Chương 31: Red Lights

I was lying flat on my back on the hardwood floor, staring blankly up at the ceiling. I felt an intense heat spreading outward across my ribs. I tried to gasp, to pull in a breath to ask what was going on, but my chest simply refused to work. The young blond man stared down at me, watching my gasping face with a mild, detached curiosity. Oh, right, I remember now. He had shot me and called me ugly! The absolute audacity of that man! He should just wait until I… until I… oh, that's right.

I couldn't do much of anything. I was dying, after all. The young man took out a knife and crouched beside me.

"Pardon," he apologized smoothly, "we don't want you to hold out until midnight, do we?" Then he stuck the knife into my throat. It didn't feel like a blade, but more like a violent pinch. My hand flew to my neck on pure reflex, sinking instantly into a pulsing torrent of hot wetness. The blood pouring over my collarbone and soaking my shirt felt so warm against my skin. But a terrifying, hollow cold was already seizing my insides—as if every drop of my warmth was rapidly draining out.

My vision rapidly tunneled into a freezing gray. I tried to gasp, but only a wet gurgle escaped.

"See ya in hell," I heard his cheerful voice echo as he finally walked away. I couldn't move. I saw only a blur, but thankfully, I didn't feel much pain anymore. Good. I didn't fancy pain much anyway. I could also think clearly, which wasn't actually good, considering I knew exactly what was coming. I had done it. I had somehow gotten myself killed, and now I was going to be a hollow shell for the rest of the loop and then… poof! Off to hell to be the slave of some high-demon jerk.

"AAAAHHAAA!" A scream pierced the air. Cinderella's scream. She must have found me.

"No, no, no, no, no," she mumbled frantically, dropping to her knees beside me and brushing my hair to the side. I think she saw the hole in my stomach and the stab wound in my neck, because she desperately tried to stop the bleeding with her two trembling hands. Really, Cinderella? That was a ridiculous attempt.

"No… no," her voice was a fragile whisper, choking on a heavy sob that tore painfully from her throat. She held me tight against her.

"Not now… not after we finally… finally…" I felt something warm splash against my face. Oh, she was crying over me! That meant she really did care about me! The thought filled me with happiness, but also a profound sadness that I would never see her again. My eyes finally welled up with tears, too. I didn't want to die. I really didn't. But it didn't seem like I had a vast buffet of options laid out before me. Bleeding out on the foyer floor was pretty much the only item on the menu.

Cinderella kept crying, her hands pressing uselessly against my bloody wounds, her face buried in my chest as her whole body shook with violent, uncontrollable sobs.

"It's just no use," she wept bitterly.

"No use at all." Then, something else happened. I felt a tingling sensation. I couldn't really see anymore, but something weird was definitely happening in the room.

"Oh… poor child…" It was the voice of an old lady! I knew that voice—it was her! The Fairy Godmother! She was actually here! And that meant Cinderella felt true despair at losing me. She wasn't simply sad. I was genuinely important to her. Just like… she was to me. That realization filled me with warmth, despite having almost no blood left in my veins.

"Oh, save her, Fairy Godmother!" cried Cinderella.

"You must save her. You simply must!" Yes! Maybe the old fairy could save me with magic! That would be significantly better than dying! I felt a prickly sensation on my forehead. I think the fairy touched me.

"Oh, but child," the fairy said softly. Her voice sounded deeply sad and regretful.

"Drizella is… her soul, there is something wrong with it… It's corrupted… She has become a time devil. I cannot…" Oh, shoot! Just when I thought we could fix this mess.

"Oh no, Fairy Godmother," Cinderella cried desperately, "I'm begging you, you must… please... oh, please save her… please…" But Cinderella's desperate pleas were becoming more and more muffled. So quiet now. I couldn't quite hear her anymore. Then the fuzzy grayness before my eyes finally blurred completely into an absolute, silent darkness. Oh, shoot. I think I just died! I was back in my room.

"I'm sorry if Your Highness objects to an early breakfast." I heard Cinderella calling to Lucifer from behind my door. I stared at my bedroom door. A sinister red light was shining beneath the crack at the bottom. This wasn't my room at all! Panic suddenly gripped me. I was terrified.

"I'm coming in!" chirped Cinderella's cheerful voice. The door let out a long, agonizing creak as it slowly swung open. I scrambled backward across the mattress, pressing my spine hard against the wall. Something was coming inside, but there were no footsteps. It didn't walk through the frame; it slithered. A massive, fleshy appendage—a giant, glistening tongue, dragged its heavy bulk across the floorboards with a sickening schlick. As it reached the dim light, my stomach dropped.

The writhing flesh was wrapped in filthy cloth, the tip smeared with crude, wet paint: sickly yellow for blonde hair, clumsy black dots for eyes, and a fat, jagged red slash for a smiling mouth. It was stuffed into a torn, greasy dress. It was a horrific, mocking caricature of Cinderella. The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. A scream ripped from my throat. I shrank back.

"STAY AWAY!" But it didn't stop, and it kept talking in Cinderella's perfectly sweet voice.

"Come to me," it said, "I know you, and I love you. I love you."

"Stay AWAY!!" I screamed at it, hurling a pillow at the monstrosity because I honestly didn't have anything better to throw. Suddenly, the room's window behind me shattered inward. A colossal hand smashed through the frame. It wasn't human; it was covered in coarse black fur and tipped with wickedly sharp claws. It somehow knew exactly where I was, and with one blindingly fast sweep, its massive fingers closed firmly around my entire torso.

"WAAAAAH!" I screamed and cried at the exact same time. I was in a nightmare. I wanted out. But I had a sinking feeling I couldn't wake up from this one. The giant hand yanked me backward through the broken window and out of the house… But there was no house. I realized with horror that my "room" was nothing more than a hollow, rotten wooden box perched on a hill. I looked around and my breath hitched. Spread out below me was a nightmare landscape of jagged, barren hills and towering mountains.

There wasn't a single green plant in sight, only the twisted husks of blackened trees. In the far distance, massive pillars of fire erupted from the earth, illuminating the desolate plains. The sky was bathed in an oppressive, bloody red light, though there was no sun to speak of. And the creature holding me? It was a demon. A terrifyingly huge demon. He was crouching on the rocky ground, yet even hunched over, he was the size of a manor house.

His massive, muscular legs ended in heavy cloven hooves, and thick, curved horns spiraled from his brow. I screamed, and I screamed! I couldn't think of a single better thing to do in this situation. But instead of tossing me into his mouth, the demon laid me surprisingly gently onto his vast knee. Sitting on his leg, I was still a good five meters above the ground, so jumping wasn't exactly a viable escape plan either. I just sat there and trembled.

"My name is Azearothiel," he announced in a heavy, echoing voice that surprisingly carried a deep sense of calm.

"Welcome to Hell." I couldn't speak. I just kept shivering. I couldn't help but be reminded of little Gus, sitting on my morning tea plate, trembling helplessly in front of a giant. Was it the same for him? Was I being as much of a coward as Gus? No… Gus was facing a giant Drizella, not a giant demon! That was completely different! But thinking about it logically, it was silly to be scared. The absolute worst thing that could happen already did. I died. I was in Hell.

I technically had no reason to be afraid anymore. No, that logical understanding didn't help calm my nerves at all! I was trembling uncontrollably, and I was petrified to my very core! But I needed to show courage. This was one of those times, I knew. Standing against something far stronger than me. I needed to somehow feign courage; otherwise, it would all be worse for me.

"Where am I?" I managed to squeak out.

"As I said," the demon replied, "You are in H—""That is quite obvious," I cut him off. My voice was still trembling, but I managed an indignant huff.

"I meant where in Hell?" Oh my. I had just been rude to a house-sized demon. Was that smart? Probably not… but I had to show courage, and for me, being rude was the only way I knew how. The demon, Azearothiel, looked at me intensely for a short moment before answering.

"The place you see is called Kar'telm," he said, sweeping his burning gaze across the desolate, ruined plains.

"A wasteland of no importance. We will now head to Mithatylil, my own domain."

"Oh, I see," I said. The names meant absolutely nothing to me, but I needed to keep the conversation going.

"And why was I in my room, anyway? And what was that hideous tongue-demon that tried to take me? It talked to me!" I think… this was a chatty demon.

"Sometimes newcomers arrive with remnants of their familiar environment," he explained, his booming voice calm and patient.

"The reason behind this phenomenon is unknown to me. The thing that attacked you is no demon, but a mere monster. It is called a Mimic-Many-Tongues, and they are common in this region. Unfortunately, you landed right next to the entrance of its lair. Look," he pointed. Near the wooden box that was my mockery of a room, I could see a large, gaping crater in the ground. From the darkness within, several thick, tongue-like tentacles flailed about, one of them still wearing that hideous, makeshift Cinderella costume.

"It is a good thing I got you in time," Azearothiel noted.

"If the Mimic-Many-Tongues had pulled you down into its lair, it would not have been easy to track you and get you back."

"Wouldn't it just have eaten me?" I asked. I wasn't entirely sure why I was keeping the conversation going. If I was buying time, I didn't know what for. I was going to spend eternity here, after all. But Azearothiel was chatty and didn't seem to mind answering all my questions.

"The Mimic-Many-Tongues wouldn't have eaten you," he explained.

"More likely, it would have tried to manipulate and control you to gather resources for it. However, some creatures of its kind are more aggressive than others and might have harmed you in other ways." Oh, dear. I suddenly wanted to know what happens if you die while already in Hell. But before I managed to ask, Azearothiel's attention snapped upward, his piercing gaze locking onto a distant speck high in the crimson sky. I followed his line of sight and saw something flying rapidly toward us. It looked… human.

"Malakarthor," Azearothiel remarked quietly.

"A nuisance." As the figure drew closer, the details came into focus. It looked like... a flying white knight. He was of normal human proportions and even had long, flowing blond hair spilling out from beneath his gleaming white helmet. This… this was a handsome angel! And he had come to save me! He swooped right toward us, but Azearothiel uttered a deep, resonant vowel. A thick wisp of freezing white mist slipped from between the demon's lips, and the surrounding temperature plummeted instantly.

Azearothiel raised one massive hand to the heavens, calling down a blinding, jagged fork of lightning that screeched and cracked like thunder directly in the flying knight's path. The white knight, Malakarthor, was forced to abort his charge and pull back.

"Azearothiel!" the flying knight bellowed angrily.

"What is the meaning of this? You know this is my territory! Hand over the time-looper girl!" In response, Azearothiel just whispered some more incomprehensible, dark words. More freezing white mist hissed through his mouth. The crackling lightning sound returned, much stronger now. Thick, jagged bolts of lightning were striking everywhere in the sky! I shrieked, covering my head as one struck a nearby rock! Malakarthor cursed loudly and flew rapidly away.

"This isn't over!" he shouted back over his shoulder as he retreated into the red, smoky sky. Azearothiel narrowed his glowing eyes, tracking the knight until he was completely out of sight, then calmly looked back down at me.

"A nuisance," Azearothiel repeated dismissively.

"He won't be bothering us again." Oh, by Jove. I think that "handsome angel" was actually just another demon wanting me as his slave. I have been in Hell for like, ten minutes, and I have already been fought over by a tongue monster and two high demons. Who knew I'd be this incredibly popular in the underworld!

"Now," Azearothiel continued smoothly, "let us discuss our contract." Contract? Oh, I wondered if I would actually need to sign some parchment with a quill. If so, that would be incredibly silly. But I supposed I was finally going to learn the details of my new job as a high demon's slave. I got the feeling that this wasn't just about tormenting me for eternity; they actually wanted to use me for something specific. And, despite the sheer terror of my situation, I couldn't help but feel a twinge of curiosity.

But then, I felt something else. That weird, familiar tingling sensation washed over my entire body once again. Azearothiel looked at me, a strange expression crossing his monstrous features.

"Oh, leaving already?" he asked, sounding genuinely disappointed.

"A shame. But we shall meet again." Knock! Knock! Knock! I snapped my eyes open. I was in my room again. And… someone knocked on the door? I looked at the door slit. No red light. The door let out a soft creak as it slowly swung open. I scrambled backward across the mattress, panic flaring in my chest. Was it the monster again? Someone stepped inside, but this time, they walked in normally. It looked like Cinderella. It looked… like the real her. My eyes immediately filled with tears.

I didn't know what was going on. Was I dead or alive? On Earth or in Hell? Was this the start of a new time loop cycle? I had absolutely no idea, but Cinderella kept walking toward me, a soft, genuine smile on her lips. And under her arm, I saw the time loop journal. She sat on the edge of the bed and gently kissed the top of my head.

"It's okay now," she whispered. I think… I think it really was okay. I didn't understand what had just happened, but if this really was Cinderella sitting beside me, then I didn't care about much else. I threw my arms around her and buried my face in her shoulder. I couldn't hold it in anymore. I broke down, sobbing so hard my chest ached, just clinging to her while hot, relieved tears soaked right through her clothes.