~~

Trinity

~~

Just as I knew he would, Alexio slammed into me and the two of us went flying toward the door. I knew that we were going to slam into it if I didn't stop us, if there wasn't something else that I could do.

"Rudy, grab on.

" I called out to him as I had a sudden thought.

"Yes, Queen Trinity.

" He grabbed onto the rope of magic that I had thrown his way.

"Now, open the door.

" I ordered him, intending to have us all move through there all together.

I was hoping all of this worked. I was hoping that none of us got left behind and ended up as hell snake chow. As much as I disliked Alexio, he had saved me. Rudy was also a friend of mine now, so I wouldn't leave him behind. And there was no way in hell, this one or the figurative one, that I would leave my children behind. Nope, we were all going right now.

I noticed that Rudy was shocked at first, but he did as I told him to. Just as Alexio and I flew toward the door, and as a result toward him, he flung the door open wide. That was when all the chaos seemed to hit again.

Just like all the previous times, the door sucked me through it like I was nothing but air. It pulled me so fast that it felt like I was shooting through a tornado. Not that I actually know what that felt like, it's just the only thing that I could liken the experience to.

Me, Zachary, Zander, Zayden, Rudy, and Alexio went spiraling through the air and smashing into each other violently. I don't think I need to explain just how painful that was, especially considering how large a certain someone was right now. Granted he was a lot smaller than he had been before the door sucked us in, he was still bigger than the average man, and the average werewolf.

Unlike the previous times that I had gone through a door, or fallen through one, we were not scattering all over the place. It was almost like the force that was pushing on us this time was pushing us together instead of pushing us apart. Maybe, it had figured out that I wanted us all to stay together for this part of the journey.

Also, unlike the last time that we went through a door, but almost exactly like when we went through the door into Limbo, we all crashed into the ground like we were nothing but test dummies in a factory. Dammit, didn't this realm have any consideration for people and the pain it inflicted onto them.

Yeah, that was stupid of me to ask myself. I was in Hell, for crying out loud. This place only wanted to inflict pain onto its inhabitants. Especially in the part of Hell that we had just landed.

I could officially tell that we had landed in the Hall of the Damned. This place, the way that it looked. The ominous feeling that it gave me. The sounds of those being tortured around us. All of it screamed out the true nature of Hell. This place was meant for the truly evil, the truly despicable, the truly damned.

"Mommy?!

" Zayden ran to me the moment that he disentangled himself from Rudy. He and the other boys had seen what was around us and it had frightened him. He wasn't the only one to come bury his face in me either. Zachary and Zander did as well as they all tried to not see the horrors that were happening around us.

I could see so many different forms of torture that were happening around us. So many that were way more brutal than they had been in Purgatory. And here, all forms of the torture were ancient and disgusting.

I am sad to say that I knew what a lot of these forms of torture were called. From my various studies with Grandfather, Gabriel, Reece, and college; I had learned things that most people never would.

Some of the things that I saw were easy to understand for just about anyone that heard the name. There was Lingchi or slow slicing, impaling, flaying, and burning. Those were the simplest of them all. Then, after that, there were ones that I knew the names of, had heard the descriptions of, but never wanted to see in my entire life. Now though, I was seeing them. And to top it all off, I was hearing the screams that the people were emitting because of these tortures.

There was the Catherine's Wheel, also known as the braking wheel, in which people were tied to a wheel and their bodies were broken. I had a feeling that here in the Hall of Damnation, the victim would just heal and be beaten for all of eternity. There was also Scaphism, in which the victim was trapped in a hollowed-out tree trunk or in between two boats. While they were in there, they were force fed milk and honey which would give them specific bowel issues after a while. The purpose for this torture, which used to be an execution style, was to have the person get eaten both inside and out by vermin (bugs and rats). The bugs at the exterior while the rats burrowed their way inside their bodies.

Among the most disgusting of the tortures, and ancient forms of execution, were the Judas Cradle, Saw Torture, and Spanish Donkey. All of those were bloody, involved splitting the body apart from the bottom up, and were very disturbing to see in person.

"Where are we?

" Alexio, the man that I had brought with me out of necessity, asked in the quietest voice I had heard from him. I also noticed that he was back to the size he had been when I first saw him. He was still huge though.

"You can't tell?

" I asked him as I held onto the boys.

"This is the next level after Purgatory. Welcome to Damnation, Alexio.

"

"Damnation? Why did you bring me here?

" He glared at me.

"Would you have preferred to have died at the hands, or teeth, of the hell snake?

" I tilted my head in confusion.

"All I did was save you, and I only did that because you saved me first.

"

"I didn't ask you to save me. I didn't ask you to bring me here.

" He was mad, but thankfully he wasn't yelling at me.

"I am sorry, Alexio. I just didn't want you to die.

"

"Hahh.

" He sighed and flopped onto the ground like a petulant child.

"I am in Damnation. There is no way out of here. I am ruined. We will be tortured for having come here. This is the end for us.

"

"I will get you out of here, Alexio. I do not intend to be trapped here forever. I am going to stop Hekate and then I am going home. But I promise you, I will find a way to get you home.

"

"That is only a pipe dream, girl. You have no idea what you are talking about.

"

I glared at him and his attitude. He was starting to piss me off again.

"I have faith in her.

" Rudy smiled at me.

"She is a goddess. I know that she will get us out of here.

"

"You are a fool.

" Alexio told him flatly.

"Hatthh.

" I sighed now, just like Alexio had done.. This was already getting exhausting.