have to do it so she cannot harm either you, nor anybody else. Can you do that?

Sarah nodded soberly. She understood what was at stake here. Either they accomplished the plan, or many people would get hurt. She had to do everything she could.

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Sarah crept around their house as quietly as she could. She was invisible again. She needed to find her former mother, and fast - before she became visible again. And she was still unsure how long that took.

She tiptoed silently up the porch. She heard something inside...somebody snarling. Ignoring her goosebumps, Sarah edged along the hall, peeping into the living room. Empty, but the snarling was louder from there. She lay onto her stomach and wriggled behind the couch. From there, she could just see the kitchen floor - where Angeline was lying, gobbling up raw meat from the fridge. Sarah took a deep breath, and stood up. She backed away, so she could just see her mother, and then cried out. Angeline's head shot up as she looked around wildly.

'Sarah?,' she croaked. 'Is that you, Sarah?'

' Yes, mother,' Sarah replied quietly. 'I'm outside, come see me.'

Angeline licked her lips, and, abandoning her cold meat, ran outside eagerly, almost brushing against Sarah's arm. Sarah promptly ran after her mother, and started luring her down the street.

'I'm here, mommy, come on this way!' 'Here I am, just a little bit further!' 'Come on, you've almost reached me now!'

And, finally, Sarah reached the alley behind the bar, Angeline close behind her. But what she saw there made her step falter.

In the very middle of the alleyway stood a huge, brass gate. The scorch marks tainting it were explained by the angry red flames playing right behind it, licking the gaps and through the keyhole. Chisanu stood in front of it, his arms raised. Then, he took the key he held in his left hand, slotting it into the hole, and turned it.

The colossal gate screeched open at the exact moment Angeline stumbled into the alley. Her eyes feasted hungrily on Sarah, and she appeared not to notice the huge gate with the walloping flames starting to eat their way outside.

Get back, Sarah! Get out of here!

Chisanu sounded desperate. Sarah didn't understand why. They had Angeline now: it would be a simple matter to free the world from her now. She jumped aside as her mother pounced at her, allowing Chisanu to grab hold of the demon's wrist.

Sarah, turn away! You don't want to see this! Please, look away!

But of coarse Sarah didn't.

And the moment she saw Chisanu leap into the flames, dragging her mother along, she knew she should have listened to him.

She saw flashes of her mother's life before her father died. Back from when she was still a normal person.

She saw Angeline when she was Sarah's age, running around a lavender field with her parents - Sarah's grandparents, whom she had never met. She saw her mother's high school graduation. Her marriage. Her father's death. Other things she didn't understand - a man in a dark cloak, more monsters by the crowds, blood - lots of blood.

And then she saw her mother's face for the very last time. Not the face of the demon - it was her mother now. She was looking straight at Sarah, pleading with her eyes. She was crying, sobbing, and saying two words over and over: I'm sorry. And then she was gone, swallowed up by the flames.

Only Chisanu was left in the midst of the flames. He gazed at her with his glowing, moon-like eyes, and Sarah could hear his voice in her head as clearly as ever.

I'm sorry about this, my sister. I knew if I told you the full plan, you would never agree - you would never understand my reasons. I'm sorry I never got the chance to explain. But perhaps it was better for you this way. You won't be weighed down by troubling knowledge you have no need for in your life. I have fulfilled my duty: I have managed to protect you when you most needed it. I can rest easy knowing I saved you. You're safe now, sister.

You're safe.

Those were the last words he uttered before the flames engulfed him. The fire retracted slowly, letting the gate fall shut and slowly disappear.

Sarah let her knees give out under her, sitting down in the mud. She felt as though a part of her had suddenly been ripped away. As though she lost a part of her soul. She was numb. And she was full of questions.

She didn't know where she would go, what she would do, or how she would explain to others what had happened.

But then she remembered Chisanu's last words.

You're safe.

And he was right. No one would be hurt over her death. She had survived.

She was safe.