⚜️ Chapter 1 ⚜️
When Hell was created...
Lucifer
This Tower will be the fear and terror of Hell, my artistic creation!
It will be specially constructed with my instructions as it will be intended for the hateful humans!
I will lock them all in it when I get my hands on them! When I wipe them off the face of the earth! It may seem like a simple tower from the outside, but with magic, the rooms are recreated according to the needs that arise. So for more prisoners, new wings and cells are created, specially designed for each one! The corridors extend, the stairs become endless, and the cells even more! It’s one of my best inventions! The Purgatory Tower is my gift to humans!
Yes! This is what they deserve. They will suffer here, while we will take the place we deserve up there!
But when they are locked in the Tower, they must not escape in any way. Although I set the unique condition that only the approved torturers I have appointed and any human creature to be tortured can enter, this shield is not enough for me.
I have learned to think ahead of time!
Whoever tries to free someone from the Tower will surely be a human, similar to the prisoner. But even if something like this happens, I will make sure they don’t enjoy it for long...!
The Tower is ready to receive its victims! Before I start using it, I will place the last spell - a trap for the last resort.
The torturers are under my protection and guidance! Whoever stains their hands with their blood, will have slow but inevitable consequences: Their heart will be altered and corrupted! It will fill with my hatred for humans and be dominated by the desire to obey my will unbeknownst!
After placing the spell with powerful black magic in the form of an invisible trap that spread to the boundaries of the Tower, I poured a few drops of my blood into the invisible magical web that bound the Tower, making it momentarily glow and become fiery, a sign that it was activated!
I was at ease! I could deal with the other matters...
Present...
Demian
Lavinia told me that since we saved Raz from the Tower, I have changed. I am different!
Exaggerations!
Just because I enjoyed killing those scum slowly and torturously until there was nothing left of them, doesn’t mean I changed!
What did she expect? I was a demon. Such a thing was usual! Besides, I took revenge for Raz.... No. I didn’t even do it for revenge. I knew what they did and wanted to torture them to taste a bit of what they did.
When I tortured them, I no longer thought of Raz... I was absorbed by the madness that took over me.
But I love Lavinia. Why didn’t she understand that? We have a bond... How is it possible to forget that so easily?
It was as if she completely erased me. She didn’t trust me. How quickly did she rush to distance herself from me?
Did she really love me? Did she love me for who I was?
She was the first to distance herself from me! She insisted that I had changed. And the more she said it, the more I began to wonder if it was all an excuse to start distancing herself from me...
Yes. That must be it... She never bothered to talk. To understand each other. The only thing she had to say to me was how different I was and how much I had changed and that I was no longer the Demian she knew....
The more I thought about the words we exchanged, the more I began to believe my thoughts!
I was filled with disappointment. Disappointment from Lavinia, sadness that she didn’t trust me, that she didn’t love me... I felt hatred taking over my heart. The hatred was so strong that it suppressed every other emotion... It didn’t let me see anything else. While the main cause of my change was Lavinia’s attitude towards me, I felt the need to channel this hatred to the whole world because the world no longer mattered to me if I didn’t have Lavinia.
I remembered when I was unconscious, when I got my heart back. I remembered the terror I felt surrounded by absolute darkness. The only thing I sought was her! And when I thought she had abandoned me because she didn’t answer when I called her, I wanted to die.
That’s how I feel right now, dead! I may live, breathe, but I am not alive since she left me. So, nothing matters anymore. Maybe it was better when I didn’t have a heart! It’s all the cursed heart’s fault! What’s the point of having it when I only feel hatred? The hatred of demons? Cursed humans!
They will pay for this!
I gritted my teeth with hatred and abruptly got up from the armchair where I was sitting.
I must not waste a minute!
I called the legion generals.
- You called us, Lord?
- Yes. The time has come for words and promises to become actions. Visions and dreams to become reality!
I said with a sinister smile.
I saw them whispering among themselves, wondering what madness I was talking about out of nowhere.
- It’s exactly what you’re thinking! The time and moment of our rise have come! That’s why I called you here. First of all, give me a brief report on the state of our army! What is the condition of our forces in each sector and strategic battle plan, I want every detail and taking into account that we will face Terrestrial Angels and not a civilian population!
- Yes!
They all said in unison, with a hint of enthusiasm in their voices.
- I also want you to look for potential allies. Who is on our side! If we want to have a sure victory, we will need any help, but be careful! Pay special attention to their motives. I don’t want to have in mind that one of the allies might betray us at the last moment. Make them understand that this option does not exist for them!
I said meaningfully, with a look that said much more than my words.
After giving instructions, I started organizing my own battle plan before my generals brought alternatives. Only I knew what we would face... That’s why the word “mistake” did not exist in my vocabulary.
Then I will go myself to inspect the situation up close. To see our army and whatever else we have for the war!
Scarlet
- No!! Stop!!! Please....!
- Raz?
- ....no... I beg you...
- Raz... my love! Calm down!...
- No... Scarlet!... No!!!
Scarlet? The nightmare he was having was about me?
I remained still. Since we came home yesterday, both nights he had restless sleep. No. Not restless. He had nightmares. I thought it was random, but now I learned that I was part of his nightmare, his anxiety. I tried to make sense of his scattered words and shouts and understood that the cause of his fear and anxiety was me. I felt a pain in my heart from this realization...
I tried to calm him down.
- My love, I’m here!
- No... don’t do this to me!...
Seeing him so anxious and shouting in his sleep crushed my heart. What had I done to him?
- NO!!!
He jolted out of bed with a scream of pain!
- Raz!! Calm down, my love!
I whispered, hesitantly taking his hand not to startle him.
He turned abruptly, still lost between nightmare and waking, and pulled away.
As he began to come to his senses and his breathing slowed from irregular and rapid to calm, he told me:
- S... sorry, Scarlet...
- Raz... do you want to talk about what you saw? Maybe you’ll feel better...
He looked at me with wide eyes of terror.
- No. I’m fine... really...
- Yes, I see that!
I said, feeling hurt. But I softened immediately.
- ... unless you think I’m deaf or stupid...
- Scarlet, I’m fine now... forget it...
- Raz, I know your nightmares are about me! You were calling my name! Don’t I have the right to know why the man I love sees me in his nightmares? What didn’t you want me to do to you? What did I do to you, Raz...
He looked at me surprised. Maybe he didn’t expect me to understand what was happening to him.
- Nothing.
He said and turned to get out of bed, but I grabbed his hand, stopping him.
- I thought there was trust between us! Honesty...
I saw him tense up.
I approached him from behind and wrapped my arms around his waist, hugging him. He relaxed immediately.
I kissed the back of his neck and then his back, feeling a slight shiver pass through that part of his body under my lips.
He gently took my hands and unlocked my tight embrace. He turned to face me, but his gaze was lowered. He tenderly held my wrists, rubbing a sensitive spot there to soothe me.
- Scarlet... you know who I am and how I feel about you, right?
- Yes, of course!
- That doesn’t change.
- I know, Raz, but why are you telling me this?
- We haven’t talked at all about what happened... I don’t know what you think of me... after the whole ordeal...
- Is that what worried you?
For the first time, he timidly raised his eyes and looked at me.
- Raz... I don’t know your family problems, but surely a father wouldn’t treat his son like that....
- Scarlet, do you remember everything that happened?
He asked uncertainly.
At this question, I tensed up this time!
I remembered. I remembered very well. But I deliberately didn’t want to talk about it. Maybe if we talked, it would confirm the reality. I preferred to erase from my memory what happened and continue from where we left off. This reality I chose to believe. I hoped we would never have this conversation. I was still confused. Not about how I feel about Raz, because I love him with every cell of my body. But accepting what my eyes saw was something completely different! It disturbed my mind. If it were anyone else, it would be very easy for me to hate him for turning into a demon! But this is Raz! The one I love!
Now I understood that the nightmares he had were from his fear of how I would see him now that I knew what he was... because he didn’t dare talk to me, his fears took shape and form in his nightmares!
I must be careful with my words. I don’t want to hurt him!...
- Raz, do you remember when you were in the infirmary and your brother came in and confirmed what you are?
- Yes...
- Knowing you, living with you, helped me quite a bit to take this news quite calmly. Also, at that time, your brother reminded me how much more human you were than most men here on earth, and he was right. I understand that you don’t choose what you are, what was already predetermined, but you can choose what you will become in the future. A human can become the worst monster if they choose to. Just as a demon can become the most wonderful man in the world if he wants to!
- You could kill me right now, and I would be, besides wonderful, the happiest man in the world!
He told me as some tears escaped from his eyes, but I didn’t have time to wipe them because he pulled me into his arms, sighing with relief.
I felt his heart beating very strongly, hypnotizing me and synchronizing mine to beat with his, in the same rhythm of love!
- If only you knew how much I hated myself for not being able to talk to you about what I am...
- But that’s not all you are, Raz! Don’t let that part define what you are!
- I never accepted that part of me, Scarlet! When I met you, I hated it even more and felt even more guilty for daring to... fall in love with you!
- I, even now, have no regrets for falling in love with you!
I said and took his lips in a passionate kiss, calming the storm of doubts and guilt and igniting the fire of love!
