Chapter I: Hell

It all starts with a tragedy.

          Sean climbed into the bathtub and held the knife against his wrist. All those tormented nights he had lied awake, listening to his mother's screams of pain as his drunk father beat her senseless. The boy wanted him to leave forever while she wanted the opposite. If anyone had to leave it would be Sean, but he didn't want to be taken away. For years he tried to build up enough courage to protect her, yet every time he only found out how much of a coward he was. Self-hatred grew inside him until he hated himself more than he hated Father.

          He slid the blade into his skin. The sweet release of pain shot through him and he smiled in happiness.

          You know it doesn't last long, commented the voice in his head, but he didn't care.

          Now, he thought, I can feel the pain she is in and this way I'm in control.

          Suddenly, the bathroom door creaked open. In a strong desire to cut he had forgotten to lock it. His girlfriend Lindsay stared at him, trembling.

          "Oh my God. I didn't know it had come to this," she said, small and quiet. He stuffed the knife into his pocket and pulled her outside.

          "You need to leave."

          "But you're bleeding!" He pulled her back against him, covering her mouth with his hand.

          "If you quite down I can take care of it."

          It took her a while to stop freaking out. Her boyfriend was cutting himself. Did he just try to commit suicide? She knew his dad beat his mom, but she didn't know he was hurting this much. He must have been hiding it all along.

          He let go of her mouth and turned her around to face him. "It's okay Lindsay. I wasn't trying to kill myself. I just need you to be quiet. My parents, I don't want them to know about this. Just..."

          Feeling faint, he fell onto his back. The cut in his arm was bleeding like crazy. Reaching for the bathroom he pleaded, "The gauze, in the cabinet."

          There was no time to think. She immediately retrieved it and pressed an entire pack against his wound. Placing his hand over hers, he struggled to retain consciousness.

          "We should get you to a hospital," she said. She had never dealt with this type of injury before and didn't know what to do next.

          "That won't be necessary. I have everything I need to take care of it," he insisted, forcing himself to stay awake. He was so determined to keep it a secret.

          "Okay, I guess. Tell me when you can move again and I'll help you walk to the bathroom."

          They waited until the bleeding stopped and his head cleared. Then he went to the back to retrieve some tape. He washed and disinfected the cut before bandaging it. She was standing in his room when he came back.

          "Meet me at the park tomorrow after school and we can talk about this," he said. "I don't want my parents to find out."

          "You don't want to talk now?"

          "No, please go. Don't worry, I'll be fine."

          "Okay..." she mumbled before walking away.

          The next day at school, Sean avoided her. In class the other students chattered and scribbled in their notebooks while he sat alone, worrying constantly. If she told his parents they would surely hospitalize him, but would they ever let him come home? He didn't want to be relocated. He would learn to stand up for his Mother no matter what the cost.

          He shook his head in dissolution. Cost, what did that mean? Punishing his own cowardice until he bled to death? He'd already given everything in the fifteen years of his life.

          You deserve better, spoke the voice in his head, but all he cared about was making his mother happy.

          She deserves better, persisted the voice, but she would be unhappy without Father.

          After school he skateboarded to the park nearby. His body was in balance as the world flew past him, his mind distracted by concentration. Wasn't this what bravery felt like? At any moment he could fall but he kept moving despite the risk. Pain didn't scare him; he had already gone through enough. What was stopping him from fighting back?

          He could kill you, that's why. It's too dangerous, the voice warned.

          It was true. Father's actions were completely unpredictable. Even though Sean had found his courage, he had to be willing to risk his life.

          It's not worth it. There's another way, said the voice, but Sean wouldn't listen any longer. He would risk everything to stay with Mother; he didn't want to be taken away.

YYYYYY

          “I can’t take this anymore,” spoke Lindsay, breaking the silence. “If you can’t tell your parents, I will do it for you.”

          “No Lindsay. Don’t you see? This is why I can’t trust you,” said Sean, his hand trembling as it reached under his shirt. That was Tristan’s cue.

          He ran toward Lindsay out of the shadows, but before he could get in front of her, Sean had plunged the knife into her heart. He was too late.

          Tristan stopped in his tracks. All he could do was watch, horrified, as Sean pulled out the knife and she collapsed to the ground. Then Sean’s eyes flickered toward him.

          “You saw,” he hissed, raising the knife in his hand. Fresh blood dripped from its edge.

          Slowly, he moved closer. Tristan was frozen in place. He had never failed this badly. Why was it always his fault? This time, he couldn’t accept it. He had to blame someone else.

          Sean was right in front of him, ready to repeat his act. This is all your fault, said the voice in his head. You’re killing everyone out of selfishness. Just because you fear your father and losing control of your pain. You betrayed Lindsay and your mother.

          While he was distracted by his thoughts, Tristan grabbed the knife from him and stabbed it in his neck. Then he disappeared, leaving the dead bodies of Sean and Lindsay behind. No one would ever know what really happened…except for maybe God.

          Tristan knew he had to run away, but not from Sean. No, he would go with him…to hell, away from God. Or else God would punish him for his crime.

          Dropping his disguise and spreading his wings, he flew after Sean. The path to hell was a dark one. If he lost sight of Sean’s faint glow he would have to find another way. Hell was sucking the boy in so fast, Tristan could barely keep up.

          Suddenly, gravity took hold and Sean fell, Tristan gliding down to him. When the angel landed, Sean had fallen flat on his face. Tristan smirked at him without even noticing it.

          “Why don’t you wake him?” questioned a man’s cold voice. “I’ll let you do the honors, since it was you who killed him.”

          Tristan glanced everywhere but he couldn’t see anyone else. They were in an open courtyard, dimly lit by the gray sky above. Drawing his sword, he shouted, “Show yourself!”

          The man appeared in front of him, wearing blue jeans and a black T-shirt that read KILL in bold red lettering. He was the “perfect” age, like Tristan. This meant that he wasn’t young, but mature, without wrinkles or any signs of aging. He had all the characteristics of a demon: fangs, pointed ears, and a tail. What shocked Tristan the most was that he had the same black hair and blue eyes.

          “Who are you?” Tristan asked.

          “Who am I?” the demon repeated. “I am the one who led you here. I’ve taught you to listen to your pain, fears, and desires ever since God created you.”

          “You’re Satan?”

          The demon smirked, the mirror image of Tristan only a second ago. “That is precisely who I am.”

          “What do you want?”

          “Your services, of course. Just think about it. There are lots of things you could do as a demon, punishing the souls of the damned or capturing the souls of humans.”

          Tristan looked at Sean. He was waking up now, stirring slightly. Satan kicked him over onto his back and he startled awake. “It won’t be any fun if he’s unconscious,” Satan teased.

          “What are you talking about?” Tristan demanded.

          “Torturing him.”

          “What? I’ve never seen him in my life!” Sean cried out, staring at the angel in shock. “He’s not the man that killed me!”

          “Quiet, you fool!” hushed the devil.

          Tristan gripped his sword. “Do I have to?” he asked Satan, the tip of his wings finally turning to black.

          “Yes,” the devil answered with an amused smile, “but if you’re nervous I’ll tell you a little story first.

“I was once an angel like you until I rebelled against God. I fought against him, but he overpowered me and cast me into this place. However, that did not come without a price…”

          Satan turned his back to him and took off his killing shirt, tossing it to the ground. Tristan gasped at the scars. His wings had been torn from his flesh. When he faced him again, he said, “God cursed them to never grow back. You were wise not to make the same mistake. Now you are ready to prove yourself to me, by slaying this boy who cowers beneath us.”

          Cold sweat ran down Tristan’s face as he looked into Sean’s pleading eyes. As much as he hated it, he pitied him. Wasn’t dragging him to hell enough? Satan watched him expectantly.

          “I must not have made myself clear,” said Satan, drawing his sword as well. “Kill the boy or it is your blood that will be shed.”

          Tristan’s focus shifted toward the devil. Somehow he had to break free from the trap he got himself into. He tried to fly away, but Satan quickly stabbed him through the shoulder and forced him to the ground.

          “Foolish angel,” said Satan, twisting the blade inside his flesh. He cried out in agony. “I offer you all I can and you refuse, but I guess it wasn’t what you really wanted. If you descend to earth as a rogue, you will lose your powers. If you die, you will never be able to visit earth again and will face judgment. Of course, I cannot allow any of that to happen.”

          “I would rather die than clean up the mess you created!”

          Satan laughed darkly. “And what if you are a part of that mess? Then you know what your mortal fate will be. Eternal damnation. I will ask you one more time. If I release you, will you kill this boy?”

          “No. I will never be like you,” Tristan replied, glaring menacingly into the eyes of the devil. Satan pulled out his sword and blood spilled from the wound. Before Tristan could defend himself, Satan slammed the hilt of his sword into his head.

Reviews

[Achaicus]

This chapter is ver ygood, I'm not telling you because of some sort of politeness, because if i don't like something i say it clearly that it was bad, more likely in my language that it sucked heheh...but this is a good start of a good story. What I especially like is when satan turned his back to tristan to show him the scars, and the way you described it.

[Rob Santana]

Hi I'm Creeper. I think this is an awesome beginning to a very dark story. I love it. I see you've joined my group DARK REALM. I would really like to feature one of your chapters in our group. Since you're new to the group You have the honour to choose what chapter or whatever other writing you would like to have feautred. I really look forward to reading the next chapters. Let me know which piece you have choosen and I will feature it.

[Sheik]

I want to feature chapter two.

[Rob Santana]

You got it. I'm going to post it now.

[Sarafina7910]

Very good. It caught my interest. Looking forward to reading more.

[Hester Vane]

A good concept and a strong start. I particualr like the idea of Tristain being the voices in someone elses head. All I would say is that, in some places, the sentence structure and order of words stumbles the flow of the piece. But thats only minor and nothing a re-read and an edit wouldnt sort out. A great start though, you should definatley post more, its a great concpet with alot of potential for development.

[ShadowHawk]

Hiya, I like the plot its always a good idea to throw subtle hints as to what may come.

[Danielle]

I am already very interested. I hope we get to read more!

[ksmchick1999]

This is interesting. I like it, and I hope you post more of it soon!