Hell Is for Children

I walked down the pier to look out to the water. The water was a bluish green and it sparkled under the setting sun. I took in a breath of the fresh, sea air and closed my eyes, leaning against the railing. A gust of wind flew across my body, chilling me. I pulled my black cardigan closer to my body and tucked some of my pink hair behind my ear. It was about eight fifteen and the sun was still out but falling more quickly. I knew that if I didn’t leave now, it would be dark by the time I got home. Walking around past dark by myself in downtown Seattle scared me. There were a lot of bums around, even if they left me mostly alone, their begging still scared me.

I turned away from the railing and caught my eye on a tall, thin man. He had almost shoulder length dark brown -almost black- hair and piercing blue eyes. He had high, sharp cheek bones that any model would kill to have. Hell, he might as well be a model for all I know. His eyes were on me, probably because of my silly hair, just like everyone else, apparently Seattle isn’t as weird as Portland.

I lowered my eyes as I prepared to walk by him. I hadn’t noticed that I was walking so close to him, and I almost brushed shoulders with him. When I had passed him, I felt a firm hand on my arm. I spun around and saw the model man looking intensely at me. I froze up, not knowing what to say or do. His blue eyes bore into my brown ones and I looked down at his hand.

"Can I help you?" I asked with panic, trying to free my arm.

"Hello," he said in a soft, cool voice. "I am in need of a place to stay tonight."

"Sorry I don’t cater to bums," I said rather sharply.

"I’m not a bum, miss. I’m just new in town and in need of a place to stay. I don’t have enough money for my own place-"

"I’m sure someone could give you directions to the YMCA," I cut in. He dropped my arm and as he did, I felt an energy I didn’t know was there, leave my body.

"Please Mo... ma'am, may I stay the night with you?" I raised my eyebrow. It sounded like he was going to say my name. How would he even know my name?

"What is your name?" I asked.

"Loki Laufeyson at your service," he said, taking a step away and bowed. Something clicked in my head.

"Loki..." I whispered. That name sounded so familiar. I remember that name from my Mythology class I took before I graduated college last summer. "There’s no way. What is your real name, buckwheat?"

"I told no lie," his eyes sparkled, looking like they were smiling at me.

"So you came down from Asgard on your pretty little rainbow?" I asked with a small laugh.

"Yes, Monroe," he said, rolling his eyes.

"How do you know my name?" I asked, taking a step back. "Get away from me!" I said taking a few more steps back. Loki grabbed my arm again and held me where I was.

"Please don’t make this more difficult than it has to be Monroe," Loki said, standing closer to me. "Let me explain myself-"

"Please do!" I almost yelled, getting a few more looks from other people.

"Monroe," Loki sighed shaking his head. He let go of my arm and I felt the weird energy leave my body again. "I will answer all your questions back at your apartment. Here is not the place." I glared at him. There was no way this was happening. I stood there for what seemed like hours before I nodded slowly.

"Fine," I whispered. Letting this stranger that knows my name into my apartment probably wasn’t the smartest thing, but I had questions I needed him to answer.

Loki nodded and I started walking away, towards the road to get to Union street. "I thought Seattle was supposed to be rainy," he said thoughtfully.

"Its summertime," I muttered. "Why me?" I asked as we got to the crosswalk.

"Don’t you remember me? Thor? Even Asgard?" He asked as we crossed the road.

"From my Mythology class. That doesn’t quite answer my question."

"I was afraid of this," Loki said.

"What are you talking about?" I demanded. We were approaching a wall in a parking lot and we were going to have to take the stairs, but before we could Loki pulled off to the side.

“You were born in Asgard. Your mother was human, and your father a spawn of the Devil. My father took pity on your mother and let her stay at our abode. Your mother died in labor, and so you were to be put up for auction, or sent to Earth. No one wanted you because your father was a spawn of the Devil, so you were to be sent here. Thor though, being the kind soul that he is, told Odin that we should keep you for a while.

“You grew up quickly, we had different quacks come and look at you. One witch said it was because you were in Asgard and you belonged on Earth,” Loki looked nervous, like what he was saying was meant to be top secret, and anyone that overheard would kill him. “We sent her away, telling her she was crazy. You lived with us for three years, and you aged to 8. Thor and I were 10 and 11, so you were a little more fun to be around, if you will. I cant believe you don’t remember this,” he shook his head and ran his fingers through his hair.

“Then one morning, we woke up and you were gone. We searched everywhere and we couldn’t find you for days. We got a tip that that bloody witch took you, so we all went there. Well, when I say ‘we’, I mean Odin, Thor, and I. She said she took you away and sent you to here. And she put a mind block on you. She said the reason you were aging was because of your father, and that you had a special power that the Devil gave you.”

“What the hell? ‘Special power’? If I have said power, how come I haven’t discovered it yet?” I asked angrily.

“I believe when the witch put that mind block on you, she blocked that part of your brain. You see, you have mind control. You would use it sometimes in Asgard, but if Odin caught you using it for bad, you were punished-”

“This is bullshit,” I said, shaking my head. I turned away and started up the metal stairs. Loki followed me. When we got to the top, we had to cross another road. “I don’t believe you.”

“When we get to your apartment, I will prove to you that I am not lying to you. I would never lie to you, Monroe,” he whispered. I stayed quiet. When there were no cars coming, I started to walk across the street. The next part was the thing that I hated about coming down to the waterfront. The next 100 or so stairs. Luckily, they made small step offs for people to rest. “Tell me about your life on Earth.”

I snorted, “Okay. Raised in an orphanage until I was 10, then in and out of foster care until I was 17 and then some poor souls decided to adopt me. They said they were dying soon anyways, and they gave me this apartment and enough money for me not to work for the next 10 years of my life and a college education. Of course, I still work, just to create good ethics, but yeah, my life has been hell.” I shook my head, starting to get out of breath. We stopped at the last step off to catch our breath.

“How many years were you in an orphanage?” Loki asked, looking at me. I looked away, down an ally and replied,

“Two or three years.”

“Where were you before that?” he asked. I bit my lip, knowing that he wanted me to admit that his story was accurate. I hated him for that now. I was starting to think that he was telling the truth, as much as I hated it.

“They said my mom was dying and she dropped me off and left. I figured, many people don’t remember their early years of life, so I thought it was normal,” I whispered. People walked up and down the killer stairs, ignoring us. Before Loki could say anything else, I started up the last 10 stairs. I wanted to get home.

“How much farther?” Loki asked as we got to the first crosswalk.

“Six blocks,” I muttered. Loki slid his hand in mine, but I pulled my hand away and crossed my arms. What did he think he was doing? Just because we ‘played together in Asgard’, doesn’t mean he can just, do that! I felt it again though. That weird energy leave my body. I never felt the energy enter my body, but when Loki took his hand off me, I felt it. I wondered if he did too. Probably not, I was crazy. I sighed as we crossed the street.

This was all probably a dream. I couldn’t wait to wake up.