Chapter 29
I woke up with a jolt. My head frantically turned around trying to find the time. There was no clock in hell...or at least not in my room. I could only hope that Lucifer was sound asleep. So carefully I pulled the covers off me, and stepped off the bed. Slowly I made my way towards my bedroom door, thankful that the floors weren’t screaming my presence.
By the time I had made it out to the hall, I shivered. The halls seemed more disturbing at night. Suddenly I jumped by a frightening scream from a door a few strides down. The panicked feeling from the screamer shot up through my spine. I could smell their fear...
I shook my head; I had to get to Jesse fast, very fast too before I enjoyed staying here.
When I reached the door, I froze. I wasn’t sure anymore. I wasn’t even sure if it was locked or not. Then out of nowhere I heard footsteps approach me. As the person neared I turned my head. Once I realized it was only Neil I let out a long sigh.
“Neil!” I whispered a yell.
He turned stopped suddenly almost afraid at why I was still up and talking to him. “Yes, Miss Lucia.”
“Is this door locked,” I pointed towards it. “Can you please open it?”
Neil shook his head, as he hushed a whisper. “No, Miss, I cannot open it. Only he can. I’m very sorry. I would suggest you go for some rest now.”
I nodded. “Yah, yah, I’ll head to bed.”
With a firm bob of his head, he left me alone with the door. I stared at the frame wondering how to get that piece of shit open! There had to be some way. If anything I could just...well just try.
So with a shaking head I reached for the door knob, afraid if it would even open. But if anything, I was more afraid of what lay behind the wooden barrier. When the door smoothly moved I took in a deep breath, walking in. At first I wasn’t sure what I was looking at, and then as I widened my eyes I realized that there in front of me was nothing that I had expected. The walls were covered with jars, urns almost and each wall seemed to stretch out for miles. Hesitantly I approached the closet shelf; the urns each had a similar plaque as the doors in the halls. One grey urn boar a sign reading: ‘Evangaline Winny Long’. Another beside if read: ‘Heath Tyler Long’. They were siblings; so close to each other yet distances apart. I swallowed my fear for them. They had no idea what was coming.
Shaking my head of horrible yet entertaining thoughts of their rooms, I scanned the rest of the shelf trying my best to find Jesse, of if God willed my mother too.
It had taken me a while, passing dozens and dozens of names till I finally found, Jesse. My heart skipped as I took in a deep breath, unsure of how to work the urn. Did I have to open it? What would I even find an empty space of air? Or worse...just bits of remains...
Slowly I wrapped my finger tips on the small round handle of the lip. And with the anxiety of a million people I peeled the cover open. Suddenly a strong mist of pale blue winded out of the jar. I watched with curiosity and fright as it rounded the air and then fell to the ground. The blue haze then gradually formed a body, or at most the silhouette of a human. Within moments I had settled my eyes on a weak, dying boy. His eyes were wide open, but so empty. His face was smudged with what I thought was something like sot. And his white v-neck sweatshirt was torn at his waist and his jeans though dark were obviously dirty. Only when he gasped so hard for breath did I finally motion my feet to run for him. The urn in my hands crashed to the ground as I fell to knees beside Jesse.
“Jesse...” I cautiously whispered, afraid that Lucifer would hear. “Jesse.”
His eyes blankly stared at everything around us before settling on me.
I smiled, as if smiling to an infant unsure if the scene was safe. “You’re okay; I’m going to get you out of here alright?”
He slowly gave a nod as he reached for my hand. His touch was cold and his eyes were so scared that I had to control myself from crying. I squeezed his head trying to comfort him as much as myself.
Jesse swallowed and gently smacked his mouth trying hard to say something. “Your-Where’s your mom?”
I shook my head. “I don’t know.”
He nodded as if he knew what we had to do next. But I myself knew that we couldn’t do anything at the moment. And even though we didn’t have time all we could do was wait.
“Let’s go,” Jesse mumbled as he struggled to get up.
I held on to his elbow watching him try so hard to lift his feet. I was preparing myself to catch him if he ever lost his footing; luckily he was strong enough to stand on his own.
Carefully and as swift as we could we made our way out the hall; however I couldn’t help but take one look back. Who knew what would happen to all those souls. I only wished that I was able to let them all go. But it was obvious that they were meant to be here... unlike Jesse.
With every step we took I could feel Jesse reaching for my arm only to take it back. He was still weak, but he didn’t want me to know. Then again even if he did happen to grab my arm for balance I would be the least bit concerned, since my attention was drawn to each and every corridor. My heart was beating so loud; afraid that Lucifer would pop out from any corner.
“Turn here,” I whispered to Jesse as I pulled him to the right.
Fortunately we had safely and without notice made our way back to my room. I opened the door with a quiet hand, slowly letting Jesse in first.
As soon as I gently closed the door behind I us I couldn’t control everything that had building up. Swiftly I collapsed to my knees. I didn’t know if it was all the shock of seeing Jesse, or the fear of being caught by Lucifer, but I just couldn’t hold my composure anymore. So I let it all out. I cried as my hands cupped my face.
At first I didn’t notice, but Jesse had wrapped his arms around me as he too kneeled to the floor. He brought me close to him as I embraced him, my arms around his neck.
I let out a small sigh before slowly getting up to my feet. My eyes caught his as he gently smiled at me. I gave him a tiny apology only he shook it away.
“The bathroom’s that way.” I motioned towards the door.
With small nod he made his way over leaving me alone. I walked over to the bed and slowly lay my head on the cool pillow. We had made it okay from the urn filled room to here. We were safe...for one night. Everything was quiet, but I knew that this place would soon live up to its name tomorrow.