Chapter 1.3: Red Desert

Santos ran until he couldn't see the goblins anymore, and then some.

He was tired, after getting his body sliced open twice, and now he needed food. There was nothing to be seen that resembled food, human or otherwise. As far as he could see, there was only the dry, red, cracked land, no living thing walking upon it.

Santos started walking, looking back every now and then to see if anyone was following him, but after an hour of doing this, he stopped, and just continued on his way.

Silently, he wondered if time was the same down there as it was up there. It couldn't be. Back at his first home, with all his siblings, time seemed so much slower but went by so much faster for the meatsuits.

Was it the opposite here? Did time move faster down there, but slower up in Adamah? He would never know unless he escaped, and Santos didn't like that.

He liked not knowing things, the world boring and monotonous.

After being alive in Adamah for 105 years he wanted to die, and after 347 years he just stopped counting, realizing that there were no new milestones in his life. History repeated and rhymed, it replayed the same episode and he was forced to watch, an unwilling and captive audience.

Now he had his wish granted, in unknown territory, not sure what to expect.

Santos stopped walking and sat down. It didn't feel like he was going anywhere, maybe he wasn't. Everything looked the same, there was no way to tell which was north, south, east, or west.

The landscape was more akin to that of Mars, with nothing but red dust flying in the air, yet the landscape was somehow less desolate with no mountains, craters, nor visible landmarks of any kind.

Every direction he turned, the sun was there, each and every view exactly the same.

There was no escape.

Santos squatted, and dragged his sharp nails against the chalky ground, and for the first time in his life, he missed his children. He missed their constant bickering, their strange yet useful advice. He missed that there was someone who would love him no matter what.

There was no love here.

He even missed George, the over-emotional, and glorified mosquito he was.

At first, he welcomed the silence, but now it was heavy, crushing his spirit and mind. There was no one to talk to, the illusion of the school gone, and he wanted someone, anyone.

His second wish was granted.

From the sky fell a woman.

Santos prepared himself for battle, but the woman didn't fight him, instead, she flew around in a few circles, and glided, landing right next to him. Santos balked, and he recognized her.

It was Savannah Washington.

She didn't recognize him, as he was covered head to toe in black blood and there were a few chunks stuck in his curly hair. Savannah landed next to him because he sat so still, and thought he was some kind of black landmark.

Before she could fly off, Santos spoke.

"How did you get here?"

Savannah tried to speak, but it was difficult. The air was thick, it smelled strange, and the more she gasped for air, the harder it was to breathe.

"I can't breathe," she rasped. "Help!"

" Wait. You're not dead!?"

"Why would I be," Savannah gasped. "Help!"

Santos panicked, not sure what to do. How was she still alive? What was someone for the Defense Program doing there? How did she get there?

Savannah collapsed to the ground, choking, red in the face, clawing at the ground, unable to breathe. She shuddered and didn't make a sound.

"Ah, shit," Santos whispered. "Not again."

With a heavy sigh and no clue what else to do, Santos had acquired another child. He sliced open his palm, and poured blood into her mouth, wondering why he had such a soft spot for meat suits.

"She better not be a crazy bitch when she wakes up," Santos grumbled.

Santos heard her faint heartbeat go quiet.

Then she shot straight up, her body not needing much to heal since her death was quick. Savannah looked around and patted her body down.

"I'm alive?"

"Yeah, I saved you. I don't know where you go if you die in Hell, but I'm pretty sure it's not Hell 2.0."

"Oh God-"

The ground rumbled and Savannah stopped talking.

"God, please-"

The ground shook even harder, and Savannah started to cry, asking for forgiveness, and Santos shook her, telling her to shut up.

"Stop saying those words, you idiot, shut up!"

She finally stopped talking, and the ground was done complaining. Santos glared at her, now saddled with another liability. He wanted his children, not a complete stranger.

Then he realized.

He hadn't finished.

Santos gripped her face hard, and stared into her eyes, trying to make a new connection with the child he had created. He stared, and Savannah shook in fear, as the man covered in black blood had an iron grip.

Nothing happened.

Savannah smacked him hard, and Santos grunted in surprise.

"Bitch what is your-"

Savannah smacked him again, and this time he wasn't having any of it. He shook her, and then she started crying again, not ready to die.

"I'm sorry, I don't know you, stop it, " Savannah screamed.

Santos let go and was in awe. He couldn't connect with her. It was impossible. Did he not turn her? Did his power fail? Santos was terrified of Savannah's inability to listen to him, another thing he didn't know. He grabbed her again, but this time, he tilted her head back and pressed the sides of her jaw.

Savannah let out a loud shriek, and her fangs popped out as reflex.

"Why can't you hear my thoughts," Santos asked.

Savannah pushed him off, and shook her hands, trying not to get anything else on her. Her shorts were now covered in more tar, her striped blouse was covered in red dirt, and her fancy camera looked like it needed a thorough cleaning. Her long brown hair was covered in red dust as well, no part of her clean after being in Hell for only a few minutes.

She glared at him and was about to take off, but Santos grabbed her by the wrist, not wanting to let something new and unknown leave him.

"Let go," Savannah screamed. "Get off of me!"

"Never, you're my kid!"

Savannah shrieked as loud as she could, screaming for help but it was useless. There was no one else except for them, and Santos waited, a dull look in his red, cat-like eyes as he waited for another one of his children to stop throwing a tantrum.

After about ten minutes of screaming, Savannah calmed down and realized that she was fine. He wasn't going to hurt her, he was just filthy and angry. She started to sob, and when she wiped her face, she cried even harder, as now there was blood instead of water.

"Why am I here," she cried. "I just wanted to go on vacation!"

" You were on vacation?"

"Yeah," she sniffled. "I went to Stull. It's in Kansas."

Santos let go of her and shook his head.

" You dumb bitch. "

"I thought it was just a rumor, but after what happened, I needed to know the truth," Savannah cried. "I wanted to know if there were more monsters!"

Santos wiped the sludge off of his face as he listened to her try and explain that she was just curious. She didn't think it would be anything more than a tourist trap. Santos sat back on the ground, still exhausted, and watched as Savannah paced up and down, ranting and raving, talking about how she didn't belong there.

"The monsters! There were monsters at Slater Academy and-"

"I know, I was there," Santos huffed. " Why did you go to Stull?"

"I wanted to learn more….I heard there was a gateway to Hell…"

"Well, now you know," Santos sighed.

Savannah sniffled and got more red tears all over her white and blue striped blouse, now upset that she was dead, and that she never even got to finish her 4,000 piece puzzle set, with only 590 pieces left.

"There was some dumb kid, who made up this story, okay," she shrieked. "I thought it would be interesting!?! Okay!?"

"Relax, I didn't-"

"He claimed that monsters appeared there during Halloween and the Spring Equinox. So I went. I didn't think it would be real!"

She sobbed and collapsed to the ground, her entire life ruined before she had a chance to start it. Santos pitied her, and then he realized something. He rushed over to her and slicked back his wet, drenched hair, unsure he wanted to know the answer to a question.

"When did you visit Stull," Santos asked.

"I arrived on the 19th," Savannah said.

"The 19th of what!?!"

"March! I arrived on the 19th and went to the cemetery on the 20th!"

Santos got his answer.

Time was much slower down there. The entire trip through the terminal and Limbo was about one day, but up there, it had been nearly five months since he had died. His family was never coming to get him.

He was on his own.

Santos started to cry, and he abandoned all hope that he would ever see his children again. After a few tears, he stopped and steeled himself.

He would never let his enemies see him cry.

He started to walk again, and Savannah trailed him from far away, flying slowly at a distance.

She flew around, came back, complained, cried, and repeated the cycle, several times until she ran out of energy and landed. Savannah followed Santos, not because she wanted to, but because he seemed to know more than she did about, well, Hell.

"So, uh….. guy…"

"My name is Santos."

Savannah let out an awkward cough and tried again.

"You uh... How did you die?"

Santos snickered, and Savannah started to sweat and shake, worried that she had asked something too personal. She looked away, and told herself that the first moment she would find a way out, she would make a run for it.

"You're not supposed to ask people how they got into prison, idiot," Santos said.

"This isn't prison…."

Santos gestured around himself wildly, pointing at the barren empty desert.

"If this isn't a prison, then what is," he shouted, his voice echoing into the wind.

"Sorry…I just wanted to know. You seem to know what you're doing."

"I have no idea where I'm going, I just want to return home to see my kids."

Savannah perked up, at the mention of his children. Surely a man who wanted to go home to see his children couldn't be a monster!

"How many kids do you have," Savannah asked.

"Depends. Do you mean biologically, legally, or just the ones I like?"

"Nevermind...do you know how to leave?"

Santos tried to wipe more demon blood off his face, and he nodded. He couldn't get it off, and just tried to shake it off, which wasn't much better. "I'm going through the center, to purgatory, and then someone's going to break me out," Santos replied.

"Who? Do people know you're here," Savannah asked.

"Yeah, my kids. I waited at the Gates of Immorality but no one came to get me."

Savannah started to become uncomfortable, wondering if this man had really died. He talked nonchalantly about how he had thousands of children waiting for him, and that he was worried about what they would do without him.

"It's normal to worry about your kids, I'm sure they'll be fine with all the uh… siblings they have to help each other," Savannah said.

"Oh no, I'm not worried about them. It's everyone else I'm afraid for!"

Santos let out a loud laugh, booming in the empty, windy desert, and Savannah wasn't sure staying with him was a good idea. Savannah didn't know how to leave, unlike him, so she tried to bury her fears.

"Can you at least tell me how you got here? We can pass the time while we walk around," Savannah said.

"I guess. Nothing else to do."

Savannah and Santos walked through the desolate wasteland as he recounted how he had arrived in Hell.