A Different Kind of Hell

Foreward: Part 1

Dakota:

The Renaissance Fair had ended yesterday, and I was just now waking up to get my things packed and head back to my apartment in New Orleans when someone knocked on the door of my motel room. I had been a performer at the local Fair for 6 years running and had made several friends in the troupe. I grabbed my robe as I walked to the door and opened it after checking the peephole and seeing that it was a fellow performer. Several of us had gone together on a package deal to make the 8-week stay in the motel cheaper, so seeing each other after working hours was nothing new.

"Hi Manny, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be packing and getting ready to head home? You've got a long drive back to Texas. " I said leaning against the door

"Kota! I'm glad you're up, a few of us are going out for brunch to celebrate the Fair ending in an hour. Are you in?"

I turned and looked at the room and then the clock on the wall and sighed. This had been my home for the last 8 weeks and I had grown comfortable here. I'd have to try to get into the same room next year when I came to work at the Fair.

"Yeah, I can be ready in an hour. Let me take a quick shower and get everything packed and into my car. Where are we going for brunch?"

"Just meet me in the car in an hour and we'll take care of everything, our treat." Manny said

I shut the door with a wave and quickly packed up all but the clothes I was going to wear, a simple sundress with cute panties and no bra with flat sandals for my feet, the straps on the dress were far too thin to hide a bra, anyway. After checking that the door to my room was locked, I walked to the bathroom. The spray of the water was hot and soothing and soon the bathroom was fogged up so badly I could barely see but I was enjoying all of it to soothe my tired body until my vision suddenly went dark, and I was in a very, very different place.

The ground rumbled with the footfalls of hundreds of thousands of people around me, their war cries and screams deafening me, I could barely think with all the chaos surrounding me. The ground I stood upon was rocky and soaked with the blood of countless fallen people. There were dead bodies laying everywhere. Those in the grass were being ripped to pieces by the very grass itself. Those captured by vines were being tortured and some even turned inside out by those same vines. My body physically shook in terror at the sights around me. Off to the side, there was a lake of fire and in the distance, I could see a volcano erupting; it was a vision of hell, and I was experiencing all of it in real-time. I felt the heat of the place, the suffocating, acrid air that burned my throat, the sounds of metal crashing into other metal and people screaming in pain as the battle raged.

The water running cold over my body snapped me out of the vision, I almost fell to my knees with the force of the transition. I gasped and slapped my hands on the wall of the shower to keep my trembling legs from failing. I slowly came back to myself and turned off the water, stepping out and grabbing a towel from the rack, I looked in the mirror and my pupils were blown wide, complete horror on my face.

"What the holy fuck was that?! I'm having waking nightmares in the shower now? I've seriously got to relax and get out more, it's gotta be stress that's got me like this." I squeaked

I dressed quickly and hauled my suitcases to my car, fitting them in the jigsaw puzzle I'd brought them here in. When I got back to the door of the room, Manny was waiting for me. I dropped my shoulders and relaxed when I saw him. His jovial presence lightened my mood from the earlier visions in the shower.

"There you are Kota! I've been looking for you, are you ready to head to brunch? You look like you've been through hell, are you ok?"

"Sure, I just got caught up in a daydream and was shocked when I ended up with a cold shower." I laughed "Let's do this!"