On the Subject of Insanity

12. Chilly Down South

"Dumbo Rats! Come and get your Dumbo Rats while they're still hot."

"Buy one human prostate today and then get the second one free!"

Endless banter proceeded to go back and forth through the crowd, a new absurd commodity being barked out with each fleeting moment. The whole exchange reminded me of the farmers market that usually took place at the east end of Dracmoor every Saturday. Now, of course, there were a few differences that may put a damper on that whole comparison.

The human prostate hasn't exactly been the most demanded stock as of late.

"You weren't actually serious about this being Hell, right?" Skyscrapers, mini-convenience stores, heck, I even spotted a Dolce and Gabbana store out of all things. I've always imagined Hell to be just one giant pit of fire, damned souls roasting to a crisp in eternal agony. This may come off a little deranged and somewhat f'ed up, but from what I could see so far, Hell wasn't actually all that... bad. If you were to look past all the fairly grotesque creatures and the pile of intestines laying by the sewage drain, I could easily see myself living in a place like this.

"Well, partially. This section right here is what you humans would call the downtown area. Affectionately called The Pit by those who live here."

"What do you mean by 'partially'?"

"Remember how I said this was Hell?" I nodded my head, curious as to where this was all going. "The Pit is a small segment of that. Believe me when I say that this place right here is ten times better than the actual inferno downstairs. Trust me, I should know." Maneuvering through the crowd with obvious familiarity with the various twists and turns, Celeste led us down a much less crowded street, a nice improvement from the mayhem we had just experienced before.

"So Hell... It's actually real?"

Celeste sighed, clearly annoyed with the fact that we had to go over this again, "Yes Skylar, Hell is actually real. In all it's molten hot glory."

Well, I'll be damned. Now I'm not exactly the most religious person around, the last time I went to a church being when I was only ten years old. So one should understand why I was a little skeptical when it came to the idea of there actually being a God, or a certain horned individual residing only a few miles below my feet. When your life appears to be on a continuous downward spiral, bouncing from either bad to worse, religion will appear to be the stuff of fairy tales to skeptics such as me.

"Where are we going exactly?" It didn't take me long to realize that we were walking in the direction of one very specific building that stuck out like a sore thumb amongst the rest. Whilst every other building seemed to be made up of either steel or granite, this one was composed of something else entirely. Being a good four stories tall, it was probably the smallest building on the whole block. Yet what it lacked in height, it made up for in appearance. Dark obsidian-like rocks encompassed the whole structure of the building, giving it that ominous feel one would immediately have as their first impression.

"I know someone here who owes me a favor, and lucky for us, she specializes in cases such as yours. She's an okay type of gal, but I should warn you....." Stopping a good 20 feet away from the entrance, Celeste's gaze hardened as focused in on a small group of individuals who were huddled near the gate.

"Do you know those guys or something?"

"No, it's not them I'm concerned about." As if on cue, a short and a rather stocky young man tumbled out from the group, waving what looked like a baton in their direction. The men, who looked be apart of some sort of faction based on their similar attire, seemed to be struggling to hold in their laughter as they watched the little energizer bunny roar out in their direction.