The Third Sin

by Tamara Geraeds

  I lean forward, trying to estimate the depth of the lake.

  “There is no end,” the ferryman tells me. “The memories of every soul that ever passed these rivers still linger here.”

  “So it is a memory you want to show me?”

  He nods gravely. “It is written that I should show you this. You will need it to complete your task.”

  He pushes me back gently. His cold touch awakens goose bumps on my whole body. “Stay there for a moment.”

  I watch quietly as he rips a piece of cloth from his ragged cape, mumbles something incoherent and wraps it around the bottom of his staff. Slowly, he lowers the staff into the water and stirs. The dots in the water are drawn to the rag, but more and more of them shoot away from it, leaving behind a clear circle.

  Charon pushes the staff deeper into the water and pulls it back up, again and again.

  Dark and light dots rush upwards at the speed of light. They brush past the rag before joining the others at the surface.

  “I have to dig deep to get this one,” Charon says. “It has been in here a long time.”

  Suddenly, the string of dots stops moving. The one touching the piece of cloth grows. Tiny black and white slivers shoot out of it and wrap themselves around the rag. The other specks drift back to where they came from.

  Charon lifts his staff out of the water and points it at me. “Take the piece of fabric and tie it over your eyes.”

  To my surprise, the cloth isn’t wet or even damp. It makes my skin, that just settled down again, tingle in a not so pleasant way.

  I summon all my courage with a deep sigh and lift the rag to my eyes.

  Charon’s cold hand yanks at my arm. “Wait, you’d better sit down.” He gestures at a rock two steps back and I lower myself onto it.

  Breathing out slowly, I close my eyes.

  CHAPTER 7

  As soon as I tie the rag at the back of my head, a sharp pain shoots through my eyes. Images appear so fast they make my head spin. I grab the edges of the rock to keep myself from tumbling backwards.

  As I am pulled off my feet, I lose all sense of time and space. Although that’s not the right description for it, since my body no longer seems to exist. My mind flies through a bright tunnel. I feel like I’m in an intro of a movie studio, where big historic events are displayed in flashes on both sides. There are explosions and winged creatures on my left, and outbursts of magical light and collapsing buildings on my right. There’s fire bursting from the ground, ice crashing down and I’m moving forward, further and further into the light.

  For a moment I’m afraid I’m dying. Charon tricked me after all and I made it so easy for him.

  But then I slow down and fall face forward into a terrifying scene.

  Flames rise up high all around me as a giant head breathes fire.

  “You cannot defeat me. You are too late,” it chuckles. “The Earth is mine now.”

  My body is back and all the hairs in my neck stand up at the sound of this voice. I recognize it from my premonitions.

  Sweat drips from my face as I look around for a way out. But the flames seem to engulf everything. I can’t even make out whether I’m inside a building or out in the open.

  When I turn around, I see a woman standing amidst the fire as if it doesn’t bother her at all. She looks fierce in her brown leather outfit, which consists of a short skirt and revealing top. Flames lick her feet and her leather cape is blown back by a hot wind, but she firmly holds her ground. Her long, straight black hair whips around her beautiful face, that wears a defiant expression.

  Now I understand that the giant, scaled beast is talking to her.

  “This is a memory,” I whisper to myself. “They can’t see me.”

  “I loved you, Lucifer,” the woman says. “But you have gone too far.”

  I gasp. My head moves from her to the Devil. This is Lucifer’s lover? His wife?

  I have barely recovered from that epiphany when the beast shrinks into a tall, dark-haired man. He has a handsome face, even though the scales from his beastly form shine through his skin. His eyes are dark, his pupils made of fire, and his grin malicious.

  “Come on, baby,” he coos. “We had such a good thing going. Don’t you want to rule the Earth with me? You’d be so pretty wearing a double crown.”

  She raises her chin. “You know my answer.”

  “Oh, come on.” He flicks his wrist and a black rose appears in his hand. “Don’t be so stubborn. I’d hate to kill you.”

  She fumes, but instead of the flames Lucifer emanates, a bright light awakens under her skin. “I always told you never to underestimate a woman, but you don’t listen.”

  Lucifer cocks his head and pulverizes the rose with one breath. “Oh darling, I know your powers. They will never match mine. It is the combination that works well. Without me, you have just a glimpse of power.” He lowers his head and shakes it sadly. “I will miss you.”

  The cape billows up behind the dark-haired woman and tears well up in her blue eyes as she whispers. “I’ll miss you, too.”

  They raise their arms at the same time, but her movements are so much stronger than his.

  She closes her eyes and starts turning, like a ballerina of light. Lucifer’s dark spells hit nothing but air, and the flames around him grow restless. They reach in all directions, but something is holding them back.

  I see what it is seconds before the Devil does. He roars as circles of light twist around him.

  “What are you doing?” he bellows, turning back into his monstrous form. He chuckles, but it sounds strained. “You think these will hold me? Wait till I break free, my love. There will be no mercy left in me for your treachery.”

  The woman doesn’t respond. With every turn she makes, she lifts her arms higher. Her lips move, but the roaring of the fire is so loud, that I can’t make out the words.

  It’s a memory, I tell myself. I can walk through the fire.

  Tentatively, I take a small step. The flames touch my legs, but I don’t feel a thing.

  The woman is just a couple of feet away. She’s spinning quickly now. I can’t hear everything she says, but a few words drift my way. “Pagans… seal the circle… sinners…”

  A deafening roar makes me whirl around.

  The beast is lashing out at the circle around it. Blood drips from its claws.

  Panting hard, he changes back into his human form. His blazing eyes are wide with panic and anger when he yells at the woman. “Why can’t I get out? Where did you get this power?”

  Another circle blazes to life around the Devil’s feet, while the first moves to a point above his head. The light flickers over him in tiny sparks, like an infrared security sensor. The first circle solidifies with a crack and the ground rumbles. Lucifer staggers as he drops a foot into the earth. “What the hell?”

  “Yes, that’s where you’re going,” the woman’s voice whispers.

  I see her eyes boring into his for a moment, before she starts turning faster again.

  “Isabel!” he roars. “Stop this, or you will pay for it.”

  “It is too late,” a rush of air tells him as it brushes his cheek.

  He breathes fire, kicks and screams, but Isabel isn’t even distracted for a moment. She raises circle after circle. Every time one reaches the spot just above Satan’s head, he drops into the earth further. At least five solid rings hover above each other, crackling with energy.

  Lucifer’s efforts to escape triple, but to no use. Whatever power he releases on the circles, they are unaffected. They rise and rise, one by one, while Lucifer yells incantations, unleashes the full force of his beastly body and engulfs everything in fire. None of it harms the circles.

  After the sixth drop, he is fully out of sight and the raging of the flames around him subsides.

  Now I can hear the woman’s words clearly.

  “Acts of violence will be punished,

 
in this circle night and day.

  Sinners will be trapped and guarded,

  for their errors they will pay.”

  She lowers her arms and turns slower. After a deep breath, she starts lifting her arms again, and her twists pick up pace. She moves without effort, her voice strong and unforgiving.

  “Build a circle full of souls.

  Close it tight and lock the holes.

  Keep out those that don’t belong.

  Punish those that have done wrong.”

  A new circle forms. It turns as quickly as she does. Howling rises from below and flames shoot up. But Isabel keeps going without hesitation.

  “Acts of fraud will be punished

  in this circle night and day.

  Sinners will be trapped and guarded,

  for their errors they will pay.”

  The sound of an angry roar confirms the eighth drop.

  Isabel slows down again. Sweat drips from her forehead. Her beautiful face has gone pale and her breathing is unsteady, but she is not finished yet.

  It suddenly hits me. Nine circles. That’s what Mrs. Delaney said. Nine circles of Hell. And this woman is creating them. She was right, they are real.

  Isabel brushes a stray lock of dark hair out of her eyes and repeats the spell.

  When another circle appears, I listen carefully to her words.

  “Acts of treachery will be punished

  in this circle night and day.

  Sinners will be trapped and guarded,

  for their errors they will pay.”

  The pieces start falling together. Treachery and fraud, the two sins I had to prevent, the ones the Cards of Death pointed to. The sinners were the ones I had to save. Mr. Timson, who wanted to betray his brother, and Myah, who almost committed fraud to save her parents.

  So the circles Mrs. Delaney spoke about are real, and they are connected to the people I have to save. They have something to do with the Devil’s plans.

  Isabel finishes her last spin and collapses on the ground. Tears spill out of her eyes when Lucifer’s voice is carried to her on the wind. “Please, my love, do not leave me.”

  She brushes the dust and the voice off, and her expression hardens. “I am no longer your love.”

  “Please, Isabel, please forgive me.”’

  Ignoring him, she dries her face, stands up and lifts her chin. A light ignites under her skin once more and she pushes it with her hands out of her body, and into the hovering circles above the hole.

  “Close this structure filled with evil.

  Transport back the king of Hell

  to his realm below the circles

  where he may forever dwell.

  Trapped he will be in his kingdom,

  pondering his evil ways.

  Till the goodness deep inside him

  reawakens, grows and stays.”

  The soft begging makes way for cursing and shouting, that grows louder as the Devil is lifted back up. He shows Isabel his beastly form and hits the invisible circle around him with his horns.

  “You will suffer for this!” he roars. “I will punish your precious humans. All of them!”

  She ignores him once more and focuses on the movements of her arms. A beautiful melody rises from her throat and wraps around Lucifer, who is immediately muted. Like a choir master of elves, Isabel weaves a fence of light around the structure of circles.

  The Devil has stopped thrashing around. His fiery eyes are locked onto the massive column that closes in on him with every note that Isabel hums. He shrinks back to his human form and tries to meet her eyes. He begs without sound.

  Without the slightest hitch, the circles detach themselves from each other. One by one they descent, the lowest pushing Lucifer back into the ground. Soon, the earth seals itself above the last circle.

  Isabel finishes her song and then drops onto her knees sobbing.

  The urge to comfort her overwhelms me, but before I can react to it, the world around me gets brighter, as if someone pulls the sun closer. I shield my eyes with my arm. A strong force pulls me backwards and I yell in surprise.

  Isabel gets smaller and smaller until she’s just a spec in the distance. Images in all kinds of colors appear on my left and right again and hundreds of different noises engulf me.

  Then I’m pushed back into my body.

  A strong hand steadies me when I almost tumble off the rock. “Easy.”

  I take off the rag and blink a couple of times. Slowly, Tartarus comes back into view.

  The Ferryman takes the piece of cloth from me. He wraps it around his staff and lowers it into the water, where it drifts out of sight quickly.

  After a satisfied nod, Charon turns back to me. “Well?”

  My hands are still placed firmly on the rock, in case I slide off. “Well, that was interesting.”

  He smiles. “I know.”

  “So why did I have to see this?”

  He pushes his staff into my chest. “Because, you have to remember that no matter how desperate things get, there is always hope. Just reach within yourself and trust your instincts.” He releases the pressure on my heart. “And never forget, the ones at your side are also chosen to be there. There is no such thing as coincidence.”

  I open my mouth to ask him more questions. Like who that woman was and what happened to her after she trapped the Devil below the circles of Hell. But Charon cuts me off before I can utter a single word. “That is all I can tell you. Your time here is up. I wish you the best.”

  He waves his staff and the mist changes into a giant mouth that swallows me whole.

  I tumble around in empty space. There’s no sound. I can’t see anything, except tiny specks that look like gray ash. I try to swat them away and turn in every direction. Which way is home?

  CHAPTER 8

  “He’s back!” someone yells.

  My feet touch solid ground and I feel around wildly for support.

  Cold hands are placed on my arms. “Dante? Are you okay?”

  The feeling of relief at the sound of Jeep’s voice is so strong that my shoulders shake as tears start falling from my eyes.

  “Calm down, keep breathing,” he says.

  I want to tell him I am breathing, but when I try to utter words, I realize I’m panting hard.

  “Sit down.” He pushes me gently onto a chair and folds my hand around a glass.

  When I lift it to take a sip, half of the water lands on my face and shirt.

  “What happened to him?” D’Maeo says in his stern voice. “Is he injured?”

  “I don’t know.”

  Movement by my side. “Can you open your eyes, Dante?” Jeep again.

  Whispering on my right tells me Maël and Taylar are watching, too.

  “Vicky!” I splutter, spitting out the swig I just took.

  I force my eyes open and squint against the bright light in Darkwood Manor’s kitchen. My Shield, minus one, is watching me intently. When I want to ask them about Vicky again, I can only cough. Gray ash comes out of my mouth and everyone backs up.

  “What happened?” Jeep asks when I can finally breathe again.

  “Shadow World,” I cough. “Tartarus.”

  Taylar fills my glass again and I gulp it down in two seconds.

  “Never mind,” I pant. “I can tell you about it later. Where’s Vicky? Did she come back?”

  All heads turn to D’Maeo, which worries me more than any concerned look could have. If they let their leader decide what to tell me, it can’t be anything good.

  To make it worse, he folds his hands. I swallow another cough.

  “She came back,” he says, “but something is wrong.”

  I push back my chair and stand up. The room spins around me and the tabletop rolls like a wave. I grab the back of my chair to steady myself. “Where is she?”

  D’Maeo scrutinizes me for a very long second. Then he nods and stands up. “I’ll s
how you.”

  When we reach the top of the stairs, I hear Vicky calling out. “Hello? Guys? What’s going on?”

  The rest of the Shield appears at her door. Jeep throws D’Maeo a confused look. “She sounds like herself.”

  The old ghost slowly approaches the door and pushes it open.

  “Finally!” Vicky exclaims. There’s a rattling sound. “Can someone explain why I’m tied up?”

  I gasp and stroll past the others into the room.

  Vicky is lying on her back on the bed. Her arms and legs are tied to the frame. The look on her face is one of confusion and anger, but her eyebrows drop back down as soon as she sees me. “Dante! You’re back!”

  After a quick smile at her, I inspect her chains. “Are you okay?”

  “Fine, except for these.” She lifts her arms. “You?”

  “I’m fine.”

  “What happened to you? I thought you’d go back with me automatically.”

  “Yeah, me too.” I fumble with the chains. “Can someone please give me a hand here?” I ask over my shoulder.

  The ghosts just stand there, in the doorway, staring at us without moving.

  I straighten up and put my hands on my hips.

  “What?” Vicky and I say in unison.

  Taylar tilts his head. A white lock of hair falls over his eyes. “She looks normal to me. Maybe it wasn’t permanent?”

  A feeling of unease washes over me. “What was?”

  D’Maeo finally steps inside. He kneels by the bed and lays his hands on the chain around her left wrist. One by one the rings light up.

  He moves his gaze to Vicky. “You don’t remember what happened?”

  “No, just that I traveled back here from the Shadow World and that Dante was left behind.”

  “You scared the hell out of us,” Jeep says. He rolls up his sleeves and shows us his arm. “The thought of it still gives me goosebumps.”

  My whole body goes cold when his words hit me. Jeep and goosebumps? I never would have thought such a thing was possible for such a tough guy who can raise the dead.