Page 32 of Hellbound

Marian made a noncommittal grunt as she scanned the street for other pedestrians. She almost always died at night when the world was a little quieter and the sidewalks vacant. In the summer months, she’d occasionally see people out enjoying the extended hours of daylight, and nobody gave Marian a second thought. They walked their dogs as she walked to her death. She waved Tori on. “Let’s go.”

Marian led them past a row of brightly painted bungalows to a two-story stucco construction on a corner lot. Skinny lemon trees lined the surrounding chain link fence that opened to an unpaved drive. Gravel crunched beneath their feet as they walked up toward a large garage.

“Let me do the talking,” Marian said she walked up to the building and knocked on the door. It screeched open on the second knock.

Harsh white fluorescents backlit a man built like a rugby player. Marian squinted until she could make out his features. Glasses perched on a nose that had been broken multiple times. His head gleamed, smooth as a cueball.

“What’s the password?” Lloyd Wertz asked in a Southern drawl.

Marian dug the envelope out of her pocket and shoved it into his outstretched hand. A chill breeze picked up as he made them wait in the driveway while he counted the money.

“Well alright then,” Lloyd pocketed the envelope, then squinted at Tori. “This your friend here?”

Tori shuffled forward. “Hi, I’m—”

“Not my friend. This is the traveler,” Marian said as she shoved past Lloyd on her way inside.

Tori’s gentle voice floated through the doorway.

“I’m Tori. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Well, aren’t you sweet.” Lloyd chuffed. “Now get your ass in here and turn off your phone.”

Marian looked around. The interior of the garage was deceptively ordinary. An array of power tools lay on a dusty workbench on the south side of the building. There were all sorts of storage bins on top of it—some labeled “Legos” and “baby clothes.” Fishing poles, tackle, a couple of football helmets. Then there was the giant above-ground pool in the middle of the garage with a metal platform hanging over it.

Her stomach lurched again when she spotted the delta anchor perched on edge of the platform.

The door slammed shut behind her, giving Marian a small start. Lloyd walked in with Tori on his heels. In the unflattering light, she got an eyeful of his burgundy tank and snug jean shorts that did not leave nearly enough of him to the imagination.

Lloyd picked up a coil of rope from a nearby workbench. “I got a buddy coming over at seven thirty to, uh … watch the fight, so you’re gonna need to die fast tonight.”

He slung the rope over his shoulder and turned to climb the ladder up to the platform, giving Marian and Tori an unobstructed view of the handle of the .45 millimeter shoved into his waistband. Tori immediately began pawing Marian’s arm.

Sensing the incoming barrage of questions, Marian grabbed Tori roughly by the arm. “Give us a sec, Wertz.”

Lloyd grunted as Marian dragged Tori into the farthest corner of the garage and wedged them between an artificial Christmas tree and a jumble of lawn reindeer for privacy.

“Why does your spotter have a gun?” Tori hissed, shaking out her arm.

“For protection,” Marian whispered, nearly backing into Rudolph’s big red nose when Tori pressed closer, eyes wide.

“From what?”

Marian almost bit clean through her tongue trying to keep herself from replying “from me.”

“Lloyd has a gun because he asked me if he could carry one, and I said yes. Now, here’s how this is going to work. Lloyd will tie me to that anchor over there, and when I tell him to, he’s going to push it in. Do not interfere. If you can’t handle it, don’t look. Once he confirms I have no pulse, you do your thing.”

“OK, got it,” Tori nodded emphatically. “What thing?”

Marian’s brows furrowed. “The thing where you follow me to Hell? Meditate, do ’shrooms, whatever the fuck it is you do to separate your soul from your body?”

Tori blinked, her lips forming a little o. “Right. Cool, cool, cool.”

This was all starting to feel supremely not cool. “I didn’t imagine our conversation at the Annex, did I? You can travel to Hell at will, right?”

A very emphatic nod. “I can do that, yes.”

“Good,” Marian replied as she struggled to ignore the doubt taking root in the pit of her stomach—a fitting companion to the fear burning a hole in her stomach lining. “In theory, this should just work if we’re in the same room. Let’s go.”