The fiery pit known as hell is not what it seems. In fact, there’s very little fire. Malakai Midnight walks through a cell system, whereby prisoners moan and groan behind bars. All of them are in states of distress.
“Welcome to the midnight hour, little owls.”
His sinister smile knows no bounds as he traverses the cellscape.
“Did you know, there’s no such thing as heaven? It’s true. Paradise as explained to you by the fraudulent and deceptive, like my partner this week, doesn’t exist in the manner they believe.”
He’s confident.
“But it does exist. It exists here, in hell.”
Malakai stops at a cell and smiles.
“Those who are evil at heart end up in hell, but not here in the prisons of despair. They end up above it all, ruling their own Kingdoms, their every whim and desire, no matter how despicable, fulfilled.”
Inside the cell is a man soaked in blood, cradling his adult daughter.
“And those who believe themselves good and wholehearted; those who deceive themselves into believing they have a purpose towards a higher power and that they’re living in the right way whilst doing the wrong things, end up here.
Because those people are frauds. Those people are bad at their core and instead of embracing it like the rest of us, they hide it. They shy away from it. They put on a façade that they’re better than everyone else.
Do you know what hell thinks of that? That’s punishable, little owls.”
Malakai walks onto the next cell and stops, looking at a man inside, who repeatedly puts a pistol in his mouth and shoots himself in the head. As soon as he’s done, he respawns, and the pistol is forced back into his hand and he does it again.
He repeats this cycle for eternity, suffering unexplainable agony every time he does.
“Then there’s those that believe themselves to be law and order; authority and morality. There’s those that refuse to embrace the darkness within yet draw from it regularly under the guise of decency.
These people are a disgrace to our dark lord. Instead of embracing him, they shun him, yet dabble in his methods and means.
How many people have you hurt whilst pretending to be good, Jackson? How many souls have you sacrificed in the pursuit of good, knowing that to do so, you’ve had to be bad to the bone?”
Malakai laughs.
“Hell is full of people like me, who embraced our dark lord. It’s full of people living in a paradise for their so-called sins.
It’s also full of people like you Harold Attano and you, Jackson Cade.
Men and women who refused to call themselves evil, yet chose their morality when it suited them.
Which do you want to be, gentlemen? It isn’t too late. You can rule on a throne as a King of your own Kingdom in hell, or rot in a cell for eternity, suffering in the agony of your own hypocrisy.
Follow me, little owls. It’ll be a hoot.”
Suddenly, Malakai awakens, everything a dream. He smiles, and goes back to sleep.