“That was when I met Jake. He was one of the young officers overseeing the camp, but he looked different from how he does now. His hair was lighter and in his uniform he was not so conspicuous. I knew he liked me. He smiled at me and tried to make conversation whenever I served food to the officers. One day I was saddened thinking of Esther and he stopped me to ask what was wrong. I made the mistake of trusting him and took the opportunity to tell him about my fears for my childhood friend. When he told me he might be able to help, I couldn’t believe my luck. I thought if I could do one good thing I might be able to respect myself again. Karl, that was what Jake called himself then, was so beautiful and so mesmerizing. The fact that someone like him would acknowledge my existence, let alone show interest in my problems, was flattering. He asked me whether I believed in God and I told him that the way my life had played out so far, if there was ever a God, he must have deserted us. Karl told me he had a secret he wanted to share, because he felt he could trust me. He told me he served a higher master, one who repaid loyalty. He said I could help Esther if I swore undying loyalty to him. He told me not to be afraid and that I would be rewarded for my sacrifice with eternal life. When I think back on it, I don’t know why he bothered to single me out. I think he must have been bored and looking for someone to play with.” Hanna paused as her mind traveled back to her dark past. “It sounded so simple at the time.”
“What happened?” I asked even though the answer was obvious.
“Esther was healed. Jake restored her to health so the guards would have no reason to harm her and I came into the darkness. But I wasn’t sure Jake had kept his end of the bargain ….”
“Did he?” I asked breathlessly.
“He made her well again.” Hanna’s sad brown eyes flickered up to meet mine. “But that did not keep her from the gas chambers two weeks later.”
“He betrayed you!” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “He tricked you into bargaining away your life. That’s despicable, even for Jake.”
“It could have been worse,” Hanna said. “When I was thrown into Hades, I somehow avoided the pit. I was assigned duties at the hotel and I’ve been here ever since. So you see, miss, I brought this fate upon myself. I cannot complain.”
“But your intentions were good, Hanna. I think there’s hope for everyone.”
“There is while you are walking the earth. This is a final destination. I don’t hope for anything now and I do not believe in miracles.”
“You have seen the devil at work,” I said. “Why can’t you believe in the power of Heaven as well?”
“Heaven has no mercy for the likes of me. I made a pact and belong to Hell now. Not even angels can dissolve those ties.”
I frowned and sat on the edge of my bed. Could Hanna be right? Would the laws of Heaven and Hell bind her to this prison? Surely her sacrifice had to count for something. She had well and truly served her sentence. But maybe it didn’t work that way. I hoped I hadn’t made a promise to her I wouldn’t be able to keep. Hanna busied herself tidying the items on my dressing table. They were mainly French perfumes, lotions, and powders — the sort of things Jake thought would make me happy. He really didn’t have a clue.
I looked at Hanna, who was now shuffling around the room and avoiding making eye contact.
“You don’t believe they’ll find me, do you?” I asked softly. She didn’t answer but only tidied more energetically. I felt an overwhelming urge to grab her forcibly by the shoulders and shake her into understanding. Because if I succeeded in convincing Hanna then I might convince myself that I wasn’t going to be a prisoner for eternity. “You don’t get it!” I yelled to my own surprise. “You don’t get what I am. Right now I have a whole covenant of archangels plus a seraphim looking for me. They’ll find a way to get me out of here.”
“If you say so, miss.” Hanna gave a perfunctory reply.
“Don’t say it like that.” I glowered at her. “What are you really thinking?”
“All right, I’ll tell you what I’m thinking.” Hanna put down her dust cloth and faced me. “If it was so easy for angels to storm this prison, don’t you think they would have by now?” Hanna’s tone became more tender. “If they could just free the souls in torment, wouldn’t they have done so? Wouldn’t God have intervened? You see, miss, Heaven and Hell are bound by rules as old as time itself. No angel can enter here uninvited. Think of it this way, could a demon just walk into Heaven?”
“Not a chance,” I said as I reluctantly tried to follow her train of thought. “Not in a million years. But this is different. Isn’t it?”
“The only thing that works in your favor is that Jake tricked you into trusting him. Your angels will have to find a loophole, just like he did. It is not impossible, but it is very difficult. The entries to Hell are well guarded.”
“I don’t believe you,” I proclaimed as loudly as if I were addressing an audience. “Where there’s a will, there’s a way, and Xavier has a will stronger than anyone I know.”
“Ah, yes, the human boy from your hometown,” said Hanna ruefully. “I have heard some talk about him.”
“What have you heard?” I asked, fired up by her mention of Xavier.
“The prince is very envious of him,” said Hanna. “He has every blessing a human could ask for — beauty, strength, and courage. He is unafraid of death and he is aligned with angels. Plus, he possesses the one thing Jake wants more than anything.”
“And what’s that?”
“The key to your heart. That makes him quite a threat.”
“See, Hanna?” I said. “If Jake feels threatened that means there’s hope, after all. Xavier will come for us.”
“For you,” Hanna corrected. “And even so, he is just a boy with a valiant heart. How can the strength of one man stand against Jake and an army of demons?”
“He can,” I countered, “if he has the power of Heaven on his side. After all, Christ was a man.”
“He was also the Son of God, there’s a difference.”
“Do you think they could have crucified him if he wasn’t human?” I asked. “He was flesh and blood, just like Xavier. You’ve been here so long you underestimate the power of humans. They’re a force of nature.”
“Forgive me, miss, if I cannot hope as you do,” Hanna said humbly. “I don’t want to raise my dreams out of the dust only to have them cut down. Can you understand that?”
“Yes, Hanna, I can,” I said at last. “That’s why if you don’t mind, I’ll hope enough for the both of us.”
I thought about Hanna’s story for a long time after she left. Although I wanted desperately to go and check on Venus Cove, I couldn’t free my mind. It remained stuck on Hanna and the hardships of her young life. I thought about how little I really understood about human suffering. What I knew about the blackest episodes in human history was nothing but cold hard facts. Human experience was so much more complex. There was probably a lot more I could learn from Hanna than I’d realized.
There was one thing I did know; Hanna had made a mistake. But she had expressed regret and she was sorry for her actions. If she was destined to live beneath the ground for the rest of eternity, then there was something wrong with the system. Surely Heaven couldn’t stand by and let such corruption go unpunished. Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord. I will repay. Hanna was wrong. Heaven would seek justice. I just had to be patient.