Chapter 60 - Purgatory!

LENA WAS WALKING THROUGH a thick dark forest and it took a moment for her to find her bearings. Not that she knew where the hell she was. Nothing looked familiar, not even the stars. All she knew was that she had to keep moving.

It almost felt as though something was coming for her and she had to get back home, but she didn’t know if she was even going in the right direction. Where the hell was she, but more importantly … How the hell did she get out of here and get back home?! The forest was so dark that everything around her looked as if it had been completely drained of colour. There was not one single thing that was green.

It also smelled really strange. Nothing smelled familiar. Not one single plant and the air smelled like old stale bread. Lena kept walking for what felt like hours in the hopes that she would reach the end of the forest, until she reached a mark she had made on one of the trees! Dammit! She had been walking in a circle even though she thought she was walking in a straight line.

She looked up at the stars again, and felt really confused. She had been following a group of stars. How was it possible that she walked in a damn circle! She couldn’t sit down because it still felt as though something was chasing her and she really wanted to get back home. She couldn’t remember what happened and how she got here, but she could remember home, and all the people she loved. It had been hours since she started walking and she was sure that Alaric would have found her by now!

Taking a deep breath, she decided to walk in the opposite direction she had done before. If something was chasing her, she would go head-to-head with it, wouldn’t she? Carefully taking note of the position of the stars, she started walking. After a while, the thick brush of the forest grew less and less until eventually there were only dried old dead trees all around her.

Wherever she was, it wasn’t a good place to be. A shiver ran down the back of her spine as the silence hurt her ears. Something told her she shouldn’t shout for help. There was something really menacing in the air. She could feel it. A very dark presence seemed to be out there, but there were only dead trees and dried up ground as far as the eye could see.

Lena realized that it should have been daytime by now, but it was still pitch-black night. Was it even possible? Her mind started to wonder about alternative realms and she shook her head. She had only ever heard of that kind of thing in movies. There was no way it could be real. She walked on feeling the dust filling her mouth and lungs to the point where she could no longer breathe. She was so tired and thirsty, but she hadn’t seen water at all. In the distance, a hooded figure came into view just as her legs gave way under her and everything around her went dark.

LENA WOKE TO A SOFT LIGHT burning just a couple of feet away from her. She groaned, feeling her dry lips burn as she blinked to try and clear her vision.

“Don’t move. You have been completely dehydrated. If you get up you will faint again.” A gruff old female voice came from the corner of the room. As the woman came into view, Lena gasped. It was her mother! A much older version of her mother, but her mother none the less.

“Mom?” Lena frowned and when she was handed the cup of water, she gulped it down.

“Slowly, slowly sweetheart.” The kindness she remembered came flooding back to her mother’s voice as she sighed and took the cup from Lena. “Hi, baby girl.” Her mother smiled and Lena saw wrinkles on her mother’s face she had never seen before. Had that much time gone by since they last saw each other?

“Where are we?” Lena tried to sit up so she could look around, but her head was pounding, forcing her to lay back down. She could tell that it wasn’t good news as her mother sighed deeply and got up. She walked over to a fire in the middle of the room and Lena realized that was where the light came from.

“We are in purgatory, sweetheart. Do you remember anything before you came here?” Her mother had been holding her hands over the fire and was wringing them tightly together when she turned to look at Lena.

“Wait … WHAT? Okay, I’m lost. What the hell are we doing in purgatory?!” Lena tried to sit up again and this time she pushed past the headache. From the little she could see in the darkness, they were actually inside a tree stump of sorts. A large one, it would seem. The bed she lay on was covered in furs from animals she didn’t recognize and it wasn’t a very sturdy bed. There was a chair in one corner, but she wouldn’t sit on it even if her life depended on it, and what looked like a rickety table in another corner.

“My darling, did you use the death spell?” Her mother frowned and that was when all the pieces of the puzzle started to fall into place for Lena, as she nodded and her mother didn’t look very happy. “Well, then that is why you are here. You were lucky I found you. Most of us are doomed to spend the rest of our lives out here alone. I haven’t seen your father since I arrived and I’m sure he has to be here somewhere …” Her mother started fidgeting again and Lena felt as if her heart shattered into a million pieces.

She didn’t even have to ask her mother if she had been there all this time. She just knew it, but Lena also thought that if there was a way in, there had to be a way out. She could take her mother with her. At least, then she would have one of her parents back.

“Mom, we need to get out of here.” Lena pushed the furs off her but a soul-piercing howl echoed and her mother suddenly looked scared as she rushed over and put her hand over Lena’s mouth before rushing to the fire and putting it out with some dirt. Lena opened her mouth to ask her mother what was happening, but she heard sniffing near the opening of the tree. It felt as if her heart was going to stop at any moment as her mother slowly backed up closer to Lena.

Her eyes were pinned on the entrance of their little hideaway. Whatever was on the other side of that opening, Lena could feel it’s power and she had never felt anything that dark. The stench of Sulphur was so thick in the air that Lena had to fight the urge to gag or she would give away the fact that they were there. She saw a small cloud of dust puff up from outside when another howl further away seemed to catch the attention of the beast and the loud thumps of its feet moved away from them. Her mother breathed a loud sigh of relief before she started packing.

“We have to move. We have to get out of here. I had hoped we might have more time, but they will be back soon.” She put a backpack over her shoulder and rushed to Lena's side. “Can you walk?”

“Mom, what was that?” Lena felt adrenaline push through her veins and it was exactly what she needed. She pushed up off the bed and put her arm around her mother’s shoulders.

“It’s a hell hound.” That was all that her mother had to say. Lena grabbed the fur and her mother ripped it from her hand and threw it back onto the bed. “We can’t take anything with us. We have to burn it all or the hounds will be able to track our scent. I’ve always just taken water with me.” She pointed at the backpack and Lena nodded. They quickly climbed out of their shelter and Lena saw the dead tree above the ground. A spark flickered beside her and her mother threw something into the tree and seconds later everything was burning.

“The only nice thing about this place and the reason why I’ve stayed alive so far is because everything is dead and burns quickly. Now come on. We have to move. I found a new place just before I found you. We should be safe there for a little while.” Lena had no idea which way they were going, but she put her arm around her mother’s shoulders and they started walking into the darkness of the night.