The Hellbeast King by Stephanie Hudson
Alice had it Easy
Okay… okay… just gotta calm down. If there was a way in, that means there’s a way out, I told myself, only it wasn’t as comforting as I had hoped. Not when I could hear my own fear when my voice shook like that.
I finally gave up on the door in front of me, as it was clearly locked, and after hopelessly looking for some panel or switch or anything that looked like a locking mechanism, I found nothing. I had to ask once again what I had got myself into, and this only led to more questions… more like what had Amelia got herself into?
It turned out that this question was going to be one I would ask myself for the duration of the night, one that was only going to get creepier and creepier. Starting when I turned around and found myself staring at what could only be described as a hellish looking elevator. It reminded me of one of those that you would often see in some old lavish hotel or the first apartment buildings. An elevator you wouldn’t dare use and was mainly only ever kept there for decorative purposes. Because really, just how many people would have trusted the old mechanisms used to power it. The damn thing looked more like a metal cage, and once inside you would feel trapped like a bird longing for the sky.
But after staring at it and getting over the horror of the thing, even I had to admit there was an eerie beauty to it. I had never seen one like this before, only knowing that they existed, making me wonder just how old it was? But why was it hidden in this old pub and more importantly, where did it lead to? Those were the questions I wanted an answer to above all, despite its hellish appearance. A cage of black, twisted wrought iron in a circular shape that was domed at the top, and decorated with what looked like a beast’s clawed hand reaching for the top. The twisted iron was in an art nouveau style, a mixture of swirls of drooping lilies and vines intermixed with snarling heads like gargoyles. Like those you would have seen on the side of old medieval buildings, some of which I had seen in the few days I had been in London.
I looked around to see there wasn’t much else in the space other than the long torches attached to the walls. These were topped with small, caged flickering bulbs but the style looked like someone had taken some thousand-year-old antique and modified it. As for the rest of it, there were no other doors leading anywhere else. Which meant there was no other way to go than the two double doors facing me that belonged to the elevator. I even looked up, and couldn’t tell it went up to a floor above or not as nothing was obvious with this type of contraption.
So, what other choice did I have but to step closer to the elaborate doors that were both beautifully dark and also unwelcoming? It could not be denied the craftsmanship used to create such a mundane purpose, despite my discomfort at being forced to use it. Because we most definitely took elevators for granted these days, as looking at this one now and I couldn't help but feel as if we had lost some sort of historical craftmanship, as we certainly didn't make things like this today. No, something functional rarely had this much work dedicated to it. It was both terrifying and stunning all at the same time.
I looked up to see an old-fashioned arch with numbers painted on a strip of white, and underneath at the centre was a gold metal arrow mounted that was currently pointed at level 2. This half-moon shape was framed with curls of iron that were thorned and looked deadly. But then this wasn’t the only creepy thing about it as the number counted, 1,2,3 and then jumped to 13 and last of all… 666.
Hence why I wasn’t exactly falling over myself to get in the bloody thing, but what other choice did I have? I turned around and tried one more time to find an opening or any way back inside the pub, but then I knew that I owed it to my cousin to make sure she was alright. and considering now it was clear there was only one place I would find her, then I felt I had little choice but to allow the elevator to take me where it wanted to.
And I had a bad feeling exactly which floor that would be.
Truth be told, if I had been given the chance, I would have gone back to the hotel and told my aunt and uncle where their daughter was, because I feared more for her safety than the trouble I knew she would get into by admitting she was here. Sure, she would be mad at me, but she'd be alive when she was doing it, and that was all that mattered to me right now.
However, that clearly wasn’t an option, so I had no choice but to press the call button for the doors to open, jumping when they did with a resounding ding. Doors that were sectioned at the bottom with solid plates of black metal, decorated in a mass of thorns that reached up to the gated part that was twisted metal spindles. These were bent into arches that pointed up into a large deadly spike at the top, and in the centre was what looked like some family crest. Only I had to admit the symbol in the middle looked more demonic in nature than of the usual horses, flags and swords. This looked more like two curved blades facing each other, with a hollow circle in the middle. They both tapered down into thin lines that hooked back on themselves like half arrow heads. A thick black line slashed through the lengths, and under it was a thinner one. The whole symbol was encased in a triangular shield that had sides like a kite.
Of course, I only had a moment to see it as a whole piece, as now it had been cut in two, along with the thick metal strip either side of it that was made to look like an ancient scroll. On this were golden words that looked to be written in Greek, meaning I had no idea what it said. Only that if anyone knew, it would have been Fae.
She would have had no problem reading this…
‘Cerberus ο προστάτης της κόλασης
χάντες καταναλώθηκαν.’
As for me, there was only one word I knew, and that was of course… Cerberus.
“Well, it was nice living while it lasted,” I said aloud, before looking up as if speaking directly with God, making my goodbyes and crossing myself as if this would help. Okay, so I wasn’t particularly religious but given times like this, then despite how hypercritical it seemed, I thought praying now was a good a time as any.
Which was my exact thoughts as I stepped across from stone floor to one of suspended metal, screaming when the doors slammed shut behind me with an echoing clang of iron. Of course, the fact that you could actually see through the grated floor down into the dark plunging depths below, wasn’t exactly helping with nerves. Now I wasn’t scared of heights, but this didn’t mean I was ready to buy a daredevil suit and started jumping canyons on a dirt bike either.
At the very least, there were lights inside, even if the tear shaped lamps above didn’t offer much. Each was surrounded by a rosette of metal vines that matched the theme, flickering ominously before the elevator started to move without needing me to press any buttons. Which was a good thing really as I had no clue what to press anyway. This was thanks to the old control panel that had switches you just wouldn’t see today, like, slow speed, start, close, off, safety switch and open. Of course, it was the big red button in the centre that said Emergency Out, Out. I mean what did ‘out, out’ mean exactly? Did it need to be said twice just to get the point across, because I was at the point now where it was only fear of the unknown that stopped me from jabbing my finger at it like a mad woman! But then the flashing light above the keyhole was intriguing, making me wonder which floor that was supposed to lead to?
Hell… definitely Hell, I decided.
The only saving grace to this scary descent was that it didn’t move as fast as modern elevators today and well, the curved velvet red seat was a nice touch at least. Even that had been handmade, and was all curved, carved wood that held the plush material in place with brass pins.
In the end, the only good part to having a grated floor was that I could see through it, which gave me opportunity to brace myself when I could see the end was coming. However, when the elevator rattled to a stop, I screamed as the light overhead cut out and plunged me into darkness.
“AH!” I shouted again when I heard the doors in front of me open and I was led only by sound for ten long, terrifying seconds, feeling my way out. But then the doors closed behind me, making me jump again before a light finally flickered on. This awarded me a slither of light, making it enough to show me an opening. I briefly questioned if this was the way Amelia had come, but then I knew I had only been minutes behind her so if not, then that meant there had been another way down here that I had missed. Unless she had gone up the stairs, ignoring the roped closed sign?
Jesus, I hoped I found her down here or this had all been for nothing, and God only knew what would happen to me if I was caught here. Because let’s just say that the place had secret entrances and creepy elevators for a reason, and I doubted it was for shits and giggles. No, this was nothing short of a secret cult or illegal gang lair, I was sure of it. One that held signs that said… a fight club.
“Jesus, Fae, what the hell are you doing here?” I said, then quickly muttering,
“What the hell am I doing here!”before pushing my way through the red metal door that was the only way there was to go. A sight that didn’t exactly instil confidence in me when I saw the same crest on the door, this time, one that was decorated with a horned demonic skull over it. Oh, and not forgetting the words beneath it that said,
‘Devil’s Ring
Fight Club’
“Oh yeah, I am totally screwed,” I muttered before pushing open the creaky door, that most likely was announcing to everyone behind the doors that I had arrived, as let’s just say the sound wasn’t exactly subtle. Of course, the moment I popped my head around the small opening I had created, I soon released I couldn’t have been more wrong.
Oh, so very fucking wrong!
“What the…” I let that curse trail off, as I was now faced with an entirely different sight than my mind had conjured up. Because the biker gang fight club or drug lord’s secret lair I had been expecting, was as far from what reality I was now laying witness too.
A hellish fair ground, demonic freakshow…
Oh yeah, that was the rabbit hole I found myself in.
Which now meant only one thing…
“Just call me Alice.”