Hell Castle
Chapter Two

A pounding in my head woke me. I gasped for breath as my lungs filled with air once more. Suddenly I remembered the dark murky water suffocating me causing me to cough violently. With each breath, my lungs inflated with air, and they burned as if they were on fire. I opened my eyes, replaceing myself in a pleasantly large bed. I sat up holding my head. I quickly glanced around. On the side table sat a bottle of aspirin and a small glass of ice water. The room I found myself in is as lavish as it is large. How did I get here? I thought as I reached out for the aspirin. Looking down at my clothes, I found myself surprised to replace that they are completely dry. Did I dream that I was drowning? I looked around curiously. That can’t have been a dream. I don’t recognize this place. I grabbed the bottle of aspirin, shaking a few into my hand. Is this heaven? If it is, why would heaven have aspirin? I popped the pills into my mouth and got up. Finding myself a bit unsteady at first, I slowly regained my balance. I don’t know where I am, all I know is I need to leave.

I walk out of the room and into a long hall. I wait to hear voices. But nothing, no noise whatsoever. Where is this place? I head down the hall to see if I can figure out what’s going on. I pass many rooms, checking the doors to see if they are open. However, all the doors I come upon are locked. I do my best to walk softly and keep quiet. The heels on my feet make it obvious that I am up and about, clacking against the marble floor. The paintings on the wall up and down the hall; some are of a castle, others a garden and a man. The man’s scorned look is etched in each painting with grave detail. No matter how far I walk down the all I can feel the eyes following me. Each painting in a different era, even different styles. The ones of the man are most interesting. He looks to be the same age in them all, though each seems to be painted in different eras. “What in the world is this place?” I whisper.

I come to a grand entrance with two large staircases going down to the lower level by what I can only infer is the front door. “A door!” I mumble excitedly. I hurry down the staircase toward the door. Something catches my eye as I reach for the large door handle. Another painting. The extravagant painting held up across the room from me is big enough to see the premise clearly. A different man than the one I have been seeing figureheads the other paintings. A tall, blonde haired, blue eyed man is standing behind a young woman with his left hand on her shoulder. Instantly the painting takes my breath away. “Mom?” I whispered. Sitting in front of the man, a woman who looks just like my mother. I had only seen a picture of her when her and my aunt were young. Somehow, I know it has to be her. Her long, thick, curly, golden brown hair draping over her shoulder. The necklace in the painting is the same as the one I currently wear. The dress. The very same dress in the painting is the same as the one I am wearing as well.

I fall to my knees and start crying. This is heaven after all. I did die. But what kind of heaven would tease me this way? I want to see them. Not just in a painting. In person. How could this be? Where are they?

The loud crashing noise is coming from down the hall sent my heart racing. Someone is here. Maybe it’s them. Or maybe this is some sort of dream, either way, I best go replace out for myself. I get up and head down the hall. I come to an open door that leads into a dining room. A long table in the middle, only one place is set. There is food on the table. No paintings here, no people. Just food and a place set for one. I turn back to go see the painting again. That man with my mother has to be my Father. I want to study it longer.

I come back to the doors, turning the corner to see the painting; it’s gone. “This can’t be,” I mutter to myself. I just saw it. It was right here. I look around the entrance but there’s nothing in sight. This is not heaven, this is hell. I have to get out. I open the front doors. I stand dumbfounded. It’s snowing outside so heavily that I can’t see ten feet in front of me.

“Rori,” a voice calls to me. I look behind me. No one’s there; I’m the only one around. I hate this, what did I do to deserve such punishment? In the corner of my eye, I spot something in the snow. It’s flying right for me. As it gets closer I can see it has large pointed wings and looks almost like a person. “Good morning, Rori,” the creature calls to me as it lands in front of me.

“C-Carter?” I stammered to say then everything went black.

“Rori, don’t fret. You are safe my love,” a soft voice called out in the darkness.

“Who are you?” I asked. I thought it was about time I get some answers. “Rori, my love. Open your eyes,” the soft, velvet voice called again.

“Who are you? Where am I? What’s going on?” I pleaded with the voice to answer me.

“All in good time, my love. Right now I need you to wake up.” The voice is soothing. The more it spoke the less fear I feel and the more I feel warm and fuzzy like I’m at peace. I thought of the look on Cathy’s face when I put her on the sofa at the lake house. The way she looked was how I was feeling. “Wake up now,” it called again.

“Okay,” I whispered. I felt my lungs stinging still. I slowly opened my eyes. I’m back in that bed where I woke up before.

“Rori!” a voice said, relieved. I looked over to see Carter’s face lying next to mine. I jumped out of the bed; with unexpected weak legs, I quickly fell to the floor with a thud. Crawling I backed up until I hit the wall.

“Well, she sure is skittish,” another voice said. I recognized it. It was the same one as the pier. I looked around the room. There were three people in the room with me. All men.

“Well if you had not played such a rotten trick on her Eliot, she would not be so upset,” Carter scolded. The guy Carter scolded, this Eliot person has short, red hair and green eyes. His suit made it seem like he was waiting to go to court or something. Carter was still in the same costume as I was. The other man in the room glared at them.

“She seems to be just fine. Get her changed. I don’t wish to see that dress ever again.” His soft voice cut through the air like a blade. He walked out of the room with a frown.

Eliot smiled at me. “Let’s see about this...” he began as he got off the bed.

“Eliot, how dare you taunt a lady like that? You know what Loki would do if you dared to do that.” Carter Scolded as he came over to block Eliot’s path. Eliot looked at Carter and grinned innocently.

“Yes, we all know what would happen if she were to give a little kiss don’t we, Carter? I’ll send in the maids.” Laughing, Eliot left the room.

“What is going on, Carter?” I demanded.

“I’m sorry, Rori.” His face looked swollen as he turned to face me. “I can’t tell you. Please get changed without a fuss. Loki will explain everything.” He seemed sad.

“What happened?” I asked, gesturing to his face. Carter smiled.

“That was my punishment for your kiss.” He left with a smile on his face as a maid came in. They helped me out of my dress and into a light blue sundress. The room was roughly quiet. I didn’t speak much. The maids were all chattering amongst themselves. One of the maids tried to take off the necklace I was wearing.“NO!” I yelled. She jumped in fright. Then warily continued. After I was dressed they did my hair and went on their way. I sat in the chair with my eyes closed. Holding my necklace. It was all I had of them. I was lucky to even get this. What would happen to me now?

“Rori, it’s time,” Carter called to me from the door. I got up and took a breath. I didn’t die. Carter had to of gotten to me in time. Now I’m probably going to be a sacrifice for some weird god or something. Worse of all if this is what I get for wanting some freedom in my last year of high school then I would rather be dead again. Carter reached out his hand to escort me. I looked at it wondering if he was really serious. He staged a party, assaulted everyone, and kidnapped me. If he truly thinks I trust him, he is an idiot. Looking at the ground disappointed he said, “I understand if you don’t trust me. In time you will understand what is happening. This way, follow me.”

I was led back down past the dining room to a library. The large room was filled from floor to ceiling with books. The other two that had been in the room when I woke before were sitting in large chairs reading. When we entered the room, the white-haired young man spoke without looking up from his book. “Introduce yourselves,” the man with the sharp voice ordered.

Eliot put his book down and approached me. I started to take a step back. “I am Eliot Gilma, my lady. A Captain in his Majesty’s army and an amazing Doctor.” Eliot bowed then sat back down.

Carter turned to me. “I am Marcus Carter. A Staff Sergeant in his Majesty’s army.” Carter bowed and turned back to the other guy.

The white-haired man put his book down and stood up. “I am Loki Fyrn. The General in his Majesty’s army. I am a trusted advisor, as well.” He bowed and stared at me. It was like he was waiting for something.

“What? Do you want me to be impressed? You’re in an army. Grats. Now, do you mind telling me what this has to do with me?” I looked at Loki, fed up with the games they were playing. I mean, if they were going to kill me, why go through all these hoops to do so?

“You are Rori Luna Payne Orcus. Daughter of King Meditris Orcus and Lilly Luna Payne Orcus. Heir to the throne of Hell.” Loki looked at me as he spoke. I started laughing uncontrollably. Loki, Carter, and Eliot all looked at me, confused. “Just what is so funny?” Loki demanded.

I could not breathe long enough to speak. After a while, I calmed down. “Let me get this straight: you expect me to believe that I’m heiress to the throne of Hell. The best part of this fantasy of yours is that you three are in his Majesty’s army. That about right?” I started laughing again. They all looked at each other and nodded. I threw my hands up and covered my eyes. “I knew it. I knew it. I’m in hell. I drowned in the lake and this is my hell. Stuck with the ones who killed me. Fantastic!” I started laughing again. This time they began to turn into tears.

“Rori, you’re not dead,” Carter said softly, trying to hug me.

I pushed him away with all my might. “I fucking hate you, Carter Reeves. You just had to ruin everything. Go to hell!” I yelled at him as I stormed off.

Stomping back down the hall I could feel the rage building up inside me. I won’t be graduating. My freedom is gone, I won’t be able to ever travel the world. I won’t be going on that tour in Europe, much less going to universtiy. Any dreams I had are now gone. The most horrific part about this whole damn thing was that I was in hell with the very people that killed me. I balled up my fist and punched the wall. Crash! I was so mad I had not thought about what I was doing. I looked at the wall right where I had punched was a large hole. I could see into the other room. The bricks were just falling from the area around the hole.

“Do you have to destroy my home with your temper tantrum?” I heard Loki say angrily. I turned to replace Loki standing next to me looking at the hole in the wall. “This castle is over a hundred years old and you are going to destroy it with your temper tantrum. Such a child.” He said disappointment etched on his face. I looked at my fist; it was covered in dust but my knuckles weren’t broken. There was hardly even a scratch on me. How did I do that? I thought, staring in bewilderment at my hand. What was the hell going on?

“Let’s just hope that she is not like her mother and try to redecorate the place,” Eliot said with a chuckle.

“What do you know of my mother you imbecile?” I said vindictively.

“Ouch, that hurts Princess.” Eliot looked like a hurt puppy. “Your mother was a wonderful woman. I looked after her when she was pregnant with you most of all...”

“Shut up,” I snapped at him as I stormed away.

I walked to the front door again. I didn’t care if they followed. I was going to leave this place. I spotted my cloak and quickly put it on. An array of emotions flow over me. I opened the door; it’s still snowing heavily as I ran outside. It is freezing cold but I didn’t care. I ran through the snowstorm. I ran until my legs gave out and I fell down a snowy hill. I could not see anything beyond the snow flurry around me. The ground was no longer visible through the snow. Getting up off the snow-covered ground, I started walking. No direction, no destination in mind; wherever I ended up was better than where I was just been before.

My head was still spinning. Everything Loki said, the hole in the wall, the painting. It is all was just too much. This has to be a dream, or worse yet; I was in hell. I should’ve gone to church more often, I thought bitterly. Then maybe this wouldn’t have happened. I spotted a large shadow in the distance. It looked odd seeing as there are no trees around my immediate area. As I got closer it became more clear. I stopped to get a better look. It looked like a large bar above me.

Wait. That’s a bridge. “If that’s a bridge,” I muttered, “then,” I looked at it, then to my feet. “I’m walking on a river?” I glanced quickly to my feet, but it was too late. “Shit.” The ice broke beneath me with a thunderous crack. I let out a scream as I fell instantly with a splash. The icy water engulfed me with an intensity I had never felt before. I am an award-winning athleat, but I am no match for the glacial water I replace myself in. I hit the ice above me looking for the hole that I had fallen through. I couldn’t see anything as I thrashed wildly in the frigid water. I kept hitting my hand on it and pounding my fits against it.

My heart is racing and my lungs are screaming for air. I started to panic, kicking and screaming in the water. Hoping for anything to happen. It was to no avail. My limbs began to lose feeling and I could see the edge of my vision start to darken. If I was not dead before, I was going to be now. Wow, I’m actually going to die like this. I didn’t want to die. I fought as hard as I could, but now I was getting tired. My body started drifting slowly down toward the bottom of the river. I closed my eyes, waiting for it to end. For it just to be over.

“Rori Luna Payne Orcus. Hear me. Hear your mother. Move, wake up. Never give up. Do you hear me, Rori? I said move!” Her sharp voice yelled at me I opened my eyes. I could barely make out a dark figure in the snow above. Suddenly, a hand shot into the icy waters, moving frantically. “Move!” I heard her voice ring in my head again more clearly this time. I reached for the hand.

My fingers touched the fingertips above me. The hand reached down further and latched onto my arm. I was pulled up and out of the water into someone’s chest. A pair of warm arms wrapped themselves snugly around my shoulders. I coughed and gasped air into my lungs. I did as she told me. Her voice was so beautiful. But was this even her? A hand brushed my hair out of my face. I looked up to see who had saved me. I’m met with a solemn pair of gray eyes staring back at me. His white hair blended in with the snow falling around us.

Loki looked just about as scared as I felt. “Be more careful, you could have died. You’re not invincible,” he said in a panic. He held me tight, running a finger across my lips softly. “Your lips are blue, you must be cold.” Loki leaned in close to my face. Shivering I came to the realization, that I’m not as cold as one would be expecting. Loki got close enough to touch my lips and blew softly. His warm breath felt good. I hugged him tightly and buried my head in his chest to get warmer. I looked down just to see how far from the river we are. My heart skipped a beat as I noticed that were not even on the ground. I looked around wildly and spotted two black wings sprouting out of Loki’s back. Are we flying? I thought incredulously.

“We’ll be back soon,” he said, holding me tighter. His grip so tight I thought that I might suffocate before we ended up back at the castle. I survived drowning in an icy river just to end up dying from a maniac who can fly? I have really seen it all, I thought bemusedly.

As we got closer to the front entrance Loki slowed our approach. Quick to adjust speed and angle as he touched down outside the Castle. Bursting through the door, Loki immediately started barking orders. “Start a bath, now! Call Eliot and Carter to get back here. Get some fresh clothes and start dinner!” Everyone scattered to do as he or she was ordered. Though we were safely back in the castle, Loki didn’t set me down. He carried me to my bath and put me in. “Get warm and go to your room. Hidi, strip her.” Loki folded his arms and stood there.

The hot bath was a shock for sure, but Loki did not leave. “No,” I stuttered, pulling away from Hidi.

“What? This is not optional, Princess. Do it,” Loki ordered. “If you don’t let Hidi undress you, then I will.” Hidi looked at him in shock.

“You leave,” I stuttered again.

He glared at me, then looked at Hidi. “Okay, I’ll go.” He turned and left reluctantly. Hidi helped me undress and I finally started warming up. After a few minutes, I stepped out of the tub. Hidi then helped me into a warm outfit made of flannel. After I had been deemed ready Hidi showed me to what she referred to as my room.

I put my head on the pillow and thought of what the voice told me back at the river. ‘...Hear me. Hear your mother. Move, get up. Never give up. Do you hear me, Rori? I said Move!’ I tried to remember Loki’s expression. He had looked almost as scared as I was. Maybe there is something to this whole King of Hell thing.

“Just what did you think you were doing?” Eliot scolded me as he walked into the room. He placed a bag on the bed beside me and started touching my face. “You could have gotten killed, running off like that.”

“Enough,” Loki ordered, walking in. Carter was not far behind him. He studied me closely, worry etched all over his face.

“Is she going to be okay, Eliot?” Carter asked. Eliot finished examining me.

“Yes. She’s just fine. Not even a cold.” Eliot looked at me suspiciously.

“I requested that Carter return to the castle. You may not like it but he does have a rapport with you,” Loki spoke as he walked over to my bed. “He can help us anticipate your behavior. So incidents like this can be avoided.”

“What are you talking about?” I asked looking at Loki skeptically.

Eliot laughed. “You ordered him back to hell, remember? So he had to obey your orders.”

I sat up and looked at Carter. He shied away from my gaze. I felt a pain in seeing him do that for some reason. Why did I feel like this? He is the one who kidnapped me. Not the other way around.

“I was upset. I didn’t. I don’t think this is entirely real,” I said softly.

“What more proof do you need, Princess? You saw Loki’s wings, didn’t you? And Carter’s as well.” Eliot said, annoyance crossing his face.

“Where are my parents, then?” I asked plainly. Eliot’s face went blank. He looked at Loki helplessly. Carter continued to gaze at the floor. All the while, Loki just looked at me stone-faced.

“She appears to be fine. No hypothermia and her vitals appear to be normal,” Eliot said as he put his thermometer back in his bag.

If I was going to believe anything they were saying, I needed proof. More than that, I needed to know what happened to my parents. “When you are ready, we will explain all that. As for now, you need to rest,” Loki ordered. They started to exit the room through the double doors that lead to the hall. I picked myself out of bed and followed them into the hall. “I am not going to do anything you say until you give me some answers.” I walked up behind Loki as he walked into the hall.

Loki turned around quickly and we found ourselves nose to nose. He gawked at me with a look of malice intent. His stance is overbearing and off-putting. He is trying to scare me into obedience. But I will not budge this time. He leaned in closer so I moved back into my room a bit but Loki matched me step for step following me back into my room. “Do you honestly think you can square off to me?” he whispered. We had backed up enough that Loki shut the door.

My heart started to race. This was not going as planned. If I had a plan, this was not it. “You don’t scare me,” I told him sternly.

Loki looked me over, grinning wickedly. “You may want to rethink that.”