It was some five days later before Jack and Anthony were ready to talk to their hosts again. As mad and frustrated as they were because of their dreams, the two had decided that their stomachs would be their masters and gone off in search of one of the residents to ask for food.
The host they found was Limarei, and Jack was less than happy when she gave him a once-over and licked her lips like he was a snack to be devoured or something. And besides, she looked like a six-year-old. It was just plain creepy and wrong to have a little girl wanting him.
"Got a boner still, I see," she stated out of the blue as she led Jack and Anthony down a long hallway lit by more torches of all different colored flames. Jack scowled at everything he saw.
"I can't help it. All I can think about are my women, and I can't find an attractive outlet anywhere in here," he retorted. Limarei looked genuinely hurt.
"If mother would let me take this damned choker off, I'd be all over you until the red sun never rose again. But, right now, I can still tease this wonderful cock of yours," she chided in her juvenile voice. Jack shuddered as horrible images slipped into his mind, and he quickly shut them out as soon as they could arrive.
"Not on your life," the incubus growled determinedly.
Limarei shrugged. "Sooner or later, Jack. You're gonna brick in my mouth. There's no way around it." She opened her mouth wide enough to show that she was plenty capable of making good on her statement.
With that, the little girl ran on ahead with her arm out to her sides. Things couldn't have been any more unfortunate for the incubus at this moment. He was trapped here, because the entire house was like a maze he would never escape from without help. And the only people who knew how to navigate their way through the endless corridors and rooms were the owners.
Everything here leered mockingly at Jack, as if he were a lost little puppy to be taken advantage of at every turn. Even the people here played games with him, and he felt quite helpless against their overwhelming power.
Even his lust was abated because of the fear and anxiousness they instilled in him. This girl even, though she was much more than a mere toddler, had far more power and cunning than he did, by so much of a difference that he was absolutely nothing to her but a toy.
But unbeknownst to Jack, he was also forbidden fruit.
Nyx had forbade any notion of his being a sexual entity. None of the many servants, or any of her children, were allowed to make any sort of move on him until she said they could. And since it was her house, her word was law.
There was one, however, that was allowed to even touch Jack with the intention of getting heavy affection. Nyx's fifteenth daughter, Helena. She was the smudged diamond of her mother's impressive flock of children.
And Jack was on his way to finding this out.
At one of the corners, Limarei stopped and turned around on her heel, smiling mischievously at Jack. He started to back away, and the girl darted toward him. He was quick enough to escape her hands, but not the foot she swept behind his ankle. She pulled back and yanked his leg out from under him with the force of a truck. Jack tumbled back and a corridor entrance slid open to swallow him whole.
And then it closed around him once he was flat on his ass and cursing like a blind sailor. Limarei shouted through the solid barrier that he was going to have to find his way out if he wanted to eat, and then left. Anthony hadn't said one word. Scowling, Jack let his eyes adjust to the lighting. He got to his feet and cursed as he started off down the new corridor, dimly lit by embers of long-unattended lanterns.
At the end of the long tunnel (the roof was only a few inches above him) he found a heavy oak door with a large, old-fashioned door knocker on it. Without a second thought, he pushed the door open and shining toward him came bright light that was almost overpowering in its intensity.
His eyes refocused and he stood in awe of an entirely new place. It was like something out of a fairytale.
The place was a dome in structure, but resembled a garden more than a building. He strode forward through a field of waving grass, a warm breeze kissing his the nape of his neck. He heard something, very soothing and soft, almost like music, coming from over the other side of the knoll.
He began up the hill, and passed under the shade of a huge oak tree as he reached the crest. Looking down from atop the knoll, he found a peaceful scene before him. He hadn't expected to see something like this in hell, well, that wasn't true. Right about now, he was literally prepared to see anything at any time for any reason.
The knoll was actually part of a wide ring of raised land that sloped down toward and surrounded a shallow lake, with a tiny island at its center. On the island stood a pristine, white gazebo with vines creeping up its supports, and a bed or roses lining its edge.
Again, everything was peaceful and surreal. Jack had to rub his feet against the grass to make sure it wasn't just another illusion. Though he couldn't be sure, he was hopeful that this was reality and not just another dream that would end with him being the butt of a sick joke.
Jack strolled casually down the hillside and reached the lake's edge. Water lapped quietly at the silt and Jack watched his reflection ripple and curl with its motions. He realized that the music was back again, this time clear and crisp.
He looked up from the clear water and saw a woman in the gazebo, sitting by herself in a chair with a large cello against her shoulder. Jack blinked hard. There were cultured people in hell too?
Jack hurried over to a stone bridge that linked the island with the rest of the land around the lake and made his way over to the island. The music stopped the second he put his foot on the gazebo floor, and the blonde woman tilted her head to the side, her body facing away from him.
"I hear you. I have never smelled you before though, which must mean that you are a lost guest. Please, come and sit. I will play something for you," she said in a timid voice, directing him meekly with her bow to sit of the bench that rimmed the inside of the gazebo.
Jack quietly took a seat somewhere behind her and she moved to play the cello again. But she suddenly paused, and her fingers curled around the neck of the instrument.
"Something the matter?" Jack asked.
"Might you have any requests, before I begin? I would like to please your tastes if I am able," stated the woman. "I am Helena, if you are wondering, fifteenth daughter of Nyx."
"Beethoven's Fifth Symphony?" Jack pondered aloud. Helena moved to play once more.
"I have not thought of such a thing in a great many years. Such music I thought too much for no occasion. And now, hands, speak for me," said Helena.
She drew the bow across the cello's strings and out poured Beethoven's Fifth Symphony. Jack stared in amazement as note after note sprang to life. Helena's movements were precise, mechanical, quick. She played without pause or flaw, and Jack could only be in awe of her as for half an hour, she played without incident.
When she was through, she sat still and thought for a long while. Jack thought it would be appropriate for an audience to clap for their entertainers, after such a display of hard work and discipline. When he clapped, she jumped in surprise and stiffened visibly. So Jack stopped, and she relaxed once again.
"I...I have never had an audience before," she said finally after an awkward moment of silence. Her cheeks turned red and she put the cello against her shoulder again. "Would you like to hear another song? I know almost a hundred from the mortal realm, and I have written several thousand of my own if you would like to hear some of them." She sounded almost excited, but anxious and nervous as well.
