Diary of a journey through Hell

by Trudie Collins

  Kris shrugged. “Sometimes we need croissants.”

  It was an enjoyable breakfast and nobody seemed in a hurry to be on the go once more. It was Robert who eventually announced that we should pack up our tents.

  For once, I helped. “I guess you won’t be needing this anymore,” I whispered in Kris’s ear as we folded up his canvas and stuffed it into his bag.

  “I was hoping you would say that,” he said, grabbing me around the waist and pulling me closer to him. We were still kissing when Robert interrupted us.

  “A good night’s sleep hasn’t made you two see sense yet I see.” He sounded what? Angry? Concerned? I’m not sure, but I do know that he certainly wasn’t happy for us.

  Ignoring him, Kris finished packing up our gear, shouldered his bag and took me by the hand. “Come on,” he said. “Let’s get moving.”

  We had not been walking long when I spotted something odd in the distance.

  “What is that?” I asked, pointing at the black seething mass.

  “Beetles,” Kris replied. “They have a colony nearby and go to drink at the river each morning.”

  “There must be thousands of them.”

  “At least,” Kris said.

  “What type are they?” Robert asked as we got closer. He always has been a bit of an amateur entomologist. One scurried close to my foot and I quickly moved out of its way.

  “Dung beetles. Also known as scarab beetles,” Kris said.

  “Scarab beetles?” I almost screeched in fright as I began to back away. “Next you will be telling us we are going to Hamunaptra.”

  “Isn’t that in India?” Kris asked in confusion.

  “I think she means the ancient Egyptian city of the dead,” Robert said. “She’s seen too many movies.” I watched in horror as he picked up one of the beetles and placed it in the palm of his hand so he could examine it. It didn’t burrow into him and work its way under his skin to his heart. Hollywood certainly has a lot to answer for.

  “They’re actually quite pretty,” he said and held it out to me to take a look. I shuddered and moved to stand behind Kris. I never have liked beetles, especially ones that eat people. OK, I know they don’t now, but at the time I wasn’t so sure.

  “They are perfectly harmless,” Kris said, but I still refused to take a closer look.

  “Is there a way of avoiding them?” I asked.

  “Sure,” Kris said and pulled me away from them. “We have to go this way to cross the river anyway.”

  It did not take us long to reach a bridge, but Kris stopped Robert before he could cross.

  “I thought I should warn you,” he said. “Across that bridge is the home of the furies. They are not often here, so it is unlikely we will meet them, but you ought to be prepared, just in case.”

  “Furies?” I asked. “Don’t they punish crime or something?”

  “Yes,” Kris said. “They have many different names, but you would probably know them as Megaera, Tisiphone and Alecto.”

  “What are they like?” I asked.

  “Complete and utter bitches.” I don’t know what I expected him to say, but that wasn’t it. “They punish crime, mainly murder, but also moral crimes, like unfaithfulness. They hound and torment their victims until they die of madness and once they decide someone needs to be punished, they will never, ever give up.”

  “Remind me not to get on their bad side,” Robert said dryly.

  “If it’s not a stupid question,” I asked, “how do we recognise them?”

  “There are a couple of things that give them away. The first would be their wings.”

  “Angels or fairies?” Robert asked.

  “Angels.”

  “And the other thing?”

  “They have snakes for hair.” I think these women are going to be pretty hard to miss.

  “Medusa was one of the furies?” Robert asked in surprise.

  “No, she is a gorgon. Gorgon’s don’t have wings. And before you ask, yes she is still alive and no you don’t get turned to stone just by looking at her. She gets very upset whenever anyone mentions that vicious little rumour.”

  “How did it start?” I asked.

  “Jilted lover, I think,” Kris said. “It happened a long time before I was born and nobody in the family talks about it, so I may be wrong.”

  “So,” I said as we walked across the bridge. “All we have to do is keep an eye out for angels with snake fetishes and pray they don’t take a disliking to us.”

  “You mean like that?” Robert said, pointing toward a woman who was walking toward us. Her white feathered wings flowed out behind her and at first glance it looked like she had a full head of wavy red hair. Second glance told a different story.

  “Kris, how nice to see you,” she said in an aggravatingly high pitched voice.

  “Alecto,” he said flatly.

  “To what do we owe this honour?” She either didn’t notice his lack of friendliness or was ignoring it.

  “Just passing through. And we are in a hurry, so if you don’t mind we would like to be on our way.”

  Alecto laughed. It was not a pleasant noise. I almost covered my ears, but thought that would be offensive.

  “You don’t really think you can avoid introducing me to your friends, do you?”

  Kris sighed. “This is Rob. He’s on his way to rescue a woman from Death and this is Rachel, my girlfriend.” He put his arm around me as he said that. It felt protective more than affectionate, but hearing him refer to me as his girlfriend made me feel warm inside. I know I had a huge grin on my face that I could not get rid of.

  Alecto hissed. So did her snakes. “You’d better hope Megaera doesn’t find out.”

  I raised a questioning eyebrow at Kris, who shook his head. “How many more times do I have to tell you this? There never has been and there never will be anything between me and your sister.”

  “That’s not what she says,” Alecto said. She beat her wings and levitated off the ground. “You may be lucky. She may not even know you are here. Then again, maybe not.” With that last comment, she flew away.

  “We might have a little problem here,” Kris said, removing his arm from around my waist and taking hold of my hand. “Megaera is going to be pretty pissed when she finds out about you.”

  “As Alecto said,” Robert said, “we may be lucky and she may not find out.”

  Kris looked at him as though pitying his ignorance. “Where do you think that little bitch has just flown off to?”

  “Oh,” was all Robert said. Even I had worked out that she had gone to find her sister to pass on the news.

  Kris squeezed my hand. “Stay close,” he said. “We will be safely out of their territory soon.”

  “Why did you introduce me as your girlfriend if you knew it was going to cause trouble?” I asked Kris as we walked.

  “I didn’t really think about it. It felt so good saying it I don’t think I engaged my brain properly.” I could hardly blame him for that now could I?

  “Don’t worry about it,” I said. “We’ll be fine.” I sounded a lot more confident than I felt.

  “I wouldn’t bet on it,” Robert said, pointing ahead of him. In front of us, hovering a few feet off the ground, was another of the sisters. This one had green snakes instead of hair, all of which were standing out straight and displaying their fangs.

  “Don’t do anything stupid Magaera,” Kris warned her as he positioned himself in front of me.

  “I don’t know what you are talking about,” she said with obviously fake innocence. “Why should I do anything stupid? It’s not as if I am jealous or anything.”

  “Doesn’t her name mean jealous?” Robert whispered to Kris, who winced.

  “Please don’t remind her.”

  “I’m just here to see your so-called girlfriend,” Magaera continued. “I wanted to see the woman who would make you be unfaithful to me.”

  Shit. Wasn’t unfaithfulness one of the things Kris had said the f
uries punished? So who was in trouble, me or Kris?

  “Magaera,” Kris said in a warning tone. “Don’t even think about it.” Think about what? Did I really want to know?

  Magaera laughed. She sounded even worse than Alecto had. “Don’t worry. I won’t lay a finger on her.” She smiled sweetly down at us. “After all, why do I need to when I have a sister to do it for me?”

  As she spoke I was grabbed from behind and my hand was wrenched from Kris’s. By the time she finished her sentence I was up in the air, being held in place by the third sister. Magaera smiled up at me.

  “Drop her Tisiphone,” Kris said, his voice cold and harsh.

  “With pleasure,” Tisiphone called down to him. “From what height?” We rose higher and higher until Kris and Robert looked like small ants below us.

  “I thought you killed people by driving them mad,” I stammered.

  “We sometimes make exceptions,” she said. “Especially when it is personal.” Wonderful.

  “Stay calm,” I heard Kris’s voice say inside my head. How the hell was he doing that? “I promise I won’t let anything happen to you. I’m going to talk with Tisiphone now. I’ve never spoken to her like this before, so be prepared in case she drops you in fright.” He was kidding, right?

  Suddenly Tisiphone started looking around her, terror written all over her face. Her blue snakes were hissing madly. Then she screamed and covered her ears with her hands. This meant she was no longer holding on to me and I plummeted toward the ground.

  I didn’t scream. Kris had told me he would not let anything happen to me and I believed him. I was in his arms before I reached the ground.

  “Thanks for the warning.”

  “My pleasure,” he said, then he kissed my forehead before handing me to Robert. “Look after her. I have something to take care of.”

  He walked up to where Megaera was still hovering, jumped up, grabbed her by the throat and they both disappeared.

  “You don’t think he is going to...” Robert started to say, but was unable to finish the sentence.

  I read his mind. “No. He wouldn’t. Would he?”

  “She did try to kill you,” Robert said. “And I don’t think Kris is going to take that very lightly.”

  I suddenly realised that Robert was still cradling me and I requested that he put me down. I was a little unsteady on my legs to begin with (after all, I had just been dropped from God knows what height), but I soon recovered.

  “So what do we do now?” I asked.

  “Wait, I guess,” was the only suggestion that Robert could come up with. “And hope that the other two furies don’t come back before Kris returns.” Did he really have to add that last bit?

  Kris was not gone long and when he returned he was alone.

  He walked straight up to me and took me in his arms. “Are you alright?” he asked. I nodded my head.

  “I’m fine. You told me you wouldn’t let anything happen to me and I believed you. How did you speak to me by the way?”

  Kris pulled back and grinned at me. “I’m a demi-god remember,” he said as though that explained everything. Thinking about it, I guess it did.

  “Shouldn’t that be demi-demi-god?” I asked.

  “Don’t get technical,” he said. “We still refer to ourselves as demi-gods whether it is correct terminology or not.”

  “Am I the only one wondering where you hid the body?” Robert asked.

  “What body?” Kris asked in confusion.

  “Megaera’s.”

  Kris looked at him in surprise for a moment, then burst out laughing. “I didn’t kill her, you idiot. I took her to see my grandfather. This is his realm after all, so he can deal with her.”

  I shivered. I don’t know what Kris told Hades, but I could almost guarantee it would have been the complete truth. Megaera had pissed off the grandson of the god of the underworld. I wouldn’t want to be in her shoes, that’s for sure.

  Kris took hold of my hand and we continued our journey. We talked while we walked and I asked about Kris’s history with the furies.

  “I made the mistake of being nice to them,” he said. “Everyone else shunned them, but I like to make up my own mind about people, so I ignored all of the warnings. It had been a very long time since anyone had treated them as people rather than creatures and Megaera took it personally. I tried to explain that I wasn’t interested, but she wouldn’t listen and decided that we were a couple who were destined to be together.”

  “No good deed goes unpunished,” I said with a smile.

  “Something like that. I try to avoid coming to this area, but sometimes needs must.” Kris smirked as a memory surfaced. “I brought Ankou with me once, in the hope that her affections would transfer to him. It didn’t work though.”

  “That was cruel,” I said, though whether I was referring to it being cruel to Megaera or Ankou, I wasn’t entirely sure.

  “I never said I was perfect,” he said as he pulled me closer to him and kissed me.

  “No. You didn’t. But you’re close enough for me.”

  “Will you two pack it in,” Robert said in exasperation and we pulled apart, but Kris never let go of my hand.

  The sun was beginning to set when we reached the banks of a river and we decided to camp for the night. As usual, Kris pulled poles and canvas out of his bag and started to assemble them.

  Robert looked confused. “Why are there only two tents?” he asked.

  “Why do you think?” I said, glancing meaningfully toward Kris. Robert’s reaction completely shocked me.

  A look of absolute fury crossed his face. “I can understand you seeking comfort in Kris’s arms,” he snarled at me. “Especially after what we have been through. But when I brought you down here, I never expected you to spread your legs for the first man you set eyes on. You are going to ruin everything, you little slut. He’s not even human for God’s sake.”

  I reacted without thinking, slapping him across the face. Hard. Pain shot through my hand as it made contact, but I was too stunned by Robert’s words to even notice. Kris did the sensible thing and kept away. I didn’t need him defending me and anything he could have said would only have made the situation worse.

  I have never hit Robert before, not even playfully, and at first he didn’t know how to react. Then the anger drained out of him and he pulled me close to him, enveloping me in his arms and burying his face in my hair.

  “Rachel, I am so sorry. I don’t know what came over me. It is none of my business who you sleep with and I had no right to talk to you like that. Please forgive me.”

  I could have told him that Kris was being a complete gentleman, that he wasn’t making any moves on me, that he was waiting until I was ready, but I didn’t. As Robert had just said, it was none of his business what Kris and I did or didn’t do.

  Our meal was eaten in silence and as soon as it was over Kris and I went to our bed. I have no idea how long Robert stayed up for and I really don’t care. I was still upset by his words and I thought I would have trouble getting to sleep, but it was warm and comfortable in Kris’s arms and it did not take long for my eyes to close and we were both soon asleep.

  Day 34

  I was woken up by Kris kissing my neck. I was enjoying it so much I didn’t let on that I was no longer asleep in case he stopped.

  “I know you are awake,” he said after a while.

  “How?” I asked as I rolled over to look at him.

  “Your breathing changed rhythm.” He kissed me on the cheek then pulled away from me before I could grab hold of him and pull him back toward me for more. “I’m going to go to the river to bathe. Sleeping with you is like sleeping next to a furnace. Not that I am complaining,” he added hastily. “But I have been sweating all night and I probably don’t smell too good.”

  I was going to suggest we find a way to make him sweat a little more, but he was out of the tent before I could even open my mouth. Maybe he had read my mind.

  It w
as still early, the sun having only just risen, but I was too awake to go back to sleep, so I updated my diary and got dressed. There was no sign of Robert when I emerged from the tent and I was debating whether I should look for some firewood when Kris returned.

  He was wearing just a towel and the sight took my breath away. My stomach didn’t flip the way it did when I saw Ankou; this was different. A warm feeling started in my groin and spread throughout my whole body. This wasn’t lust; I wanted him body, mind and soul.

  I watched him enter our tent and I followed him in. He turned around in surprise.

  “Can I have some privacy while I get dressed?” he asked.

  “No.”

  “No?”

  “No, you can’t have any privacy and no, you can’t get dressed. At least not yet.” I walked up to him and pushed him backward onto the bedding. He could easily have kept his balance, but he didn’t even try. He couldn’t take his eyes off me as I undressed then straddled him, pushed his arms above his head with my hands and kissed him.

  Kris freed his arms and began to stroke my back, making me moan in pleasure. He sat us both up and I wrapped my legs around his torso. He leaned me back slightly, supporting my back with his arm, and began to tease my nipple with his tongue. His free hand was working its way down my body when he suddenly stopped and pulled away.

  “I don’t think I can do this,” he said.

  “Why not?” I asked, unsure whether to feel hurt or angry.

  “I have dreamed about this moment every night from the day I met you, well almost. What happens if reality doesn’t live up to the fantasy?”

  I smiled at him and leaned forward, forcing him down onto his back once more. “Then we try again tonight, and tomorrow, and the day after, and the day after that,” I said, kissing him on the lips before each ‘and’.

  His eyes lit up like a child who has just been given a bag of sweets. “I like the sound of that,” he said, grabbed hold of me and turned us both over so he was pinning me to the ground.

  “I hope you realise that I am falling in love with you,” he said softly.

  “I certainly hope so,” I said. “I don’t go to bed with every guy I get the hots for you know.”