Chapter 97

"You've now arrived where Purgatory begins. See over there the wall encircling it. See there the portal where the wall is breached."

-Dante Alighieri, The Divine Comedy

"What's going to happen to me now?" I asked, looking around the empty and dark land that demons called Purgatory. We weren't far away from the main part of hell and still I had no idea what to expect. I saw the shapes of rocky hills and the calm black lake stretched right in front of us.

The Watcher that walked next to me didn't respond and my stomach tightened with unease. This was a bad sign. I had no idea what was going to happen once we passed through to the main part of hell.

I left my friends behind, and then Ricky and Emma were taken away. I didn't even have a chance to say goodbye to them.