I still remembered that day.

The same day that everything changed.

The same day I saw bloodshed in Wichita, Kansas. 

"Hey, mom!" I yelled out as I peered through the window of my room in our two-story home, brows furrowed as I frowned in confusion. "What is it, babe?" Maria called back from downstairs and I bit my lip, wondering if we should be scared. "Why is the sky orange?" I asked, getting no response. I stepped down from the window, seeing the swirls of orange grow into a vibrant shade of crimson, mimicking the color of blood.

All of a sudden, the ground started to shake erratically and I screamed, clutching onto the bars of my bed. I couldn't hear my mom or my dad, but there was no that I could move, gravity pulling me towards the wall. I heard nothing but the sound of whirring as my ears started to ring in pure agony. My screeches as blood began to pool in the center of my ears went unheard as something began to make itself heard.

"TROY!"

I heard my name being yelled through all of the pounding in my ears and I kept my eyes shut, hearing my mother scream. Mom? Why was she screaming? Why did she sound so scared? With a loud clang and hushed yelps, her screams dwindled down to nothing and all I could do was sit and listen, hoping that whatever I heard was something totally different. Deep down, I knew that it wasn't because her scream was never full of fear like it was and it didn't sound like the sloshing and cutting of skin.

Though I didn't see my mother and father die, I heard it all.

So it puzzles me that someone like Maddox wants to punish me for lashing out at him for everything that he had done. Sure, the humiliation wasn't even really humiliation because a guy like me felt no shame. He could do whatever it was that he wanted to me. He could punish me for every single law that I broke, 5,000 times even, but I would never waver. I smirked, thinking of everything that he had in store. It still wouldn't make me give into him because like it or not, he was going to pay for all of my pain and suffering. He would accommodate my hatred. 

Like it or not, he would never tame me. 

However, that would pose an issue because my dear beloved sister feels that I should obey this man and his every command. As if I would ever.

I still remembered Jade's words as she gave me a fierce glare after a long moment of crying. "Troy, whatever you do," She whispered and I rolled my eyes, ready for another lecture after many. "Do not do anything that would make your problem far worse," She stated and I raised a brow. "What do you mean by that, huh?" I retorted and she sighed, already tired of me. "Don't anger that powerful man. Do not test him. Do not deliberately break his own laws in front of him, Troy," I put my hand up in surrender, knowing that that rule was already broken.

"You have no idea how powerful he is. Knowing you, you don't care. This time, Troy, he came for you and no one else," Why did she have to remind me of that? "Don't do anything that would make your death come sooner," Jokes on her, I wanted to die. 

"I understand, Jade," I nodded, knowing full well that I was lying straight out of my ass. There was no way she could know that though. She would have an aneurysm if I told her what went down since I got here. No, she'd probably be extremely confused as to why a man like that got his kicks out of sexually torturing someone like me? What was odd was the fact that she acted as if she had an idea of what happened to me. She seemed calm, worried, but calm. She didn't ask me what they had done nor how I was doing.

She didn't ask a single question but she gave me warnings. She cried and shed a couple of tears because I was gone, but she didn't ask a god damn question about how I was being treated down here and it made me wonder why she was acting so different.

I knocked myself out of the thought and proceeded to skip my way into the kitchen, knowing that this was the devil's hour and they would be nowhere near the good food. "Let's see," I grinned maniacally, throwing every mahogany cabinet open. I would've done a tour for myself to explain how beautiful the kitchen was, but I was too focused on getting my food. "There you are!" I screeched happily, seeing the newest edition of Lucky Charms in one of their many cabinets of cereal. Food like this, we didn't have in No Man's Land. This food was the sacred crack of our nation. 

"Oh!" I nearly jumped into the air as a short girl with black hair appeared from behind me, causing me to nearly spill my precious cereal everywhere. "I didn't realize that anyone was in here," She spoke clearly, adjusting the chef's hat on her head, beaming up at me. "I'm Stefani," She waved and I furrowed my brow, wondering why the hell she was so happy. She literally had nothing to be happy for because we were in the fiery pits of Hell. "I'm Troy," I replied and I watched as she walked over to start cooking, I presumed. 

"I'm the head chef here. My team should be in a little bit," She chuckled and I was absolutely confused as to what the hell I was witnessing. She seemed completely normal to me. The only thing odd about her was that attitude of hers. 

"A-are you," I furrowed my brows, not seeing any markings on her. Even in human form, Jexan, Nya, and Lexica had markings that were visible but faint. There were many ways to tell that they were a demon because they all had an accent that sounded the same as Maddox's but this girl, man. She sounded like me. "Are you a human?"

Her movements came to a still and she focused on the stove in front of her, her jaw tightening. "W-why do you ask?" She stuttered, providing me the answer to my own question. "I'm just asking because you have such a human name and from what I see, your pupils aren't shaped the same way that all the other demons are," I put the box down and she frowned, looking in my direction. She pinned me with a ferocious stare that let me know that I was right and proceeded to speak angrily.

"Regardless of whether you know the truth or not," Stefani narrowed her eyes. "It changes nothing," She gave me one last look before storming out of the kitchen and I wanted to follow her, to see if there were any other humans besides us, but I didn't want to chance anything. Especially now that I was one step closer to finding out the truth about Hell. Even if she was a human, she was wrong about me knowing that information would change nothing.

Because that changed everything. 

If humans were really down here, living it up, that meant that all of those sacrifices every few months from No Man's Land weren't really sacrifices. 

'What the hell, Maddox?' I thought to myself, knowing there had to be more humans. I was really counting on the fact that Maddox was a lot gentler and kinder than he appeared. Nah, it was all a joke. I opened the grand refrigerator, seeing cups of red and black liquid blocking the way of the cow milk. I wasn't going to question that because it appeared to be vile and I would very much like to keep my stomach intact. I snorted to myself as I grabbed the bowl, heading over to the island to eat.

There were so many things about this world that was abstractly similar to ours on Earth. There were so many questions that I had, yet the one important person didn't want to answer them. He'd much rather prefer that I hate him blindly than have him tell me what was the purpose of everything. I couldn't understand that man. 

"You should really be thankful that Sir Alistair is lenient enough to let even you live," A voice from the darkness of the shadows spoke and I grimaced, pausing the bite into my Lucky Charms. What bitch decided to disturb my time with my love? "Oh," I rolled my eyes, shoving cereal into my mouth. "It's you," A hiss came from the advisor of Maddox as he floated to the other side of the island, a watchful gaze examining me carefully. 

"Okay if you say so, hash slinging slasher," Jexan furrowed his brow in confusion, not understanding the reference. God, these people really did live under a fucking rock. "You know," Jexan folded his arms, shifting into his tall human form, his amber eyes gleaming into my soul as he sneered. "You're too carefree, Troy Morelli," He growled lowly and I raised a brow, wondering what that had to do with anything.

"That will be your biggest flaw." 

I smirked, not really hearing the threat in his tone. "Ain't I, though? It's much better when you just don't give a fuck. Less problems and less feelings. I do what I want without caution and that's why I can say I lived a better life than some of those fuckwits back in No Man's Land," I stated casually and Jexan took a step closer, studying my figure. 

"Is that what you think?" Jexan asked and I nodded, wondering what he was getting at. "Of course. Everyone there was too scared of those fucking shitty laws that your damn lord imposed on us, to do anything that they ever wanted to do. They call it being aware of such things so that they can live without any problems," I chewed on more food, almost orgasming at the taste. "But how can you live a life like that when you can't do what you want? I'm not saying there shouldn't be laws to prevent chaos but the god damn laws that your lord sent were completely preposterous."

I was sure that I was going to get killed on the spot by Jexan, with the way that he was staring into my soul like he wanted to reach into my chest with his bare head and yank my heart out. Yikes. "But they limited us and we had absolutely nothing. I ain't got no problem with laws but like I said, if I can't live the life that I want and be able to go out without constantly being attacked for simple things like being out after nine," I looked at him, knowing he knew that was a dumb ass rule.

"Then there is no point of living."

I looked at my bowl, seeing that it was empty. "Well, it was nice talking to you, fartface," I left my bowl for him to clean up since he knew everything so well around here. "But I have a life to go waste away in that room," I threw myself out of the kitchen before he could kill me with his bare eyes. Life was so boring here and I wished that I could go back to Earth. There, I wasn't on edge because there weren't people constantly trying to kill me. I was surrounded by my kind, who more or less understood the situation that we were in. Here, I felt lost and alone and I hated that feeling. 

In the middle of my thoughts, I bumped into a girl that was guarding a big and black door, no knob and only a hatch that opened from the outside. "Shrti lee!" The brown-skinned girl yelled, her dark brown hair thrown over her shoulders as she glared at me with her brown eyes. She leaned over to pick up what seemed to be a staff, dusting it off. "Damn kid. If you would've broke that, I would have no choice but to break you," She smiled sweetly but I could hear the threat in her tone. "I'm Troy," I offered, hand out for her to shake. I didn't know why I was making myself acquaintanced, but I was. She snorted in reply, grabbing my hand. 

"I'm officially known around here as Zero," The short girl grinned, exposing her fangs as a black aura consumed her small frame, her eyes turning black to exhibit her dark nature. "I am the guardian of the Black Hole," She tilted her head, licking her lips and I wondered what that meant. It had to be something bad because she was in charge of torturing people from what I gathered.

"But you can call me Kamryn Logan."

I stared in thought, wondering why some people had full names and others didn't. Was it a matter of rank? Was it up to the demon lord? What made them so special? I was just a bit curious as to why some of the demons were held of higher regard. "So you're the one who tortures, right?" She nodded slowly, pointing to the door behind her. "I'd let you see what's behind here, but I fear that you'll never be the same," She licked her fang, a malicious chuckle leaving her and I marveled at her display of status.

"Say, Troy," Zero spoke after a moment of silence and I raised a brow, turning to her. "What's your idea of a perfect happiness?" She suddenly questioned and that was an easy answer because I had never seen one. "I wouldn't know because your lord made it perfectly unattainable. None of us will ever be able to experience that type of lifestyle and guess what?" I shrugged, an unreadable expression coming into her brown eyes. "You have Maddox to thank for that." 

Zero stared at me, no sort of emotion coming through to me. "Is that what you think?" She murmured and I chuckled humorlessly, nodding. "Yes, what else would I think about the man who destroyed everything that I had?"

She went to speak but a loud droning sound caught us off guard. I clenched my ears in pain as Zero's eyes went wide with alert, her feet turning to dash off in the opposite direction. I winced as my ears started to throb over and over, my feet moving to run after her. I zoomed through the black hallways, wincing as my eyes tried to focus on the darkness, passing a few demons on the way. "Damn it, Zero! The hell you running for?" I griped as I spotted the short girl a few feet away, her mouth open as her hands moved frantically.

"Don't do it, Sir Alistair!" I heard her yell, but the first thing I noticed was how cold it was. It was hotter outside because we were in the fiery pits of Hell but where we were standing, it was extremely cold and I felt prickly to the touch. I stepped closer, eyes downcasted in confusion as the sound of whimpering filled my ears. "Availa?" I murmured, seeing my servant on the ground, her hands covering her head as she rounded herself into a ball. Her black horns were curled in on her as if they were offering her solace. 

Another whimper filled the air as a loud growl uttered into the silence. I turned my head to see a black mist floating around its owner, his black wings out in the form of a shadow as magma coated the marking on his bare body, making him look like the keeper of volcanoes. Eyes that were once gold turned into red, just for a little, before diminishing into a pure shade of black, eyes far too gone for reality. Fire began to ignite, swirling around the demon lord's body in opposite directions, his nails elongating into claws oozing with clear venom. I blinked at the sight before me, realizing that his hand, full of fire, was aimed at my servant.

There was no time to think. I just acted. With the push off of my feet, I ran over to Availa and wrapped my arms around her, protecting her from him. "What the hell are you doing!?" I snapped to the man as he stepped closer, all sense of rationale gone from him. "Isn't she one of yours?" How could someone be so cold and go as far as to kill people who had done nothing but worship and speak boldly of him? Maddox's grim and stoic face did not even dare change as he stepped closer, the ground rumbling between us. He spoke dark and rough, his voice sounded like the crushing of rocks.

"Move, Mr. Morelli," He held his hand up at me, a big ball of fire radiating from his palm. I clutched Availa's shaking body beneath me, wondering if I should be scared or not. I gulped, looking into obsidian eyes, the sclera melted into the pupil. "I'm not," I grunted in reply as a sharp wind started to swirl around us, having no regard for being indoors. The air slapped at my eyes, threatening to cut them with its blades if I didn't obey his every command. Availa shook in my grasp and I could see the demon lord getting angrier and angrier by the minute. Though I shouldn't have, the rebel in me continued.

"And what are you going to do about it, Maddox?"