Secret of The Night

I fell and fell and fell. Almost like there was no bottom. That closet was seriously messed up. I looked down. Light!

Wait. Light? That exists down here?

It was just a tiny speck though. But compared to the receding walls of blackness in whatever tube I was falling through, it was a bright star waiting to explode into a supernova. On the brink of enlarging. And so, so, cl--

I popped my head out of the debris, gasping for air. Taking a quick 360 view of where I ended up, I made a face. It was a pile of leaves that I landed in. A pile of old, dirty leaves. Upon my closer inspection, the leaves were like regular leaves. A little dirt here and there, but still the same veiny and flimsy ovals I had grown up with. There were trees, too. Big oak and sequoia pines jutting out from their roots. They lined a stone path that was right in front of me, like those flowering trees lining the path that the guy and the girl walk on in dramas. Only.... they were black.

Everything down here was black. Either black or white or gray. The leaves were white. The dirt was, of course, black. The stone path was gray, because, you know, it’s made out of stone. The trees were black, tinted with silver. The sky was pitch black. It was like a 1940 photograph come to life. I looked down at my pastel yellow sweatshirt, with the neon green lettering. I sucked in a breath, goose bumps spreading up arms and tickling my barely-there arm hairs.

When I got enough of my common sense back to move my feet and step out of the leaf pile, I heard a muffled yell.

“What the f*ck?” I’m ashamed to say I screeched. But hey, cut me some slack, I’m already in hell.

I lifted my foot up. A head popped up next to me, startling me enough to stumble back into the pile.

“Darren?” I stared at him, incredulous.

He looked at me indignantly, an angry ‘why’d you step on me’ look on his face. “Um. Hi-i, Vi-vi,” he stammered, all the previous bravado flown who knows where.

I turn around and breathe a sigh of exasperation. So I ended up in the underworld all by myself, and my knight in shining armor turns out to be stalker number 4 from my math class?

“Vivi?”

I turn back around.

“What?” I angrily throw the words across the distance that separates us.

He flinches. “Where are we?” Darren looks around, confused.

I laugh before pulling him and myself out of the leaf pile. “You don’t even know where you are? Why the hell did you follow me down here then? How did you get here?”

“The lady at the shop you were at before said you needed some help. She saw me wandering in after you. I... followed you after I saw you come out of the alley,” he suddenly became very interested in the pattern of the dirt on the light gray ground.

Well. The manager lady was right. I did need help. Oh, but why couldn’t she have sent some better help? He didn’t even look that much stronger than me!

“I have a bag. The lady told me to take it before I jumped down that weird-looking closet thing,” he swung the pack on his back around to show me. Heavy burlap, like mine. I grabbed it, smiling. I pulled the zipper open so fast it almost got stuck and confirmed what I had been thinking. The same provisions, only more! She must have assumed that he was strong enough to carry all this.

I laughed, genuinely this time, and patted the poor guy on his back. His hands and legs were trembling. “Oh, stop it. I’m not that scary. Wait ’til you hear where we are to shiver in fear.”

Darren picked his head up immediately and stared at me with huge eyes. “What?”

“We’re in Hades,” I said solemnly, my face a grave depiction of all the horrors soon to befall us. I giggled at his shock, felt pity on him, and put a smile on my face again. “We’re in hell. Pretty much. I have to find this demon thing-prince Yoru and get my soul back and then I can get us outta here. I’m sure he can, anyway. So you have to help me. I’m your only way out of this mess.”

He looked at me. “Seriously?” It looked like he didn’t believe me, but when I showed him the colorless surroundings and the black sky, he gritted his teeth and clenched his fists.

“Yeah... so we should hurry,” I turned around and started walking on the path. I got about three steps before I realized the person carrying my extra food wasn’t following. Swiveling back, I glared at Darren. A small movement caught my eye. The leaf pile suddenly got a little bit flatter, like someone had stepped on it. I brushed off my concern as some strange hellish wind.

“Hello? Where are we going?” he looked at me strangely.

Good question. I stared past the tree branches and saw the tall white peaks of a castle with Gothic architecture. It stood out terribly amongst the black sky and silver trees. Plus, it was the only building in this hellhole.

I pointed. “There.” Darren followed the path of my finger and dropped his jaw. I walked past him calmly, hefting my pouch of life supplies onto one shoulder. A couple of seconds later, I heard heavy footsteps behind me, a sure sign Stalker #4 was following.

We walked in silence for a while, neither one of us saying anything. I kept staring ahead, but Darren glanced my way whenever he got the chance. If I looked back at him, he turned away quickly. A grin tugged at the corner of my lips but I kept it down. One foot in front of the other, we marched like good little soldiers towards our destination.

“So, Vivi. What have you been doing?” he looked over at me, questioningly. “What was your favorite part about it?” Really, man? We’re in literal hell, and you want to hit on me?

I decided to entertain him. “Not much. Just, I got asked out.” He looked at me with enormous sad puppy dog eyes. “By a demon. Who then drank my blood and gave me no choice but to come down here to find him.” His eyes widened.

“Oh,” he mumbled. “Is that who we’re going to see? A demon? Prince?”

I nodded silently. I wasn’t too pleased with the idea either, but what could I do? I want to live over 20.

We walked together again, the awkward silence becoming a depressed one, both of us wallowing in the despair of our mutual hopeless situation. The toe of my shoe caught onto a stray rock on the stone path, and I stumbled, flailing my arms wildly. Darren shouted a warbled sound before sticking out an arm to catch me before I split my head open. He reeled his arm in, pulling me with him.

He’s stronger than I thought.

When both of my feet hit the ground solidly, he let go and put a hand behind his neck sheepishly. “Sorry.”

I was staring at him, but I shook myself quickly. “No, it’s ok. Thanks.” I pivoted back to facing the castle, head tilted.

Ummmmmmm. That was weird.

I kept walking, and soon enough he followed meekly behind. We only managed to get a few feet from where we were just standing when Darren let out a yell that sounded like a scream that also sounded like a shout.

“What? What’s wrong now?” I ran back to him and followed his gaze.

A bunny. A white one, like in the real world, with small beady eyes. I breathed out the breath I had been holding in. It looked like it could fit in the palm of my hand, and so out of place nestled in the black-branched bush.

I patted Darren on the back. “It’s a bunny, bro. There are bunnies down here.” I laughingly shook my head in mock annoyance and started to walk again.

Only when I heard a noise behind me did I turn around again. “What is it now, Darren? I said it’s a bunny!” I spoke in abrupt anger but trailed off once I saw the huge monstrosity looming in front of me, Darren in its right claws.

“Vivi, help,” he pleaded me with his eyes.