Ugh, Not Again

    Here I have a story, which i finally managed to rewrite from my notebook (it took me about 1,5 month, bc I had no time :c)  

It's my first non-fafnfiction story in here, so enjoy c:

*****

Title: Ugh, Not Again

Type: fantasy, 

Kind: dark

*****

 The woman standing in front of me looks angry. Really angry. If only she weren't pointing a gun on my head I could say she's quite pretty. Her pale hands shake as she clenches them tighter on the gun. Cold metal pressed to my forehead causes shivers I can't hold back.

     I'm scared. I know this will be my seventh death, but I still have this weird feeling, like it was the first time. Yes I died six times before. No, I am not completely crazy. I don't actually know what is going on, but this is the seventh day in a row I'm getting killed and to be honest I don't like it.

     The woman finally pulls the trigger and I feel my skull shatter into pieces. Warm blood travels down my forehead and cheeks. Everything I see is reddish. I feel tweaking as I blink several times and I faint, seeing nothing but darkness.

     Correction: I die. Yeah, it kinda feels like fainting, but it surely isn't the same. "Next beautiful day. How lovely." I whisper to myself sarcastically. I look around. The same place as yesterday and last six days. Hell.

     Currently I'm standing on a dark stone bridge above something that looks like a lake. Huge lake. Except the water looks more like a blood than like an actual water. The lake seems to be deep, at least that deep you're not able to see its bottom, but shallow enough to have the weird feeling something is swimming in there and looking at you with its huge eyes. I put a hand on railing of the bridge. It looks like it was made from bones. Real bones. Maybe human bones. I can't deny that it scares me. Although I clench my fists, take a deep breath and manage to cross it.

     My steps on a rock path echo through a barren realm, blending with overwhelming screams and groans. They seem to come from everywhere: behind the walls, under the water, even above the ceiling. It's weird that all these tainted entities are suffering. I mean... I'm one of them now, right? And I don't feel any different.

     I reach the outward gate of infernal limbo. It is huge, at least 5 meters tall and 4 meters wide. It is black and reddish and seem to be constructed from bones, just like the bridge. I feel like they have a plenty of bones in here and they didn't know what to do with them so they just decided to start building with it. The one who got this idea was surely rewarded for it.

     "You again?" I hear a hoarse voice on my right and I turn back to see my interlocutor. It's a demon. He's a watchman of the gate. He's at least 2,5 meters tall and skinny. Like... really skinny. It seems like he has no flesh, just skin and bones. Well, skin isn't a suitable word actually. His deformed body is all black and looks like a bark, it even have branches growing out of his spine. I could tell he's an unsuccessful experiment hybrid of human and a tree. Hideous experiment. His eyes aren't even eyes, instead of them he has snow-white orbs that seem to invade deeply into the no longer human soul. He lifts his head and looks at me. At least that's what I think since he has no pupils and I cant exactly tell where is he looking.

     "I'm happy to see you too, Andras." I say sarcastically.

     "How the hell you keep coming in here? Once I see you, than you're gone and the next day you're here again. How is it even possible?"

     "Oh, I'm so sorry that I'm stuck in a time loop and someone keeps killing me everyday!" I growl loudly and cross my arms. "It's your master that keeps playing with me. I didn't want that. You hear me? I didn't ask for that!" The demon remains silent, as if knowing I'm not done yet. "Yesterday that woman hung me in my room and today she shot me right in the head! What about tomorrow? Hm? What will happen? Maybe she'll cut me in half and make a necklace from my intestines? That's sick, Andras! Sick! How long will it last? I'm done. I am so done with it. Just kill me officially and don't force me to suffer these things any longer!"

     "I'm sorry to bother you, but you are dead already." he sneers as I imagine killing him on every possible way. "Oh, don't try to scare me with that look. I'm here longer than you think, I've seen things you wouldn't even imagine. And oh, right. I am a demon I you didn't notice. I am scary myself, and you can't scare me." I snort, crossing my arms and wandering around in circles. "And it's not my thing to kill you, however I'd be really glad if I got to have a chance to do it. Unfortunately it's the thing only our master can do."

     "Your master, Andras" I correct him and turn around to see his face.

     "I'm afraid you're wrong. You're here now, you belong to him, and he is your master now too. And personally, I think that he just enjoys killing you. That's why you keep coming here. That's why you keep dying. You're his toy, his experiment."

     "I didn't want to take part in this experiment, you know?" I huff. After a moment of hesitation an idea comes to my mind. "Why don't you let me inside? I'll meet him and talk about it. Maybe he'll let me go or decide to keep me here for longer without killing me anymore." Andras' eyes widen in surprise. It seems like I'm the first one ever confident enough to ask for such things. He puts a hand on a deformed chin and pretends he has to think about it.

     "Okay" he says after a while. "You'll get a meeting with our master. You're special, I think he won't get mad" I feel a shiver of excitement, although I'm going to meet the master of death, Devil himself. The demon turns back, facing the dark, unknown corridor, I didn't notice before. He shouts something. A name? Bullseye, I think. That's what he said.

     "Bullseye?" I ask, frowning.

     "He always hits the best spot" He says with a grin.

     From behind a corner walks out a creature that seems to be said Bullseye. It is a huge, black dog-like thing and as it is standing on all feet it reaches my arms. Quite impressive, I can't deny. I've seen many scary things and I certainly can tell that this doggy is not the thing I should be afraid of here. He is scary, yes, he looks like it could kill you in one snap of teeth, but probably somewhere in the inside he is a small cinnamon roll. His fur seems little bit curly. Some parts of his body are deprived of skin and muscles, showing bare bones and intestines. His back looks like someone torn off straps of skin, leaving uncovered red muscles and shiny white ribs. His head is also just a skull, what scares me the most, because of sharp, uncovered tusks, filling his whole mouth. If I looked close enough I could see my quite scared reflection in his yellow eyes.

     "What the fuck is that?" I ask, as I keep looking in his eyes, which he is unable to take off me.

     "That, my dear... Is our hell hound. Well, one of many, but still. He will lead you to our master" I hear laughter in his voice. He probably thinks I'm scared as shit now.

     Well, I have this strange need to prove him wrong. I nod my head and slowly reach a hand in hound's direction. I don't stop even when he starts to growl quietly. He won't hurt me, I know this. I don't know where I got this confidence, I just feel this strange urge to pat him on a head, and a quiet voice in my head says "Go on, nothing will happen". I put my hand slowly on his head, he doesn't protest. I think I even see his bony tail wagging a little. His black pupils widen under the touch of my fingers. It feels weird to pet a dog directly on his skull, but it's nice and smooth. It's definitely an unforgettable thing.

     "I can certainly tell that you're the first person ever to pet a hellhound" demon says with a surprise in his voice. "That's cool. Bullseye?" The dog turns head in Andras' direction. "Enough cuddles. Get him to the master." Bullseye barks and stands up. He looks in my direction, as if asking to follow him. "Just follow him, he'll lead you directly to the master."

     I nod and follow the hound. He leads me to the corridor he came from. It's quite narrow and really, really high. I don't know how long is it though, because it's completely dark and I can't even see Bullseye in front of me. I rely on my ears and his steps on a wet floor.

     I don't know how long are we walking yet, it feels like hours and nothing changed. Still narrow, still dark, still humid. My shirt is clammy from sweat and humidity from the air. Suddenly the hound stops, so rapidly I almost trip over him. He barks once, this sound echoes all over the corridor, causing whistling in my ears. I guess this is some kind of password, because after a while the gate opens and blinds me with a bright light. Dog walks out to the big, black room, that is even more humid than the corridor. However here I can see where I'm going, because of lighting, that weren't in the corridor.

     The cracked rocks under my feet hiss with hoy air as I step on them. Bullseye walks slowly trough the room, lifting his head proudly, leading me to another corridor. This one is way shorter, and ends with another room, that looks like a hybrid f an office with a living room.

     The walls are black and red, which probably are every room's in here colors. On the ceiling I can see a big, bright red chandelier, that looks like it was made of real, fist-size rubies. Woah. Just... Woah. I can't do nothing but gasp and stare. It has to be Devil's room, because it's the best and most comfortable place I've sen in here. Only when the dog barks to announce our presence I notice the big black desk in the corner of the room. Someone's sitting behind, and as he senses our presence, he turns back.

     I see a throne and a creature sitting on it. I can't call it human, cause it certainly isn't. I can't see no humanity in him. He stands up and walks few steps, reducing the gap between us. Now I can tell that he is huge and tall, at least 2,5 meters. I couldn't say that when he was sitting. He looks like an unsuccessful experiment, a hybrid between human, ram and a raven. His skin is dark grey, ragged and tearing off, his long, black tail followed by red scraps of material. Behind his back are two giant raven-like wings, at least 2 meters each. But what is most shocking in his appearance is his head. Well, at least what's left of his head, which is his skull. Certainly inhuman skull, considering two horns growing out on both sides of his head. Big, sharp, winding horns.

     "Aiden!" He shouts, causing shivers on whole surface of my skin. He has this kind of voice that could be heard on many many miles. I can't hide the fact, that it scares me. "I was waiting for you." He says with sadness in his voice. Wait... Sadness? "Yeah, waiting.... So long, Aiden. So long, my son..."