My legs push myself up into my feet.
My throat is tight, not one sound can travel through it. I gulp, slowly backing away from the figure, it's majestic eyes piercing into my body. He's extremely tall, and he bent his back so that his head is floating above mine. His face is like a human, his eyes, though, are something not of this world.
They're a fiery red, just like his soft lips that begin to curve into a smile. I'm frozen, captivated by his stance and his glare.
He's alluring and exquisite despite the taupe horns growing from his brown hair. "Hello lovely." He purrs, his deep voice filling my ears, his hot breath hitting my neck, as if it could get any hotter down here.
I can't say anything, I'm entranced by his face, his perfect skin, perfect jawline. He smiles, his teeth white and perfectly assorted.
"What is a beautiful angel like you doing down here?" He hisses. His hands softly touch my neck and a nerve tears through my body, I let out a shuddering breath. He moves his hand up to my jaw, then my chin. He tilts it up so I'm forced to look at him. "What a brave soul you are for coming down here. It's a shame I'm going to have to hurt you." He tilts his head slightly.
"Please, I..."
His hands wrap around my neck. Instantly, everything comes back to me. The pain in my leg, my ribs, the headache I didn't know I had. I groan and feel my knees grow weak. My body sinks to the ground as the creature smiles to himself.
My the rocks behind him transform into a blob of reds and browns, my face begins to heat up. The air around me is getting warmer and warmer and warmer...
His hands leave my skin and I'm numb again. He looks like he had sucked all of the energy out of me. "Your soul is young. Rare. You taste like heaven." He tells me through clenched teeth.
I try to control my breathing, but I'm panting like a dog as he stands over me. I'm too weak to move or even look up at him.
I just want to go back to the Afterworld.
The man grabs my arm and lifts me to my feet, tightly clenching my arm. He's tall, he towers over me like a building. He looks strong too, just like a human.
But there is some sort of darkness to his eyes. The way they tear a hole through my chest just by glancing at me worries me. I can tell he is powerful, and dangerous, yet beautiful. Those things often come together, which is lethal.
"What are you going to do to me? Huh?" I ask as he drags me down one of the hallways. My shoulder scrapes against the cold ground, but he pulls me along without much effort.
"Don't worry, pet. You'll be quite useful to me. For now you'll rot with the others until you're trapped here forever." He grumbles.
I look up at him with furrowed brows. "No..." my voice trails off. I can't be trapped again, if I can't escape a cell on earth, there's no way I would get out of one down here.
Where is Colton when you need him?
We approach what looks like a prison with several cells separated by long metal bars. They are lit up by small lights on the cave ceiling.
The cells are only a few square feet, but some are wider than others and have multiple people inside.
They all look at me with sad, innocent eyes. Their expression lightens a bit as if putting me in there is going to get one of then out. Everyone of them has sort of a sad yet hopeful expression on their faces.
The demon rips open one of the cell doors and shoves me inside. I land on my elbows and he locks the door before I can turn and attempt to fight back.
"Fuck." I whisper, lying down on my back. My muscles are still week, my limbs hardly able to function. I cover my eyes with my hands. I'm a failure. I can't even do the thing I was sent here to do. Why do I always have to screw up?
Colton has been here many times and has gotten out, of course the one time he runs into trouble down here is the time where I tag along.
I guess every streak has to come to an end, right?
I was only with him for a few minutes before we were separated again. What if this was the last time I would see him? I never got to thank him for this entire journey, for helping me through everything. I swear he's so good at what he does it's unreal.
"Are you okay?" A soft voice prompts next to me. It's a woman's voice. She touches my shoulder softly.
I sit up in shock and look over at the girl who touched me. She looks concerned. She's glowing like me, but her light is much dimmer.
I back away from her, fearful of all of these demons next to me. They don't look like demons, though.
"Hey, it's okay! I'm not going to hurt you." She says, watching my horrified expression. "You poor thing, what did they do to you?"
"Who are you?" I ask.
"My name's Daisy. Sorry if I startled you. You seem upset." She tells me. I lean in closer to better see her features. Her hair is wavy and long, freckles dot her nose and cheeks. Her lips are plump and set in a wide smile, her dark skin contrasting with her light brown eyes. "What's your name?"
"I'm Juliet. Are you from the Afterworld?" I prompt. I examine the other inmates in the other cells. In fact, they are all glowing. They're all trapped down here. There is no way I'm getting out.
"Yes, I am." Daisy looks down at her glowing figure. "Did you get moved from another cell? I'm so happy to have a partner in my cell, it gets lonely sometimes."
"I came from... Earth. I got down here a few minutes ago." I can't look at her face, I'm too focused on the amount of angels down here.
"What?" She shrieks. "You still have hope then! We need to get you out of here Juliet, you're the only one here who can get out!"
"I'm not so sure." I sigh, leaning my head against the wall.
"Don't fret, we're going to help you. Just sit tight, the demon will be back." She assures me. "So tell me, what's the Afterworld like now? I haven't heard about it in twenty years."
My eyebrows instinctively raise. "I wouldn't know how much it has changed, I'm only a new stage two. But I assume it's pretty similar to how it was twenty years ago."
"You're so young! No wonder he likes you so much. What is a stage two doing down here?" She prompts, her eyes glowing with interest.
"Actually, I came down here with a voyager. I don't know where he is." I sigh.
"Well then maybe he could get you out, he probably has the tools to do so. You'll be fine, dear." She smiles widely.
I nod. "How long has everyone been here? They're all stuck here?"
A puzzled expression appears on her face. "Well yeah, we don't really get that many visitors down here. Everyone is here forever." She sighs.
"Everyone? Really?" I ask quietly. The thought is haunting, there are so many of them. They're all so beautiful too, it's such a shame. I guess Nick wasn't the only one that was misplaced.
"Well not everyone. All but the blonde one behind me. He's only got a few more days until he's finished." Daisy points behind her. That is when I realize that her loud voice makes everyone look at us.
I can't tell who she is pointing at, there are too many faces to look through.
"Julia?" A man's voice asks. I try to follow the voice and find a blonde man with fluffy hair and familiar eyes. He looks at me like I had just died or something right in front of his eyes. Those familiar eyes...
No. I'm seeing things.
It's the demon messing with me.
It can't be.
"Nick?"
Is it really Nick?
What do you think?