Of those whose anxious spirits burn

With strong desires for thy return!

This robe of flesh I’ll drop, and rise

To seize the everlasting prize…

-Sweet Hour of Prayer

CHAPTER TWO

Ow. Ow. OW!

“Son a of a bitch!”

I had two hooks stuck in my left side. One was up near my ribs, and the other was a little lower. One hook had caught the skin right below the corner of my right eye on my cheek. There was one in my back, and I think there was one on the side of my neck. I couldn’t really tell. It all hurt too much.

But how?

I thought that all of my concentration had been focused on the box. I had been so bent on saving Tiffany, I had been careless.

I could feel the beaded sweat on my forehead, sliding down my face and dripping onto my chest. My breathing was surprisingly shallow for the situation I was in. I would have thought I’d have hyperventilated by now. My pulse was racing, though; a sure sign that I was still alive.

What am I doing?!

Why was I thinking about stupid stuff like that! In a few minutes I would probably be wishing that the hooks had killed me!

Where is he?

I had felt him when the hooks arrived, but I could see him anywhere in the room. Room? No, this wasn’t the room that I had rented when I arrived in Boston. This was different. It looked like…

A dungeon! Oh, shit! Oh, shit, shit, SHIT!

I was in hell! But how? The last time I had gone to hell, I had to enter out of my own free will!

“As you did this time.”

He was behind me! I couldn’t see him!

My breathing completely halted as I heard him taking steps towards me. He sounded so close! But I couldn’t tell where he was because I couldn’t turn my head around. I tried to tilt my face in the direction of his voice, hoping that maybe I could catch a glimpse of him, but the razor-sharp hook tore at the tender skin of my neck.

“Oh, Kirsty…” His voice was almost bad as the hooks. It kept me in place and tore through me with its mocking familiarity. “When will you learn, child?”

I clenched my eyes shut, and felt hot tears squeeze themselves from between the lids. It hurts! But I couldn’t give up now! Tiffany needed me!

“How did you come back?”

I hate him! I absolutely hate him! How could he be so nonchalant about this! He was human once! He told me he remembered! He saved my life! What had happened?

“HOW DID YOU COME BACK?”

Stupid! I shouldn’t yell at him. The last thing I needed to do was make him angry.

“You can thank my dear friend, Joey, for that.”

What? Joey? Who’s Joey? Is that even relevant? Never mind. It doesn’t matter.

“Where is Tiffany?”

“Hmm?”

That’s it.

“WHERE IS SHE?"

Nothing.

"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO WITH HER?"

Still nothing.

"YOU’RE A GOD DAMNED MONSTER!”

For a moment there was a long silence.

“God? Yes. Damned? Quite. Monster? Perhaps.”

Damnation! This was getting nowhere!

“She is here.”

Huh?

“Where?”

“You ask for too many questions.”

Never had I felt anything so…terrible. It burned. It felt like me skin was being peeled off, which, actually, wouldn’t be far from the truth. The hooks had suddenly tightened, and ripped through me. Several, like the one near my eye and the one on my stomach, had simply tore through the skin, leaving small little gashes. The others, however, pulled with them large amounts of flesh, and left my body bloody and raw.

I fell onto my back and I silently sobbed as my blood pooled around me.

“You wish to see her?”

I opened my eyes to find him looking down at me from overhead. A small curve of the lips, almost a smirk, graced his mouth, but his eyes were cold and hollow. I knew that if I opened my mouth, a scream would be the only thing I could say, so I bit my lips and tried my best to nod my head. It ended up just being a slight head jiggle.

“I shall bring her to you.”

I said nothing.

His footsteps echoed throughout the empty dungeon as he left me in the darkness. Darkness? I suppose the light must follow his presence. Either that, or he felt I didn’t deserve any. Probably the latter.

What the hell was I going to do? I was going to die here! I knew that from the start, though, didn’t I? Maybe that’s why I came here. I wanted to die. I wanted to get it over with. There was no reason for me to be around any longer.

My father was gone. I missed him every day, even though the last time I had seen “him”, he was about to kill me.

Tiffany, of course. Gentle Tiffany. That’s a riot, huh? I love her so much. I consider her one of my best friends, and I haven’t spoken to her in two years. Yeah, my social life is shit. I hadn’t even been with a guy since…

Steve. Oh, Steve. He didn’t stand a chance against my fucked-up life. And he had tried to. He tried to understand my problems. But I can’t blame him for leaving. I think I probably would have looked the other way, too. Who would honestly want to be someone who was such a…a…

Nut.

“Tell me you’re not giving up yet.”

Despite my pain, I was alert instantly, sitting up in the darkness. The voice had come from in front of me this time. I squinted.

With distinct sound of a match being lit, I suddenly could see a face in the darkness.

“You…”

“Yes, me.” The man grinned. It was him! But him before he was him.

“You’re…you’re…”

“Captain Elliot Spencer,” he bowed, “at your service.”

I looked around. The room was suddenly lit up as if someone had flipped a switch. But it wasn’t the dungeon…it was…

“Oh! Where are we now?”

“What?” Captain Spencer looked at me, puzzled. “Oh! Right! This. Yes. Welcome to my hell.”

This place didn’t look so bad. It just looked like the inside of a military tent or a bunker or something.

“This is your hell?”

“Oh, well, it doesn’t look so bad now, but you just give it time.”

“Why am I here?”

Captain Spencer scratched his chin for a moment, and then replied, “Well…because you opened the box.”

Okay…

“Yes, but why am I here. Specifically.”

“Because I brought you here.”

I guess that’s a little better.

“Why did you bring me here?”

Suddenly, his face clouded over and his eyes became dark. “Please take a seat.”

I took a seat on a cot and waited for him to do the same.


Chapter 3