Leila had opened her eyes to the red and blue lights on the ceiling. She had also felt an extra weight on top of her. It was a warm and fuzzy blanket. A smile formed on her face. She lifted her back to sit on the sofa. 

“Are there windows here? Why not let the sunlight in?” she said as she looked for a source of natural light.

“There’s no sunlight,” Kieran said from behind startling her. Leila had placed a hand on her chest to calm her beating heart. 

“Did I only sleep for a couple of minutes? It’s still night.”

“It’s Hell, darkness is a part of it. And, time doesn’t flow in Hell,” he explained. 

“I- I, ok…” She was at loss for words but still accepted the situation or maybe more gave up. There was nothing she can do and complaining would not make it any better.

“A question. Do you eat?”

“Yes.” Kieran had stated the obvious with tired eyes.

“Great because I’m so hungry. But wait I suppose that you eat different things in Hell,” she remarked. 

“It’s surprisingly similar to where you come from.”

“Really?” she said in surprise.

“Would you like some eggs and maybe some meat with it?”

“Yes! But wait, what kind of meat is there in Hell?” she said moving backwards.

“Why human meat of course. We get it from the prison in Hell,” he had responded with sparkling eyes.

“I think I’m going to become a vegetarian while I’m here,” she said gulping in disgust and fear.

“It’s gonna be tough.”

“What about the eggs? Where do you get them from?” she carefully asked.

“I don’t know, they’re from the store.”

“I don’t want to be picky but do you have something safer for me to eat?” she said not taking risks.

“What about a paté of bugs?” Just hearing the name of it made Leila nauseous. She shivered and felt cold sweat dripping.

“I think I’ll skip breakfast and all the other meals there is.”

“What do you usually eat over there in the ‘morning’?” he pronounced it weirdly as it was a foreign concept to him. 

“Toasted waffles with Nutella,” she dreamt of it as she talked. Leila licked her lips and closed her eyes to visualize it.

Kieran had wanted to ask about these foreign foods but he didn’t. 

“Alright, since you’re not eating we’ll just start the training.”

“Make it intense so I can go back to eating my waffles,” she said burning with passion. 

“First, read these books.” He had taken a couple of books out of nowhere. “All about witchcraft, all about tarot, all about crystals,” he handed them to her one by one. “All about the elements-”

“Don’t you have the book all about going home?” she asked as every part of her face dropped seeing the number of books.

“And finally forbidden spells.” This one had piqued Leila’s mind.

“Forbidden spells? Tell me more.” Every part of her face lifted again as a small sly smile appeared on her face. 

“Tell me, are you sure you’ve never been to Hell?” Kieran furrowed his eyebrows and looked at her carefully. “Maybe you were chosen because you fit so well.” 

“Stop joking and tell me why I need forbidden spells.” 

“Forbidden spells are just more powerful spells that are allowed in Hell but not on earth and that is why witches in Hell can learn them. If you use them on earth there will be large consequences but once again not here.”

“Wait!” Leila approached Kieran and stood right in front of his face. “There are witches on earth? Real witches!”

“I don’t understand why you’re so surprised,” he said moving his head back.

“But wait a minute. If there are witches on earth why would you pick a normal human to come to Hell?” It did not make sense like everything else in Hell. 

“It was the prince’s orders. I had no say in it.”

Leila moved back as she bit her lip in frustration.   

“There must be a reason…” she mumbled quietly. 

“If you want to go home, you know what to do, read.” Kieran pointed at the pile of books on the table. Leila looked at them and found another question to ask him.

“Where did you find all these books? Is there a book store in Hell?” she asked in dismay. 

“A few actually. Believe it or not, books are popular in Hell. Many of us read books.”

“It might not be so bad after all.”

“Now stop talking and read.”

“I know, I know, you told me so many times. Thankfully, one of the only things I’m good at is reading.” Leila comfortably took a seat on one of the leather sofas and took the first book on the pile. It was all about witchcraft. “Even though I like reading this might be too much…” she mumbled under her breath. 

“If you learn the forbidden spell for instant learning you might not need to read it all,” Kieran mentioned.

“Yes! I want to learn this forbidden spell!” she exclaimed as her excitement levels rose. Even though she did not want to be here, something about forbidden spells tempted her. 

“I don’t think you’ll be able to do it this soon.”

“Still, let’s try,” she said with fiery eyes. 

“Page 157.”

She took the book of forbidden spells and flipped the pages quickly until she arrived on page 157. 

“Read it,” he said, almost ordered. Leila hated the tone of his voice and wanted to correct him but learning this spell was more important. 

“ ‘With the instant learning spell, you’ll be able to quickly gain knowledge transcribed in a book. You will absorb the energy of the book and drink every single word. Your powerful mind will also sort out the material and keep the most pertinent messages. The useless words will be incinerated in your burning heart.’ Wow, that’s creepy, I didn’t know my heart was an incinerator.” 

“Not yet but it will. You will feel the words entering and burning in you.”

“That sounds painful,” she winced.

“You’ll get used to it.”

“I hate these words.” She often heard people saying, you’ll get used to it, but she thought they were just empty words people said easily.  

“Keep reading,” Kieran reminded her. 

“ ‘These are the steps you need to take to accomplish this forbidden spell: Place your hand on the desired book. Close your eyes. Take a deep breath and enter the book with your mind. Open the door of the book.’ What is this?” Kieran glared at her and she kept reading. “ ‘Open your mouth and let the words come in. focus all your dark energy into this book. Once you feel that all the words have entered, bring the words to your heart. Feel the words rising to your mind and the words burning in your heart.’ This is crazy!” she exclaimed in pure shock. Although she read the instruction, she was still confused and above all, lost. 

“I told you that you won’t be able to do it so soon. It’s a complicated spell.”

“How do I find or make this dark energy,” she said determinedly. 

“Think of something dark.”

“My future if I stay here any longer?”

“You’re not taking this seriously,” he said turning away.

“No no, I am. I just don’t know what to think of,” she said putting a hand on his shoulder to make him stay. 

“You said that it was bold of me to assume that home was one of your favourite places. Is there something dark associated with that?” These words silenced Leila for a while. 

“There is something dark there,” her eyes had changed, they looked down. 

“Use that darkness to create energy.” 

Leila had sat on her knees in front of the table and placed a palm on the book ‘All about witchcraft’. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She focused hard. She tried to visualize a door to enter the book. Meanwhile, Kieran was observing her. He did not have many expectations as this was a difficult spell. Leila hadn’t learned anything about witchcraft yet. 

Through the darkness of her mind, Leila tried to see the door. Her hand was pressing down so heavily that it looked as if it would sink into the book. Every muscle of her face scrunched up as she took many other deep breaths. In from her nose and out of her mouth. Her obscure mind had finally shown a purple shape that somehow looked like a door. She imagined herself opening the door but strangely, it wouldn’t budge. The door in her head had no lock but it was impenetrable. Leila had also brought a hand to the door with her imagination but that hand could not turn the knob. Leila refused to give up and kept trying not knowing what was happening outside her mind. 

“Leila! Leila! Stop!.” Kieran had shaken her shoulders with no response. Leila was deep in her thoughts, quite literally. He eyed the source of it all and with force took the book away. Leila had opened her eyes to face the real world once again. She blinked a couple of times before catching her breath. 

“Wow! This was something else, but in the end, I failed.” 

“It’s alright, you- you-” Kieran was out of words. He could not express what he had seen in words.

“Did something happen while I was away?” she asked concerned. Kieran placed his knees on the floor and faced Leila. This time, he saw her with different eyes. With eyes that had seen the impossible.