Chapter 6 The Miserable Otherworldly Creatures

• A thousand years ago, when Floré, the witch turned demon, screamed out all the fury in her and created a parallel universe to which she banished all the supernatural beings in Ohalo, she didn't put much thought into the world she created.
• She didn't design it, not to talk of refining it. She just created a space vacuum and sent them into it. She wasn't bothered about their welfare. She wanted them away from the humans, and she didn't care what the place would spell for the creatures.
• Well...
• It spelt doom.
• It spelt torture.
• It spelt degradation. For all of them.
• For a thousand years. Every second they spent in her prison, they suffered. It was a hell, a hell they had long given up trying to escape. A hell they didn't think they could one day escape.
• The vampires, for lack of human or even animal blood to consume, thinned over the years. It wasn't merely body thinning, their very soul thinned. Their skin was normally pale, but a few centuries in there, it turned ashen. Their skin tightened so much against their bones. It looked like a war was going on between their skin and bones. It took only five centuries for them to lose their speaking abilities.
• The werecoyotes fared better than the vampires. Better, not good. They adapted to feeding on plants and trees, and they would've fared okay if what they ate grew back. Over the centuries, the forest died and the oxygen supply reduced. It was only a matter of time before they started getting attacked by the other clans.
• The shadow-spirits were creatures who fed on chaos and doom. They were also lesser demons who, from time to time, needed to possess a human's body for rejuvenation. Survival was at first easy for them; they occasionally caused chaos between the other clans, but as time moved on, it became harder. Because, how do you cause doom to already doomed, lifeless, creatures? With no humans to possess or bother, it wasn't long before they were lying lifeless all around the scape.
• The werewolves put up a hard fight, but even their enormous strength wasn't enough to shield them from suffering. They managed five hundred years before they started to crumble. Their wolf form was stronger than the human form, so it was by staying in their wolf form that helped them endure. Chaos erupted in the clan when, after staying centuries in their wolf form, most wolves couldn't convert back to their human form. They had lost too much strength and grit, along with their humanity. Their head, Nélo Wolf, managed to revert to his human form, but after he did, he couldn't return to his wolf form. His self-preservation dwindled.
• They were all on the verge of death when the portal broke.
• The hell universe had the structure of the Ohalo forest. It was surrounded by a glowing green portal which had runes drawn in strategic places all around it. Those runes were connected to trees in the real Ohalo. It was one of those trees, the most important one in fact, that Clea drove into.
• In the real Ohalo, the tree only suffered a small crack.
• In the hell Ohalo, one of the runes broke in a straight line to the ground. The portal started to heal itself immediately, but a few shadow-spirits escaped.
• All the hell occupants —the ones still alive— were gathered in front of the crack in a few minutes. The crack gave them hope. And with hope, comes strength and determination. Under Nélo's supervision, a plan to stop the healing and completely break the portal started growing.
• Their drive was revenge.
• They wanted to get out of there for sure, but what truly gave them strength was the imagination of Floré going through the same thing they'd gone through.
• The supernaturals were done wallowing in pain. They were going to leave this hell, and they were going to make the devil who put them there have a taste of her own medicine.
• * * * * *
• Dizziness was what caused Clea to faint. In the period between meeting Tyler and the inn meeting, her inner strength dropped. Seeing him had a huge effect on her emotionally, allowing a certain weakness that had been trying to break into her soul in.
• Clea knew it couldn't be his presence causing the spin in her head. She had to rush to the restroom, and that was where she remained while waiting for Kali to show up.
• She could've told Tyler about how she felt, but she didn't want him to think she was still the weak, stupid, teenage girl he once dated. So she held it out in the restroom. Held it out during the first few minutes of the meeting. The hardest part for her was having to continuously lie to Kali that she was okay.
• She was reaching her limit when she stood up to go to the restroom.
• The next time she opened her eyes, she found herself on a bed. Kali was seated beside her, peering anxiously at her.
• "Rise and Shine."
• Clea was alarmed. "What happened?"
• "You fainted. After telling me multiple times that you were okay. That's what happened," Kali's voice had an accusatory tone.
• Clea began to seat up but Kali held her down.
• "You're remaining in this position until you feel better."
• "I feel better," Clea argued.
• Kali rolled her eyes.
• "How long have I been out? Where is... he?"
• "Around five minutes. Which one are you asking of? They're both outside."
• "Why are they outside?"
• "Because I didn't let them in! They acted so childishly when you fainted, fighting over who should be the one to carry you."
• "What?!" Clea chuckled.
• "Yes. What's your deal with the caveman, anyway? Did you guys have a one-night stand thingy?"
• "No!" Clea shouted, sitting up.
• "Why so aggressive?" Kali laughed and held one of Clea's hands. "Glad to have you back."
• Clea smiled. "I didn't go anywhere."
• In the past twenty-four hours, she and Kali had both faced fears of losing the other. Being in this town was sure chaotic.
• Clea took a deep breath. "I need to talk to him."
• Kali sighed. It was a sad sigh. "That's him right? The infamous love of your life."
• Clea only maintained their gaze, she didn't respond.
• "You were staring at him... throughout. You wouldn't take your eyes off him. It was like you couldn't."
• Clea looked down. "In my defence, it's been a few years since I last saw him."
• "Yeah." Kali stood up. "I'll call him in." Then she left the room.
• Clea left the bed and went to stand at the window. It gave her the view of simple apartment buildings and the road that went into town. Although Clea was staring, her mind was on the reunion about to happen.
• Her heartbeat increased once the door opened. Every step he took towards where she stood increased her nervousness. She never thought this moment would come, so she had no idea what to do or say.
• "Clea."
• He called her name, and Clea had to open her mouth to steady her breathing. She turned.
• "Tyler."
• "Do I need to get you to a hospital?"
• He bit his lower lip. Clea saw the move coming before he did it. It was a habit of his. Softly crushing his lower lip then letting it go. Clea always thought it was cute. She still did.
• "No." She felt the urge to repeat herself. "No, Tyler. What are you doing in Ohalo?"
• As his stare deepened, Clea's attention went to his hair. It looked great, like every other feature of his. Many times, she had run her hands through his hair as they kissed. She wanted to do it again.
• "You sound like you'd rather I weren't here. That's not the 'I miss you' I was expecting."
• "Maybe I don't," her voice was low. She could feel her entire being cooling in his presence.
• He took a step closer, essentially closing the gap between them. Clea could feel his body heat, and it messed with her head. The proximity made her want to do things. Things it didn't make sense to hunger for in this situation.
• Tyler traced Clea's arm up with a finger. "You were never great at lying to me."
• Clea swallowed. His touch was making her shiver. His hand made it to her chin and he tilted her face closer towards his, at the same bringing his head downwards.
• "What are you doing?" It was a silvery whisper.
• To Clea's dismay, he hesitated. Then stopped. When he started to withdraw, she figured she might as well take matters into her hands.
• Her arms which were laying idly by her sides went up in haste and wrapped themselves around his neck. She drew his head closer and pressed her body to his, ignoring the surprise in his eyes.
• She missed him so much. Terribly. In every way a person could miss their lover. He was about to see in the most erotic way possible, just how much she missed him.