My Best Friend Went To Hell

Jumping over the broken, weathered wooden fence, shovel in hand, I stopped momentarily to catch my breath — the text Sonora sent me three weeks before her funeral was enough to make me search for her in a rage. 

It was beyond suspicious when everyone in her house survived the fire but her, and it was even more suspicious when no one found evidence of her body. 

 She'd messaged me a week before, saying how there was something she needed to resolve. Even her classmates found her acting somewhat shady during class, and I did too. Shifting all the time, frequently asking to go to the bathroom whenever she could, and not being at lunch or recess at all. 

Sonora's parents were under the impression that their daughter was in a sports club, an excuse she made up to explain why she came home late every day looking hot and sweaty. 

Something didn't sit right in my gut. I knew there was something else that ran much deeper than anyone could think. But I could never catch up wither and discuss anything, Sonora would always say that there was something important she needed to do.

So as I approached the cemetery, wiping my hands on my black jeans, which was essential to hide the dirt that would eventually spoil my clothes, I scanned the names on the headstones. Feeling a shard of remorse for all the dry, neglected graves, I strolled the aisles until I reached a marker made of marble, the words Sonora Glen Rutherford engraved sleekly onto it.

Using my foot to push away all the flowers, I shoved the tip of my shovel into the bright green grass beneath me and dug until I hit wood. 

A sense of accomplishment swelling inside me, I scooped out dirt furiously, uncovering more of the casket. When my, or, actually, Sonora's grey hoodie was absolutely drenched in sweat, I hopped down and fumbled with the locks of the case before I heard a soft click. Climbing back up, I flipped the lid open and found a note instead of a body. 

I reached to pick it up, and couldn't resist a smile while my eyes skimmed the familiar, loopy handwriting. 

"Dear Mallory,

I'm sorry I had to leave so abruptly like this. I knew you'd find this letter, probably the same month after the fire. My phone fell into a ravine as I was escaping, so there's no way you can reach me. Sorry. I hope Mom, Dad, Lucas, and Kaileen aren't too devastated. 

Remember when we talked about how Mrs. Wilders (Is her ratty, stinky old self is still teaching math?) was secretly a demon? Yeah, those were good times. Also, happy birthday, Mal, if you're actually reading this on Oct. 4. I really wish we could've celebrated at the beach house, where nobody would be around us. Just the two of us, singing, eating cake, taking pictures, laughing. Too bad I'm stuck in Hell to do anything about it. 

I don't have time to write anymore, so please tell my family I love them. I miss you so much, Mallory. See you soon! <3

-Sonora"

Instead of crying over what could be the last note she gave me, I just laughed out loud, quieting to a giggle as I covered up the hole I dug, and carefully arranged the garden of flowers to hide it. 

Sonora had sent me lots of notes similar to this, and they always held a message in between the lines. 

What stood out to me the most were Mrs. Wilders, the beach house, and her being stuck in Hell. 

My parents were out of town, and so I was free to go to the abandoned shack that Sonora and I visited many times before, before anything weird started happening. 

My shovel in hand, I raced back home and washed all evidence of soil on it before returning it to its original place in the garage. I rummaged my room to find my emergency backpack, in case I ever neede to flee. Everything essential I needed was inside, including a flashlight. 

A smile spreading on my face, I crawled out of my bedroom window and began my hike to the beachfront.

Thirty minutes later, I reached a run-down construction, with shattered windows and vines creeping in between the whitewashed boards. Rust and mold painted the corners, and upon entering, a loud gasp escaped my mouth.

I saw a circle made of stones the size of my palm, right in the middle of the room. Inside the area was blackened; charred from fire, and a symbol in red was painted smack-dab in the center. My memory tingled with the familiarity, and my eyes widened when I recognized where I saw it before.

Sonora doodled the same shape on everything, her notebook, worksheets, her backpack, her arms, the margins of some books. The same symbol of a diamond engrossed in a flame. 

Five candles, recently extinguished, were placed around the circle, and what looked like runes were painted in the same red on the sides as the symbol. Knowing how rampant Sonora can go when she needed to achieve something, the crimson liquid was most likely not paint, but blood.

My suspicions were confirmed when I saw a faded, sooty, pink backpack--Sonora's emergency backpack-- tossed carelessly on the broken table by the door. My grip on the flashlight tightened, knuckles whitening, and I dared a step forward. 

All I could hear was my heartbeat thundering in my ears, and when nothing happened, I inched closer to the mysterious circle, when a flash of blinding light catapulted me backward. I thankfully landed in a patch of grass, and not the rocks a few feet away beside me. It took a moment for my eyes to adjust again after...whatever that was, and I saw two figures floating in the center, facing the other, their hands intertwined. I didn't recognize either, but one of them had long, jet black hair, eyes gleaming a dark red, and the other had curly blonde hair. 

They both donned on the strangest kind of armor I'd ever seen. It looked mythological, with glowing gold plates and chainmail. The pair were also chanting something in a foreign language, and I noticed the candles had reignited; the flames extending and swirling around them. 

"This has got to be a dream," I muttered, shaking my head. Magic wasn't possible. It wasn't real.

I looked up again when they twirled around, and I got a better view of the blonde girl's face. 

"N-Nora...? What are you- What's going on?" I stood up, and scrambled back, fear taking hold of me. My mind was racing with fractions of scattered, unintelligible thoughts, all of which halted immediately when Sonora's feet touched the ground, and she looked towards me. 

Her face paled, only increasing my urge to run. 

"Mallory, I can explain!"

"You better. What's all this? What's going on?"

She sighed, one so long I was sure her throat would tear.

"My house was infected with the spirits of demons. I needed a way to draw their attention."

"So, you set the house on fire?" I felt my lips twitch into a grin. "Cliche."

"Hey, it worked." Sonora smiled sadly. "It drew my family away from the area, which was my goal, but I also had to do this spell-"

"Which sent you to Hell, literally. Honestly, Nora. Is this some sort of anime show where I find out you're secretly a demon who's trying to take down the leader of the demons or something?"

Her silence was all the answer I needed. 

Instead, she said, "Why did you come? I told you, before leaving, that I was fine and that you shouldn't try to find me under any circumstances."

"You really thought I wouldn't come here? Especially after the note you gave me?"

"What note?" The woman stepped up, her fists bursting into flames. 

I returned her glare of pure wrath with one of equal fury as I extracted the small piece of paper from my pocket. "The note she put in her grave as a hint. Sonora, I know you wanted me to find you."

The woman reared on Sonora, and guilt penetrated my heart. She backed away, arms in front of her. "Pandora, I can explain. Just- just step back for a second!"

Pandora? The name rung a bell, and after a few moments of deep thought, it came to me. I studied Pandora again, this time with a fresh mind. Her purple eyes stood out more than ever. 

A newspaper about her mentioned how she was the only baby with those eyes, and doctors, researchers and scientists alike had observed and monitored her closely throughout her life, to find out more about the odd gene order. 

I believe there was something about having too perfect skin, and it led to some issues with her system, unlike girls her age. So they dubbed her condition a disease, one of the many reasons being the lack of menstruation, meaning she wouldn't be able to conceive a child. 

What I didn't believe was the mentioning of Pandora supposedly having "impenetrable" skin. All the times she'd fallen on the playground, wrestled with angry cats, or have knives accidentally come into contact with her finger instead of the cutting board, none of which allowed blood to spill. 

Every single time, she'd escaped with merely a red spot. Doctors called her inhumane, researchers were even more intrigued, and scientists were left questioning everything they know about the human body. 

So when she attacked me, burning my skin with her flaming hands, I screamed and kicked her face with everything I had. But to no avail -- Her scarlet eyes glowed brighter, and I could've sworn I saw one side of her face gain a silverish sheen, along with her temples smoking. 

Sonora tried to stop her, but Pandora dismissed her with a wave, one that sent her colliding with the wall, a circle burned through her chest. Pandora's features blurred, and I wiped my tears on my shoulder, the scent of charred flesh getting stronger with my every movement. 

I screeched and howled until my throat parched-- until my whole arm turned black. Pain and darkness engulfed my body, sending me through a raging ocean of tears. But I fought every fiber of my being to stay awake, and fight this manipulative, devilish monster.

Her laugh echoed in my ears, and I ordered my eyes to open, to the horrific sight of Pandora's fingers extending to sharp tips, and where I noticed the smoke, there were two purple-ish, metallic horns, curling upwards and sideways, intersecting like an 'x.' Her perfect teeth lengthened to a jagged point, and bat-like wings sprouted from her back.

How did Sonora, the straight-A girl who would wrap herself in a blanket of words and emotions under a blanket every night, be caught up in this? The girl that was lying motionless against the beach house wall, black smoke wafting from a possibly unrepairable wound? The girl that faked her death to escape real life...but was this really better? 

It took all my strength, but I managed to sit up and dared look the demoness in the eyes. The pain was so great it had numbed, notably when her claws sunk into my skin as if it were a hot knife slicing butter. Dragging each finger down my arm, Pandora bared her unfeasibly long fangs in a grin worthy of appearing in the nightmares of Mother Earth herself. 

I may as well have jumped into a pool of my own blood. The thick, crimson liquid poured like water through a sieve. 

Pandora hissed something in a foreign language, and her horns began to glow with the same mighty energy as her eyes. 

"Why are you doing this? What did I do to you?" 

"You cannot go back. Not since you've seen the truth."

Distantly, I heard death calling out to me in the sweetest voice, reaching its arms out to me in a cloak of warmth. The haunting bribes it whispered in my ear, all the promises of a peaceful life, all at the cost of closing my eyes. 

The temptation was almost too great to resist. My body relaxed, as did Pandora's grip on my hands. All my thoughts fuzzed, and again I heard the voice coaxing me with a lullaby dripping with sugary euphony.

But as my vision glossed over, glancing at everything they could before meeting ends, they rested upon Sonora.

It jolted me from my mellow, and pain overwhelmed my weak body, almost dumping my consciousness back to the eternal abyss. 

"What are you doing, girl?" 

Pandora's sharp words took a moment to translate, and no sound emerged my mouth as I hauled myself to 

Sonora's body. Warmth streamed down my arms, and as soon as I reached her, they gave out, refusing to carry me up any longer. 

I didn't watch nor care that Pandora was shredding my legs, drenching them in blood. All that mattered was in front of me. I feebly laid a hand on her cheek, staining it red. Sonora's eyelashes fluttered, and the jolting green eyes that I thought I'd never see again stared back at me.

But they lacked the life I always appreciated in them. They lost the twinkle that stood out amongst everyone, adding that little something whenever she smiled. 

"M-Mallory?"

Music to my ears. She straightened, outwardly appearing okay, other than the smoking hole through her armor. 

From her pocket, she produced an orb that resembled a sphere of dry ice. Sonora thrust her arm forward to give it to me, but when I didn't move, I watched the blood drain from her face upon seeing the sea of blood by my feet. And arms.

"You're- she did that to you?" Her words came out strained, and it was at that moment did she see Pandora's rawest form, floating menacingly above us. I managed a nod when suddenly the beach house erupted in flames. Sonora grabbed me by my upper torso and rolled us away swiftly, the action taking a blow on her lungs. 

Pandora slashed my back, my shoulders, chest, stomach, sparks jumping into every open wound. It burned my insides, much, much more aggressively than salt. 

Through mulled thoughts and hazy vision, I saw Sonora's palms ignite a bright crystal blue. She placed it over my heart, and ice-cold energy surged through my system, and I could feel all my wounds interlacing. 

The demoness began cackling as she saw Sonora healing my wounds. I was surprised she didn't do anything but remain suspended in the air, waiting. 

It didn't take long for me to realize why; the healing was draining Sonora's life force, more with every gash. 

By the time she finished, I would've passed her for dead if it weren't for the faintest rise of her chest with every shallow breath. 

Sonora glanced beside her, and I lunged for the icy, spherical object before Pandora. 

Sonora pretended to toss, as it took too much to talk, and pointed at Pandora, then at her heart, and mimed an explosion. 

I nodded, and waved the object above my head, making the demoness growl as she dove to grab it. Whatever Sonora did to me, I had to thank her. It gave me the agility of a spy eel-- and I succeeded in blasting Pandora. The contents of the ball numbed my fingers, but it was worth it to see it collide with Pandora's chest, and see ice branching out like vines around her body, extinguishing the flames of her soul. 

It blanketed her figure, and she plummeted to the ground, the ice shattering in a trillion little particles, falling softly like snow on Sonora and me. 

On that thought, I turned around and dropped to my knees by her side, my throat choking up. 

"you'll be fine. You'll be fine. You'll be fine..."

I repeated the words, refusing to break the loop until it was proven correct by my own senses. Sonora's frail body in my arms, I tried giving her food and water from my backpack, which I had tossed far away before any of this happened. 

To my absolute relief, the color returned to her cheeks. 

Her grassy-green eyes sparkled with their usual joy, her lips stretching into a smile that went around the globe. 

Soot filled my nose as we embraced, and a few moments of coughing and sputtering, I helped her up.

"So, everything's back to normal," Sonora used the remaining water to try and rinse off my blood from her sandy hair. 

I glanced at the crumbling remnants of the beach house, nostalgia tickling my mind. "What're we going to tell your family? That our old math teacher was actually a young woman, known globally for being the only one with purple eyes, and is actually a demon that tried to kill me?"

Her laugh filled my ears. "Close. Let's just say Hell wasn't fascinating enough for me, and I decided to come back."

I looked up for the first time in a while and gasped at the heavenly rainbow painted across the sky. The sun had set midway through the horizon, furnishing a Hollywood-esque vibe. A breeze sent me shivering in my starchy, tattered clothes, and this time we took the shortcut home, discussing a cover-up story for the faint scars all over my body, and why Sonora had faked her death. 

I readied myself for the piercing screams of her parents --and was not surprised when confronted with the predicted issue. After hours of reassurance all around, Sonora smiled warmly from the car window. The stars seemed to shine with a might, whispering to me as I tuck into bed. 

It's okay.

Don't worry.

You're strong.

She's okay now. 

Nothing will go wrong.

Everything's going to be okay.

My mother pecked me on the forehead, humming a lullaby that welcomed sleep with a much warmer, softer, calmer embrace than the sickeningly sweet bribes of death.

Somewhere, in my dreams, I replayed the sheer victory in defeating Pandora. 

But nothing was more rewarding than seeing Sonora's family smile again, in a tight fondle with their daughter once more.

Nothing.