Before Limbo

Hell – how much sense is put into this word. How much pain. I knew that when I left the station, there was a building behind me, a small row of trees and a highway with a noise-absorbing fence. In front of me is a large parking lot, behind which there are several shopping centers. I knew that. But I saw and felt something completely different. As if the filter of Hellification from Dante was applied to reality with an admixture of my experience. The exit from the station resembled a grotesque cave, from which shadows floated without stopping on their sinful deeds. The cars were either hellish cars, or demonic beasts, or maybe all at the same time. Shopping centers have become mountains, with small caves, fractally piled on top of each other. The sky densely covered with clouds illuminated it all with a muffled red light, as if from sunset. Hell, and not otherwise. But I continued to be aware of myself, although my head was spinning and my consciousness grew dim.

“W-what? What is this? What's going on here? This was not in the forecast,” I tried to calm myself down with a joke, but it certainly didn’t help.

My body was trembling, teeth chattering. Clutching my head with hands, I tried to collect thoughts, but their flow was natural and uncontrollable.

"What! So, I can hear my own voice. What kind of hellish machines and what are these mountains!? The poem could not do this! Am I really dead!? Huh?"

The car in front suddenly growled like a lynx. The bumper and hood, if you could call them that, really looked like a saber-toothed tiger. His eyes - the headlights - looked at me aggressively, as if they wanted to feast on me. The growling intensified. I walked to the right side, but an another lion car stopped me with a roar. His roar intensified and I stepped back. Immediately stopped in a daze. This time from a wolf's grin and barking.

"Th-, this just can't be! We need to somehow stop everything, go back," I repeated like a mantra, going to the exit from the station.

Shadow people passed by as if nothing had happened. Some of them crashed into my back, sides, turned around and were indignant. The words could not be made out, or I was too shocked. Exhausted, I fell to my knees and in a hurry took out my phone to turn off the audiobook. Thoughts continued to be confused, my heart was pounding, my soul sank into my boots.

"Lynx, lion, wolf, shadows ... Souls!? Am I really dead?"

I just had time to find the phone, someone touched my shoulder ... I turned around: an unfamiliar shadow stretched out its hand, as if trying to help me up, while the others passed by, occasionally turning round in accusation. This shadow was also distinguished by its appearance - the outlines of the face were blurred, like everyone else, but the hood of her robe was with something resembling rabbit ears. My body reacted automatically to help, and I stood up.

"Ra-, rabbit!?"

"While I retreated down to lower ground,

Before my eyes there suddenly appeared

One who seemed faint because of the long silence.

When I saw him in that vast wilderness,

“Have pity on me,” were the words I cried,

“Whatever you may be — a shade, a man.”" the words of the audiobook came from the headphones.

The shadow rabbit was trying to say something. However, having come to my senses, I abruptly began to run away from the shadows, wherever my eyes were looking. Immediately I remembered my intentions: I quickly pressed something several times on my smartphone. It seems to be successful - I stopped hearing the audiobook. There was nowhere much to run: on the sides were hellish machines, woven of metal and flesh, they also had shadows. And behind them mountains, teeming with shadows, and unknown lands behind the fence. There was only one way out - the forest. I quickly ran to it, since he was very close to the station. Before getting into it, I looked around and increased my speed, as the shadow rabbit was running after me!

"What does she want from me? Maybe it's a dream? It's a classic! But I remember well what happened this morning. Lucid dream? No, no, I don't believe it."

I pinched myself several times, to no avail. After a few moments, I noticed that the forest looked unexpectedly ordinary. Distracted by these thoughts, I caught my foot on the root of a tree sticking out of the ground and fell, turning over on my back. The headphones detached and flew to the side. Quickly recovering, I saw hundreds of eyes, located between the grooves of the bark, as if in eyelids. They stared at me as if I had stepped on a tree. My gaze involuntarily followed up the trunk and discovered the crown of a tree. There were needles on it, much larger than conifers. The tree shook as if it were angry, and a rain of needles fell from above. Instinctively, covering myself with my hands, I felt a piercing pain, briskly jumped up and jerked away. I shook my hands off the needles, the wounds were shallow, the needles turned out to be not so sharp and strong, but it still hurts.

The forest never ended. It was unusually quiet, although a hellish rumble could be heard from afar. A strong breeze was felt, and the needles fell on me again. I pulled on my jacket, defending myself from them, and ran as best I could. Looking back, did not see the shadow-rabbit - did you manage to break away? Looking ahead again, I found myself finally leaving the forest. But it actually ends in a cliff. I did not have time to be delighted and fell off it. It's good that there was a river under it. It's bad that now is not sailing season. Already disoriented by what was happening, I was completely lost in the water and moved erratically.

"Agrh! I don't feel water, just pressure from all sides. Where's the top!? Damn! I can swim! Such a stupid death will be... if I don't already... Huh? Voices?"

Turning, turning, turning and turning as if in bed, wanting to wake up from this nightmare. Voices were heard and louder as they approached. Maybe it's an alarm clock and I have to go to university, right? Please. Small bubbles with escaping air rose to the surface, but I did not notice them, but I examined the light, and swam towards it. Its source was the shadows whose voices I heard.

"Share our grief,

We have no one to complain,

And will be gentle, believe."

They stuck to me and continued to whisper, persuading them to share their pain. Because of this, some unpleasant memories surfaced. It would be better if I surfaced, not them ... but I must admit, I would also like to share my pain with someone. Even with disembodied spirits. Do they exist at all? It seems that I was already sinking and was losing the rest of the air, but this thought brought me to my senses. A familiar hand reached out in my direction, and my body automatically reciprocated again. In a few seconds I was already on the shore. I had to crawl a little, apparently, the shadow was not so strong. For a long time, I spat water out of myself and greedily gasped for air. Everything around was distorted even more because of the water, lack of oxygen, even more adrenaline.

I urgently began to check if everything important remained with me. Life is okay. Soul is probably okay. Consciousness is okay. Mind is not sure. I pulled up sharply and began feeling my pockets until I found a small box. I immediately checked its contents - in place. For some reason, it became easier. Another lightning strike and again in pockets, the next I took out the phone - it works. Wonders! More precisely, engineering prowess and water resistance! Now I vainly ran my hands around ears, knowing the answer in advance, but not completely trusting the sensations.

"Are you looking for this?" I heard from the side of the shadow, which I managed to forget about from the shock and checks.

The shadow held out my headphones to me. Now I could see the hood with rabbit ears - the rabbit shadow caught up with me. I took my headphones and hung them around my neck.

"Who are you or what are you?"

"Only a shadow is a soul mourning in the darkness

The depths of hell that are around me I dared to see with my own eyes."

"So, wait. Do you have to speak in poetry?"

"Oh, no, of course. I prepared this in advance for the greeting... I thought it would turn out lyrically... " "Yes, but the tautology "with your own eyes" hurts your ears."

"Oh, you're right. In literature, you always missed something ... Are you okay?"

"Yes... No! Where am I and what is going on? Why are you following me? "

"You look different than... other shadows. So, I thought that... maybe..."

"Maybe what?"

"It doesn't matter now; we need to get back before the Guardians' servants come."

"The Guardians? How is Charon?" I asked, and the shadow nodded in response.

"And what will happen? But don't answer, I guess..."

I resigned myself a little to what was happening in order to take a break for reflection, and played along with the shadows. Together we returned to the forest, where I still looked around tensely, but everything was calm: no eyes and dangerous needles. Although the surroundings continued to look depressing.

"How cold, clothes will dry for a long time even after wringing," I thought to myself, shivering then cold.

"On the way, we'll go to the dryer. You shouldn't go any further like this."

"Dryer? I don't even imagine it well in real life. Except for hand dryers in the toilets."

"It's different here, and at the same time very similar. I think you noticed it yourself."

"Did I die after all? This is hell, and this is my second life, only worse?"

"I don't know everything myself, although I've been here longer."

"What's your name? I'm Mikhail."

"I don't remember my name. You called me a rabbit, right? Because of the hood?"

"Yeah. Then I'll call you - shadow rabbit."

"Whatever."

I touched up to my chest, felt a distinct beating of my heart.

"My heart is still beating."

"How else are you going to suffer?"

"Right. So where are we going?"

"After drying by bus to the temple in Limbo. Now we are at its border."

"Wait. What else is this temple and why do we need to go there?"

"There... I am waiting for punishment. Still, you are strange: not so pale and lost."

"But why? If you don't go, then... you will be forced servants of the keepers?"

"Yes. Sometimes I hear a voice telling me what to do. If you don't listen to it... Can't you hear it?"

"No. I only hear my own."

"My own... I have to go. If you want the rest of the answers, come with me."

I agreed for lack of a better option at the moment.