Chapter One
The Prince of Fire
I sat in my room. Yes, I have a “room” in Hell. The irony is this, I used to joke about having one here with my name on it and it has literally happened. F*cking fabulous. Of course this room is not like any room I have ever been in. It is filled with weapons, all kinds…even things I have no idea what they do, but it all looks nasty as hell. I also have a closet filled with clothing, but it is all vinyl, strapped stuff. Dresses, shirts, short skirts. Evidently to be a Hellhound I have to dress like I did back in my Goth days. OR, Satan is a f*cking pervert, which would not surprise me at all. I held a dress up that shined from the small bit of light in the room provided by the fireplace. I found that Ironic that I had a fireplace to begin with. I mean I am surrounded in fire, lakes of it, bellowing and rolling with thousands of bodies. I then sighed and took my clothing off. My shirt was ripped, my jeans dirty. I looked like a homeless person, so I decided to take advantage of the change in clothing. I slid my panties off and stood there naked, feeling fine or as close to fine as possible. I just could not believe that I felt no pain and that I was sitting in hell. I glanced at my side and could still see the glow of the branding that Gunner had given to me and when I touched it my fingertips hummed as if my body was getting excited. I pulled the vinyl dress on, and then I slowly buckled each strap than ran from the bottom of the dress up to my chin. The dress only came to my mid-thigh and hugged my curves, what curves I do have. I mean I do not have large breasts, but for what I lack in that I make up for in hips and ass. I guess if I had to choose a physical asset it would be ass. I have never found a man who would argue that. I ran my hands down the vinyl and then put the thigh high fishnet on and used the straps on the bottom of the dress to hold them up. I put the military style black boots on and laced them up. I stood up straight and squared my shoulders as the light from the fire played off of me and made me look somewhat badass. For a moment I even felt like it until I heard the knock at the door and my heart sank a little bit. For some reason it came with a feeling of dread, and with good reason.
I turned as a small man, that was only as tall as my thigh, came in. He stopped and stared at me as I stared back. I was not looking at him to be a rude in anyway, I was just wondering who he was and why he was here. He dropped a red carpet and then pushed the bundle as it rolled quickly and stopped at my feet. Then I felt it, a cold chill run through the room. I rubbed my arms and my breath came out white as a man entered the room and flipped his long hair back over his shoulder. I didn’t like his hair, I never enjoyed long hair on a man but that was completely beside the point. His skin was flawless, his lips a crimson red and his hair jet black. He had a cane in one hand. It was etched deeply into white wood, faces screaming, but no real detail to each one. They looked animated and just as I leaned in to look closer at it the faces moved and I stepped back. The man extended his hand over the smooth ball at the top of it and gripped it tightly as he walked along the red carpet beneath him. He reached the small man and stared down at him as the tiny man quickly went to all fours and took a small kink out of the carpet. The man then rolled his eyes and continued to walk until he reached the end of the carpet and stared me down. He sucked on his teeth and then reached in and pulled out a small bit of meat and dropped it to the floor. The small man ran up and grabbed it, tossing it into his mouth and chewing as I watched in horror. His hair suddenly became shorter as he studied my face. I watched it shrink and he grinned at me.
“Halo Bay, you don’t enjoy long hair. I am willing to accommodate you.” He said as his words almost sounded like the hissing of a snake. I took a slow breath and then decided to not be a p-ssy about it.
“Yes and you are?” I asked him and he grinned as he reached out quickly and took my hand. His movements almost seemed unreal, as in, he moved quicker than he should be able to do for a mortal. I cannot even believe I am thinking about mortality as I am standing here in Hell. He pulled my hand to his lips and I hissed as his lips burnt my skin, not with heat, but cold, a cold that instantly moved up my arm and made my muscles ache and contract involuntarily. He rose up and let my hand go as he looked deeply into my eyes.
“I am Lucifer.”
“Oh shit.” I said as he smiled.
“Not exactly the reaction I was going for, but okay.”
“I mean, I don’t know…”
“It is okay, people tend to be star struck with me, it is a natural reaction.”
“I am not star struck, I mean you are the devil.”
“I prefer Lucifer, but I have many names that humans decided to give to me. I guess they just cannot stick with my true name.”
“People are scared shitless of you, I mean the ones who believe.”
“Really?” he said as he walked to my fireplace and leaned down to look at the flames. He reached in and let his hand sit in the flame as the fire cooked his flesh and filled the room with the stench of it. I covered my nose as he stood up and stared at his hand. Pieces of flesh eaten away with flame and he grinned. It started to mend itself almost immediately and he waved it like some magician. His hand was back was back to normal with a simple final flick of his hand.
“I mean, if anything, I guess “Prince of Fire” would be fitting.” He rolled his hand as if he was royalty.
“Are you a King, I mean here?” I asked as my mouth and inability to stop talking got the best of me. He looked me over and licked his top lip.
“King sounds old, don’t you think? I am all of 25, if not a day over.” He said as the small man behind him laughed under his breath and then cleared his throat to mask it. Lucifer looked at him and shook his head. He flicked his hand and the small man was tossed upward against the ceiling over and over until blood came from his mouth. I yelled out and then covered my mouth as he dropped to the floor and moaned. Lucifer walked to him and leaned down, touching his hair and then he reached into his chest and pulled his heart out while it beat in his hand. He bit into it as a growl rose up deep in the back of his throat. I turned my face quickly as he lunged on the poor thing and continued to eat like the demon I knew that he was. He stood up, pulling a handkerchief from his pocket and dabbed the corners of his mouth. The blood stood out bright on the white of the cloth. I looked down to see nothing but a spot of blood on the floor. He snapped his fingers and another small man entered the room, looking the exact same as the previous one, carrying a mop and bucket. He started to clean as I reached back to steady myself against the side of the bed.
“So, I apologize for that. I have a short temper.” He reached up and started to finger at his teeth, pulling out a piece of meat and dropped it as the second small man ran to it and ate it. I cringed as Lucifer sighed and looked me over.
“What did you expect Halo? Did you think I would be all nice and shit? I am Lucifer, Prince of Fire and ruler of Hell.”
I shook my head and tried to look away from him but his lure was undeniable. I would assume it would have to be since he seemed to have so many trapped here.
“Oh, do you want to f*ck me?”
I stepped back and almost fell onto the bed as he smiled.
“I don’t.” I said as my voice cracked.
“Hmmm. Too bad, my dick is thick, hard and long and hits just the right spot.”
“Good to know.”
“In fact I am full of tricks to pleasure.”
“I’m good.” I said as I held up my hand and then let it drop.
He laughed, which was odd. I mean for Lucifer to find me funny could be a bad thing.
“I just don’t see anything good about f*cking you, I mean I am sure you must be good, but then you would probably eat me.”
“Oh I would eat you, but not in that way.”
“I need to go, where is Gunner?” I asked him and he stepped back and looked me over.
“Is that your type then?”
He waved his hand over his face and he suddenly looked like Gunner, I stood up as he grinned at me but when he opened his mouth he sounded as he had before.
“Oh this is fun.” He said.
“I don’t appreciate it.”
He then clapped his hands once and a woman stepped into the room with long purple hair. Her body was immaculate, her breasts perky and large and her hips slightly wide. She looked like one of those women in fantasy calendars with dragons and shit all around her, the opposite of me. Lucifer turned and tapped a finger to his lips as I studied her and then turned my eyes back to him, he now looked like Gunner.
“Come.” He said and she started to moan as she reached down and touched her p-ssy. I kept my breathing under control and tried to ignore her but her moaning was getting louder and louder as finally she reached up and squeezed her breasts as an orgasm ripped through her. Her body became shimmery in the firelight as she broke out in a sweat. I adjusted my weight from one foot to the other.
“I could do that on a washing machine, on spin cycle.”
He laughed again quickly narrowing his eye. He walked back and touched her hair, stepping behind her, pressing on the middle of her back and bent her over as he grinned at me. He started to undo his pants and I looked down.
“Oh come on, it is no fun if you don’t watch Halo.”
“I was never into porn.”
“Oh, now I know that is a lie.”
I swallowed hard as I knew he was right. I did enjoy porn. In fact I preferred for it to be on when Travis f*cked me but it was only because he had no idea how to make me come.
“I could, multiple times.”
“Stop invading my thoughts.” I said to him as he pulled not one but two erect cocks out of his pants. My eyed widened, I don’t know what woman would not find it shocking.
“Why have one when you can have two?” he said as he thrust forward and one cock went into her p-ssy and one deep in her ass. She cried out but it was with nothing but pleasure. She obviously loved it and I tried to keep my interest and slight arousal to a minimum as he still looked like Gunner.
He thrust forward as he stared at me, over and over as she cried out with each movement. His nails then started to lengthen and he dug them into the sides of her ass as she hissed, she begged him for more. He quickened his pace and then screamed, causing the room to shake as his own orgasm made his body tremble. She collapsed on the floor as he let her drop and his two cocks looked hard and ready for more. He glanced down and then back up at me.
“Now?”
“That was it? That was like 5 minutes.”
“Seriously?” he said.
I started to walk and then passed him by as I held my head up and hoped like hell that he would not see through my bluff. My own p-ssy had become wet and I hated that, I hated that he was able to make me feel that way. He is f*cking Lucifer after all. He reached out and stopped me, I looked back and the girl was gone and he was dressed, looking like himself again and not like Gunner. I pulled my arm from him and he backed me up until I felt the door to my back. I swallowed hard as he stepped towards me. The last thing I needed was this bullshit. I just got to Hell and now I have Lucifer flirting and f*cking in front of me, excellent. I swear to God I have the worst luck with men, I always have. From my first boyfriend in High school who ended up cheating on me, to the string of losers I f*cked until I met Travis, who was amazing in the beginning and then turned into a psycho bitch when he drank too much.
“Oh Travis, he is here you know.”
“What?” I said as he pulled me from my thoughts.
“Your old boyfriend, the one you shoved a knife into. He is here and having a wonderful time.”
“Where?”
“Oh, do you want to see him?”
I hesitated because that was a loaded question, did I? Did I really want to know what he was doing in Hell? Probably not. I then felt a cold hand slip into mine and I was on my feet before I knew it. We walked from the room and into a long black hallway. I stood there as Lucifer tightened his grip on me and I hissed again as his razor-sharp fingernails dug into the flesh on my hand. I guess he cannot help but inflict pain with everything and I know I should not expect anything less of him.
He stopped and glanced back at me. “Halo, your internal conversation is endless, have you always been this way?”
I nodded, knowing he knew the truth anyway.
We walked along as I glanced to each side of the hallway and saw nothing but doors, one after the other. They sat too close together to actually lead anywhere but then again this is Hell and they have to lead to something. Lucifer stopped and then turned, he was a bit dramatic.
“I am not dramatic, I am theatrical.” He said and I sighed. I might as well speak my mind, he is going to read it anyway.
He then opened the door and I stared in as I saw my old apartment, it wasn’t exactly a nice place, but it was mine and I was proud to be able to pay for it. Travis never paid for shit and why I allowed him to live there and contribute nothing was a mystery to me. I mean it is a mystery now, it wasn’t then. I never had the ability to say no to him. It wasn’t even the sex really, it was not being alone. Lucifer turned and smiled at me.
“Your inability to know your worth was an interesting thing to watch.”
I looked at him and felt a bit irritated.
“I realized it, only to late.”
I then saw Travis enter the apartment through the front door and he stumbled as he tossed his coat to the floor. He paused and rubbed the bulge in his jeans. He was always horny, always wanting to f*ck. Unfortunately it wasn’t just me who received this from him. I knew for a good 5 months that he was cheating, but I never said anything about it. I almost felt like I deserved it for allowing him to live with me, eat my food, f*ck me and use me up without speaking up about it. I know it may sound pathetic, and perhaps it is, but when you feel like you can’t find better, you accept the bottom of the barrel. I then shivered, as Lucifer was suddenly behind me. He leaned against me and his hands touched the sides of my dress, sliding down the vinyl with a sound not unlike nails on a chalkboard. I closed my eyes as I tried to ignore him. His touch was intoxicating and I almost felt sick to my stomach for feeling that way. He leaned into my ear and his tongue flicked like a snake, his eyes changing color from dark black to red. Then I opened my eyes up as I heard Travis call out as he always did.
“Halo!”
I stepped forward and broke Lucifer’s touch as he sighed and watched my ass from behind.
“Halo! Bitch! Where are you, I want my dick sucked!” Travis yelled out and I knew what this was all too well. This was the night that we had died.
I watched closely as I saw myself step into the room, my old self, my pre-dead one, pre-getting hit on by Lucifer, the creeper behind me.
“I am not a creeper.” I glanced at him.
“You are.”
“Accepted.” He said.
“Really?”
“No, I lie…in fact, I lie all the time. Well, most of the time…oh look.” He said as he pointed towards the room and I looked back.
I could not believe how tired I looked, but seeing that I was working 4 jobs and sleeping about 5 hours a night it was not really a shock. Travis worked one job, a good one and yet he never paid rent, he never bought food and I could only remember one gift he had given to me. It was a swing, a sex swing that he never even took the time to attach to the ceiling. I had to do that and even then he was a bit lack luster when he tried to f*ck me in it. I reached up and touched my arm, squeezing it as the anger started to rise in me. An anger I should have allowed myself to feel all along when I was with him.
“I would have made you scream in that swing.”
“Please shut up.” I took one more step forward.
Lucifer smiled as he stood behind me, his eyes growing a deeper red as my anger fed him. Some of us eat food; he eats anger, fear, hatred. I guess that should not shock me either but I was oblivious to it as he stood behind me and got off on me and my emotions.
“What hun?” I asked Travis as he rubbed his dick and grinned at me. I remember I could smell the alcohol from where he stood.
“I need you to suck me off.”
“I am tired.”
“What?” he asked me as he stepped forward. I bit into my lip as I watched it play out like a movie before me.
“F*ck you Halo.” He said as he stepped towards me. I remember how I felt, the fear that he incited within me and I hated it. We had been here before, many times and I watched as my former self stood her ground as Travis stepped up to her and grabbed her neck, moving her back against the wall and applying pressure. I watched her struggle, I watched as her eyes rolled a bit into the back of her head and he enjoyed it, never losing his hard on that lurked behind the material of his jeans. Then he leaned up and shoved his tongue into her mouth as she gasped for air, he was a sadist and yet I had allowed him to hone his skills on me like a puppet.
He then released her neck and she fell before him, gasping for air and crying softly. He reached down and unzipped his pants, pulling his cock out and then he grabbed her chin and raised it up, ready to shove the length of it to the back of her throat, but something was different this time, perhaps it was the exhaustion, not only physically but mentally. I remember opening my mouth and as the tip of his cock slid in I bit down as hard as I could, causing him to wail like a stuck pig. He immediately took his fist and slammed it into the side of my jaw, knocking me to the ground. I hit the wooden floor so hard that my vision blurred and my body felt weak. Travis was not a small man by any means and must have outweighed me by at least 100 pounds. He loved to work out and his ego drove him more than anything. It drove him to chisel his body, be ruthless at his job and then with me. I seemed to be the punching bag that he adored. I watched as his foot rose. I felt the wall to my back before the kick to my gut. He kicked me three more times as he cursed at me and then walked away as a small bit of blood trickled from the side of my mouth.
I tried to sit up, but the pain in my stomach was horrible. My jaw ached and I could feel it swelling already. I could hear him in the kitchen yelling, tossing drawers around and then the noise stopped until his large boots clunked on the wood and came back into the room. I looked up as my breath was just starting to return to me and he held a knife in his hand, gripping the handle firmly not to drop it. He then reached down and jerked me up by my shirt and held me against the wall. His eyes glazed over in anger and his breath hot and stinking of liquor. He then screamed as he thrust the knife forward and it tore through me and burned like fire in my stomach. I tried to scream but the sound got caught in my throat as he jerked it back and let me fall. He dropped the knife in front of me as he pulled his hands up to his head and shook it violently back and forth.
“This is your fault you bitch! Always mocking me, always acting as if you are better than me!”
I said nothing as I spit up a little bit of blood and felt my legs getting weaker. The pain was starting to fade but as I looked down I saw a tremendous amount of blood coming from my stomach through my white t-shirt.
I clinched my teeth and my fists as I watched in horror. I just sat there against the wall, doing nothing as I always had. Allowing Travis to treat me like shit, not unlike most men I had been with, but he was by far the worst. He was a culmination of a lifetimes worth of being degraded and made to feel unworthy of love, unworthy of respect, unworthy of living. I remembered that I had closed my eyes and saw it, my Father who used to come into my room at night and beat me until the tears dried on my cheeks, the boyfriend in High School who suddenly found someone new after I had given him my virginity. He had laughed at me that day in the hallway with that new whore at his side. Telling me he needed his class ring back and I had given it to him, saying nothing as they walked away, laughing at me and my inability to stand up for myself. Then I watched on as she opened her eyes, they looked different, and I remembered how anger had welled up in me so ugly and pure that it allowed me to push myself up the wall as I reached out and grabbed the knife into my hand.
“Yesssss.” Lucifer whispered into my ear as I watched on without saying a word.
I stepped forward, holding my stomach with one hand and holding the knife out with the other. Travis then stopped pacing and turned to look me over and the laughter that bellowed up from him set my senses on fire. It was almost as if I was a new person, made whole and stronger by the sheer idea of death coming on to me.
“Oh now what, you f*cking bitch?” he said to me and with that I lunged forward and stabbed him right through the eye, shocking no one more than myself for doing it. I stepped back as he stood there, staring at me in horror. I then felt hands slide up the front of me from behind as Lucifer was hard and needing my hatred to feed him. I let my head fall back and almost allowed him to devour me until I heard the thud from Travis’s body hitting the floor in front of her; she looked down as the knife poked out of the back of his skull. It was then that I remember feeling it, the remorse, the complete and utter regret of taking his life. Not because it was him, but because regardless of how angry I had ever gotten, or beaten down, I had felt I had always appreciated the miracle of life and what a gift that it was to each of us.
“Oh f*ck.” Lucifer half hissed behind me as he took his hands off of the shiny vinyl and stopped fingering at my breasts. I watched as she fell, the old me and then the shadows started to descend upon the room. One by one they entered, one shadow of pure black at first and then they turned into people, or what I guess could be described as people. Everything seemed normal about them, minus their eyes; their eyes were black as night and soulless.
One stepped up to Travis and then lowered very quickly, flipping him over and jerking the knife from his eye. He pulled it to his lips and stuck his tongue out, licking the blood from it and small bits of brain matter. He then closed his eyes, shuddering slightly and opened his mouth only to expose rows of pointed, razor sharp teeth. He looked down Travis’s body and then lowered, only to bite into his dick and Travis rose up, screaming unlike anything I had ever heard before. Another demon straddled him and pulled his large cock out placing it to his lips and shoving it to the back of his throat as Travis moaned and tried to break free.
All of this seemed to be justified and yet I then felt it, a small bit of mercy for him, and it was then that a large creature entered the room, it looked like a black dog with longer fur and glowing red eyes, as it approached the two demons making a sex puppet out of Travis. It simply glanced at him, but then continued on until it reached me. It lowered its face so it could smell me as I was muttering something even I could not hear, but I remember, as I always will.
“Please forgive me.” I whispered as the dog transformed into a man and leaned down, carefully lifting me up and as his head rose I saw him. It was Gunner, holding me close to his chest. He looked down at me with such compassion that tears welled up in my eyes as Lucifer backed away from me and stood there, feeling the grace all around me. Gunner studied my face closely and then looked up at me, standing outside of the door and it slammed shut as I sat straight up in a bed and held my chest as I caught my breath and felt the strangest thing…a beating heart, my heart, behind bone and flesh.