Elemental (22 page)

Kara stared in disbelief. “What the hell?” She caught herself before she laughed.

“’ell?” said the cockroach. “A non, mademoiselle,” he corrected her, in a heavy French accent. He jumped down from his chair and landed on his two back legs. He then spun around once, his coat spilled around him. He swung his cane at her. He reached out with a front leg and grabbed his hat off his head. “Zis…is ze Nezerworld.”

“Don’t you mean the Netherworld?” Kara looked up at the mirrored disco ball. She started to feel dizzy and looked away.

“Zat’s what I said.”

“No…you said
Nezerworld
.”

“Oui! Excatement! Ze Nezerworld.” He threw his four front legs in the air.

Kara snorted and suppressed another laugh. “Whatever you say, Mr. Cockroach.”

His antennae stiffened and shot straight up. “A non, non, non! My name is Jean-Pierre!” He bowed. “Iz nice to meet ‘u, mademoiselle…what iz ‘ur name?” He straightened up and secured his top hat back on his flat shiny head.

“Kara.”

“Kara,” repeated Jean-Pierre. “A pretty name for zuch a pretty gurl!” His antennae twitched and formed the shape of a heart. Kara made a face.
What the hell?

Suddenly, the giant cockroach leapt into the air and landed on the wall inches from Kara. He stuck to the wall as though he was made of Velcro. With his head resting on two forearms, his body lay stretched out, as though lying on a lounge chair. He blinked his eyes and adjusted his red bowtie. Kara could see her startled reflection in his large black eyes. She edged away slowly. She didn’t want to insult the large bug. Who knew what he was capable of?

“Are ‘u lonely, ma chéri?” Jean-Pierre twirled his left antennae with his middle arm. “I am ze great loveur, you know. I know what ze woman wants.” He hit the wall with his cane and the light dimmed and the music changed to something with saxophones.

Kara rolled her eyes. “But—but you’re a bug? I’m not an insect! I’m a girl…an angel with demon—never mind. I’m different, that’s all. And I’m certainly not like you.” Kara thought she saw a smile coming from under his mandibles. It freaked her out.

Jean-Pierre continued to twirl his antennae and batted his eyes. “I like ze différent, ma chéri! I like very much.” His antennae reached out and caressed Kara’s cheek. She backed away.

“You smell différent. You do not smell like ze demons ‘ere. Your smell iz more like ze woman! You ‘ave a little…je ne sais quoi, about you?”

“Uh…thanks, I’m sure.” Kara slipped away from the cockroach and stepped towards the control panel.

The panel was made of a dark brass with two black buttons. One with the word
UP
and the other with the word
DOWN
. There we no labels beside the buttons.

“So where does this elevator go? There are only two buttons here—does this mean the Netherworld is only one level? Like on Earth?” Kara pressed her index finger on the brass plate. It was cool to the touch.

In a flash, Jean-Pierre sprang to her side. He tipped his hat seductively.

“Why do you want to know, mon amour,” he purred.

Kara shook her head. “Because I need to stop Asmodeus. He needs to pay for what he did to my mother—to the Legion. I need to stop him.” Kara wasn’t entirely sure why she trusted this bug with all this information. Clearly, he could do some damage.

Jean-Pierre brushed his cane over Kara’s leg. “Stay wiz me, Kara. I love you! ‘Ere iz noting out ‘ere for you. Stay wiz me and be mon amour.” He leaned towards Kara. She jumped aside.

“Listen, JP. I’m very flattered, but I have a job to do. I must go. Don’t make me hurt you.” She lowered her bag on the floor. She wasn’t entirely sure what she would do next.

“’Urt me! ‘urt me please! I want you to ‘urt me!” The cockroach leapt into the air and landed right beside Kara again.

Kara rolled her eyes. “Good God.” Frustrated, she crossed her arms. “JP. I need to get off this elevator—I’ll either do it myself, or you can help me—I can’t stay here.”

Jean-Pierre clasped the left side of his chest with four of his arms at once. “You do not love me! I will die of ze broken ‘art.”

Kara glanced at her watch. It read six o’clock.
What the—?
She’d lost three hours already. She had to get off this elevator.

“I need to get off now!” She raised her voice. “Let me go.”

“Bon, bon, bon.” Jean-Pierre pushed off and fluttered over to his red chair. “I will let you go, but wiz one condition.”

Kara grabbed her backpack and flung it over her shoulder. “What’s the condition?”

“A kiss.”

“You can’t be serious!”

“I am very serious.” Jean-Pierre combed his antennae with his front leg. “You give me a kiss, and I will let you go. No kiss—no go!”

This can’t be happening
. Kara screwed up her face. It couldn’t be that bad, right? Her first kiss had been David, and now—a giant cockroach

“I am ready, mon amour.” Jean-Pierre leaned against the wall, his four front legs tucked behind his head.

“You’ll pay for this,” mumbled Kara. She walked up to the cockroach. Leaned in, made a face, closed her eyes and kissed the bug where she thought was his mouth.

She jumped back, wiping her mouth. “Gross! Gross! Gross!”

“Ahhh….what za kiss!” Jean-Pierre twirled on the spot, fell off his chair and landed with a soft thud the shag carpet. He was still.

The elevator doors slid open with a screech. A gust of wind hit her face, and Kara smelled decay and rotten flesh.

“Au revoir, mon amour!”

Kara hesitated for a moment, and then drew her soul blade, and with one last glance at the cockroach, she closed her eyes until they were tiny slits, readied herself and stepped into the Netherworld.

Chapter 18

Netherworld

A BURST OF STRONG WIND PUSHED
Kara to the ground immediately once she’d stepped through the portal. Her hands met sand—not the red color from Operations, but sand whose color had been sucked out—grey, dull and dead.

She stood up, shielding her eyes. The wind tugged at her hoodie. A flat barren land covered in a blanket of gray ash disappeared into the shadows of the distance. She couldn’t see any signs of life. It was like what would be left after a nuclear war. She shivered. Black shapes seemed to crawl beyond the darkness. The wind was an eerie voice calling out from beyond the dead. Kara could hear nothing else. It was as though she were the only one here.

Kara…

She heard a whisper of her name brush her ear.

I see you…

She felt a hand press down on her shoulder. Kara whirled around.

There was no one there.

Then she heard a distant laugh.

They were mocking her, she realized angrily

“Show yourself!” she yelled, clenching her Soul Blade. “Cowards!”

Something moved in the distance. Kara strained through the blowing sand to see. It came towards her, slowly. It was red, and it rippled along the ground. It was a carpet.

It unfolded itself towards her, like the ones at a red carpet event. It stopped right at her toes. A chill rolled up her back. The carpet was soaked in blood.

Kara…

Kara whirled around again, desperately trying to see.

She was alone with the bloody carpet.

Someone had sent her the carpet. It was an invitation—she knew what she had to do next.

“Well…here goes nothing.” Kara hopped onto the carpet. Her shoes pressed down into the soft material as the blood poured from the sides. She was thankful she was wearing her big combat boots. The carpet stretched out into the shadows of the blowing grey sands.

Here we go
. Kara walked cautiously along the blood carpet. She could hear the squish of her boots even over the roar of the wind. Nothing happened. She walked on—and on. It seemed to Kara that she had been walking for hours, or was it only a few minutes? She couldn’t tell. The carpet seemed to grow longer as she walked. A gust of wind brushed her face, like a hand caressing her cheek—were they playing tricks on her?

Kara…

Kara sliced the air behind her with her blade. She cut into nothing.

She turned around. She flinched—an enormous structure stood before her. It had appeared out of thin air.

A huge mall, filled with brilliant lights that flickered on and off and loud music that echoed all around beckoned to Kara. She could hear laughter coming from inside. A giant red and blue neon sign read, Netherworld Casino.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

Two glass doors appeared, and creaked and opened in front of her.

Kara clasped her blade tightly in her hand. She walked in—demons everywhere. Demons with skin as blue as ink loitered by the bar. Demons with large bat-like wings were drinking a red liquid that Kara was sure wasn’t wine. Small demons that looked like gnomes, except that they had thick green leathery skin and extra large teeth, played a game of blackjack. Higher demons yelled and gambled with golden coins and shinny balls.

As Kara stepped deeper into the casino, she saw female demons dancing topless on the tables and swinging from poles. Horns sprouted from their heads. Caged lower demons howled as they were tormented by higher demons who appeared to be throwing chucks of bloody meat. Other demons eyed her and hissed as she passed, but no one made any attempt to attack her.

Strange
, she kept walking.

She passed an in-ground pool filled with brownish-green liquid. She noticed lumps in the pool. At first she thought they were rocks, but then they moved. Horrified, Kara watched as one of the lumps twitched and ripped. It was a grotesque misshapen egg. Stick black legs with sharp claws tore free of the shell, green liquid oozing out of it. It jumped out of the pool. Its black and green body gleamed in the light. Large wet bat wings unfurled behind it. Its human face was contorted and swollen, with large bulging red eyes. It was part fly and part human. Kara’s gorge rose in her throat—she had just witnessed the birth of a new breed demon.

A sudden burst of cheer caught Kara’s attention. A snarling demon with rows of rotten yellow teeth stood up and threw some poker chips onto the bar. He stretched out his long boney hand and twisted arm towards the bartender who reached behind him and opened a glass cabinet. He reached inside and pulled out a glowing sphere. Kara’s head swayed—it was a soul—the entire cabinet was filled with rows upon rows of souls. The snarling demon threw back its head and swallowed the soul. His body shimmered as light exploded all around him. He closed his eyes and gave out a loud moan.

Kara knees weakened—everywhere she looked, souls were the prize—human and angel souls.

Over here, Kara…

A movement caught her eye. Kara froze. Her mother was playing at one of the tables. With a drink in her hand, she laughed and caressed a large black demon with the head of a boar and the body of a man. She caught Kara’s eye and waved.

“Mom?” Kara stumbled forward. “Mom!” Petrified, Kara pushed her way through the demons to reach her mother. She got to the table, but her mother had disappeared.

“Mom? Where are you?”

My daughter…this way…

Kara caught sight of her mother waving at her again. She laughed and skipped away like a little girl.

“Mom! Stop. Mom!”

Kara rushed forward. Demons jumped in her way hissing at her as she tried to pass. She lifted her blade, and they scattered, spitting at her face as she passed. Kara looked over the demons’ heads and spotted her mother. She pulled open a door and disappeared through it. Kara ran to follow her. She punched and kicked her way through the crush of laughing demons, drunk on souls. She didn’t care.

She reached the door. It stood ajar. She peeked inside. She knew it to be a room, but she could only see darkness stared back at her.

“Mom? Mommy? Mom—where are you…I can’t see anything.”

Kara…

Without a second thought, Kara stepped into the room. The door slammed shut behind her.

Lights flicked on, and Kara stood in the middle of a round a large room with wall to wall mirrors. Thousands of mirrors reflected millions of images of herself. Her mother sat upon a metal chair resting on a dais in the middle of the room. She drank from her glass and giggled.

Kara rushed over to her mother. “Mom! We have to get out of here, come with me.” She reached out.

Her mother recoiled and laughed. Her body shimmered, like it was made of water, and Kara watched her mother’s face change. What she believed to be her mother was now a demon. She had rough green skin like tree bark and long wispy green hair. A tail curled up behind her. Her yellow eyes mocked Kara. The female demon laughed and jumped off the chair.