The Road to Hell Read Online Free PDF

Susan.
    Harrison compared the two shots of the hotel room closely before saying, “OK, so she wasn’t dead. What’s the big deal?”
    “ Oh, she was dead, alright,” replied Susan. “What you’re looking at is a daemon.”
    “ A what?” cried Harrison, stepping back in surprise and lifting the image so it picked up more light. He wasn’t sure quite what to make of it, not sure if he should laugh or take her seriously.
    “ Look closely at the shot in the stairwell. He’s a ghost.”
    “ You should have stuck with the line about being a prostitute. At least that was credible.”
    Harrison examined the photos carefully. The dim light and dirty fingerprints made it hard to see for sure, but the man walking up the stairs appeared almost transparent. The faint outline of the wall and the staircase behind him were just visible, as though he were some kind of demon.
    “ Pictures can be faked. There are no daemon. That’s just a fable. A ghost story mothers tell their children to keep them from sneaking out at night.”
    Susan was silent.
    “ You expect me to believe in the bogey-man?”
    “ It’s no myth,” she replied. “I assure you, Artemis is real.”
    “ Girl, you are trouble. That’s all there is to it.”
    “ My name is-”
    “ I know what your damn name is,” replied Harrison, cutting her off. “So why are the cops really after you? They normally shoot people after the show trial, not before. They’ve got to look good for the civil libertarians. But not when it comes to you. No, they don’t want you talking. What is it? Are you mixed up with the mob? Or did you frack over one of the council members? Is that it?”
    “ I’m telling you the truth,” protested Susan, snatching the photos back, “My sister is in danger.”
    “ Whatever,” replied Harrison, waving his hand in disgust. “Well, this is where our paths separate. Do you see that tunnel? Follow that and it’ll take you back to the surface about four miles from the factory.”
    “ I’m not leaving you,” replied Susan.
    “ I’m not giving you a choice,” countered Harrison. “By now they’ve figured out our little ruse and my mug shot will be plastered all over the south side. I gotta stay low for a while. Wait for the heat to settle down.”
    “ But what about me?”
    “ You’re on your own, kid.”
    “ Can’t I come with you?”
    “ No.”
    “ Why not?” asked Susan.
    In the soft light, her dilated pupils made her look all the more feminine and vulnerable. For a moment, Harrison felt sorry for her, but only for a moment. It didn’t take his street-savvy smarts long to kick in and remind him exactly what kind of heat this sweet, little lady had just brought down upon him.
    “ Believe me. You don’t want to go where I’m going.”
    “ I don’t understand. Where are you going?”
    “ To the Underworld.”
    “ I’m not afraid,” replied Susan.
    “ You should be,” said Harrison, turning and walking the other way, his cowboy boots splashing in the puddles.
    “ You can’t leave me,” cried Susan, her cry echoing around her.
    “ I just did,” yelled Harrison without turning back. He was already disappearing down the far tunnel.
    Slowly, the sound of footsteps faded into the distance and Susan found herself alone in the shadows. In the moody half-light, everything seemed hostile, the dripping water, the groan of a metal pipe contracting in the cold, a water rat scurrying along a thin ledge. The silence scared her more than the chase.
    For Harrison, this was just another shitty day. Instead of running from some disgruntled union boss he was running from the cops. Should be the same though, he thought, lie low for a couple of months, forge some new identity tags, move to the north side and start again. Only this time there was nothing left. The office, the safe, his loft apartment, they’d all be impounded. By now there were probably cops pouring all over his stuff with the care and grace of a wounded buffalo.