Headaches & Hazbins: Book 1: New Kind of Life, New Kind of Hell

Chapter 17: Where Did You Go?

*Distant Rumbling*

[The distant rumbling of thunder echoes in the distance.]

Decades Ago...

The World of the Living...

♫Quiet Musical Dinging♫

[It's late on a crisp damp night. The rain unforgivingly pounds against the windows of the building, reminding those inside of the harsh outdoors. The only significant source of warmth and light in the incredibly dreary room comes from a brick fireplace against a brick wall.]

The Fire that roared inside you...

[The few remaining logs in it crackle as they burn against the tamed fire around them. The little bit of light the fireplace gives off dimly illuminates the room around it. It's hard to see what the room itself contains, but the dim light is able to reveal what seems to be a sofa, a coffee table directly in front of it with a music box currently playing on it, two reading chairs beside the fireplace with a night table next to each of them, a few bookshelves against the wooden wall, some windows for natural light, and a tv with an incredibly small screen which is turned off at the moment.]

Is long gone...

[A few windows lead from the outside into the room, allowing a bit of moonlight to enter but only enough to illuminate the windows and the area around them. On the far side of the room opposite the fireplace is a staircase that leads downwards to a dark unoccupied part of the building. The music box on the coffee table is playing a slow peaceful beautiful tune with some quiet dings and dongs. At first glance, the room looks to be unoccupied. However, that doesn't seem to be the case.]

♫Quiet Musical Dinging♫

Your spark...

[There appear to be two people in the dark living room sitting on the sofa. One of the people sitting directly on the sofa is a tall man with short black hair wearing a dress shirt and some gray pants. The rest of his appearance is hidden by the darkness. The only other identifiable object he has on him is a shiny silver locket around his neck and over his dress shirt.]

Your only reason to wake to the burning sunrise...

[It's Asher. When he was still alive that is... His eyes remain closed as he comfortably sits on the soft sofa. He takes in a long deep breath and holds it for a few seconds before releasing it. A second after he lets out his breath, a hand reaches up and gently cups his left cheek.]

The reason you found the will to live once again...

[Asher opens his eyes and looks at the hand touching him. It's rather delicate in appearance. Each one of its fingers is rather magnificent, smooth, and slender, and each one of its nails is painted a rich deep pink color. Asher then looks away from the hand and towards the forearm of the person. He then follows the arm toward the owner of the appendage in front of him. Sitting in front of him looking rather comfortable on his lap and facing towards him is a woman. Her figure is thin and petite, elegant even. It's hard to make out exactly what she looks like or what she's wearing due to the current lighting, but Asher can see her. And when he looks at her face and sees her smiling at him he can't help but smile back.]

♫Quiet Musical Dinging♫

Gone...

[The woman moves both of her arms behind Asher's back and wraps them around him drawing her closer to him. As both of their bodies make contact with each other she then tightens her grip on him nestles her head beneath his head resting it upon his chest. The woman becomes still as she rests directly on Asher.]