Death’s New Pet: Love after Life

It feels strange.

One minute I’m outside the burning bus, and the next I’m suddenly in a dark room with only a dim light. It all happens so fast that I can’t compute it. Fight it.

All of the sudden, my chest feels heavy and the heat licks at me, though I’m not sure where it’s coming from. Even the stench is terrible. It’s like rotting meat and gone-off milk. I gag, momentarily blinded by the stench which chokes up my breathing. And then, my heart explodes in panic as the dim light reveals the dark box that I currently reside in.

I leap into action. My whole body heaves as I yank at the bars, though, of course, it’s no use.

“Let me out! Help! Help!” My throat throbs from how loudly I yell the plead, but nothing happens. I try again, and again until I feel sick from how dry my throat becomes. My screams break the sound barrier, bouncing off each wall before caving in on themselves. “Please! Let me out! Help! Help!”

My attempts at gripping the bars prove to be feeble, the slime and grime build up making it almost impossible to get a reasonable grip. I desperately try to peer outside the bars, but it’s near pitch-black and the stench out there is somehow worse than in here.

“No one will hear you,” a female voice calls out.

Frightened, I spin around in horror. A lady in the far shadows of the cell lunges forward so I can see her under the light. A long grey dress clings to her body, draping down her wrists and flowing behind her. She has long chocolate hair which cascades down her back, with random plaits and jewels making her look like some type of royalty. With a soft button nose, kind warm eyes and a smile that makes you feel welcome, she doesn’t ooze the danger I expected of someone who has just appeared out of thin air.

She crosses the cell slowly, as if not to startle me, and gently takes my hand. Everything within me screams to run away, but like a deer startled in the headlights, I’m completely frozen. Despite all my attempts to stop it, I find myself mindlessly gravitating towards her.

Then, suddenly, all signs of motherly instinct vanish, and abrupt flashes of Maximo storm through my mind. His wonky decaying teeth, menacing grimace and terrifying eyes force their way into my head. He leers over me in my mind as though he’s going to attack, and it fills me with absolute terror. In his hand, he holds a dagger and he’s about to plunge it into my naked skin like he used to do. It feels as though the world around me is going to explode as fear strangles me.

I scream as horror consumes me until my throat aches. I feel helpless, flinging each limb around to get him to stop, but I’m quickly learning I have less power here than I did in the prison.

It’s utterly useless. I’m abruptly completely pinned to the bed, staring at his horrible grimace. The same one he’d present just moments before he’d leave irreversible damage to my skin.

Just as the dagger connects with my skin, everything changes. Suddenly, he’s the one naked and chained to the bed and it’s my dagger connecting with his thigh. Roars of agony fill my mind followed by silence. The vision changes just as quickly. I am no longer stabbing him, but now I have a gun pressed to his forehead as he pleads for his life on his knees.

It changes again.

Maximo is bent over a table, ropes forcing his wriggling body still. In my hand, I clutch onto a broom, ready to fuck him with it, the exact same way he’d force me down and rape me over and over growing up.

Without warning, the visions disappear, and a frightened shriek escapes my lips. My fists leap into a self-defence position after I shove the lady away from me as though she was responsible for the conjured images in my mind.

“What the hell? What the fuck! I swear to God get away from me—”

“Tut, tut,” the evil woman’s face distorts into an ugly scowl, making my blood turn to ice, “You shouldn’t use that name down here.”

“Down here?” I cry out in horror.

Fuck, have I been taken to Hell already?

“Mother, don’t scare her!” another voice booms.

As if appearing from thin air, Misery makes herself known. My eyes slam shut, and I count down from five, convinced that I’m seeing things. I slowly reopen them, expecting her to disappear.

I must be insane. I must have hit my head on the bus and this is all some fucked-up concussed dream.

But, ultimately, the two women leer over me, intently watching my every reaction. A horrified noise slips from my mouth as nausea leaps into my mouth.

It’s not a fucking dream! This is actually happening!

Then, Misery’s head rears toward her mother. “I told you not to meet her without me.”

“I couldn’t resist!” she licks her lips as if eyeing me up for her next meal. “You know I love mortals.”

Unwillingly, I ready myself to fight to the death. I have no fucking clue what these things are in front of me, but they are not human, and they are not good. My whole body screams to run away but the bars lock me in a cell with these demons.

Misery steps towards me but she no longer wears her sunglasses, revealing her real eyes. I shriek in horror. Blood-like orbs glare back at me except for a thick strip of pupil, resembling a snake.

Fuck!

“Oh God! Oh my God! What the fuck are you?”

Both the women flinch. I scream louder. “Where am I? Let me go! Oh my God, let me go! Please!”

Panic floods through me like no other. I cast my gaze around at the prison shackled bars and the dirty floors, and my breathing became irregular. It reminds me far too much of what I escaped from. Trapped in a prison with a monster. And yet I don’t know what’s worse, Maximo or these creatures!

“No, no, no!”

“Scarlet, calm down,” Misery tries, holding her hands out to soothe me. I use my whole body to pull at the bars again, but nothing happens. Fear and adrenaline force me to face the women and raise my fists again. Absolute terror makes me jump to awful conclusions.

“Are you working with him? Is that why you are here? Because I killed his brother? Did he send you? Oh Hell!” I ramble incoherently, “Fuck! Please, let me go! I swear, I’ll do anything! I won’t tell a soul what I’ve seen!”

“Him?” the lady in black frowns.

“Maximo,” Misery notes sourly as if she knows exactly what I’m blabbering on about. A disgusted look crosses her face as she glares at me. “He has nothing to do with this, Scarlet. He’s not the one to be afraid of. We are.”

Something twisted in my heart knows that these demons are the true enemy and the things to be frightened of, but something far worse tells me Maximo is still the one to watch out for. They might be lying to me. They might lure me towards him. After all, I know true evil in the face of my husband. I’ve lied next to him for twenty-two years and I’ve never had a pain-free moment. Surely, that is evil?

“Who the fuck are you then? How do you know my name? How are you doing all of this—” I holler as the adrenaline gives me a newfound confidence. Then, I remember the gun from earlier, and desperately try to find it, but it’s completely gone. The only thing in my pocket is the little white pill, begging to be tasted.

“You want to shoot me?” Misery cocks her eyebrow in amusement.

“How did you know—”

“A feisty one,” the other lady says in a velvety voice. It fills me with more dread than if she spat it.

“Let me go!”

“Why would we do that?” Misery sighs, taking a lunge towards me, trapping me against the bars. “We are here to help you.”

“Help me?” I boom. “You’ve imprisoned me! Kidnapped me!” I become uncontrollable. “People will realise that I’m gone! They will find you and they will kill you for doing this to me!”

It’s a complete lie, anything to get me out of this prison. Much to my horror, Misery and the other lady look at each other and explode with laughter, to the point Misery wipes a tear from her face.

“Nobody is looking for you, Scarlet, don’t kid yourself. You made it so nobody knew where you even were,” Misery tuts, grabbing my chin and forcing it in the air. “Silly girl,” she taunts. “Silly, silly girl.”

Tears prick in my eyes, but surprisingly not from fear but rage now. It’s like she’s tormenting me, and the injustice of finally escaping a prison just to be thrown into another doesn’t escape me. What these women don’t know is I have nothing to lose. They will not be able to do anything to me that Maximo hasn’t done first. Pain all becomes the same once someone slaughters your will to live.

“Let! Me! Go!”

“Ohh, so threatening.” The other lady squints her eyes as she mocks me. A low growl escapes me. Survival instincts kick in and all my fear switches into desperation.

I will fight and kick and scream and kill my way out of this hell hole!

As if sensing my sudden bravery, her head snaps to the side as though she’s trying to read me. It makes the hairs on the back of my arms leap to attention, but I never lower my fists.

“You shouldn’t make enemies with us, sweetheart, we aren’t here to hurt you. Yet, anyway.”

“We are actually here to offer you a fantastic deal,” Misery beams.

“A deal?” I swallow down the lump in my throat and put another step between me and the woman. Thankfully, they allow me the breathing space I so desperately need.

“Sure,” Misery beams, “What if I tell you that we can give you Maximo.”

My mouth dries. “What?”

“We can give you all of them. It’s up to you what you do with them. Torture, kill, let go…”

“I want to kill them!” The rage floods through me before I can bottle it up.

The other lady’s hand shoots out and she cups my cheek. For a moment, another flash of Maximo fills my mind before it disappears quickly. The lady smiles wide, sending shivers through me. “I know, I know, and it’s only fair you get your revenge.”

“M—My revenge? How— how did you know?”

“Hush, sweet pea.” The lady speaks over me, “It doesn’t matter how, and it doesn’t matter what. What should interest you is why.”

She nods her head as if to permit me to ask the question. I choke on the words as I spit them out. “Why? Why are you doing this?”

“If you want your prize, you must compete.”

“Compete?”

“There will be some trials, let’s say. If you survive and win, you get all the revenge you could possibly long for. And more.” She enunciates certain words, and it confuses me. I know whatever is happening is wrong and should be avoided. These women in front of me, though beautiful, ooze a deception. My jaw clenches and my eyes burn from where I haven’t blinked in so long, afraid the momentary vulnerability will give them time to strike.

“And if I say no?” I bristle.

Misery’s head snaps backwards as she laughs. It’s such an ugly sound, one that fills me with dread. When she finishes, her head cocks to the side and her red eyes darken, “If you say no, you die.”

Silence haunts the space between us. The lump in my throat burns as I realise I might not have many options. “What kind of trials are these?”

“I won’t lie to you, Scarlet, these trials will be unlike anything you’ve ever heard of or could even possibly dream of. They’re dangerous. Your soul might die, and you will be sorted into the punishment hell that fits the crimes you committed whilst physically alive, but the reward is fruitful.”

“So, if I say no, I die, and if I say yes, I die,” I croak.

Misery’s eyes light up happily, “Now you understand!”

The other lady shoves Misery to the side. “It’s not just that,” she sends daggers at the smaller lady, “Focus on what you gain. If you say yes, and you win, you get your long dreamt of revenge. Twenty-two years of torture will finally be settled, Scarlet. All you have to do is beat the other contestants.”

“How do I know you’re not lying to me?”

“We may be evil,” she coos, “But we never break our deals.”

I ponder on the thought for a second, and it’s enough for me to realise I might have completely lost my fucking mind. As if I’m actually considering accepting this deal! These women are bad, like very bad. They are clearly something worse than human, something forged from the depths of Hell. And yet, this doesn’t frighten me. What truly horrifies me is the idea that I might die before getting my revenge. Whatever these women have in store for me, Maximo must have done worse.

Right?

It’s a gamble with my life, but it’s also a game I’ve been playing for twenty-two years. Surely, that counts for something.

Right?

“Do we have a deal?” Misery thrusts her hand out at me and hurries me for an answer. I eye up the deceptively dainty-looking thing. I feel like I can’t breathe as my arm lifts on its own accord.

I must have a fucking death wish.

Before I can say anything else, I clasp my fingers around her hand and shake. “Deal.”