The Death of Emilie Grey

XIV - Abandon All Hope

"...Hell is alone, the other figures in it merely projections. There is nothing to escape from and nothing to escape to. One is always alone." -T.S. Eliot

Loud banging sounded upon the door. Luke, Ivy, Belle, Aron and Adam all stood in the front hallway of the mansion, nobody moving and nobody daring to speak. The banging continued, hard enough that the door was almost completely caving in on itself. 

"Luke, I know you're scared, but we need a goddamn plan." Aron said frantically. He was tossing his axe back and forth between his hands. 

"Well then, does anyone know how to fight demons?" Luke asked. 

The group turned their heads towards him, mouths open and eyes wide. Just as Luke opened his mouth to say something, the door finally banged open. It fell onto the floor with a deafening thud. 

Belle was the first one to step forward, her curiosity getting the best of her. 

"Isabelle, stop!" Adam hissed. 

Belle ignored her boyfriend, looking out onto the yard below. The shadowy figures continued to surround the perimeter of the mansion, unmoving. Turning around, she spoke. 

"They're literally just standing there. Don't be pussies, get out here and do something." 

Adam sighed and joined his girlfriend on the first stone step. The rest of the group followed, the only sound being the wind rustling through the trees. Ivy was utterly creeped out. 

"Okay, I wanna kick some demon ass, so get over here and show us what you're made of!" Aron yelled, lifting his axe up to his shoulder. 

Nothing moved. It was complete silence and stillness. 

"Yeah, way to go, cowboy." Belle said, irritation evident in her voice. 

The two continued to argue back and forth, while Luke looked pensively out at the figures surrounding his very own home. Where were Emilie and Edgar? And who sent these demons here to torment him and his makeshift family? 

"Stop it, the both of you! Look!" Luke yelled, gesturing to the creatures. 

They were all standing at attention, as if some invisible force was telling them to do so. 

"What the-" Adam started to say, but just then, the group heard the distant rumbling of an engine, listening to it intently as it drew nearer. 

"Finally." Ivy whispered. 

The group watched as the hearse parked on the grass, and Emilie and Edgar stepped out, their long coats barely touching the ground. Emilie surveyed the scene before her. These creatures were unnerving, standing still but giving off a wave of malevolence. Edgar and Emilie shared a glance, and the two of them stepped forward. 

They were suddenly blocked by the creatures, and Emilie looked up to the door of her home, staring at her friends. 

"Emilie Grey..." The creatures seemed to collectively whisper. 

She could feel Edgar's uneasiness, as he shivered violently beside her. 

"What do you want?" Edgar managed to say. 

"We want...Emilie Grey..." 

"Then you can have me." Emilie spoke with confidence. 

Edgar's head whipped violently towards her, his eyes wide and unblinking. Ivy covered her mouth with her hand, as if she couldn't believe what was happening before her. The rest of the group watched silently. 

The long line of creatures surged towards Emilie and their scarred hands grasped onto her arms. The demons were an inky black colour, their facial features seemingly shrouded by greyish mist. 

"Emilie, don't do this!" Luke screamed from his perch on the stairs. 

She knew she was scaring him, all of them, but if this would protect them, then her pain and fear would be a small price to pay. Edgar looked at her worriedly, the ghost of Lenora peering over his shoulder and seeping into his mind. But he let her go, the one thing he had always been best at. 

Edgar and the group watched as the creatures tore a hole in the ground, dragging Emilie Grey with them into what they could only think of as being hell. 

Ivy and Aron wanted so badly to run towards their best friend, to save her in any way that they could. But she was gone and they hadn't acted as fast as they could have. The sky had cleared up as much as it could have in a town like Raven's Peak, but it was grey and the rain had immediately started to pour, just like it always had. It brought a sense of comfort to Ivy, who hadn't realized how much she had missed the dreary weather. 

Luke turned on his heel and stormed back into the mansion, most likely to shut himself in his study, turning off the rest of the world. 

After a few moments of quiet, Adam spoke.

"What the hell do we do now?" 

Nobody answered, but Aron gazed down at Edgar, who was still standing on the wet grass, staring at the place where the giant hole to hell had been. 

"Edgar!" Aron called out. 

"Give him some time. Then hopefully he'll have a plan." Ivy said, but she sounded worried, which didn't give hope to anybody. 

Edgar could hear the group behind him perfectly, but he didn't bother saying anything. They would know soon enough what it is that they'd have to do. 

Emilie fell, again.

But this time, there was no light guiding her way into the abyss. All she had was her thoughts and her fears. Panic seized her entire dead body, but there wasn't anything she could do until she landed. Her bountiful curls of black hair swam around her and she couldn't help but feel enjoyment as she floated down into the deep bowels of hell's kingdom. 

As the bloodcurdling screams echoed around her, she knew she was getting close to the bottom.

Closing her eyes, she bit her tongue, wrapped her arms around her body, and continued to fall.