I

| PROLOGUE |

What was this place? It had no start nor end to it. The neverending valley continued onward, the green blades of grass brushing against her ankles with the sky in a burst of colors that you'd only see in paintings. Different shades of blue, purple, and pink aligned the sky with stars becoming figures when connected. How long had Eliana been here? Minutes? Hours? Days? To her it felt like years, having to be trapped in this cage that was oh so beautiful. The whispers and soft singing came from no one yet it was all around her and they never stopped no matter how many times she cried out for help. The words the whispers spoke were in hundreds of different languages that Eliana didn't understand and they were so jumbled together it was hard to even make out a single sentence. Despite seeing no one in sight, she felt like all eyes were on her and stared down at her with a mixture of hope, pity, and maybe even a little disapproval. Having to see the same field of grass each time made Eliana almost sick to her stomach. Every attempt at leaving this place was futile and there was little to no point in trying to leave. When she tried to sleep, the voices grew louder and so did the singing to where the mixture of the millions of different tones made her ears bleed. When she tried to run, it was like she wasn't even moving from her spot despite seeing her legs move. When she tried to call out for help, for anyone to wake her up from this horrifying dream, no one came to her aid and she was only met with the chatter of the souls above.

This "dreamscape", as one would call it, was both beautiful and horrifying. Eliana wondered if she was dead, having only remembered the sickening tragedy that came before everything went black.

It was a normal day. Normal like any other day. People walked down the street, shopped, hanged out by the park, and shared a laugh or two with friends. A normal, boring day, one Eliana would soon miss. She was walking home from school, shoulders aching from the weight of her backpack and legs throbbing from the long walk. Only a few more blocks down and she would finally be home to wait for her Uncle Marcus to return home from a long day at work as a pastor. Uncle Marcus was a gentle yet hard-headed man, always working for what he believes in and preaching the word of God to everyone who would listen. Once Eliana's parents passed away, Marcus took her in as his own- teaching her a thing or two about the bible and sending her off to catholic school. Eliana loved him, very much, and always looked up to him since she was little.

Thinking about him brought a tear to her eye.

That boring day soon turned into something more. A feeling of dread washed over Eliana before she could even turn to the left and down the street. The ground began to rumble and crack the street. An earthquake? No reporter said anything about an earthquake, not even a slight chance of rain. Everyone screamed and tried to stand upright, their legs almost giving out on them. The road began to crack beneath their feet and people hurried away from it in an attempt to not fall in a possible sinkhole. Backing away slowly, Eliana grabbed a hold of the nearest lamp post and held onto the cool metal tightly in her small hands. What was going on? The ground was now shaking more and more violently this time and everyone else tried to take cover or grab onto anything near them. A thunderous roar came from nowhere, sending a chill down her spine. Goosebumps and hair were now at attention, the dread growing in the deep pit of her stomach. The shaking stopped after the deep and loud yell, being louder than the screams of a thousand people. They all froze in place, all stuck with fear. Eliana let go of the post with trembling hands and legs, stepping into view of what everyone was seeing.

In front of them was a large hole in the ground, distant cries of the damned below reaching out to the skies above with fear etched faces and hope just within reach only to find that the hope they desperately wanted could not be grabbed. In the hole leading to the deep and fiery underworld, a large hand grabbed a hold of the ground and pulled itself up with claws digging into the asphalt. A sneer and ravenous look were on its face, eyes red with evil and a small hint of relief. Chains rattled through the thick silence, broken and worn out- rust collecting on the metal and digging into its grey leather flesh. The large and tall figure that stood seven feet was built for war, broad and scared from the many years in the pit. Black hair was clumped together, not having been brushed or washed, and reached almost below its waist.

The devil grinned wickedly, teeth sharp and ready to tear apart anything that breathed and stood in his path. Another ear-piercing lion roar left his throat, glass from the buildings shattering all around him with arms stretched out. Four large and broken wings reached to the heavens they once soured, the color of its feathers once orange and pink as the morning sun rising but now they were spotted with black and barely holding onto its base.

Many regained their senses and turned their backs to Satan and ran, screaming while witnessing many be crushed under crumbling buildings with demons laughing happily while slaughtering the men, women, and children. Eliana ran as well after she heard his roar, trying her best not to stumble and trip over her own two feet while the ground shook once more. Crimson red was painted all over the streets, bodies piling one after the other. Screams were cut off by their blood choking them out, fear, and terror being the last thing they see. Buildings turned into piles of brick and rock in a matter of seconds, crushing and trapping those unfortunate under their weight. Tears pooled into Eliana's eyes while she gripped the silver cross around her neck, rubies engraved into the very metal. She prayed, prayed to the God above to save her, and to take pity on those who could not save themselves but no hope came, no one answered. A large shadow came hurling towards her from above. At the last second, Eliana looked up with despair to see a falling building come crashing towards her with pieces scattering.

Then all went black.

Eliana wondered if she was dead or not. The place she was in wasn't heaven and even if it was, why couldn't she go anywhere? Where were her mother and father waiting for her on the other side along with the rest of her family that she knew of? Was Uncle Marcus okay? Did he make it out of the rising of what appeared to be the devil? So many questions and yet no one answered. Not the ones who sang, not the whispers. No one came to her aid. An agony was felt in her chest while hot tears ran down her cheeks. She didn't want to die, not yet. If she was, she just wanted to see her uncle just one last time.

The singing and whisper suddenly grew louder and louder, all jumbling together and making no more sense as they were before. The ringing in Eliana's ears was deafening and the voices did not stop, they continued on and on until she was on her knees and begging them to stop, calling out for her mother and father to come to help her and to make it all go away. She didn't want to be here, why was she here? The spinning could almost make her throw up. Eliana just wanted all of this to stop. She just wanted to wake up and hope this was all just a sick and twisted dream her mind pulled, that she would open her eyes and find herself in her room with the smell of breakfast coming from the kitchen. She would walk to the living room and find Uncle Marcus sitting at the table, a coffee in his right hand with a book in the other. He would smile and greet her, offering her a place beside him at the table with a hot plate of food for her. That's all she could ever want now.

Then it all finally came to a stop.