Underside Chapter 17

She led him through twist and turns as the hallways stretched on. The journey went on in silence for some time before Mitch spoke up.

“How do you know where we’re going?”

“I’ve been there.” She said, then hesitated. “They brought me there.” There was a pause as she thought about it. “After I died.”

She stopped moving for a moment and turned to face him. They locked eyes and Mitch felt a surge between them. Like it had done when he met John, he found himself sucked inward. He was swimming in Amy’s memories for a moment. The first was of a younger version of herself. She stood next to a man in a trench coat. Together, they hunched over a book. Mitch heard the man speak.

“Recite this and move in this motion,” the man said. As his voice trailed off, Mitch was carried off into another memory. This one showed a teenage Amy he had to assume. She was in high school. Other kids began picking on her. Two girls twice her size pushed her back and forth as if she was a ball. After a few moments of this, Amy stopped and turned. Mitch saw the tears welling in her eyes. However, there was something else; hatred. Amy turned and screamed at the girls, blowing them backward away from each other. Both of the girls slammed into the lockers and slumped down into a heap.

Mitch took a breath and once again, his mind jumped to a new scene. When he touched down, he was standing in a dark room. The humid smell sunk into his nose. Mitch watched as Amy stood there. Someone had beaten her. Mitch noticed the bruises on her face that circled her eyes. One of her arms was bent at an angle. She still got to her feet. Mitch heard footsteps as someone approached the door.

It swung open, and they threw Mitch’s body into the room with her. He watched as his own body crumpled onto the floor.

What the hell? He thought. She walked over to him and crouched down. He rolled onto his back, revealing the burn marks on his cheek. He reached up to touch his own face. For the first time, he’d felt a small scar there. Does he have that much power over my mind? Mitch continued in his own head. Ahead of him, he watched as Amy tried to heal him. He saw some of the flesh around his cheeks meld together. He coughed a few times on the floor before attempting to set up.

Mitch blinked twice. The image in front of him seemed to skip forward. Now he was still seeing the inside of the room, but he had healed. Mitch could see the more fluid movements he was making. Again, he heard the footsteps, and the door flew inward. Both of them jumped into a defense stance. Three men rushed into the room. Mitch watched from his out-of-body vantage point as the men pushed him down and restrained him. The intruders pushed Amy against the wall before slashing her with something. Mitch saw the blood spilling out of her and dripping onto the floor. They forced her forward and tossed her into the corner on a small table that Mitch hadn’t noticed before.

The stone table took up a small portion of the room. The things took Amy and stretched her limbs out to the four corners of the table, strapping her into place. He wanted to scream, but Mitch knew it wouldn’t matter.

He watched with horror as they all circled around her. In his own corner of the room, Mitch was being held in place by someone. A fresh bundle of hatred fired through him as he watched the scene unfold.

“A fine gift presented to us by the all-mother.” Someone said.

“Indeed,” the other figures murmured.

“We shall drink and retrieve our strength. We will take this power and go forth.” The speaking figure leaned down. Mitch strained to hear. “Your sacrifice will not go in vain.” He said.

The figures leaned in and Mitch watched in horror as they drank the blood that was now spilling onto the table. They gathered around and lapped it off the table like a pack of hyenas. This action seemed to go on in slow motion for some time before they stepped away. Each of them wiped their mouth off and dribbled what remained of the blood onto the table. The figure that had done the speaking leaned up and turned to face Mitch.

“You don’t understand, and that’s okay. At some point, you will. When that happens, you’ll know that all roads have led us to these points.”

The thing holding him down reached in and hit him in the side of the head causing his vision to go black.

Mitch blinked twice, then was back in his own body, staring into the Amy’s eyes, but this Amy was whole. He reached up and froze, trying to determine if he was still visualizing things or not. She broke the silence.

“You okay?”

“I saw everything…” Mitch replied. His voice fell off at the end. His legs buckled, and he fell to his knees. She walked over and crouched down next to him.

“Everything?”

“Yes.” He said. His voice was coming out only a little more than a whisper. “They sacrificed you.”

Realization spread across her face. “How did you-”

“I don’t know.” He started cutting her off. “I’ve done it twice now, once with you, and once with Death.”

“You looked through the memories of Death?”

“Something like it.”

She continued to look him up and down. The silence stretched on what felt like its own eternity before she spoke. “What did you see?”

“The first looked like a man teaching you something. He was wearing a trench coat.”

A smile crept onto her face. “That was my father. He was teaching me magic. He was always my teacher until he passed.”

“I also saw a moment where you hurt two girls in school.”

A look of utter disgust spread. “I remember those….bitches.” Amy spit the last word. “They bullied me and that day I’d had enough. I didn’t kill them, but I hurt them pretty bad. It was enough that I got expelled.”

There was a long pause before Mitch continued. “Then I saw what they did to you. They said something about making sure your sacrifice wasn’t in vain.”

“I think Ganith hired them. One thing that they don’t talk about is how much more potent magical blood is. The strength you can get from drinking the blood of an inherent magical creature is almost a lifetime supply of nutrients that never go away. It will amplify their strength, make them almost unkillable in a lot of cases.”

The thought caused Mitch to shiver.

“I don’t know how long I was there, but it felt like forever. They fed on me but didn’t turn me. I don’t know what that brood will do, but I don’t envy anyone who might run into them.”

Mitch replayed the images in his head. The sickening visual and the way they fed on her. Mitch fought the anger and resentment bubbling within himself. Before it could bubble over she spoke.

“I don’t blame you for this. It’s a hazard of the job. I’ve never blamed you, never thought that you were the cause. I knew what I was getting into and I went anyway.”

The words hit him like a truck.

“It’s why I’m here. They believed this was the hell that I deserved. They also thought that they could use me.”

“Use you?” Mitch asked.

“Here, they thought they could use me to break down these walls.”

“How?”

“I shared my last moments with you. It creates a bond even if it’s not one most would think of. They thought they could use that bond to break down the walls you’d built.”

“How did you get free?” Mitch asked.

“I fought my way out. They thought once I was dead, I would turn into a puppet. A victim like the rest of the souls that were dragged here. I refused to be a victim.”

“I don’t blame you.” He said.

“It took time, but I found my opening. I took it and have been hiding ever since. I didn’t know what was going to happen to you. When it became apparent something was shifting, I had to figure out what my next move was, then something happened.”

Mitch stood, waiting for her to continue.

“There were things I’d heard. People felt this shift in your head. Everything around here seemed to turn.”

“Turning?” He asked.

“The walls had cracked. Something was going to give. They were trying to figure out what would happen, but before anyone could, Ganith took over. He began breaking the walls the rest of the way. When you crossed over into the Underside, it was the last bit of momentum that he needed.”

“This was his plan all along?” Mitch asked.

“I’m almost certain. Imagine a demon trapped here for a long time. He’s already twisted and morphed. Now you lock him away like this.”

“What about the other souls?” Mitch asked. “The ones they’ve brought here like you. What happened to them?”

“Most of them went mad.” She hesitated for a moment. “Torture does that to people.”

There was a moment while he processed this, then Mitch spoke. “Those who didn’t?” His voice came out weak.

“They were vessels for Ganith to get his power. Then he slaughtered them when they outgrew their usefulness.”

“Could they move into a true afterlife?” Mitch asked.

“Anything is possible.” She said. “It depends on what you believe, I suppose.”

The uncertainty of their fate weighed on Mitch. He pushed the thoughts out of his head so that he could focus on what was coming next. Amy spoke up again.

“We need to keep going if we’re going to find them.”

Mitch nodded. “Lead the way.”

She turned to lead them out of the room, but before she moved, Mitch spoke again. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry.”

“Like I said, I don’t blame you. You shouldn’t blame yourself.” She said, but he noticed a small tar forming in the corner of her eye.

The next room that they came to stretched out in front of him. There were six pillars throughout the room. Each one a different height and in different locations. It seemed there was no pattern to them at all. Mitch stopped and stared at the structures in front of him.

“This was a feeding chamber.” Amy said.

Mitch turned to her. “Feeding chamber?”

“This is where the demons fed. Those who were going froward as part of this war. Thousands of demons would come here to feed on the souls of the lost.” She said.

“Thousands?” Mitch asked.

“Yes, this has been planned for decades, perhaps centuries. This war for the Underside, it’s all led to this.”

“But why here in my head?”

“Ganith knew the play he would need to make. Haven’t you ever wondered why he chose you?”

“Chose me?” Mitch said. His voice was dry and full of sarcasm.

“I know it sounds insane, but you were, in fact, chosen.”

“Chosen by what?”

“Fate.” She said flatly. “Haven’t you ever wondered why you could shut Ganith in? Why did Death himself visit you and you still lived?”

He shook his head. “I hadn’t really thought about it.”

“There’s something you need to see,” Amy told him before turning and going down a hallway he hadn’t noticed before. He followed her down the corridor through a small door.

The room almost looked like a library. The walls were covered with thousands of shelves. Each one of them contained thousands, perhaps millions, of books. Each of the spines that he saw at first was blank. In the center of the room, there was a pedestal. On top of this sat an open book. It was being highlighted by a bright light shining down on it.

Amy walked over to it. Mitch found himself drawn forward to look over her shoulder down at the book. His breath got caught up in his throat. The book contained dates. After each date were a few simple sentences. Each of them started with his name. Mitch looked over at Amy, hoping for clarification. She felt the eyes peering into her and turned to face him.

“This is the book of Mitch Benton’s fates.”

“My what?”

“Your book of fates. Everyone has one. The threads of fate weave together once we’re created. They create these books. Think of it as the book that dictates your life.”

“Dictates my life?” Mitch asked.

“Destiny would be more appropriate.” She said. “Everyone has a place in the world. But those places, and the events that lead us to those moments, can all be changed. There are certain elements of the book, though, that are set in stone.”

“How so?” Mitch asked.

“In your case, a prophecy came down about you.” She said, before turning her attention to the book. She flipped a few handfuls of pages before settling on something and turning back to him. “Read this.”

The lights reflected off the pages and in that moment, he felt a rush of heat spread throughout his body. He stood there and looked down as he read it out loud.

“Mitch Benton is crowned.” He said. “The king of the demons will hold the ultimate vessel to usher about the beginning of the war. The Underside will fall to the king of demons, Ganith, and his vessel.” Mitch digested the sentence for a moment. Trying to figure out what it meant. He turned back to Amy and stared at her. She read his mind.

“You were crowned from birth. That’s why he tried to take your body. You are the ultimate vessel.” Amy said. She gestured out to her left side. “Someone has predetermined everything that’s going on out there.”

“So I’m supposed to just let him take my body and what, go on a damn genocide?” Mitch almost screamed.

She looked at him, letting her eyes tell him what she didn’t want to say.

“No,” He said. “Hell No. I am not someone’s puppet. There’s no way that I’m going to sit by and let all of this happen without so much as putting up a fight.” Anger flowed through his body, causing him to shake. Mitch spun and, in a violent rage, flung the book off the pedestal. It flew upward, spun twice in the air, and crashed down to the floor with a heavy thud. The anger was still reverberating through him. He had his leg out to kick the book across the room, but stopped himself when he saw an almost terrified look spread across Amy’s face.

“What?” He asked.

“Do you know what you did?”

Mitch looked at her, confused. “No?”

She walked over, leaned down, and picked up the book on the ground, dusting it off before putting it back in the center of the light. Once it was in place, she turned to face him.

“The Fates? Really? That’s what you’re worried about?” He said. His voice was rising with each passing word. At the end could feel his blood boiling.

“You don’t know the hell you’ve unleashed on yourself?”

“If I don’t make it out of here, does it fucking matter what might come after me?” Mitch said. He was breathing hard, his heart beating a hundred miles a minute, chest thundering as he wanted to scream. There was a long pause there as he tried collecting his thoughts. The anger was pulsing through him now. It had been years since he’d felt this way.

Amy sat there and let him figure out what he wanted to do next. There was a long silence that rested between them before he spoke.

“I’m sorry.” He said.

The words hung between them for a while. As the silence stretched on, he leaned down and hunkered on his knees.

“I’m sorry.” He said, again.

“I know.” She said.

“I had no idea that any of this was going on.”

“I know.” She repeated.

“They killed innocent people. They wanted to come after me, and instead they took out everything around me.”

“You didn’t know.” She said. Her voice had lost its hard edge and rolled into a soothing tone.

Mitch looked around them, and then at the book in the center of the room. The silence stretching between them.

“What about these fates?”

She walked over and stared at the book, trying to figure out how to explain. “The Fates control everything in our world. They are there to hold balance, determine what each person’s role in this universe is. To pull the strings that allow for existence to flourish. They are the reason that we’re all functional.”

Mitch let the words wash over him. As he did, he stared at the book on the podium. “And you believe I might have pissed them off or something?”

“I know they don’t take kindly to insolence.”

Mitch stood up and dusted off his knees. “Okay, I’ll deal with the consequences if I have to. For now, though, let’s get out of here. We’ve gotta get to Nithag. Does that book say anything about where to find him?”

She turned her attention to the book, turning a few of the pages. It took a few minutes, before she found what she was looking for. “As a matter of a fact, it does.”