The Edge of Hell

A tortured soul dragged itself to what it knew to be edge of hell, clawing its way atop one of the most terrifying peaks in all of Mephisto's domain. It had made this journey that had seemed like an eternity after hearing of the impending failure and loss of its future destiny. It had tried to call upon Mephisto to take action, but the dark lord had not responded to the pleas. In fact, for the first time the soul could recall, Mephisto had not shown up for his daily torture session with the group it was a part of. That had led the soul to recognize something was definitely off this morning.

Since its arrival in hell, the wraith had heard rumors about other demons that cut deals to temporarily bring souls back to Earth—for those that had unfinished business. Typically, dictatorial and tyrannical types that had been damned and cast in the darkest lots of hell would use these demons to somehow find a way to continue their horrible reigns from beyond the grave, but they would somehow always fail.

The idea, the soul had heard, in whispers from various other inmates, was for the damned soul making the request to provide "food" of a sort to these demons so that they could not only be satisfied that they could trust a soul, but also have enough subsistence to get the soul back to Earth to do whatever they needed to do. However, the reliability and length of time, as well as the form in which the soul would be sent back, varied.

The soul reached the peak and hauled itself over the cliff onto the peak. It surveyed its surroundings. For the moment it was still shapeless, formless, just a shadow smoldering with smoke coming out of it. But its mind had been spared Mephisto's punishment today, and that had given it the clarity of mind to take action.

Then it saw a little human male child appear from seemingly out of nowhere and crawl over to it, light shimmering from his body. The soul shielded itself. Light in hell was unusual. This couldn't be…then the child spoke (?!)

"Will you help me?" the child asked, in a high-pitched voice. "I'm so hungry and I need someone to give me the way."

The soul cautiously approached the child and sat down to level with him. "What do you mean, little one?"

The child gave a sweet smile that seemed to defy its surroundings. "You…you represent the enduring legacy of the most evil human alive today. Unlike all the other idiots that have tried to do this and failed, that fact right there gives you a certain…distinction. All you need to do is direct me to this human so I can feed on his dark soul, and then I will give you what I know you desire…for your time is running out, due to certain events on the Moon…"

The wraith was taken aback. "How do you know what I—"

The child smiled again, this time grinning while showing its teeth. Its eyes suddenly flashed, and it was noticeable now that the pupils had become red. "You know who I am…my daddy runs around here sometimes…anyway…I know why you want to go back! You—"—the child poked the soul on the shoulder here—"need to conquer the soul of the one you want to drag down here…before your little spell is broken or made irrelevant. Good news for you, with our combined darkness of intent, I can guarantee you 24 hours up there at full strength, pure and unrestricted. Longer than we've ever given any human…with the exception of your comrade, rest his soul."

For a moment the soul froze. Apparently the secrets it had learned about the rules and loopholes of Hell were not so secret after all. "Wait—my comrade...is he—"

The child's smile vanished momentarily. "Hmph! Oh, my 'other' dad…yeah. He failed…miserably, I might add…but somehow, he managed to get accepted to Heaven after the conclusion of his escapade for you…guess you guys sent him up there to 'keep them apart'—and he not only failed to do that, but he apparently got a gold star for 'resisting temptation'…" Then the child pointed at himself.. "Yeah, which is why I exist…resisting temptation, indeed…hilarious! At least I was able to possess that female's womb rather quickly upon conception."

The soul was utterly confused, but went along with it. "Who is your true father?"

"Daddy dearest? Why you know him by many names…Satan…Lucifer…Devil…Mephistopheles…"

Suddenly it dawned on our wraith who it was talking to…"You must be Blackheart…"

The child bowed. "The one and only!"

Without warning, in an explosion of light, Blackheart's true form burst out of the body of the child, stretching about ten feet tall, spikes jutting out of his arms, red eyes glowing, and slimy tentacles protruding out of its head. It hissed at the soul, now revealing its true form.

"Accelerate your process! I do not have all day! My stomach growls!" it roared.

The soul cowered in fear, and then collected itself. The events on the Moon had indeed accelerated matters. If its comrade had failed and the object of the soul's love had remembered everything, it would only be a matter of time before the deal would expire…before its chance to be united with its love was lost forever. "My dear Blackheart…" it managed. "I command you to dispatch of he who stole my possibilities from me. Feed on the blackest soul of all, and then with your new strength, give me the temporary life I need, to salvage my dark purpose."

Blackheart roared with excitement, then he disappeared in a flash of light.

This time, our tortured soul did not forget anything, and thereafter began waiting.

The time to emerge would be coming soon.

TO BE CONTINUED!