Leila accompanied by Luke and Lucie was now freely walking on the roads of Hell.
"How does it feel walking in Hell? It must be your first time except for the day you came." Luke asked as he walked with his hands on the back of his head.
"It's not my first time, I took a stroll with the prince yesterday." They froze at her answer.
"You did what?" Luke said with hands down and wide-open eyes.
"The prince of Hell?" Lucie asked equally shocked.
"Yes, he came to visit and we walked and talked. But he dropped a bomb that frightened me."
"A bomb? Are you okay?" Luke asked in a panic.
"I don't think she means a real bomb, Luke."
"He told me that if I failed to become a witch, I would die. Hell is really a ruthless place."
"It must be hard on you," said Lucie gently caressing her back. Leila gave her a sympathetic smile.
"Don't worry too much, with Luke but your side, you'll become a full-fleshed witch. We should do some quests first," he said as he ran ahead.
"Where is he going?"
"To the board of quests but don't worry, you won't do them yet. You can't without powers." Lucie quickly went after her brother in order to stop him.
Meanwhile, Leila stood still all alone in the dark streets of Hell. She lifted a bit the hood of her cape to observe the space. There were many buildings, and all of them had some sort of neon lights and signs. Hell was more of a modern place than she would have imagined. One bright neon sign caught her attention, it read: 'Dark Web Café'.
"I need to check this out!" Her curiosity got the best of her and she entered it alone.
Leila had entered the oh-so-fascinating dark web café. It was smaller than she expected but the interior was just as she imagined it to be. Actually, she had never imagined a dark web café in Hell or anywhere before. But ever since coming here, her mind had been wide open. There were many black computers. Seeing them made her realize that Kieran lied to her before. Or perhaps there are only computers and no laptops. Perhaps they weren't far in their technology but Kieran's front door said otherwise. Instead of a regular internet browser, there was a dark web. There were many plain black 'gamer' chairs. Sitting at one of them was a sluggish zombie typing away. The click-sound was almost therapeutic as it was so slow.
"It's calm today," said a voice from behind. Leila turned around to see a very hairy and also manly-looking person.
"Uh, yes, I suppose," she nervously answered.
"I'm Connor the werewolf," he said with his elbow on the nearest desk.
"I'm Leila..." she had to think before adding to it. "Leila the witch."
"Oh, a witch! I don't see them often these days," he said standing up straight. Leila simply gave an awkward smile. "And I've never seen you here," he said with a smirk.
"I come from far away. I just recently moved here," she answered scratching her neck.
"So you wanted to use a computer?"
"Oh yes but I don't have money on me, I just wanted to check it out."
"It's alright, I'll put it on your tab and you can come again to pay it," he proposed with a flirty wink. Leila was taken aback by his acts. She didn't know if she felt uncomfortable or special. This had never happened to her back on earth.
"Alright then," she sat down at one of the computers and pressed the ON button. Leila wondered if it was going to be similar to the web she knew? The name of it didn't sound good. On earth there is also a dark web for illegal activities, maybe it would be that. She watched the dark screen light up as it showed the words 'dark web' in blood red.
"What can you do on the dark web?" she asked forgetting the fact that she was hiding her human identity.
"You never used the dark web? That's weird."
"Uh... I come from a region that isn't as modern. It's my first time using the dark web," she added.
"I see, I thought everyone had access to the dark web by now. Well. on the dark web, you can do some chatting, read web novels, watch videos, research and much more things but you'll find out soon enough," he answered.
"Wait a minute, web novels?" she asked making sure she heard it right.
"Yes, they're very popular these days. I hear the writers of these web novels make a fortune."
"Is that so?" she smiled. As the aspiring writer she is, many thoughts rushed to her head.
"I might try to read a web novel," Leila was curious to know what kind of web novels they had in Hell. Were they as spicy as their food or unexpectedly innocent?
"Alright," Connor responded still looking at the screen with her. Leila gave him a couple of awkward looks and he understood. He got the message that she wanted privacy. He walked back to his desk.
Leila clicked on their dark web and typed web novels on the search bar. Many links came through but all of them were from the same website. It seems to be the leading website for web novels in Hell. She clicked on 'Madnovels.hell'. For now, it looked like a regular site. Many different covers popped on the site. The strange thing was that none were decorated, they were plain. Most of them were black or red. The letters were also written in black or red depending on the cover.
'Where's the art?' wondered Leila. After having seen Kieran, she got high expectations. She scrolled through the page to find an appealing title, 'Kiss of fire'. This title met all the standards she had for a hellish web novel. She quickly clicked on it and read the short excerpt:
'No need to fight our love. You know our kiss is on fire. The way you burn me. You keep burning me and leaving me wanting more. You ignite the fire in the soul that left me centuries ago. I can't seem to forget that one kiss we had. It only took one to burn me.'
The excerpt left her wanting more. She immediately clicked on the first chapter with high expectations. She loved reading web novels, it was her guilty pleasure. As an editor for regular novels, she felt embarrassed to admit that she loved web novels that much. Back home, she devoured them, each in a single day. Once she started an interesting one, she could not turn off her phone. This one was no exception. Kiss of fire was bewitching. Each sentence was written with passion. Every flaming moment of the main couple was recorded in words. Leila could feel the story in her soul. She kept going for the next page. There was nobody to interrupt her reading sessions when she lived alone. But now, she was in a dark web café with two new friends that were frantically looking for her.
"There you are!" Lucie said at the entrance of the café.
"I told you she'd be fine," said Luke.
Leila didn't turn to face them, in fact, she hadn't even heard them. She was so captivated by the story.
"What you reading?" asked Luke creeping up behind her. "Kiss of fire, ooh! Spicy."
"Huh?" Leila finally returned to Hell. "Oh hi, Luke." He amicably smiled at her along with his eyes.
"We've been looking for you everywhere. We thought you were kidnapped!" Lucie had exclaimed.
"She thought you were kidnapped. I trusted you," Luke added.
"I trust her too, it's the other night creatures I don't trust," she retorted.
"I'm sorry for going on my own like this. Curiosity got the best of me, I couldn't wait to enter this wonderful place."
"Next time wait," warned Lucie.
"Hey don't kill the fun, you're becoming just like Kieran." Luke and Lucie often argued. Even if they were twins, their personalities were completely different. One was serious and one playful.
"We better go back before Kieran kills us," said Lucie.
"But we haven't shown her anything."
"It's fine, I went on my own and discovered one of the best places in Hell. I'm good," she happily said as she turned off her computer and stood up ready to leave.
"I'm flattered that you think so highly of my place, Leila," Connor said with a smirk.
"I suppose you already met Connor?" said Lucie.
"Yes, we briefly talked a while ago."
"Be careful of him, he's a playboy," whispered Luke in Leila's ears before dragging her out.
"See you next time, Leila," the werewolf said as he waved goodbye.
"See you," she answered. A thought suddenly hit her. "Actually before going back to the apartment, I really need to go somewhere," Leia said with a pleading look.
"We've already been out long enough," Lucie answered.
"Come on Lucie," Luke pleaded along with her. "She needs it. When she goes back home, Kieran will force her to read books all day." Lucie looked annoyed but ended up agreeing. She sighed before asking her where she wanted to go.
"I need to go to a bookstore!" she exclaimed. Ever since she heard Kieran saying that there were bookstores in Hell, she had wanted to go. In this foreign place, maybe she would find comfort there.
"Leila, I was trying to get you extra time away from the books but you're going towards them?" said Luke, dumbfounded.
"Heh, heh," she grinned.
"There's one near here, but you'll have to go without me," started Lucie, "I have a bad history with the owner."
"Actually, you'll have to go alone," said Luke in his turn, "I cannot stand the sight of books." Leila laughed at their answers.
"Alright, I'll go by myself."
"Take a right from here and you'll find it. The name is pretty obvious for a bookstore," said Lucie not looking at her. The grin on Leila's face had disappeared. She felt that the gentle Lucie was angered by her. With an apologetic look, she walked in direction of the bookstore.
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