Hell Raisers

Prologue

‘Satan’ is a title commonly used among the folks in hell to refer to current head honcho of hell. The big bad demon that controlled the hordes and set punishments for those sentenced to hell by the Grim Reaper. In reality, his or her underlings did most of the punishing, except for a few special cases. The creatures that resided in the levels of hell, commonly referred to as hellions, usually didn’t pay any mind to Satan. Satan was a constant. His rule was part of hell; he was part of hell.

At least, it was until he disappeared. People didn’t notice at first, until things started to fall apart. Demons escaped eternal torture in Tartarus. The hordes ran wild, destroying the limited civilization that hell had. The worst of all though, was the portals to the Earth realm that weren’t being guarded by anyone. Demons were leaving hell and traveling to Earth.

This was when the Grim Reaper got involved. He postponed his customary soul-transporting responsibilities in favor of preventing as many demons as possible from stealing human bodies and using them as hosts. It wasn’t enough. It couldn’t have possibly been enough.

Demons sent thousands of innocent souls to hell to create armies. Small towns like Moose Grove were demolished. Alexandra Giovicci was eight when one of these demons harvested Moose Grove. She was eight when her soul was ripped by the Reaper’s scythe, leaving an angry red scar down her face. She was eight when she started training as the Reaper’s apprentice. It’d take another ten years after that for her and a merry group of hell raisers to finally repay the demon that took away her chance of salvation. A demon that recently acquired the title of ‘Satan’.