Diabolus Adest VIXI

Chapter XIV

August 24th, 2025

I stumbled to my feet and pointed my shaking finger towards him. "You did this!"

The cell darkened. "Me?" Samael said, rubbing his calloused hands through his brown hair.

The concrete ground loosened into mud beneath my feet. I sank into it as it rolled up my leg. The more I pulled at the floor, and struggled to get my legs out, the further I was sucked in.

"What is this!?"

Samael's eyes gazed at mine, looking down at me. "All your choices have been your own. All I have asked is for you to choose, your life or someone else's."

"Why do I have to choose?"

"If you wish to reach the top, then someone has to be at the bottom. Is that not what you want, a far better life? If you don't want it, someone else might take it from you."

"What the hell do you both want from me!?" I shouted.

The concrete rode up my entire body. I rapidly breathed as it crawled across my face.

"Here and now, you will understand this. Understand what it means to be fully at the bottom. What's it like to be hunted with no one to help you? Survive, Domenic, take charge of your life, and if you do, we'll talk. Good luck."

My body plunged below into darkness.

When the light finally came back, I was standing alone in the unpainted cell. The ground reflected sparse fragments of light. The gate was open and rusted. It rattled as it swung open and closed with the wind. The sink lay splattered across the floor, and the toilet was removed. Low moaning sounds were coming from down the hall.

I bit my lip and clenched my fists as voices rang in my head.

"If we don't kill him, then we will be stuck here forever."

"Why would Lilith do this to us?"

"We did everything right. It was his fault."

The moans were getting closer from the very walls around me. As I looked at them under the light, they were faces looking at me. They were stuck in the wall. The more they pushed, the more it shifted.

"Kill him!"

"If I kill him, I could go back!"

"Promises would be kept!"

"Kill him! Kill him! Kill him!"

They gnawed at the wall, pressing, moaning as they clawed and tried to bite their way out.

My legs took me through the gate as I ran, but all of the walls carried the same message: Kill him!

I ran, stumbling and panting, towards the door leading upstairs. The gates of the cell were shuttering. The wind kicked as I passed them, followed by dreadful moans of men and women. My eyes turned back to see the moaning horde following behind me, trying to break themselves free. Hands were coming out of portions of the walls. Either from above or at the sides, the walls thunderously broke apart.

I shook two arms off as they lunged to grab me. Nearly losing my balance, I dodged a few more as a soft screech left my lips. I pivoted, and my legs carried me further down the hall.

"You promised me that you'd stay with me. That we would be together forever. Now we can both return." It was followed by a weeping noise. " Was this a test by Lilith? To gain my eternal beauty. There is beauty in the blood."

Up ahead, blocking the path, was a short, hooded, naked woman covered in splashes of blood with a young man under her. Dull, orange rays rained down upon the steps. There were others behind her, slouched lifelessly. They produced a heavy and festering scent that hung like a slaughterhouse.