Prologue

Hailbuzar's POV

The wails of the deprived, the tormented, the deceived, and the pertinent were mimicked by the walls of their eternal cage.

Two torches were mounted on both sides of the metal double door. It lit the grimy hallway with a sick yellow, its faint glow pausing right before the pitch darkness of groaning cages, lining each side of the narrow passage.

A diagonal crack split across the glass in my hard grip and a thin stream of water trickled down my knuckles, evaporating upon hitting the stone floor in a quivering hiss.

My bright red feet glimmered in the dim lightening, a sharp contrast to the darker pools of pungent red that creeped from the screaming cells. I scrounged my nose as my nostrils stung with the putrid stench the grovelling humans emitted.

I took a deep breath, breaking my concentration to welcome the crippled yells of the caged mortals. He did warn me not to come here though.

It was funny that despite being his son, he dared put restrictions on me like I was some child belonging to a Christian family.

Still, I was no fool to willingly go against him. I was just his child and not a favored one at that. I did not want to betray him but I could not help it, she needed me and I couldn't turn a blind eye on her plea.

Each cell in this dungeon showed various tortures that humans go through. Each human screamed in different heights of volumes.

Each human had a sin to repent, they had a sin to suffer for, for an eternity. In this dungeon, they will finally realize there was a God, but they had no right to call His name anymore.

My tiny hand curled around one of the bars of a cell. The human caged in front of me, rushed out from the darkness that once embraced her. The shackles bounding her ankles made a clanging sound with each step she took.

Her bare and tattered skin was out for show. Whip marks, bite marks, and burn marks were scattered over the expanse of her form. Yet despite being torn as she was, she still had a gentle expression that warmed my heart.

A smile took place on her dry lips as she glanced at me. She shakily took the water I held from my hands and she gulped it down to quench her thirst. She wanted more but I could only manage to fetch her that one glass of water.

"Thank you, dear," she murmured, her throat still dry and croaky.

She passed her hands through the bars to give me the glass. She gestured at me to come closer and when I did, she stroked my cheek and stared at me longingly. "I had a little kid just like you before I died."

Her tears trickled down her cheeks and raced their way to her chapped lips.

I placed my little thumb on her cheek and wiped her tears. My tender touch seemed to remind her of a fond memory that must be the only thing keeping her sane.

She ruffled her disheveled long brown hair and pursed her lips. Letting out soft sobs, she closed her eyes tightly.

Abruptly, she began to wail loudly, rubbing her hands all over her naked self. Her face wrinkled and she yelled as loud as she could.

I didn't like seeing her this way. She deserved much better than this. Hell was no place for a human like her.

"I don't want this anymore." She shook her head slowly and swallowed deep shaky breaths. "I need to go back to my family. My daughter needs me."

I just stared at her not knowing what to say. Fresh blood streamed down the open wounds that suddenly appeared on her skin.

She held a handful of her blood stained hair and screamed, her skin getting tainted with thick crimson liquid.

Her weak eyes locked with my orbs and she threw on a lacklustre smile, trying to look strong. " I can't stand you seeing me this way. Let me tell you a story so you can leave."

I nodded my head at her, clearly giving her approval of what she had to offer.

"Alright, sit down. The earlier I start, the sooner you get to leave this place."

I excitedly sat with my bare buttocks on the hot ground, ignoring the heat running through my spine. My tail that I inherited from my father slightly swayed in thrill.

I didn't know what sort of human she was. She was far different from what my father said her kind were like; selfish, weak, uncaring. Despite the torment she went through, it was still a surprise to me that she managed to always want to keep me happy.

The human lady wrapped her hands on the bars of the cell and looked at me, trying her best to play a smile on her arid lips.

She slid down on her knees to level her gaze with mine. "Do you want to hear your favourite or do you want to hear a new one?"

I took a second to think before giving her my response.

"Favourite."

"Hmm, I wished to hear more from you but you always have a singleword response unlike the kids your age," she coughed sharply and winced, placing a hand on her chest.

"Okay, let's start. Mama duck had 6 eggs. One day, the eggs started hatching, but one didn't."

Why didn't it hatch? Was a question I always had when we came to this part of the story.

Abruptly, her breath hitched and her eyes slid to the side as if she sensed something. She scurried back into her cell, causing her chains to clank loudly. The huge metal, double door before me, creaked open announcing the entrance of another being.

I narrowed my eyes into a pin and saw a shadow being cast below the torches at the end of the hallway. The sound of hoofs clicked on the floor. The shadow grew bigger as the sound of hoofs got louder.

My petite body became a shivering mess. The silhouette's bloodshot eyes stared at me, making my entire form freeze in terror. He came closer, hitching my every breath with each thump of his hoof against the ground.

My fingers began to tremble as I saw smoke escaping his nostrils when he grunted. His curved horns proudly reached for the ceiling.

"Hailbuzar." His deep voice bounced off the walls of the dungeon.

My shoulders jerked as I felt his hot breath fan over my face. His body towered over mine, making me look like a mere insect.

I got up from the ground, fixing my gaze on the floor. I was caught redhanded. Shame pricked my skin.

"Papa..."

"What are you doing here with this revolting human?"

His crimson eyes glared at the woman behind the bars as if he was already murdering her. She curled herself into a ball and shuddered as my father's gaze burnt through her body.

"Was she corrupting you? Was she begging for her life and pleading you her innocence?"

"Oh great Lucifer, I swear, I didn't tell him anything!" The woman tried to explain under her shaky breath.

"Hold your tongue, mongrel!" His voice reverberated around the whole place, causing the ground to shake.

"How dare you speak in my presence?" He asked and his deep voice trembled the walls and the inhabitants of this godforsaken place.

"How dare you even exist?" He questioned menacingly.

"Please, he just got me water, that's all!" The woman explained.

He wrapped his hands around the bars of the cell, already melting them from his mere touch.

"Foolish child, showing empathy just like your mother. How absurd."

A ball of fire swirled around him, wiping his existence from the room. Then the same fire erupted next to the woman, building his presence inside the cell.

The lady grasped the bars and looked at me with fearful, desperate, and pleading eyes.

"Help me..." she whispered tearfully.

My heart thumped loudly as I watched in horror. My feet were glued to the floor.

Papa yanked the lady's head back and raised her from the ground. "Hailbuzar, watch how a devil works."

I closed my eyes and shook my head. "Papa...papa please leave her alone."

My voice sounded like a squeaking mouse but managed to make the great devil roar in laughter, sending fear to every part of hell.

"Please, please, I only asked for water," The woman croaked.

She looked so helpless in my father's tight grip. Her legs wriggled in the chilly air as she placed her hands on my father's hairy forearm. This was all my fault. She was in this mess because of me.

"And what made you think that you have the privilege of having a drink? You are in hell, water is for paradise, sinner." Papa gritted his teeth which had crooks at its edges.

Thick Saliva drooled from the corner of his mouth and made a splat as it soaked the clobbered floor.

"Papa, please leave her!" I cried out, sobbing and grieving for the poor lady struggling in his grasp.

Her eyes were looking like they could pop out any minute.

"This is why you can never be good enough Hailbuzar. Why can't you be like your brotherruthless and rotten right to the core."

His claws lacerated the woman's stomach and her guts flew out of the gaping lesion. She drowned in her blood and her innards slowly plonked to the ground.

My grip tightened on the bar. "Leave her alone papa...just leave her alone. It's my fault for coming here!" I sobbed.

"You are a devil Hailbuzar, why must you confess your sins?"

Papa did not even spare me a look.

He was so engrossed in tearing the human apart like some pillow he had grown tired of.

He tore out the gobbet of the woman's abdominals, causing her entrails to drop out and wobble carelessly.

"Papa please..." My voice grew weak each time I made eye contact with the woman's lifeless eyes.

The smell of her innards ran up my nostrils, causing me to feel nauseated. He stepped on her guts and earned a squelching sound.

He tossed the lady away before giving me his undivided attention.

"Hailbuzar, you are my son, yet you act and speak like an angel sent from heaven, how repulsive."