CHAPTER-1

Dante

Waking up can be really harsh, especially when you are an insomniac half your life which meant treasuring the little sleep you manage to get. This tiny fact was the reason for crankiest version of me every morning. Looks like today isn't any different either.

Still feeling groggy yet uncharacteristically active, I tried to reach for my phone with eyes half closed, which soon opened wide as my hand found an empty space in place of my night table.

I blinked, closed my eyes and blinked again as streaks of light from above kept blinding me. Rubbing my eyes slowly, I pried them open. With blurriness fading and background crisper I tried to make out my surroundings.

Finding myself in an unfamiliar surrounding made the residual sleep vanish in a blink. Reflexively, my hand moved towards my pillow to retrieve the gun which always rests under it only to find nothing there making me bolt up into sitting position.

After few moments of heart racing to reach my throat and blood pounding in my ears, I managed to relax myself enough to survey my surroundings.

I've been in enough situations where I found myself in a unacquainted surroundings. Sometimes in enemy's compounds, often with overly excited women after drunk one-night stands.

Whatever may be the situation, my presence of mind and an ability to respond even at gunpoint brought me out of all those situations alive.

Hopefully, this won't be any different either. All I had to do was, find out where on earth I am.

Letting my eyes wander around and focusing my ears enough to hear even the faintest of sounds, I planned on making a mental map of this place to find a possible escape route but soon, all my coolness went down the drain as I found my surroundings weird as fuck.

There were no walls around me. I was on open land or wait...

Holy mother of Jesus! There is no land. There is no floor nor a roof and worst... there is no bed under me either.

I am lying there, floating in air without any support in between acres and acres of open... space?

A space with sunless sky marking the roof and a vast ocean of nothing but fumes without watervapour curling and eddying to form a silvery-white luminescence giving a false appearance of floor.

Is this some kind of sick joke? If it is, then I hope whoever is playing it run away as far as possible before I could get my hands on him.

Or wait, may be its not. I think I was in similar place earlier. That one time when I was 16-year-old stupid kid, eager to try all the drugs available out there and one of the fools made me try LSD. I spent almost whole day hallucinating all sorts of messed up shit that even after coming out of its clutches; I had to spend another few hours debating what was true and what wasn't.

However, that happened 10 years back when I was nothing but a stupid kid who had been an easiest target for every sort of prank those sick bastards wanted to play.

Now, no one on this earth could even dare to stand in 10 feet radius of mine. It's shocking that some twat was stupid enough to spook my drink. Well then, wait until I get my hands on you little guy.

There is something clearly bothering me though. No drug spares your nervous system. If I was under a drug influence, there's no way I could think this straight.

Whatever may be the reason, looks like there is nothing I could do until this drugged haze leaves my head. So deciding to enjoy the high while it lasts, I lied back, trying to drink from the feedback of my memories.

I remember going to Carter's hideout with 10 of my best men only to find out that we were trapped. We were too lost in wiping out his territory that we forgot to be careful. Even then, we managed to succeed in our mission.

Though we were outnumbered 1 by 5, my boys could finish them off with an ease. With Carter as our captive, we revved up our engines eager to be done with the day.

Unexpected attacks have their own share of difficulties too. We were all wounded. A bullet grazed at my shoulder and made it bleed like a bitch. It was just a surface wound, but the pain was a bit more severe than usual. Even after applying pressure over my wound, the bleeding wouldn't stop. A firm throbbing in my head added to my misery and as if its not enough, Victor and John's constant bickering made me want to get to my home as soon as possible.

Stepping on the gas I sped forward.

Suddenly, out of blue, a six-year-old boy was standing in my way with his eyes wide in panic.

Normally, I wasn't the one to give shit. Him being on the road was his parents fault, and so I wouldn't hesitate to teach them a lesson by running over the kid. It wouldn't effect me either. I could get away with murder of prime minister and a no one kid wouldn't even be a matter to be considered.

However, that's not what happened. Seeing the boy standing there, totally helpless, at the mercy of monster like me took me back to some other place and some other time. I couldn't think straight, so instead of running over him like I was supposed to do, I swirled my car away from the road into a big ditch. It would have been a easy maneuver if it wasn't for high speed of my car and unexpected steepness to the ditch beside me. Slickness of the road was last hinge for me to totally lose my control. I watched in surprise as my car tumbled over and over down the hill.

I remembered the airbags getting inflated and after that everything moved too fast for my liking. I remember my organs being felt like they were being crumbled and smashed into tiny box. My lungs being contracted with a force so brutal that I thought they were goanna fold into themselves. My torso and head smashed against the windshield repeatedly while my arms kept flailing around to hold onto something. The sound of crushing of glass mixed with distinct crackles of my bones breaking kept reverberating in my ears.

They say there will be a moment between perception, realization and actual happening of the accident where you see your whole life playing in front of your life. But for me, only thought running through my mind at that moment was how stupid my decision was and HIM.

Suddenly, everything became light and it felt as if my body was floating in air. And then, as if the whole ordeal was a fragment of my imagination, the utter chaos around me turned into nothing but darkness.

Now, as I kept reliving the whole nightmare, I could feel sweat building over my forehead. Fuck! I was in an accident. An accident which was a result of my messed up head. A big stupid mistake or may be a momentary lapse of judgement, which landed me in this place.

Wait. May be that explains this strange place. Maybe I m in a hospital with doctors sending very high doses of drugs through my veins making me hallucinate. Yep, that's right. There is no other logical explanation for this.

My body feels rejuvenated though. I started to examine my body for the damage accident left but was shocked to find myself in a perfect state. Not even a single scratch. How long was I in here for all those scars to get healed. Or is it another trick my drugged head playing with me?

Minutes turned into hours but there was no sign of coming down into the normal world. Its as if I am trapped in this white barren land with nothing but my thoughts accompanying me.

A strange feeling of helplessness started weighing heavy on my shoulders. Then, the loneliness. The sheer depth of my aloneness takes my fear to a level I never knew existed.

What if I am struck in this hollow space forever? Is it what people call coma? How long do I have to spend all by myself in this godforsaken place? Will I ever be free? Most importantly... Is this place a figment of my imagination or does it exist? If it does, why am I the only person here?

"Don't stress yourself son. You ll get all your answers soon, "came a booming voice from behind me.

My head immediately jerked in the direction of sound to find a man dressed in a perfect pair of dark black suit with crisp black shirt. He sounded older, but he looked not more than thirty.

Seeing another person after hours of nothingness felt good, but I am not the one for friendly chat. Not when I m in a mood which guaranteed death of any person in my way.

"Who are you? Where on earth am I? How long does it take for this stupid drug you guys gave me to leave my head?" I kept showering him with all the questions running in my head.

"Ahh questions... questions... questions. That is all you humans are good at. Your curiosity is what brings you to us most of the times. Yet, you don't seem to learn. But don't worry son, I ll answer all your questions. That's the reason I am here," he spoke.

We humans? Then what is he? A god?Jesus! Now I think I m stuck with this insane head. I think I d prefer being alone than to listen to his shit.

"Ohh no son. You very much need to listen to my shit. I m your only source of answers," he said making my eyes go wide.

WTF! How can he read my thoughts?

"You ll understand everything once I answer your basic questions son," he answered my unspoken question again.

"You my dear, aren't anywhere on earth," his words made my eyebrows scrunch together in confusion.

"Welcome to my world kid. HELL as you call it," he continued making my head reel. I must make this crazy guy stop spewing shit.

" Hell? seriously buddy? You should have thought of a better prank. I don't believe in that shit,"I said in a reasonable voice but all the while the urge to snap this guy's neck kept growing inside me. I would have done so already, only if my limbs dint feel like a jello all of a sudden. What's happening here?

"What you believe and what you don't don't matter son. Now that you are here, you ll learn it for yourself," he said as if he is talking to a stubborn child.

"By the way, the way I m Bael. One of the rulers of hell," he proudly announced. I dint reply him as my head kept reeling with all the possibilities.

Can it be true? Am I really in hell? No it can't be true. There is no place called hell. It's just a fragment of over creative imagination of few people.

Even if it exists, I can't be here. I can't be dead so soon. There is a lot more I had to do. All my life I have been working for only one thing and right now; I am just a step away from getting it. No way, I could die right now.

"No... That can't be true," I wondered out loud.

"Oh, the denial. But son, it is. Don't you remember being in an accident?" he asked smiling. How I wanted to break all his teeth.

"I do," I answered trying to control my rage.

"Good. It's solved then. Do you really think you could have survived that brutal accident even after taking worst of it?"His amusement at my situation wasn't helping my case either. I m just a moment away from snapping. But in the back of my head, the terrifying thought of all this being true kept dominating all my other thoughts.

Is this true? Am I really dead then? What about HIM now? Who will take care of HIM? Why dint I think of this possibility earlier? Why did I keep him hidden from the world all this time?

Maybe I should have been given some sort of sign so that I could have completed my tasks. At the least, I could have appointed a care taker for him. The mere thought of not being able to see him again and the possibility of him being at the mercy of someone else sent a shudder down my spine.

Its not fair. He doesnt deserve this. Maybe I did. God knows I did deserve every worst thing out there but he dint. He needs me, and these people can't make me abandon him all of a sudden.

"Ahh... the anger now. Look son, it happened. You are here in my world now. I ll leave you to get adjusted to your new home, but before I leave, I ll let you know the reason I am here," he spoke in a authoritative voice.

"When the next bell rings, one of my men will be here to bring you to the ring. Follow him and you ll find the biggest surprise of your life," he continued making me release a sarcastic laugh.

"This thing whatever is going on here, is the biggest surprise of my life. Nothing can beat this I guess," I said.

"Oh trust me son. What we have in mind for you surely does, "he replied.

"No offence Mr. umm..Bael?" I turned towards him not sure if I caught his name right for which he nodded.

" I really don't like your surprises. So I think I ll pass," I said with a shrug. I am already dead. What can be more surprising than that.

"If you think you have a choice son, then you are wrong. You ll be there. By choice or by force. But trust me, you wouldn't want to anger the Lord. You need to be on his good side to survive coming days," he said with a smug smile playing on his face all the while.

"Look man, if you want to be cryptic and play this mind games of yours, you can do it somewhere else. I am already pretty pissed and a minute away from snapping that tiny neck of yours. Do not test my patience further." My voice would make most of the men cower in fear but this man dint even lose the smirk on his face.

"I like your attitude son. Save some of it for the game," he said.

"Game?" I asked with my eyebrows raised.

"Yes. An annual ritual and you my boy, are lucky enough to get selected to be participating in it," he answered. Lucky my ass! If I was least bit lucky I wouldn't even be here. But what the hell is he talking about? What's this game? But most importantly..

"What's in it for me?" I voiced my doubt.

"Always a deal maker huh? People die but their habits wont," he said shaking his head.

"What's in it for you? You ll get something you are craving the most right now son," he continued, going back to cryptic answers.Something I am craving the most? What can it be? Then suddenly it hit me like a bucket of cold water.

"My life?" I murmured.

"May be son. May be. Be on time and you may get all your questions answered."

With that, he turned back and left with a toad and a cat in tow, leaving me behind, with a mind plagued with questions and heart filled with hope.