Ho+el

0.6

Nora

The shower was calming, which is a weird thing to say. I was taking a shower in purgatory, there was a strong chance I could be the descendant of Persephone. What the hell was happening to me? I sighed deeply and stepped out of the shower, grabbing the towel and drying my hair first. The mirror was mostly steamed up, but I could still see my reflection and I couldn't help but to stifle a gasp.

To have been shot, I had recovered quickly, the bullet wound was nothing more than a slight raise in the smooth skin, but more so than that, my hair was silkier, healthier, along with my skin, I just looked generally healthier. I glanced down at the clothes and frowned, they weren't very modest. I slid on the tights first, which, were lace and only went half-way up my calf, the skirt was too short in my opinion, leaving very little to the imagination, and the white shirt was too small. I guess hell isn't exactly high in the modest department.

I pulled on a pair of boots that were stacked under the clothes and headed out of the bathroom, looking down the hallway both ways. They were designed elaborately like a maze, each door on the hallway had a different name on it, and most of them were alphabetized. I couldn't help but wonder if behind those doors were heavens or hells, and I honestly wasn't exactly sure I wanted to know.

As I got closer to what I assumed was the lobby, I stopped, hearing violent voices booming throughout, one of them I was instantly able to identify as Jareth.

"She is not yours to take, Deyanira, and that is final!" His voice could shake walls.

"That is not your decision to make, my dear boy, do you know what it could mean for our kind if we allowed a Soul Shatter to roam among our world?" Her voice wasn't as loud but the amount of malice in it was enough to poison blood.

"Don't go out there," A voice behind me nearly caused me to scream as I turned around and saw Ellara perched nearly right behind my shoulder.

"Who is that?" I asked, calming my nerves after being scared.

"That's Deyanira, she's not good, in anyway, she wants to kill you, she's worried you may take her place as Queen of the Underworld."

"So, she's a Soul Shatter?"

"No, she's just a big ol' powerful bitch."

I stifled giggles and turned back to the lobby, being careful not to be seen as I watched the conversation below.

Isabelle was standing behind Jareth, and she looked like a warrior, though old she looked extremely powerful and it sent a shiver down my spine.

"This is not a battle ground, Deyanira, but that doesn't mean I can't turn it into one," Jareth said, simply, his voice had lowered, it was no longer loud and booming, it was quiet—deadly.

Deyanira laughed, a thick velvety sound that made me slightly nauseous, "Do not threaten me, Jareth, if I wanted this little shit hole," she gestured around the lobby and I moved back a bit behind the wall so that she wouldn't see me, "I could take it. And everything in it."

Her eyes rested on Isabelle with enough chill that I was worried the room might freeze over, but Isabelle only returned the icy glare.

"You need to leave," Jareth said.

"Fine, fine, have it your way, silly boy. I will come back for the Soul Shatter, you know that as well as I do, and when I get her I'll make sure I drag her death out since you're delaying my access to her now."

She turned, all grace and precision, and left the building, right out the darkness of the front doors-- and I feinted.