[BOOK TWO]
"Anniversaries to some are like counting the years spent doing something great, years spent together, or years spent alive." I started slowly, voice dropping to a drawl as I peeked cautiously out of my bedroom blinds, scanning the road to...
THE VERY SECOND in which the nickname I had once used for Death slipped past my lips, it felt as though I was rammed by a strong force of deja vu. A distant memory teased at my fingertips, not quite close enough for me to grasp before fading away into nothingness once more.
Death, no, Dimitri, stood quietly at one side, observing my movements with a completely emotionless expression. When our gazes met in the middle, he took a while before darting his silver orbs away, not wanting to hold the gaze for too long.
I didn't feel safe around him. No matter what sweet stories he had tried to flood my brain with, the events of last year were still raw and unforgiving. Besides, Minnie was still missing in this realm of the immortal and the undead. For all I know, Dimitri could be luring me in before going for the kill. Ever since last year, I had learned the key lesson of life for all female kind, and maybe even for some of the male population: all the hot and mysterious ones will end up breaking your heart, even if they try to mend it some time after.
His long jean-clad legs moved along the polished marble floor, crossing the room within seconds before reaching the door. Pausing, Dimitri turned back once before nudging his head in the direction in which he was headed as if beckoning me to follow him. He said no words, using only his stoic movements to speak for him.
The white and gold gun was tucked safely away back into the pockets of my jeans. A voice inside of my head reasoned that perhaps Dimitri could be trusted just for this once. After all, he hasn't tried to kill me.
Yet.
"Where are we going?" The very second we stepped out of the room and into a long corridor, the question flew past my lips. I walked a safe distance behind of Dimitri's towering figure, and though I was a hundred percent sure that he had heard my question, he did not answer.
Instead, Dimitri kept on walking, his long legs crossing the area much quicker than me as I took two steps with every step he took. The windows that lined along the corridor allowed a cooling breeze to blow in, causing me to turn to peer out when a balcony appeared right beside me. The world below was nothing I could've ever imagined Hell to be like.
There was a beach, with endless streams of sunshine raining down on the glistening waters. The sand was so pure and so refined that it caught each gleam of that light, radiating it against the palace walls. There were men and women down at the beach, some dressed in normal swimming costumes, while others were decked out in ridiculous costumes that I've never seen before in my entire life.
Laughter rang like an orchestra playing the finest music presented to a lord, along with cheers and whoops of joy as multiple families played around in the sun. Not too far away was a meadow that sort of resembled paradise. Only, it was not connected to a forest, but rather a large town with huts made of different sorts of materials. Every now and then, a more majestic building will dot the area, and there was a clear separation between the more well-off and the normal folk of town.
This was not what I expected Hell to be.
I expected blazing fires, screams of pain and maniac laughter. I expected streets bathed in blood, paved with the flesh of the damned and the sound of chains ringing across every hall. I expected tears, pleas of forgiveness that fell on deaf ears, and rings of Hell that held different punishments from the last. I expected demons roaming the lands, frightening all that lived here, and a tyrant as a king.
Though that last bit might still be true, the former was not.
"Not what you expected, is it?"
I jumped a little in surprise when Minnie's gentle voice pulled me back out from the daydream. Turning around, there she was in her beautiful radiance. My best friend stood inches away from me with a small smile on her face; that same smile she would have on back at home.
"Minnie! What are you doing here? Dimitri, he... he..." I was stuttering for words, unable to comprehend what exactly I was seeing. Noticing my stunned response, Minnie laughed, a sound that rang like the bells of angels as she wiped a small tear away from the corner of her eye.
"Death saved me. Dimitri is a good guy, you know. He isn't all bad."
"Yeah," I snorted. "If you drop the fact that he tried to kill me by forcing a kiss on me and then going off to frighten the living daylights out of me till I have a need of going for consultation sessions, I guess he is a good guy."
My reply was nothing short of sarcastic which made Minnie roll her eyes before shaking her head.
"Well if you put it that way.." she trailed off, eyebrows wrinkling, deep in thought.
Silence ensued between the both of us, only leaving the background and very distant laughter to fill in the cracks of tranquillity. I could feel Minnie shift slightly from where she stood before she rested her arms on the rails of the balcony, her eyes staring far off into the distance.
"I believe that there is good in everything." Her voice was a soft whisper, like flowers dancing in the spring breeze or leaves leaving their trees in autumn. "And there is bad all the same."
"What makes you think that?" I asked, eyes darting away from the scenery to examine my friend. She had the ever most serene look on her as she licked her bottom lip slightly, sighing in emotional hurt. I would know that look, seeing that I had been on the receiving end far too many times.
"I know that you think that Dimitri was the one that kidnapped me here. It wasn't him, Addison. It was someone else. Someone you and I trusted once upon a time. Someone I had felt was like a brother and had been over to our house many times. Someone we shared laughter with, and joy, and also sadness and remorse."
Minnie paused for a moment, her eyes meeting mine for a brief moment before she whimpered back a cry from the memory.
"It was Lucius. He was the one that brought me here against my will."
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DUN DUN DUN.
A chapter dedication to one of my best friends. (Here's your chapter, now please go study for your exams, okay?)
