Raising Hell - Prologue

The passage of time within the bleak and murky stone walls of the Labyrinth were almost impossible to measure; time had no meaning at all in this world caught between paradise and purgatory, nor did it matter to the inhuman residents. Their only desire was that of inflicting and receiving the highest extremities of sensation, and serving their God; Leviathan. A whole hundred years had elapsed for most of them, some of them even a thousand. But neither one of them could feel the lengthy duration nor were they aged by it.

The Cenobite known as Snow White, formerly a human being named Kirsty Cotton, was no exception.

Eight whole Earth years had passed in this timeless realm since Kirsty had finally unlocked the Lament Configuration and sealed her fate, relinquishing herself, trading her dwindling humanity for the life of a hedonistic Cenobite. Yet she could not be more fulfilled; the pleasures, the sensations beyond the limits had truly transcended what she had ever felt and experienced in her former life. Now as an immortal creature she would not have felt the passing of those eight human years. She was, like the rest of her fellow kind, only interested in the pleasures of this world, this wondrous place she now called home.

He had certainly spoken the truth during their brief if illustrious meetings; the one who was now her consort, the Cenobite she had given herself fully to. Her master, her saviour and creator all in one. The being named Xipe Totec - infamously known as Pinhead by the Supplicants, thanks to the many pins which embellished his colourless cranium.

The Leader of the Cenobitic race had been the one blessed with the task of transforming Kirsty Cotton into the fearless and sensuous being she was now. He being the one responsible for her lush but deadly guise, and her very moniker. He decreed that no other, once she was presented to his followers, would lay a single finger on her. Not even the Cenobite Creation Chamber had the chance to mar her, to transform her. Only he was allowed such a privilege, and how she had turned out so wickedly beautiful both on the inside and out.

Just like the first woman according to mythology to ever walk the earth she had been made to absolute perfection.

Snow White; so sweet, so innocent, so wonderfully charming, such a harmless sounding name – and her appearance likened her resemblance to the character further more. Her lips were of crimson blood red, her complexion snowy white pale, her hair which she had been allowed to keep was a mass of dark curls, and as black as ebony...as were her eyes.

Though her greatest asset would that be that she had also found her Prince within this dark world; a Prince like no other found in children's harmless fairy tale stories. He had certainly swept her off her feet and carried her off to his wondrous Kingdom, though there was no such 'happily ever after...' in the way the fairy tales had usually concluded.

Unlike that of the fairy tale character Kirsty used to enjoy reading about as a human child, the Snow White Cenobite she was now was utterly wicked, formidable, vicious, cool and a force to be reckoned with. She showed no mercy to either of the supplicants damned to live out an eternity under the Cenobites' brutal administrations and none dared to cross her.

Oh yes, Xipe Totec had truly made her his equal in every way possible.

As well as being her consort, Xipe Totec was also that of Snow White's mentor, she being a willing and able student. Every day that passed since her transition from human to Cenobite, Xipe would take the opportunity to teach the eager and young Cenobite woman the ways of their kind, the finer points of pleasure and pain, how to master her ever burgeoning telekinetic and telepathic powers. How she should behave during the summoning missions. Even each tool held their own purpose, something Snow White had to take care to memorise. However, Snow White had learnt a great deal in her short time, and her lover had taught her well.

She had well and truly found her place within the Labyrinth, and now she had earned the title Princess of Pain.

Yet, for even all the training; the hard work, the mastering of the knife and the hook, Snow White had yet to discover the true potential she herself and even her beloved consort possessed. It was something which Leviathan Himself could foresee, a truly testing and trying mission which He had yet to issue to the Cenobitic couple.

The unknown, the unseen was about to be born, to take shape within the Labyrinth. To merge from the eternal suffering, the blood and the flesh and take on its own form, and Xipe Totec and his protege were the key...