Page 2 of Hex
“You’re making this too easy. Handing yourself in, Soul?”
I turn quickly at the clipped tone with an accent I can’t place, eyes wide with intrigue.
“Are you…are you talking to me?” I point to myself, questioning the four-foot-tall demon with a wide grin on his cracked face.
He nods, the grin growing wider, showcasing a mouth full of pointed yellow teeth. The four horns on his forehead pulse with…excitement? And with each pulse, a little of his cracked, gray skin flakes off.
He can see me…? He can see me! Oh no…I’m not ready.
“Sorry, Mr. Horn, but you’re going to have to come for me another time because now just isn’t convenient.” If I’m guessingcorrectly, then he can see me because he’s been assigned my soul for collection.
“Ha. Human souls. So predictably difficult. I’ll give you a three-second head start.”
I use the first two seconds to register what he said before I bolt. The pain of being away from Hack doesn’t dissolve with distance, but it doesn’t grow either, so there’s that.
I haven’t tried using the portals without Hack, but I feel like I have a better chance at escaping if I’m on Earth. Because I have no idea what will happen to me if I try to go anywhere else, that’s exactly where I head. I don’t waste another second questioning my decision, I just leap through the first portal I come to and hope for the best.
I don’t think I did it right.
This isn’t Earth. Not by a long shot.
If I wasn’t already dead, I’d think I had just died and gone to Heaven because there are actual real angels with huge, white wings flying around the aqua-blue sky. Mountains of glowing white structures and high balconies stretch up toward the few bright-white clouds spread out like a perfect pattern.
I think this is the place that Hack called Ryetoh because it’s glorious.
The land has an almost ethereal blue glow and energy radiates from every shiny glass surface.
I’ve been standing here for longer than a few seconds and the horny demon hasn’t followed me, so maybe he can’t? That’s good information to have for when I need to evade him again, which I have no doubt will happen. Although, I came here by mistake so I’ll have to figure out how to do it intentionally next time.
The ache in my gut tugs at me and I double over, clutching at my stomach to try and ease the pain that has expanded from myheart because I can’t see Hack. Soon, I have no doubt that it will consume my entire body.
It’s only been a matter of minutes since the whole capture attempt, and I’m not always the stupid girl that runs into danger, so I’m going to sit this one out. I’ll wait here for a couple of hours, endure the pain of being away from Hack, then I’ll follow the pull in my chest to get back to my love…where I can endure more pain as I watch him fall apart.
Ugh, being dead sucks.
If I could sleep, I’d do that. It makes time go faster and pain grow tamer. But no. Sleep evades me like I’m trying to evade the horned demon. Oh, I’ve tried, many times, but it’s impossible. It seems floating around after Hack—with the new addition of escaping the demon trying to capture me—is my existence now, forever locked into the pain of what losing me causes him. Forever cursed to watch as the demon I would die for—ha, I’m funny—crumbles into a pit of self destruction.
If I don’t find ways to lighten my situation, I fear I’ll spend my days in a deep depression, and that won’t solve anything.
I have tried to sense Danika a few times, hoping to see her one last time before I resurrect, but when I try, this sensation of being pushed back and crushed overwhelms me, so I quit because yeah, I’m dead, but that shit hurts more than the pain of simply being away from Hack. There was one attempt that made me believe I’m not a total loser at being dead, because while I wasn’t transported directly to Danika, there was a time I was directed to Desdemon.
After finding him fucking a woman with three fox-like tails over a bed of nails, I vowed never to pop in on Desdemon again. It was not my finest moment since I’ve been a spirit. That being said, finding Danika is like trying to find Waldo in a romance novel—not happening.
“Hi, are you Sage Bayley?”
Ah, fuck.
I look up from where I’m sitting on the lushest green grass to ever exist, finding the most stunning woman. A large pair of golden wings are spread out to either side of her and her horns are much neater than the demon’s. Plus, she only has two.
“Yes.” I debated lying but it wouldn’t come out of my mouth.
“I am Valkyrie Marshall Gwendia. Would you come with me?”
The words say question, but her tone says order, and I’m confused as to whether to trust her. I’m also a little in awe of how she just introduced herself. A freaking valkyrie?! Her voice is like soft baby kisses on your cheek and I’m finding it difficult to deny her request…demand.
A huff of breath makes my chest visibly rise and fall—I guess I can still breathe—and I stand, resigned to my never-ending fate. I get the impression I’ll be on the run more than I get to be with Hack now that they seem to have a lock on me.
Gwendia’s smile is contagious and I can’t help grinning back at her as I begin to follow her toward a large, white cave in the side of one of the many mountains. That nauseous feeling of travelling through a portal hits me before we come out into what I can only describe as mother trucking Olympus.
