It was the only rational explanation. Why else would it be so awful here?
"You're not dead."
He jerked around at the voice that came from behind him.
No one was there either. "Who said that?"
"I did."
He turned again as it spoke in his ear and once more, no one was there. "Who are you?"
"I am Misery."
He saw her then. A thin wraith of a being with flowing black hair that skimmed the palest white skin he'd ever seen. It was so pale, it held a grayish tint to it like ash. Her piercing eyes were dark and large. They seemed to be almost hollow.
"Where are we?"
She smiled wanly. "The Nether Realm."
Fang scowled at her answer. "The what?"
"We are caught in the place between the dead and the living. You were attacked by Daimons and they took enough of your soul that you are no longer alive. Yet you're not really dead. A part of you still lives on in the human realm. You are now trapped in the shadows like the rest of us."
"The rest of who?"
She held her hand up and he saw legions around them. Zombielike, they stumbled and moaned, trudging through the same thick water that clung to him. "We are the forgotten souls who have been relegated here by cruelty."
He shook his head, trying to make sense of all of this. How could he be here? "I don't understand. How did you get here?"
She pulled her arm down and the light faded. "I'm a demon who was trapped centuries ago. My family still searches for me, but they'll never find me. I shall live out eternity here in this slime. Unable to leave without human help. Unable to sleep or to eat real food. There is nothing here but suffering and longing." She sighed. "But sooner or later, your mortal body will die and you will be freed . . . unlike me. Even if I escape, I will never really be free."
Fang shook his head again. "Bullshit. This is just a dream. A screwed-up nightmare."
She laughed. "If only it were so."
Still he refused to believe it. She was lying. She had to be. He turned away from her and slapped himself. Hard. "C'mon, Fang, wake up."
Misery followed after him. "We all go through a period of denial. But it changes nothing. We are here and here we will stay."
"Vane!" Fang shouted as loud as he could, ignoring her and her dire prediction. He focused as hard as he could, trying to reach through this realm to his brother. C'mon, buddy, hear me! "Damn it, Vane! Wake me up!"
"The Harvesters are coming! The Harvesters are coming!" Frantic voices called out from the darkness.
Misery grabbed his arm. "Come, we must hide."
"Hide from what?"
"The Harvesters. If they find you, they'll destroy this part of you and you will be trapped here forever as their slave."
He scoffed. "What crap is this?"
She pulled him toward a murky crevice.
Fang started to tell her to stuff it, but bit his tongue. What if this wasn't a warped nightmare? He was a Were-Hunter. Of all creatures, he knew there was a lot more to the universe than a "natural" order.
Better to be safe than sorry until he figured out exactly what was going on here.
He tucked himself deep inside the cramped, craggy space. Out of the obsidian mist he could hear something coming closer. It sounded like human gurgles or nonsensical demonic speech. Eerie and frightening to even the stoutest of heart.