The Unknown // Colby Brock

~~ Chapter One ~~

"If I'm... so much worse than everyone else, then why am I getting special treatment?" I asked cautiously.

The man's face didn't change one bit, but instead, he stayed completely silent. I looked around us to find we were walking down an equally dark hallway to the bedroom I had been in, although there was a light at the end of it that looked blinding from this distance. There appeared to be door after door after door, none of which I could figure out the contents of.

Everything seemed so different to the regular world.

Eventually, we emerged from the hallway into what appeared to be just a bigger hallway... until I looked over the balcony and found there to be a throne room at the bottom of two opposing, curved staircases just like in the movies.

My jaw had dropped and my legs had stopped working just like that.

A throne room. Who even had a throne room? And why? Was... Was this actually hell? Had I really died and ended up in hell? Not only that, but did I really have a black soul, too? How did that even work? So many questions...

When I finally continued to follow the man down the stairs, the other rooms began to come into view, including the huge front doors that sat open to reveal a world made up of red, orange, and grey. The grey was from smoke, which was billowing out the top of cages that had people inside them the colour of burnt meat.

Holy shit.

Besides the horrifying sights, there were arches on either side of the throne room, each leading to a different space. I could see what appeared to be a dining room with far too many chairs, a living room with about four couches and a big comfortable-looking arm-chair, and finally a kitchen that, upon further inspection, also led to the living room.

It took me way too long, however, to also notice the tons of people sitting in the living room. Of course, there weren't really tons of people, but it felt like it with so many pairs of eyes suddenly on me.

Some of those eyes were kind, but others were hungry as they looked me up and down like they wanted me for breakfast.

"So, Arianna, I am Jake. I'm the-"

"Bitch," somebody from the group said through a cough.

"I'm the second-in-command here in hell, the first being the devil, of course, but he... he isn't here right now. This beautiful woman here, is Tara. She's my demon and she's essentially the tour guide for the newcomers."

"By that," the cute brunette girl with two dyed strips of blonde at the front, said through an evil grin, "he means I take the deserving people to the kennels."

"This is Corey the guard, and his demon, Devyn, who is able to disguise herself in any way she chooses. Care to demonstrate?"

A small girl sitting on the lap of a very muscular guy - Corey, presumably - stood up as she nodded. She touched the big white dog lying in the middle of the circle of couches for barely a second and, all of a sudden, there were two white dogs. She even barked before returning to her normal self and smiling triumphantly as she sat down.

"This is Elton, the doorman to hell - he manages the gate and alerts us of intruders. This specimen here is my brother, Reggie, and his demon, Cassie. He's like my assistant, and she tends to work with Devyn to get into heaven-"

"That exists?" I questioned before I could stop myself.

Jake, as I'd found out, raised an eyebrow at me.

"- and spy on the people there. You're in hell and you have to ask if heaven exists too?"

My mouth opened, closed, then opened again. "To be honest, I'm waiting for a wake-up call or something. I don't really believe that this exists." I knew what I was saying seemed stupid to them, if they were real, because I was supposedly standing in real flesh and blood in front of them, but I somehow couldn't believe it. My brain told me time and time again that it was wrong, fake.