I feel myself falling, in murky waters. Hands grab out to hold me, almost seemingly caressing my body, comforting my body. I feel myself getting dragged downwards. Was it by the hands? By my body weight? Nevertheless, I let myself sink. Surely these hands would take me to a better place....
With a jolt, I open my eyes, and find myself in a waiting room, more specifically, a hospital waiting room. I turn around, and see multiple people, wearing almost...normal clothes sitting down on chairs. Tapping their feet, checking their watches, almost as if they were...anticipating something.
I look further, and notice a receptionist. I immediately walk towards her and ring a bell on the counter. "Hello, where the hell am I?" I ask. A woman peeks out of the counter, wearing a white nurses' outfit and nurses' cap. She has flowing black hair and her body is pretty slender. What threw me off, however, was the long black tail extending from her back.
She breathes in deeply. "Oh...A newbie. Just got here, didn't you?" she says in a cheerful tone, while smirking.
"Yeah...Care to explain?" I ask, in a rather annoyed tone.
"There's no other way to put this, so..." She breathes in deeply again.
"You're in Hell."
~~~
Excuse me?! I think to myself. What the hell did I do to get myself in here? No, no. Which Hell am I in? How do I escape? All of the sudden, I feel the cold breath of a person behind me. I look behind my back, and see the receptionist.
"Well...Ethan? Is that right?" She checks a book, before closing it. "Yes! Anyway, to answer your question, you're not in a Christian Hell, or Islamic Hell. All of those are just crappy ripoffs of us. As for what you did, that's up to you to know." Huh? Can she read my mind? I think to myself. As for what I did...What did I do? I try to remember, but I can't seem to remember what happened before getting here.
"Yes, I can! And for your second question, I don't recommend escaping." She points to a window, of which I immediately go to and look out of it. I see a white room with a gigantic three-headed dog inside it, standing at roughly 20 meters tall. Is...that...
"Cerberus! Our little doggy!" she exclaims rather excitedly, while smiling. When did she appear next to me? "If he eats you, you'll be digested for millions of years before getting excreted, and then eaten again! Imagine..." she says, while inching her face closer to my ear.
"Imagine getting eternally soaked in lava...But you can't get out~ You'll be in the worst agonizing pain possible, your body will feel like liquid, but you won't escape~" she says, in a rather soft and sweet tone. I feel her cold breath on my ear. "But by all means! Go ahead! The escape to purgatory lies behind Cerberus. Oh, and hundreds of Cerberuses. There's more than one waiting to eat you!" Her voice changes back into a cheery tone.
I gulp. "Yeah...I'll take waiting." I go back to sit down, but a bell sound plays out. I look around, and see a TV, with my name on it:
"ETHAN LECTOR, AWAITING APPOINTMENT, ROOM 43X10^19."
Was that my call? The receptionist looked rather excited. "Yep! Your appointment is due! Oh...I've been waiting...Follow me!"
She leads me to a white hallway, where we get on a platform, which moves us really quickly through the hallway. I could see some doors, where I assumed people would be tortured behind it.
"Oh, right! I have to tell you about the basics!" exclaimed the receptionist. "No need for you to know my name, just call me 'Receptionist'. Anyway, you'll be situated in room 43x10^19, where you'll be tortured by..." She flips open a book and chuckles. "Oh...yeah."
"What is it?" I ask.
"Your torturer is...Sylvera. You're dead." Receptionist chuckles. "She's regarded as one of the most renowned torturers in Hell. Only her first decade in training, and she's broken over 1000 souls," she beams proudly.
"Broken? Isn't torture in Hell eternal?" I ask.
"Not really. Every living being has a soul. When us demons torture you, your soul weakens, further and further until your soul just...fades into nothingness. The best torturers can torture your soul and keep it alive as they see fit. They can destroy your soul in an instant, or make it last for millennia. When a soul is broken, we just feed them to Cerberus."
She cleared her throat. "Some humans are lucky, though. Some souls have the seals of Hell placed on them, which means when they go to hell, they're destined to become demons. That's what happened to Sylvera. The seal is revealed when a demon makes contact with a human with the seal. Then, they undergo a ritual where they are converted to a demon. These demons are called hybrids."
"Cool. And, important question, since there is a Hell, is there...a Heaven?" I ask carefully.
Receptionist sighs. "Yes, there is a Heaven. The Land of Angels. The realm of the good-willed. Only those who are deemed worthy by the divinity, God himself, are allowed to tread the the halls of Heaven. There are angels, too, who have to maintain the balance between good and evil, and invite more people to the light, blah, blah, blah."
Eventually, the platform stops moving. We arrive in front of door 43x10^19. "You, know, I can't help but be amazed at how cooperative you've been." noted Receptionist. "Most people would beg on their knees for mercy, or try to run first chance they get."
I chuckle. "I guess I haven't really accepted that I'm in Hell yet. You know, since all of this looks so futuristic."
Receptionist smirks. "Trust me, you'll be accepting it soon. There's a chair in there, and all you have to do is wait patiently for Sylvera to arrive." She opens the door, which reveals a pure-white room with a white wooden chair in the middle. I go in, and take a seat.
"Have fun!" Receptionist says, before closing the door, and locking it.
~~~
I wait patiently on my chair. After a while, a young woman comes in. She has long, brown hair, tied up in a ponytail. She wears a white T-shirt with a crimson leather jacket, and she has a cold expression on her face.
She pulls out a piece of paper. "Sinner #1001, Ethan Lector," she says, in a lazy tone, while walking into the room. She snaps her fingers, and immediately, my hands and legs are bound to the chair, with a black substance.
"I've been assigned to you...Tch. They couldn't bother to give me a real sinner?" Another snap of her fingers, and a table rises from the ground, with two pieces of cloth covering something. The chair I sit on then reclines. How does a wooden chair recline?
Sylvera starts to put on some latex gloves. "I'm supposed to break your soul and whatnot, over the course of like, a month, but I need to be quick with you. I'll be here with you for like two weeks or so."
"Hey, uh...Nice hands!" I try to make small talk, but immediately get punched in the face, causing my eyes to spin. Sylvera looks at me, annoyed. "Don't patronize me," she says in a cold voice, before putting a mouth prop in my mouth to keep it open. It feels kinda weird, but still bearable.
After that, she places pliers in my mouth, and grips on a tooth with it. I feel a tugging sensation on my tooth, and in one motion, the tooth is ripped from my mouth. "Ah!" I exclaim. It doesn't hurt that much, but blood begins to flow out from my mouth.
"Wow...You didn't seem to scream that much. Perhaps I was too lenient," she says, as she cleans the pliers with a towel.
"What's with the gloves? I'm pretty sure demons don't suffer from infections." I ask.
"Well, I don't wanna suffer the risk of you being a hybrid and have you be my responsibility. You know, those humans that have the seals of Hell, and can become demons." she replies, taking out a scalpel.
"Okay-" I see the scalpel. "Hey, HEY! What's with that?" Sylvera holds the scalpel over my hand, and carefully slices my middle finger off. "AGH!" I grit my teeth, but the stinging pain isn't ending. Is this what Hell...feels like?
"Oh, dear. Maybe you might die to an infection...I should cauterize the wound." She summons a flame from her hands, and holds the flame over my bleeding finger. I scream in agony, the stinging pain in my finger feeling unbearable. "MAKE IT STOP!" I scream. All of a sudden, though, my finger regenerates.
"Restoration magic." says Sylvera as she holds my cut-off middle finger over the fire. "You think I'll let you die?" She begins to put my finger in her mouth, before changing her mind and removing my mouth prop.
"Have a bite." she says, as she puts my finger in my mouth. All of a sudden, I have a crazy idea. It seems crazy at first, but I have no other choice. Great. Her finger is in my mouth. Without hesitation, I bring my mouth down on her fingers.
Sylvera yelps and pulls her hand from my mouth, and immediately heals her hand. Now, if I'm lucky...
"Some humans are lucky, though. Some souls have the seals of Hell placed on them, which means when they go to hell, they're destined to become demons. That's what happened to Sylvera. The seal is revealed when a demon makes contact with a human with the seal". The voice of Receptionist echoes in my mind.
Sylvera's face is contorted into pure anger. "You insolent human..."she seethes, preparing a punch. She brings her fist down, but then, a buzzing sound interrupts her. A glowing red light shines from my chest, underneath my shirt, which she quickly rips off, and...
A gigantic red seal glows and pulsates on my chest.