Hell's Night

Why do people do bad things? Is it because they get some kind of gain from it... or do they just do it because they feel like it? Everyone does bad things for some reason or another. But when someone does something bad enough will it not impress the devil himself?

On a warm night a prisoner lays in his cell tossing and turning. He is not aware of the fate that Hell has planned for him. He awakens from his frightful slumber breathing heavy. He pulls a picture of his daughter from under his pillow. Staring at it he remembers her funeral. The family he knew for years who were the liveliest of folks seemed like strangers in their dark mood. When they were to finally bury his daughter he closed his eyes wishing that when he opened them he would be back at home, admiring a finger painting she had just made. But he knew that when he opened them she would still be dead.

A tear drops from his eye onto the picture of her, he wipes it off quickly so as not to damage it. He tries to go back to sleep but the prison guard knocks on his cell.

“Hey Freddy you having trouble sleeping?”

He responds “Yeah”

The guard takes out a yellow pill container and pops out two small pills.

“Here’s some Benadryl it should help.”

“Thanks.”

He holds out his hands and catches the pills, taking one at a time.

“Why did you help me?” He asks.

The guard responds with “Well – you don’t fight with the other prisoners and you seem like a good person at heart.”

“I killed my pregnant wife because I was afraid I’d lose another child.” The guard looks down and then walks away.

As Freddy drifts into a deep slumber he begins dreaming again. In time his dream ends but he does not awaken. Instead he finds himself surrounded by fire. “What hell was this? Or is this Hell?” He says loudly. He begins walking forward into a darker cavern where to his surprise he sees movement other than the flames dancing high above him. “Hello?” He shouts. Then being greeted by a thundering voice saying only this: “Follow me.” Freddy knew he had no choice but to follow this tall shadowy being.

After some time has passed and many caverns traversed he begins to realize this being that he is following is Lucifer himself.

Freddy then stops and asks “Why do you want me?”

“Because you possess the evil I desire.”

Freddy then confused says “But I regret killing my wife, I feel guilty about it!”

The being then makes a hollowing laugh. “We both know you wouldn’t be here if you didn’t enjoy what you did. Take a look around it’s your home now, destroy the souls of whomever you desire.”

They come up to a door with the words pyro-masochist written along it and Freddy touches it and shrilly jumps away from the heat. The being then pushes the door open revealing a long corridor of metal caskets along the walls with fire surrounding them giving some edges a red hot glow. Each casket having three holes; two for the eyes and one for the mouth.

Freddy then looks closer at a few caskets seeing that the lips and eyelids of every soul in the caskets had been burnt off. Revealing long yellow teeth and piercing eyes. Throughout the corridor a psychotic laughter could be heard out of nearly every mouth accounted for. Freddy then notices one that is not laughing. He is intrigued with this and walks closer. “Why are you not laughing?”

He coughs for a second then says in a raspy voice “Sometimes we enjoy pain because it reminds us of our last happy moments.”

Freddy then walks out and meets back with the being. The being says “Guilt is a type of pain.”

Confused for a second he asks “Why does that matter?”

The being walks past him and says “You felt guilt when you couldn’t save your daughter from pneumonia. Seeing her alive was your last happy moment.”

The next morning a coroner packs Freddy’s body into a body bag and wheels him away on a cart. One of the paramedics says “He died of a heart attack in his sleep.” While writing it onto his report. After finishing his report he finds the picture of Freddy’s daughter in the corner of the pillow and picks it up. One of the cops looks over his shoulder and says “That was his daughter, when his wife got pregnant again he was afraid he would lose his next child so he killed them both. A half hour later came to the station and confessed.” After the cell is cleaned up the few police officers and paramedics leave for their respective duties.

By Kylan Walker