Hell (Part Four of the Purgatory Series)

Chapter Six: "It's the honest ones you have to watch out for..."

Chapter Six: "It's the honest ones you have to watch out for..."*

He was cut, bruised, a few of his ribs felt broken, and he was covered in vile-smelling goblin blood, but he was alive. They had made it through the fight and surprisingly, Roran hadn't abandoned them. Jelani chalked it up to Adrienne’s last minute confession, but for whatever reason, he was grateful. If Roran hadn't stayed to fight there was no way they would have survived.

“So you didn't cut and run,” Jelani goaded him. “I'm starting to think you might like us a little.”

“That's why you should leave the thinking to me,” Roran replied with a scowl in his direction. “Everything you think is usually wrong.”

“So why did you stay then?” Adrienne asked as she tried to rinse goblin blood out of her hair.

“I decided I can keep a closer eye on you two if you're nearby. Who knows what you'll do if I'm not watching you.”

She huffed and rolled her eyes, but didn't argue. Jelani had a feeling she was grateful he stayed too.

“Well, I think the next order of business should involve all of us getting a bath. We wouldn't want to greet Thea's parents smelling like this,” Jelani said as they finished gathering up their supplies and putting away their weapons.

Roran shook his head. “Told you not to do the thinking. We won't draw as much attention if we smell like goblin. Smelling clean, like a human, is probably what drew them to us in the first place.”

Adrienne looked horrified. “You mean we have to stay like this? I feel like my skin is going to rot!”

“Better rotting than dead,” he argued, stepping around her to lead the group.

“Maybe for you, you ancient relic,” she muttered at his back. “Not all of us are a million years old.”

Jelani agreed with her, but if there was one thing Roran did well it was surviving. So if the phoenix said goblin blood would give him a better chance at staying alive, Jelani believed it.

And it turned out he was right. For three and a half days they trekked across Texas smelling like decay and death, but as long as they were quiet and went unseen, they were rarely bothered. In the time it took to get to Dallas, they had only been attacked twice and only by a few smaller groups of goblins. Never vampires, never demons. It was pretty quiet.

But instead of feeling relieved, Jelani couldn't help feeling unnerved and restless. The peace was somehow ominous, and left him feeling as if the worst had yet to come. His time spent as Mara' s thrall had taught him to be suspicious of everything. Like the tension emanating from Roran. The phoenix was plotting something, he was sure of it. And whatever it was, it wasn't going to be good for him or Adrienne.
…

The closer they got to Dallas, the more anxious Roran felt. How was he going to explain all of this to Thea's parents? They knew Jelani as Thea's enemy and killer. How could he bring that man into their house after everything he had done? And how could he look them in the eyes and tell them he had no idea how to rescue Thea? Sure, Jelani was right about how to get in to hell. Getting in was easy. But no one - not a single soul - could get out without Lucifer's help.

He knew Jelani’s plan was to get one of Thea's parents to volunteer to go to hell and get her, but there was no way he would let that happen without knowing how to get them out. Adrienne was convinced she could just use the spell she had performed in purgatory and just change the words, but Roran wasn't convinced. The only way to know for sure would be to test it. And that plan was forming like a dark cloud in the back of his mind.

He would have to make the decision soon. With every step they got closer to Thea's parents and Jelani became more and more paranoid. Not that he didn't have a reason to be. He could obviously sense Roran' s intentions, even if he hadn't figured everything out yet.

But, surprisingly, Roran was hesitating. They had passed several dark, closed-in alleys that would be perfect, but this was harder than he imagined. Killing in purgatory had been necessary for self-defense. This was something else.

Sure, killing Adrienne and Jelani and sending them to hell would be preferable to using Thea's parents, but they were still humans and he had never killed humans before. As a nephilim, one of his jobs was to help guard humanity from evil. What would that mean for him if he was willing to sacrifice them like this? While they were pretty despicable human beings, he considered himself even worse. In fact, he'd send himself to hell if it were possible. But being a nephilim, he'd just end up back in purgatory.

"We'll rest here," he forced out through clenched teeth as they approached another dim alleyway. "The house should be less than an hour away."

The others didn't argue, but Jelani kept giving him the side-eye in suspicion. He was right to feel uneasy. Roran had made up his mind. He had to save Thea and this was his best chance. Jelani would for sure end up in hell after all of the things he had done and Roran would make Adrienne follow him. Knowing how cowardly he was, Jelani would immediately try to find Thea to protect him and then Adrienne could use her spell to get them out. And if that didn't work...he would just find another way.

…

Jelani had known something bad was about to happen, even before Roran plunged the knife into his chest. He should have trusted his darker instincts, but his new human feelings had told him to trust the phoenix. Trust the nephilim who was part angel and a guardian of mankind. How stupid. He really missed being a vampire.

The pain was unlike anything he had ever felt. It was searing agony that only got worse with each breath. He gasped for help, but Roran' s face showed no remorse or hesitation. He briefly wondered about Adrienne, but somehow knew she'd be dying too soon enough.

"You go find Thea, you understand?" Roran ordered him. "You get her out of there. Adrienne will get the three of you out. And if she can't, I'll find a way."

"Piss...o-off," Jelani managed to reply through strangled, bloody breaths.

He would have flipped him off, but his arms felt too heavy. Everything was feeling heavy - heavy and cold. He wondered briefly if there was a chance he might not even go to hell. But that was a fool's hope. Maybe this was why Lucifer had laughed at him. He should have known he had no chance of surviving without Thea. Maybe he'd see her soon…

…

Sorry updates take a while. I'm pretty busy at the moment. But I promise I'm working on this. Slow, but sure. Thanks for reading!

*This quote is from Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean.