Drawn to the Sea

Chapter 23: Into the Belly of the Hell-Beast

Nathaniel

I walked through the tunnel, nervously tapping my fingers. Alex tugged on my jacket sleeve. "Are you sure we'll find what we need here?"

I nodded. "We're almost to the main room. Douglass will have what we--"

We all snapped to attention when a glass broke near the tunnel that lead to the main room. We rushed into the room, all looking around.

There was an old woman standing beside the broken glass, looking at us sheepishly. "Sorry. My coordination isn't what it used to be."

I stepped forward, pushing Alex behind me. "Who the hell are you and how did you find us?"

"I'm Aeginae. I was looking for my son, but I think I found the wrong cave... You wouldn't happen to know a Douglass, would you?"

I blinked a couple of times. "Douglass?"

She nodded, her blue eyes filling with hope. "Douglass Cove. He's brown skin, reddish eyes? Do you know him?"

I lowered my arm from blocking Alex. "He's my boyfriend."

She gasped a little. "Oh, thank the gods I found the right place! Where is he?"

I felt my heart jump. How was I going to tell his supposed mother that he was in hell, probably being tortured?

Thankfully, Alex stepped in. "We're sorry to tell you this, but he isn't here. He's been captured. We're trying to find a way to get to him now."

Her shoulder sagged and she looked down. "So his bad fortune has come to pass."

"What?"

"I've been having dreams. Of him in a horrible place, bloodied and broken. I'd hoped that I'd find him before that happened, but I'm too late." She moved her eyes to me, wringing her hands in her old dress. "What is your name, wolf?"

"Nate."

"You say you're my son's boyfriend. So you're willing to do anything to get to him?"

"More than you could imagine."

"That's good." She started looking through his shelves. "My magic ain't what it used to be, but with help, I should be able to open a portal... Do you know his precise location?"

"Not exactly... We know he's in hell, but that's pretty much it."

"Oh, dear. That makes things harder. I may need another witch to pull off a portal strong enough to go there."

Alex raised her hand slightly. "I'm a witch. I'm not very good, but I'll help where I can."

Aeginae nodded, still poking around Douglass's things. "That's good enough. Now I just need to find... Ah, here it is."

She bent down to pick up a book that was hiding under a footstool.

I glanced at it. "What is it that you were looking for?"

She opened the book, stopping on a page that had been marked with an old piece of paper. "The spell to open the portal."

"How did you find it so fast--"

She pointed to a pentagram on the floor behind her. "Well, Douglass already did most of the work for us. We just need the blood of a demon to activate the spell."

"Where are we going to get that--"

She stepped aside, revealing a demon whose hand was covered in dry blood and stuck to the wall. "He'll provide it for us."