Part four :The punishment
750 Words
The first thing Evelyn noticed...
...was the silence.
No screams.
No chanting.
No wind.
Just silence.
Her eyes slowly opened, and her heart nearly stopped.
The chapel was gone.
Cold black stone stretched endlessly beneath her feet. Massive pillars disappeared into a ceiling she couldn't see, while rivers of glowing crimson lava flowed beyond iron railings that seemed to circle an endless kingdom.
"H-Hello?"
Her voice echoed.
Nothing answered.
Then-
A pair of giant doors creaked open.
Six armored demons entered, their faces hidden behind black helmets.
"Move."
Before anyone could react, chains wrapped around their wrists.
"What is this?!" Daniel shouted, struggling.
Scoba kicked at one of the demons.
"Take these things off me!"
The demon didn't even flinch.
Justina had already started crying.
"I don't want to be here... I don't want to be here..."
Nessa glared at the creatures.
"If this is some sick prank, you've gone too far."
Then the room grew cold.
Every demon immediately knelt.
Heavy footsteps echoed through the hall.
Lucian.
He walked between them without looking at a single face.
The rulers of Hell watched from above, expecting his gaze to stop on the Pure Blood they had all sensed during the interrupted ceremony.
It never did.
He didn't even acknowledge Evelyn.
His crimson eyes were colder thanCeremony."
His voice echoed through the throne room.
"Do you have any idea what you've done?"
The six friends stared at him in confusion.
Scoba frowned.
"...Blood ceremony?"
Lucian finally looked at him.
"You summoned me before it was complete."
The temperature dropped.
"Do you know what happens when the King of Hell abandons an unfinished ceremony?"
No one answered.
"You don't."
His expression remained unreadable.
"And because you don't..."
"You'll learn what it means to steal my time."
With a single wave of his hand, six black doors rose from the stone floor.
Each door bore a different symbol.
Each one called to a different soul.
Lucian's voice was calm.
"You will each receive exactly what you desire."
Hope flashed across their faces.
Then he smiled.
"...Almost."
The smile vanished as quickly as it came.
"Take them."
The demons dragged them toward separate doors.
"No!" Evelyn screamed, reaching for Nessa.
Nessa fought against the chains.
"Evelyn!"
Daniel struggled to grab Scoba.
"Stay together!"
Scoba shouted over the chaos.
"Guys! Don't let them split us up!"
Their voices disappeared as each door slammed shut.
Silence returned.
Nessa pov
She stood inside a beautiful ballroom.
People smiled as she entered.
No one whispered about her appearance.
No one stared at her face.
Instead...
They laughed with her.
Listened to her.
Asked about her dreams.
For the first time...
Someone loved her for who she was.
Tears filled her eyes as she ran toward them.
The moment her fingers almost touched theirs-
They dissolved into ash.
The ballroom vanished.
She was alone again.
Daniel pov
He burst through the front door of his parents' house.
"I'm leaving!"
This time...
No one stopped him.
He laughed.
He ran.
He kept running until the town disappeared behind him.
Freedom.
Finally.
Then he blinked.
He was standing back inside his bedroom.
His father's voice came from downstairs.
"Daniel!"
Again.
Again.
And again.
Every escape ended exactly where it began
.
Scoba
Thousands of people filled the stadium.
His name echoed through the crowd.
"Scoba! Scoba! Scoba!"
Only one shot remained.
He dribbled.
Jumped.
Released the ball.
Perfect.
Victory.
The ball circled the rim...
...and rolled out.
The crowd gasped.
Everything disappeared.
Moments later, he was back at the free-throw line.
One last shot.
Again.
Forever.
Justina
She stood before a magnificent mirror.
The reflection smiling back at her was breathtaking.
Perfect skin.
Perfect smile.
Perfect everything.
She reached toward the glass.
The reflection stepped back.
Then another version of herself appeared beside it.
Then another.
Each one more beautiful than the last.
She looked down at her own hands.
Nothing had changed.
She was the only version that could never become beautiful.
She screamed.
The mirrors laughed.
Evelyn
Lucian watched through a wall of black flames.
The room was empty.
No illusion.
No screams.
No tears.
Evelyn simply stood there, looking around in silence.
"...What is this?" one of the demons whispered.
Lucian didn't answer.
He narrowed his eyes.
Every soul had a desire.
Every human had a weakness.
So why...
Why couldn't Hell find hers?
For the first time in centuries...
The King of Hell was confused.
And that bothered him far more than the interrupted ceremony ever had.
- Writer
