My hands shine a dusty pale color showing the bulging blue veins bleeding through. I was walking through a long, dark corridor; it seemed to go on forever. I can't recall how I got here. I actually can't recall anything at the moment there is only the faint stench of fear that clouds all around me. My heart seizes up as I continue my descent. I didn't feel worried for what was to come just the fear of who was here before me or rather with me.

The air was chilled as if the hallway was run through with AC. I walked miles upon miles, my black loafers making soft thuds against the floor as I walked on calmly, one foot in front of the other.

I came upon a large steel bolted door at the end of the hallway. A twitching light bulb hung above it illuminating it in a sickly yellow light. I looked behind me to find a wall was now in place along my back replacing the miles of hallway that had just existed a second ago. How odd. Well, the only way was forward.

The thought came to that I should probably knock, so I did. Three loud taps against the chilled surface of the door to solidify my presence. I felt a wave of nostalgia rush over me by thinking of the word three, and something I learned in bible school maybe, whatever that is. As soon as the memory came into my mind it was gone.

A man came to the door right away and opened it revealing himself to be quite young and dressed in the rational outfit of a bellboy. I tried to focus more on his features but I couldn't quite do so. It was like he was a blurry picture out of focus. The only thing I could see strikingly was his eyes, they were a bottomless cold black that sized me up and down. With that he opened up the door a crack and opened his mouth to speak.

“Hello Gabriel, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance and to recieve your arrival. Welcome to Hell.” His voice dripped with contempt and exasperation and the hint of a foreign accent.

Recognition sounded with that word, Hell. It was a dirty word that burned on the tip of the tongue and made you want to vomit. I remembered a faint idea of Hell and as I looked behind him, this did not seem like it. He nodded his head to me and opened the door wider to let me in.The door slammed behind me as I stepped through the threshold and when I looked back, again like the hallway, it had disappeared.

It was absolutely astonishing, the whole mess of it. I was in a grand room that looked like the lobby of a lavish hotel taken out of the Golden age. The floor was lain with plush velvet carpet that made your feet sink in smoothly. The walls were painted with golden ornate designs that resembled the work of early chinese artists. My eyes scanned over the empty red couches that littered the center of the room, strategically placed that no matter where you sat you had the view of the staircase. And that was what my eyes had been focused on right at this moment.

In the very heart of the room sprung an iron blacked spiral staircase that swirled up and out as far as the eye could see. The steps themselves were black italian marble giving off a smooth glassy look. I stepped towards them when I thought to ask a very much obvious question. “Where are all the torture chambers and screaming souls being buried alive?’I truly was curious but I saw the bellboy roll his eyes as if he had to do this a thousand times.

“Oh we got rid of them centuries ago. They were getting a bit tacky and to be honest too mainstream,” he replied with sarcastic annoyance. With that he turned on his heel and motioned for me to follow him up the staircase. I did as he asked.

I could already hear the pounding music thumping from upstairs by the time we made it halfway up the staircase. We went round and round making the room spin beneath us till we finally reached the top. When we arrived the bellboy pressed a button and we waited.

A devilishly handsome man answered the door in a fitted black velvet suit with gleaming silver cuff links that read the letter, L. He had the blackest hair I had ever seen and the bluest eyes making him look enchantingly evil.

“Well, well, well, Gabriel I have been looking forward to meet you. After all murder is my favorite sin. I am Lucifer Morningstar,” Lucifer drawled out slyly. He had the same accent as the bellboy who was waiting beside me. Lucifer noticed his presence, ‘You can go now, Barbas.”

Barbas, the bellboy, turned in a flash walking briskly away from us. I watched him the whole way but it wasn't until when he just rounded the corner that I saw his eyes flash crimson. That remind me of.. Something…

** *** ** ** **

The car screeched forward at the red light causing my tires to the paint the road with their imprint. I could feel the bubble of liquid in my stomach causing me to burp and giggle at the same time. I had had 7 or 8 beers and I was still kicking it. My apartment was only two miles from the bar anyways so what could it hurt. I was growing more tired by the minute and the dull blaring red light was not helping. “COMMMME ON YOU PIECE OF CRAP LIGHT.”

But it didn't budge it just stared back at me unwavering. My seat belt flapped beside me from the AC. I had had enough and started to press my foot on the gas…

** *** ** ** **

“A handsome young man like you will do very well here indeed,” Lucifer grinned while showing me around. The whole upstairs was a large penthouse. Gold statues lined the main room glittering our faces while warping them at the same time. Most of the furniture was hidden by the swarm of bodies dancing against one another. I couldn't tell how many people were here but the number seemed to swell each time I looked around. The music ran throughout the room making the bottles of alcohol on the south wall shake. Laughter echoed throughout the room drawing my attention.

That's when I saw her. In the corner was a woman dressed in all white sticking out like a sore thumb. Her long wavy blonde hair met her waist and curled from the heat of the room. She was ravishing.

“Sorry mate that one is mine but feel free to play with her if you'd like”, Lucifer tempted as he saw me notice her. “Her name is Estella,beautiful isn't she? Why the little minx sold her soul to me for beauty in 1952. All the rage back then, being beautiful that is. Now she's the perfect little flower to show off."

All I could utter out was the quiet, yes. I had barely heard a word he said since my attention was fixated on the moving Estella. She crossed the room with a birdlike grace as if her feet never even touched the ground but floated on the silent affections of the floor.

“Excuse me..” I mumbled politely as I took my leave of Lucifer and followed Estella into the next room. Lucifer scanned his eyes after me, a malicious smile tugging at his lips.

Following Estella under the archway led us into a grand ballroom. This couldn't be possible, how could it fit here? It looked like something out of a novel. A delicate painting of angels shone on the ceiling but there was something off about it. Their wings were raven black.

Three massive chandeliers hung down, their lights gleaming like tiny diamonds. The floor was a slick white marble that was shined to perfection so you could see your own reflection in it. I stared back at myself in awe of it all.

“Are you following me?” Her voice snapped me out of my trace. She looked at me inquisitively and had one foot backwards as if to get ready for a quick retreat. I could see her eyes were a murky green like the color of spanish moss on a tree.

"No I just saw you and wanted to say hello, you seem like you could use some company.”

“Well I guess some company wouldn't hurt.”

** *** ** ** **

The car rocked forward as I breathed a sigh of relief to be moving again. I saw lights appear out of the corner of my eye as I pressed my foot harder against the gas. My fingers were fidgeting on the steering wheel, I couldn't seem to keep still. My eyelids were begging to close and send me to sleep. I pinched my arm to keep awake but it did nothing but create a small throb.

I gave in for moment and when I opened them I was face to face with another car on the opposite side of the road. In the chaos of screaming metal and rain of glass I met the driver's eyes, she couldn't have been more than about 17. I saw her mouth give a silent scream as her head collided with the windshield.

Then everything went black as I was ripped from the car and thrown into the street.

** *** ** ** **

My hands started to shake as this memory pierced through me. I could still see her face in the back of my mind and the pleading look she gave me as her life ended right before my eyes.

“Gabriel, Gabe, can you hear me?” Estella looked at me with concern filled eyes.

I let the memory recede to the back of my mind as I turned to Estella struggling to put on a smile.

“As I was saying, I've been hearing through some of the high demons that there's some type of portal in Lucifer's bedroom that lets you travel back to Earth. We could get out Gabe we could make it out of here.”

That definitely caught my attention. “You mean we could get back?”

Estella nodded slowly letting it sink in for me. “I think I know where it is, follow me.”

** *** ** ** **

I was engulfed in darkness, I could feel liquid dripping down my eyebrow and onto my lashes. I couldn't move, I was paralyzed inside my own body. Unable to scream for help or for forgiveness. I guess it's a little late to ask for forgiveness after all.

** *** ** ** **

“Is this it?” I asked holding my breathe.

“I think so, let's try it.” For the first time I saw how nervous she was about this. Her hands were clenched into fists as she repeated looked over her shoulder as if someone would jump out and catch us at any moment. She had more to lose than I did I guess.

I was just trying to escape. Escape my guilt, my fear and the disappoint of my life. Maybe this would save us.

There was a small crawl space under the bed in Lucifer's room. There was only enough space for one person to go at a time so I went first having Estella trail behind me. Cobwebs littered the small space sticking to my skin making my insides crawl. I finally thought I saw light up ahead, I crawled faster eager to reach it. Forward and forward I went till I got to the end and jumped down into an all white room. Confusion and panic set in.

“Estella, where are we?” I called out as I looked behind me searching for Estella to find no one was there.

“Why Estella where are we? How pathetic Gabriel I really thought you would imagine a more interesting girl than her. She's a little on the bland side and isn't much of a talker,” Lucifer taunted. He appeared at my side with his hand in his expensive black trouser pockets. “I mean you had to know she wasn't real right, the signs were all there. Selling her soul for beauty, how cliché. Did you really think I would keep a portal to earth in my bedroom? What do you take me for, some idiot angel that fell from heaven?” Lucifer laughed quietly to himself, “On a second thought don't answer that.”

“But why all this? The elaborate scheme and Estella and the possible escape.” I was breaking down, hope was fleeing from me. With each word he spoke I felt myself drift farther away from my old life and into the depths of hell. The depths that I hadn't seen till now.

“Oh darling you really don't get it do you. Hell isn't torture chambers and fire and eternal pain under a knife. Hell is convincing you it's not really Hell, that you have hope and you can still be redeemed and then making you realize it's been a lie this whole time.”