Young Writers Society

He brushes his finger along the burnt wood, breathing its scent. Tendrils of shadow race along the ground at his feet, coalescing at the dragon-demon's trail. He closes his eyes and feels the night as he lets out a soft breath. Now he's hunting.

James hummed thoughtfully at Hades's explanation, and shrugged. He got the gist of what Hades was explaining, though he was doubtful of the weight of its truth. If there weren't other pressing matters at hand, he'd probably pry for more information on this judgement system, with seeming different versions or tiers of "hell." How he got the cloak and knew all of these things was still a mystery as well, but he wasn't too curious on finding out.

"Well, let's hope it doesn't come to that." James replied. "I know Alex is likely one of the most annoying people you'll meet, but let's hope there'll be a better resolution than that of damnation."



Alex hopped off of Deedee's back, his eyes checking to see that the shelter was clear. "So these people, or whatever they be, they're powerful. Do we stand a chance against them?"

Sarah finally managed to locate the two after a surprisingly short few minutes of searching. Both had taken shelter in one of the unused rooms of the hotel, playing a game of cards with a deck that they had stolen from the lobby.

It was hard to stare at either one of them for a long period of time. While she had been blessed with a death from the inside, the others' death wounds were very easy to see. Elicia Thompson, one of the hotel's frequent guests from many years ago, had a gaping wound in her stomach from an unfortunate accident involving a pipe. Then there was the deceased receptionist of only twenty years ago, who had died in a horrible fire. He had suffered intense burns before finally succumbing to his wounds.

"Hello," Sarah said with a wave as she entered. The two of them looked up from their game in confusion. Sarah never talked to either one of them most of the time; she was more content doing things on her own. (Mainly because she wasn’t that fond of either of them.)

She used their surprised silence as an opportunity to continue, launching into an explanation of what had happened and what they all needed to do. After she had finished, she was surprised to find that both were quick to agree.

So the trio returned to Jeanine and waited to find out what they had to do next.



"Damnation?" Hades repeated, confused. It was only when he remembered that his view of the afterlife differed from most humans, and that James was probably part of the category.

"He wouldn't be tortured or anything like that!" the death god hurriedly added. "I just meant that I would have to talk to the person in charge of that afterlife if I wanted to extend his sentence. He would just be in prison."

"We need to summon The Woman, and I hope that other ghosts here would prevent her from killing everyone," Jeanine explains. "I brought three mirrors. No saying 'Bloody Mary.'"

--

"Yes, if we have an element of surprise. The one can track us, however. We need to kill him first."

He pulls a pocketknife from his pocket, flipping it idly in his fingers as he walks, following this dragon-demon beast.

Alex stepped back a bit and folded his arms. "Kill him, eh? How do you propose we do that?"



James looked over at Hades, mildly amused. "Prison can be its own form of torture. Different, and more tame, of course. But whatever."

He entered a stairwell leading down into the basement, again, digging in his pockets for keys once they got there.

Sarah looked nervously at the other ghosts. The two of them seemed unafraid of what Jeanine was suggesting, but she couldn't shake the memory of the fear that had gripped her when the ghost - though it apparently wasn't even the same one - had tried killing Hades. Would the three of them even be able to do anything?

Taking a deep breath, she nodded. "Alright. Just tell me what we have to do."



Hades let loose a quiet sigh that James probably couldn't hear. It wasn't like they could let the people out into their respective afterlives. Some weren't as bad. Thieves and burglars were usually let in with a warning after a day or two, and they kept their eyes on them for a good decade or so. But people like mass murderers? Letting them out before they figured out how to stop the psychopath part of them would cause countless problems and create chaos among people who deserved a peaceful afterlife.

If Alex didn't do anything too bad, he would fall into the first of the two categories. And, though Hades knew exactly how to make things worse for him, he wouldn't act on it. He would just let Alex go through whatever he deserved.

"Why, let him come here, of course! I already set a little trap!" DeeDee says gleefully.

--

"Talk sense into her," Jeanine answers. "Or at least try. You can tell her that if Alex or DeeDee escapes, they could wreck havoc on me and that'll be no more The Woman, as her soul is connected to mine... I've already gotten control on her sister, so she shouldn't be a problem."

"Perfect!" Alex let out a satisfied laugh. "You're prepared as always, DeeDee."



As they approached the door to the basement, James pulled out the keys while also turning on his flashlight. Naturally, none of the staff had bothered to light candles down there since no one had needed to go down to the basement until now. His bright flashlight filled up the hallway, the bright center being focused on the doorknob as James turned the key.

"Well, let's hope there are no critters in there." He mumbled, though he spoke too soon. As he turned the doorknob he could hear a low growling coming from the other side of the door. In confusion, he paused a moment, considering whether or not he should open the door quickly or slowly. He decided on quickly.

He swung the door open and shone his flashlight in, looking around the entrance of the room, but because of the sheer size and depth of the room, he couldn't see into the back, which was where he continued to hear the growling from.

On guard, he slowly inched into the room, letting Hades follow at will.

DeeDee smiles. "Of course, honey. Great grandmama knows best, after all."

She was annoyed on the inside. DeeDee couldn't wait to get rid of this insipid mortal.

If that wasn't sketchy, Sarah didn't know what was. But she and the other ghosts all knew very well that they didn't have any other options. So she grit her teeth together and nodded in agreement. "Alright," she said. "Let's do this."



A sword made of darkness appeared in his hand as he followed James into the room. The growling seemed to be coming from the unlit part of the basement, so he proceeded with caution. He could make out two distinct shapes in the darkness, one much smaller than the other.

But before he could make out exactly what those shapes were, the growling became a set of loud barks. The smaller thing darted out from the shadows and knocked him to the ground. Once he felt three very wet tongues lick his face, he made the sword disappear. He scratched the dog's stomach, knowing that scratching all three heads would be far too difficult.

"Down, boy!" a man called out in a familiar voice.

Cerberus, heads down in sadness, got off of their first owner. Hades got to his feet, wiping the slobber off of his face with his sleeve. "Ha-" the man started when he saw his face, only to notice James and quickly covered with, "Adrian?"

Jeanine smiles. "THE WOMAN!" she abruptly shouts. "I WANT TO TALK TO YOU!"

The Woman's groustique face appears in one of the mirrors.

James stared at the three headed dog in bewilderment, but corrected the stranger, noticing how he corrected himself. "Hades. He accidentally did the grim reaper bit with me. I guess I can assume... this is Cerberus?" He asked, knowing enough greek mythology to catch on. "And you're his... friend?"

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