200 creatches packed into one room. Their blankets barely covered their bodies, and were centimeters apart from each other. He stared up at the gray ceiling. Normally, by now he would be asleep; you had to sleep as long as you could to work in the factory all day. But night was the only time he’d be able to sneak back into the factory and get the cores. Slowly, he crept out of his blanket and peered at the sleeping bodies around him. Hopefully, everyone was out could by now.

He tiptoed in the small gaps between blanketed bodies until he got to an open window. By stretching up as far as he could, he was able to reach the bottom ledge and pull himself up. Luckily, he wasn’t very tall for his age, so he could fit through the window without much difficulty. With deft movements, he crawled through the window, grabbed the outside ledge, let his body hang against the cold brick, then dropped lightly onto the ground. This side of the house was hidden from the Overseers quarters, so he didn’t worry much about being seen.

Once at the farthest edge of the wall, he peered around it. Lights were still on in the Overseers’ quarters, they were probably gambling, like usual. There really wasn’t any other choice; he sprinted through the open space as fast as he could, not looking back once. He didn’t stop running until he had reached the waste removal site.

For a few moments, he waited. No screaming alarm sounded, just the steady gurgle of liquid in the waste pipe.

The pipe wasn’t very big but it ran through a larger tunnel that he was able to crawl through. If Julian or Leck had to do this, they probably would’ve passed out from the smell. He was used to it.

After 10 minutes, he reached the end of the tunnel. The pipe stopped here, and traveled up through the dirt above him. He chipped away at the dirt until he reached hard tile, the floor of their waste removal room in the factory. During the day he had loosened a few of the tiles, so now he was able to gently pop them up and climb out of the tunnel. From there, he had to grab the cores from under the assembly belt, hide them closer to the beginning of the tunnel, and sneak back to the house. Miraculously, he did all of this unseen, and was back through the house window in 30 minutes.

He shivered under his covers. It would’ve been strange if in the morning he went to the factory covered in dirt and mud, so he was forced to hose himself off before he ran back to the house.

Such a long day. It was unfair. The things he had to do to survive, all because he was a creatch. If he had been born a human he wouldn’t have to crawl through shit tunnels, or be beaten by the Overseers. Horton and so many of the others believed in God, but he never could. Maybe the devil existed, but a kind God seemed unlikely. Thoughts like these circled in his head, until eventually exhaustion reined his mind in, and he fell into the black void of sleep.

WAKE UP, WAKE UP CREATCHES!!

Feeling unrested, he and everyone else shuffled out of the house and into the factory to begin working. The hours went by without incident. He groggily did his work until he was told to do waste maintenance. At the tunnel, he retrieved the cores and waited for Julian and his gang to show up.

“Hello Cin.”

He twisted his body in the direction of the gravelly voice. How could there be someone out here? His sight and sense of smell would have told him if someone was coming near.

Yet, somehow, standing just a few feet to his left, was a man. Or was he a creatch? He was dressed in a long black coat, with a white ruffled shirt, and silky black pants. He had never seen any creatch dressed in such fancy clothes. Only people like the Factorymaster wore clothes like that. He couldn't be a creatch, but how could he be human? His skin was the color of blood, and he had long black fingernails. No human looked like that. Whatever the man was, creatch or human, he had to be careful.

“Uhm, can I help you mister? I’m just doing some waste maintenance, like I was told.” The bag of cores was still in his hand, but it would be strange if he dropped it now.

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“Waste maintenance? It looks like you are waiting for someone, Cin.” The man’s voice was rough, but easy to listen to. It was strange that he called him Cin. Only the other creatches did that.

“You’re right, mister, creatch 15 is supposed to be comin’ soon to help me. Then we can start fixin’ the waste pipe.” He had prepared this lie in case someone had found him waiting here.

“You are an excellent liar, Cin. That will serve you well in Hell.”

Gulp.

Hell? Is he being serious? Or is that some kind of joke? It must be a joke. But he knows I’m lying. How does he know that?

“I, uh, I better get back to the factory and see what’s taking 15 so long.” He didn’t know who or what this man was, he just knew he had to get away from him.

“Stay, Cin. Let's wait for your friends.” It wasn’t a request. The man was not going to let him leave.

“Okay…”

“When they get here, you must pay very close attention, Cin. This will be your first lesson.”

“My first lesson?”

“Yes, your first lesson as my apprentice.”

He was going to ask what that meant, but his nose was assaulted by the smell of oiled metal and freshly cleaned cotton clothes. Julian was here.

His group approached until they were a few meters away from the man.

“What's a creatch doing here dressed in human clothes? Who the fuck is this?”

“I, uh..”

“Do you like swords, Cin?” The man grinned at him and it sent shivers down his spine.

“I, I dunno.” What was he supposed to say?

“No, a sword is too big for a child like you. A dagger. I will make you a dagger.”

“Get the fuck out of here, creatch. Cin and I need to talk.” Julian raised his cyber-arm and pointed it towards the man. The metal palm glowed a cold blue.

No, this is bad. This is bad. “Julian don’t do any-

It all happened in a moment. He didn’t even see him move. Suddenly, the man was right next to Julian. In one swift motion he carved open Julian’s throat with his fingernail. Blood began to trickle out.

“Unfortunately, I need quite a bit more than that.” He stuck his fingers into the crescent wound and ripped it open. Now, the blood flowed out like a river. Julian's eyes stared blankly, his cyber-arm limp at his side.

The man let Julian fall to the ground. The blood pooling around his body began to rise into the air and form into shapes. First a sphere, then a thin cylinder, and finally a long, sharp triangle. The crude shapes combined and became more detailed. The cylinder became flatter with wrapped grooves around it, and the triangle curved into a sickly blade.

“Perfect.” The man tapped the blood dagger and it became solid, dropping into his other hand.

No one said anything. No one dared to even breathe. The man glided towards him and put the dagger in his hand.

“This is yours. Never let it go, and never let another hold it. Do you understand, Cin?”

He nodded. This is a dream, this is a dream. I just haven’t woken up yet.

“Now, Cin, I am going to finish my business here. I will be sending you to limbo. Do not stay there long.”

He flinched as the man placed his finger on his forehead. I am dreaming, I am dreaming. I must be dreaming. His eyelids drooped and a darkness enveloped his body. Yes, I am dreaming.

The boy faded from Earth. This has gone well, Dante thought to himself. Hopefully the boy will be in Hell shortly. He has so much to learn.

Now, to deal with the rest.

Two of the children looked vacantly at the dead boy's body. The other two stared at him with gaping mouths. All of them stood still, with tears dripping off their cheeks.

So small and weak. If just one had shown up to meet Cin, then only one would've died. He had simply needed to kill one in front of Cin. Alas, they all had come.

A human cannot live after seeing a devil. These were simply the rules. He could not change them, for now.

So, he cut one throat, then a second, then a third, and finally a-

“Step away from her, Dante. She is mine.” Such a melodic voice. Such a detestable woman.

“And if I do not? What will you do Aleyna?”

“I will challenge you to a duel. I may not win, but I will at least have your arm, and you will look like a fool in front of all of Hell.” Hmm. He could kill her and the child now, but he would not leave unscathed, that was true. It would be harder to teach the boy, and he would have to find a new tailor if he lost an arm. Still, he had to do something.

In a second he was able to cleanly slice the girl's cheek before he had to dodge a lunging attack from Aleyna.

“I WILL HAVE YOUR HEAD FOR THIS DANTE!”

“Goodbye, Aleyna.” Before she could retort, he was already gone, descending the emerald steps to hell.

Once he was back he would make sure the boy’s accommodations were in order.