Officer Barnes never really believed in a higher power, sure when he was a child he went to his resident synagogue every now and again, and he practiced the Sabbath, but the only Jewish custom he still did was kosher cooking and that's only because it's good for you. Barnes was a simple man with a knack for detective work and a utter hatred of his higher ups, Barnes didn't fight the system though, a friend of his once told him that to survive he had to keep his down and be compliant, but Barnes was tired of surviving, he looked around his crappy apartment by the train tracks, it only had four rooms, a bedroom that barley held his bed and a night stand, a full bath that made him feel claustrophobic, the living room which held a small recliner and a flat screen television that he managed to get a great deal on considering that it was considered evidence a few months prior(thank god for police auctions), and finally Barnes's favorite room in the apartment, the kitchen. The kitchen was always pristine and fully stocked, he may have been a cop but his true passion was in the culinary field. "Home sweet home he said as he threw his keys on the kitchen counter and collapsed into the recliner. Barnes felt a stabbing in his side, he reached into his pocket to retrieve the emerald glasses he stole from the crime scene.
"God Barnes what were you thinking? These were evidence, you could lose your job over this, or worse go to jail" he sighed as he inspected the frames, they were beautiful gold and silver decorated the green lenses the intricate design on the frames was amazing, it was like something out of a steam punk fan fic that Barnes totally didn't read. "Why were these so important to you old man?" he lifted the frames to his head putting them on slowly, the green tint making him nauseous but that's all they really did. "This is pointless, I threw my career away for some pointless glasses, and they don't even do anything!" he threw the glasses at the wall, surprisingly they didn't break as expected, in fact quite the opposite, the wall cracked. "Great how am I going to explain that to the landlord there goes my deposit, just like my job" officer Barnes got up and walked into his room, he collapsed into his bed, letting his mind wander as he slipped into sleep. Barnes has always had nightmares, as long as he remembers he has feared sleep, only giving in when he truly needed rest, for good reason too, the horrors that he saw would drive an ordinary man crazy, Lovecraft would be envious of the monsters that danced in his head. This time his dream was different, instead of the tentacles and teeth, there were shadows everywhere he was surrounded by the darkness, being slowly suffocated. Barnes screamed at the top of his lungs for help, trying his hardest to escape the shapeless creatures, to no avail. A familiar voice called out "the end is almost here, soon my children, your brother will return and we can finally put our plan into motion, humanity will fall and the darkness will consume the world as was foretold" cheering filled the room, as the creatures danced around in circles.
"Oh god, oh god no, please no" Barnes curled up in a ball tears running down his face, like a salty waterfall.
"Oh my, it looks like our guest is having a hard time, why don't we give him a hand" the voice echoed over the sound of stomping feet and ghastly screams, the creatures stopped and stared at Officer Barnes their bright red eyes glaring into his very soul. "You, you can see me? The man looked on with terror in his eyes, tripping over his own words.
"Oh yes indeed Officer, and may I say it is a pleasure to have such a competent policemen like you in my humble abode, it isn't often that we have company, why don't you have a seat" the shadowy creatures grabbed Barnes by his shoulders throwing him into a wooden chair strapping his arms to the arm rest.
"What's going on, where am I, who are you?"
"You're the curios type aren't you? Well to put things simply, you are in what is known by the humans as hell, what's going on is you have entered uninvited into my home and finally I am as you mortals say" the things parted to reveal a tall man in a black suit, his face was sunken in, his skin was pail and full of wrinkles, he leaned on a cane fashioned out of bone, decorated with gold and silver "The devil, though I do prefer the name Tenebris".
