Dora shook her head and stared down at Kieron. The feathers on his wings weren’t all white, some were black. He was deathly still, and his eyes remained closed.
She didn’t do crying. She didn’t! But he’d saved her, and why couldn’t she save him? She held the staff over him and waved it to try to make it work. “Heal, Kieron. Please heal,” she whispered as hot tears rolled down her cheeks. “I’m sorry! Please come back.”
She knew he was the only person she wanted to spend eternity with. He was the only person who didn’t try to change her. He liked her for who she was. Her tears splashed onto the cuts on his face. They sizzled and disappeared, leaving unmarred skin behind.
“Come back to me.” She breathed.
Kieron didn’t move. She ached inside.
Don’t die! Don’t …
She knew it was too late. Whatever magic had created Kieron did not exist here to save him. Hell only contained evil, and there was nothing evil inside him to heal. Hell magic would do nothing for him.
Dora’s face creased up as the agony of losing him wracked her body. He was the only being who had ever cared about her, and he was gone.
A small paw touched her arm and she looked down to see Pooey standing beside her. “He can’t be gone.” She told Pooey.
“He’s far too optimistic to die.” Pooey sounded throaty. His big brown eyes filled with sorrow as he glanced down at Kieron.
“How can an angel die?” Dora shook her head. No, she would not give up. She grabbed Kieron’s shoulders and shook him with inhuman strength. “Wake up!”
Pooey touched her arm again. “I don’t think that will work.”
“Tell me what will work.” She begged. She needed to fix this.
“I don’t fucking know. How do humans do it?”
She rubbed her eyes and stared at Kieron. His body had healed, but it appeared to be an empty shell. Her tears had restored him to perfect health, but his heart wasn’t beating, and he wasn’t breathing.
She stroked his face, leaned over him and kissed him. When she pulled away, she expected his eyes to open, but they didn’t.
She took a deep breath and began CPR. She didn’t know what she was doing, but she’d seen enough movies to give it a try. She pressed down on his muscled chest, trying to massage his heart. She leaned over and breathed air into his lungs. She returned to his chest, about to press down again, but shook her head. He wasn’t breathing, and he wasn’t moving. CPR wasn’t going to work. She tried to think clearly, but her mind was a mess.
She caressed his cheek and hung her head. She knew she was too late. “I love you too,” she whispered into his ear as she leaned over him. It was lame goodbye because he couldn’t hear her. She turned to stand up and face the crowds with anger burning in her belly. Someone was going to pay for this. Hell, everyone was going to pay for it.
A strong hand grabbed her wrist. She glanced down to see Kieron’s hand on her arm. Her heart leapt into her throat as she spun around to look at him. His ocean-blue eyes were open, and he was smiling at her. He wore the same wicked smile he had worn the first day they had met. “I knew you’d love me one day,” he said with a wink.
Dora battled with the decision on whether to punch him or kiss him. She chose the third option, in the end and hugged him tightly against her. “Don’t you ever die on me again, or I’ll … I’ll kill you!”
Kieron laughed. “Don’t be silly, Dora-minx. You can’t kill demons.”
“You’re not a demon, mate,” Pooey muttered.
“There’s no need to insult me. Just because I’ve only got small horns—”
“Um.” Dora interrupted and pointed to Kieron’s wings.
Kieron glanced sideways briefly before looking back at her with a confident smile. His expression froze on his face as he did a double take. “What the fu—”
“Now, don’t start overreacting,” Pooey said.
Kieron pushed Dora off him and jumped to his feet. He spun around to try to see his wings. It was a bit like watching a kitten chase its own tail. “What did you do to me?” he cried when he glanced at Dora.
“I didn’t do that!” She protested, shaking her head.
“What are they? Am I deformed?” He stopped chasing them and stood over her with panic in his eyes.
Her eyes drank in his defined abs, tanned chest, beautiful face and the powerful peppered wings flapping behind him. “If you are deformed, I think everyone should be deformed like that.” She told him, appreciating the view. He looked like an Adonis. If it hadn’t been for the panic in his eyes, she was pretty certain her legs would have turned to jelly by now.
“You think it suits me?” He unsurely glanced back at his wings.
She nodded lots. The guy was glowing, literally. There was something innocent about him, but there was a darker side to him too. He was a demon-angel.
How does that even happen?
“Contestants will be judged.” A hollow voice echoed from the judge’s platform.
Dora had forgotten about the tests. “Oh shit!” She gasped, quickly standing to face the judges. “Who won? What are we going to do?”
Kieron stood beside her and put his arm around her waist. “I don’t know, but we’re sticking together.”
Pooey jumped up onto her shoulder. “I go where you go,” he said.
They all stared up at the judges, waiting for the final judgement.
“Kieron D. Lascher, you have failed and will be exiled to Earth.”
“Nooooo!” Lady Lascher screamed. She tried to cast a spell, but the sentries dragged her away.
“Don’t worry, Mom. I want to study abroad!” Kieron shouted after her.
Dora fought not to laugh, but a smirk appeared on her face as Lady Lasher was bound magically, unable to speak or cast spells.
Dora's eyes settled on Lord Lascher. He had regained consciousness, and was now glaring at her. She narrowed her eyes and glanced at the staff near her feet. On impulse, she picked it up and pointed it at Lord Lascher, feeling a wicked grin form on her face. “Fuck you, asshole!” she shouted.
The crowds all turned to see what she had cast. She heard Lord Lascher yelp as a giant, hairy Minotaur materialised in the stands and ran towards him. The Minotaur wore black leather straps around his body. Silver spikes were embedded in his nipples, which led to chains he held in his cloven hands. She could hear the beast grunting as he chased Kieron’s father through the stands and out of view.
There was a shocked moment of silence in the crowds that was eventually shattered by a knowing shriek from Lord Lascher. Dora chuckled.
“Was that entirely necessary?” Kieron asked.
She nodded a lot, trying to control her laughter.
The hollow voice echoed through the arena again. “Demonic Dora, you have failed and will be exiled to Earth.”
She nodded and gripped Kieron’s hand. She realised it didn’t matter where she was, it only mattered who she was with. For years, she had tried to summon a demon, so she could get away from her parent’s crazy, devout life, but even in Hell, she had not been safe. She had just traded one brainwashing prison for another. It wasn’t the place that offered her freedom, it was believing she was free and knowing she always had a choice. In some ways, it was being around people who wanted her to be free as much as she did.
She gazed at Kieron. He had saved her, over and over again. Together they had freed each other. She didn’t care where she went as long as it was with him. He made her happy, and he was the only family she needed.
Both of them had awful parents and horrific childhoods, but it didn’t mean they had to continue living that way. It didn’t matter where they ended up. They would be free wherever it was.
She smiled at Kieron, and he smiled back. He looked just like any other human boy now. His wings had gone back into the mystical ether they had come from. She wondered what he was, but decided that it didn’t matter. He looked human right now.
“Personious Caelius, for interfering
with a death match, you will be exiled to Earth,” the judge said.
“Who the fuck is Personious?” Dora asked.
Pooey reluctantly raised his hand. “I prefer to be known as Pooey from now on,” he muttered.
“Personious.” Kieron laughed.
“Shut it, big bird.” Pooey retaliated.
“So, er, what happens now?” Dora quickly interrupted before they began bickering.
Kieron and Pooey both shrugged. Clearly, this was all new to them too.
Vicious gusts of wind whipped around the arena, blasting against all three of them. They clung together as a portal opened in front of them. The portal roared as it became a vortex, sucking them into it.
Oh fuck!
Dora tried to keep her grip on Kieron’s hand, but the force of the pull was too strong.
“Kieron!” she cried when she lost her grip on him, and the portal ripped him away from her. She tried to follow him, but the cyclone pulled her in another direction, and she spun out of control into an abyss.
“I’ll find you!” She heard him shout as he disappeared from her view.
Pooey was gone. He had been holding her hair, but now he was nowhere to be seen.
I’ll find you both, I promise.
She told herself as the cyclone flung her deeper into the abyss. She let out a scream as the forces controlling her pulled her into the eye of the hurricane, and then dropped her like a stone down the centre of it. She fell for a long time in total darkness before she hit something soft like a pillow.
She groaned and arched her back.
That landing fucking hurt.
It was pitch black, but she smelled earth around her. She had landed on some kind of silky cushion. She ran her fingers over the wood surrounding her, trying to work out where she had landed.
She frowned. It took a moment for her to realise where she was.
Oh, you have gotta fucking kidding me. I’m in a bloody coffin!
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Read Chapter One
Dora Carridine fidgeted in her coffin. She had been staring into the darkness for what seemed like forever. She tried to stretch her legs, but the casket left little room for movement, so she attempted to rub some feeling back into her numb ass instead. She moved her hand towards her hip, and her elbow collided with the side of the coffin causing her to yelp in pain.
Oww! Not the funny bone.
She tried to sit up in a reflexive motion and smacked her forehead against the coffin lid, which caused her to slump back onto the not-so-soft burial pillow.
She lay on her back and stared up into the darkness while exhaling a sigh.
Perfect! What the hell am I supposed to do about this nightmare?
She didn’t know how long she’d been in here for, but it seemed like a long time, and it was bloody boring.
She’d tried everything she could think of to deal with the situation, but there weren’t any guidelines for being thrown out of Hell and into a grave.
As a wave of panic washed over her, she banged her fists against the inside of the casket. The air was stale, and it was becoming increasingly difficult to breathe. Surrounded by suffocating darkness and confined in such a small space, she feared she would never get out of here.
She didn’t know how long she’d been alone in the darkness, but it felt like a long time. She called for help, but no one had heard her. If they had, they’d ignored it.
She slammed another fist into the wooden lid, trying to break through it.
What happens if I die here? Will I be stuck here forever?
It had only recently dawned on her that being exiled from Hell didn’t leave her many options after death.
Is this my punishment for being thrown out of Hell and for choosing to go there in the first place? Am I doomed to die and be stuck in this coffin forever?
“No!” She shouted as she drove her fist into the wood again with as much force as she could muster. The lid finally splintered under the pressure, and moist earth fell through the cracks onto her body.
She rubbed her arms to brush away the dirt, and then frowned. She paused and felt her arms. They were fluffy.
What the hell am I wearing?
It was pitch black inside the coffin. It didn’t feel as if anything existed but her.
Her muscles ached after prolonged confinement. She could feel the wooden casket surrounding her, and she could smell the earth surrounding the burial box. However, without being able to see anything, not even her own hand in front of her face, she wondered if she was imagining it all.
One thing was certain, she didn’t feel normal. She didn’t feel human.
She brushed her fingers down her body to try to work out what she was wearing. It was some kind of silky dress that she didn’t recognise. The sound of her fingers rustling the material seemed so loud in the cloying silence, but then all of her senses seemed to be extra alert in the dark.
The soil was still sifting through the splintered wood of the casket lid and landing on the material covering her arms and body. She could feel every grain, and she was sure she could hear them landing on her too.
Is that normal?
She exhaled slowly. The air seemed thinner.
I have to get out of here. I promised Kieron I would find him.
She frowned again. If she was in a coffin, where had Kieron and Pooey been exiled to? Were they suffocating in graves too?
The last thing she remembered before landing here was being sucked into a portal here from the arena in Hell. They had been sucked in with her, but a force had pulled them away from her, and she had landed here alone.
I have to find them. Two demons on Earth are bound to get into trouble.
Visions of Kieron flying across the major cities with his newly found angel wings, and being shot down by local authorities filled her mind.
A demon-angel probably won’t fly under the radar here.
With renewed vigour, she clawed at the splinters of wood, ripping them apart and creating a hole in the coffin lid. Mud poured through the gap, rapidly filling the casket.
She tightly closed her mouth and eyes while pushing herself upwards through the broken lid and into the loose soil. She clawed and forced herself through the earth, determined to get up to ground level.
Cold dirt pressed against her face and body, chilling her to the bone. She struggled for air as her last breath slowly escaped her lungs. Using her arms and legs, she punched and kicked her way through the soil, desperately trying to escape her own grave.
If I die like this, I’ll be a unique archaeological discovery in a few thousand years.
She frowned as she found herself standing in a superhero pose with one fist punching through the soil above her, and her body encased in a muddy cage.
Her lungs ached for air, and her throat burned. She began to panic.
No! Come on, this can’t be how I die.
She tensed every muscle in her body and punched up through the earth again, willing her body to rise from her grave.
Theodore Carridine stared at his daughter’s grave. He frowned at the wilting roses around the newly laid headstone.
She had been doomed from the start. Even at an early age, she had chosen the wrong path. It had been heart breaking and a relief at the same time when she had died.
He loved his Dora. Regardless of the pa
th she had chosen in life, she would always be his little girl, but he’d known he couldn’t save her.
She had been on life support in Berkville General Hospital for months before they had finally made the decision to disconnect her last week.
The funeral had been respectable. He didn’t know what he would have done without the support of his congregation.
He still hadn’t come to terms with her death. Watching her body being lowered into the ground had made him question his faith, but he was a man of God.
He raised his chin and stood proud. Above all else, he had his faith, faith that she was in a better place, faith that everything happened for a reason and faith that he had done the right thing by exorcising out her demons.
He leaned over her grave and laid a single white rose on it for his little girl.
“Rest now, Dora. Nothing can hurt you anymore.”
A dirtied hand shot through the earth and gripped his wrist. He stared at the mud-caked nails in horror as the pale, cold fingers tightened around his wrist in an iron grip.
He let out a high-pitched scream, which would have made any little girl proud. He tried to dislodge the hand by pulling away from it, but the grip was solid.
As he backed away in terror, he unwillingly dragged the deathly pale body attached to it with him. First an arm, and then a shoulder until finally a face he knew all too well popped up through the earth and stared at him with her soulful dark eyes.
“Dad, what the fuck? You buried me?” Dora said.
“No!” Dora heard her father shriek. She squinted, trying to make her eyes focus on him as he scrambled backwards.
“Stay back demon!” her father cried.
Her vision was still a bit fuzzy, but she could see him fumble for the crucifix hanging around his neck before he fell backwards over the gravestone behind him in a failed attempt to ward her off.
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