“But that still doesn’t tell you what order,” she deflates.
“Holy shit!” Lynx yells, and all eyes turn to him as he continues to call out expletives. “Hell yeah, bitches! We got this. Oh yeah!” He thrusts his hips and does a few spins before stopping and looking back at all of us. “Don’t give me that looklike I’m insane.” He smirks. “I just realized…Rezdoesknow the order, and so do I!” His smile takes up most of his face while I give him a doubtful look.
“Way to be a spoilsport,” he mumbles as he steps up to me.
“The song,” he tells me like it should trigger something in me, but I shake my head. “Rez, what did your mother do every night when she tucked you into bed and before we did our ritual?” His eyes stare into mine, trying to get me to think back to those nights.
It’s not too hard because Mother always tucked me in, sat on the bed, and sang a little tune while touching…my…beauty marks in the same pattern.
My jaw drops, and Lynx smiles like that crazy Jack Nicholson gif of him smiling and nodding.
“You got it, don’t you?”
Without answering, I start humming the tune, and Lynx walks over to the door to press on one of the knots. A click rings out in the cavern and shines a bright white.
HOLY SHIT. I’m amazed that there’s a lock in Hell that is specifically made for me. It blows my mind, but maybe that’s a normal thing around here? I mean, I’ve never seen or heard of a device with multiple keys tuned to a certain melody that one has to travel through the bowels of Hell to find, facing monsters, demented demons that are too big for their britches, and gamble their souls for every second they breathe. Yeah, why couldn’t someone have given me a damn code we use for a security keypad, or heck, a cheat code would have been nice.
Lynx and I go around, and together, we hit each knot in the order we subconsciously learned them. With each click, it brings us one step closer to the portal. As I hit the last lock, the door clicks and shudders to life, hissing before it starts to part in the middle and opens up.
Walking through, we see it. Up on a dais is a large portal, much like the portals in The Crucible, back in Hell. Thankfully, during the rehashing with Lynx’s parents, the guys did a great job explaining how it was a massive tent with multiple portals lined up for different places, and the massive one in the middle led to Purgatory. The only difference between the two is there’s only one here, and the stone is a solid silver. But just like the ones at The Crucible, this one isn’t working either.
“Where’s the lever to reset this damn thing so we can get out of here?” JP asks, looking around.
“No clue, but we better start looking,” I suggest.
We split up and begin looking around. I head behind the portal while the others look around the walls and into the crevices around the flooring. This place has no stairs, doors, or furniture, so it’s not like it’s hiding that much. I can’t find anything, at least. Returning to the portal, I examine the marble gate and notice a section that’s not even.
Hmm…I wonder. What’s the worst that could happen? Die? Done that a few times.
I place my hand against the cool exterior and push. It slides in easily, and once it becomes flush with the stone, it heats up, and the portal buzzes with energy.
“Whoop!” Moni shouts and passes out as Chester dives for her, catching her before she hits the ground. I swear that man deserves an MVP medal for saving her ass!
Oh! I’m going to make him one for graduation day!
“Let me call Dad real quick, and then we can bounce,” JP announces before walking off to the side.
I don’t know how he expects to do that down here since I don’t have service, but I’m sure with their special connection, they have a way.
Standing in front of the portal, I wonder how it works since this is the main portal of all portals. As I stare into the purpleliquid that swirls around as it waits for a destination, multiple images appear. Some show deadly monsters with gnarly fangs, and some are of cloaked figures that I don’t have to strain hard to imagine are the Rebels. Is this what we will walk into if we use this? Is this our present, future, or past? More images flash, and the common denominator is the Rebels.
This feels like a premonition. But it’s nothing like the time that I had a premonition with Gertrude, a fish-faced monster who tried to push me into the Sulks. That feels like a lifetime ago. This premonition is much clearer. At least I don’t have to walk through this portal to see what will happen.
Hopefully, it’s a sign that I’m becoming stronger. As I wait for JP, my mind starts to wander, and the images in the portal also begin to change. In one image, I see the glade where I met Anwen outside Nova. Another image is the swamp where I grew up in New Orleans and my grandparents' store.Now that I think about it, are they even related to me? I have so many questions, and I don’t know where to go to get answers.The next is a place in the mountains, but I have no idea if it’s on Earth or in Purgatory.
Can portals even take us to Earth? And if not, then why did I just see the swamp with my grandparents’ store? My head starts pounding when Lynx comes up to me and pulls me into a hug.
“I love you. Please don’t ever sacrifice yourself again,” he pleads. I turn into his arms to lay my head against his pec and feel his heart race under my cheek.
“I’m sorry I scared you,” I whisper. “I wasn’t thinking. I just wanted to save you.”
He runs his hand down my back and swats my ass hard.
Oww.
‘I’d rather die with you than live a second without you. Don’t take my choice away.’He pulls back enough to cup my face in his palms and looks into my eyes, allowing me to see his mistyturquoise ones before he claims my lips. ‘You are my heart. And I can’t live without my heart.’
A tear frees itself from my lashes before we’re interrupted by a bashful JP.
