[HP]Aluet

This place is very clean, without obvious features of hell, more like a living place for people to rest and live.

I saw a person sitting at the table drinking tea—a young and beautiful woman, her thick eyelashes raised, revealing a pair of red eyes.However, that tinge of red does not look scary, but instead brings out her speechless beauty - I can't describe a tenth of her beauty with all the beautiful words in this world, and she is full of smiles at this moment looking at me with a sweet voice.

"Talk to me," she said.

She motioned for me to sit down, so I sat across from her.I quickly turned my attention away from her astonishing appearance, looked around, and my eyes fell on a transparent glass cabinet.

Only here and there was a strange red-black reflection.

"How do I get to the next floor?" I asked.

"Talk to me," she repeated. "Don't be in such a hurry, Ashley..."

I looked at her face again—I’m sure that no matter how many times I saw this face, I would silently marvel in my heart—but I clearly knew that this was hell, and every layer of guides was an incarnation of evil. Although I can't associate this face with a villain.

"Tell me about the things in the world." There was a trace of genuine curiosity in her eyes.

"Human world, what is there to say?" I had to be vigilant and told myself that she was not as innocent as she appeared.I was still observing the surroundings, "You use this method to induce people who step here, and then let them stop here, isn't it?"

"Don't always think of this place as hell, Ashley." She said, "Hell is just a name. The more wary you are of this name, the more afraid you are of sinking here... and the source of fear is that you are Hesitation, because you are not sure what is right and what is wrong." She looked a little sad, "What else do you want? Put on a disguise and you laugh at my hypocrisy; take off the disguise and you hate me as ugly— —you think I'm just a devil from hell and lose my sincerity, don't you?"

I sighed secretly.

"What do you want to hear?" I asked.

"I want to hear your story." She replied, "Everyone who comes here has a different story. They have tasted all the pain in the world. I like to collect their despair. It makes me feel like The relief of being here on earth, because I've never experienced these things—except eternity—can you understand? It's a hell of a time in hell, every day. Oh, you don't understand, of course not. Only don't It makes me feel better to keep listening to different sufferings.”

"It seems that what you want to hear is targeted." I thought for a moment, "But I think I'm okay, I haven't experienced the level of despair... I still have many friends who help me a lot people..."

She froze for a moment in surprise, and then slowly uttered two words: "Lie."

"I found that you always seem to regard hell as your 'world' and the world as hell. In fact, the reason why you think that the world is full of evil is because you have never felt any kindness." I looked at her and suddenly rose There was a feeling of genuine pity, though I couldn't understand why.

Her expression froze completely, and then her facial features began to distort, her body began to deform, two sharp horns pierced her head, a long tail with a sharp tip protruded from her back, and she even changed a gender - an ugly monster with a beard.He showed his true colors.

However, I did not express any emotion of surprise or fear.

His strange appearance made him look less dangerous.

"How do I get to the fifth floor?" I asked.

He took one look at me, then turned to the glass case and opened it.I approached, and there was a cliff outside the glass cabinet, with a smooth cross section, and two long chains hanging on it, which seemed to be tens of feet high, but I looked to the side, and there was a row of ladders leading straight down.

"Following the chain, it's the fifth floor," he said.

I was still waiting for him to continue, but he didn't, he closed the door behind me, and the transparent glass case disappeared from the outside.

I leaned down and touched the iron chain with my hand, the scalding heat made me withdraw my hand quickly.

I turned my head to look at the ladder, and reached out to touch it again. It was just a very ordinary ladder, and the position it led to was exactly the same as the chain.

Did he miss something?Obviously that ladder is more convenient, but it's not because I offended him with something just now, and I'm waiting for an opportunity to get revenge, right?

I curled my lips, hesitating between the ladder and the chains, pacing back and forth.

I recalled the choices mentioned by the guides on the previous floors——

After thinking about it, I still feel that there is no such thing as pie in the sky.Since he only said chains, let's do it, the first few floors have come over, it's not bad this time.

As soon as I gritted my teeth, I tentatively held onto the hot iron chain. It was alright at first, but after a while, I couldn't hold on anymore and subconsciously wanted to let go.However, at this time I was already hanging in the air, my feet were supported by the cliff to move a little bit, and there was no way out.

Soon, soon.

But what I didn't expect at all was that this idea kept circulating in my mind, and it took a long time before I knew it. I even lost the sense of time. I suspected that I had been stuck here for a few days, but my feet It was still so far away, and when I raised my head again, the top was far away and disappeared from my sight.

I can no longer use my limbs.

I think I should choose that ladder.Just as I was thinking this, I found that the ladder was just to the right of the chain, within my reach, and I could move slowly over it.

But I quickly dismissed the idea.I was afraid of making the wrong choice—if I made the wrong choice, the first few floors I had spent before would be wasted, and maybe I would go straight back to the human world and never have a chance to get here again.

I carefully wanted to let go of one of the hands, the pain of tearing flesh made me grin my teeth in pain, my skin was almost stuck to it, a layer of broken skin was torn off - even so, I still didn't look at it to bloodstains.

I climbed down with difficulty like this until I was dizzy, my hands and feet were numb, and I couldn’t feel my body—my consciousness left for a while, and when I recovered and looked down again, the distance was unexpectedly unexpected shortened.

I speeded up, and my feet fell to the ground, and my legs softened and I fell to the ground.

The ground beneath me began to soften, flowing like water, and I floated on the surface, being propelled in one direction.

I turned my head and found myself in a golden narrow river, on both sides of the river are magnificent mountains made of jewels.I stretched out my hand and poked the "Jinhe" under me. It was indeed soft, but my fingers couldn't get into it.I tried to stand up, though not very steadily.

Glittering coins, pearls, and jewelry fell in with the surge of the river, floated on the water, floated to my feet, and piled up in a short time.

I picked up a string of radiant bracelets and secretly clicked my tongue.

Since I was six or seven years old, I grew up in that poor orphanage. Until now, I have been habitually saving on expenses-I have never seen so much gold, silver and jewelry in my life.

I threw it back into the pile of treasure.I looked around for traces of guides on this floor, but I couldn't find any.

"Take one secretly... take it to the world..."

A voice echoed in my head.The idea was so strong, so strong that I began to feel a little weird.

At the end of the river is the same white circle as when it came, covering the top.

"I don't want to go back to the world..." I frowned, and my eyes began to look for other doors.

"Take me...take me...stay here...stay in hell..."

The strange voice seemed to come from my own mind, echoing non-stop.That impulse began to amplify infinitely and became stronger.I lowered my head, bent down, and picked up a handful of gold coins. There was a vague suction from under me. I was immersed in the dazzling brilliance, and sighed at the wonderful color.

My body began to sink slowly. In a trance, it seemed that countless hands stretched out from the bottom of the river, grabbed my ankles, and dragged me down bit by bit, making me fall unconsciously...

But all of a sudden, I realized all this, just a moment of sobriety, I threw everything back in my hand, and the suction disappeared all at once, as if it had never been there.

I looked up again, and the white ring changed, turning into a dim red, and it was pitch black.

I struggled to step on the uneven stacks of jewels, which formed a step, and I walked up them and stepped into the dark opening.

Then came the other side of the world - I was surprised to find that I was standing on an unfamiliar street, surrounded by dense crowds, and the circle was gone behind me. I didn't know where I came from and where I should go .

This street is extremely rich, full of people's laughter.

This is... Is this back to the human world?

But where is this?

I walked on the street in a daze, I didn't recognize what this place was, and I wandered for about half an hour without finding any landmarks.

A feeling of hunger and exhaustion that I hadn't felt for days suddenly swept through my body.

I found a bar and walked in.

The bar was filled with a strong smell of cigarettes and alcohol, and I immediately regretted going in here, but when I turned around, people coming and going blocked my sight, and I couldn't find the door to come in.I could only find a place to sit down and rest for a while.

Before I could do anything, a fat man came from the front desk. He didn't have much hair, and his skin was much rosier than normal.

"Would you like something to drink, guest?" he asked.

Hungry, I thought for a moment, shook my head and said, "Is there anything to eat?"

"Yes," he smiled, "what do you want? It's all here."

I looked at him in surprise.

"Whatever." I really had no idea.I was about to take some coins out of my pocket, but he stopped me.

"People who come here have no money...I don't need money," he said, "but I need one of your things in exchange-of course, don't worry, we will only take the least valuable thing from you."

I found it very strange, but I didn't care about anything.

"Would you like some wine? The wine here is better than anywhere else... Believe me, you won't regret it."

"No, thank you." I declined him with a smile, "I don't drink alcohol."——I swore that I would never touch this thing again in my life, absolutely not.

He was not attached to anything, turned around and disappeared from my sight.I started looking around, idly observing everyone around me.

Time passed slowly, the man never came back, I felt weak and even a little dizzy.

"Hello—" I touched a man's arm carefully, but he ignored me completely, just eating and drinking on his own.I touched him again, but he still didn't respond.

I don't know how long it took, the man finally came back, and he filled my table with all kinds of food.

But I held back, and I turned to him and asked him: "I really want to know, what is the benefit of doing this... Take a worthless thing from someone else, but prepare such a sumptuous food for the guests."

"We took them in." He replied with a smile, "They can only survive here."

"Hmm..." I pursed my lips, "But I'm thinking, since I'm still in hell, why do I still feel physical needs?"

His expression froze, his eyes widened, and he stared at me, as if I had said something nonsense.

I touched my pocket and confirmed that I was empty. I picked up the fork on the table under his horrified eyes, and without any hesitation, I slashed across my forearm with force. A long and thin wound was accompanied by a knife cut. The pain hit me, and I frowned.

As expected, not a single drop of blood spilled.

Everything around me suddenly began to distort and change, black smoke was lingering, I raised my head, and the man disappeared, and the densely packed crowd around me turned into a pile of scrawny carrion-like things, perhaps the souls of countless people, or Maybe not anymore—their bodies are covered with sucker-like tentacles, they gnaw on those tentacles, and the tentacles suck their bodies. This scene is disgusting and weird, and I can't help but feel a chill.

The fork fell by my feet, I picked it up, its surface was like a mirror, reflecting my face, I felt a pulling force coming from it, and then my eyes were covered with bright light, my whole body After spinning around for a few minutes, I almost passed out.

My arm was swinging wildly in mid-air, and then I caught a hand. I was like grabbing a life-saving straw, holding on until my foot was firmly on the entity.I blinked hard, and my eyesight began to recover a little bit.

"I've been waiting for you for a long time, Ashley."

The familiar voice, every word knocked out an elegant and melodious rhythm in my mind, accompanied by the regular beating of my heart, I looked at him in shock, my whole body was stiff and numb, and I didn't make any movement for a long time.

I retracted my hand like a conditioned reflex, and staggered back two steps: "You—"

"It seems that you are not happy to see me. Or, you are even thinking about how to get away..." Riddle put his hands behind his back, and stopped my subconscious search for the wand with one sentence.

I watched him slowly approaching, staring at me with his cold scarlet eyes, but fortunately——I didn't feel any dangerous killing intent, but as indifferent as an old friend reunited, even though this indifferent Only him.

I suddenly wanted to return to the human world quickly—even though I have gone through so many layers, and the last step is only a short distance away, no matter how hard I try, maybe I will succeed.But no matter how I thought about it, I would never have thought that I would face him here.

"Why... are you here?" I struggled to utter a word.

"Isn't it all because of me that you came here?" He didn't answer my question directly, but lowered his head and took my hand. I couldn't feel any warmth from his skin.

"Soon, Ashley, just one last step away, the realm of eternity... You're almost there, we can both do it, we'll get there together." He whispered in my ear, his voice both Cold and sad, "what I've been longing for - what I've been looking for... I've been waiting for this day to come every moment. And yet you, Ashley, you almost ruined it all - everything that was ours .”

I stared blankly into his eyes, and his fingertips gently slid across my cheek, as if admiring an extremely precious treasure.

"Don't betray me again."

He embraced me in his arms, stroking my hair, the lingering breath intertwined, intertwined and blended together, I seemed to have lost my own thoughts, immersed in the world where only me and him - I don't know who I am What's the matter, I don't want to resist at all, the emotions I have suppressed for a long time are like an avalanche that cannot be stopped, smashing every layer of my defense, and tears soaked his collar.

He will never know how difficult every choice I make is.

"It's time to stop, Riddle." My voice was hoarse and weak.

"Don't you understand?" I heard his chuckle, "What does everything in the world matter to me? All my efforts are just to get rid of the disgusting restrictions and constraints. Kill those Muggles, Mudbloods and hypocritical sanctimonious opponents have long since ceased to matter to me."

"I just want you, Ashley."

My heart was gripped tightly by something, and I couldn't control my breathing.

"You'll always be by my side, right?"

"Won't leave me again."

"We shouldn't have been separated in the first place, everything was destined from beginning to end..."

Every word he said was endlessly echoing in my mind, he was exerting a little bit of force, as if he wanted to rub me into his body, I opened my mouth slightly to allow enough air to penetrate into my lungs.

"I want you...to be completely mine."

His hands slowly walked every inch of the area, my feet began to feel numb, my mind went blank, and I couldn't think.As I hugged his body, countless chaotic memories came to my mind, all of which were the imprints he left in my life, closely related and inseparable.

Then, I heard the words that I never dared to ask for extravagantly, but were extremely longing for.

"I love you."

I stiffly let him move, but the lost senses all over my body began to recover little by little, my eyes were blurred, and the throbbing pain spread from my heart to every nerve, and they gradually became bone-chilling cold.I greedily enjoyed his arms, feeling all that I could finally feel.

Immediately, I pushed him away vigorously - I didn't even dare to hesitate, I was afraid that if I hesitated for a second, I would be completely trapped in it and couldn't extricate myself.

A sense of emptiness swept over, and the moment Riddle was pushed away by me, he began to shatter and dissipate from where my fingertips reached, everything seemed like an illusion.

Before him was an empty, dead nothingness.

The last hope was also dashed.

He would never say that.

The throbbing pain became more and more intense, connecting to my internal organs, running through my legs and arms, I couldn't exert strength, I knelt down on the ground clutching my chest, resisting the urge to vomit, and supported myself with my arms, Avoid getting dizzy.

"Did I pass?"

I squeezed out weak words from my throat, but there was only an echo from all directions, and no one answered.

The guide on the seventh floor did not appear, nor did the entrance to the eighth floor.

My tears were still flowing silently, and I looked down, hoping to ease the feeling.

"Aisley..."

I heard a distant voice, so far away that it seemed to come from another world.

"Aisley... Ashley..."

The voice became clearer and clearer. I closed my eyes and covered my ears in pain. It still sliced ​​through my brain like a sharp knife. I woke up suddenly, breathing heavily.

I turned my head and saw Minerva's worried face, and found myself lying on the bed, in a warm and comfortable room.

I was sore and weak, I stared at the ceiling absentmindedly, and within a few seconds I sat up.I touched my neck, the necklace was still there.I fumbled in my pocket, everything was there, and nothing was missing.

"Do not……"

I took out my wand and drew it hard on my forearm, blood gushing out.

"Aisley! Merlin—what are you doing!" Minerva panicked and pressed my hand, trying to stop my behavior.

"No..." I let go, and the wand fell on the bed. I cried with my head in my arms. Minerva hugged me gently and patted my back.

"What's wrong? It's been a nightmare again, isn't it? Maybe I should go and call Albus, you're not in the right shape, Ashley, you've been comatose for a whole week since he brought you back..."

"No—it's all over... Minerva, I'm back... I failed."