It didn’t take long for Georgia to see why no one liked staying on the beach. There was nothing but the sound of waves upon the sand, cold air, and darkness. It was also hard to keep track of time, but that was probably something useless to do anyway. After all, if you’re dead and sentenced to eternal damnation, keeping track of time seems kind of trivial.

Despite the monotonous nature of the beach, there were a few interesting things about it. It seemed to stretch out forever. Georgia tried walking east along the ocean, then west, and it seemed to have no end. The same went for walking inland.

There also seemed to be others washing up on the beach. Guides, including Virgil, would come to greet them and lead them away. Georgia couldn’t quite make out where. Whenever she tried to discreetly follow a guide, she ended up falling behind or somehow losing them.

Occasionally, Virgil would shout to her if she was ready to come in, but Georgia refused much to Virgil’s annoyance. “Coming in” would mean accepting defeat. Accepting an eternity of damnation. Georgia didn’t think she deserved that. Sure, she wasn’t the best person, but she also wasn’t the worst. She may have lied or stolen a few times but never anything that screamed go directly to Hell. So, this was the play. She would stay on this boring hellscape until someone changed their mind.

***

Georgia wasn’t sure how much time had passed, but it felt like she was making a good go of it. She collected some driftwood laying around to make a fire. It wasn’t working out so well, but it was something to do to pass the time in between pacing the shoreline. During her activities, she noticed more people were glancing in her direction. The new arrivals didn’t seem to be able to see her, but the guides certainly did. A few of them looked concerned. Some even came out when there weren’t people to greet just to gawk at her. Georgia never liked being a spectacle, but she needed to get someone’s attention.

It looks like it was working when an annoyed looking Virgil marched up to her. Georgia was sitting on the sand, still attempting to make a fire without much success. He looked her up and down before crossing his arms.

“Are you ready to come in yet?” He asked.

“Nope.” Georgia replied, a bit more flippantly than she intended.

“You’re starting to draw attention to yourself.”

“Good! Maybe someone will realize their mistake and fix this.”

Virgil sighed. “Look, I understand. This isn’t where you wanna be. Reckon there’s many of folk who don’t. But making a spectacle of yourself isn’t the answer. You don’t wanna draw the wrong attention.”

“That’s exactly who’s attention I want.”

“A hard head makes a soft behind.” Virgil said as he took off his jacket. He handed it to Georgia. “At least keep warm. And don’t be rifling through my pockets.” With a wave he started to walk away.

“Thank you, Mr. Washington!”

The older man grunted gruffly and lifted his hand up in a wave.

Of course, after he left Georgia discreetly dug around in the pockets. She felt a piece of hard metal. It was a lighter. Georgia smiled to herself and turned back towards her fire.

***

After many onlookers and a nap later, Georgia seemed to have gotten her wish. Virgil was back, but this time accompanied by another figure. They were dressed in a long black coat with red and gold trim around the stitching. Their blonde hair almost touched the ground but laid neatly in a side swept ponytail. Georgia couldn’t make out their face. It was obscured by shadow and a Greek comedy mask.

“So, you are the one everyone is talking about.” When they spoke, it sent a shiver down Georgia’s spine as the voice was neither male or female and completely emotionless. Virgil knowingly smirked at her. She had gotten in over her head and now she had to deal with it.

Quickly recovering Georgia feigned innocence. “I didn’t realize. Staying out here isn’t common if there’s a mistake?”

“Oh, there’s no mistake. We don’t make them. But we do admire your tenacity. Do you not remember why you’re here?”

Georgia shook her head.

“Ah, so that explains it. You don’t know. This could be interesting for us; don’t you think, Virgil?”

Virgil chuckled. “Depends what you had in mind.”

“We admire your honesty, Virgil. Don’ worry, we won’t make it too hard on you as she is your charge. But we would like to play a game.” Despite the flat effect, they almost sounded amused.

“A game?” Georgia asked.

“Yes, a game. We think you will like it.”

Georgia shrugged. It’s not like she had anything better to do. “I’m listening.”

“There are nine circles, plus our inner circles within Hell. If you can successfully navigate them and find us within the inner circle, we can play any game of your choosing. If you win, you get your freedom. We will let you go anywhere of your choosing.”

“And if I lose?”

“You will stay here to endure your punishment for all eternity.”

“So, I just have to find you? Are there any other rules?”

The figure turned to Virgil. “Virgil will be game master. We will play any way he sees fit.”

Virgil sighed, clearly not happy with the additional responsibility, but snapped into the role quickly. He reached into his pocket pulling out a small, wrinkled scroll. He unfurled it and it began to float in front of him, gold writing appearing as he spoke.

“No time limit. I’ll act as a guide, but I won’t provide any extra help. She must find you on every level, but you can only take one form for the game until we reach the inner circle. Once she finds you there, you may take any form you like. The reward and punishments have been outlined as the young lady going free or facing eternal damnation pending outcome.”

After some consideration, the stranger nodded. “We think this is fair. And you, human?”

“Yeah, I agree.”

Virgil nodded. “Alrighty, seems like we have a deal. Just need you both to sign.”

The cloaked figure nodded towards Georgia signaling she was to sign first. Once she finished, the figure stepped up to the scroll seemingly stopping to read.

“Georgia. We like that name. You may call us Luci if you wish to call us anything at all. We don’t have much use for a name as people seem to call us what they like anyway.” They said as they signed.

When Luci finished, they extended their hand. Georgia only felt right shaking it. “We look forward to playing with you.”