Page 59 of Lust

I’m not sure how she can quantify different. Everything I’ve done since coming to Hell has been different from any experience I’ve had on Earth. All of this is new to me. I sit forward and listen eagerly, although I’m not quite sure I want to know what will happen after what happened last time. I’m pretty sure that whatever the second trial will be, it won’t be fun. Noémi’s idea of fun and mine are very different.

“Tomorrow,” she begins, “each of you will be put in a room in ze Earthery. Ze room will not be like ze room you were in last time.

“Thank goodness,” Rowena says, paling slightly. “I really can’t go through that again.”

Noémi quietens her with a stare. “Ze room itself doesn’t really matter. I have to tell you also that there weel be no music played that will have you feeling, ‘ow you say, ‘orny. You weel go to zis room by yourself and in turn, trois men will come and spend ten minutes weeth you. One of these men weel be your partner in zis round. The same partner you had in ze first trials.”

“Are we supposed to sleep with these men?” Rowena asks and I can hear the fear and also resignation in her voice.

“What you do with zees men is up to you, but no, as I said, there weel be no ‘ormones, no magic present in this room.”

“It sounds boring,” Juliette complains. She sounds almost excited by the presence of three men in her room. As if on cue, she adds, “Will these three men come in together?”

Even though I’m not looking at her, I can almost hear Rowena’s eyes rolling in her head.

“No,” Noémi clarifies. “Zese trois men will each spend ten minutes weeth you separately.”

Rowena raises her hand again. This time, Noémi doesn’t look so serene. Irritation fills her features as she points at Rowena. “What ees it?”

“What’s the point of all this? And for that matter, where is Hades? If this is the second trial and you’ve designed it like you designed the first, what’s he doing?”

For a moment, Noémi's eyes flash pink before returning to their usual warm brown, sending a shiver down my spine and reminding me of the demon she truly is.

“Good fucking question, Rowena,” Anthura chimes in, leaning back in her seat, arms folded, and a smug smile gracing her face. “Where is Hades, Noémi? I keep receiving messages about his presence here, yet I've yet to lay eyes on him.”

“He is here,” Juliette interjects, turning to address Anthura. “He must be. Twila told us.”

Anthura furrows her brow. “You've seen Twila? She's here?”

“Was here,” I interject. “However, we haven't seen her in weeks. She's also stopped responding to messages and calls on her Portal.”

I brace myself for the usual sneer that Anthura directs my way, but to my surprise, her expression carries a note of curiosity. “Why do you suppose she's doing that?”

“Ladies!” Noémi’s voice cuts over all of ours. “’Ades ees ‘ere in Lust. What ‘e is doing is nobody’s business and I don’t know zees Twila. Can we get back to Ze matter in ‘and? Ro ‘ad a good question, and I weesh to answer eet.”

I catch Rowena’s eye. Noémi is lying to us. She must know Twila. I think back to the conversation I had with Twila on the first day in here. Twila definitely mentioned Noémi. She called her a pink chick or something like it.

“Ze trois men will entair ze room, believing zey are seeing you,” she begins animatedly. “In fact, tomorrow morning, I am going to switch you all around. Thanks to ze magic of ze Earthery, you will appear to be someone else. Only you will know ze truth of ze person you're talking to. Zey will not know ‘oo you are. Zey will believe you to be someone else in zis room, so take a good look around, because tomorrow you will no longair be you. You'll be one of zese ozzer people in zis classroom.”

“I still don’t get it,” Rowena pouts. She’s not the only one. It’s the lamest trial yet, but knowing Noémi, there’ll be a catch. There always is in this place.

Noémi looks like she is talking to an insolent child as she addresses Rowena. “Your job eez to make zese trois people believe you are ze person you look like. If zey guess it eet’s ze real you, you weel lose points. If zey believe zat you are not ze person you look like, you weel lose points. Ze only way to get full points eez eef all trois men leave your room believing you are ze person you look like. If zey zink you are someone else but get ze wrong person, you weel lose points.”

I’m not the only one looking around the room. There’s a lot of confusion and worry etched on the faces of the surrounding people. Behind me, Jake raises his hand. “I still don’t understand why we are doing this. I don’t understand the point of this trial at all.”

Noémi sighs. “Y'ave all been intee-mate weeth your partnairs. Even zose of you who do not like ze people you 'ave been paired weeth. You've all done zings on ze physical level zat maybe some of you enjoyed.”

Her eyes swiftly turn to Rowena. “And some of you didn't, but now we want to see...” She pauses. “I want to see just 'ow much you got into zeir minds. Your partners weel 'ave ze easy job. Zey zink zey're just going to chat weeth you, or should I say, chat weeth ozzer people. I 'ave personally picked ze trois people who you weel be paired weeth and no,” she holds her hand up, “before any of you ask, you weel not 'ave any pree-or warning of which people I 'ave picked for you to go weeth. All I can say eez zat one of zese men weel be ze parrtner you were weeth in ze first trials. I 'ave picked men zat I zink weel be entertaining, based on your first trials and 'ow you've interacted weeth ozzer people. So remember, do not tell anybody outside of zis room what weel 'appen tomorrow. If I find out zat you 'ave told anybody, you and your parrtner weel automatically be disqualified. Do not give any 'int to your parrtner or ze ozzerr deux men. Tomorrow I weel be listening to every conversation, and if I zink you 'ave told zem in any way or ozzerwise ‘inted at who you are, you weel be out and your parrtner weel be out.”

I raise my hand as a question pops into my mind. “Do we know in advance who we’ll look like?”

Noémi shakes her head “No, so now we’re going to spend ze next ‘our chatting to everybody ‘ere. Remember zeir mannerisms. Ask zem questions. I don’t want to make zis too easy for you, but zose of you zat pay attention, ze better you will do.”

My stomach falls as I take in the people I’m surrounded by. Anthura sneers as my eyes fall on her and Candice gives me a hard look that clearly shows she’d rather be anywhere else but here. “How are we supposed to pretend to be someone? If we end up in a room with their partner, they will know them intimately. What if they ask questions I don’t know the answer to?”

“Zen Quinn, you should pay attention tonight and if zere are any questions zat you do not know the answer to, you better ‘ope that you’re a good actor. Remember all these interactions weel be shown on ze big screen so you want to make sure you do zis right because nothing you say in that room tomorrow weel be private. Do you all understand?”

A few people nod, but most look sick to their stomachs. Noémi claps her hands. “Right now let’s pull zese chairs away. I’ll let you spend ze next ‘our chatting to each ozzer. Go around the room. Talk to everybody because you never know which person you’re going to end up in ze body of.”

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