{Victoria}

"You are not who you think you are…"

Those words kept playing in the back of my mind on the drive home. Walter was quiet for most of the ride until he said, "So, how did it go?"

"It went fine…" I said.

"That doesn't sound good," Walter said.

I looked at him. "What do you mean?"

"Well people say that they're fine as if it was a question and not a statement they're probably not fine," Walter answered.

I rubbed the back of my neck uncertain on how to proceed. But then I decided to tell him what happened although I left out the part where Leah said that I'm not who I think I am.

Walter laughed after I finished telling him what happened. I frowned. "What's so funny?"

"It's a good thing killing people is illegal but wanting him to burn to death, damn talk about unbridled anger!" Walter said.

I nodded. "That's exactly what my therapist said! I'm going to go back to her again."

Walter smiled. "That's good news! I think this is one step forward to getting over what happened to you."

I nodded again. "I hope so, I really do. If this doesn't work then what should I do next?"

"Hmm, I think that's a question that I don't have the answer to," Walter said.

***

{Alastor}

I smiled as I walked down the hallway where the dungeons were. I heard the screams of the inmates in this level in the castle and they were like music to my ears! It's funny how the inmates here seem to think that they are innocent. They need to learn that nobody is innocent if they are sent to Hell for punishment.

I don't understand why the inmates here think that they are innocent. I had finally finished with torturing Issac and sent him to his place as part of his afterlife in Hell. He was sent to the ninth ring of Hell where he'll be gathering rocks to keep the fires of Hell going for all eternity.

The last person I'm going to deal with that's connected to stealing Walter and Victoria from cribs is Delilah. But before that I'm dealing with Wyatt. After finding out what Wyatt did to Victoria I've been itching to get my hands on him. But for whatever the reason, Satan was keeping him from me.

Satan is in agreement with me that Wyatt would for sure be given to Victoria as a present for her when she returns to Hell. So I've only been torturing him once a week. I want to keep him aware of his surroundings when I give him over to Victoria finally.

Not to mention, he seems to think he's innocent and that he thinks what he was doing was in Victoria's best interests. That's laughable really. Treating someone like a pet because they won't do what you tell them and beat them is in their best interest? I think not.

I rounded the corner to Wyatt's dungeon and he was lying on the cot sleeping. I often wonder if I should place a spell on the dungeons to keep humans from needing sleep. But I had to remind myself that I want him to be aware of his surroundings for Victoria and put my poker face on.

"Wyatt! Wake the fuck up!" I yelled. "Time for your torture!"

Wyatt sat up and stared at me in horror. "I-It's you again!"

I gave him a sinister smile. "Oh yes, it's me. I'm just here doing what I do best. Because you know torture is an art."

"But I'm innocent!" He shrieked. "I didn't do anything wrong! Victoria she-"

He didn't get a chance to finish his sentence when I quickly opened the door to his dungeon and grabbed him by the neck.

"How dare you try to shift the blame for your actions onto the Princess!" I snarled. "You're lucky Satan wants to keep you aware of your surroundings or I would do a lot worse than I've already done."

Over the centuries of being Satan's Second-in-Command and Executioner I've learned that if you torture a person for days or weeks at a time, a human get confused about where they are or what day it is. The fact that I'm not torturing Wyatt so much he's very well aware that he's in Hell and I gave him a little clock on his nightstand so he can still tell what day it is.

"Now," I said as I squeezed his neck a little harder. "Say you're sorry."

Wyatt didn't do anything but glare at me.

I laughed, "I can't believe that you humans really think you're innocent. News flash! If you go to Hell you are guilty it's as simple as that. Let me let you in on a little secret." I leaned down and said into his ear, "Humans hardly ever get into Heaven. L is so stubborn he lets his own powers walk all over him. If a human fails to do what L wants them then they get killed in his realm and sent here for punishment."

I let go of his neck and he sat down on the floor taking deep breaths and coughing because I strangled him. I rolled my eyes as I watched him regain his composure. "Are you done yet?"

"You said Victoria was a Princess? How is that even possible?" Wyatt asked.

"It's possible because Victoria isn't who you think she is. She's a demon just like I am," I said.

"But she just seemed so innocent and humble. I really tried to break her for her own good but the little brat decided she wanted to run from me," Wyatt said.

"She ran because her powers are dormant at the moment," I said. "But don't worry she'll discover them soon and when she does I'm pretty sure she'll have no problem protecting herself. Until then she has to depend on others for help. I can't wait until she finds out that Walter's her mate. I might be bound to Satan by being his Second-in-Command but my son is destined to marry Victoria."

I dragged Wyatt down the hallway to the torture room. I gave him an evil smile when I tied him to a chair.

"I'm telling you I'm not supposed to be here!" Wyatt declared while struggling against the restraints.

I turned around and that gave me an idea of something I add to the torture, singing. Usually when I sing, scary images pop up and thankfully humans can't really die in Hell or they'd die of fright.

I started to sing. "You really think that you're innocent? You really you've done nothing wrong? You really think that you have a pure heart. Your thoughts are about as dark as the night. And your soul is evil. Your warped sense of justice has brought you here. But let me tell you one thing, nobody is innocent in Hell!"

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I chuckled as the lights in the room started to dim enough just for shadows to appear on the walls. I continued to sing, "Come on my little inmate! Have a Hellish day! Come on, my little inmate! Nobody is innocent in Hell!"

As I sang the shadows started to display pictures of Wyatt sitting in a dungeon and a demon standing over him. I looked over at Wyatt to see him staring at the wall in horror. He regained his composure once again and did something that took me by surprise.

He started to sing, "This doesn't scare me! Not as much as you think it does. Call me a monster even though I am innocent. For now I play your game. I don't know why you treat people this way."

Instead of staying shocked I just rolled with it. I squatted to be eye level and sang, "Oh you'll be scared when you find out the reason as to why I'm treating you this way. I must say you're a little bit special but I'm just getting started." I snapped my fingers and made Wyatt look at the shadows on the walls. "You see this? This is the story of the future rulers of your afterlife, the tale of Princess Victoria and Prince Walter. Once upon a time, there was a Princess and a Prince and they were both stolen from their homes. They got reincarnated and made into humans. They grew up where they didn't belong."

The shadows on the walls portrayed a young Victoria and Wyatt sleeping in their cribs. Someone came up to their cribs and took them and ran off with them.

I continued, "We searched everywhere, high and low. But when we found them it was too late to bring them back home."

"So basically this story plays out like Hercules?" Wyatt asked.

I nodded. "Oh yeah, much like how Hercules was stolen from his crib. Although this story is a much more grim dark than Hercules was. What I do know for sure is Satan was pissed when he found out that Victoria couldn't be brought home. And when Satan gets pissed, he makes me look like an amateur when it comes down to torture."

I started to sing again, "Come on my little inmate! Have a Hellish day! Come on, my little inmate! Nobody is innocent in Hell! If you can't come to terms with this, I don't care! You can try to escape, but you won't get anywhere. It'll lead you back to where you belong. Cause nobody is innocent in Hell! Come on my little inmate! Have a Hellish day! Come on, my little inmate! Nobody is innocent in Hell! I see the colors that surround your soul. Your soul burnt and it can't be repaired. Sorry to say this but you're not innocent!

"Come on, my little inmate! Have a Hellish day! Come on, my little inmate! Nobody is innocent in Hell! Nobody is innocent, nobody is innocent, nobody is innocent in Hell! Nobody is innocent in Hell."

After I sang the last line in the song I laughed a sinister laugh. It was a laugh so dark and deep that it could make anyone's blood run cold and possibly freeze.

I looked over to see that the color had drained from Wyatt's face and I smiled. As I went over to the wall that had the torture instruments on and picked one. "Now let's begin with your torture session, shall we?"

When I started torturing Wyatt his screams were like music to my ears.

***

{Walter}

Apparently Victoria's boss Louis wanted her to paint a mural for his mansion. It was going to be a mural at his home that would be down the hallway leading to his room.

Most of the time when she would go to Louis's mansion I would go with her and just sit in the living room reading a book or something until it was time for her to take her medicine.

The idea for the mural that Victoria came up with was called: The tale of Two Brothers. It was an interesting concept about two angels and one of them was a fallen angel. It looked like it was going to be a beautiful one. She used clay as part of her painting to really make certain details stand out. At the center of her masterpiece she painted what looked like a wooden door.

She had six months to get the mural done and she was almost done with it at the 4th month mark. One day I decided to watch Victoria as she worked. She looked like she was in her own little world, happy and content with what she was doing.

"She's beautiful isn't she?" I heard someone say.

I smiled when I turned around and saw Louis standing there. I know he has a crush on Victoria but I have a feeling that he's not going to get her. She's going to be mine. The more I think about that the more overprotective I become of her.

"Yeah Victoria is beautiful," I responded.

I had to keep myself from laughing when Louis's face turned red. He stammered, "I-I meant the painting! Yeah that's right the painting is beautiful!"

I rolled my eyes. "I know you have a crush on her. But tread lightly because she's wary of men with your status. And she might be getting a boyfriend soon."

He looked at me and blinked. "Wait, you mean to tell me that you two haven't made it official yet? You're kidding right?"

I shook my head. "Not yet, I'm going at her pace. But I'm pretty sure it'll happen soon."

He smiled. "I see, well good luck with that one. I wish I could be her caretaker. But you seem to be rather protective of her. So I'd say she's in good hands."

"A Tortured Soul…" Someone else said. I turned around to see an old lady who looked like the female version of Louis.

"Mom!" Louis said. "I thought you weren't supposed to be here until Friday!"

He turned around and gave his mother a big hug.

"I'm glad I came today," Louis's mom said. "That girl's got some major talent with her art."

Louis nodded. "Yeah she does. Oh, the woman painting the mural is Ms. Victoria Lee."

Louis's Mom's eyes beamed when he said who Victoria was. "She's the up and coming popular artist that everyone keeps talking about! I might just commission her for a couple of my paintings at my houses overseas. I know because of her disability she probably won't be able to travel much but I'll figure something out."

"It's finished!" Victoria declared.

We turned to see that the mural that Victoria painted was indeed finished. It went all the way down the hallway just like Louis wanted and it looked like the sketch she did but she added a little bit more details. Especially the details on the door that was in the middle of the mural. I swear one would think they'd be looking at a real door and try to open it only to discover it was just a painting!

Victoria added ivy vines to the door with a small stream of blood dripping down them.

"Wow, that's beautiful!" Louis's Mom beamed. "Especially the door, my goodness it looks so realistic!"

"Yeah I know," Louis said. "But why did you add blood to the vines?"

Victoria shrugged. "Don't know, it just felt right. Is it too much?"

Louis shook his head. "No, not at all. I was just curious, that's all."

"It's okay because you're a tortured soul Ms. Lee," Louis's Mom said.

"Mom!" Louis gasped.

Louis's Mom shrugged. "What? It's always the crazy ones that make good art. Normal people can't compare."

Victoria blinked. "Ah, is that supposed to be a compliment?"

Louis's Mom nodded her head.

"Oh, ah that's a weird compliment but thanks," Victoria said.

"No problem dear," Louis's Mom said. "Well I'm going to retire to my room for the day. It was nice meeting you Ms. Lee."

"Nice to meet you too!" Victoria said.

After Louis's Mom walked off Victoria gave me a confused look. I raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Who was that?" Victoria asked.

"That was my mother," Louis said before I could respond.

Victoria nodded. "Okay, she's a beautiful woman."

Louis smiled. "Thanks, I'll relay to the compliment and she'll be very pleased about it. Well, now that the painting is done, I'll make sure to transfer the money to your account."

"Alright then," Victoria said.

"You might want to go to the bathroom and wash your face. You got paint on you," Louis said.

Victoria nodded and left the room with Cody right by her side.

"Dogs are wonderful creatures. It's amazing how loyal that service dog is," Louis said.

"Yeah, he's a good dog. He definitely helps if Victoria's having an episode or something like that," I agreed.

"Okay I'll go ahead and pack my things up and get ready-" Victoria started after she came back from the bathroom.

Louis shook his head. "Oh no, I have a maid that can take care of that," He looked over at the small stack of paints that Victoria had organized after she was done. She even put the tarp that she had in case paint spilled on the floor rolled up and ready to be put away. "Besides, it looks like you put all of your things in one spot so it'll be easy for the maid to just come and pick up the stuff and put it away."

"Alright then," Victoria said.

With that Victoria shook hands with Louis and we said our goodbyes and parted ways.