The Pentagram Child: Part 2 (Afterlife Saga Book 5) (17 page)

I walked through what I presumed was once a grand entrance hall and onwards to what could have been any one of these rooms from my list. I looked up to the first floor to see what must have been a bedroom at one time as there was a part of a cast iron fireplace still fitted there.

I would have loved to have gone exploring in all the different rooms and read all the history plaques they had dotted around the place. But Aurora was still waiting and I knew time was of the essence.

I walked down the centre and out of another highly decorated door, one that was done in the same style as the front entrance. The only difference was that there was a half-moon shape carved into the top of the arch that was filled with what could have been a grape vine. Well that would have been fitting considering the amount of entertaining these walls would have seen throughout the years… and no doubt the amount of wine consumed. 

But what the view beyond opened up to was nothing short of incredible!

“Wow.” I said in awe, one Aurora merely scoffed at before dropping a bombshell.

“Well it is certainly better situated than the next place he chose for our council meetings that I will agree with you.” She said in all her snobbery.

“What do you mean…no, this couldn’t have been…”

“The first to be named Afterlife? Yes, it was indeed, that was until the battle.”

“Battle?!” I shouted now looking around and understanding more about why it stood the way it did today.

“Come on, we have only two minutes until it starts.” She said ignoring my one worded question after moving her leather glove to one side to look at her designer watch.

“Until what starts?” I asked not surprised when she started walking down the many steps in front of us and thus continuing to ignore me. Of course why should she stop now when she had the art form so perfected? Oh but to have the power of laser beams from my eye balls
,
I thought bitterly whilst scowling at her back.

I thought for a moment what she had said and looking round at this grand place I could understand why Draven would have picked it. I remember him once telling me that not all the meetings he held were at the Afterlife I knew and for as many years as Draven has been in charge, there must have been quite a few properties Draven owned. I decided to put it from my mind for the moment before I got too lost in my thoughts. No, once again I had to remind myself that I needed to stay focused, especially when it came to Aurora. 

I stood on what I knew was named a portico due to all the Greek mythology books I read as a child. It was a sort of columned porch leading to an entrance, like the one at the front of the house I had come through. But it could also refer to the walkway of many columns that was connected with a roof, like the one I now stood in, the one that lead on to this beautiful sight in front of me.

If I had thought the front of the house was impressive then this was taking it up another level! I felt dwarfed by the Roman style pillars looming over me. But as I stepped out from their shadows into the warm sun, there I was greeted by a vast landscape of green carpets perfectly maintained. The beautiful flower gardens interlinked by their sandstone gravel pathways, framed the setting seamlessly. And what held centre stage in all this magnificence was the awe inspiring central fountain.

I had to walk closer to make out exactly what it was but from here I could just make out the figure sat upon a winged horse rearing up. The nearer I got to the dark figures the more I could make out that it looked like the tale of Perseus and Andromeda. I knew my history and this one was a favourite of mine, as I used to watch the 80’s movie Clash of the Titans. However unlike the movie and more to the original story, the sea monster in the statue looked more like a dragon being slain by Perseus, as hesat upon his winged stee
d
Pegasus.

I saw Aurora was now stood not far from the small stone wall that surrounded the large body of water the fountain sat in. She was facing it like she was waiting for something and after her ‘two minute’ comment I guess she was. I made it down to her and waited, thankfully not having to wait too long, God forbid considering her preferences on being made to wait.

The sound of the water fountain starting up filled the quiet and peaceful countryside and before long the amount of pressure built up sending powerful jets of water high into the air. I could feel the light mist of water whenever the breeze changed direction and it felt blissful against my skin in this summer heat.

Around the base of the fountain were sea creatures with curling fish tales and their heads thrown back with their mouths open so jets of water could erupt out. Each was covered in a thick blanket of moss depending on where the water drenched them the most.

“Was this what we were waiting for?” I asked over the sound of crashing water, one made louder the higher the main water jet travelled. It was the one coming from the beast’s mouth as now I could se
e
Perseus thrusting his mighty spear into the creature. I had to restrain myself from giggling out loud as that thought transformed into something quite rude and I blamed it on the half-naked Andromeda stood there playing helpless damsel.

“Now you will see why Dominic owns this place.” She said producing an old coin from her suit jacket. She flashed it up at me held there between her fingers and I could see it was solid gold with a face on each side.

I wondered if it was the face of Cronus seeing as he was the King of the Titans or was it this Janus God? Whoever it was I didn’t get to find out as the next thing I knew she had thrown it into the fountain’s pool. The murky water wasn’t deep and you could see all the other coins tourists had no doubt thrown into the fountain over the years hoping their wishes to be granted. Well I could only hope that coin had double the strength, for my wish needed to be lifesaving.

I looked back at the grand structure expecting something to happen at the house when my head shot back round as a rumbling started. The water started to ripple and wave as if the floor was moving underneath and I wasn’t wrong. Suddenly large stepping stones emerged. Coming up one by one they all led to the immortal legends glistening in the water raining down on them.

Aurora barely waited for the last stone to appear before she was balancing her ridiculous shoes on the wet and no doubt slippery stone. I mean I was wearing converse high tops and even I was worried. But just as she stepped out she pulled at the umbrella hooked on her elbow, held it at arm’s length and then pressed a button, releasing it at just the right time. She held it up over her so she wouldn’t get wet and not giving two hoots about me as I was left to follow, getting soaked as I went.

“You know I am sure if you would have mentioned this bit, I would have brought an umbrella too.” I said shaking thanks to the unexpected cold shower.

“Um, it must have slipped my mind.”

“Yeah right.”
I said behind her knowing that she was about as honest as a peeping tom saying he was only there to check out her curtains!

The spray from the fountain battered down on her umbrella but the power of the fountain was almost deafening and I wouldn’t have heard her if I hadn’t been stood directly behind. Although come to think of it, not being able to hear her wouldn’t have been a bad thing given that everything she’d said to me so far hadn’t been worth hearing.

I knew we were waiting for something else so I didn’t bother asking this time. Rather that or this was her idea of a joke and if that was the case then at least I had enough water around to drown her in. Thankfully I wasn’t allowed too much time for my temper to rally up so I didn’t have to elbow her in the water just yet, because what appeared next was what I assumed was the appearance of the Janus gate.

All around the base in between the sea creatures were massive upturned clam shells to collect the water in until it overflowed from the gaps. The one directly in front of us started to fold upwards which pulled and stretched the moss, snapping it free from the stone. There was a grinding sound before it created enough space that a hidden doorway materialised.

“After you.” I said over her shoulder looking down at the dark and damp passageway, one there was no telling how far it went down. All I could think about was ‘Christ but I hope we didn’t have to walk our way down to Hell, because no amount of sessions on a stairmaster or hours at the gym would prepare someone for that climb’…and I was about as unfit as they came!

“Thanks.” She answered dryly and this wasn’t just in her tone thanks to that damn umbrella, which she now cast aside before stepping through the doorway.

So this was it…

My doorway to Hell.

Chapter 60

Down the Rabbit Hole, Where the Bunnies Bite!

“Do you have to continue with that infuriating sound?” This ‘infuriating sound’ Aurora was speaking about was my teeth chattering due to it not only being freezing down here but also that fact that I was soaked through to my bra! I felt as though my nipples could have cut glass and I was half surprised they hadn’t poked holes through my t shirt they were that erect.

“Well I’m human and some spiteful brat didn’t tell me about the waterworks so I could bring my waterproofs, so excuse me for making a sound, but hey, here’s an idea, why don’t you take off those ridiculous heels and ram them in your ears…I will help if you like.” I snapped after having quite enough of her shit. 

“You know, I don’t know what he sees in you and that vile humour of yours.” She said smoothing down her perfectly dry hair and looked over her shoulder at me, like some spoilt little rich kid. I just laughed which echoed through the tunnel we were walking down.

“Yes, well I like to think he was temporarily insane when he was with you, so I guess we’re even.”

“We loved each once but you wouldn’t understand.” At this I lost even more of my cool.

“Oh I understand alright but it sure as Hell wasn’t love, so let’s call it for what it was and not bullshit each other shall we? He thought you were beautiful until he got to know that beauty didn’t reach your heart and you
loved
the power being with him gave you!” At this she whipped round and hissed at me, making me take a step back. Not because I was scared but more because I was taken aback by her losing her calm and collected demeanour.

“You think you’re so clever, don’t you?! But you have no idea what it was like living in the shadow of this great ‘Chosen One’ he was really meant to be with!” She shouted and got closer and closer the deeper in her rage she lost herself to.

“Can you imagine what that would feel like, to love a man and know that no matter what you do, that he will one day leave you without a second thought for another woman?” My back hit the side of the tunnel and if my back wasn’t wet already it would have been from the dripping bare rock. 

“No, you couldn’t possibly. And you wonder why I am the way I am, why I am bitter. You can’t know what is in my heart. Truthfully it is the love I have for my King that has stopped me from killing you and saving him the heartache, I myself have had a taste of.” As I listened to all this, my mind was split between feeling sorry for her and not trusting anything she said to be real.

Yes her words were powerful and she knew just the right thing to say to get many on her side but I wasn’t dumb. I had been fooled by her kind before and was immune to such behaviour after dealing with my cousin Hilary for so long. So I did the only thing I knew to do and that was not to bullshit her with fake sympathy. But to merely nod, giving her the time to calm down again before saying,

“Well I guess then I should say thanks for not trying to kill me.”

“Don’t thank me yet…” She said turning away from me making my eyes grow wide before she added,

“I am taking you into Hell after all.” And then she continued down the stone steps.

The light from the opening only offered us so much before the deeper we went, the more I had to rely on the sides for guidance. Aurora was using her phone screen to light the floor in front of her but for me being at the back of her, it was about as helpful as a chocolate teapot was to a diabetic.

I was tempted when we finally came to the end to shout three Hail Mary’s I was both that exhausted and was happy to report we weren’t walking all the way to Hell. No, we came to a door that Aurora pushed with little effort before it swung open, allowing us both entrance.

“But I thought the door at the fountain had been the Janus gate?” I asked looking round in utter amazement.

“This is the Temple of Janus, where all the doors and portals to each realm of Heaven and Hell lead too.” She said having a change of heart after her outburst and answering one of my questions. I looked around and if I lived to be a hundred I didn’t think I could have counted all the doors this place held.

I wondered could there really have been that many places in the other realms? But if I really thought about it, if Heaven and Hell were each the same size as the surface of the earth then there were a lot of places you could visit. I gathered if they hadn’t been in the mind to recycle souls then they would have all been overrun many centuries ago.

I looked around the main room thinking a giant could have lived here quite comfortably and still have room to stretch. The room we were stood in was an Octagon shape and branched off in eight different directions. The long arched passageways continued on far beyond the eye could see and each, like the main room we were stood in, had seven levels of doors all linked by balconies running the full length.

It reminded me of a massive library, only instead of displaying books there was every kind of door imaginable. There were tall doors, thin, wide, and squat. There were old, new, slatted, panelled, carved, ramshackle, paint chipped, stripped, bleached and varnished.

Round, square, I could even spot one that was the shape of a star. There was the weird and wonderful, like one I could see as I spun round in awe that looked to have been made from an entire tree root. Up on one of the higher levels there was one made all from broken mirror pieces that looked to have been laid on bloody foundations.

It was all incredible and something you could have stared at for hours and still spot something new with every turn of your head. Even the great wooden spiral staircases that were situated at each corner of th
e
Octagon shaped room were amazing. All of them were highly decorated and carved in different styles, each a different shade of wood than the next. And each of them was what connected all of the floors together, so you could get to every single door.

The only common theme there seemed to be that all of the doors held some kind of keystone above them and they held a different symbol carved into each one. I gathered this was instead of door numbers and it made sense seeing how many ways numbers have been written down throughout the ages. But symbols have always been the one form of communication that unites us all. I couldn’t think of one single country or race that didn’t use symbols in modern society, even to this day and it was something we had all carried from our ancestors since the beginning of time for us mortals.

“This way.” Aurora said and I turned to find she was stood at the centre near a giant water feature. The enormous amount of water that was being pumped to create it made me wonder if it had something to do with the fountain above us.

Whatever its cause or use, it was incredible to witness. It flowed the full height of the room looking like a water tube big enough you could have fit a car inside it without getting it wet. I frowned as I got closer and wondered if what I was seeing was real? The water wasn’t falling down but it was in fact raining upwards.

“That’s amazing.” I said reaching out with my hand, one I found slapped away to my great shock.

“Don’t touch it!” Aurora shouted at me and the panic in her voice told me I should heed her warning.

“Why, what…what is it?” I asked looking up at it and feeling drawn to whatever power it held.

“It is what powers all the gates here. It channels the power and essence of Janus himself.”

“So it’s not a gate then?” But even as I asked this question I knew that it was but what I didn’t know was where it led to.

“Oh it’s a gate, it’s just one that’s forbidden to be used by anyone who’s not worthy.” She sighed when she saw my confused face and continued,

“One needs to be judged first and to be judged by Janus, he does so by not only looking into your future but also into your past and more importantly, your reasons.” She said flicking her fingers so I would move further back.

“So if you don’t pass his test you don’t get to use it, I get it…”

“Oh no you don’t. If you don’t pass his judgement then you don’t get to go home. If that were the case we would have every one of my kind down here trying their luck. No, there is a reason no one wants to be judged and that is the punishment if you fail.” She actually shivered a few steps back before turning round to put her back to it. With this reaction I gathered it must have been a bad thing to fail then, so I asked, following after her,

“But wait, what does it do, what is the punishment?”

“What does it matter, just leave it be Keira.” Hearing Aurora actually saying my name was enough to make me drop that question but there was one I really wanted to know and this was one I wouldn’t give up on.

“Ok fine but just tell me, where does it go?” She stopped in her tracks and I saw her defeat when her shoulders slumped.

“It goes everywhere and anywhere. Just think it and it will take you there. The past, the future, some place in the present, anywhere you want to go as long as you think about it hard enough when you walk through, that’s where you will find yourself. It’s dangerous and foolhardy to try.”

“But why, I mean it must have worked for…”

“It has worked for no one! As the Janus gate only allows the worthy through they don’t take the chance for selfish reasons. Only the most worthy cause will be allowed to pass through its essence and to this day, it hasn’t found one.” She looked past me when she said this, as if she had lost someone dear to her through this same foolish act and I finally let it go.

She walked away and I looked back one last time. There was something that kept me held there, like it was luring me in and I wondered if that was part of the power it held over people. Was that why there were those crazy enough to try it? Either way I found I was no different and it took an irate clearing of Aurora’s throat to pull me back into the now.

I walked away wondering something else and that was why when I needed to get into Hell, nobody had told me about this place back when I was trying to save Draven? Was it because I was human? I jogged the last bit of distance between us and had to ask,

“Last year when I tried to…”

“I did wonder how long it would be before you asked.” Aurora said, back to being irritatingly cocky and I almost cursed myself for the question.

“Only my kind can come to this place and most are not worthy to open over half of its doors. Try and remember, for a human to get into Hell or Heaven, usually they do have to be dead.” She shot me a look as if to say, should we test this theory and instead of rising to it I just said,

“Well I guess lucky me considering I was allowed in and I gather I still am now or this has certainly been a massive waste of a girly trip.” She rolled her eyes at me once more not getting my humour and I wondered if there was any humour in the world she did crack a smile at.

“Yes, I think it has been established that you are obviously different.” This was not said in that warm, loving way. No, more of an ‘I hate that you’re different and more special than me’ kind of way. When she turned her back to me I knew it was obvious this conversation was over, so in my saturated clothes I squelched my way after her.

I had started to get worried when she started walking down one of the endless corridors and the only benefit of that I could see was that by the time we reached the end I would be bone dry again.

But thankfully this wasn’t the case as after only a few short steps down there was an open archway. This was ornamented with painted scenes of both Hell and Heaven on carved stone that was designed like a frame within a frame, stepping down in on itself. It was beautifully painted but the primary colours used were blues depicting Heaven’s side and reds doing the same for Hell.

“Stunning.”
I whispered as we passed through. I would have thought given the door that the room would have been just as spectacular but other than pale, bare stone walls there nothing other than the reasons we were here.

Two doors.

“I gather we take the black one.” I said and she didn’t respond. It was a large round room and opposite each other two doors protruded from the curved walls like statues in their own right. The black one I spoke of had a huge block frame and it looked to be made from cast iron. It was crudely made with what looked like desperate souls trying to escape and reminded me of the wall of souls that attacked me that day when I first found the Temple.

All tiny hands and faces pushed themselves against the forged metal as if being caught in the making process trying to escape. I looked to the other side and saw the white door of carved marble framed by Roman pillars, reminding me of the entrance to Witley Court.

The door was split into four panels and each held heavenly images. Gardens and a celebrated feast were in the bottom two, whilst the two on the top held Gods on thrones.  The last scene showed a great battle with half naked men wearing large elaborate helmets on horseback.

When I took a step closer I noticed something important and my head snapped between the two doors.

“It’s a story of the great battle.” I said out loud making Aurora huff. Well I bet she would considering her ancestors lost and these doors made it blindingly obvious of that. The Heaven’s gate told a story of peace and serenity being shattered by the mutiny and divide between the Gods, then after the battle came the feast for victory. The opposite door told only one story, which was the outcome of what happened to the Titans.