Kris's Story

by Trudie Collins

  “The four horsemen of the apocalypse?” Rachel said tentatively.

  “You are the parents of the four horsemen?” Rob asked. He sounded like he didn’t believe what he was hearing. “As in Death, War, Famine and Pestilence?”

  My grandparents nodded.

  “Wasn’t Pestilence originally called Conquest?” Rachel asked. I was impressed. It is a name that I rarely hear mentioned outside of the family.

  “Not exactly,” grandfather said. “When Conquest died, we decided to have another child. Most humans have forgotten our first born.”

  “How on Earth does the son of the god of the underworld die?” Rob asked, seemingly oblivious to how sad the topic of conversation made his hosts. Seeing that my grandfather’s attention was elsewhere, I sneaked some chicken under the table where Cerberus was laying. He greedily licked it from my fingers and I passed him some more while grandfather continued to talk.

  “Not on Earth,” he replied. “In the sea. One of my brother’s offspring forgot that Conquest could not breathe underwater. He took him to the bottom of the sea and he drowned,” he said bitterly.

  “Frank has never gotten over the loss,” grandmother told the visitors gently as she stood up, walked behind her husband’s chair and began to rub his shoulders. “Our nephew was so guilt ridden that he killed himself and spent a few centuries down here, being tortured until he eventually earned forgiveness. His name is still not allowed to be mentioned in my husband’s presence.”

  There was an awkward silence which was ended by grandfather yelling at me. “Stop that right now.”

  “What?” I asked as I pulled up my hand and placed it on the tablecloth. I knew full well what he was complaining about and he knew I knew.

  “You are feeding that damn dog under the table again,” he snarled. He was not really angry with me; it was all show for the visitors.

  I looked under the table theatrically. “You’re not under there are you Cerberus?” Upon hearing his name, the dog barked. “Traitor,” I said quietly before sitting upright.

  “Come here Cerberus,” grandmother called and the dog obediently crawled out into the open.

  It was at this point that Rachel started to scream. I had been expecting her to react badly to the situation she was in and was surprised it had taken so long.

  Rob rushed to her side and tried to calm her down. “It’s got three heads,” she said. She is having dinner with the Lord of the underworld and it is a three- headed dog that is freaking her out? I began to think that I was going to enjoy getting to know this young woman better.

  “Yes,” Rob said in a calm voice. “I thought you knew your mythology.”

  “We’re really here, aren’t we?” she asked and started to shake uncontrollably.

  “I think the young lady needs to get some sleep,” grandmother said and quickly escorted Rob and Rachel from the room.

  “So what are your thoughts?” I asked my grandfather once grandmother had closed the door.

  “I’ll reserve judgement for now,” he said. “But so far, I am not impressed. I get the feeling that that young man has quite a high opinion of himself.” Then he smiled. “Rachel is quite pretty though, if a little wound up right now. I think you may enjoy being her guide at least.”

  I said nothing, so grandfather continued. “Keep your mind on the job in hand though. Don’t get distracted.”

  “Don’t worry,” I said. “I won’t. After all, I’m not my cousin.”

  “A fact for which we are all deeply thankful.”

  Grandmother was not gone long and upon her return told us that our guests were settled into their rooms. “Rachel is scared,” she said. “Very scared.”

  “I’m not really surprised. I have the feeling she didn’t believe that any of this really existed or that she would be spending a night in the underworld.”

  “Keep an eye on her,” grandfather told me. “If meeting me is distressing her so much, I am not sure she will be able to cope with the rest of the journey.”

  “I will,” I said. Then I stood up. “I had better go and let Death know that they have arrived. See you in the morning.”

  Hell

  The next morning I went looking for the visitors and was surprised to find that Rob was not in his room. Trying Rachel’s room, I knocked on the door.

  “Breakfast is being served,” I said when the door was opened. Rob was also there and I couldn’t help wondering if they had spent the night together.

  I led them to the dining room where my grandparents were already eating porridge. There was a large steaming pot in the middle of the table, so I sat down and helped myself, noticing out of the corner of my eye that Rachel was doing the same. She looked a lot calmer this morning. Rob did not take a seat. Instead he addressed my grandfather.

  “Look,” he said, somewhat abruptly. “While I appreciate your hospitality, I came here to confront Death and reclaim my girlfriend. I demand to see him right now.”

  I raised an eyebrow. This man was either incredibly stupid or incredibly brave. Nobody speaks to grandfather like that, especially not a human.

  Grandfather, however, smiled. “You have guts, I’ll give you that. And you’re going to need them.” Rachel paled slightly at that comment I noticed. “My children do not live with me; they each have their own part of the realm. Not that they are ever in it,” he added under his breath.

  Grandfather went on to explain that he knew what Death had done and he understood why Rob was trying to find him, but that would not be as easy as he believed it to be. Before Death would agree to meet with him, Rob would have to prove he was worthy to Death’s three siblings, each of whom had assigned a task for him to complete.

  “Kris has volunteered to be your guide,” grandmother informed him, “and Rachel may assist you if she wishes.”

  Rob looked at her. She did not look happy about being able to stay and travel with him. I could hardly blame her. She eventually nodded her head, making me wonder, yet again, what their relationship was.

  Rob was all business. “When do we start?”

  “I suggest you eat something first,” grandfather said. “Your journey is not going to be easy.” Rob, somewhat reluctantly, took a seat and began ladling some of the porridge into a bowl. “Please excuse me,” grandfather continued, “but I have some urgent business I must deal with.”

  He stood up to leave the table, revealing his large stomach. I was watching Rachel and noticed her smile, guessing at the reason. Humans usually have the impression that all of the gods have fit, trim bodies, but in grandfather’s case this is definitely not true.

  The meal passed slowly as I made small talk with my grandmother. Rob was obviously eager to get started and wolfed his food down, but I purposely took my time so he was forced to wait impatiently. He began to drum his fingers on the table and, much to my amusement, I sensed Rachel kick him to get him to stop.

  “We should get going,” I finally announced, causing Rob to jump up.

  “About time too,” he muttered under his breath.

  “Grab your bags,” I said. “You will not be coming back here.” I noticed that Rachel went pale once more. I really need to think before speaking. I only meant that they would not need to return to this house, but I realised that she could easily have interpreted my comment differently.

  I watched the two of them race up the stairs before creating my own bag out of thin air. I had to keep up the pretence of being normal, after all. “Thanks for not saying anything about me to them,” I said to grandmother. “It is going to be nice being treated as a human instead of a demi-god for a while.”

  “Just make sure you don’t reveal your powers,” she warned me. “If you do, they will probably begin to suspect you are a lot more than a normal man.”

  “I know,” I said, smiling at her. “I’ll be careful.”

  “How long will we be gone?” Rachel asked as soon as she and Rob returned.

  I shrugged. “That depends on what tasks you
need to accomplish.” It was going to be weeks rather than days, but I decided to keep that information to myself for the time being.

  “What about food. Should we be taking much with us?”

  “No. We will find all we need on the journey.” Rachel did not look impressed with that statement and I had to force myself not to smile.

  “What mode of transport will we be using?” Rob asked as we left the house.

  I instinctively knew he was expecting something fast and luxurious and I enjoyed disappointing him. “Our feet. There are no roads down here so we cannot use a motor vehicle.”

  “What about horses?” Rachel asked.

  I shook my head. “There are no horses in the underworld. At least none that you would be able to ride. We will seek out Pestilence first. As the youngest he is most likely to set a fun task.” The real reason we were going to see Pestilence first was because that is what Death had arranged, but they didn’t need to know that. “Before we leave this area, however, I have something to show you. Follow me.”

  Like sheep, they obeyed and I led them across my grandparents’ beautifully manicured lawn, through a gate in the surrounding wall and toward what I always think of as high rise apartment buildings. They are a dull concrete grey and look completely out of place with the scenery we were leaving behind.

  As we approached it became apparent to Rob and Rachel that there wasn’t just one or two of these buildings, but dozens of them, hundreds maybe, stretching out into the distance as far as the eye could see.

  “What are those buildings?” Rachel asked.

  “That is what Hell is truly like.” Though I hated using that word, the situation demanded it.

  I saw the look on her face and could guess what she was thinking. ‘What, no fire and brimstone? No devils whipping their victims? No eternal torture? This is hardly Hell.’ She looked almost disappointed. “Don’t judge until you have seen inside,” I told her.

  I led them to the closest tower block and opened the door, ushering them inside. They saw that it is filled with doors, each with a barred window in it, making it look more like a psychiatric hospital than a block of flats.

  “Take a look inside,” I said, gesturing toward the closest door. Rachel hesitated, so Rob approached first.

  “I don’t understand,” he said, pulling away so Rachel could see inside. Bracing herself for what she would see, her reaction showed that she was surprised. All she would have noticed was an old man sitting in an arm chair, watching TV. She looked at me in confusion.

  “Everyone chooses their own Hell. Look more closely.” She did as she was told and must have seen that the man was crying.

  “I still don’t get it,” she said.

  I glanced inside and sighed. “This man murdered his wife. They had an argument about her watching too much trashy TV and he hit her with a frying pan. He has now doomed himself to watching reality TV for eternity.”

  “What a stupid punishment. Is Hades insane?” Rob said loudly.

  Rachel gasped, presumably at Rob’s rudeness, but visibly relaxed when I started to chuckle. “I often think so, but never say anything within his hearing. But this is not his doing. The old man inside believed he deserved to go to Hell for what he did to his wife and this is the torment he unconsciously chose.”

  Rachel appeared to be struggling with what she was hearing. “Are you trying to say that he wanted to come here?”

  “Sort of, yes. Nobody comes here unless they believe they will. The method of their torture is then extracted from within their heads.”

  “You mean Hades reads their minds?” Rob asked.

  “No.” I shook my head. “The buildings do.”

  Rob and Rachel wanted to see more and glanced into other rooms. In one was a woman cowering in the corner of the room as snakes slithered across the floor, getting close to her, but never near enough to touch her.

  The next contained another woman. Her mouth was open in a silent scream as spiders crawled all over her. The following one had a man surrounded by screaming toddlers. Rachel spun to stare at me. “There are babies here?” she asked, her voice filled with accusation.

  I frowned, then looked through the window. “Ah.” Rachel had obviously not realised that everything inside the rooms, except for the victims themselves, are not really here. “The children are not real. They are just illusions, as are the spiders, snakes and the TV.” I gestured toward the door I had just looked through. “That man there got drunk while looking after his young daughter. He fell asleep and didn’t hear her crying. He eventually woke up to find her dead at the bottom of the stairs. He killed himself a few days later.”

  Rachel shivered. “Do they really stay here for all eternity? That seems too cruel, no matter what they have done.”

  “No.” I shook my head again. “Everyone stays here only until they are forgiven.”

  “Who by?” she asked. “Hades?”

  “Themselves.”

  Rob, who had wandered down the corridor, looking through more doors, headed back. “You said that people only end up here if they believe they will. Doesn’t that mean that some of the worst criminals, the mass murderers for example, avoid the eternal damnation they deserve, while the little old lady who never did anything wrong other than forget to say her prayers now and then could end up here? How can Hades justify that?”

  I grinned, but it was not a happy grin. “You would be surprised at how many of the truly evil people secretly believe they will come here when they die. Of course there are some that don’t, but Hades has a habit of visiting those and whispering in their ears while they sleep. You would be amazed at how easy it is to implant a suggestion in someone’s mind without them knowing.” Both of them referred to my grandfather as Hades, so they were obviously more comfortable with that name, as opposed to Frank.

  “Can you do it?” Rob asked.

  “Me? No. Only gods can do that.” I didn’t lie. Well not exactly. As a demi-god, I can’t place thoughts into peoples’ minds, but I can speak to them inside their heads, but Rob and Rachel didn’t need to know that.

  “Can we go?” Rachel asked. “This place is giving me the creeps.”

  “Of course.” She had handled it a lot better than I had been expecting. Maybe she is tougher than she looks now that she has recovered from the shock of finding herself in the underworld.

  “I just wanted you to see this place so you realise what Hell really is,” I continued, neglecting to mention that it was actually Death who asked me to show them. “It is not the quiet country house you stayed in surrounded by beautiful gardens. That is just Hades’ way of coping with all of the horrific things he has to deal with. The underworld is vast. It can take many years to cross from one side to the other. It is full of truly amazing things, as well as many horrible and dangerous ones. As we travel you may decide to refer to it all as Hell, but to me it is home so I would prefer it if you didn’t do it in my presence.” I wondered for a moment whether they would take any notice of my request. I hoped, for their sake, they would.

  Having said all I needed to, I turned around and walked out of the building with Rob and Rachel at my heels. I didn’t explain where we were headed to next and they didn’t ask. I noticed Rachel glance behind her as she walked and could tell that she was trying to calculate how many ‘torture’ rooms are housed in the tall grey buildings. There are millions.

  We walked through a small wood, exiting onto green fields. The sun was shining overhead and Rachel, knowing it couldn’t be the real sun, asked me about it. I informed her that it is just another illusion, as most of the underworld is, created from the imaginations of the gods that built it.

  When the sun was directly above us I announced it was time to have some lunch. Rachel was exhausted and collapsed wearily onto the ground. She removed her shoes and started to rub her aching feet. I considered offering to ease the pain for her, but decided that would be ‘demonstrating my powers’ a bit too much. It bothered me that she was uncomforta
ble though.

  I opened my bag, put my hand in without looking, and withdrew a can of coke. I didn’t really care where they thought the food and drink was coming from. They were, after all, in a magical realm, so I didn’t need to reveal it was me producing what they needed. Humans always find a way to explain the unexplainable.

  I held the can out to Rachel, but she shook her head. “Do you have any water?” she asked and looked surprised when I delved back into my bag and produced a bottle of spring water. She was even more surprised when she realised it was cold. Rob took the coke as I withdrew a package full of sandwiches. There was a variety of white and brown bread and a number of different fillings; ham and cheese, tuna and cucumber, roast beef with mustard. I noticed Rachel staring suspiciously at the bag as though trying to work out how a seemingly empty bag could hold so much and I had to force myself not to smile.

  I chivalrously allowed Rachel to choose first and frowned at her when she shook her head. “We have a long way to go. You need to eat. Would you like something different?”

  She explained that she was not hungry and the reason why. Those torture rooms had completely killed her appetite. I was not happy, but did not push her. I could sympathise with how she was feeling and began to worry that I had made a mistake by taking her there, despite the fact that I had been ordered to. If she could not put it behind her she would not be able to make it to Pestilence, let alone Death.

  Soon we were heading off again. As the sun began to set it seemed almost like we were taking a pleasant stroll through the countryside. As they walked, Rachel and Rob commented when they spotted deer, the occasional rabbit and small birds flying overhead. It was easy for them to forget where they really were.

  “We should set up camp soon,” I said when the time was right. Rachel looked concerned again and I suddenly realised that I had neglected to mention that they would be camping. I really hoped she had slept in a tent before. If she was used to comfortable beds in five star hotels she was in for a very unpleasant night. “If we continue on for much longer we will reach the mountains and it is always best to approach them during the day.”