House of the Nefarious

Chapter 1

I felt like I was dreaming, floating through the plane between life and death. I was filled with a sense of calm. I was neither here nor there and I was okay with that.

I could see a light approaching and I hoped it was heaven, maybe I would finally be able to reunite with my Dad.

The light enveloped me and it was warm, though not in the way I had imagined. It was scorching. I screamed.

My eyes fluttered open to be greeted by ebony and crimson. There was an ache in my temple and this was definitely not what I imagined heaven to be like at all.

There were no fluffy clouds, glowing angels and blue sky. All I saw was a giant hall with seven thrones and a poorly picked color pallet.

I pushed myself up off of the mat I had been laying on, wincing as my bones cracked with every movement.

I was pretty sure this wasn't heaven. I cautiously approached the thrones lining the front of the room hoping they could provide me with a clue as to where I was.

The seats were adorned with soft cushions, animals carved into the arms of the thrones. A lion, dragon, snake, bear, fox, swine and scorpion had been carefully etched into the stone with great precision.

"So you've finally woken up."

A startled shriek escaped my mouth and I spun towards the voice. A man stood near the door in what appeared to be a uniform, his pink hair swept back neatly to reveal two piercing eyes.

"W-Who are you?" I managed to get out. The intimidating man strode towards me a look of indifference on his face.

"I should be asking you that," he mused. "But if you must know, my name is Seokjin, the apotheosis of pride if you will."

"Apotheosis?"

He sighed. "Representation, embodiment, symbol, whatever you humans call it."

My eyes widened and my mouth fell agape. "Like one of the seven deadly sins?"

"Bingo." A small smile graced his lips as he adjusted the crimson tie strewn around his neck. "Now may I ask how you ended up in Hell."

My mouth grew drier than it already was. I hadn't done anything to end up in Hell had I? Perhaps it was that one time in eighth grade when I stole a bag of chips from the vending machine or when I tripped Eunha during summer camp for stepping on my shoe one to many times.

"Am I dead?"

He cast me an unamused frown. "No you're very much alive, if you weren't a demon would've eaten your soul by now."

I wondered if it was possible to get any paler than before. "I was pushed off a pier by a man straight into jagged rocks, I have to be dead."

He raised a brow. "And what did this man look like?"

"He had no pupils and his hair was white, his skin was dark so I think he was a foreigner."

"Was this in Daegu?"

"It was."

A look of realization dawned on him. "A portal to Hell opens up every millenia in the mundane realm, I have no idea how a mere human managed to get through it even if you were sent in by him."

"Him?"

"It's nothing you need to concern yourself with, I'll have to talk to Minhyuk about this." He paused. "Your name is?"

"Shin Seoyeon," I added. He nodded.

I was startled once again when the doors banged open. "Speaking of the devil."