Infernum

Alex watched as Hope was torn limb from limb, eviscerated before his very eyes. He watched as the five walked back through a porthole in the middle of the meadow that was now stained with Hope’s blood. Alex watched but could do nothing to stop it. As the porthole fully closed behind the five, he screamed at the top of his lungs in agony as he got up and began to run toward Hope. He tripped on an exposed tree root and fell to the ground; he scrambled to get up but quickly fell back down as he could no longer see through the tears in his eyes.

A crushing sensation deep in his chest was all-consuming as Alex went through a range of emotions that seemed to swirl around his primary sense of loss that now left a gaping hole in his heart. He knew they would most likely be back to look for him, but none of that mattered now; Hope was dead and, on the inside at least, Alex was too. Rain began to fall as he lay there on the ground sobbing for his lost love, but it did not matter and nothing else did either. He lost the entire concept of time as he lay there in the rain, it could have been five minutes or five hours since Hope was lost to him. It did not matter, nothing mattered, not even his own life as he was grief-stricken and in more pain than he could bear.

“Alex?” he heard Hope’s voice in his head as clearly as if she was there next to him, but she wasn’t, she was dead. “Alex!” Alex heard again. He began to sob uncontrollably as her voice filled his head and he was reminded of her once more. “Alex!” he heard again, only this time he turned his head and saw a blurry outline of a person. He rubbed the tears from his eyes and looked again toward the voice that was yelling his name. It was mostly disbelief that Alex felt, but that quickly melted away and the tears in his eye were renewed, only this time they were tears of joy as he realized the person calling his name was Hope.

Unsure if she was real or just a figment of his imagination, Alex was cautious to believe what he was seeing right in front of him. It wasn’t until she reached down and touched him that he knew she was real. Alex jumped up and grabbed her in his arms, holding her as if to never let her go again. After almost a full minute of holding her in her arms, trying to pull himself together, he loosened up a bit and looked her in the eyes.

“I don’t understand, Hope, how is this possible? I saw you die,” Alex said with a tremble in his voice. Hope looked at him and saw that he was distressed; it took a moment until she realized why he was a wreck.

“Oh!” she said when it dawned on her what Alex had seen and the way he interpreted it. “I am so sorry, Alex. They were so close to us that I didn’t have time to tell you,” she said with a soothing voice that put Alex at ease. “When you used that armor to enhance your ánimam’s power, it drained you in ways I don’t quite understand; somehow it was able to increase your ánimam’s power by a factor of ten but it did it using you as a fuel source. As I said, I don’t quite understand it; I just know that it knocked you out for a long time.”

“How long was I out?” Alex asked.

“Three days,” Hope replied.

Alex shook his head as he tried to place the lost time.

“But wait a minute, Hope, I saw you die,” he said with confusion in his voice.

“Oh, that; well, Alex, a lot has happened in the three days you were out, but I think I should introduce you to someone first,” Hope said as she looked back away from the meadow into the trees. Alex turned around and saw a cloaked creature emerging from the shadows. “Alex, this is Lord Acacius; after I was able to flee from the guards the first time, he found me and offered to help us,” Hope said with a sigh of relief.

Acacius nodded his head and stepped forward. “Alex, it is a pleasure to see you, I am glad to meet you after Hope has said so many good things,” he said in a sincere but monotone voice.

Alex shied back from Acacius and looked toward Hope. “How can you trust this thing after all we have been through? And after all we have seen, how can you trust this liar?” he said in a harsh voice. “If my ánimam was functioning right now, I would kill you where you stand, you lying pile of shit,” he said, trying to sound as threatening as he could.

Hope stepped in. “Alex, you don’t understand. Acacius is the only reason we are alive right now,” she tried to explain.

“I understand your absence of trust in me, Alex, my kind have done nothing to your race but lie and manipulate you since the dawn of time. But please believe that I am as tired of this deception as you are. Seeing you and Hope like this, the feelings you have for each other, only confirms my opinion on the matter,” Acacius pleaded to Alex.

“And what opinion is that?” Alex asked sarcastically.

“That you, Hope, and the rest of your race are better off without us interfering. That our time in your existence is long over and it is time for you and us to move on.”

Alex took a step closer to Acacius and looked over to Hope and then back to him.

“So why now? Why not help our kind before today? Surely there was a need?” Alex asked with mistrust in his heart.

Acacius looked over at him and smiled.

“You see, my boy, I have been helping your kind whenever and however I could for the last thousand years. I helped the Sully House when they started the revolution against the other lords; I had them exiled instead of executed. I have helped numerous houses and people through the ages as I, too, believe what the other lords are doing to you is wrong. I only wish I could do more for you than save your lives, but it will take more than just me to rise up against the other lords, it will take the will of all mankind,” he told Alex.

Alex looked over to the meadow and then back at Hope. “But that still doesn’t answer my question… I saw you die, Hope, how is it that you are here?” he asked with a bewildered look.

Hope looked over to him. “Alex, do you remember me telling you that we are not born in my world but created?” she asked.

“Yes, I think so,” Alex replied.

“Acacius had another copy of Gabriel and me made back on Caelo then brought them to me. They were just empty shells with no minds at all, their ánimams had to be copied from ours before they could even function. That’s why it needed to connect with you and why I needed to bring you along with us here. They had to believe that they were fighting us and that we had died in order for us to truly be free,” Hope explained.

“So you just made another copy of Hope and Gabriel for them to slaughter?” Alex asked Acacius with disgust.

“Yes, essentially that’s what I did… But fear not, Alex, they were just shells of people and had no minds of their own. They were no different than spare parts for your … how do you say it … car?” Acacius replied.

Alex looked over at Hope again and hugged her tightly, picking her up off the ground and spinning her around. They embraced each other and shared a kiss that would forever define the term love in that moment and for all of time.

Hope looked over to Acacius. “So, what do we do now?” she asked him inquisitively.

Acacius looked to the both of them and simply said, “The future.”

He opened a porthole and stepped through it, pausing momentarily to look back at the two lovers just long enough for them to see a little smile before the porthole closed.

***

Meanwhile, back at Alex’s house, Beau knocked for a good five minutes before he let himself in through the open front door. “Alex?” he called out with no response as he walked into the kitchen and helped himself to a beer out of the fridge. He had opened the can and was about halfway through it, fridge still open, when he noticed a scrap of paper on the floor next to the counter. He reached down and picked it up and read the message written on it.

Beau,

If you find this letter then you already know that I am gone. Thank you for all the years of friendship you gave me, and please know that I will always treasure those precious times above all others. Don’t bother trying to look for me as I have left to follow my heart and I will not be coming back. With that said, please know that I am very happy where I am. Please send my love to all of my friends and family and let them know I am okay.

With Hope,

Alex.

P.S. You can help yourself to any of my stuff.

Beau smiled when he finished the letter as he knew that no matter where his friend was he was happy. He walked back over to the refrigerator and grabbed one more beer before closing the door, extinguishing the light inside the fridge.