Page 11 of Hell of a Thing

They thrived on the pain and terror they caused.

Mallory took my hand, her grip firm, but her fingers ice cold. She tugged me forward, and I forced myself to stumble along behind her.

Inside the newest room, a stage was set. Severed limbs hung from chained hooks attached to the ceiling. Blood dripped from the appendages collecting beneath them in small pools. In the center was a raised stage with a man strapped to a metal surgical table. He writhed, turning begging eyes on our group, but he couldn’t escape the metal restraints holding him. A massive creature with great horns and the muscular legs of an ostrich stepped forward through a pair of red velvet curtains, extending a long black claw towards the helpless man. I clutched a stiletto in my shaking palm and moved to intervene, but some unseen force prevented me. It was as though I stood watching the nightmare unfold behind a pane of glass, but no glass existed. Instead, the air was solid. Mallory clutched my arm and hid her face in my shoulder. With tears in my eyes, I patted her gossamer hair and forced myself to witness the scene unfold. I couldn’t help the man, but at least I wouldn’t turn away from his pain.

The captive’s eyes bulged when the monster sank a sharp black nail into his shuddering abdomen. The beast made a few long cuts before pinching the edge of skin and ripping it upward to remove a chunk. It held the section up to the audience like a prize before tucking the piece of flesh into its oversized mouth. With each slice of the monster’s sharp nail down his limbs, with each pull of skin from his body, the man’s screams pierced my ears. Naked and writhing on the table, he begged for death.

“Please. Make it stop. Help me! Someone! Anyone!” His garbled voice would live in my nightmares for the rest of my life. Each time it echoed through my mind, another piece of my heart broke. It was only when the man stopped screaming and lay still that a wall to our left slid open. The monster who had flayed him looked up at us with pits of darkness where eyes should be, but I felt its gaze boring into me. Mallory whimpered, and I squeezed her hand, trying to offer a measure of comfort I didn’t feel. Wearing a smile made up of pointed teeth, the monster held up a bloodied hand and gestured to thenew doorway.

Spiderwebs covered every inch of the room in a thick layer, and millions of spiders of various sizes and types scurried over every surface. The walls were lined with glass coffins set upright, each one filled with a body at some stage of decomposition. The husks of the older ones’ skin, deflated and lacking moisture, reminded me of Egyptian mummies.

There must be a switch somewhere, just like the room with the falling ceiling, but this room was twice the size, and I’d have to feel for it. I hoped whateverthingmade these webs stayed away long enough for me to find it.

It seemed like in every room we had to work to find the way out, or pay a bloody price.

“Do you think we’ll ever get to go swimming at the beach again?” Mallory’s question surprised me, and I turned my attention to her, trying to keep an eye on the spiderwebs around us at the same time. “Swimming. You know.” Mallory mimed a few strokes in the air. “I just. I was realizing if we don’t get out of here, we’ll never get to do it again.”

It was a strange thing to fixate on, but she wasn’t wrong, and I didn’t have any words of comfort to offer. When we’d first realized the true nature of this place, I’d thought there must be a way to beat it, but each room seemed more horrifying than the last.

“Yeah, I guess. But I hate water, so I’m not exactly with you on that one.”

Mallory chuckled behind her hand, setting off her charm bracelet to tinkling.

“Is that why you have so many beach charms on that thing?”

Surprised, Mallory peered down at the mermaids and seashells on her bracelet. “The beach is where I feel safe,” she said somewhat defensively, holding her wrist to her chest.

With a smile, I patted her hand. “Well, let’s get you back there, then.”

Her face brightened, and a warmth spread through my chest at the sight. I would get this kid out. I hadn’t been able to save Sam, but I could make sure Mallory was okay. It was a purpose that gave me the strength to smile and move to the wall like I was redecorating my sitting room instead of searching for a hidden switch that could mean our life or death.

The others huddled in the middle, staying clear of the walls like they were dangerous, and maybe they were. Nothing in this place was as it seemed, but if somebody didn’t try to do something, the room would demand another death to release us, and I wouldn’t let that happen.

“Thisroom is a critical part of my method. The fear is building now that they’ve met a few of our…performers.” Pride tinged my words, and I stood up a little straighter as I thought of how well everyone was doing tonight. “Now we’ll give the humans some time to settle into their new space, toacclimatizeand understand just how doomed they are, and then one of my personal creations will make her appearance.”

I grinned at the confusion in The Devil’s eyes. Most creatures existed within Hell in one form or another, but few were created new. My centipede had raised an eyebrow, but it was still a creature of Hell-made flesh. My creation would be the one to wow The Devil. It had been a tedious process to infuse the soul of a ghoul into the body of a tarantula, but the outcome had been worth it, and my girl would not disappoint.

After the costumed humans were relaxed enough to start leaning against the walls, a figure scurried out from the shadows in the corner, an area the lights were designed to not quite reach. She dropped down with an audible thud, and the group fell silent as they struggled to see what approached them in the flashing strobes.

Above the whimpers of fear and regret, distinct rhythmic thumps neared them. All the while, the silhouette of my girl became clearer.I watched with pride as Calamity descended from the ceiling, lowering her cephalothorax and grinning with the humanoid face of a ghoul but with the protruding pincers of an arachnid dimpling the rotting flesh of her cheeks. I suppose it was a face only a mother could love.

Smirking, I watched as Kitten stepped in front of her little friend protectively.

“Do you see the kitten, my King? Her determination to continue despite the trepidations is doing something for me. You see, most humans are bolstered by ignorance and a false sense of indestructibility. The most layered flavors come from humans like her. Ones who identify the dangers and understand their fragile mortality, but push the limits despite the trepidations. I don’t doubt she is going to lead to something unique for you to taste.” I shivered with anticipation.

Calamity stood for a moment, her pincers tapping together as her bulbous black eyes scanned each potential meal, searching for the one I’d had tagged only a short time ago. She, like all myemployees,knew to follow my instructions with absolute precision. When she found the mark, she didn’t hesitate.

A grin stretched across my face as I watched her work.

Good girl.

The architect of the webs was worse than any nightmare I could have dreamt, and I had to fight to keep myself standing. Mallory winced in pain, and I loosened my grip on her arm, unable to utter an apology for hurting her.

Wicked red eyes scanned us, and no one moved. I could almost hear all of us thinking a single shared thought.

Not me.Please, please, not me.Despite my reservations, I inched in front of Mallory, hoping to make her feel a little safer than the rest of us. With a screech loud enough to force a hand over my ear, the spider-thing shot forward, pivoting around me to wrap itself around Mallory’s body and sink its pincers into her neck.

Her scream broke the monster’s spell, and I renewed my grip on her arm, grabbing the stiletto I’d hooked onto my belt and stabbing at the sea of brown limbs covering Mallory.

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