Chapter 7 - ...

The burned man noticed the fear in Jonah's eyes, approached him, and put both hands on his face. Jonah screamed. He was enveloped in flames. He tried in every way possible to get out of the hands of the burned man, but it was impossible until he let go. Jonah fell to the ground and began to roll over, thinking that he was still covered by fire.

"Tell, me, what, did, you, feel?" Asked the man with a sad look. Jonah, who was barely recovering from that trance, could not articulate any word.

"You, can't, explain, it, can, you? Imagine feeling that for a hundred years or all eternity."

"Despair, that's all I felt. It was so much that I couldn't even perceive the pain," said Jonah as tears flooded his eyes.

"I can't, remember, the, last time, anyone, alive, was here. It rarely, happens... Lucifer, is afraid, of them. Only, a living, person, can, kill him. None, of us, has, the power, to harm him."

"Then why hasn't he killed me?"

"He, cannot, you, must, die by, suicide."

"I really want to help you, but I don't think I can do it, I'm just a kid. I'm very afraid of what might happen to me."

"In the, same way, you, will suffer, make, that, pain, worthwhile. I will, guide you."

"Sorry, I don't have the strength. I have always been a weakling. I cannot become a hero overnight."

"Alma, is, burning, what, you, felt, was, her pain."

When Jonah heard these words, he began to cry uncontrollably. He felt so much guilt. He was aware that because of his lack of willpower his sister had been sent to hell.

"My soul is broken, burnt man, because even knowing that my sister has been unjustly condemned to the worst of tortures, I do not have the courage to go and find her. Fear continues to take hold of my body more and more."

"You're, not, guilty. You, didn't, ask, to be, born, like this," said the burnt man approaching Jonah to comfort him.

"I want to die, and that there is no heaven or hell. I want to be wrapped up in the terrible nothingness as I leave this world."

"Life is bitter, horrible, atrocious... but death is much worse."

The burnt man found it hard to say these words without hesitation, but he wanted Jonah to understand him in the best way. For him, there was nothing more brutal than death. Unfortunately, Jonah was so affected that it is unlikely that he heard those words. He was crying in the arms of the burned man. He did so for hours until he fell asleep.

While Jonah was sleeping, the burned man was visited by Lucifer, who with a huge smile, made him shudder. With so much time in hell, he found a way to make Lucifer unable to read his thoughts. He quietly placed his hand on Jonah's head so that Lucifer would not be able to read the boy's thoughts either.

"Someone told me you've been talking too much. This is your first and only warning. If I find out again that you have been doing wrong things, I will send you back to hell, but this time you will never get out," he clicked his fingers, and in a matter of seconds, he disappeared. The burnt man had much to say, but he preferred to remain silent, after so much fighting he did, not want to ruin perhaps the last chance he would have to free his soul.

During the encounter of Lucifer and the burned man, Jonah was struggling with his own nightmares. He listened to the cries of pain from Alma, and her screaming calls for help from him, her brother.

"Little brother! Little brother! Help me, please, I can't take this pain anymore."

"I can't, I'm so afraid," replied Jonah, as he watched her being tortured by a group of demonic beings, who poured salt and vinegar into her wounds."

"You must save me. It is your fault that I am here. I would never have put you through anything like this. You are a coward. I hate you!"

"Forgive me, Alma, but I can't take it anymore. If I could change places with you, I would."

"Liar! Liar! Your fear would not let you expose yourself to this pain."

Then Alma would come out of hell and hold him so tightly that their bodies would join together, while Jonah was dragged into the underworld by his sister.