The Gates to Infernum

PROLOGUE 

Remember me

        His footsteps crashed against the pavement, sending an electric shock up his body every time. The adrenaline coursing through his veins pooled up in all of his organs, it made him sick. He desperately want to stop running in fear of collapsing and vomiting all over himself. But hearing the screams, gunshots, and a chainsaw behind him and his friend pushed him farther.

Remember me

        The feminine voice who first said that seemed to be imprinted in his mind. He couldn't stop those two words from going on and on in a loop. Her, the Misses, got in Ajay's head. As for his friend Lucia, she kept trying to suppress it. She was ready to give up, but Ajay grabbed her wrist and dragged her forward. He knew exactly where to go, before even exploring the neighborhood they established a safe spot.

The sounds of the people chasing them died out in the distance, it would give them enough time to hide. Ajay thought that taking any guns or knives left behind in the house would be a good idea, and making a run for the gate.

        "No!" Lucia huffed. Her chest burned so bad, she was sure she would have a cardiac arrest. Her sweat soaked, long brown hair stuck to her face and made her feel even more uncomfortable.

Ajay locked his green eyes with her brown ones for a moment while he was catching his breath. He was dumbfounded. "What the hell do you mean no? They're going to kill us!"

"It won't work, we need a better plan!"

        "Well do you have a better one?!" Ajay shouted at the top of his lungs. Lucia jumped forward and cupped both of her hands over his mouth.

        "If they hear you, we're both dead. Let's just get to the safe spot." With that, she started jogging down the perfectly kept road. All of the odd houses of different shapes, sizes, age, and colors made the both of them not only queasy but scared. Those people, those psychopaths, were clever and knew exactly what they were doing. The duo had no idea if those people were planning some sort of ambush or if they themselves has already been compromised from the moment they woke up in her house. Luckily, they made it to their safe spot, a small abandoned house that everyone there seemed to have forgotten about. The two friends entered through the back door, they wanted to make sure they left no traces anywhere in the front for them to notice.

         "Ajay, what are we going do?" Lucia asked as she anxiously walked into the kitchen. Her eyes immediately found the three nine millimeter guns, two packs of ammo, and two knives.

Ajay walked in behind her and quickly snatched one of the guns the moment he got in the kitchen. "We're going to do what I said. If you have a better plan, then please tell me."

        "Ajay..." Lucia didn't want to grab one of the weapons, she didn't want this.

He ran a hand through his extremely grown out blonde hair so he could see better. "What?"

       "I don't know if I can do this" she breathed quietly.

       "Lucia, we have no choice-"

       "Why don't we?!" She snapped, already feeling tears roll down her cheeks.

Ajay scoffed. He couldn't believe what one of his best friends was saying. "If we don't fight back and escape, we will DIE."

       "I don't want to kill anyone!"

        Lucia's screamed echoed through the old, rickety house making it shake. Sobbing, she fell to her knees and tried to hold back her urge to puke. Her body felt like it had been set on fire, her jeans and t-shirt stuck to her limbs. Her breathing seemed to be completely cut off, her heart beat faster and faster, pushing her to survive that.

Ajay squatted down next to her and gently told her, "I don't want to either. And we don't have to, these weapons are for self defense. I promise you we will try not to kill anyone."

He extended a hand towards Lucia and she grabbed on. She was livid, rage invaded her bloodstream, she couldn't believe how stupid she was.

       "This whole night was a mistake, we should have never come here. I can't believe I was stupid enough to follow after you, you dumbass" Lucia hissed in utter disgust.

Ajay chuckled, but it wasn't a cheerful one. His patience with his friend was wearing very thin. "You think I wanted this to happen? You think I wanted to lure us in a death trap?!"

        "You knew about this place and what the people do and you thought it'd be fun to come here! You knew this was a literal death trap and you still took us here!"

Ajay stayed silent, he was very close to exploding with anger.

        "And guess what? Three of our friends are dead because of this ‘little night out’."

At that point, he couldn't hold back his tears any more. They came pouring down his face, his heart ached at the sound of Lucia's voice. His heart ached at what she had said, because she was right. This whole night wouldn't have happened if it wasn’t for him.

        "I'm... I'm sorry" he croaked. His entire body started trembling.

Lucia cocked her head. "I'm sorry too, I didn't mean to be so... harsh with you. They killed our friends, you had nothing to do with it."

       "And it's my fault they got in that situation!" He screamed in complete fury while slamming his fists on the kitchen counter.

Lucia jumped and gasped at the sound. They stayed quiet for a couple of moments, only the soft cries of Ajay were heard. She made a firm decision then and there, it was time to be brave and do something. She took one the guns off of the table and shoved some bullets in her jacket pockets.

        "Let's go" she announced. Ajay looked up at her with his red, puffy eyes. He nodded and snatched some of the bullets and placed them in his jean pockets.

He sucked in a deep breath to try and regulate his breathing. "Alright, here's the plan. I say we try to set up some sort of decoys-"

        A loud thump, something must have fallen on the house. Or someone was trying to get in. The both of them stood as still as they could be, not having the audacity to make any movement or sound. Their hearts were beating in sync, pounding away and slowly eroding their ribcages. They jumped at the sound of someone pounding the door. Neither of them moved for a moment, until Ajay decided to cock his gun.

        "Guys?" A masculine voice said. Another knock, it was coming from him.

        "... Cole?" Ajay asked.

        "Wait, is it you guys?! Help me, please, they’re going to kill me!" Their friend cried in a panic. He began pounding on the door again, Lucia was sure he’d break it down before anyone arrived to assist him.

Ajay bolted out of the kitchen only to be pulled back by Lucia.

        "What if it's a trap?!"

        "It's Cole, it's him, we have to help him!" He broke away from Lucia's grip and ran towards the front door.

        Ajay quickly flung the door open to find a frightened, shaken up Cole. His dark t-shirt and blue jeans were torn and splattered with blood. It was pretty clear he had to fight his way out of wherever he was. For the most part, it looked like Cole got out with no fatal injuries. Ajay smiled and quickly pulled him into a hug.

        "Cole man, how'd you get away? Are the others okay?" He frantically asked.

His friend sighed and pressed his lips together. "No, they were all shot in cold blood."

        "We have no time to think about that right now" Lucia said behind them. "We have to get out of here now. Cole, I'm glad you're okay, but we'll talk about it later. There's a gun in the kitchen, I'll go grab it for you."

The two boys smiled at her as she turned back to take the last gun. As she checked to make sure it was loaded, Ajay screamed. Lucia dropped everything and ran out to find the front door empty. They were both gone. She immediately took out her gun and aimed it out the door.

        "You're pointing that the wrong wrong way, dear" a woman remarked behind her.

Lucia's heart dropped ten stories down and she felt her face go pale. She slowly turned around to face her, the Misses. Lucia’s vision was clouded with tears, she could barely see the vile woman.

        "Why are you out so late?" The woman spat. "It's lights out."