Board Thread:Writer's Workshop/@comment-31700097-20170409010947

Hello, my story was deleted and that's fine. It might've been because the format was all messed up, or it could've been because of just low quality or cliche, or both. Either way, I'd appreciate some criticism/feedback. I worked hard on this story (first one actually writing). Rest of my stories I come up withusually stay in my head, but this one I went so far that I just had to write down. Here it is.

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My Experience in Hell

I opened my eyes and saw nothing but darkness. I didn't know where I was. Last thing I remembered I was driving and then.. Wait, what is that noise? I heard distant screaming. It seemed to be coming from every direction. I felt the ground I was standing on and it looked very strange. Wasn't the typical dirt or grass, but resembled black charcoal. And it was hot. I was such in shock and observing my remains I hadn't realized the ground was pretty hot. I had a terrible feeling. I got up and looked up, all I saw was complete darkness. I thought this must be a dream. This can't be real. I ran trying to find anything or anyone. I ran away from the sound of screams, because I felt running towards the screams wouldn't be the brightest idea.

Eventually I found what looked to be some cave. I slowly went inside and I heard noise from deeper in the cave. Suddenly 4 people come out of the darkness and I see their faces. It was 3 men and 1 women.

"This is our place" One of the men said.

"I..don't know where I am". I said.

They looked at each other. As if they thought I was stupid.

"Come on, can't you see? It doesn't take a genius to see what this is." One of them said.

I knew deep inside what this was. But I didn't want to accept it, I couldn't.

"It's...Hell, isn't it?" I said.

They didn't respond.

"Well now that that's settled, I'm Dylan. That's Mike, Kevin, and Mary. And you are?"

I didn't respond. I was still grasping the idea that I was in Hell. That this place actually existed, and I was damned to be here for all of eternity..

"Okay, well once you're ready to talk, let me know." Dylan said.

"So, I don't know about you, but I don't want to spend the rest of forever here. None of us do. So that's why we're gonna get out." Dylan said.

I instantly stopped thinking of everything and all my attention went directly to Dylan.

"Get..out? Are you serious? I said.

"Yes. There is a way to get out. Well maybe. A guy that was with us before told us about it and led us here, but he got taken. So now we're a man short, luckily here you walked in." Dylan said.

I was speechless. I was still kinda hoping on the fact that was all some very vivid dream, but I knew it wasn't.

"How we gonna get out?" I finally said.

"Well. It won't be easy. You see, we know where the door is to get out of here. The problem is what's guarding it." Dylan said.

"What is it?" I said. I was hooked on his words.

"It's.. a giant 3 headed dog. Yeah I'm dead serious."

A giant 3 headed dog? That sounded familiar. Where did I hear that from? Harry potter? No no, there was somewhere else..

"But we have a plan. So there's 5 of us and it has only 3 heads. So 3 of you will come at it from it's left right and center at the exact same time. He will be staring at all 3 of you and then I will sneak behind it and stab it, with this.." Dylan said.

He pulled out a strange knife.

"A demon dropped this. I picked it up and kept it. I know this must be powerful. It's different from all the other weapons." Dylan said.

"A...demon?" I said, hoping I had heard that wrong.

"Yup. Come on man, you're in Hell and I just told you about a giant 3 headed dog, and you're shocked to hear demons exist? Get a grip and focus." Dylan said, sounding annoyed.

"I'm sorry." I said.

"We don't have much time. A demon or shadow can show up at any time and then we'll never get out." Dylan said.

I wanted to ask what he meant by "shadow" but I didn't because I felt he'd get more annoyed.

"So you're in?" Dylan asked.

So many things were in my mind at that point. This sounded like a suicide mission. Then again I was already dead. But there was no way this was going to work. The plan was entirely dependent on the creature being completely stupid. And the fact that it's guarding the exit out of Hell, I doubt it would be.

"Yeah, I'm in" I answered anyway. What more could I have said. I was alone, and I wasn't going to turn away the only people I knew a bit. Plus I was hoping I was wrong and somehow this plan would work."

"Good. Now we should go later. Now's not a good time. Plenty of shadows nearby." Dylan said.

Him and the others went back deeper into the cave. I laid down on the hot ground against the hot wall.

Cerebus. I finally remembered. I can't believe it actually exist. So do demons. If only I had read more about any of this when I was alive, maybe it would be useful now. Then again I questioned how much of it would be true. Wait. Hell exists, demons exists, and Cerebus exists. Does that mean.. Satan exists? And God? Well I'm fairly sure now the latter exists.. He made this awful place. Made a place specifically to torture people. I wondered how many people were here. And how big this place was. I wondered if Hitler was here. He had to be.

"Hey."

I looked up to see who it was.

"Sorry didn't mean to scare you. I know this is all a lot to take in. And Dylan isn't exactly the most patient person, but can you really blame him?" Mary said.

She laid down next to me. She said this as if they had all accepted it, and were okay with it. How can anyone be okay with this or accept this?

"It's okay. I'm just thinking about a lot of things right now." I said.

"Like what?" Mary said.

"Well.. do you know if the Devil exists?" I said.

"I'm not sure, but probably. I haven't been here too long. But it's getting harder and harder to tell." Mary said.

"What do you mean?" I said.

"You still feel like you just got here right? I had that feeling too. But as more time passes, I'm beginning to feel like I've always been here. Forgetting about when I was alive, except the parts I can't." Mary said.

She must be referring to unpleasant memories.

"By the way, if you don't mind me asking, why are you here?" Mary asked.

"I... was an Atheist. I didn't believe in any of this. I was raised Christian but turned Atheist when I was a teenager." I said.

"Oh." Mary said.

I knew that wasn't the reason I was in here. I lied, and I bet Mary knew I lied.

"What about you?" I asked.

"I killed my mother." Mary said instantly.

I wasn't sure what to say. Should I ask why? Maybe she was defending herself. I tried to give her the benefit of the doubt. I looked at Mary and realized just how young she was. She looked to be about 17.

"What was the reason?" I finally asked.

"I had anger issues. I would always get into arguments with her, and one time I just pushed her and she fell down some steps.." Mary said.

That wasn't a good answer. She killed her mom just because she annoyed her? Then again, I guess I'm not one to talk or judge.

"I see." I said.

"Do you know the stories of Dylan and them?" I asked.

"Yeah. Dylan raped some girls, Mike was a pedophile, and Kevin was part of a gang and killed some people." Mary said.

She said that so casually. I was tempted to tell her the real reason that I know I'm here for, but I didn't.

"How long you been with them?" I asked.

"Hard to tell how long it's been. There's not exactly a sun here to let you know when a day starts and ends. But if I had guess probably around 2 weeks." Mary said.

"Oh right I wanted to ask..Dylan mentioned "shadows" What is that?" I asked.

"No one really knows what they are. But they're shadow creatures that manifest out of thin air. If you're caught, they grab you and take you to the level below us and you'll be tortured for eternity and never get out of there." Mary said.

That had been in the back of my mind this whole time. Everyone, even the most ignorant person knows that Hell is supposed to be a place where people are tortured for their sins. Yet, here we are, laying down talking.

"How do you know this?" I asked.

"There was another guy that was in our group, his name was Matt. He had been here for awhile and told us all about it. But he was caught when he was out studying the door the 3 headed dog guards. We heard him screaming while the shadow creatures took him." Mary said.

"Why don't we just stay here then? Aren't we more or less safe here? It beats being tortured right?" I asked.

"You just got here, so you think "this" is fine. But it's not. And no we're not safe here or anywhere. Sooner or later we'll all get caught. That's why we have to get out." Mary said.

"I don't think this is fine, I was just saying it beats getting tortured. By the way, it's name is Cerebus." I said.

"What?" Mary said.

"The 3 headed dog. I read about it a bit when I was alive." I said.

"Oh.. do you know anything that might be helpful? Mary asked.

"Afraid not. I don't remember much." I said.

"You never told us your name. What is it?" Mary asked.

"Oh yeah. My name is Daniel." I said.

"Kinda nice to meet you, Daniel. You know, under the circumstances." Mary said.

"Yeah I know what you mean." I said.

Mary got up and walked away. I began thinking about my family. I was worried about them, but I knew they wouldn't come to Hell. They were good people. I only heard a few distant screaming now. I guess the screaming up here is people getting taken to the lower level. Once you're taken, there's no getting free, ever. Scary thought. Made me quite uneasy.

I realized there was no sleeping here. No eating, or yawning, or coughing or sneezing either. I just realized that this whole time I wasn't breathing either. I was in my "body" yet it didn't feel like it. I didn't even have a heartbeat.

Dylan and the others walk up to me.

"Alright, it's time." Dylan said.

I didn't want to go. I didn't want to do it. I knew the plan was foolish, and a million things could go wrong. And if anything goes wrong, we'll all be caught and tortured forever. But I had a tiny bit of hope that somehow it'd work.

"Okay" I said.

We left the cave, and started walking upwards a large hill. As we're walking up, all I see around is total darkness. We finally make it up the big hill, and I look down and I actually see something. It's a door, as if made out of rusted gold. And in front of it, was Cerebus sleeping. I couldn't believe it. He was so big. He was about the size of a school gym.

I wondered who made that door, and for what purpose. Cerebus is there guarding the door so no one can leave Hell, but why have that door there in the first place?

"Okay.. So Kevin, you're going to go at it from it's left. Mike, you're going at it from it's right. And.." Dylan said.

"His name is Daniel." Mary said.

"Daniel, you're going at it from it's center. Alright? Dylan said.

Of course they give me the most dangerous role.

"Okay" I said.

"Mary will keep watch for any demons or shadows, and I'll sneak up behind it and stab it." Dylan said.

There was no way that puny knife could kill that beast. But it did look special. So maybe it could. I told myself.

After awhile of silence, we finally go our ways. As I'm walking, I tell myself there's about a 2% chance of this actually working.

I'm about 20 feet away from it, when immediately it gets up. All 3 of his heads are looking straight at me. I look around to see if Kevin and Mike are in their positions. But I don't see them.

Cerebus starts walking towards me. I'm not moving a muscle, all I'm thinking about is that I got played and that I was about to experience severe pain. They tricked me..those bastards. Is all I could think of.

Suddenly, I see all of them walking behind it gently. They're headed for the door, and they're about 10 feet from it. They were going to make it, get free, and I'll be stuck here tortured for all eternity. No, they're terrible people. Why should they get free while I'm tortured? I wanted to yell when suddenly, Cerebus turns around immediately and all 3 of his heads grabs each of them, with the exception of Dylan. He's chewing on Mary, Kevin, and Mike and they're all screaming, crying out. I finally can move, and I run back, back up the Hill. I don't look back, all I hear is them screaming.

I make it back to the cave and I've lost what little hope I had. There is no getting out of here. It's impossible. Sooner or later I'll be caught and I'll tortured forever. And I deserve it. I'm crying in tears. Of course you can still cry here. I was alone. Those people were gonna use me as bait. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised, this is Hell. I should've expected to be backstabbed.

Well I can wait here waiting to be caught or I can actually look around here and significantly increase my chances of getting caught. Screw it, I'm going down in a bang.

I left the cave and went in the opposite direction of the hill to where Cerebus was. It was so dark everywhere, I wondered how anyone could possibly not get lost in this endless dark pit. I hear something flying.. I get down on the ground and look up. I see something. It looked so ugly. It resembled the Creeper from the movie Jeepers Creepers, but even uglier. I guess that was a demon. It had to be. I continue walking, hoping to see something other than darkness. I hear some screaming in one direction, so I go the other. After what seemed like hours of walking through total darkness, I begin slowing down. I'm just about ready to just start making a bunch of noise so I can get caught already.

When suddenly a few feet in front of me, a girl appears. Right out of thin air. She's laying down, looking upward, just like how I was. She opens her eyes and looks at her hands. I'm not sure what to do. I'm guessing she'll have the realization soon, but I surely don't want to be the one to tell her. She gets up and looks around. I hide so she doesn't see me. I hear her say "This can't be real. It can't be.." I'm looking at her and can tell she's realizing it, but she looks like she's about to start screaming. So I quickly run towards her and cover her mouth. She's fighting me, thinking I'm trying to harm her.

"Shhh, you can't make noise and cause attention" I said.

She's hitting me and trying her hardest to get free.

"Okay look, I'm gonna let go of you. But promise me you're not gonna scream. Trust me, for both our sakes." I said.

I let go.

She gets away from me and is looking at me from head to toe.

"Who are you and what is this?" She asked.

"My name is Daniel and this is...Hell." I said.

She looks at me for a long time, silent. And she starts crying.

"I know.. this is a lot to take in. Trust me I just got here not too long ago." I said.

She's still silent. Maybe I should just leave her. She's bound to get caught, and I don't want to get caught with her. But she looked sweet. She was about 23 years old, had blonde hair, blue eyes, and looked like she couldn't hurt a fly. But I reminded myself that she's probably not as sweet as she looks.

"What's your name?" I asked.

No answer.

I'm wasting my time. I start walking away.

"Wait" she said.

I look at her.

"Emma." She said.

"Nice to meet you, under the circumstances, Emma." I said.

"Come with me, we need to find some place to hide. We're sitting ducks in the open right now." I said.

"Okay". Emma said.

She follows me and I hope I can find another cave. I have no idea where the old cave was. We walk for awhile and I see a cave in the distance.

"Oh thank God" I said. Actually maybe I shouldn't be thanking God.

We head inside the cave and we sit near the entrance. I'm hoping there isn't anyone else inside the cave. I look at Emma and she's just looking down at her lap.

"You mind telling me why you're here, Emma?" I ask.

"I...do." Emma said.

"Okay that's fine. I won't judge you though, just saying". I said.

She stays silent.

I think about that demon I saw. Ugly, flying, and terrifying. But it didn't see me, so their senses isn't that better than mine. Still have yet to see the shadow creatures. Not like I want to. I wondered if there was other doors out of Hell, and if every door had a Cerebus. I also wondered if the river Styx existed. Maybe that was one way to get out. Now I wish I had read up more on Mythology.

"I want to leave." Emma said.

"So do I. But we can't. There is no way I'm afraid." I said

"There has to be a way out." Emma said.

I was tempted to bring up the door Cerebus was guarding, but I probably shouldn't.

"Right now just worry about not being caught. There are demons out there and shadow creatures that'll take you to a place where you will get tortured. Which is why we're hiding here." I said.

"There has to be a way out." Emma repeated.

I sighed.

"There is..but it's impossible." I said.

"What?" She quickly responds.

"There's a door out of here, but Cerebus, a giant 3 headed dog guards it. There's no way to kill this thing or trick it. Like I said, it's impossible." I said.

"It's not impossible, there is a way. I knew it." Emma said.

"I was with a group of people that tried it. Let's just say it didn't work." I said.

I heard someone come out of the deeper cave. I jumped up. I couldn't believe who it was. It was Dylan.

"Yeah of course it didn't work.. you just stood there instead of doing what you should've did, ran. You ruined everything you stupid idiot." Dylan said.

"You son of a bitch. You used me as live bait and you have the nerve to say that to me?" I said.

Emma looked so confused.

Dylan pulls out the knife.

"You don't have to worry about getting caught, because I'm going to torture you and then I'll have sex with that beauty." Dylan said.

"You're insane. Don't even try it you sick fuck." I said.

He runs at me and tries to stab me but I push him and punch him in the face, I grab his hand to try to get him to drop the knife. He punches me back and stabs me in my left shoulder. I scream. He pulls the knife out and stabs me where my heart is. I scream even louder this time. Emma comes up behind Dylan trying to help me, but he easily pushes her off him. He takes out the knife and is going to slit my throat when suddenly 3 guys come into the cave and throw him off me.

I'm bleeding heavily, and trying to not yell anymore. The people hold Dylan down and are looking at Emma and I.

"What's going on here? A bit of a cat fight eh? This isn't exactly the best place to be fighting for a girl you know." One of them says.

I can barely speak. But then suddenly I'm in no pain at all. I look down at my chest and shoulder and there's no blood or wound or anything. All of the pain I was feeling just seconds ago was gone. I look at the guys, they don't look friendly.

"We weren't. He's mad his plan to use me as bait didn't work." I said.

"Oh? Do tell." One of them says.

I question whether I should tell them about the door. I look at the ground where they're holding Dylan, and he isn't saying a word.

"There's a door, where a giant 3 headed dog guards. The door is a exit out of here. He tried using me as bait so him and a few other people could make it out but the beast wasn't fooled." I said.

"Interesting..very interesting. And what is this knife? Ain't never seen anything like this?" One of them says.

"It's a knife that a demon dropped." I said.

"Huh well you guys are just full of tricks eh?" One of them says.

"Haha well I'm Jack, and you guys are?" Jack says.

"I'm Daniel, that's Emma, and that dipshit is Dylan." I said.

"No need for namecalling. That's Chris and Jose." Jack said.

"Get the fuck off me already" Dylan yells.

They let him go.

"Now give me back my knife." Dylan said.

"Afraid that ain't gonna happen." Jack said.

Dylan looked furious.

"Give me it back or else." Dylan said.

"I don't like your tone, and that sounded like a threat. You're gonna regret those words. Get him boys." Jack said.

Chris and Jose both grab Dylan and Jack takes the knife and slits his throat.

They then take him and throw him outside and yell "HEY WHAT IS THIS PLACE WHERE AM I?"

I'm so confused why they're yelling and then I see it.

Out of the darkness the shadow creatures come out of. They resembled humans, walked like humans, but they had no eyes or mouths and they were pitch black. Chris and Jose come running back into the cave. Dylan regains consciousness and his throat is no longer slit but he sees the shadow creatures right near him and he panics and he starts screaming. Immediately, the shadow creatures grab him and take him.

"What an idiot." Jack said.

This didn't feel like the first time they had done this. Dylan was a jerk but I think that was a bit too much. Then again that's inevitable for all of us as long as we remain here.

"So unless either of you have a problem, I think I'm gonna keep this knife. Jack said.

"It's yours." I said.

Jack looks like he had lost any emotions he might have had long ago, when he was still alive. He looked to be about 38 years old, and looked like he'd seen quite a bit.

"So.. show us where this door is." Jack said.

I froze. I had no idea where the door was at this point. But if I said I didn't know he might do the same to me what he did to Dylan.

"Sure we can go in a bit there's a lot of shadow creatures near by." I said, trying to buy time.

"Yeah..no. We're going now. We ain't afraid, don't be a pussy. That's her job, pointing at Emma." Jack said.

All 3 of them laugh. Emma looks just as frustrated as I am.

"Okay." I said.

We start walking out the cave when I see something standing right at the entrance. It's a demon.

"Well well well, look what we have here. Some humans that aren't being tortured and instead having parties." The demon said.

All of us are frozen. Even the so-called brave Jack.

"You guys are gonna kill Cerebus huh?" The demon said, laughing.

"In that case I'll take all of you to Cerebus because I gotta see this." The demon said.

"Eavesdropping ain't polite, you know." Jack said.

I look at the knife that Jack is holding behind him.

"Oh a human with attitude.. You humans are all the same, so full of yourselves. But in the end, you all end up screaming, begging for pity." The demon said.

"Yeah well begging ain't exactly my style." Jack said.

Jack looks at Chris and Jose and they both run towards the demon while Jack holds the knife tightly and tries to stab the demon. The demon grabs both Chris and Jose and breaks their necks, and then he grabs Jack's hand and breaks it, and takes the knife.

"Ooh, where'd you get this? This shouldn't be in the hands of some lowly human, not that any of you even know what this thing can do." The demon said.

So it is special. I knew it.

"Well now I have 2. Thanks for the gift, maybe you humans aren't that bad afterall." The demon said.

He pulls out a knife that looks exactly the same. Maybe it ain't that special. He puts it back into his..skin?

"You humans with your egos. Thinking you could take down a demon. Not even if you had a thousand humans could you ever hope to compete with one of us. Remember that." The demon said.

"Hmm, where will I take you weaklings to be tortured then.. Oh I know just the pla-" The demon said.

He stopped mid-sentence. I was confused, but then I look behind him. It's Emma, and she grabbed his other knife and stabbed him right in his back. The demon falls to the ground. I'm looking at Emma, shocked.

Jack gets up, Chris and Jose get up too. Jack grabs the other knife and sticks it in the demon's chest. The demon is in pain but doesn't yell or scream.

"You were saying?" Jack said.

"You will pay for this. You'll pay dearly. You'll be screaming, begging for it to stop, and it'll never stop. Never." The demon said.

I go up to the demon.

"Tell us how to get out of here and we won't kill you" I said.

The demon laughs.

"You already know the only way hahaha." The demon said.

"Actually there is another way. But you'll never get to it." The demon said, still laughing.

"Tell us." Jack said, holding the knife to the demon's head.

"Oh it's only in the King's room." The demon said.

"What are you talking about?" I said.

"It's in the King's room. It's where we demons come in and out of Hell. Well the strong ones, not any demon can make it through." The demon said.

"What.. where is the king's room?" I said

The demon laughs.

"Screw this" Jack said.

He cuts off the demon's head.

"Why'd you do that? We needed him." I said.

"He was saying a bunch of bullshit. Don't tell me you actually believed a word he said." Jack said.

He's right. Trusting a demon isn't exactly a smart thing to do.

"We need to get out of here, this place ain't safe." Jack said.

Jack grabs both knives and walks out. We followed Jack for awhile. I was hoping he knew where he was going. I also was surprised Emma was able to do that. I wondered what she did when she was alive. The demon saw her and didn't consider her a threat at all, probably like most people did too.

We had killed a demon. That knife can kill demons, maybe it can could kill Cerebus too. But I couldn't help thinking about what that demon said. Another exit in the king's room? King? I'm assuming Lucifer. If that's true, I think the safer option would be Cerebus.

In the distance we see a demon with a bunch of people, throwing people into a cage where some hounds are. The hounds are tearing them to shreds, yet moments later they're back to normal, only for it to repeat again. The demon is just laughing.

"Let's kill this SOB." Jack said.

I had a bad idea about that. Just because we got lucky killing a demon doesn't mean we can replicate it. Jack hands the other knife to Emma.

"You seem to be the more competent one." Jack said.

Emma stays silent.

Jack sends Chris and Jose up to the demon and the demon sees them and shadow creatures come out. This is fucked. The shadow creatures go after Chris and Jose but they run towards the demon anyway while the demon is laughing. He grabs them both by their necks and the shadow creatures fade away.

"Well look at here, 2 volunteers for my dogs. How nice." The demon said, throwing them both into the cage.

Jack comes up from behind but the demon stops him.

"Appreciate the effort, but looks like you came up short." The demon said.

"But my dogs are always hungry so thank you for volunteering to feed them." The demon said.

I take the knife from Emma and hide it on my back and run behind and am stopped by the demon. He grabs me by the neck.

"Oh my, you humans are crawling out of the woodwork to feed my dogs! Any more?" The demon said.

He looks around and I take this chance to grab my knife and stab the demon right in the chest. It lets go of Jack and I and falls to its knees.

"....You..." the demon said.

Jack grabs his knife and cuts the demon's head off. The hounds in the cage are furious.

"Good job. Now let's kill these mutts." Jack said.

But the hounds were beyond enraged. And that cage suddenly didn't look as strong.

"They're going to get out." I said.

Jack looks at the cage.

"You're....right. We got to get out of here." Jack said

Chris and Jose along with the other people that were in the cage are yelling telling us to help them out. But suddenly the shadow creatures return and they've surrounded the cage.

Jack and I and Emma run away while the hounds take down the cage and the shadow creatures take everyone that was in the cage. Once again I don't look back.

The hounds are chasing us at full force. We have to kill them. There's 2 of them, and we're not outrunning them. But will the knives even work on them? I hoped with all my might that they would.

"Just remember, they can only hurt us, they can't kill us. We can kill them." Jack said.

He was right, but that didn't make it any easier. Both of them were going right for Jack. I guess because Jack is the one that killed their master. They jump on Jack and are biting all over him fiercely. I take my knife and shove into one of their backs. It squeals and stops moving. The other changes its focus from Jack to me. It attacks me when Emma takes the other knife and shoves it into it's back. The knife killed them. I was so relieved. I didn't realize it but Jack had taken the knife from the demon we just killed. So we now had 3 knives. Why do each of them carry a knife that can kill them? That doesn't sound very smart. Maybe they just underestimate humans too much.

We recovered and kept moving. Chris and Jose were taken, along with all those other people. It was just now us 3. What are those shadow creatures? And can this knife kill them? I guess I'll find out eventually. Maybe we could in fact kill Cerebus with this. Although I don't imagine a tiny knife being able to kill a monster of his size. But anything is possible I guess.

After a long while of walking and finding no caves, we decided to just stop in the middle of the open. It was completely dark, so it's not like we were that exposed. Plus that demon found us in the cave, so it's not like caves were completely safe either. Each of us had a knife now. A knife that could kill demons and hell hounds. But we were no closer to getting out than before. We killed 2 demons, and yet we had no way to get out. Even if we could kill Cerebus, no idea where that is. It's not like there's a map of Hell.

"So..what's your guys stories?" Jack asked.

Neither of us responded.

"I'll go first. I was a serial killer. I killed 5 women and 2 men. I was only caught and prosecuted for 2 of them. I was given the death sentence. If either of you are gonna ask why I killed them, it's because I loved them. Each of them. I loved all 7 of them." Jack said.

About what I expected. I knew this guy was messed up. I wasn't exactly ready to tell my story, and by the looks of it neither was Emma. But since Jack had gone, it'd be rude for neither of us to not go. Kinda funny how in Hell I'm concerned with not being rude.

Well I could either tell the story that I was a Atheist, or I could tell the truth.

"I was in a hit and run." Emma said.

I quickly looked at Emma.

"I was drunk driving and I hit a little boy and he died. I was so scared of going to jail and my whole family hating me that I just drove off. Weeks after it happened I couldn't deal with it. I was always depressed from that day and I tried OD'ing but it didn't work, so I just cut my wrists." Emma said.

She killed herself. Because of her guilt. That's a tragic story. Unfortunate how one poor choice of drunk driving ruined her life, and afterlife. Well now I have to tell my story.

"Well I-" I said.

Suddenly Jack's expression went blank and was looking up. I turn around and there's a demon right behind me. I reach for my knife.

"Oh don't stop on my account. By all means, continue on." The demon said.

All 3 of us rushed towards it when he kicks me and grabs both Jack and Emma and twists their arms and takes all of our knives instantly.

"Oh please, stop before you hurt yourselves. I just want to talk." The demon said.

This demon was much faster and stronger than the other 2 we had faced, we had no choice but to play along for now.

"I heard about 2 demons being killed and I was shocked to hear that, because I wasn't the one who did it yet I'm getting credit for it anyway." The demon said.

We were confused. What did he mean?

"You see, I'm what one would call, a "demon hunter". Yes, I hunt and kill demons. Why you may ask, well the answer is simple. Because it's fun. Demons are more of a challenge than weak humans. I long since got bored of hunting humans. It's like hunting ants. Easy, no fun, and boring. Demons on the other hand are significantly more strong. Which is why I decided to hunt demons instead." The demon said.

"But you're a demon." I said.

"Your point? It's fun, plus Hell doesn't exactly need so many demons. Since I've gone "rogue" all of them have decided to carry protection. It's quite funny, the predators have become the pray. So the king made them all these knives, that are capable of killing any demon. I see you 3 are already aware of this though." The demon said.

"Oh, so you're the reason every demon carries one of these? In case you try to attack them." I said.

"Good, you can listen. Yes, that is right. How funny that their protection has actually been the thing that causes their death. While they have their knives that are capable of killing demons, I have something greater. Before I went rogue, I stole this from the king." The demon said.

He pulled out what looked more like a dagger. It was different from the knives we had, and it looked old.

"This...can kill anything." The demon said.

We weren't sure what he meant. So I had to ask.

"What do you mean?" I said.

"Just what I said. This is as old as time itself. It belonged to the Angel of Death. But now it's mine. With this, I will kill the king." The demon said.

A million things were running through my mind at that point.

"Angels exist?" Emma asked.

"Of course." The demon said, laughing.

"Why are you telling us all this?" Jack asked.

"Can't you guess? It's quite obvious. You've killed demons, so have I. Hmmm." The demon said.

"Who is the king? Is it Lucifer?" I asked.

"Hehe Lucifer? Oh please I couldn't ever hope to kill a being such as him. Not that I would ever want to. Lucifer these days spends most of his time on Earth doing God knows what. Don't worry about him. The king is one of the oldest demon known as Astaroth." The demon said.

"Oh I forgot to introduce myself, how rude of me. I am Malphas." The demon said.

What is this demon up to.. We can't trust him. This is all a trick. But what other choice up do we have.

"Now I see the look on your faces. Why trust a demon right?" Malphas said.

"Well you have 3 choices. You can run and hope I don't catch you, or you 3 can come at me again and see if you can kill me, or you can join me. The choice is yours." Malphas said, grinning.

I looked at Jack and Emma and they looked back at me. We had to go along.

"What's the plan?" Jack said.

Malphas grinned harder.

"Leave that to me. All you 3 need to know is to follow me and do what I say when I say to the exact dot. Is that clear? Malphas said.

"You can have these back, you'll need them." Malphas said.

He gave each of us a knife back. We could try to kill him again if we wanted to, but he knew this.

"I wouldn't recommend attacking me again, that won't end up pleasant, for you." Malphas said.

"If you want us to trust you, give us that knife." Jack said, pointing at the dagger.

"You're not in the position to be making demands, and I couldn't care less if you trust me." Malphas said.

"This is far too precious and powerful to put in the hands of some human. Don't you understand what this can do? Use this on a human and you'll kill them. But not kill them as in send them to Heaven or Hell, kill them as in wipe them from existence. No Heaven or Hell, just gone. This includes both humans still alive on Earth and humans in Hell." Malphas said.

I was blown away. I hadn't realized that was what he meant when he said kill anything. I thought about what it truly meant to be dead. Being wiped from existence or being tortured the rest of eternity. Well the former didn't sound so bad. You'd be at peace, free of pain, and just gone. Like an eternal sleep. We didn't exist before we were born, so it's not like it'll be new. I looked at Jack and Emma, I could tell they thinking the same thing. I think anyone in Hell would make the same choice if given the chance.

"Hehe, I can tell you 3 are wanting this dagger, to use on yourselves, correct? Well can't say I'd blame you, sooner or later you'll be dragged underneath and tortured brutally. I've used this on a couple humans here already, because I actually felt pity for them. You see, not all of us demons are evil cold sadists. Well I do enjoy a good hunt, but humans are so weak that I consider you more like pets than worthy prey. But what if I told you, that in the king's room, there's a way out of Hell? Which would you choose?" Malphas said.

I had remembered what that demon said. That there was a exit in the king's room, but he wouldn't tell us where it was. But if we fail and get caught, then we won't get this choice again. He may have the weapon that can kill anything, but what if this is some elaborate plan and he's going to lead us right into a trap. Or even if he's telling the truth it can still fail and we'll be taken.

"How would we get out?" Jack asked.

"After the king is dead, nothing would stop you. I will warn you that the exit isn't as easy as walking out a door. It's more of a tunnel that you have to crawl through, and it ain't easy. Can't say I know why though, since I've never been through it." Malphas said.

A tunnel that you have to crawl through? I'm guessing the tunnel is unpleasant, but that doesn't sound that bad. No Cerebus or demons or shadow creatures to stop us? Sounds like a walk in the park compared to everything we've been through.

"Tell you what, you 3 think about it, and once we kill the king, then we can talk." Malphas said.

He had a point. Once we're certain we can go through the exit, then we can start thinking about the choice. Until then it can fail horribly and we might not get the choice. And the way he phrased that implied he wouldn't just let us die now even if we wanted to.

"You better not be lying to us." Jack said.

"Oh scary! It's like having a flea threaten you. If I wanted you 3 to be taken underneath, trust me, I'd have no need to talk." Malphas said.

"No more time to waste, let's go. It's a long walk and you humans can't fly." Malphas said.

We walked for what seemed to be forever. The whole time I was looking at the dagger. As we heard screams everywhere, I wanted to say we should put them all out of their misery, but that would take awhile and Malphas seemed to be in a hurry. I tried not to look at anyone.

"Why do you want the king dead anyway? Won't that cause some problems?" Jack asked.

"Of course it will. Demons have been relying on the king so long ever since Lucifer left Hell. With the king dead, they'll be headless chickens. But the ambitious ones will fight for the throne. And that'll be a fun time." Malphas said.

I looked at Emma and she looked like she was thinking of a million things.

"Emma, if we can, we should try to get out. But if things go wrong, I promise I'll do whatever I can to kill you with the dagger." I said.

Emma looked at me straight in my eyes, for probably the first time, and said with tears rolling down her eyes "thank you."

I'm not sure why I wanted to protect and save Emma. I barely knew her, she barely knew me, and yet I felt as if it was my duty to save her. I wish I had been able to meet her when we were alive. Maybe things would've turned out differently. One thought that I had been trying not to think about came into my mind though. Let's say we go through the exit out of Hell.. Where would we go? I doubt we'd be able to go Heaven. Would we go to Earth? But our bodies at this point are either buried or cremated. Would we just be ghosts, living the rest of eternity as ghosts? I guess that beats being tortured for all eternity. If I had Emma with me, I'd be fine with that.

I finally saw something huge in the distance. It seemed to be a huge castle. A castle in Hell. Now I've seen it all. And there were demons everywhere. How would we get past all them?

"This is it hehe." Malphas said.

"Are you gonna kill all those demons?" Jack asked.

"Oh no, I know a secret entrance that leads directly to the king's room." Malphas said.

I felt slightly better. I still had a bad feeling about all this. We're putting our fates into some demon we just met.

"Follow me, this is gonna hurt a bit." Malphas said.

He walked directly into some lava.

"What are you guys waiting for? Come on, before a demon sees you and you'll get taken and experience true pain." Malphas said.

I couldn't do it. I knew it would be beyond painful.

Jack jumps in and covers his mouth to not scream. He's in severe pain, his skin is melting off and his bones are disintegrating, yet he continues going into the lava. I look at Emma, she looks just as hesitant.

"We...have to. Let's do it together." I said.

I grab her hand and we jump together. It was like no pain I've ever felt til now. Nothing in my whole time in Hell could even compare to this. We went into the lava and Malphas pulled both of us out on the other side. We were only in the lava for about 10 seconds, yet it felt like 10 years. Our skin and bones grew back in a matter of seconds. And all the pain went away.

"Now that wasn't too bad right?" Malphas said.

His skin didn't appear phased at all.

"Who would put a secret entrance in the bottom of lava?" Jack asked.

"Lava is like warm water for us demons. It's more to keep pesky humans away." Malphas said.

"Now be quiet. On the other side of this wall are demons." Malphas said.

We walked down and down some stairs a long while til we reached a single door. We open the door and there's 2 demons right there. They look at us and quickly take out their knives but Malphas is much faster and kills them both with the dagger. I wondered why Malphas needed us if he can kill demons this easily.

We make it to another door.

"This is it. The king's room." Malphas said.

This door seemed quite strange, it had strange symbols written all over it. I had a terrible feeling about all this. This seemed so easy. We made it to the king's room this easily, just killing 2 demons along the way. This was too good to be true, I knew it..

Malphas opens the door and I look inside and see something unexpected. There was a throne deep in the room, and sitting on it was a beautiful woman. She looked very much human. She was tall, and had long golden hair. Her eyes were white and she had this aura around her that made me feel at peace.

"So you finally came." She said.

Her voice was strong, and gave me chills.

"That's...the king?" Jack said.

"Yes, Astaroth, it's time for things to change around here. Hell has gotten so boring, it's time to make it exciting again. And for that to happen you have to die." Malphas said.

"You are foolish." Astaroth said.

"Maybe. But these humans are going to leave Hell right through that tunnel." Malphas said.

I looked behind her throne and there was the tunnel covered by bricks. That was the exit out of it, and all that was between us was Astaroth.

"I see." Astaroth said.

She looks quite calm even after Malphas said she was going to die. Something's not right.. I looked at Emma, she sensed it too.

"Now, you 3 go towards the exit and I'll take care of the king." Malphas said.

Shouldn't we kill her first before trying to open the tunnel and go through it? What is going on..

"You humans should not listen to that cretin. He is only using you 3 because he knows my number one priority is to not let any human out of Hell. He is using you as a diversion so he can kill me." Astaroth said.

I believed her. Malphas had no need for us up to this point.

"That may be true, and even if it is, that's your only shot out of here. So go now." Malphas said.

"I'm glad you brought back the weapon you stole from me, Malphas. That takes care of having to go look for it later. Now you will be punished severely." Astaroth said.

Jack ran towards the exit. Emma followed after him and I was frozen. But I had to protect Emma, so I followed. Astaroth remained sitting down. We use the knives to break through the bricks and they fall easily as if they had just been placed. Meanwhile Malphas goes up to Astaroth.

"So? You're going to let them out?" Malphas asked.

Astaroth didn't answer.

We're almost through the bricks. I keep thinking maybe this is it. All we have to do is get through this and we're out of Hell. I look back and see Malphas just a foot away from Astaroth's throne. He takes out the dagger.

"So you're going to go peacefully afterall. Gotta admit that's kinda boring and anticlimatic, but oh well." Malphas said.

He quickly aims the dagger right at Astaroth's chest but he stops in mid air.

"Foolish." Astaroth said.

Malphas turns the dagger away from Astaroth and towards him instead and he stabs himself in the chest. Jack and Emma stop knocking down the bricks and look back as well.

"Hehe....you are div-..." Malphas said, before falling down.

He was dead. She made him stop his hand in mid air and made him kill himself. All without her even getting up from her throne.

"Stop what you're doing and come up here." Astaroth said.

We were so close. We were almost through the bricks and all we had to do was go in. But Astaroth's voice was so powerful that we just had to listen. We stop what we're doing and go in front of Astaroth's throne and kneel. I didn't realize just how beautiful she was up close. How could something this beautiful be so evil.

"It is wise that you kneeled. Not many humans have the grace to see me in person. You humans do realize you can't leave Hell, that is correct?" Astaroth said.

None of us responded for awhile until

"Can't you just let us leave? Please let us be the only exception. We won't tell anyone." Emma said.

Astaroth looked at Emma intensely.

"Your sins are not like the other 2 next to you, but I still can't let you leave. It's the rules. It's not up to me." Astaroth said.

"Whose rules?" Jack asked.

"Does it matter? If I said Yahweh, would that make you feel any better?" Astaroth said.

"Then just let Emma go." I said.

Astaroth looked at me.

"Loving someone else in Hell. You humans never cease to amaze me." Astaroth said.

I...loved Emma. Someone I had just met, in the worst place in all of creation. Emma looked at me, trying to hold back the tears in her eyes. Jack looked as emotionless as ever.

"Please, just let her go." I said.

"Not happening. You 2 will go down to the Minotaur, and she will go to the hell hound cages." Astaroth said.

I wanted to beg, plead more but I knew she wouldn't budge.

"Daniel, give me the weapon inside Malphas." Astaroth said.

I guess I shouldn't be surprised she knew my name. Why did she want me to give it to her? This dagger, the thing that can kill anything, even her. She wants me to hand deliver it to her. She knows I could just quickly try to kill her. All I would need is one second. But if I try and fail, she'll send me to an even worse place. And might even punish Emma just to punish me.

I pull the dagger out of Malphas, and wipe the blood off. I hold the dagger pointed at me, and give it to her and turn around to kneel back down.

"Good. Now-" Astaroth said.

I quickly jump back around and stab her knees with 2 of the demon knives. She drops the dagger she was holding, I pick it up quickly and stab her in the chest. I was so full of adrenaline that I make sure the dagger is as deep as possible, and twist it. She looks so shocked. She lifts her hand as if trying to do something but I twist the knife even more until her hand falls. The whole time she's looking straight into my eyes. She looks as if she wants to say something but doesn't.

She's dead. I killed her.

I turn back to look at Jack and Emma, they're frozen with their mouths open. I couldn't believe I did it either. I knew the demon knives couldn't kill her, but I was hoping they'd hurt her just enough. I looked at Astaroth. She was so beautiful. I thought maybe she wasn't evil, she was just doing her job. I almost started feeling bad, but then I remembered Emma. The person who I truly loved, and that I'd do anything for.

"You..you did it." Jack said.

"We have to go now, before demons come and find out." I said.

"You're right, let's go." Jack said.

I pull the dagger out of Astaroth and wipe the blood. I close her eyes because the look on them still frightens me.

Jack and Emma and I finish knocking down the rest of the bricks. The last brick falls and we see up the tunnel. It goes up at aout a 50 degree angle. The tunnel is dark and you can hardly see anything. Jack goes in first, then Emma, then Me.

As soon as I went inside the tunnel, I felt this intense pressure on my whole body. It was so strong, it was like forcing me to lay down. It made it that much harder to be able to move, much less climb up. It also got extremely cold in a hurry, just seconds ago it was hot yet in the tunnel it was freezing.

We climbed and climbed and climbed. I could tell Emma was struggling. We all were, but Emma was slowing down, Jack was getting more and more ahead of us.

"Emma, you can do it. We're almost out. You've made it through everything so far, this is a piece of cake." I said.

"I...can't. I don't deserve to leave." Emma said.

"You made a mistake, Emma. You're a good person, I know it. You deserve to get out." I said.

"Why do you care so much for me?" Emma asked.

"I don't know. But ever since I saw you I just felt this feeling that I had to protect you. Moments before I saw you, I was ready to give up. I had lost all hope and was ready for the shadow creatures to take me to be tortured. But seeing you gave me a reason to fight for. It's hard to explain but I just needed to save you." I said.

She starts crying.

"Come on, we have to go. The more we stay in here the more tired we'll be and we don't want a demon to come up from behind us to pull us back." I said.

"Thank you so much. I've never had anyone care as much for me as you. I wish I could repay you somehow" Emma said.

"Hey just buy me a drink when we're out." I said.

She smiled and continued climbing. Once again I thought about what was waiting on the other side. How much time has passed since I died? It's hard to tell. I can't even give a estimate. Well there's only one way to find out.

Far up the tunnel, we hear Jack yelling. "I SEE SOMETHING!"

Emma and I start climbing up faster to see what he's talking about. I see what it is. It's a bright light, but it's not white, it's blue. A bright blue light. As we climb up and get closer and closer to it, I'm thinking about everything I had gone through, both when I was alive and in Hell. Whatever was on the other side, I was ready for it. I no longer see Jack up ahead, I guess he made it through. Emma and I get closer and closer. As we're about 10 feet away I say something I've been wanting to say for awhile. "I love you, Emma."

She stops for a split second and says "I love you too."

The light at this point is blinding that it's hard to keep my eyes open so I close them and climb the rest of the way there.

"He's awake! Oh my God thank you."

"Danny! It's your mother. We're all here. I love you so much"

I hear voices. I struggle to open my eyes and when I do see a blinding light. I'm in a hospital. My mom, dad and sisters are all here.

I had remembered everything now. The car accident. Was it all a dream? Did any of that really happen? Everyone's talking yet I'm not listening at this point. All I can think of is where is Emma. Is she real? At that moment while everyone was talking, I felt something in my hand. I was so relieved, because it meant everything was real. I hid it underneath me and made sure no one would see it.

The next day, I'm in my home. It feels like I haven't been here in years, yet apparently it was just 2 days. I tried to look up Emma on Facebook and other social media, but she never told me her last name. She may not even be from the US. But she was real, everything that happened was real, I know it was. Emma slit her wrists and killed herself, so I'm assuming she should be in some hospital since she must've made it now. Jack was most likely killed again, after going through the electric chair. The cops probably freaked out when they saw he was still alive but assumed it was some bug with the chair, and turned it on and killed him for the second time.

I will find Emma, one day. Until then, I've gone to church every Sunday and prayed to be forgiven. I've done a lot of terrible things, but I hope I'm forgiven,because I don't ever want to go back to that place again. I wouldn't wish it upon my worst enemy. I hope Emma does the same, I hope she repents and gets forgiven. Even if I don't find her on Earth, I'll find her in Heaven. I buried the dagger that I brought with me from Hell. I buried it in a place that I can go check up on occasionally to remind me that everything I experienced was real, and in case I'll ever need it again.

I've been doing a lot of charity work, and donating to a lot of causes. Maybe you can say I'm still doing it for myself, so I don't go back to Hell, but I hope God sees it different. 