Just Between Good and Evil: The Devil's Stray

Welcome to Hell

Elizabeth sat on what seemed to be the ground, feeling the rocks and pebbles with her bare toes. A bright crimson light stretched throughout the horizon and reflected in the sky and land. Everything was in blood red and black. She thought she could hear voices from a distance, screaming and wailing in agony, loud and consistent like insects in a hot summer's day.

Elizabeth did not remember anything that had happened before she came to in that cold, desolate place. What she did, who she was, and where she was from, she didn't know. All she knew was that this isn't what reality looked like and at the same time, it wasn't just a dream. She tried going through her memories, trying to find anything that could bring back a sense of what reality was, but there was nothing. It was as if she hadn't existed before finding herself here... but she knew she must've. She just did.

"There you are, beautiful." A deep menacing voice suddenly said from behind her, making her heart jump, but she did not move and her eyes stayed glued on the crimson light. "It's quite a sight, isn't it? People think this place would be all blazing hot and horrid, but everyone has different views on what hell is like. Thanks to that stinking book, most of these people think they're burning in some eternal fire." The voice chuckled at the end.

"How did I die?" Elizabeth turned around, finally snapping out of the light's trance. "And what did I do wrong?" She knew hell was where people were sent to suffer for their terrible sins and that it's the worst place anyone can ever end up in.

"I don't know the details, hun. I'm only the chaperone."

Elizabeth turned back to the crimson light, imagining herself screaming in agony, asking for help even when she knew no one was around. She hugged herself, trying to find the slightest bit of warmth in the coldness.

She was scared of what might happen. Everyone was sent to hell to suffer and she didn't think she was so great as to be exempted.
Her attention went back to the tall man.
"Where are you taking me? Uhm... Chaperone, sir." Her voice showed a hint of uncertainty. Even down in hell, she displayed her old fashioned, Christian-like, good manners that came with her oldfangled upbringing.

"To the king of hell." He replied with raised eyebrows, as if meeting him was obvious thing to do. The man offered for her to take his arm but she muttered a "No thank you" so he just motioned a 'ladies first' with his hands.

They passed by empty rusty cages with chains and cuffs, and ashen wooden slabs placed in top, some with names etched in them and some blank. "Reservations", Elizabeth blankly thought.
They went through a tall abandoned fortress that seemed like it could come crumbling down at them any moment. From there, she could see an eerie-looking castle in the near distance, made of dark red bricks and stones, surrounded by a wide moat of what looked like a river of living corpses, wailing and reaching out to the surface. The kind of hell that showed in their eyes were of the lost and misguided, as if they were thrown down an endless pit.

Elizabeth started crossing the wooden gate bridge when a hand nearly grabbed her bare foot and the shock made her let out a yelp and fall on her elbows.
"Stay at the middle of the bridge. Wouldn't want to be dragged, now, would we? Wouldn't want to look like them." The man muttered the last part while staring intently at the lost souls. Elizabeth couldn't tell if it was the expression of worry, fear, or disgust that he wore.

They carried on into the castle and went up more than a dozen staircases, and took turns in a lot of corners before they reached an enormous ebony double door with metal framing at the end of a dark long hallway.

"Here we are." The chaperone said and the really heavy-looking door swung open with a single push of his hands. On the other side of the door was a throne room, judging from the fancy chair at the far center. Marble statues of old people were placed along the sides of the room, walls were decorated with gory framed paintings and old iron weapons and shields dating back from who knows when, and on the ceiling was a fresco that looked nearly like Michelangelo's in the Sistine chapel, but little winged demons replaced the cherubs and fear was painted on Adam's face who was being forcefully pulled by what looked like the devil himself. It was the most messed up thing she'd ever seen.