She rarely called me by my first name, and I found it was filled with softness, hearing it come from her lips. I locked onto her pretty face, my eyes adjusting, searching for an anchor, for anything to keep me tethered to reality. Her eyes suddenly came into view, her gaze was warm, steady, and in that moment, I felt something deep. A pull, a connection that reached down to the core of me, silencing Bael’s mocking taunts, if only for a second. But that second wasn’t enough.
“Run,” I whispered, feeling the words escape like a plea. “You need to run from me. Now.”
But she didn’t move, her hands still cupping my face. “Peter, I’m not leaving. What’s happening?”
I opened my mouth to answer, but a wave of suffocating heat washed over me, Bael’s hold tightening like a noose. The air turned thick, heavy with smoke, and I was pulled down, spiraling into a dark, fiery abyss. I was slipping, falling, tumbling into the depths, and there was nothing but heat, smoke, and Bael’s laughter echoing like thunder around me.
“No, no, no,” I choked out, clawing against the fiery tendrils pulling me down, dragging me deeper into the pit. Hell was alive around me, writhing with heat, devouring any shred of sanity I had left. I had seen and walked through hell before but was never pulled into it against my own will. I was crawling on my hands and knees, flames licking at my skin, searing through my bones. Bael’s voice boomed through the molten air, filling every inch of the inferno.
“Give in, Peter. Just let go. Let me in.”
I fought against him, dragging myself forward, but it felt like clawing through quicksand. The fire was everywhere, alive and ravenous, filling my lungs, suffocating me. Somewhere, faintly, I could hear Grace’s voice breaking through the haze, her call like a rope trying to pull me back from the edge. She was humming something, over and over.
“Return to me, now,” she demanded, her voice soft, urgent, and that single phrase sliced through the darkness, grounding me even as I felt the flames engulfing me.
Then, with a violent jolt, I felt myself pulled upward, my body crashing against the floorboards of the shop as if thrown by an unseen force. Air filled my lungs in a rush, and I gasped, blinking against the harsh light as I came to.
Grace was staring at me, wide-eyed, a mix of confusion and fear in her gaze. “Peter? Peter it’s me, Grace.”
I grabbed at her hands, squeezing them as my eyes shot left and right, taking in my surroundings.
“Grace?” I whispered.
“Yes. I’m here. Are you alright?”
“I will be,” I tried to get up but my bones hurt too much so I just lay back against the floorboards and closed my eyes.
“What just happened?” she demanded, her voice shaky but strong.
I looked up into her pretty face, my body still trembling, drenched in sweat. “I… I was dragged into hell,” I breathed, the words barely a whisper, still tasting the sulfur on my tongue, the heat lingering like an aftershock.
Her gaze flickered with something fierce, but she didn’t flinch, she bent down to touch my cheek, her fingers warm against my hot skin. “What does that mean? Is that a hypothetical thing, or…”
“It’s a long story,” my voice rasped.
She wrapped a hand around my waist, and I held onto her as she helped me stand. “Bael,” I choked out, his name slipping from my lips like a curse.
Her eyes widened, and I felt her stiffen against me. “What did you say?”
“Bael found us,” I whispered, still barely able to speak
"How?" she asked softly, guiding me to sit in a chair before crouching beside me. I wished I could smooth away the worry etched into her brow, those deep lines across her nose.
“What were you reciting? When you brought me back?”
“I don’t know. Now tell me how he found us.”
“That’s one hell of anI don’t know.”
“Peter!”
“I don’t know. But he’s back, and he wants you. He wants you more than anything, Grace, and he’ll stop at nothing to take you.”
Grace’s eyes blazed, a spark of defiance that made my heart clench. “Then let him come and try. I’m not afraid of him.”
“You should be,” I said, my voice rough with desperation. “You don’t know what that demon’s capable of. He’ll kill you, Grace. And he’ll find joy in your death.”
“Then help me fight it,” she challenged, stepping closer, her eyes never leaving mine. “Teach me, Hellsing.”
