The Real Story of Heaven and Hell

I drew my sword and debated whether to light a flame. I could see with the fire, but then they could see me too.
I didn’t know how to pass this trial. Was the point to go a certain amount of time without a sword in the chest or to get out of the damn forest?
I saw a flash of red and a glint of white and I knew exactly what was hunting me.
According to Matt and his demonology lesson, the lamia were soulless undead creatures who liked snacking on humans and demons alike. I couldn’t remember what happened if I got bit, but I sure remembered how to kill them.
So I lit the sword on fire and got ready to become Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It quickly became apparent as soon as the fire was lit that I was surrounded by the vampires and they looked pretty fucking hungry.
I so did not want to become vampire chow, so I started hacking at the ones closest to me and throwing fire balls at the others.
Turns out vampires are incredibly flammable and they went up like dry tinder. I broke out of the circle and started running, putting out my sword so I would be harder to find. I tripped over a root and face planted in the dirt, which gave one of the vampires the chance to catch me. I kicked upwards, aiming for the vamp’s face. I missed and hit her in the chest, which worked just as well. I scrambled away like a crab, regaining my footing just as the vampire sank her teeth into my forearm. I couldn’t hold back the scream of sheer pain. I managed to get her off me and cut her head off. I stumbled away, the pain lancing up my arm from the bite. God I wished I could remember if I would turn into a vampire if I got bitten.
I heard something that sounded like a wolf howling and I ran faster.
Fuck my life if there are werewolves running around here.
Pounding footsteps and panting followed me. My chest felt like it was about to explode.
I finally broke through the trees and the scene changed again.
This time I was standing in an empty field in full daylight. I could see the bite on my arm turning purple and swelling up around the now bleeding puncture marks. Great. I shaded my eyes and looked around. Unless I’m afraid of being bitten by a tick, I don’t get this trial.
“You’ve done very well.” I spun around and saw Lucifer standing behind me. “There’s just one trial left.”
“I don’t think I’m afraid of being bitten by a tick.” My usual snarkiness is coming up.
“This is just a blank canvas child.” I think I pissed him off.
“So what’s the third trial?” I asked, leaning on the sword.
“A promise.”
“What kind of promise?”
“A promise to stand against your sister on the End of Days.” His eyes lit up and I realized just how he’d come to be the Prince of Hell. That was one scary motherfucker.
I couldn’t fight Sera. She was my twin, my sister, my other half. My mind whirred, looking for a way out. If I refused, Jimmy would be trapped down here forever. If I said yes, Sera could possibly die at my hand.
A loophole occurred to me and I felt a deep sense of relief. “All right.”
“Then take this.” From his pocket he pulled out a thick gold chain with an emerald the size of a chicken’s egg dangling from it. “This is a stone from my crown. It’s known as Lucifer’s Bane and my heir should wear it.” I took it but didn’t put it on.
“This isn’t gonna choke me if I try to take it off? This isn’t exactly something I can wear in the shower.” I really didn’t want to put something on that was called the “Lucifer’s Bane.”
“It won’t.” He assured me, which didn’t make me very comfortable.
“So if that was the third trial, can we get going?” I asked. He nodded and the field dissolved. We were back where Leviathan had made the world go black. The bite mark on my arm looked even grosser than it had before, so I pulled my sleeve over it and hoped it would go unnoticed.
“You’re free to go.” Lucifer waved me off and I ran to Matt and Brian, who were supporting Jimmy between them. The four of us made our way through the winding paths of Hell and past the pits of screaming people. Finally we found those stairs I’d taken down to get here.
We reached the surface eventually and stopped to rest.
“Looks like your suicide mission worked Mulan.” Brian chuckled.
“No offense, but your dad is a douche.” I said.
“So is yours.” He shot back. “No offense taken though. Demons aren’t known to be good parents.”
“Let’s go home. We need to bandage Jimmy up. Is he still unconscious?” I asked.
“Yeah. He passed out right after you went into the trials.” Matt said, picking Jimmy up again. As we started to get closer to the house, the surrounding area started to look like a war zone.
“What the fuck happened here?” It looked like a bomb had gone off and taken the mountain down.
“Where’s the fucking house?” Matt gaped. We broke into a run and spotted Johnny digging through the snow.
“What happened?” I demanded. He bit his lip and took a deep breath.
“We got attacked by a fucking army of angels and demons after you guys left. Sera dropped the mountain on them and us.” He looked down, avoiding my eyes. “She’s gone Lil.”
“What do you mean she’s gone?” I hissed.
“I mean she ran off. She took the SUV and left.” Johnny backed away, sensing that I was about to explode.
“You fucking let her run away!” I screamed. I was surprisingly controlled in the fact that I wasn’t throttling him.
Sera was gone. She’d run away from us, left me behind.
I abandoned her and now she abandoned me.
“She’s not gonna survive by herself. We have to go find her!” I sank to the ground and put my head in my hands. This was not happening. This couldn’t be real.
I was the runner, the one who went on missions.
Sera was the one I protected, the one who needed me.
I started to cry, picturing my sister wandering around without me. We needed each other more than we needed air.
Hell, I needed her just like she needed me to stand by her.