Chapter 5 (Just a hallucination)

A crying child, a careless mother and not being loved anymore.

These 3 things constituted Larcia Grace's nightmares.



Larcia



A piercing pain in my sides tore me away from the terrors as a sharp object prodded my sides and a groggy moan escaped my lips. I sat slouched against what felt like a wall. I brushed my hand over the surface, the ground felt very rugged and craggy.



Slowly I tried opening my eyes, at first they became blurry and suddenly a figure crossed my eyes. As my vision cleared, a shape that seemed to be that of a man came into my view.



Almost as soon as he appeared, the entire place seemed to light up. It seemed to be a tunnel of some kind but except the spot the man was standing, the entire place seemed dark. I looked up and there was no sign of the spot I fell from. Heck! I couldn't even see anything.



The man in front of me looked like someone in his late 20's or early 30s. I couldn't quite see his face, his stature seemed tall and quite lean. He was wearing a khaki shirt which hugged his proportions, his beige trousers made him look taller and a pair of shoes that I very much remember - a brouge from Prada's AW'13 menswear collection!



It was a reddish brown pair with chunky, jagged-edge soles. The reason I remember it so well is because, when I had traveled to LA for a commercial of a cereal, almost ten years ago, I came across a billboard that promoted this very pair of shoes from Prada. Maybe that was the moment when it all started.



I had wondered to myself, if a mere (not really, it's Prada) pair of shoes could be on such a billboard then, who says that I can't be too?



Anyways, the man now towering above me shifted his position and offered me his hand. I felt offended, how can you kidnap someone and then offer to help? No way in hell I'm taking it.



With the help of the wall, I scrambled onto me feet. My sides felt sore from lying on the debris. I was still in my riding suit, my hands shot up to hug my sides as shrewd cold wind hit my bare face and hands. My beige breeches were stained black, my white gloves were shredded into pieces and my hands burned from cuts and abrasions.



Before I could ask about the situation, I took in the face in front of me.



Almost as instantly as my eyes landed on his face, my mouth hung open in an involuntary action. A white light emitted from him, the halo made mide him look divine.



His face seemed to be a shade of honey tan, his nose well built, his almond eyes and a light pink tint to his lips gave him the look of a greek god.



This man was undoubtedly handsome. But that doesn't mean he could kidnap me like this!



I was just about to speak when a waddling sound drew my attention towards a dark corner. I turned my whole body towards the noise as I realized that this kidnap could be the deed of more than one person.



But the man in front of me had his unwavering attention fixed upon me.



As the noise of walking became increasingly louder, a small figure waddled towards the light.



At first, it seemed to be a small, plump child. Maybe this man kidnapped a kid with me too! But how c-



Before my mind could process anymore, the little plump figure which I believed to be a child's, almost galloped and stopped right in front of me.



In light, our eyes met and once I took in what the being in front of me was, a loud holler resonated across the tunnel.



But before I noticed the source of the sound, I realized that I was the one screaming my lungs out. The man standing in front of me clasped his hand onto my mouth, choking me on my own screams.



A green, scaley reptile-like skin, something I was very familiar with and wasn't as well. Large bat-like ears, and eyes almost as black as the darkness itself. Three razor sharp claws on its feet as well as on its hands. A huge mouth with similar piercing teeth. A long tail with a pointed end, and bat-like wings gave it off a menacing look.



Reaching upto a height of almost 3 feet, the little atrocity looked up at me with disdain as if I was the hideous one!



As my screams eventually became muffled, the man released me and whirled me around to face him. He seemed to be giving off radiance. ......I'm not kidding, at first I believed him to carry a torch or maybe a candle but as I took a good look at him, I realized it's him who's emitting light! A white shining beam outlined him as if he was a walking torch.



"Please do not scream". His voice dark, something very opposite of his looks. "Don't make a scene if you don't want to attract something you wouldn't wanna encounter even in your darkest nightmares".



Suddenly my fear evaporated and heat rose to my head, I was ready to completely thwart these fuckers who actually kidnapped "the me", and on top of that they're keeping me locked up in a what, a fucking tunnel!?!?



And with no light? Hell no. But again, I guess I understand where they're coming from. They must be some of my biggest fans, I mean I've seen a lot of stalking in my entire career till now but, never to such extreme.



Whatever I'm today is only because of my fans. The man is definitely a fan of mine but the green gob....................he seems like one of my og fans! He even took the effort to dress up as a gremlin from one of my TV shows back in the day. Ain't gonna deny I'm very impressed with the makeup artist.



(Idk what's happening, but I guess this is the part where I go crazy with all that's currently occurring. I swear it's not a disorder)



The anger in me dissipated as soon as it had appeared. I walked to the gremlin, crouched down so we could be at eye level, I smiled at him and shook his hand. The gremlin looked disgusted as well as confused.



As soon as I shook his hand, his razor sharp nails dug into my palm and I realized it's got to be him who knuckled me in the back of my knee. Even after all that, anger was nowhere to be seen.



I realized I was slowly losing my mind. I smiled again and said, "whoever did your makeup is very good at their job!", the creature seemed befuddled. I touched it's ears, they looked so real!


"Woah, do u think your makeup artist would like to work for me? I promise the pay's quite great!", I asked them with utter admiration. The thing shook his ears out of my hand and looked at me with utter disdain.



There was no response from both of them. It hit me as hard as a boulder that, I was stuck between a freaking torchlight and a plump green cucumber in the middle of nowhere.



Every now and then, a shrill shriek made me break out in cold sweat. I was laughing hysterically and it was getting chilly.



I sat distancing myself from both of them. I rocked back and forth like a troubled child with my back slouched against a wall, my hands wrapped around my bent knees.



The cold was getting worse and every now and then, a small whimper escaped my mouth. As my thoughts ran wild, I wasn't sure what to do anymore. Memories of the past, danced in the corners scaring me.



At a distance, both the man as well as the creature sat surrounding a small bonfire. I wanted to go there, I wanted the heat, I needed it.



With trembling legs, I slowly walked over to them. The soles of my shoes scraped against the rough lane which echoed in the tunnel.



The man sat with his head in between his knees. He seemed to be asleep. The green creature had it's gaze fixated upon me and as I approached nearer, a slow growl escaped it's chafed lips.



I licked my lips out off nervousness. The man most probably sleeping, slowly looked up. His hair tousled, he still discharged a light even brighter than the fire itself. I gulped as our eyes met, straightened my posture and looked at him with pure indignation.



This has been going on for enough time now. And now I needed answers. Without a word, I sat down cross-legged and wrapped my arms around my torso. The heat of the fire felt almost like a shard of glass piercing into my skin. It felt as warm as fresh blood gushing out of a slash.



"I have absolutely no freaking idea about what the bloody hell is going on, what the hell do you need from me? Autographs? Money? Name anything you want and I'm ready to grant it but you gotta get me out of here", I said with a frustrated hand running over my scalp.



Both of them now sat straight and watched me with utmost curiosity, which made me look like a psychopath. A while passed, the unknown malignant screeches continued, while my front was enjoying the heat of the fire, my back felt as if someone was poking me with an icicle.



"Please, whatever I'm about to say might sound absurd to you or even completely impossible but, I beg of you to listen to us first", the man pleaded somberly after a moment of consideration.



I was terrified. I didn't knew what awaited me in the future but this much was very clear to me that, whatever it was I was being forced into it and I was here without my free will.



I nodded to inform the man to begin his explanation, if any. He looked at his friend sitting beside him to get confirmation. And after a moment he said, "First of all, we are not here to harm you. You can be rest assured".



I scoffed loudly at his face to show my utter disrespect. "So you're telling me your friend knowingly knuckled me into the abyss to not harm me? Then to do what? Get my autographs? Well too bad, I can't since I don't have any pen or paper", I replied sarcastically.



The man sighed and looked a bit lost. He looked at the creature for help. It cracked it's knuckles and I jumped slightly. Without any response from the creature, the man continued his explanation.



"We aren't doing this because we wanted to, but it's something out of our control. You must come with us in order for us to help you".



Everything that came out of his mouth went above my head. It felt like he was speaking a foreign language.



"What are you?", I asked them, carefully choosing my questions, "What the heck do you want from me!?"



This time the green creature spoke in a groggy voice,"I'm a gremlin and he..........he's a ghost". Yeah right, this was it. I couldn't take anymore of this escapade. But if I needed to get out of here, I had to know more about my whereabouts.



"Help. That's all we want from you", the man replied pleadingly. I didn't know what was to be said to such a confession. If the man was actually telling the truth then, I wonder what forced them to seek my help. I wanted to know more, maybe it was all just a mistake and if they needed genuine help then maybe I might think to act upon it.



I cleared my throat and said, "Ahem, I'm not sure if you already know my name or not but......I'm Larcia Grace. "


Following my lead, the man greeted saying, "We know, my name's Frank and I'll be your protector during the journey". Not sure what that meant but anyways, the gremlin said it's name was Jester, definitely an apt name for a gremlin.


I had no idea about the time, but it's definitely been more than three hours since I fell into this pit. I wonder if Rose is searching for me.....Aunt Rose! I had completely forgotten about her! She's probably freaking out by now, I just hope she doesn't take any extreme measures. I missed her warmth , I missed my sweet home, I missed her.....food, at the thought of food my stomach grumbled greedily. Colour flew into my cheeks as the man passed me a nearly squashed bun out of his little sling bag.



Before the thought of contaminated food passed my mind, I had already taken a bite of the sweet bun. It tasted stale, but surprisingly quite delish.



"You didn't poison the bun right?". Jester smirked and walked away into the distance. Frank just stared at me as if I was the ghost. Even if it was poisoned, I wished to be delivered to the gates of hell or heaven with at least my stomach full.



"So, you're a ghost? But, how's that possible? I mean, how can I still see you? ", I asked Frank, now a little curious about him.



No answer. He just stared at me as if I was a showpiece at a museum. I was getting annoyed, you can't just kidnap me and ask for help without actually telling me about your problem!



"Atleast tell me where I am, for God's sake!", I said raising my voice. As soon as my speech was over, crackling of thunder at a distance gave me goosebumps all over my face and exposed skin.



"Hell", he replied.



Yeah, for sure I am. This all just felt absurd. It's even worse than any of my nightmares. At one point they at least got over but this felt everlasting.



With a look that I couldn't quite decipher he continued, "You're in hell, the underworld, the land of the dead, or whatever you name it. But that's the truth, you're here according to the wishes of prince Marcolf."



Marcolf? That's a name I've never heared in all my living years! But how does he even know me? I mean yeah, I'm famous in the real world but they also know of me in hell!? Yeah sure, like I'm a 5 year old.



"Who's that? What does he want from me?", I asked playing along with him.



"Prince Marcolf, one of the seven prince's of the underworld. The mortal followers might know him as the king of Lust: Asmodeus", he said leaning back with his hand resting upon his knees as if reciting an old tale.



My mouth hung open. What's going on!? First, I was kidnapped by a gremlin and a ghost, I'm stuck in hell like literally, and now one of the mythical seven prince's of hell summoned me to receive my help? Nah, I abort.



"So you mean those mythological and fictional prince's are actually real? Please, I beg of you, I'm absolutely not interested to become a part of a cult", I shaped my arms into a cross as if to show my utter denial.



Frank shook his head, "I'm telling the truth, you have to believe me for us to continue our quest!", he said standing up. Now towering above me he continued as a sparkle lightened his eyes, "I even know that you have the blessing of Ophis and that's why you speak the language of serpents."



My eyes widened, my ears started ringing, the heat that protected me dissipated and the surrounding cold engulfed me into it's thick blanket.The blessing of Ophis, I have heard of it before but just couldn't seem to remember where. As I tried to stand up, my legs gave out under the pressure of dizziness and as I stared into the distance, I realized I was in a much deeper pickle than I initially believed.



"H-How do you know that? It c-can't be possible, nobody knows that except m-me and Aunt Rose", I was stuttering, I was shaking , all of this constituted one of my worst fever dreams.



The man now bent down to my eye level, his face inches away from my ear and whispered, "It's not your world anymore, Larcia. Here the only rule that prevails is that of the seven kings of the underworld"



The fire was now completely extinguished, with the support from the wall, I stood up, my eyes completely trained upon the man. From my peripherals, I could see Jester, the gremlin sauntering towards us.



"I swear to your seven prince's of hell that, if it's some kind of a scam then I'll be the one to bring your demise". The man smirked and went over towards the gremlin to check on him.



I need to be present at all times. This place seemed treacherous and if this is really hell then, I'm sure as heck doomed. At times like this I just have the urge to laugh hysterically and just scoff at everything.



I walked over towards both of them and in a loud voice declared,"I will help you only if you let me free, that's my condition!". As soon as I said that, a loud piercing screech in the distance made me shiver.



And before I knew anything, I was getting dragged away by Frank. My hand clasped in his, as we ran at full speed with Jester galloping beside us. With the light emitted by Frank, I could see a shadow forming in front of us, at the sight of it I could taste the bile in my throat.



The shadow took the form of a huge winged creature with sharp talons. It felt surreal, almost a while ago I was riding horses in my pretty attire but now I was running away in tatters in between a ghost and a gremlin.



Life is sure as heck unpredictable!



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