My eyes widen. “You’re the crazy woman I ran into earlier.”
"Not a woman. A witch." She grins. "And you're a maddening, which means you shouldn't be here. Luckily, I found you before something else did. Evil or not, you need to be protected. And don't worry about being a monster. Where you're going, monsters are accepted. And they'll protect you there."
I barely register her words before she shoves me forward toward the swirling circle of darkness.
“Hey! What th
e hell!” I shout as I attempt to regain my balance.
But I end up tripping over my shoelaces.
Dammit, I should’ve laced them.
I didn’t, though, and now I’m stumbling straight into the vortex.
Into the darkness.
That I’m pretty sure might lead to Hell.
Haven
Darkness, darkness everywhere.
Surrounding me.
Pulling me down.
Into the pits of hell—
Swoosh.
I fall out of the vortex and land on a shiny black marble floor. But I don’t land very gracefully and my legs giving out on me. I trip forward, nearly landing on my face. Luckily, I get my hands out in time or else I may have broken my face.
“Well, that was close.” Relief trickles through me until I remember that I just fell out of a vortex that I’m pretty sure leads to hell.
Shit, am I in Hell?
I quickly stumble to my feet, adjusting my backpack, my gaze skimming along the massive black columns lining the grey walls. Above me is a domed ceiling painted with a mural of a woman with glitter silver skin, and snakes and flames surround her. Pieces of embers float in the air and smoke swirls around me.
“Yeah, I’m definitely in Hell,” I mutter, turning in a circle, trying to figure out if I’m hallucinating.
Logically, it seems like I am, yet everything feels so real, as if I’m just waking up from a seventeen-year dream and finally entering reality.
What doesn’t seem real, though, is how unafraid I am.
I should be freaking out, right? I mean, some crazy woman… or well, witch as she told me…
I stop my thoughts right there. Witches don’t exist.
Then again, what I did to Tim and Mia shouldn’t exist either.
“Holy crap, did I really meet a witch?” I mutter, deciding I must be in shock or something. That has to be the reason I’m not freaking out that… “I’m in Hell.”
“Oh no, honey, this isn’t hell, I assure you.” A crackling voice sails over my shoulder.
I startle, spinning around, only to be startled again by a person… creature… whatever it is that’s standing in front of me.
It’s tall, even compared to my five foot ten height. Where its hair should be, flames blaze instead, smoke funnels from its eye sockets, and its flesh singes like embers. Weirdly, it’s wearing a pair of nice black pants, and a shirt, vest, and tie, all formal attire. Nice looking even.