by Amy Cross
“What are you talking about?” Elly asked, trying not to panic. “We need to leave!”
Instead of answering, Annie simply continued to stare at Carlyle.
“How do we start the SUV?” Elly continued. “Annie? Are you even listening to me?”
Annie looked once again at her watch. “Three minutes,” she murmured. “Almost four. I need to give him a minute or two longer.”
“I want to go!” Katia sobbed. “I don't like this place!”
“Annie,” Elly said, “are you -”
Stopping suddenly, she watched as Annie reached out and touched the side of Carlyle's dead, bloodied face.
“What are you doing?” Elly hissed. “Annie? Seriously, we have to get out of here!”
“Four minutes,” Annie muttered. “I can't rush it. Five minutes should definitely be long enough. I've only done this to someone once before, and that wasn't entirely a success, so I have to make sure I get it right this time. There won't be any second chances. He'll be too far gone by then.”
“I'm going to find the keys,” Elly told Katia. “Just let go of me for a moment, sweetheart. Be brave so I can go and figure out how to start the vehicle, okay?”
Katia looked up at her with tear-filled eyes.
“Please,” Elly continued, “I know you can be brave. I can't even begin to imagine what you've been through in the past, but I'm sure you've had to be very brave.”
Katia hesitated, before letting go and stepping back.
“That's good,” Elly said, before sighing as she looked back over at Annie. “Where will the keys be, Annie?” she called out, and then she waited a moment to give Annie a chance to answer. Deep down, however, she was already starting to bubble over with a mix of anger and frustration. “Where will I find the keys, Annie?” she added finally. “Annie, you seem to know everything, so where can I get the keys? Even if you want to stay here, I'm getting Katia away, so can you please help me find the keys?”
Annie looked at her watch again.
“This has to stop!” Elly snapped, marching over to her. “Annie, you -”
Before she could get another word out, she gasped as she saw Carlyle turn and let out a slow, agonized gasp that seemed to come from deep down in his body.
“What the hell?” Elly stammered. “I thought... I thought he was dead?”
“He is,” Annie said, with a hint of wonder in her voice as she kept her hand on the side of Carlyle's face. “He's been dead for five minutes in our world, which means he's had just enough time in the eternal horror of the other side. He's literally been to Hell. I had to let him stay there long enough for him to experience the pain, but not too long that his mind would be destroyed. I need him to be able to speak. That's why the timing issue was such a delicate balance.”
“What do you mean?” Elly asked, swallowing hard. “Annie, what exactly are you doing?”
“You wouldn't tell me anything while you were alive,” Annie pointed out, as she continued to stare at Carlyle, “but now you're dead. Now you've seen what your lies and your evil earned you in the next place. So now's your chance to make amends, at least a little. Tell me who sent you to get the girl, and tell me where you're supposed to take her next.” She waited, before moving her hand a little higher onto the side of Carlyle's temple. “Tell me!”
Carlyle's bloodied mouth twitched slightly, but his eyes were staring up at the clear blue sky.
“Listen to me!” Annie sneered. “I know you can hear me! Focus! This is your very last chance to do something good. You've seen now that all the bullshit surrounding your stupid little cults was a waste of time. You should have no more pride on that score, so you can damn well talk to me!”
Carlyle continued to watch the sky for a moment, before finally lowering his gaze and looking straight at Annie.
“That's good,” she purred. “Stay like that for a minute or two. Tell me who sent you.”
“I saw my mother,” Carlyle gasped. “She was being torn apart by demons. She was screaming. They were doing things to her, awful things, and -”
“I don't care!” Annie snapped. “Tell me about the plan!”
“Then they made me do things to her,” he groaned. “I couldn't stop. They made me -”
“Shut up!” Annie said firmly. “I don't give a damn about your boring mother issues! I need you to focus and tell me who sent you! Maybe if you do that, a little of your burden will ease and you won't suffer quite so much when you go back to Hell!”
“Go back?” Carlyle stammered. “I don't want to go back! Please, don't let me go back!”
“I can only keep you here for a minute or two,” Annie explained, “but it might help you to talk. In fact, it will help you, so tell me everything you know!”
“She was screaming and begging me for -”
“Focus!” Annie shouted. “Tell me!”
“I never saw her!” he gasped. “All our orders came remotely, over the phone or by encrypted email! I never even saw her face!”
“Maybe she doesn't have one anymore,” Annie suggested. “Someone's been manipulating you. Someone's been manipulating all the cults.”
“Eldion House,” he continued. “That's all I know! She's waiting for us at Eldion House!”
“Where's Eldion House?” Annie asked.
“Co-ordinates,” he explained. “Five. Four. Two. One... I don't remember the rest. Co-ordinates. She gave us co-ordinates.”
“That seems suitably cryptic,” Annie replied. “You were supposed to get the girl and take her to this Eldion House place. Is that right?”
“We were going to be rewarded,” Carlyle continued. “She said we'd get everything we wanted, she promised to reward us. All the other cults are liars, they've got it all wrong, but she told us that we were right. She told us to do everything she said, and that in return we'd be saved.”
“I'm sure she said the same thing to the other cults too.”
“I thought we were going to be saved!”
“Didn't quite work out like that, did it?” Annie pointed out.
“I don't want to go back!” he gasped. “You can't make me!”
“I can't stop you going back to Hell,” Annie explained. “I need to know more. Does the name Kirsten Winter mean anything to you? Is that who gave you your orders?”
“I don't know who it was. We never knew her name.”
“Did you hear her voice?”
“It was all disguised. She said everything had to be done in secret.”
“Of course she did,” Annie said, rolling her eyes. “I'm starting to think that I know who's behind all these cults.”
“I can feel it!” Carlyle said suddenly, his voice filled with fear. “Why am I going back? I don't want to see them doing things to my mother again! I don't want to go back to Hell!”
“Stay with me for a few more seconds,” Annie replied. “The name I just said to you, Kirsten Winter... Rack your brains, tell me where you've heard that name before. Come on, you must know more than you're letting on. I need more!”
“Help me!” he screamed. “Don't let them take me back! They're clawing at me from the other side! They're furious that you brought me here, even for just a few minutes. They're furious, and they're saying... They're saying they'll see you soon. They're saying you'll be joining me down here when you die!” He started laughing maniacally. “They're saying Annie Radford's coming to join the rest of us soon, and she'll go to the deepest, darkest circle of Hell for what she did! They've got a message for you, Annie!”
“Where's Eldion House?” Annie asked. “You have to tell me while you still can!”
Suddenly Carlyle's body lurched, as if something had pushed against it from below, and his head twisted to one side. His mouth fell open, burning and blackening around the edges, and a brief, shrieking howl rang out from deep, deep within his body. And then his eyes split open from the inside, as jet-black claws reached out from inside the man's skull.
“You'll be down here soon
, Annie Radford!” a voice gasped, speaking through Carlyle's wide-open and burned mouth. “We've saved a special place for you in Hell! You're going to -”
And then Carlyle fell still, and his dead head lolled back until it bumped against the rocks. The claws were gone, but clear liquid dribbled from his split eyes and ran down the side of his face.
Annie stared at Carlyle, her face betraying no hint of emotion whatsoever. She seemed to be waiting, just in case he managed a few more words, even though his mouth had burned almost entirely away.
“Was he... dead?” Elly asked after a moment. “I mean, I know he was dead, but... Was he really in Hell? Is Hell really real?”
She waited, but Annie didn't answer. It was as if she hadn't even heard the question.
“That was a joke, right?” Elly asked. “It was some kind of stunt or trick, it was... you were... I mean, that's not...”
Her voice trailed off.
Her mind was racing, and she felt as if things were happening that she couldn't even begin to understand.
Annie paused, before getting to her feet and – as she did so – wiping her hands on the sides of her dress. Although her hands looked clear, she wiped them over and over again, as if she was convinced that they were covered in some kind of filth.
“Aren't you going to get him back?” Elly continued. “Aren't you going to make him answer all your questions? He didn't tell you where that Eldion House place is, did he? Don't you need to know?”
“It's too late for him,” Annie replied. “His soul will burn now, for the rest of eternity. He's paying the price for the crimes he committed while he was alive.”
“Are you serious?” Elly asked. “Is that really how it works?”
“Of course I'm serious. And I'm... You heard that voice. One day I'll be there too.”
Annie seemed to be in a daze as she turned and slowly took a couple of faltering steps toward Elly. She was still trying to wipe her hands, pressing them harder and slower down the sides of her dress and onto her hips. She seemed to be mumbling something under her breath, the same indecipherable words over and over again.
“Come on,” Elly said, “this is no time to freak out on me. Annie, we -”
Before she could finish, Annie stumbled and began to fall. Elly just about managed to catch her and lower her down to the ground, but Annie was already unconscious.
“I want to go now,” Katia sobbed nearby, as Elly tapped the side of Annie's face in an attempt to rouse her. “Please, can't we go now?”
Chapter Eleven
“Annie?” the little boy says. “What are you doing?”
He waits, standing in the forest, and watches as his sister's face flickers slightly. She's staring at him, concentrating intently, while aiming a gun at his face.
“Can we go home?” he asks, his voice betraying a hint of fear even though – in truth – he's too young to really understand the danger.
“Close your eyes,” Annie replies, barely able to get the words out.
He hesitates, but then he does as he's told. Then he waits, as his eyes move beneath the closed lids. He's waiting, waiting, waiting... He wants to open his eyes, he wants to understand the game that his sister's playing, but he also doesn't want to let on that he's scared. So he waits a few seconds longer, trying to force himself to be good, until he can hold back no longer. Finally, in defeat, he opens his eyes.
“Annie?” he stammers.
Annie's finger squeezes the trigger and the gun fires, blasting one side of Taylor's face and sending his body slumping down against the leaf-covered forest floor.
Now Annie stands completely still, waiting for the voice in her head to give her another command. She's staring straight ahead, watching the light that streams down between the trees, waiting for another order. Somehow, she knows that the voice is gone, or at least that it won't be coming back for a while. It's as if the faint background hum has vanished, leaving her all alone.
And then, slowly, her little brother gets back up from the forest floor. One side of his head has been blasted away, exposing fragments of broken skull. There's blood everywhere, but also a kind of darker liquid that's seeping slowly from a section of exposed brain matter. One of his eye sockets is shattered on the outer edge, but he's still keeping his eyes fixed firmly on Annie even as more and more blood pours from his wound.
“Why did you do that?” he asks, as a trickle of blood begins to run from his mouth, down onto his chin. “Now you're going to Hell. Do you understand? Carlyle was right. They're waiting for you in Hell, Annie, and they're going to rip you to pieces for the rest of eternity. I'll be there, to make sure you pay for what you did to me!”
“It was the voice,” Annie stammers, before dropping the gun as tears fill her eyes. “Taylor, I -”
“Why did you do it?” he screams, lunging at her and grabbing her shoulders, pushing her down to the forest floor and landing on top of her, leaning against her face as more blood sloshes from his wound and splatters against her eyes. “Why did you kill me? Why? WHY?”
“I'm sorry!” she sobs. “Taylor, please, I'm so sorry! Please, you have to -”
Suddenly Taylor vanishes. Panicking, Annie turns and looks for him, but in an instant she finds that she's on her knees in the middle of the forest. Before her, resting on the carpet of leaves, there's a gun. Annie hesitates, still trying to work out what's happening, and then slowly she reaches out with a trembling hand to pick the gun up.
At the last moment, she holds back.
“Do it,” a familiar voice says.
Annie freezes.
“You heard your mother,” another voice adds. “Nobody wants you around anymore, Annie. You destroyed our entire family. We just want you dead.”
Annie half turns her head, until she's just able to see her parents standing at the edge of the clearing. Immediately, she feels tears welling in her eyes.
“We never really liked you much anyway,” her mother says, “but now we just want you to be gone. Can't you get that through your thick head? Everyone will be much happier once you're dead and rotten.”
“I didn't mean to do it,” she replies, as tears run down her cheeks. “Mom, I -”
“Just kill yourself!” her mother snaps.
“Maybe then we'll get Taylor back,” her father adds calmly, sounding much more impassive. “It's got to be worth a shot, anyway. You know what's waiting for you in Hell. Do you really want to live a moment longer, knowing that your punishment is coming.”
“You've already seen them once,” her mother says, reaching up and touching her own eyeball with her left index finger, letting the painted red edge scratch against her pupil until it starts to cut through. “If you don't go to them soon, Annie, they might just decide to come up here and fetch you themselves.” As she spoke, her eyeball split all the way open, revealing a churning mass of black claws that were fighting to force themselves through.
“No,” Annie whispered, horrified by the sight but unable to stop looking.
“You think you can help people,” her father added, “but you can't. Not unless you take the one decent step that's still available to you.”
“No!” Annie yelled, before turning and reaching for the gun, only to find that it had vanished.
A moment later, hearing a clicking sound over her shoulder, she turned and saw to her horror that a copy of herself was standing just a few feet away, aiming the gun straight in her direction.
“You must have always known,” the fake Annie said, “that this is how it'd end.”
With that, she pulled the trigger.
***
Annie's eyes flickered open as the SUV drove over a bump in the road. Completely still and silent on the back seat, with her body jumping slightly as the vehicle continues to drive through the night, Annie stared straight ahead at the dark tree tops ahead.
Her eyes were clear and free of tears, even though the last screams of her dream were still echoing in her mind. She could hear the gunshot e
choing in her mind, and – in the last frantic scrap of a second in her dream – she'd seen the bullet racing toward her face, and she'd spotted her own face grinning back at her.
She looked out the window for a few more seconds. The night air was cold, and at first she simply stared at the stars. Finally, however, she realized that something about those dark tree-tops was bothering her.
After a moment she heard a faint clicking sound. She turned and – despite the darkness – she just about spotted Katia sleeping over on the other side of the seat. The poor girl had somehow managed to rest, which Annie figured meant that she must be exhausted. A blanket had fallen away from Katia's torso, so Annie reached over and put it back in place, to keep the girl warm. Then she looked ahead and saw something in the SUV's driving seat, although it took a few more seconds before she began to realize where she was, who was driving, and how they could have ended up in this situation.
Leaning forward, she looked again at the tops of the trees ahead.
Deep down, she could feel a sense of dread already starting to come together in the pit of her belly.
“Are you awake?” Elly asked cautiously, half-turning to look at her but not daring to take her eyes off the road. “Annie? Are you okay?”
Ignoring the question, Annie clambered through to the passenger seat next to Elly. In the process, she managed to bump Elly's face with he elbow.
“Where are we?” she whispered, before turning to Elly. “Where are you taking us?”
“I'm just driving,” Elly replied. “You passed out and I didn't know what to do, so I got us all into the SUV and I just drove. That was hours and hours ago now, and I've just been driving ever since. I've lost track of where we are now.”
Annie turned and looked at the dark forest that lined the sides of the road. There were no other cars out there, and it was clear that they were in a rural part of the country. Deep down, she wondered how they could have traveled so far in just a few hours, and she was starting to think that maybe she'd been unconscious for a day or even more. She paused, before turning and looking back at Elly.
