Chapter 37: Into the Inferno
(Part 2 – Awakening in Hell)
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A Return to Consciousness
I don't know how long I've been gone.
Seconds? Hours? Years?
There is no time in this place.
Only darkness.
Only emptiness.
But then—
Something changes.
A spark.
A flicker of awareness.
I feel it before I see it.
Heat.
A scorching, suffocating heat that wraps around me like chains, pressing against my skin, sinking into my bones.
And then—
My eyes snap open.
---
The Nightmare Before Me
This… this isn't the hospital.
This isn't home.
The world isn't white.
Not the sterile white of blinding hospital lights.
Not the warm glow of my bedroom ceiling.
No.
The world is red.
A deep, sickening crimson, like the very air is drenched in blood.
The sky burns.
Not like a sunset. Not like something beautiful.
But like a never-ending inferno.
The clouds churn like a storm, but instead of rain, they swirl with molten fire, moving like a living, breathing ocean of rage.
I try to move.
The ground beneath me cracks.
Blackened rock, jagged and searing hot, splinters under my weight. The heat scorches my skin even through my clothes, and I jerk back, a hiss of pain slipping through my teeth.
And then—
The screams.
Not just one.
Not just a few.
Thousands. Millions.
A chorus of agony.
A sound so raw, so unfiltered in its suffering that my blood turns to ice.
I slowly, carefully, lift my head—
And what I see breaks me.
Mountains of black obsidian, their peaks so sharp they could cut through the sky itself, rise like jagged knives in the distance.
Rivers of boiling lava carve through the land, their surfaces alive with movement.
But it's not just the lava shifting.
It's faces.
Human faces.
Twisting, screaming, writhing in agony, their mouths frozen in endless torment as they are dragged along by the currents.
I take a shaky breath.
The air is thick with sulfur and decay.
It burns.
I stagger to my feet, my legs shaking, my mind scrambling for answers—
And in that moment, I understand.
I am in Hell.
---
Hopelessness Takes Hold
No.
No, no, NO.
This isn't real.
This CAN'T be real.
I rub my eyes, hard, my breathing ragged, frantic.
Maybe I'm dreaming.
Maybe I'm hallucinating from the blood loss.
Maybe—
The screams grow louder.
I look up, my chest tightening.
I don't want to believe it.
But I can't deny it.
This is real.
This is happening.
And I am alone.
A bitter laugh escapes my lips.
It's dry. Humorless.
Even to my own ears, I sound hollow.
"…I thought I would reincarnate or something in a fantasy world."
The words taste like ash.
Like something I once believed in, now crushed into nothing.
I chuckle again, softer this time.
"…But nothing favors me. Nothing ever does."
The weight in my chest is unbearable.
I lift my gaze to the twisted sky, my heart sinking.
"And now… I'm in Hell."
The hopelessness swallows me whole.
---
The Horror Begins
A sound.
Low at first.
A sick, wet gurgle.
Then another.
Then dozens.
Then hundreds.
A dreadful chill runs down my spine.
I turn—
And my blood runs cold.
They are everywhere.
Twisted. Grotesque.
Their bodies stitched together, flesh peeling, bones jutting out from places they shouldn't.
Some crawl, their legs shattered, useless stumps dragging against the charred ground.
Others lurch, their heads twisting too far, bones snapping as they move.
And then—
They see me.
Their mouths open.
And they scream.
Not human screams.
Not even animalistic.
Something worse.
Something that sounds like pure, unfiltered torment, something that shouldn't exist in the realm of the living.
The sound burrows into my skull, rattling in my ears like a hammer smashing against glass.
I stumble back, my foot skidding against the cracked earth.
No.
No, no, no, NO.
I can't breathe.
I can't think.
I can't MOVE.
---
Terror Grips Me
My mind shrieks at me to run.
But my legs refuse to move.
My chest tightens, my lungs lock up.
This is fear.
Not the kind I felt in school.
Not the kind I felt when Jason and his friends cornered me.
This is primal.
This is something deeper.
Something older than me. Older than anything.
This is the kind of fear that tells you, You are going to die.
And no one will save you.
I can hear my own heartbeat, thundering in my ears.
I try to control my breathing.
I can't.
I try to look away.
I can't.
The creatures—**demons, monsters, nightmares—**whatever they are—
They are moving closer.
Each step unnatural, jerky, grotesque.
The closer they get, the more I can see the rotting wounds, the missing eyes, the jagged smiles stretching too wide.
Their hunger is unmistakable.
They want me.
To devour me.
To tear me apart.
I suck in a breath.
No.
No, no, NO.
I won't die here.
I CAN'T.
I need to move.
I need to RUN.
But before I can—
One of them lunges.
A blur of decayed flesh and blackened teeth.
I barely react.
It reaches for me—
And the moment it touches me—
Pain.
A fire unlike anything I've ever felt ignites inside me, crawling through my veins, clawing into my bones.
I scream.
Louder than I ever have before.
But my voice—
It doesn't sound like my own.
It sounds…
Different.
And for the first time—
The monsters hesitate.
They pull back.
Like they saw something.
Like they recognized something.
Something inside me.
And for the first time since I woke up in this nightmare—
I feel something else.
Something beyond the terror.
Beyond the fear.
Something deeper.
Something waiting.
Something waking up.