Inferet

I woke up to the sound of the fire still roaring around me. Startling, I go to stand up and find that I am on fire. *What the hell?* I look at my hands, my mind blank. I can't feel the heat, the fire doesn't burn at my skin like I expected. I look at the rest of me. I seem to be the same as usual, except my freaking arms are on fire. It is then I wonder where I am and look up. Nope, no longer in my cozy home by the ocean, but in an underground cavern where fires were lit every so often. *Did my house really burn down around me? If it did, where the hell am I?* "Hell is exactly where you are M'dear." I twirl around to find a gentleman, who looks about twenty-five. He is wearing a black suit, with a white buttoned shirt, with a vibrant blue tie. On top of his head sits a top hat, in his hands is an elegant cane. "Excuse me?" "You're in Hell." I gulp. "I'm dead?" "You were dead, for mere moments." "What the hell does that mean?" "It means, M'dear, you're now an occupant of Hell. Enjoy." He winked at me before a dark mist covered him and blinked out of existence. With his disappearance, the fire on my arms also disappeared. Harrumphing in annoyance, I turn back around and find that all of the fires have also gone out, leaving me to wonder why I can still see as clearly as though they had not. I just couldn't believe I was in Hell. I had to be dreaming, my consciousness playing a sick joke on me. The black mist was back, and it covered me from head to toe. I felt my stomach heave, and then I landed on a stone floor, knees hitting hard. "Inferet, it is a pleasure to meet you." I look up to see another man, except this one is wearing ripped jeans and a loose t-shirt that doesn't hide that he was extremely fit and in shape. He was holding his hand out for me to take. "My name isn't Inferet," I manage to reply. "It's...Crap, why can't I remember my name? Or much of my life for that matter...?" I look around frantically, all I can remember now is the house burning down around me.. Wait, what house? My stare goes blank. "Why have I forgotten everything?" "Don't worry too much about that right now; it's just a defense mechanism of all new-born Demons. You'll regain the memory of your life as a human, eventually." "Demon huh?" The thought didn't seem so abhorrent as it might have done. "Yes Inferet, and we should find out what you're capable of doing sooner rather than later." I nodded at that, thinking it seemed reasonable, but my mind was cloudy, and I knew I wasn't thinking very clearly. I breathed deeply and followed the man.. Demon? In front of me, and hoped I wasn't being tricked. Why would I be tricked? The thought crossed my mind, I was at home here. No trickery here, and with that, the last of my human skepticism left me, and my Demon skepticism kicked in. Thoughts such as, what do they want me to do for them, and I hope they better not cheat me of my due crossed my mind. But didn't that Demon just say I was new-born? And that they wanted to check out my abilities? Oh yeah.. so no pay then? damn it, I was confused. Then we entered a laboratory and I stopped in shock. It was massive. Twenty football fields would have fit in it, and the roof was probably about 20 stories high. "Woah. Is this necessary for testing me?" I asked, my voice holding awe. The Demon who was leading looked back, a cocky grin on his face. "We won't be testing you here, right now you're too unpredictable, and this is a very expensive place to just go blowing up." "Oh, right," I said, not really paying attention. I was looking at a glittery green liquid that was sitting on the bench. I went to go pick it up, but stumbled and knocked it over. All over me that was. "Oh crap." I said as the liquid hit me, and my entire body went up in flame. "Well, that was unexpected," Said a voice behind me. Turning around, I see a squat woman with a spaded tail, and little nubby horns, with a clipboard in hand, and lab-coat fastened tightly. "What's unexpected?" "That you went up in flame, but lived. Every one of my assistants died." "Oh, well how do I stop this?" I asked, not really worried about it, already having been on fire when I woke up. "Aww hell," came a voice from behind us, and the Demon was back. "What did you do to her Ingrit?" "I didn't do anything to the newling, she touched the green liquid, knocking it on herself, and I thought I'd be cleaning up another pile of ash, but this happened instead." The male Demon looked at me thoughtfully. "Peren told me you were unusual. To wield fire amongst Demons is definitely a rare gift indeed, and in one so young..." He trailed off. "Let us go see what else you can do." I stared at him. "And how do I extinguish myself?" I asked, really hoping he had an answer. "You'll figure it out, for now though; don't go setting anything else on fire." He smirked and walked back out. As I went to follow him out, a tall slender woman walked by me, giving me a wide berth, eyeing me with amusement and she followed the male Demon out the door. I followed begrudgingly.