56. Escape

Days turned to years; years turned to centuries. With no end in sight Elise’s hope faded and her mind slipped into madness. Leviathan fought every day. He never stopped. He did not sleep or eat. All he did was fight. He pushed and pushed to get to Elise.

It had become common knowledge that Elise was being held at Mara’s castle. Mara even spread the word that she had tried to get the keys to escape hell. In pursuit of the keys, she had killed two of the princes of hell. Her capture and torture were retribution for her actions.

Mara encouraged everyone to talk about it to reinforce his and the remaining prince's dominion over hell. Elise killing two of them had given some of the dirty huddled masses hope. There was unrest in hell and Mara was sick of it. Some of the residents of hell still looked up to her, however. She had after all done what no one else could do. One of those people was Sean. He knew what it was like to be tortured. He had even spent time in Mara's dungeons.

He was happy to see the princes die, and he gathered like-minded people. They moved and worked in the shadows. Together over the centuries they slowly infiltrated the remaining prince’s homes, and they retrieved the keys.

No one knew how they could use them, but they knew they were important. The princes of hell had guarded them. So, taking them away gave them power. Now they guarded the keys day and night. They constantly moved them in case someone where to find out they were missing.

In the meantime, on earth Saxon and Baylor began to wonder what had happened to their father. It had been three years since he made contact with them. The last time they had seen him was when Elise had killed Georgia.

After the death of Georgia, they figured they would give the couple some time. But when they returned both Leviathan and Elise were gone. They had no idea where they went. They contemplated going back to hell to find them but if it turned out that they weren’t there then the brothers would be stuck.

They continued to live life on earth. It had been three years before they finally heard something. They overheard two angels on earth speaking with each other. They were talking about how Michael had sent both Leviathan and Elise to hell.

“Baylor, we need to go. I mean three years here means three hundred years for them. Something is wrong.”

“I agree. Father has never had a hard time convincing the others to help him get back to earth. I am sure it has something to do with Elise being with him. Whatever the case is we need to get down there.”

The two of them the proofed down to hell. It was easy for demons to get into hell. The problem was getting out. Every time the gates opened demons would slip through in hopes of living on earth and spreading wickedness. Human souls, however, could not leave.

It didn’t take long for Saxon and Baylor to understand the gravity of the situation.

“We can’t help dad.”

“Well, we can but it will be tricky.”

“My question is why hasn’t any one of our siblings done a dammed thing.”

“Well, some of them are fighting, but none have been able to infiltrate Mara’s castle.”

“They know our siblings faces too well. We’ve been out of hell for so long though that hardly anyone knows who we are. That is why we must be the ones to go get her.”

“That could work. Do you have a plan?”

“Yes.”

The two waited till nightfall. Then they made their move. It didn’t take long to get into Mara’s castle. They acted like they wanted to join an orgy with no one knowing their faces they slipped right in. Once everyone was busy, they made their way to the dungeon.

There were people all over the place. The cells were crammed full of people all in a horrible state. They looked and looked until they saw a cell in the back that looked empty at first glance. As they approached, they noticed a crumpled naked body in the corner.

“Elise?”

It didn’t move.

“Elise?”

“Saxon get the keys.”

Saxon ran back to the front of the dungeon to grab the keys that were hanging on the hook. Baylor took the keys from him and rushed into the cell. He moved the hair covering the woman's face. It was Elise. She stared at him with a blank expression. She did not recognize him. He picked her up.

Saxon looked around. There had to be a way out of the dungeon without going back through the castle, he thought. He asked one of the prisoners, but they knew nothing. They would have to go back through the castle.

Baylor picked Elise tiny frame up. She didn’t say anything, she was limp in his arms. The two made their way up the stairs and into the castle. They tried to move through the corridors without being seen. As they turned a corner though they suddenly came face to face with a man. Everyone stood frozen. The man looked over the situation.

“Come this way.”

He was one of Sean’s people. After a moment of hesitation Saxon and Baylor followed. They made their way through corridor after corridor. The man turned to them.

“Down this last hall is a door. It leads out of the castle, but it is guarded. I will distract the guard. When you hear yelling come down to the door. They will be chasing me, and the coast will be clear.”

The two of them nodded. The man ran ahead. A minute later they heard yelling. They moved at the signal. Sure enough, there was a door, unguarded just as he had promised. They went through it and quickly fled from the castle. Elise was free.