Lily stood at the bottom of the stairs, her eyes wide and full of fear as she looked out at the room in front of her, the blue glow from the fire sconces making her face look ghostly. The space in front of them was cavernous and dark, with the walls being stone, large grey slabs of stone that matched the floor and made everything seem cold. The room was split by a wide river, its murky water a bluish green hue and it seemed to go on forever and as Lily looked down she became confused. The water seemed to be glowing with a soft blue light, shimmering against the walls and making everything seem almost dreamlike and then suddenly Lily pressed herself against the wall behind her, a scream caught in her throat as she looked down at the water. People were floating in the river, their faces looking up vacantly at the ceiling as they drifted a long and every few seconds a hand or an arm would surface, clutching at nothing but air and then it would sink back down.


“Wh-what are they?” She asked as Lily remained against the wall behind her and she watched as Andy turned, his face sad and dark. He looked from her face and then turned slightly to glance down into the depths of the river, running a hand through his long black hair and he looked down at her, biting down on his lip ring as he thought how to answer her.

“Souls. This is where they go once we are done with them…” Andy felt sick to his stomach as he looked away from Lily, shame lining his stomach like a poison. As he looked back down at her, Andy felt sad as he saw the understanding in Lily’s eyes and he knew in that moment that she knew-if he had not saved her, if he had not felt something for her…that this would have been her fate.

“So this is where I-“ Lily was broken off by Andy pressing a finger to her lips as he looked down at her. His eyes were soft and kind as he looked at her and Lily felt herself grow lost as she looked into those baby blues that made her heart race.

“Don’t think about it. Come on…” Andy said with a gentle smile as he reached down, placing a hand over hers and Lily gripped it tightly. Slowly Andy led her on, both of them keeping their eyes forward as they began to walk down a stone median, the water lapping around the sides of them as they walked.


Lily tried to keep her eyes ahead of her, focusing on Andy’s hair and the way it stuck up in the back and she smiled to herself softly and she knew she didn’t want to look down towards the water because she was afraid of what she would see. Suddenly there was a low splashing sound to her left and Lily watched in horror as first a hand and then an arm came emerging from the depths, the water dripping off of the shriveled flesh as the creature pulled itself up. The girl that stood before her was grey skinned, the skin hanging loosely and her long hair was dripping wet, hanging over her face until suddenly the girl moved towards Lily and she felt herself gasp. The girl infront of her had reached up a hand, swiping the wet hair from her face and Lily felt her heart stop as she realized that she knew who this girl was.


“Brianne?” She asked, her voice only a whisper as Andy stopped walking at her speaking out and he turned, his eyes wide as he took in the site before him. The soul standing before them reached out a hand towards Lily and Andy watched on in silent horror as Lily slowly reached her own hand out, their fingers almost touching before Andy grabbed for Lily’s hand and brought her one step closer to himself.

“Don’t!” He said harshly as Andy placed a hand on Lily’s shoulder, tugging her away even more and Andy breathed a sigh of relief as Lily dropped her hand and looked towards him. Her light eyes were tear rimmed and confused as she looked up at him and Andy felt his heart ache at seeing her so sad.

“Why not?” Lily asked, her hand letting go of his as Andy just looked down at her. Lily’s eyes were determined in that moment and Andy could hardly keep the smirk off of his face as he looked down at her and then his face grew serious as he looked at the soul standing before them.

“She’ll take you down in to the water with her. You may not have been tortured Lily, but your soul can still be kept down here…” Andy said, his voice low and sad and as Lily look away from Andy and took in what used to be her best friend she felt sad. Andy tugged on her arm and pulled her onward, but Lily couldn’t keep her eyes off of Brianne.


Lily followed behind Andy, her head coming to face forward as they remained silent, but as they walked Lily kept looking over her shoulder. Brianne still stood there, her dripping wet hand still out stretched towards them and Lily felt sick as she tried to look away but found it almost impossible. She and Brianne had grown up together, going to the same Elementary school all the way through high school and Brianne had also been a cutter, something that took her to an early grave and Lily soon followed down that same path. Lily had said goodbye to her best friend over a year before and it still hurt to think about her death and her funeral and the fact that Brianne’s death had been accidental, while Lily had meant to do what she had done, although now she regretted it. Brianne had been the only supportive person in Lily’s life-both girls had been having trouble fitting in, both at school and at home, and without her Lily had felt completely lost for a very long time.

They walked for what seemed like hours, Lily felt her feet begin to ache as she tried to look around Andy to see where they were but he kept blocking her view. Finally he stopped and as he held out his arm to keep Lily behind him, Andy felt his gut tighten. Lily poked her head around his arm, her eyes growing wide as she looked out in front of them and Andy stiffened next to her as he noticed that she had seen everything. The stone walkway they were currently on had ended and standing at the edge was a cloaked and hooded figure. He was standing in a long wooden boat, a long oar held tightly in one hand as he looked up at Andy, his other wrinkled hand coming out to rest palm side up.


“Charon-I am here on the Lord’s orders to be taken to the doorway to Earth.” Andy said, his voice strong and confident even though his knees were shaking and he kept wanting to look over his shoulder to make sure they hadn’t been followed.

“Payment?” The hooded figure asked, his voice old and crinkled sounding and Lily felt her arm break out in to goose bumps as she adverted her eyes and looked down at her tennis shoes.


Andy placed the gold coin that Cal had given him in to the wrinkled hand being held out to him and Charon seemed to examine it silently, turning the coin over in his hand a few times before looking up at Andy. The hooded figure said nothing and only held out a hand, motioning for them to move forward and enter the boat. Andy moved so that Lily was in front of him and he held his breath as she stepped one foot into the boat and it rocked slightly at her added weight. Would they both be able to get over at the same time? Andy wondered this as he joined her, both of them remaining on their feet as Andy looked over the edge of the boat and he suddenly wished he hadn’t.

Bodies, filling the water to the very top, were floating face up-their eyes vacant and staring as their mouths remained wide open in silent screams and Andy only hoped that Lily hadn’t noticed. This was why Andy hated coming down here-the pain and anguish that he and his fellow Demons inflicted was obvious and it made him sick to think about how much pain he had caused some of these people. Andy looked up, keeping his eyes on Lily, who in turn was staring back at him and as he looked at her, Andy felt his cold heart melt a little bit more. Her eyes were wide and as she stared at him with a soft smile on her lips, Andy felt himself blush.

He had never felt this way before, about anyone and Andy never thought that he would-he had always been taught that Torture Demons mated for the only purpose of producing more Torture Demons. There was no love or emotional connection between Demons and Andy had never known that there was such a thing-Lily was proving him wrong. Lily was so different-she was funny and she sassed him, something that everyone else in his life was too afraid to do because they were afraid of him. Lily didn’t really seem to be that scared of him. She was also beautiful, not just on the outside, but Andy could tell that her soul was beautiful and even though she was a human, Andy could feel himself reacting to her, especially when she looked at him with those eyes of hers. Lily accepted him for who he was, something that Andy had never had in his two thousand years in the Hell Realm.

Finally the boat bumped to a stop, something that both Andy and Lily were grateful for as they heaved sighs of relief and looked out in front of them. Andy got off the boat first, holding his hand out to Lily and as she placed her small hand in his Andy felt his eyes grow wide-her hand was warm, like his, instead of icy cold as it had been the day before. Was it because they were so close to getting her home? Andy walked quickly, leading her along and Lily felt like her heart was going to leap out of her chest as a soft glow came before her eyes. She was almost home, she was one step closer to starting everything over-with Andy by her side this time.


“Lily…Don’t. Move.” Andy said, his teeth gritted together, his arm out to keep her from moving forward and Lily felt the smile on her face vanish as a low growl filled her ears.


She had never seen anything like the creature that was before her and Lily felt her knees begin to shake as she locked eyes with the huge animal that had been sleeping before them, but it was wide awake now. Three heads, six eyes, three noses and three very large mouths with even larger teeth stared her down as Lily felt herself freeze and then she knew-Cerberus. The three headed dog that was as tall as a three story building growled at them lowly, it’s great fangs dripping with slobber as Andy reached down to place his hand on the hilt of his sword. Cal’s words came to his head then and slowly Andy turned his head, whispering out of the side of his mouth, hoping that Lily could hear him over the growling.


“Sing…” He whispered and Lily just looked at him, her eyes wide and frightened and Andy wasn’t sure if this was going to work. If Lily didn’t sing soon then Andy was going to have to try and fight this thing off, a dangerous feat since there was technically three of them and only one of him. Suddenly Lily began to sing, her angelic voice echoing off of the walls and Andy waited on bated breath.


The cup is not half empty as pessimists say
As far as she's sees, nothing's left in the cup
A whole cup full of nothing for her to indulge
Since the voice of ambition has long since been shut up
A singer, a writer, she's not dreaming now of going nowhere
She gave heed to nothing, and all that she was....
Is just a tragedy


Lily sang through the song twice, her voice growing softer as Andy watched the dog’s heads droop lower and lower until finally they rested on its great paws and it began to snore softly. The song that she sang-he liked it and it filled him with a soft sadness and as Andy looked down at her he noticed that Lily had begun to cry softly. Andy said nothing as he gripped her hand, squeezing it tightly as they both walked forward, the doorway in front of them glowing softly. He reached out a shaking hand and as Andy looked back over his shoulder, taking in one last look at the home he had always known, he knew there was no going back now. The doorway filled with light and Andy allowed Lily to go first and he followed shortly after, his eyes squinting against the light.

As Andy walked through the doorway, he began to feel dizzy and suddenly everything went black as he entered the human world, once and for all.

Notes

Um-please review? I love to hear from you guys and it makes me smile knowing that everyone is enjoying themselves. : )

Also:
Love By Mistake
We Caught Fire