Julia Lelieveld and the battle with the underworld
~27~

The well was about 12 feet from the bank in the shallow water. Daria had told anyone could enter the underworld, but getting out wasn’t that easy, of course. This required someone who actually stayed in the underworld. Luckily we had Daria, who was willing to give her life for us and for her son’s revenge. When we arrived at the well I saw that it was large. Certainly about 10 feet wide. I looked into the well, it seemed to have no bottom. However good and clear my vision was now, it ended in a black hole. At the edges of the well a weathered stone staircase led down into the black hole, here and there wall plants grew and there was moss. Daria led the way and stepped on the first step, Lucas followed her and then I. As soon as I touched the first step I was sucked to the ground. The only way I could go was down. You couldn’t leave the pit from the very first step. It gave a pressing feeling on my chest, we really couldn’t go back now. Daria stepped down confidently and Lucas followed her. And after taking a few deep breaths in and out, I walked behind them with big strides. The further down we got, the more my body started to tingle. I was on alert. It felt so good to finally be complete, to know what I could do. After a few minutes we arrived at the bottom of the well, a long red-lit corridor led us further down the road. When we were at the beginning of the hallway, Daria turned Lucas in his direction, lifted her hand and Lucas placed his hand in hers. She spoke in that foreign language again and just a minute later she nodded in satisfaction. “Come on, I know where he is.” I looked at her hopefully and she smiled. She walked us in front of the red corridor which was irregular. It was made of stone and had niches and curves in it. After a few minutes, I saw Daria duck into a niche. Lucas and I followed her lead. I heard a kind of plaintive howl, the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. I shivered for a moment. Lucas looked at me, he had heard it too. Suddenly I wondered what the demons sitting here looked like, did they also have a body? Their old body? But couldn’t they get out of the underworld with that body and therefore needed someone else’s body? Or would they be here without a body? Suddenly I heard a loud roar and then laughter. “Lovely sound, I feel completely at home again.” “How was it out there?” asked another male voice. “We screwed up, they escaped through the water. We’ll have to report to the boss soon.” “Wow, that’s going to suck, good luck man.”

“Yes, thanks,” said the man. Suddenly I stiffened behind Lucas. He looked startled. This was about us. We had escaped through the water. Shit. Daria looked at us and got the message. She put her finger to her lips to remind us to be quiet. We both nodded.

So they were also in bodies here, on the one hand that reassured me, then they were tangible and therefore also fragile.

Daria walked on again, the corridor split in several directions, determined Daria walked into the left corridor and then she turned into another corridor which led down a flight of stairs. This corridor was narrower than the previous one. We quickly walked down. If we were to run into anyone now, we would have been caught. After a minute we arrived at a small hall with several bars. Daria walked to the back door and my heart caught in my throat. There he was, Renzo. Lifeless and full of assault wounds. I recognized the wounds on his body. I’d had one myself when Simone was possessed and pushed me across the hall. Only Renzo’s whole body was covered with these wounds. “Renzo!” I whispered. Daria pulled the lock off the bars with a wave of her hand and it flew open. I rushed to Renzo and held his face, he was all covered in bruises and blood. I swallowed. He opened his eyes slowly. “No, not again. Leave me alone,” he said wearily. “Renzo, it’s me, Julia.” He looked at me again and shook his head. “No, you’re going to let me see her again, to take her away from me later.” Something broke in me. I sobbed. “Renzo, Lucas is here too, we’ve come to take you home.” He raised his eyebrows for a moment and looked past me at Lucas. And again he shook his head. “No, this is new again so I’ll start to believe you again. I don’t do it anymore.” And he closed his eyes. “Renzo, open your eyes and look at me damn it.” He startled and opened his eyes again. “Julia?” he asked incredulously. I nodded. “Yes, it really is me.” And with those words I put my lips on his. He was shocked, but as soon as he realized it was me, he kissed me back and our feelings came back. He immediately stood up and gripped my face firmly. Cautiously I broke away from Renzo, we had to hurry. When I looked back at him, his eyes were surprisingly strong. “It really is you.” I nodded and hugged him again. I stood up. “Come on, can you walk?” He nodded. He stood up hesitantly. Lucas immediately came to him and supported him. He looked at Lucas for a moment and smiled. “Thanks brother.” “You’re welcome, brother.” Renzo looked questioningly at Daria. “They’ll explain it later boy, let’s hurry up.” Renzo nodded and we followed Daria up the narrow stairs. When we were almost at the top we heard talking again and this time it was coming our way. Shit!

The only way out was upstairs. Once at the top it was a turn and run down the main corridor so that Daria could close the exit behind us.

Daria started walking faster, Lucas and Renzo walked behind me. Renzo walked more slowly, he was weak and you could see he was in pain. Fortunately Lucas was able to support him well. I saw the red light of the hallway appear when I heard the men screaming in surprise at Daria and immediately after that I heard a big stamping. Daria was fighting the men and she stood her ground. I saw she even enjoyed it. Indeed, she had waited a long time for this moment. On justice. We quickly walked past her to the hallway we came from. Daria walked with us with her back to us, still fending off the men. Renzo slowed down, he couldn’t take any more. Lucas didn’t hesitate for a moment and picked him up and ran to the end of the hall. Was it really that long, after every bend came another bend. What was going on here?

Daria ran with us now, she had shaken off the men, but she looked doubtful. Then suddenly she stopped. “Guys stop,” she yelled. “It’s a trick.” And suddenly we heard a mean laugh in front of us.

There he stood, Evil himself. Despite being Evil, he looked very beautiful and powerful. His tall muscular build. His hair fell in thick waves over his shoulder and his black piercing eyes.

“No, but who do we have here?” he said amusedly. “I had to wait a long time for this,” he said to me. I gritted my teeth and said nothing. This was Daria’s fight. “What? Have you lost your tongue?”

Daria jumped in front of me and fired something at Evil that he didn’t expect. He was hit full in the chest. And while he was hit, the hallway seemed to move for a moment and suddenly we were at the end. The only thing that stood in the way of evil. He stood between us and the stairs. He recovered quickly. “That was a long time ago, I was wondering what happened to you. Too bad I couldn’t take that boy down from you, he was still too innocent,” he said with a wink.

Daria let out a cry and went into battle with Evil. I looked at Lucas questioningly and he nodded toward the stairs. Did we really have to leave her here with him?

“Hurry up, you know what she said.” Lucas also seemed to have a hard time with it, this was his fight too, but Daria had promised to do this for his father too. We shot past Daria and the Evil to the stairs.

But before we could take a step on the stairs, several men came out of the walls and blocked our way.

I heard that evil laugh again from Evil. I immediately went on the attack. I fired my fire and orbs at them, some were surprised and some fired them back. One hit my shoulder causing me to lose balance. I saw that Lucas was having a hard time fighting three men as he tried to protect Renzo. Before I knew it, I fired a shield at Lucas and Renzo. Men kept coming out of the walls. I summoned Earth and completely closed off the hallway on the sides so they couldn’t get through. Some of the men were halfway up and so they were stuck in the wall. I looked around and saw that Lucas and Renzo were still safe. I ran between the attacking men and as if everything was happening in slow motion I could take them out one by one, getting hit here and there, but the adrenaline kept me going. Because of the powers Daria had given us, I knew exactly what to do. When the men were out, I removed the shield from Renzo and Lucas. I motioned for him to go to the stairs. He picked Renzo up and went to stand by the stairs. He wanted to take a step on it, but he couldn’t.

I looked at Daria, she was still fighting Evil. She was a true warrior. Evil had a really hard time. I joined Lucas and Renzo and fired destruction at Evil with all my might, pushing him against the wall and letting Earth swallow him as far as I could. I got to his body and legs. His head and arms were still sticking out. He was furious. “This can’t be, you shouldn’t be that strong yet. It’s because of that witch!” he yelled. “You’ll never get out of here, my Angel. I will keep you here forever!”

I looked at Daria and I saw her lips move quickly. “Lucas now!” I yelled at him. And I saw that Lucas could go up the stairs. Evil looked wide-eyed and turned to Daria. I looked at Daria one more time and thanked her. I saw her nod. As hard as I found it to leave her behind, I followed Lucas and Renzo up the stairs. We ran as fast as we could. I heard a lot of noice below us, but Daria had already blocked the exit, so they couldn’t get out with their bodies, only without a shell. The higher we got, the lighter it got. I don’t know how fast we ran but a minute later we were upstairs. Lucas ran through the water with Renzo in his arms. I followed him closely. Once on the side, the portal still glittered as it did when Daria made it. I grabbed our bags and without looking back we ran through the portal.

I fell on a hard surface. The cold stones under my hands felt familiar. I looked up and in front of me were Lucas and Renzo and Rob was standing next to me. The first thing that came to mind was that the portal had to close, suppose someone had come after us after all. “Rob, the portal, shut it!” I shouted. He didn’t hesitate for a moment, closing the portal immediately. The mirrored surface trembled and disappeared into the wall until only stones remained. I sighed with relief and hugged Lucas and Renzo. “We made it,” I whispered. I felt Lucas and Renzo wrap their arms around me and we sat like that for a while.

“Julia?”, I heard Rob ask.

I got up and without thinking I hugged Rob too. He answered immediately and held me tight. “It’s okay girl, I’m glad you’re home.” I nodded. I couldn’t say anything for a moment, a lump formed in my throat and tears in my eyes. “Come on, let’s go upstairs.” He patted my back and let go. Lucas and Renzo had come up too. Renzo looked at me gratefully and I just smiled. I was so glad he was back. I grabbed Renzo and Lucas’ hands and we walked down the hall to Rob’s shed.

Once we got to the top, the circle was waiting for us. They were so happy to have us back that they hugged us all, even Lucas. After we had washed and taken care of our wounds, we told everything to Rob and the circle. Renzo was quiet. He was the worst. After a few hours we were exhausted. The circle went home and Lucas and Renzo each got a room upstairs to sleep. I stayed behind with Rob to discuss everything.

“I understand,” he finally said. “It was just so risky. I was afraid of losing you and having to agree with the Elders.” He shook his head.

“I’m sorry I left you just like that, but I really couldn’t bear to put one of you in danger.” He nodded. “You’re back and that’s the most important thing. And in what way! You are much stronger and wiser than when you left,” he said with admiration. I nodded. “Daria has been a great help to us, we really couldn’t have done it without her. She is, was, a wonderful woman.” I felt a pain in my chest as I said that. I still had her powers and knowledge, so that meant she was dead.

“That’s what she sounds like,” Rob had said.

“Now go to sleep, tomorrow is Christmas Day, then we’ll have a nice day together. And a fresh start.” I nodded. “That sounds good.”

I got up and walked upstairs.

Softly I opened Renzo’s door and sat on the bed with him. I leaned over him and gave him a kiss, surprisingly he kissed me back forcefully. I was so glad he was there. “Thanks,” he said. I laughed. “You would have done the same for me.” “Absolutely!” he said forcefully.

“Are you okay?” I asked. He nodded. “Now that I’m here I do, sometimes I don’t think it’s real. He showed me things that I believed to be real, and then he took me back to that place.” He shivered for a moment. “This is real, you’re back home, we’re together again.” He nodded and held me tight. “That’s the most important thing,” he said with conviction. I nodded and put my lips back on his, he was only too happy to answer. The feeling was back to normal. I was complete again, it was good again. I smiled at Renzo’s lips and he did the same.

“Now go to sleep, tomorrow we have another day.” I wanted to get up.

“Stay with me,” he said softly. I nodded. “I’ll be right back, I still have something to do.” He looked at me happily, nodded and closed his eyes.

I quietly closed the door, two doors further I knocked on the door. I heard someone walk to the door and Lucas opened it. “Hey, can I come in for a second?” He nodded and I sat down next to him on the bed. I looked at him for a moment and smiled. He laughed too. “Thanks for everything,” I told him. “You too, you’ve put up with me well,” he said with a wink. I laughed and gave him a little nudge with my shoulder. “No seriously, without you I would never have experienced this, I would never have lost my faith. And I probably would have killed myself by taking on Evil. You saved me.” “Oh Lucas, we saved each other and together with Daria we saved Renzo.” He nodded.

He took my hand from where the pentagram was on, she said it would go away but it was still there. He traced the two love lines with his index finger. I shook my head. “I know,” I told him. I looked at him sadly. “It doesn’t matter, I’m a rich man to call you a friend.” “Lucas I”, “Hush, it’s okay.” He grabbed my shoulder and we sat like that for a while. I loved Renzo with all my heart, but all the events had made me kind of love Lucas too. I would never want to lose them.

Grateful that Lucas accepted me as I was, I gave him a kiss on his cheek and stood up.

“It’s Christmas tomorrow, are you staying here? Then we can all celebrate together. With our family.” Lucas’s eyes sparkled as I asked. “That sounds like music to my ears.” I laughed at his response.

I turned towards the door, I snapped my fingers and the door flew open. “Julia! What are you doing?” Lucas asked. I looked at my fingers in amazement and then at the door. I put a hand over my mouth. “That happened automatically. I just did it.” He got up and came to stand in front of me. He took my hand one more time and looked at the pentagram, then he showed his hand and there it was completely gone. “You’ve taken over all her powers, even the magic,” he said with a laugh. “You’re right, I can feel it. I thought it was part of the powers she gave us, but now I feel it. As if it’s always been there and I’ve always had it.” “That’s because of the knowledge she gave us, you already know everything, so it’s like second nature to you, like you don’t know any better.”

“And now what?” I asked him. He laughed. “Just be yourself.”

I looked at him and nodded. He was right. The most important thing was that I could be myself and that with the people I loved. I didn’t expect to feel like this anymore, but luckily I was wrong. I felt complete and strong, ready for the future, ready to be myself and prove to the Elders otherwise that I would make it.

The end.