For those of you who don’t know, the door of war is located in Hell. Not hell like the underworld but hell as in the city. That’s right the door of war is located in Hell, Michigan. Rumor is that the people who first lived their named it Hell because in their language that meant, “Beautiful place.”
So now that we know where it is all we have to do is get their. We are in New York with little cash, few weapons, and a whole army of monsters after us.
Let me explain how we can vanquish monsters, even without there being death. Monsters don’t have souls instead they have mana or aura. This is the same with witches, wizards and yours truly. Demons and werewolves on the other hand have soul and mana so they require a Grim reaper to be destroyed.
Anyway back to our transportation problem. I’m sitting in the bed of Trinity’s pickup because I honestly don’t want to be stuck in a small truck with to people that both want to kill me. Why does Griffin want to kill me again? I think. I make a mental note to ask him next time we are alone. Suddenly we screech to a halt. I can hear Trinity swearing and punching the steering wheel. She jumps out of the car, then Griffin follows. “We are out of gas!” she exclaims.
“Well that’s okay we aren’t far from where we need to go,” Griffin says.
“Are you kidding me were a long way from Michigan!” I yell.
“I know a shortcut about 100 miles from here,” Trinity says. “But that’s still too far to walk.”
“No problem I can get us a ride!” I realize. I open my backpack and take out a feather. My brother Toby had given it to me before he left for the army. He said if I needed anything just burn the feather and he’d be there. I ask Trinity for a lighter. The feather is white with a black tip, and soon its on fire. The feather glows and there he is. Needless to say Toby is my favorite of my Grim brothers. Markus only shows up to either ask me for something or to bring me bad news. Toby actually visits me on my birthday.
He is eighteen, with a buzz cut and scars on his forehead. He has a green Army tank top and blue jeans. His blue eyes stand out because they look almost grey. I remembered when he had longer blond hair and got in fights with other highschoolers. He’s leaning up against his car, a white Malibu. “Salem! How are you doing?” he screams.

I tell him hello and then introduce him to Trinity and Griffin. “Well what can I do for you?” he asks, his dog tags jingling.

“A ride?” I beg.

“And possibly some weapons?” Trinity begs.

“Food?” Griffin moans.

Toby nods and opens his trunk. Inside is an entire armory of toys. From flamethrowers to blow darts. He hands Trinity a scimitar forged completely from bronze. Then he gives her a javelin. I give Toby a look that says, “Don’t give her anything too good otherwise I’ll be the one who’s head is on the end of that javelin.”

He smiles then nods. Next, he gives Griffin a shield and some throwing knives. And finally it’s my turn. First, he hands me a black circular shield with a red “X” painted on it.

Toby looks at me and says, “I forged this just for you, with some help of course.”

I give him a confused look. He digs deep into his trunk and pulls out a Scythe a foot taller than me, with a black hilt and a curved blade you can see your reflection in.

“Just like dad’s.” he says.

“You made this for me?!” I ask.

He just nods then hands it to me. My fingers tingle as soon as I touch it. I thank him then we get in the car and drive to the nearest fast food place. Leave it to my brother to know where that is. Then we drive for about two hours until we reach the short cut. We get out of the car and thank my brother. It’s good to know not everything in this world is out to get you. The three of us walk behind an insurance billboard. Griffin taps one of the legs and a door appears in the ground. We follow it down to the bottom to find it leads to a tunnel. “If there’s one thing I’ve learned in my short, miserable life is that dark tunnels are bad news.” I say.

“It’s not a tunnel it’s a portal.” Griffin informs me.

He walks over to a small blue light on the top of a tunnel.

“Don’t go toward the light Griffin!” Trinity jokes.

I start laughing really hard and for once Trinity doesn’t seem like she is ready to kill me. She almost seems...friendly. Griffin touches the light and then vanishes in a flash. Trinity and I are alone.

“Trinity, I’m sorry about your mom. I’ll make things right.” I apologize.

“She wasn’t my mom Salem, she just took me in when my mom was killed by a pack of werewolves. She taught me magic and I really miss her. I heard you were going after the scythe and I wanted to bring my mom back and Agatha. I know how it feels to lose a parent and I don’t blame you for stealing a book, you didn’t know it would kill her.”

“We’ll get the scythe, your mom and Agatha will be revived. I promise.” I tell her.

“Thanks Salem, see you on the other side.” She smiles then touches the light and she is gone.

I touch the light then I’m gone too.

Using the portal is more like being thrown in a really, really cold dryer. You get beat up and tossed around, and it’s cold. The mysterious laughing coming from the abyss doesn’t help make things better.

I hit the ground hard and find myself in a put-put golf course. There are gargoyles and statues all around me. I get up and brush myself off. A big sign by the road says, “Welcome to Hell, MI.”

Trinity and Griffin run over to me.

“What are we going to do about our weapons? These people can’t see them!” Griffin squeals.

As soon as he says that our weapons shrink and can easily fit in our pockets. Yeah that’s right I bet your cell phone can’t do that!

We run out of the golf area to find out that all Hell really is is a few buildings and a river. We go inside one building and wow it was cool! T-shirts and other souvenirs were strung over the wall. The room had a cool ice cream bar in one corner and shelves of funny T-shirts in the other. We all get ice cream and I buy a wristband that said, “I’ve been to hell and back!”

We leave the shop and I must admit I was going to miss the store and its signs that read, “Please do not pee in the river, it’s going through hell.”

“So where is the entrance to the door of war?” I ask.

“Follow me.” Griffin orders then takes off sprinting toward the river.

We follow Griffin upriver a while then stop at a small dam. Without thinking Griffin jumps off the dam.

“Does he always do these kind of things?” Trinity asks me.

I just shrug then jump off the dam, my head goes under water first. My last thought was, “Dam we are in Hell.”