Screams pierced the still air of the deep caverns but they never fazed the ones who inflicted the pain that caused those screams. In Hell it was not uncommon for screams and wails to hit one in the face like an iron bar and the Demons that dwelled down here had grown accustomed to it. In fact, most looked forward to hearing the screams shatter the silence as it meant that justice was being served.

Down in Hell that was the purpose of these chambers-to punish the wicked as they left the mortal world and entered the land of the dead. Demons littered the halls, waiting for their next mortal to be brought down and all around red eyes could be seen gleaming with the anticipation of the next victim. All but one set of eyes-those eyes were crystal blue and they held a sense of weariness.

Andrus was a two thousand year old Demon and he had been torturing the souls that had come into his possession for most of his life. His midnight hair, straight and glossy in the light of the fires, was forever getting into his face, covering those ice blue eyes that made him stand apart from all other Demons.

No one knew why Andrus had been born with blue eyes instead of red-all Demons had red eyes and at first Andrus felt ostracized because of his unique feature. To prove himself, Andrus had become the fiercest and most feared Torture Demon in the entire realm and others often sought him out for advice.

His black boots clicked on the cobbled floor as Andrus walked down the Demon lined hallway towards his assigned room. He was sheathed in the typical dress for a Torture Demon-black leather pants to ward off the fire and blood, a black vest that held many of his different tools and while the leather jacket wasn’t required, Andrus liked the way it looked and so that was a personal fashion statement. Finally he found himself in front of the same wooden door that he had been coming to for centuries, the low cries coming from within doing nothing as Andrus silently pushed open the door and entered.


“No! What are you?!” The human cried from the chair that it was strapped to as its eyes scanned the room and came to land on Andrus. The human was male, with dark hair that hung in its face, much like Andrus, and it was dressed in ripped black clothing and old tennis shoes.

“You’re judge and executioner…” Andrus said, his voice low and dangerous as he pulled the scroll from the back of the door and began to read of this vermin’s crimes.
“Please…I-I didn’t do anything wrong…”The human continued to cry and all Andrus could do was look up from the scroll and train his cold blue eyes on the pathetic being in front of him.

“My records here say that you murdered another human…tsk tsk. You humans are so cruel to one another. Makes my job easier…”Andrus sat the scroll down on a small table by the door and reached into his vest.


The blade of his trusty dagger gleamed in the fire light as Andrus approached the sniveling human and a devilish smirk graced his beautiful face as Andrus began to work. He ignored the cries from the vermin as he sliced into the light colored flesh, but Andrus could tell that very little satisfaction graced his bones as he worked. He had grown tired of the same old game and he was beginning to see more and more that the humans that came down here were being sent for smaller and smaller crimes.

As Andrus worked, he realized that this life was never something that he had wanted, but his mother had pushed him into it and so here he was. Really Andrus didn’t know what his purpose in life was, but he knew that it was more than torture and punishment.


“We are done for the time being human…guards!” Andrus called over his shoulder, wiping his blood stained hands on a small cloth as two burly Demons entered the room.


The red skinned Demons grabbed the vermin underneath the arms and began to drag him out of the room and Andrus sneered as he took in the sight. Humans-pathetic and cowish, they all seemed to be guilty of something. As Andrus watched, something gleaming on the floor caught his attention and he moved his foot to cover the item as the guards passed him by.

Once alone he bent down, picking up the item and turning it over in his hands, Andrus had no idea what it was. It was long and skinny, with a wire coming out from the bottom and attached to the end of the wire were two circular things that felt rubbery and odd against his warm skin.

Sighing, Andrus placed the item in an empty pocket and exited the room. His work day was over, but screams still filled the halls as new Demons went to work on their latest victims-there was never any rest for the wicked in hell. Slowly Andrus made his way through the halls, passing rooms and hearing screams until finally he was out of the building entirely. The blood moon was full tonight-a good sign that Satan was in a good mood and for that Andrus was grateful. The Demon Lord could be vicious when his mood was sour and the entire Demon population always hoped for the bad days to be few and far between.


“Out already Andrus? I thought today was the day for over time down in the pits?” A chill voice said from behind him and Andrus spun, his hand on his dagger but once he recognized the intruder he smiled.

“Calvanis!” Andrus reached out, clapping a gloved hand on his best friends shoulder as the two continued to walk down the cobbled street, their paces matching slightly.

“How were the pits today Andy? Torturous as ever?” Cal asked and Andy just shook his head, a smirk playing on his lips as the two demons crossed the street to walk towards their quarter building.

“Not too bad. I finished off the murderous scum in room 220, but was of course given a new one shortly thereafter. Something slipped from his person as they removed him…come up to my apartment and I’ll show you.” His voice was a mere whisper as the two Demons entered the building and began the long trek up the stairs.


The halls of the quarters were dead silent as the two young Demons walked down to the very end and entered Andrus’ apartment. The walls were a dark black, all of the furnishings fashioned from either leather or metal and Andrus removed his jacket, slinging it on to the back of the couch as he removed the item from his vest and held it palm up for Cal to look at. Cal took it from Andy, his green fingers touching the item gently as he had no idea what this even was.

Cal was a Record Demon-one who recorded everything that came in to Hell and everything that would leave, which wasn’t much as no one left Hell except for the Lord. The green Demon pressed his fingers against what seemed to be buttons and suddenly a soft sound filled the silent apartment.


“What is that?” Andrus asked, biting down on his lip ring as he approached Cal quietly. The noise was soft, but it seemed to grow louder with Cal’s prodding fingers.

“Something we aren’t supposed to be in possession of! Get rid of it Andrus…this is a black listed item…” Cal seemed frightened and Andrus took the item from the shorter demon as Cal headed for the door.

“But what is it?” Andy asked, his black hair falling into his face once again as he flicked his head to remove the offending strands.

“Andrus, please…if you value your life as a Demon you will do as I say and rid yourself of that item before you are caught! I don’t even understand how the Searchers let it get past them in the first place…” Cal was in front of him and Andrus felt the Demon’s claws digging into the skin of his shoulder forcefully as his red eyes were widely searching Andy’s blue ones.

“Cal! Tell me what it is before I throttle you!” Andy hissed through his teeth before Cal clapped a hand over Andy’s mouth to quiet him.

“Music Andrus! This contraption plays music! Something we both know is forbidden in the Dark Kingdom! I must go…promise me that you will destroy this-this thing before you are caught and punished…” Cal pleaded with his best friend as he dashed for the door and Andy could only nod.


Andy stood there, waiting a few minutes before he made his way around his small apartment. His fingers worked quickly as he shut all of the windows, forcing the room into darkness and he was sure to double bolt the door before he came to sit on his couch. Andy looked down at the item in his hands, unsure of how to work it or what the things on the ends were for. Slowly he grabbed one in his hand, his fingers fumbling as he moved to place the small round piece into a pointed ear. He ran his fingers over the smooth surface and soon his ear was filled with something he had never experienced before.

Andy listened quietly, moving the other round piece to the other ear as the soft tones filled his head. Demons were not allowed to have pleasure items-this included things such as music and books. Their only purpose in life was to fulfill their duties to their assigned sector.

Andy had been raised to be a Torture Demon-unfeeling and unkind in his ways and his father had ruled him with an iron fist. His mother however, had always been kind to Andy, something uncommon for a Demon. They weren’t allowed to feel things such as love or compassion and it was frowned upon when Demons cared for one another.

Andy wasn’t like all of the other Demons in the realm however-he didn’t love, but he couldn’t walk round hating everything either. Cal and Andy had become best friends in school, which was frowned upon because of their class differences but Andy never cared. He took pleasure in doing things against the grain-growing his hair out so that it hung in his face, adorning his lip with a metal ring and his eyes…his eyes would forever make Andy different. Never in a million years was there a Demon with an eye color other than red, but Andy had been born with eyes so light his mother had at first thought she had birthed an Angel.

Andrus sat there, the usual silence removed as he listened to the forbidden noise that filled his pointed ears. The music, as Cal called it, was fast and loud, the voices screaming at him and Andy found himself nodding his head to the beat quickly. He would have to lie to Cal about getting rid of the forbidden item because Andy knew that he couldn’t get rid of this-it was too exciting and different, just like him. After a half hour, Andrus decided that enough was enough for the evening and so carefully he switched off the music player and wrapped the cord around the slim body. Where to hide it?

He thought for a moment, biting down on his lip as a thought came to his head and Andy smirked against the darkness. Moving around the apartment, Andrus found himself in the kitchen, pulling open his knife drawer where he kept all of his personal weapons. The blades shined in the red light coming from the moon and Andy smirked evilly. He ran his fingertips over the blades slowly, thinking back to all of the torturous things he had inflicted with each swipe of his blade. Andy was the best fighter in the Realm-the Dark Lord said so on many occasions and Andy had even been offered a position as his Lord’s personal guard.

Something had stopped him from accepting however-Andy had grown tired of the violent ways of his class of Demons and he longed for another purpose in life. As he readied for bed, Andrus thought about his duties for the next day and he wondered if he should dare bring in the forbidden item to keep him company on his breaks. No. No this must remain hidden and not even Cal could know about it.

Crawling into bed Andy stared at the dark ceiling and for the hundredth time wondered what was going on above the Hell World. Humans. Walking around, strutting down the streets as if they were perfect and pure-LIES! Andy knew that humans were nothing but filth for him to crush underneath his boots, but there had to be some good in them right? There wouldn’t be a Heaven Realm if all humans were bad, but Hell definitely was brimming with vermin these days.

As Andy closed his eyes, the music played in his mind softly and he couldn’t help but smile. Music may be banned from the Demon Realm, but Andy was never one to follow rules and he certainly wasn’t going to start now.

Notes

So I did a thing-let me know if you like this thing and I will continue it. The rest of the guys will show eventually, but I can't tell you when because then that would spoil everything!

(For those who read my other Series, Love By Mistake and We Caught Fire-never fear, I haven't given up on that series, but this popped in to my head and I needed to write it down.)

This story will probably only be updated a handful of times during the week as We Caught Fire is still my main bitch, but I hope you guys like this and please tell me what you think!

<3