My body ached. I had hit the ground hard. My vision was blurry but my hearing had come back. I heard the click of a recorder and then the odd atmospheric quality of sound that I had grown so accustomed to hearing. I got to my feet and my hearing became clear along with my sight. I could hear the recording now. Except it wasn’t coming from a recorder. It was coming from the open mouth of a dead body. It was one of the doctors from Crown Hill. My father’s voice echoed out of the dead man’s mouth.

“Was this where we went when we died? No. This was where we ended up when we lost our way to hell. The dark hopeless place that even hell had forgotten. The corridor in front of me looked like it belonged. Like it was part of Crown Hill. I knew better. The end was down the hall. This is where those things all lived. Each one with their own place in this darkness. As I walked forward I could smell the rotten ones. They were standing in the corner watching me pass. Odom was up ahead. His smirk told me all I needed to know. There was no escaping this place. He wasn’t even trying to come after me. He was just letting me go on walking. He knew he could have me anytime he wanted. I kept going. The whispering ones were back now. They stood at the end of the corridor. They lined the walls on both sides. They were telling me to smile. They were telling me this would be my last chance to. I reached the end of the corridor. A large oak door greeted me. It had his face carved on it. Hellequin. I looked back at the other demons. They watched me with curious intent. It was obvious they weren’t going to follow me. They knew better. I hadn’t learned my lesson yet. I knew I wouldn’t die if I walked through the door. Heaven and hell were for dying. This place was for everything worse than dying. This place was only meant for one thing. Suffering.”

The stopping sound of a recorder clicked and the dead body turned to ash. Again I found myself knowing which way I had to go but was unable to move my feet. Hearing Melissa’s screams motivated my legs though. I looked down the corridor in front of me and saw Odom dragging her away by her hair. My legs propelled me forward. The scorching heat that rose from the ladder continued to blaze down here. This corridor wasn’t as straight as the one my father described. It winded back and forth and made it hard to follow the monster that was hurling away from me with what was most likely the only other person left alive in Crown Hill.

I lost sight of them for a moment. I continued down the corridor and found myself at the large oak door with the grinning face on it. Odom and Melissa were nowhere to be seen. I looked around for them but they were gone. Then I heard Melissa’s whimper. It was coming from above me. I looked up and saw her. Odom had her by the head. His hands were covering her face and mouth. She was choking. He was hanging her with his hands.

“LET HER GO!” I yelled.

“Fine.”

He threw her by her head. Her body flew through the air and hit the wall of the corridor. I ran over to her but the horrible sound her body made on impact made me fear for the worst. I knelt down and held her in my arms.

“Hey. Hey. You’re going to be okay. We’re almost through this. Just hang on a little bit longer.”

“It’s okay,” She said.

I heard Odom drop down behind us. I could feel each heavy step he took towards us. He was getting close.

“I’m not going to leave you. You didn’t ask for any of this. We were both just in the wrong place. This shouldn’t have ever happened here,” I said.

“It’s okay. This is a better way to go. I can hear them. They are getting close. It would be a lot worse to end up like them,” She said.

“Like who?”

“The whispers.”

I could hear them too now. The whispers were around us. I looked back at Odom and saw that the large oak door was open behind him. He realized too late that the other one had come out to play with us. And Odom wasn’t allowed to play with us. I saw fear in Odom’s monstrous eyes as Hellequin’s long, razor sharp fingers wrapped around his face. Odom struggled against him but was no match. His head was forcefully turned around 180 degrees. His body shook violently and began to drain of color. As it did I could see the evil grin on Hellequin’s face. It was growing. It reached past his ears and wrapped around the back of his head. He let go of Odom and his body dissipated into mist. Hellequin motioned for me to come with him. He turned and walked nonchalantly back through doorway at the end of the corridor. I checked Melissa. She was gone. She was also right. This was a better way to go. My end was going to be worse. My father had continued on. I had nowhere else to go now. I knew his final fate was just ahead. I put my hand once more on Melissa’s back, then I got up and followed my tormenter through the doorway.