Prologue

Have you ever been to Hell?

I have. And it's not like the Good Book says. There's no fire and brimstone. It isn't a frozen tundra covered in icy stalagmites as far as the eye can see.

Do you truly want to know what Hell is?

It's nothing.

The kind of nothing that crushes you with its resounding silence.

Its debilitating aura pervades everything, leaving you empty and unfulfilled.

You can breathe deep, but you'll get no air.

You can try to swim, but you'll keep sinking.

You can scream at the top of your lungs, but no one will hear.

You can attempt to outrun it, but nothing will always catch up.

My whole life up to this point could be described as staring into an abyss. But the abyss never stared back.

Until now.