Hellbound: Chronicles

by Brashear, Nicholas

  “Really?”

  “Yeah, and the person wasn’t just a mortal, he was an Elohim!”

  “Wow! I think I would very much like to avoid him. So, do you have a house here, too?”

  “Sort of.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well, there is a house that I usually stay in, but it isn’t mine.”

  “You know the owners?”

  “It doesn’t work like that in Greed. Mammon has claimed ownership to all of the buildings in Greed. If he likes you, then he lets you stay in one of them. It’s hard to get him to like you and you usually have to prove yourself to him before he’ll let you stay. Luckily, I know some people that are allowed to stay in Greed, and they usually let me stay with them. I don’t think they’ll mind if you come along, they are usually welcoming of me and my guards, so if they say anything about it, we’ll just pretend that you are one of my guards.”

  “I’m not one of your guards, though.”

  “It’s just a white lie, Jon. Don’t worry about it. They probably won’t say anything, but if they do, then you’ll just have to pretend. I suggest we don’t spend too much time in Greed.”

  “I think I would probably agree with you, but is the next level any better?”

  “As a matter of fact, Sloth is a lot easier to get around in. If we can make it through Greed, then Sloth is waiting for us on the other side.”

  “But, is Sloth any better?”

  “Yes. Sloth is more like the other levels around here. The Elohim are pretty lazy there. Fitting right?”

  I laughed, “That makes sense.”

  “The Elohim over Sloth is named Belphalgor. As long as you don’t piss him off, he’s easy to get along with. I’ve come across him plenty of times; never any trouble.”

  “Well I guess it’s settled then, we’ll stop in Greed and head for Sloth as soon as we can.”

  Callista nodded and we headed into Greed.

  The city was much like Gluttony, but nicer. It was like as I went up each set of stairs, the levels got nicer and nicer. Greed’s buildings were beginning to resemble buildings that you would find on Earth. There were a few buildings that were three or four stories tall, and there was little organization as far as city planning goes. There were glass windows and wooden doors and I was hard-pressed to find a demolished building. The streets were brick with a few bricks missing here or there. The streets signs were still wooden, but they stretched to the sky like a normal street sign would be.

  We arrived on the left side of the stairs and thus were heading to the left side of Greed.

  “Do your friends live near here?” I asked

  “Just up through a couple of alleyways,” she told me. “I don’t want to take the main road. Mammon is renowned for spotting an outsider and I really don’t want to have to deal with him today.”

  “I don’t blame you. I’d like to avoid all of the Elohim all the time,” I laughed.

  Callista didn’t laugh. “They serve a purpose.”

  “You think so? I really don’t like encountering them. They all seem to have a god complex.”

  “And why shouldn’t they?”

  “Because they aren’t?”

  “It might seem that way, but you don’t know too much about Hell, yet. God created an area for the Elohim to reside, but the Elohim built Hell to what it is today.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah. When they first arrived, it’s said that the entirety of Hell was empty. Each Elohim chose a spot and settled there. They built each area from the ground up.”

  “That’s pretty interesting. So why is it that each level is getting increasingly nicer?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Well, Lust was almost entirely in shambles, Gluttony was a little bit better, and now Greed looks more like home. Why aren’t they all the same?”

  “Oh that! I’m not sure why that is. I heard that there was a war down here between the Elohim, but I don’t necessarily believe all that. Don’t worry about that stuff right now, though. There will be plenty of time to talk about things once we get to that safe house I was telling you about. We should be quiet now if we want to avoid the Elohim that are guarding this area.”

  I nodded and looked straight ahead. I was starting to trust Callista a little more. She seemed to know what she was talking about and seemed to be generally interested in my friendship. I wasn’t sure why, but I felt safe with her. Stuart was always pretty annoying and I never wanted to be around him, but Callista is different. I don’t mind her company. We got off on the wrong foot, but I’ve always been one to forgive and forget. She seemed to have my wellbeing in mind and I was going to take full advantage of having a friend in Hell. I hadn’t seen my father in a long time and had no way of contacting him, so Callista was all I had.

  We took one main road and an alleyway or 2 and we were there. There was a row of buildings that went in a semicircle like a horseshoe and there were 2 rows of buildings inside the curve. Callista’s friend’s house was in one of the rows inside the horseshoe at the end next to the main road. Luckily, the door opened to the alley and not the main road. From everything that Callista had told me, I was happy to avoid the roads. She had been right about Beelzebub, so I was going to take her word about Mammon.

  The house was 2 stories and black. It had a wooden door and two windows on either side. We approached it and Callista knocked three times.

  “Who is it?” a man’s voice came from inside.

  “It’s me!” Callista announced. “I’m just stopping by!”

  The door opened and revealed the man standing behind it. He was average height and weight. He was white, blonde hair, brown eyes, and he was missing his right hand. He wasn’t missing it like he had it amputated, it looked like it had been sawed off and was drizzling blood everywhere. His eyes were deep-set and they made him look older than the rest of his appearance made him look.

  “Come in, Callista,” the man said. His voice was soft and sincere.

  “Great!” she responded. “I’ve brought some company. I hope that’s alight.”

  “Any friend of yours is always welcome here, Callista,” he said.

  We walked in the house. There were plenty of rooms in this house. We were in the front room and there were 2 benches. There was a room to the back and there was another room coming off the side of the back room. I assumed that’s where the stairs were to the next floor.

  Callista looked around and asked, “Where’s Jennette?”

  The man frowned and looked to the ground shaking his head.

  “Did something happen?” Callista followed up.

  “Mammon came,” the man began. “He took her. I tried to stop him, but Theodus pinned me to the ground and he took off with Jennette before I could do anything about it.”

  “I’m so sorry, Phillip,” Callista said. “I wish I could’ve done something for you.”

  “I know you would’ve if you were here,” Phillip said, “but that is the past and there is nothing we can do about it now. Tell me, who is your friend?”

  “I think he can introduce himself,” she said.

  “My name is Teren…” I began, but Callista elbowed me in the ribs.

  “Stop that,” she said. “You can trust Phillip. He is one of the good ones.”

  “Okay then,” I started, “my name is Jon.”

  “Nice to meet you, Jon,” he said. “My name is Phillip. I had a wife with me, her name was Jennette, but I’m afraid you won’t be meeting her.”

  “I’m sorry for your loss,” I said.

  “Don’t be,” Phillip responded. “There isn’t anything anyone could’ve done, and besides, you and I have just met. I wouldn’t have expected you to do anything had you been here. You had no stake in it.”

  “Still,” I said. “It’s never easy to lose someone you care for.”

  “That may be true,” Phillip said, “but there is no need to mourn someone in Hell. Nothing you can do can bring them back. Mammon u
sually takes a woman every now and then. I knew he would come for Jennette soon enough. We’ve been in Greed for quite some time.”

  “You said the name Theodus before;” I began, “who is that?”

  “Theodus?” he responded. “Callista, have you told this poor boy nothing of Greed?”

  She laughed and said, “I’ve told him plenty! I just left that part out. Jon, Theodus is the name of the mongrel Mammon rides around on.”

  I nodded. “So Mammon usually comes and takes women away?”

  “Jon!” Callista said as to halt me.

  “It’s okay, Callista,” Phillip said. “I can talk about it. Jon’s new here and he needs to know about it. Better he learns from me than from someone who could use his naivety for their own good. Mammon comes around every now and then and snatches women from their homes. Well they’re his homes, but you understand. You at least told him about that, right Callista?”

  “Yes!” Callista interjected. “I just forgot the name of that mutt! That’s it!”

  “So anyway,” Phillip began again. “He makes his rounds and takes his women and returns to the palace.” Callista cringed a little bit and Phillip took notice. “I suppose you didn’t tell him about the palace, either?”

  “Okay,” she said, “maybe I forgot more than the dog’s name, but in my defense, I haven’t spent much time in Greed other than here with you and Jennette. You have to forgive me, Jon.”

  “I guess I will,” I joked, “this time.”

  Phillip and Callista both laughed.

  “You got yourself a funny one, Callista!” Phillip said.

  “Got myself…?” Callista asked.

  “You mean?” Phillip asked.

  “No,” I began. “We aren’t together. We’re just friends and she’s just helping me along the way to Sloth.”

  “Yeah, just friends…” Callista added as she trailed off and walked into the other room.

  “I wonder where she is going. You said you are going to Sloth?” Phillip asked me.

  “Yes,” I answered. “Callista said it would be a bad idea to try and stay in Greed. She said that Mammon isn’t someone to be reckoned with, and judging from my past, I think it would be best if I left him alone.”

  “We all have a past, Jon, and there are things that everyone has done that we aren’t proud of. We are in Hell after all. Not everyone you meet is going to be delighting in the splendors set before them. I’ve relinquished my ways and decided to try and survive in Hell the best I can, and that means leading an honest life. Back to my point, though. You aren’t going to be able to go to Sloth.”

  “Why not? What do you mean?”

  “I mean, Mammon has constructed a wall along the border between Greed and Sloth. You can’t get out and they can’t get in.”

  “What? Why?!”

  “No one can really be sure why Mammon does the things he does. He’s an Elohim and they have strange methods to their madness’s. You seem distraught about this. May I ask why?”

  “I have to get to Sloth! I’m working for someone and I have to get there so I can keep working for him!”

  “Working for someone? You are in league with an Elohim!?”

  He seemed pretty angry about the thought, and I figured he was well justified in that. “No,” I defended. “I’m working for a man. I think he considers himself an Elohim, but he is mortal as you or me.”

  “Are you talking about the man in black?”

  “I call him Charlie, but yeah. Seems like everyone knows that guy.”

  “Most people should. It’s rare that someone comes to Hell without being guided by his hand. I’ve heard about people working for him, no details, but enough to know that he employs people.”

  “He takes everyone to Hell?”

  “That he does. There’s hearsay that he was appointed by Azrael.”

  “Azrael? The Angel of Death?”

  “Yes, sir. Makes sense to me. Azrael is one of the only Elohim that can freely travel between planes of existence, and as I understand it, so can Charlie.”

  “I guess that does make sense. I should probably watch what I say to him a little more carefully.”

  “You should watch what you say to anyone. What kind of work are you doing for him, anyway?”

  “I’m not sure. He sends me on some weird errands. He doesn’t like to share any more information than he needs to. I’m usually sent to Earth to do some evil act for him.”

  “Is that so? I’ve never heard about anyone going back to Earth, before.”

  “Well that’s sort of why I’m doing it in the first place. He promised me that if I worked for him and I did a well enough job that he would be able to take me back to Earth and reunite me with my wife.”

  “Oh I see. Do you talk about your wife, much?”

  “Not as much as I think about her. I don’t really like to talk about her. It seems like no one understands where I come from.”

  “They probably don’t. Most people forget about their lives once they’ve been in Hell long enough. Do you know how long you’ve been here?”

  “I have no idea. I’ve had a few dreams and spent a lot of time on Earth, so I really wouldn’t know how to tell.”

  “There really isn’t a way of telling. We all just guess at how long we’ve been here.”

  “Then I’m going to say that I’ve been here for about a month or so.”

  “That’s not very long at all! You’re practically still wet behind the ears.”

  “I guess so.”

  “So what are you doing all the way in Greed? Most newcomers usually go and stay in Lust.”

  “Well, that’s a long story.”

  “We have all the time in the world. Especially you. I bet you didn’t know this, but time moves faster in Hell than on Earth. What feels like a month to you in Hell has really been just a week or so on Earth.”

  “That’s relieving actually.”

  “I bet it is. I’m not sure about the exact conversion rate, but I think you get the idea. So what’s your story?”

  “Well, the short version is that Asmodeus exiled me from Lust and I’m a wanted man in Gluttony.”

  “And you’ve only been here a month! Way to stick it to those Elohim bastards!”

  I laughed. “I guess you could say that!”

  “How did you meet Callista?”

  “Umm, I met her in Lust. I was trying to stake claim to a building rooftop and it turned out to be hers. She threatened me with my life so I left. We met back up in Gluttony and she helped me out with a few things and let me hide out in her place there.”

  “So you don’t know each other that well?”

  “I don’t know, I feel like I do. She’s confusing at times, but I think I get her.”

  “I bet you do. She seems pretty fond of you.”

  “You think so?”

  “Certainly. I’ve spent a lot of time with Callista and she’s always welcome in this place, but she’s only ever brought one other person with her, besides that entourage that follows her around. You should count yourself pretty special that she has taken such an interest in you.”

  “Is that so?”

  “Absolutely. The way she was looking at you when you got here, that’s the only reason I didn’t assume you weren’t just an additional guard. I can’t ever be sure what it is with her, but there is something about you that she is interested in. She doesn’t usually bring people here that she is just going to use, so you shouldn’t let her pass by.”

  “I’ll take those words into consideration Phillip.”

  Callista came back into the room with her guards standing behind her, waiting in the back room.

  “What are you boys so busy talking and laughing about,” she asked.

  “Oh, nothing important, Callista,” Phillip said. “Were your ears burning?”

  “You know they always do!” she said. They both laughed and then they paused for a minute before Phillip finally spoke up.

  “Why don’t you show
Jon where you two will be resting,” Phillip suggested.

  “Okay then,” she said. “Follow me, Jon.”

  I got up from the bench and started for the back room, walking behind Callista. We went into the back room and up the stairs. The top floor had three rooms like the first floor. There was a back room where the stairs were located with a room to the side, and then there was another room to the front of the building. We walked into the first room after the stairs. There was a stone slab in the center of the room.

  “This is where we’re going to be staying,” Callista said.

  “We’re going to sleep here?” I asked.

  “Yeah. Why? Is something wrong?”

  “No, it’s just that there is only one bed.”

  “Is that going to be a problem?”

  “I guess not. I just haven’t slept next to another woman since I married Shannon.”

  “Oh chill out, Jon. For one, it’s just sleep, it’s not sex, and for two, you know I don’t sleep. So what is the big deal?”

  “I guess there isn’t one, now that you put it that way.”

  ‘I don’t want to sleep next to her,’ I thought. ‘She isn’t Shannon. I know it’s just sleep, but still. I don’t want Shannon to see… I guess she can’t catch me, can she? Okay, Jon. It’s just sleep. You can do this. You’ve killed a man before; sleeping next to a woman shouldn’t be that difficult. Besides, Callista is your friend.’

  “Are you sure you’re okay with it, Jon?” Callista asked looking me in the eyes.