i lied, this one isn't long LOL. it would be longer, but i wanted to leave a cliffhanger :V
oh welllll.
chapter two; hello, fallen angel.
It was immediate when it happened. Suddenly seeming like a harmless pile of trash, it was now something that would come from a nightmare.
Just as Taylor was about to open the trash bags and look inside for anything suspicious, he was blown back by a blast of oddly frigid flames and thick smoke.
Frozen in fear, Taylor looked up at the strange and frightening phenomenon before him. The flame and smoke twisted and formed into figures that reminded Taylor of demons. He saw people screaming in pain as they were being tortured by an unknown person.
Finally, he realized he was just laying flat on his back staring at something that was possibly deadly. He scampered up on his legs, grabbed his backpack that had fallen off from the blast and ran out of the alleyway. He ran out of the street, a mental map unfolding in his mind, telling him where to go.
In no time, he found himself back at his orphanage. He breathed a sigh of relief, while still remembering the strange thing he had seen. Should he tell his care owner about it? No, she would think he was crazy.
He entered the orphanage doors and was greeted by a plump old woman, who took his backpack and gave him a hug.
“How was school today, Taylor? I was getting worried when you didn't arrive at your usual time.”
Taylor shook his head, “Horrible as usual. I was used by people I thought I could trust...”
The old woman, Deborah, gave him a pitied frown, “I'm sorry, baby, maybe tomorrow will be better.”
Taylor snorted, “I doubt it.” He took his backpack from her and headed upstairs toward his dorm. He didn't have a roommate yet, which made it worse.
In all of Taylor's fourteen years of living here, he had never been tried for adoption. Sure, he had interviews with a lot of people, but no one seemed to want him. He sighed, what if he never got out of here? He was almost eighteen, so he could go out on his own once he was eighteen. He didn't need a family.
But then again, Taylor felt his loneliness surround him and feeling defeated, he sat on his bed, took of his shoes and laid there. He didn't even get up to go to supper, and when Deborah came in and asked if he was hungry, he turned down the offer of food even if his stomach gave a deafening growl.
He sighed and pretty soon, he fell asleep.
Taylor was wandering around in a dark forest. He knew he was dreaming, but he wondered why he was here. Dreams will be dreams.
A sound could be heard from the bushes. He realized it was the same sound that he had heard from the alleyway. Scared, he ran away from it, but no matter how far he went, he could still hear it.
Suddenly, something could be seen ahead, and it wasn't a pretty sight.
There lay thousands of bodies of dead people, with their hearts ripped out of their chests and blood covering everything solid. The smell of death flew up Taylor's nose and he restrained himself from vomiting.
He heard a ripping sound of flesh and his eyes focused on a large, half canine, half ram figure that was greedily eating a corpse's heart out.
Taylor wanted to scream, but he felt paralyzed. The creature noticed him through his eating and swung his head to look straight at him.
Piercing, red as the blood that stained the ground, eyes looked into Taylor's light green ones. Pieces of the heart dripping down the creature's chest, it smiled at him.
Taylor wanted to move and run. Run away from this terrible forest. But he couldn't, he was still frozen in place.
The creature unfolded jet black, and disheveled wings from his back and gave a strange roar, that was a mixture of varied screams and a growls of predators. It then launched itself at Taylor.
Not being able to do anything, not even raise his hands up to protect his face, Taylor found himself on his back, facing the creature that had pinned him down.
But before the creature could give a killing bite to the neck, it whispered something in Taylor's ears, the voice sounding harsh and ancient.
“
Meet me at the alleyway or you will end up like the poor people here.”
With that, it and everything around it, disappeared and Taylor's eyes opened to see his familiar room.
He looked at the digital clock on his bedside table. It read “3:00 a.m”
Taylor shook his head and thought about the dream. He wanted to go back to the alleyway now, but then again, it was just a nightmare. But it was so vivid. Taylor actually felt as if he had been there.
He remembered the name of street that he saw on a sign when he was running out of the alleyway, and he fumbled through his backpack, looking for a pen and paper to write it down.
After writing it down, he laid back in his bed, wondering what the creature was and what it wanted from him.
Deep down, miles underneath the Earth's crust, there lay a figure, who continuously gnawed on a bone. He was canine in appearance, but had goat features. Red ram horns adorned his head and his back legs were that of ram hoofs. His legs were all black skeleton, and the jet black fur that clung to him, hung loosely off of his skin and bones figure. He waved his skeletal demon tail back and forth and his glowing, pupil-less, blood-red eyes stared at nothing ahead of him. His black and ragged angel wings were unfolded and continuously moving up and down, sending chilling air into his chamber, and to the other levels above.
No light shone in this cavern. It was dark and dank, and smelled like sulfur and death.
A slightly annoying scratching sound was coming from behind the fallen angel. He growled under his breath and whirled around to face the noise.
“
Cassius!” He screamed and the scratching stopped.
A solemn canine face peeped from the darkness, and Cassius's master growled again, “When will you ever learn to not etch mustaches onto the frozen sinners?”
Cassius dipped his head, “Sorry, Lord Satan, I will resist.”
There was a rumble from Satan's throat, “Good.” He hissed.
He turned away from Cassius, “I need silence while I think...” He mumbled.
Cassius groaned, “Is it the boy again?”
“Yes, the boy. Don't moan at me, it is troubling that he is so scared of everything. I just hope that nightmare I sent him will work.”
Cassius just nodded and seemed to melt into the shadows behind him, leaving Satan alone.
Beyond the shadows in front of him, Satan could see the other two betrayers, Brutus and Judas, sleeping soundly in a corner, their heads bleeding from Satan's constant chomping on the only flesh available in Cocytus, his lair.
“What a joy it would be to rule more than just the underground...” Satan mused to himself.
Taylor hurriedly ate his breakfast in the dining hall. He inhaled the bacon and eggs and swallowed his orange juice in one gulp.
“Hungry?” A boy that sat beside him asked.
Taylor just nodded, and got up from the table, asking if he could be excused.
After being excused, Taylor ran to his room, grabbed his coat, ran back downstairs and flew out the door. He was determined to find the street, even if it took him hours.
And it did take Taylor hours to find the street again. Already the sun was dipping below the horizon as twilight fell over. There had been many calls and texts from the orphanage on his phone, but he promised them he would be back before eight o'clock, which was curfew.
Finally, he arrived in the abandoned and blackened street. He stood around and waited, and in an instant, he heard the whispers. Sucking in his fear, and taking a deep breath, he went into the alleyway, and at once, the familiar trash cans that sat at the end burst unto flame and smoke.
Taylor stood his ground this time, and after the scenes of horror passed, he found himself staring at a pair of red eyes. He realized, these were the eyes that he had seen in his dream.
The thing inside spoke in that same, raspy voice. It boomed and echoed as the noise bounced off the buildings surrounding Taylor.
“
Taylor Duncan... I have seen your heart, and I know your fears... You are all alone in the world, with no friends or family to help you... You are weak and pitiful, and require strength...”
Taylor tensed up, how did this thing know so much?
“Who are you?” Taylor shouted.
The flames seemed to intensify as the voice went on, “
I am everything evil, I am every sin and every scrap of hate in the world. My name is Satan, the fallen angel once known as Lucifer. Lord of Hell; the fear of the holy, and the revelations of the sinners.”
Taylor almost fainted. Satan, the rebellious fallen angel told in the Bible was real? Taylor didn't consider himself of any religion, and he never questioned the Bible, but now the truth was out. There really was a devil.
An eerie laugh flew into Taylor's ears as Satan continued on, “
I know you crave strength and power...”
“What do you want from me?” Taylor interrupted.
“
As I had said... You want power... You want to be known at school as not the loser, but the winner. The most cool kid on the face of the Earth. You crave acceptance from your peers... I have since watched you as a small child and I have felt your pain... You are just like me, craving power and having the world only grant you a turn of trust. From my small amount of pity I have for you, I have decided to share you my power... So you can witness the true feeling of being a king. You will fear no more, and I will guide you as a guardian and friend in every step you take...”
Friend? The word echoed in Taylor's mind. Lord of the Underworld, as a friend? And power... Satan was right, he did want acceptance. He did want to be powerful, and have pride in himself.
“
Well? Will you accept my humble gift of immense power, or run away, and continue to be the loser you are known for?” Satan pressed. He then held out a skeletal, and blackened wolf paw, “
Take my hand... I will show you the way.”
Taylor gritted his teeth, and looking at Satan straight in the eye, he said, “I will accept.”
Satan smiled and stretched out his appendage further. Taylor closed his eyes, and grabbed the paw.
At once, flaring pain welled up inside him, and he screamed out in agony. Beyond his screams, he could hear Satan laughing, “
Such wonderful screams! Dearest Taylor, you will feel my pain, you will feel my anger at the ones who let me fall, you will be me! You will fall from grace!”
The pain was so great, Taylor could hardly scream anymore. He wondered if anybody heard him, if anybody would come and help him. But he was alone as always.
But I won't be alone anymore... He thought.
Fire blazed all around him, in the buildings, out on the street. Taylor didn't notice, but he did notice the large amount of anger swelling up inside him. It came from nowhere, but Taylor expected it was Satan's anger, and he was sharing it with him.
The agony continued on, and Taylor could feel himself getting faint. Just before he could take it no longer, he heard Satan's voice again, “
You are mine...”
Then he saw no more.
:V i feel like i rush things too much LOL. damn you guys don't even know what taylor looks like besides having green eyes. i'll add something about his hair in the next chapter, but i know you guys already have some kind of image of him in your head.
and yes, for those who have read dante's inferno, i have depicted satan's lair in how it's described in dante's inferno. :P