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He shrugs. “Sometimes certain behaviors shouldn’t be overlooked because humans decided to make a change.”

“You were once a human too, you know. Probably not a notable one with the way you follow after people.”

“Oh, and you were so amazing, huh?”

“No, but I sure didn’t follow blindly after anyone.” Well, that’s not all the way true. But he doesn’t need to know that.

I shove him forward towards the door. It requires him to scan his tattoo to unlock it. He scans his tattoo and the door opens. I can’t see anything as I look inside.

“How do I find him?”

“This door takes you to tier three. You are already at the corner he is in, so you just have to walk through about two different people’s Hell. But you have to be a reaper to walk through. Only reapers can see the door to leave in each Hell.”

I look down at my tattoo, praying that this tattoo has enough juice to work.

“Don’t worry about that.”

“He will be on the other side. Just make sure the people in Hell don’t notice you,” he warns.

“What would happen if they did?”

“They will attack you. If they touch you, then you’ll get stuck in their Hell until someone comes and gets you, which no one will.” That would not be fun. I could barely tolerate my version of Hell. Imagine someone else’s.

I let him go. “Thank you.” Then, I roundhouse kick him in the head, causing him to collapse on the floor, knocking him out cold.

That’s for taking my man to Hell.

I step through the door and right into a nightmare. Or maybe just a painful game. I glance around looking for the door until my eyes land on it. The problem? It’s on the other side of a goddamn lava pit.

I do some stretches and crack my knuckles. I remember getting in trouble with one of my foster parents for throwing their pillows off the couch and pretending they were the rocks and the ground was lava. I’ve prepared for this my whole life.

Why is this someone’s Hell? I hear a scream and whip my head in that direction, just in time to see a woman stuck on a rock in the middle of lava with no way of getting off. She must have had a very traumatic childhood for this to be her Hell.

But for me, I have a path to the door. It will take some hard leaps but if I’m anything, I am competitive. It is me versus the lava. I hear an imaginary bell ring, signaling the beginning of the game. I hop on the rock closest to me then jump to the next. I keep doing this until I reach halfway through. I pause to catch my breath. When I’m ready to continue, I prepare to jump. My actions are halted when I feel the ground begin to vibrate. I squat on the rock to help keep my balance. As the vibrations stop, a huge blast of lava right in front of me shoots into the air.

You got to be fucking kidding me.

What is this? Super Mario? This level just got harder, and I absolutely do not have time for this. I need to get to Aiden, then to my father.

I take a moment to study the lava bursts. There may be a pattern to it. I count how many rocks I have to leap onto to get to the other side. It’s five. I wait patiently for another blast. A second later, lava shoots out right in front of me.

One.

Two.

Three.

Another bursts in front of the rock, then in front of the second rock. I continue counting and studying the blasts until it happens again in front of me.

There we go. I figured out the cycle. I leap onto the rock and continue doing this until I finally reach the last rock. As I land on it, my feet slip.

“Fuck!” I yell out as I lose my balance. I throw out my arms to help stabilize me.

Luckily, it works.

Without a second thought, I walk through the door and straight into the worst Hell I can imagine.

There are spiders everywhere.