"What's this?" Danny asked.
"Mama says this is hell, or at least the entrance to it."
"What? You're shittin' me."
"No." Danny's companion shrugged. "Since you just moved here, I thought I should tell you."
"But, it looks just like a regular ol' city dump, with dead animals and garbage. That's probably all it is. Nice try."
"I'm not trying anything! I'm telling you, stay away from this place, unless you wanna end up like the other boy I used to play with."
Despite Danny's better judgment, curiosity got the best of him. "What happened?"
"Well," His companion began, eager to tell the story. "We was playin' down there..." She pointed to a small rock formation on the edge of the huge crater. "and, he said, 'you dare me to go down there?' and, you know, I didn't believe my Mama, and I said, 'okay, bet you five bucks you can't do it.' "Well, he showed me, because the next thing I remember was that he was in the pit. Standing right in the middle. Then, all sudden-like, the ground opened up and swallowed him, whole! Didn't even chew!"
Danny fidgeted. "This place got a name?"
"Geihinnom."
* * *
The darkness fell around Danny like a thick blanket. He pulled out his flashlight and pointed it down into the pit. Garbage everywhere; rotting animal carcasses, mostly of deer that people probably hit while driving, as far as the eye could see. He couldn't stand the stench of decay, but he had to be sure the stories were just that...stories.
"If something like this was actually true, why haven't they filled it with cement or something?" Danny said out loud to himself.
"You can't cover up evil." A voice answered.
Danny spun around, coming face to face with his companion from earlier that day. "What're you doin' here?" Danny asked shakily.
"What're you doing here?" She chuckled, a sound that made Danny shiver. "I got the feeling you'd be back, so I waited for you." She shrugged. "Not content with the stories, eh?" She asked.
"I just gotta know."
"Then go find out. But I warn you, Daniel, the only way to know for sure is to stand in the middle of the pit." She pointed to a half-decayed animal with maggots and flies swarming it.
Danny winced. "Okay." He made his way into the pit, then stood on top of the dead animal in the center. He waited. "How long am..." Danny called before he was sucked underneath the surface of the pit.