All the Gates of Hell Read Online Free PDF

THE PHONE.
    Jin's cell phone rang. She didn't remember bringing it with her, but there it was, in the pocket of her jacket. Well, it was and it was not her phone. It looked something like her phone. It also looked quite a bit like the strange watch that she'd seen Teacher Johnson wear. Around the faceplate were the kanji for earth, air, fire, and water. The display said CALLER UNKNOWN. Jin pushed the button to talk. "Hello?"
    HOW'S THINGS?
    The voice was familiar, but she didn't recognize it. "Tell me who you are, and I'll tell you how it is."
    I'M YOU, SILLY.
    Oh, right. Jin thought that, perhaps, she should have seen that one coming. It was, after all, a dream. "I'm confused and angry and scared shitless, that's how things are!"
    DON'T BLAME YOU. BUT YOU HAVE TO GET OVER ALL THAT AND DO WHAT YOU HAVE TO DO. AND DON'T ASK ME "HOW." YOU'RE ON YOUR OWN. THAT WAS RATHER THE POINT.
    Jin sighed. She didn't know why she had halfway expected the dream Jin to understand any better than she herself did awake.
    "You're no help." Jin reached for the button to end the call.
    NOT SO FAST, LUV. I HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY.
    Jin hesitated. "Well?"
    YOU NEED TO COME TALK TO ME. THAT'S WHY YOU'RE DREAMING.
    "I am talking to you!"
    IN PERSON...OR AS CLOSE AS WE CAN MANAGE, CONSIDERING THE METAPHYSICAL IMPLICATIONS. SOME THINGS AREN'T SAFE TO SAY OUT IN THE OPEN, SO COME MEET ME. AND DON'T ASK "WHERE" EITHER. YOU KNOW VERY WELL. DO YOU REALLY WANT TO SORT ALL THIS OUT?
    "You know I do! Are you really going to tell me what's going on?"
    IF YOU WANT TO KNOW THE ANSWER TO THAT YOU'LL HAVE TO COME SEE ME, WON'T YOU?
    Jin got the "disconnected" message, then the display went back to idle. The kanji for fire and air, however, were glowing red. Jin didn't know what that meant, but she knew where the meeting was to be. Jin found the Pepper Street of her dream and headed down it as if she were going to work in the middle of the night, in the middle of the dream. She crossed over and entered the alley.
    This time the alley didn't even bother pretending it was an alley. The bricks disappeared immediately, and Jin made her way down the passage she remembered from three days ago. She paused to look at the niche carvings, trying to decide if they looked exactly the way she remembered them because they were actually there, or just because, well, that was the way she remembered them. Then she firmly reminded herself that it was a dream and got back to walking, because she had things to do and the night wasn't going to last forever.
    She came to the door at the end of the passage, and it was shut this time. Jin didn't bother with the lock, she just walked right through it as if it wasn't there, just as she'd fallen through it before. It felt strange, even in a dream, to simply walk through a door, to feel the wood part and flow around her. The two guardians were waiting for her. Still massive, still stone, but now they watched her as Jin passed by. Fierce as they were, they didn't seem at all threatening. Jin stopped, and thought for a moment. It occurred to her that there was a question she wanted to ask, and now seemed like the time.
    "Excuse me, but do you always stand at the doorway leading to Pepper Street?"
    "Of course not," said the gigantic scowling warrior on her right. "We stand where we must to guard the way." His voice was coarse and grating, like stone on stone.
    "What way is that?" Jin asked.
    "Whichever way is the direction required," replied the demon figure on the left. "Guan Yin opens the way to a Hell and the barriers are weakened for a time. We must be certain that no one gets out save the one who gets out."
    "Ummm...isn't the one who gets out by definition the one who gets out?" Jin asked, confused.
    "What my addled companion meant to say," interrupted the warrior, "is that only those brought out of hell by Your Immanence."
    "That's it," replied the demon. "Exactly."
    "But you're made of stone. To do any of that don't you have to, well,