Hell's Paradise-----Chapter 1

Betrayal and dreams, a piece of the story in all of our lives at some time.

Anna’s feet pounded against the cracked asphalt, crushing the colorful autumn leaves beneath them. Her sunken red eyes spilled fresh teardrops down her rosy cheeks and off her narrow chin. Her hands were clasped tightly onto her elbows, as if she thought that if she let go they would not be there later. Her strawberry-red curls sprang around her shoulders and over her bare arms, holding her in its knotted ringlets. A strange sound sprung forth with each step she took, something like a strangled gulp. Beyond her obvious depression, an undeniable determination burned deep in her eyes, a fire that could never be distinguished. Despite the dizzying speed at which she ran, the trees and few cars rushing by her, she kept her eyes straight forward, unhindered as they locked on some place far ahead.

Finally Anna’s knees buckled below her, lurched her forward to lie in a heap on the deserted sidewalk. Pain shot up and down her left ankle, where only weeks before she had sprained it. Biting her lip, she cradled it, attempting to calm herself down. Once the agony subsided, Anna reached under her light pink T-shirt and brought out a solid gold locket with an intricate design of a butterfly engraved on the front. She brought her hand to her eyes, brushing away the new tears as she stared at the small piece of jewelry. Flipping it over, she stared down at the small lettering which bore both her own name and the name of her very best friend…a girl she knew she couldn’t live without. She jabbed her finger into the small crevice on the side and popped open the locket, flipping out a third piece and staring at the photographs. The two outermost pictures held her own likeness, simple reminders of her absolute favorite memories. However, this time, those pictures were ignored. Instead, Anna’s eyes drifted to the center picture, where she and another girl were shown lying next to each other in a patch of dewy, green grass, laughing about something Anna could only wish she’d remembered.

Her thumb passed weightlessly over the small image, hovering over the second girl. A tear made it past Anna’s eyelids and slipped off her cheek, landing directly on the heart of her in the photo and splashing onto the other girl. Somewhere in the distance, thunder clapped, and the rain began to fall. Snapping the locket shut to protect its contents and shoving it back under her shirt, she closed her eyes and drifted into her dreams.

Anna’s eyes flicked open and her body shot up, sitting straight and rigid as each muscle in her body promptly tensed. Her eyes were wide for a few moments, taking in the scene around her. There was not much to see, really, besides her own looming shadow, visible only because of a faint witchlight hanging in what she assumed was a corner. She relaxed slowly, for she recognized the place, where she had come so many times in her dreams recently. That’s exactly what this was, a dream. She stood and walked toward the torch, deciding to humor her ridiculous sleeping mind. Slowly and delicately, Anna extended her arm toward the wall beside the flickering light, and just before her finger could touch the wall, it disappeared, simply vanishing into thin air. Anna thought nothing of it, of course, the dream hadn’t changed since she’d begun having it weeks ago. She continued on down the narrow corridors, pausing only when she once again had to open the door to a new passageway. Agonized screams roared down the hallways. Anna couldn’t be sure where exactly they were coming from, but the wails were enough to spur her on. They terrified her, each mangled shriek shaking her to her core. It was as if they were yelling at her. But of course it couldn’t have been, they didn’t sound like any voice she had ever heard before, or, frankly, wanted to hear again. Anna sighed and hesitated for a moment. She had been so caught up in thinking of the other pained yelps that she hadn’t been paying much attention to where she was. She stared up at the old mahogany door. 

Its center held beautifully carved artworks which danced, shimmered, shined, and changed with each passing second. The doors extended high above her, so far that she couldn’t see the tops, nor understand why the door seemed to meld through the ceiling of the chamber. However, what really held her attention was the glittering diamond doorknob standing firm just above her head, and most importantly the quite average-looking keyhole to facing her dead on. If you could call the keyhole average that is. The form and decoration was normal, but just as everything else on the door, was far larger than it should have been.  The hole was wide enough for a tennis ball to fit in, possibly a baseball, she assumed. She’d wanted to try and put her hand through, but decided against it for fear of losing a dearly loved limb…even if it was just in her dream. Perhaps the oddest thing about the hole was that it was pitch-black. Lights blazed healthily beside the two doors and on the wall a few feet behind her, which should have been allowing quite enough light to illuminate the room behind the door, but even when holding the witchlights right in front of her face, nothing came into view. Despite the gorgeous doors, doorknobs, and keyholes, Anna was in no rush to open the door. She hadn’t been brave enough to do it before in her dreams of this place, and she highly doubted she would be able to do it now. 

The door held a very ominous and menacing composure, the silence, the darkness, the way it loomed over her, as if to warn her that there was nothing she could do to hide from it. Silly, she knew, but still. By now, the walls were slowly coming towards her. She knew that if she did not move fast enough, she would be crushed by the massive stone slabs. The message was clear, the only way out is through the door. Each and every time before, she had simply waited for the walls to catch her, crumpling her in its unwavering malice, waking her from her dream. She simply hated this door that much. But this time, she was going to do it. A force compelled her to grasp the cold diamond, coaxing her to turn it, and she told herself that’s exactly what she had to do. She stood tall, both hands on the doorknob, turning it slowly, so very slowly. The walls were three feet away from her on either side…time to go. Now or never. Go. 

She shoved the heavy doors open with all her strength, her body surging forward and landing roughly on the floor. She shut her eyes tightly for a moment so that she may gather her wits about her, and heard a loud bang. Instinctively, her eyes snapped open and her head whipped around so that she may see the doors behind her. They stood wide open, but the entrance was sealed shut. The rock slabs had taken their place as keeper of the creepy cavern, as she called it, and it was clear they were meant to stay. For the first time ever, her eyes adjusted to the darkness of the room, she could make out some shapes in the room. Dead rats maybe, or something else entirely, she didn’t want to know. She stepped backwards few inches and tripped over something, back-peddling into a wall with a hard thud. She winced and brushed the back of her head. A warm, gooey substance came off on her fingers and she brought them in front of her face, licking a small piece of it. Blood. 

She had taken many classes for this and knew what to do. She pulled at her shirt until a strip of it came off. Quickly, she tied the makeshift bandage around her head, securing it delicately. It would block the wound from getting any infections and would ease the blood loss. It wasn’t great, but at the moment it was the best thing she had. Gosh, she thought, It’s all so real, too real. I don’t like these vivid nightmares. Next, she stooped to inspect what she had tripped over. It was a small matchbox, with a large dent in the center from where she had squashed it. Inside lay a few undamaged matches, which she took gratefully. Only three, her mind whispered, use them carefully.  She quickly ran one along the wall, sparking it and watching as the flame grew. 

She surveyed the room she was in, nothing special, not like the doors had suggested. Just a few musty old paintings decorated the walls, and a small opening showed itself from behind a very ripped tapestry. She thought it had been very beautiful once, gold and silver strands lay about the floor below it, and a large spectrum of colors she could never name were embroidered and faded in random areas of it. That tapestry was showing her where to go, she knew that much, but sprinkled about the room and barring her path were many, many, bones. Of what? She couldn’t tell, but she was fairly sure she didn’t want to know what, or who had left them there.

Author's Note

Another story Its unlikely I'll finish, considering the first chapter hasn't been completely written and its sat here on my computer for a while, but I might as well add it here.