(Notes at end, please read.)

     Chapter 2:

     The room is large and open, though unlike the castle this place is full of colors darker than a bloody red. I remember glancing to a window and seeing the ground out beyond these walls, when the General had me. The ground here is a pale yellow-white. The people are tall; skin distorted in particular places and some even possessing the wings of a dragon, like...

     Shivering, I sniffle, wiping at the tears spilling helplessly down my cheeks. I miss you... As I sit in a corner, alone in the darkness, I wait for someone- anyone to come find me. I'm in his territory, though. No one is coming for me. It's cold here, so much colder than hell. I see no fires, no stones of a glowing nature, no charred ground that easily catches flame... nothing. It's just... cold. I sit here freezing, a thin blanket all I have to wrap around me, while everyone else runs around nearly naked.

     The glass doors to the balcony are suddenly open, and from across the room the man standing there looks like a demon. Eyes glowing a dark purple, the slits in his eyes a lighter shade of the colors. His wings outstretch to block out most of the moon, that faintly noticeable smirk on his face as everything about him is purely black, and screams death.

     "Come here, slave." I wipe away the remaining tears on my face and quietly sniffle, standing up and slowly approaching this man. This king. This killer. Word of this man spread like wildfire when the gods found out what he'd done. Hero was especially concerned. I remember Hero describing this man's parents to me. They weren't dictators, and this man didn't grow up with that influence. What eventually caused him to be like this no one knows, or no one cares to share. He just snapped. I stop, standing merely a foot away from him. I don't look up at him.

     The man spins me around so suddenly that I nearly fall from having lost my balance. The white strap he wraps around my neck prevents me from falling down, though, and with how tight he's tightening this collar it won't just prevent me from falling, but breathing too. I bring my hands to the white dyed leather and grip at it, the collar no longer being tightened as now this man must be satisfied.

     "You are to never take this off- do you understand me?" His hot breath against my ear brings a shiver down my spine as I flinch and nod. This man grabs me by my hips, fingers long and slender. I can feel his claws as he yanks me close, and I begin to shake. My back bumps his chest. He's strong. "I want you to go into the bathroom, and strip yourself." He mumbles directly into my ear, his grip tightening on my hips. His claws are long, and his nails are sharp. They begin to pierce into my flesh as I bite my tongue. He chuckles, lips so close to my ear that he's basically kissing it.

     He suddenly tosses me away with so much force that I stumble to the ground, landing on my side as I quickly scurry to me feet, putting pressure on my hurt wrist. I pull the wrist against my chest and face the man, biting my bottom lip now. He lifts a hand, but only to motion towards the door across the room.

     "The bathroom is right over there." He calmly points out, smiling. That smile turns to a wicked, evil grin very quickly, the slits in his eyes thinning. "And if you aren't stripped out of every article of clothing by the time I walk in there, I'm going to rip your clothing straight from your skin." I don't move, petrified as the color leaves my face. "10." He begins to bare his teeth in his sick smile.

     I run across the room so fast that everything begins to spin, and I stumble into the door, light headed. I hear him quietly call out the number nine. I open the bathroom door and I'm met by a pitch black wall. Oh god. I hear him call eight. I step inside, closing my eyes tightly and slamming the door behind me. It's so dark that even if my eyes were open my vision wouldn't change, and I begin to strip out of my clothing. I'm shaking so badly, and from in here I can't hear him counting. Just undress yourself. The shirt I'm wearing is just plain black, and there isn't anything special about it other than it being made of hell fabric. The fabrics people dress themselves with down in hell are different from normal fabrics; they keep us cool. My long yoga pants are made of hell fabric as well, and are also, completely black. My long sleeved, somewhat ripped shirt easily slips up over my head and I throw it randomly at the ground, wincing as my wrist burns in pain. Damn it. I grab at my ankle length pants and tug them off, not even bothering with my shoes as I kick my pants off.

     "2." I jump, as the King's voice is suddenly at the door, more dark and twisted compared to earlier. I grab at my maroon shoes and yank them off, pulling off my socks as well. I'm still wearing my-. "1." The door is suddenly thrown open and I jump away from it, tumbling into the darkness and falling to my knees. It's so cold... I look behind me, but when the lights suddenly turn on I quickly close my eyes, as these lights are a blinding white compared to the dim golden ones in hell. "Get into the tub." Just barely cracking my eyes open, I see the white marble tub in front of me, and reach out, pulling myself up by the edge. I crawl into the large tub, and seat myself against the farthest wall, shivering as I wrap my arms around my waist.

     The king shuts the door with a soft click, looking towards the mirror above the sink. He smirks as his tail unconsciously flicks forward, pressing a button on the wall to his left. Suddenly water begins to fill the tub, hot, steaming water that feels like it's scalding. From how cold I am I ignore the burning feeling and simply slip down to the floor of the tub, wanting to surround myself in this warmth. My hurt wrist feels like it's on fire.

     "Are you cold?" He asks, darkly grinning as he pulls his shirt off. His chest is covered in a multitude of different scars, some large, others small. It's like a battle ground. His pants come off next, and he leaves his own boxers on as well. Is that why he didn't take them off of me? The king presses the button via his tail once again as he climbs into the tub, sitting down, hovering over me. And then he frowns. "You're getting blood everywhere." He states, and stands back up as water drips from his lower body. I look down.

     Sure enough, there was blood seeping from either the bandage or my wrist, or both, but either way it was staining the already dark, murky water. I stand up in the tub, not looking towards the king as he sighs heavily, stepping out. I can feel my face flush, but as the hot water drips off of my body I begin to once again feel very cold, and I start shivering again.

     "ENTER!" I jump and step carelessly away as the king suddenly shouts the way he does, slipping back and falling back into the water, dosing myself and splashing the king. He growls at me, but the bathroom door opens, and Estol stands there. He blinks, lingering as the King looks to him and glares. "What?"

     "I brought you the juice you asked for." Estol holds up a red-pink, blended liquid, the glass it's in somewhat covered in frost. The king takes it without a response, turning his glare back to me.

     "He's bleeding." The king eventually declares, then downs most of the – what did he call it? – pink juice. I pull my wrist back against my chest, still shivering as now all of the water is gone. When I glance back up at Estol, his gaze meets mine, and I can feel my face flush.

     "Bailey can-."

     "Have Bailey stitch him up, then send him to the kitchen and teach him how to make a juice and send him back up with a lemon juice when all is said and done. I'll bathe him when he's back." The King grabs the white towel hanging on the towel rack and begins to dry himself off, setting the juice on the sink as he closes his eyes.

     "How will Sky get around?" The king stops, and turns his gaze back to Estol.

     "What?" Estol swallows.

     "He can't fly, Tox." Tox? "How will he get around?"

     "Have Bailey give him the syrup then, you idiotic bastard."

     "Yes Tox." Estol's voice is quiet and frail compared to Tox's. Yet with the General – didn't Estol call him Max? – Estol sounds more confident. Are they scared of his man that much? I swallow the spit building in my mouth as Estol helps me up, Tox tossing his towel at us before disappearing back into his room. Estol remains silent as I shiver, drying me off from head to toe before letting me step out of the tub. "Here." He begins to hand me my clothing, and I quickly dress, happy to feel somewhat warm again though still rather cold.

     Tox's room is very dark as my eyes adjust, said man lying on the bed now, staring at us. The moon shining in from the glass balcony doors makes his eyes glow brightly, and once again he begins to take the form of a demonic creature that deserves no place in any part of the universe. I shudder as we approach the large wooden doors.

     "Bastard," Estol pauses despite the awful nickname, and looks to Tox, silent. "Tell the General to check up on King Hughes. His payment is due soon."

     "Yes Tox." Estol mumbles before turning back around and leading me out of the room. Compared to the master bedroom, the hallway is... no, actually, it's still cold. Forget I said anything.

     There are two doors on either side of the hallway, and at the end of the hallway is nothing but a hole in the floor. The first doorway on the left (when facing away from the master bedroom) is open, a boy inside. He's silent, writing with a stack of paper next to him. We continue walking by.

     "That's Nova," Estol mutters when I look to him. "Tox's cousin." My eyes widen. He has a cousin? "Nova's a lot more, uh... sane."

     "I'm still suffering from insanity though." I jump, spinning around quickly as I come face to face with the guy. "Where are you taking him?" Nova turns his gaze to Estol, and Estol sighs, running a hand through his pitch black hair.

     "Tox wants Sky to be able to navigate the castle on his own."

     "Well, have fun suffering through that pain!" Nova declares with a smile towards me. He glances to the collar as I stare at him, concerned. "Nice collar." Nova pokes my nose as the little star charm on his own black choker jingles slightly, and then turns around and starts back for his room, tail slicing through the air in a playful manor. I look to Estol.

     "Nova likes to wear it." I raise an eyebrow. "Also, he was born with a birth defect. He doesn't have magic in his veins. At all." A dragon without magic...? "The star charm provides him with magic. Otherwise he would look human." I bite at my bottom lip and glance back towards Nova's room, remembering the last comment he'd made. Have fun suffering through that pain! Estol takes my good wrist and begins to lead me towards the hole.

     "Alright, come on." Estol's skin is cold, and as I think back to it so was Tox's. Their natural body heat is lower. "You're very warm, Sky." Estol stops at the lip of the hole, and glances down. I do so too. "But you aren't as warm as natural born natives of Hell. How did a human boy come about being Hero's most trusted individual?" His words muffle when I see the drop. It's at least five stories to the ground floor.

     The world suddenly blackens and this sickening, gut wrenching feeling begins to rip at me, pulling this way and that as needles stab at me, attempting to piece me together again. It feels like a hand shoves itself down my esophagus and grabs at my vocal chords, tearing them out as other things are being shoved back down, though what's being put into me I don't know. When my vision returns, I'm lying on the floor, staring at the floor as the sudden urge to vomit overtakes me.

     "I'm sorry." Estol stands over me. "I should have warned you." His eyes are glowing fiercely, to the point that his bangs can't shield their bright red violet hue. All of the shadows I've heard of, or seen so far, have had eyes within the color range of blues, purples, violets, indigos, and the rare black. Estol is the only one I've seen with red-violet eyes, and they're beautiful. The glow stops after a second or so, though, and his stringy bangs that fall to pieces once more shield away his eyes.

     Estol reaches down and attempts to pull me up, but before he can, I quickly turn away and begin to vomit. The taste is acidy, my stomach acids mainly the only thing able to come up though the very little bits of food that haven't digested fully come up too. It doesn't take long for me to stop, as I haven't had much to eat recently. Estol sighs and pulls me up, beginning to walk me off, not saying anything of the incident until a girl passes by. He stops her and directs her toward the liquid mess, and she complies without complaint, handing over a handkerchief. Estol gives it to me and continues to drag me along. I wipe at my mouth.

     "How's your wrist?" I swallow the bile in my throat, not responding. My wrist is throbbing, and the bandages are dark and stained with both blood and water. There's blood running down my forearm because of it. Estol glances towards me, but doesn't say anything more.

     After a while, down many winding hallways and passing by lots of people, I'm lead into a brighter hallway. This hallway is white and only has one door to enter and exit through, that door thick and heavy. There are a few people wandering around but all of them ignore us, going this way and that, too distracted with work to stop. My head is throbbing now too. The medical ward.

     "Bailey!" Estol calls and I flinch as a girl stops in her tracks not far off, emerald wings propped on her back and her faded green-to-black tail rather short compared to other dragons I've seen. The materials connecting her wings spinal bones is a pale summer green, the spinal bones just black. Her skin is dark, not tan but taint and corrupt, almost like a shadow. The skin on her body that isn't taint is tan, though. Is she a hell native? She can't be, can she?

     "Estol," She acknowledges with a nod, and turns her attention to me. "And you must be Sky." She begins to approach. "Tox called down to inform me I should be expecting you. I was told you were bleeding, an injury sustained from working with Hero is what he claims I'm fixing up this time around." This time...?

     "Tox wants him to drink the syrup as well, to make working easier." Bailey tenses at the mention of this syrup, green eyes darting towards Estol.

     "That's permanent." She objects. "I can't fix him once he takes it- he'll be-!"

     "I know." Estol's eyes seem weary. "But it can't be helped. Tox gets what he wants or the rest of us pay for it." Estol nudges me forward, and I tensely step towards this girl. She seems much older than Estol, around Max's age. Matured, I suppose... but Estol seems matured too. "He wants Sky back as quickly as possible, so I wouldn't take your time. Tox wants a lemon juice and he wants Sky to make it, so when he's done here send him off with someone to find Max or call Max down here to come and get him. Sky only just got here an hour ago."

     "Alright..." Bailey responds, glancing over me.

     "I have to go find Max, give him Tox's orders..." Estol mumbles to himself before sighing, a hand once again finding his black hair. "I have to go." He looks to me. "You're going to be fine, so just let Bailey do her work." I'm shivering still, but I give a faint nod. He frowns, fingering my shirt just briefly. "I'll send for a tailor as well." Estol turns and begins off, skin pale to the point that he blends with the white walls, yet the rest of him is like a black smudge on a white canvas. None of his skin is taint. I look back to Bailey. Her smile is tired, but warm nonetheless.

     "Let's start with that wrist, shall we?"

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     1.) Right now chapters are at a 6 page average; do you want a longer 7-10 page average per chapter?

     2.) I have a twitter for CurseOfTheEnder; do you want me to use it to give info or hint at chapters, ect.?

     3.) I'm sorry this chapter is kind of slow, still getting back into the story. Do you want me to speed up?