6. Sadie

Sadie

Amidst the vast expanse of the tundra, Sadie couldn't stay warm. She stood as still as a crystalline sculpture, naked and covered with a layer of salt. Her skin glistened under the pale hue of a foreign body of light.

Her long hair was twisted into icy tendrils, forming a frigid crown atop her head. Her stark beauty cracked in the unforgiving elements. She'd never experienced a harsher winter before. The frozen landscape promised to hold her forever.

The frozen lake stretched as far as the eye could see. Many people, like her, stood on a patch of ice, praying their patch wouldn't crack beneath their feet.

Eerie shadowy beings glided along the glossy surface. Their presence sent shivers down Sadie's spine. She held her breath whenever they turned in her direction. When the world plunged into darkness, the shadows howled in a spine-chilling symphony. As if possessed by an unseen force, they would lunge at their chosen victims, pull their bodies below the surface, and drown them in the freezing water .

The frigid waters swallowed their victims, enveloping them in a merciless embrace. When the artificial sun rose again, they would see the tormented faces of those who disappeared the night before.

This cycle continued for seven days before Sadie's hair was brushed aside by one of the beings. She bit her lip to suppress a shriek. It was her turn. Spectral hands caressed her shoulders and whispered unintelligible words against the shell of her ear.

Sadie's thoughts drifted to Lucien and the consuming love she'd experienced. She found solace in the memories they shared, and the fleeting moments of bliss.

Fate had been unkind, tearing them apart before they could live a happy life together. Sobs wracked her body at her one regret—not being able to hold her child.

She wept, unable to face her demise with dignity in the face of the inevitable. Sadie closed her eyes, refusing to let fear consume her in her final moments. Instead, she focused once more on Lucien. She remembered the warmth in his arms and the sulfur scent that was all his.

The name of her lover was a whisper on her lips. "Lucien."

The creature howled, and the ice cracked beneath Sadie's feet. A hand grasped her ankle and pulled her through the ice. Love would transcend the boundary between life and death.

Sadie's lungs froze as she drifted into the unknown. She couldn't see or hear anything in the dark void.

Fight .

In the shadowy depths, Sadie's survival instinct awakened as an unseen force wrapped around her ankle. Panic surged through her, and desperation fueled her movements. With every ounce of strength she could muster, Sadie thrashed and kicked in an attempt to break free from the ruthless grip.

Her lungs burned with the need to breathe. They pleaded for air as the depths threatened to claim her.

She clawed her way upward until her head finally broke the still surface of the water. The icy lake had turned into a calm stream. Sadie climbed out onto the grassy bank and collapsed, gasping and coughing, greedily gulping precious air.

She closed her eyes, willing her body to stop trembling. She gasped and clutched her chest, feeling her heart that had been quiet race furiously.

Exhausted, she fell asleep.

Sadie awakened alone in a dark alley. Her naked body was covered in soot and grime. Her hair was matted, and her scalp itched as though infested with bugs.

Her throat was parched, and she was desperate for a fresh water source, but the stream she had fallen asleep near was no longer there.

In her search, she stumbled upon a macabre sight.

She had to walk around a large patch of dirt where people's feet pushed up from the ground like a field of daisies. However, instead of a colorful array of flowers being kissed by the sun and touched by a gentle breeze, the feet were blackened as several dragons breathed fire on one pair of feet before going to the next, down a long line as far as the eye could see.

In her haste to leave, she slammed into a person's chest. When she looked up to apologize, she gasped in terror. She was staring at the back of the person's head. She jumped to the side, and the person's face was grotesque and twisted. Hair hung from its gaping mouth and nostrils. The eyes focused on nothing. If they experienced agony, she couldn't tell. But how could one not?

Sadie heard rushing water and ran toward it. Unfortunately, she was mistaken. The disgusting smell of human excrement offended her nose. She quickly raised her hand in an attempt to cover the foul stench and watched in horror as people fought the current. Nausea bubbled up in her alongside hysteria.

Demons held whips or their tails in hand and hit people's backsides. Sadie remembered the painful kiss against her back. The cries of those being whipped were nearly drowned out by the gleeful squeals of those inflicting the punishment. One demon raised its head and winked with a wicked grin. She shook her head and stepped back.

A black bubbling substance spouted from a geyser, like a fountain in a center square. A tight ring of bodies standing shoulder-to-shoulder watched as one after the other was picked up and tossed into the geyser. Their shrieking was quickly silenced as the tar enveloped their entire body. A few of the people were pulled out and had feathers dumped over them. No matter how many people were pulled from the ring, it remained a tight circle of bodies .

She finally saw people clothed in robes. Though she wasn't Christian, she recognized the vestments as belonging to those in the Church. Sadie shook as one of them approached her. His skeletal hand trembled as it fought the weight of the garment, reaching for her. She held her breath, and a moment before it grasped her, the arm fell. She exhaled in relief.

Snakes slithered this way and that across the ground, but they seemed to be headed in one direction. Why Sadie followed them, she couldn't say for sure. She watched in horror as a snake climbed a person's legs and coiled around their wrists, binding the person's hands behind their back. Another snake bit into the man's penis. But instead of sounds of agony, he sounded pleasured. He was bent over by the demon behind him whose appendage was large like a stallion. Sadie placed her hand over her mouth to stifle a gasp as he thrust into the man.

Someone slammed into her back, and she tumbled to the ground. Sadie knew she was in trouble if she remained there so did her best to get back on her feet, but another blow from behind had her face in the dirt. Panic clawed at her throat as the dirt turned to snow around her.

She screamed and rolled over, kicking wildly at the one who had knocked her down. Her eyes widened in horror as tongues of fire licked across his skin. There was no source for the flames that engulfed the person's body. The scent of burning flesh choked Sadie as she watched the person's flesh melt from their bones and reduce to a pile of ash before her.

Her breasts swayed as she scooched away from another being coming toward her. She scrambled to her feet and hurried away .

She came upon another circle of humans. They wore heavy collars that were connected by chains to a large wooden spike in the middle. They had slowly walked in the circle so long that they had sunk into the ground to their ankles. Many people were missing limbs; a couple even walked without heads. They reminded her of cattle headed to slaughter. Demons wielding machetes circled them and at random would chop off a head or limb. The wounds seemed to heal quickly; several had limbs in states of regeneration, only for the demons to chop it off again.

She stumbled upon a group of people seeming to suffer some sort of plague or leprosy. Their skin had various oozing wounds full of writhing maggots and festering boils. They scratched themselves until their skin bled. Hair fell out in clumps, leaving large bald spots on their bodies. They wailed for water from a never-ending thirst.

Sadie's throat burned as she watched. She needed to find a source of water.

She gasped and fell to her knees as her heart began beating furiously. It was a foreign feeling to her in the darkness. Every eye trained on her. Humans and demons alike took step after step in her direction. Her heart became wild as it pushed adrenaline through her veins.

"Please," she begged. "Don't."

There was no path to escape as she was encircled. A scream tore from Sadie's dry throat as the first person reached her. Just before it grasped her, she was pulled away by an invisible force.