Mother Always Said

There was only one rule; don't open the door. Why Jack opened the door is something we may never know. If I find him, I'll ask. Unfortunately, to save Jack, I'll have to follow him through.

The handle stiffly turned until the latch echoed. I pushed the weary old door inward, hearing the eerie sound of the squealing hinges. When the door opened, I thought, to hell with him.

Nervously, as my heart pounded, I stepped through the doorway into a dark and cavernous opening. My mother warned us of this place. Why did Jack not listen to her?

My mother called this place the tombs. As I stood there, looking for signs of where Jack had gone, I could hear the howls of the damned souls condemned to the tombs. I still had no idea whether we could get back.

Walking along the cavern's edge, I followed the torches along the wall. The guardians kept the tombs lit. They were also there to keep those sent to the tombs from leaving.

After an hour of anxious trepidation, the sounds of someone being tortured grew louder. I was getting close to the inner sanctum. This was where Mother warned us not to go.

After following the shrill screams in the tombs, I was on a cliffside, overlooking a gathering. Now, I would learn the truth about the tombs.

A hideous beast sat on a throne in the center of the room. Bizarre beings stood at his side as a dirtied and battered Jack was drug before the creature. There were too many of them for two of us to fight.

I started to turn back, realizing what Jack had done. I turned, seeing him kneel. He'd become one of the damned. Jack had found hell.