Filed to story: Sorry Alpha I Am Wolfless Novel
There were modern tortures, like the people trying endlessly to retrieve their phones. Some people were even living in a false world that made them think that dying had all been a nightmare, but the life they lived in there was a nightmare as well. Men and women who prioritized making money and reaching the top of their careers, only to not be satisfied. They were never satisfied, nothing was ever enough, not at work, not with their family, nothing. Those people were being sent to work more and more. They would be given large pays, only for every penny of it to disappear right before their eyes. They never got promoted or any of the things that they wanted in life. Their greed had been turned around on them only for it to become their ultimate torture.
Other people, men and women (but mostly men), were living in a false state of reality. These men seem to have been obsessed with pornography. They were to spend their entire time in purgatory trying to access pornography online, only for it to instead be various religious sermons from multiple different religions. They were being lectured for centuries on what they had done wrong in their lives.
The modern tortures seemed to be more specific to the major sin that they had committed. The others, the more ancient ones, were not so individualized. They were generic punishments that were befitting the ‘crime’ at the time.
These ancient forms of torture included things like flaying, peeling, the rack, the iron maiden, whipping, burning, and various other forms. These ones looked a lot more brutal and harsh than the more modern forms of torture.
“Rudy?” I called out to him as we walked through the halls toward the exit that he was guiding me to. “When did the more barbaric tortures go out of fashion? When did these new tortures become the new normal?”
“Well, those older tortures are still used, depending on the sin that the others have committed, but the new tortures came into being when the digital age became a prevalent entity. It was almost like the digital footprint was so strong that it reached the underworld whenever it took a leap toward the state that it is in now. I have been shown the devices that humans and other mortals use. I have seen what they do to each other with them. This development changed not just the mortal realm but all of the realms.”
“That is actually a frightening thought.” I shuddered as I told him these words. “Oh, question, do shifters, vampires, Fae, and magic users come to this underworld? Or is there a different underworld for all of them?”
“That is an interesting question. For the most part, the souls mingle here. However, they are judged differently. The laws that govern the community of shadow dwellers are not the same as the ones that govern the humans. I guess you would say that humans are judged more harshly and therefore are treated unfairly. However, when a shadow world soul reaches the point where it needs to be punished, it is almost always sent to the Halls of Damnation. Their sins are never taken lightly and there is no reform for them. They suffer for all eternity with no chance for salvation. So, in a nutshell, all the souls are in the same underworld but there are differences. The Halls of Damnation, for one, houses more shadow world souls than human souls, though there are several humans that found themselves worthy of Damnation’s warm embraces.”
“So, if I was an evil soul, I would wind up in Damnation and I would never get out of there?”
“Yes, if you were an evil soul that is where you would end up. However, you are far from evil, Queen Riviana. You will have no place in Damnation.” Rudy looked so sure of that fact. And maybe that was how it was now. But I was immortal now, seemingly. What would happen down the line? What would happen in a few centuries? What if I truly did become evil and was assassinated for the greater good? What would happen to me then? Would I end up in a cell next to my father’s place in Damnation? Would we share a punishment, which would be a further torture to the both of us?
I was stuck thinking about these various things, and I just wasn’t able to stop. I just wanted to make sure that they didn’t happen, but they felt like an inevitability to me. They just seemed so plausible that I knew it was my fate.
While I thought about this, looking around me in a very tourist manner, I noticed more and more guards in the area that we were in. This part of Purgatory seemed to have fewer actual souls that were being tortured, though they were still there, nonetheless.
The guards that were around us seemed to be a little more alert, a little more attentive than the ones that we had already passed. These guards seemed to have an interest in our guide as well as me and the boys.
I watched as one man in particular, a very stern looking and very strong looking, warrior type of man, eyed me with sharply focused eyes. He looked angry, very angry. Did he think that I was a soul that had been trying to escape? Did he think that I was someone here to be punished?
How could he think that, though? I mean, I didn’t look anything at all like the souls that came through here for their purgatorial treatment. I was clothed, I was clutching children to my side, and I was being guided calmly by a man that was from his own team of guards. How was it that he could look so angry at me with all of the things that set me apart from the others?
Well, however he was able to be that way, he was. He was not only staring at me with a look of death, but he was also clearly getting ready to leave his post to come over here and see exactly what it was that I was doing here. The angry determination in his face couldn’t have meant anything else at that moment.
And there, that was the moment. He just took a slow and tentative step away from his post. It had been just like Rudy when he stepped away from the gate. It was like he had been put in that spot and never moved until he left that spot for me. This man, like Rudy, was tall and good looking, but fierce. His eyes were red as well, but his hair was silver. He looked exactly like an ancient Roman warrior though, with his armor and that look on his face. And that warrior was after me.
Why? Why did things like this have to happen to me right now? Why couldn’t it be easier for me?
****
Joaquin
****
The twins that Trevor had brought to see me were staying in the castle, in an unused tower room at the moment. They wanted to be high up and far away from the other people. They truly didn’t like meeting new people that might not accept them.
It took both Trevor and I a long time to convince the two of them to meet with Talia. She had expressed interest in meeting with others that were like her. Others that could see or hear what she referred to as the whispering people.
To Talia, finding others that could do what she did would most likely make her feel validated. She needed someone to tell her that what was happening to her was normal and that she wasn’t a freak because of it. Someone other than her father.
However, the only people that I knew of that could talk to her about all of this, were too afraid to see new people because of the way that they looked. They were permanently trapped in a half human-half bear state, and that meant that they had never been able to visit anywhere with humans in it. People, other bear shifters and witch doctors, had all made fun of them since they were babies. They didn’t like people. They didn’t trust people. And they didn’t want to meet more people.
Talia was insistent though. She wanted to see them, to talk to them about their similar gifts. And she was just too young to understand what it was that the two of them were feeling at the moment. She didn’t understand that meeting her was a source of anxiety for them.
Over time though, Trevor and I were able to get both Charlie and Chloe to agree to the meeting. They would only do it in their tower room, though, and they would reserve the right to end the meeting when they felt too uncomfortable, regardless of the fact that Talia was their princess and technically outranked them quite a bit.
I agreed to their terms. That wasn’t up for debate. Mostly because I could understand what they were going through. I may not have experienced it personally, but I could see the pain in their eyes and knew that this was not something they took lightly.
Talia didn’t care about the status and things like that. She was just excited to make new friends with people that were like her. All week, leading up to the meeting, she kept telling Reagan and Rika that she was going to make new friends. Friends that saw the whispering people. Friends that were grown ups and would probably be very cool. I know she wasn’t trying to brag, she was just excited, and it was all very cute.
About five weeks after Riviana had fallen into her coma, and about three weeks after the twins had come to stay with us in the castle, Talia and I were on our way to meet with them. My little girl was literally bouncing with excitement all the way up to their room, talking about the different things that she wanted to tell them.
When Gabriel knocked on the door and called out to the twins, letting them know that we were here to meet with them, Talia quietly squealed in delight. Her eyes were filled with glee and the smile looked like it was about a mile wide.
“Please come in.” I heard Charlie call out to us.
Gabriel was joining us for the meeting, there as a trusted advisor, guard, and attendant for the royal princess. This had been a stipulation that I enforced when I told them that we would meet how they wanted. My little girl needed to have someone there that was a ‘servant’ type so that she appeared more regal and proper. In truth, I just wanted Gabriel there in case something bad happened. One of us would protect Talia while the other would deal with the problem.
I didn’t think that was going to happen though, so it wasn’t that high on my list of worries. Still, I was prepared for it.
The moment that we were inside, Talia bound forward and rushed toward the two new friends that she was trying to make.
“Hello there. I am Talia Gray. I live here in this castle. I hear that you are like me. You can hear the whispering people.”
Charlie and Chloe seemed to be quite taken aback by her sudden appearance and abrupt introduction. And despite the way they seemed to be reacting at the moment, Talia wasn’t done yet.
“What is your name? I can’t wait to be friends with you. I can’t wait to hear all about the stuff that you have done. I am very happy and excited about today.”
