7. Constance

Constance

"Where are we?" Constance asked.

"Welcome to Hell, my dear." Cain breathed in deeply. "The acrid scent of death and decay—I love it."

A suffocating heaviness weighed on Constance's heart. It was a burden unlike any other. A myriad of emotions swirled within her, causing a tumultuous storm. She was overwhelmed with sorrow and grief, but for what, she didn't know. Disappointment at missed opportunities and gnawing guilt ate at her.

Her envy cast a mirror into her blackened heart. Her soul shriveled with the sins she had committed against her sister and the baby. The lengths to which Constance had gone to achieve her own selfish goals carried insurmountable consequences. Only now, awareness of such wickedness was hers.

Each emotion pressed upon her spirit and cast a shadow over her life. She felt the pressure to succeed, to live up to the beauty standards set by society and her mother. The pressure had been relentless, a constant reminder of her inadequacies and the fear of failure. Would things have been different if she weren't the firstborn Winters child? Whether expectations were real or imagined no longer mattered.

Constance yearned for release. She longed to unburden herself, and the first step was getting rid of the brat in her arms. She longed to cast it aside into the mist and be free of this trap.

As Constance grappled with the heaviness of her heart, she knew there was no turning back. She'd walked this path alone long before Cain tempted her. She'd willingly made a bargain with him, and now it was time to face the consequences.

They were in a field of nothingness. The atmosphere was gloomy and dimly lit. Occasionally they wandered across clumps of gnarled trees. Hundreds of faces were frozen in agony within the bark.

Souls wandered aimlessly. They neither heard nor saw nor paid attention to Constance, Cain, and the tiny infant.

"Where are we?" Constance asked again.

"We are in limbo, or as Catholics call it, purgatory."

"Why are we here?"

"This is where the child will spend eternity. In limbo, it will not grow or change."

Constance glanced down at the sleeping baby in her arms. When she pulled it free from the stream, it had screamed and wailed until it fell asleep. The horns on its head had sunk back into the soft skull, and its tail fell off and withered like a husk.

"The tail will return," Cain explained .

He explained demonic anatomy in a crash course. "Demons have multiple forms. You've only seen my glimmer, or human guise, if you will. This is the form I use to tempt mortals, as I appear alluring and seductive."

He caressed Constance's cheek, which caused a shiver of delight to shoot down her spine. Cain chuckled as it proved his point.

"Lesser demons are ugly. They require blood to sustain their youthful glow." He pointed to the sleeping infant. "Lower demons who fornicate and impregnate humans produce spawn that will not survive anyway. They drink their blood to sustain themselves.

"Demons of my caliber can change form at will. My demonic form is powerful and is only sated with a human sacrifice. My brother is a freak and has an angelic form as well. My mother was mortal; therefore, I do not have this third form."

"Do you think the baby has an angelic form too?" Constance asked in awe.

"I doubt it, as only its demonic form was awakened. Believe me, we don't want it to assume an angelic form. Otherwise, it can't stay in limbo, and we need it here."

Constance tried to remember what the Church said about purgatory. They weren't Catholic or Christian, but a lot of the villagers followed this new faith, including their father, once a church had been erected in the village.

They constantly preached that absolution was the way to Heaven, and practically everything else was a ticket to Hell. There was no doubt in Constance's mind where she would end up. But seeing Hell outside of a religious construct wasn't what she imagined it to be or what the church leaders promised.

She wanted to laugh at the lack of the Lord's mercy. The Lord works in mysterious ways was whispered in their mother's ear often when their father was sick and even after he passed away. If He existed, He surely wasn't there for her sister.

"What will happen to the baby here?"

Cain laughed. "Don't tell me your sense of noble obligation has suddenly awakened because of a little beast."

Emotion bubbled again within her. When she had pulled the tiny creature from her sister's body, it fought for breath. When she threatened it, it fought back, leaving a nasty, painful burn on her wrist. Even though she tried to drown the child, its will to live superseded everything, and it calmed once the threat to its life passed. She couldn't help but admire its survival instinct.

" Cain ," she hissed.

"The souls in limbo aren't punished or tortured like they are in the other circles of Hell. There are no illusions or games here. What you see—" He gestured around them. "—is what you get. The child isn't old enough to understand where it is. Those that blindly wander know there is an upper world, the one Christians call Heaven." He spat. "And they know they are denied entry. Those trapped here are those who have not committed intentional sins during life. They remain here for centuries before they are judged. They are either reborn, sent above, or sent below."

Constance nodded in an attempt to digest the complexity of Cain's explanations .

"Will my sister come here?"

Cain's laughter filled the entirety of the void they were in. The dull eyes of the souls around them turned toward them. Constance's skin crawled as they stepped closer. The closer they came, the higher her anxiety climbed. Her throat closed, and her lungs felt as though the oxygen was being squeezed out of them.

The baby was plucked from her arms as she dropped to her knees.

"Give it back!" she screamed as the baby wailed.

The vibrant red of the child's skin was drained in a second. Twisted horns grew from its head once more, and its tail sliced through the air like a whip.

The soul that had grabbed the infant disappeared in a puff like a cloud. Its anguished cry filled the space just as Cain's laughter had, and all the souls within the immediate vicinity exploded similarly.

"It doesn't need protection," Cain chuckled. "It is a higher-level demon."

"What about my sister?"

"Your sister will never ascend nor will she come to limbo. She willingly fornicated with the son of Satan. She bound her soul to my brother. She will experience Hell at its finest." His lips curled in a wicked smile. "You promised her to me. She will be mine."

Envy tore through Constance at an alarming rate. Even in death, Cain chose her .

"What does she have that I don't?" she asked shrilly .

Cain grabbed her chin in a bruising grip. "I live in Hell. I've fucked many skilled succubi. There are millions of dark souls willing to fall on their knees and beg for my cock. I've laid with thousands of humans. I can easily seduce any maiden out of her clothing and convince her to climb onto all fours in the middle of a field and scream as I bury myself inside her. Pure souls like your sister's aren't seen often. I crave to make a sinner out of her."