A familiar voice was whispering in his ear, but Jonas didn't have the mind to reply, and he could do nothing but hear it echo in the deepest recesses of his psyche.
"Not good enough, you fool," the voice was disapproving, "It won't work. You must be merciless, you must be vicious, you must be evil."
Jonas was unsure at what point he had woken up, but when he had opened his eyes Amberlee was gone, and he was left staring aimlessly at the ceiling, strange thoughts occurring in his heart.
'Did I do the right thing?' he wondered, 'I don't feel like it,' and he felt guilty for his conniving thoughts, as he had gone his entire life trying to be honest with his intentions and trying to treat other people fairly.
Maybe he just needed to eat, and after making his way back to his bedroom to get dressed, Jonas found Phillip and Amberlee in the dining hall, discussing something over coffee and deliciously smelling cinnamon rolls that had to weigh at least five pounds each.
"You're back," said Jonas, "How was everything?" Phillip smiled as his many chins jiggled merrily and he reached for another huge icing-coated roll.
"Very well, I managed to convince a prominent member of a certain organization to beef up security for his daughter's birthday," he added, "Apparently, she is being groomed to work for our Prince."
"The Prince of Hell for our floor?" asked Jonas.
"The one and only," said Phillip, "Not sure his name though, unlike the governments in your old world that are public about their members, the government in Hell is extremely secretive and they try to keep everything in house."
"I wonder who could be so strong and intimidating that they managed to become one of the six Princes of Hell?" Jonas wondered aloud.
"Supposedly," began Phillip, "This Prince of Hell is someone from your world, a relic of an era long gone."
"My world?" Jonas asked curiously, "He's not a Hellite like you?"
"Speculation," Phillip warned once again, "This is all speculation, but I've heard from down the grapevine that our Prince of Hell was a tremendous warrior from your world, and even though he wasn't born here in Hell, his talent with the sword is second to none."
"I wish I paid more attention in history class," Jonas smiled, "I don't have a single clue who it could be," but he also couldn't help but wonder if interacting with the leader of the first floor would be necessary for him to descend further down.
"Anyways," said Philip, "I've been speaking to Amberlee about your circumstances," but he didn't elaborate as he focused on his meal. Jonas was extremely calm on the outside, but his heart began to pick up speed, he needed to know if he would be enslaved in this house of unlimited pleasures for the rest of his eternal life.
"Yes?" Jonas asked with a casual tone, biting into a bit of a cinnamon roll. Phillip once again looked at his wife, who slowly nodded her head, and then he sighed deeply.
"I'm a bit disappointed that you don't wish to stay, but I originally only bought you to keep Amberlee company…" he trailed off as he took tremendous gulps of coffee from a bucket-sized cup. "However, since she no longer has any use for you, it wouldn't make any sense to keep you around."
Jonas could almost not control his own body as he had the sudden urge to jump and cheer. The smell of freedom was wafting from the front doors of the mansion, and he felt it was much more appetizing than the smell of cinnamon.
"I'm sorry I couldn't be of more use," said Jonas sadly, "I'll pay you back what I owe you though, I promise," and he was not lying. Although Jonas wasn't exactly happy about his recent adventure as a sex slave, Phillip Glatorius did save him from being purchased by the dick-eating psychopath with who Jonas had almost gone home with.
"No matter," said Phillip who was unconvinced that Jonas could ever afford to pay back such a large sum of Sin Stones, "Just keep my number in your contacts, that way if I need to get a hold of you, I can."
"Of course," Jonas said, "I appreciate everything you've done for me," he added looking at Amberlee, "Both of you have treated me with more kindness and decency than anyone in Hell has," and this sentiment made the husband and wife duo beam happily.
"It was fun while it lasted," Amberlee sighed into her coffee mug, but Jonas could see she was extremely sad, and it appeared as if she had used makeup to try and cover up her puffy eyes.
"It's not goodbye forever," added Jonas, "Once I find my brother I'll come and visit, I promise," though both of them were still entirely convinced that Jonas was going to tuck tail and never be seen again. Their plates were soon cleared, and Jonas was led to the front door where both Phillip and Amberlee were prepared to give their final goodbyes.
"You could stay you know," Phillip added once more, and if Jonas asked some of the more unfortunate people in Hell whether or not he was making the right decision, they would probably beat Jonas to death as a reply.
All-you-can-eat gourmet cuisine with the finest alcohol and spirits. Never worrying or struggling for survival a day in his life, and having hot, kinky sex with an adorable red-head who would please him at any time of the day, could Jonas say that he was still in Hell?
"I'm sure," there was confidence behind his smile, and Phillip couldn't help but feel slightly regretful that such an outstanding specimen was walking out his front door.
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"Goodbye," began Amberlee as she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him passionately in front of Phillip. Her tongue tied with his playfully as they swapped spit and his arms wrapped around her lithe waist. When they finally pulled apart, Amberlee's eyes were red once more, and she knew that long days of loneliness were ahead of her.
"Take care," said Phillip Glatorius who stuck out a pudgy hand, and seeing his wife tongue down a teenager right in front of him didn't bother him in the slightest. Jonas stretched out a slender hand and returned the favor.
Without any more words, the young man turned on the spot and began walking down the large driveway and towards the front gate. The married couple watched as his back slowly receded from view, and as he was let out the front by security, he vanished from view. It wouldn't be the last time that they saw Jonas Ariel, that was for sure.
"Freedom!" Jonas punched the air as he began running down the quiet street that led to many mansions that looked just as extravagant as the one he had just left. The wind blew his hair back and he felt like he could fly if he just ran a bit faster. He had done it, he was free from the bondage of slavery, and with his newfound experience into the inner workings of Hell, Jonas swore to himself that it would be the last time he ever ended up chained up, put in a cage, or subjected to the whims of others.
'I got lucky this time,' he thought as he pulled out his hell phone, 'The next time I take something from a stranger, I might just wake up without my cock,' but for now, he needed to figure out where that quack doctor Old Louie lived. Just as he was about to open his map application, Jonas was alerted by a notification from his phone. 'A money transfer from Phillip Glatorius has been deposited in my account?'
Jonas quickly opened his banking app and was astonished to see that where it had once shown he was broke, his account now had one thousand Sin Stones and a private message to go along with it.
'I hope this helps you along your journey, take care - P & A Glatorius.'
'I can't believe they sent me money,' Jonas was shocked at how generous those two were, and they didn't even seem to belong in Hell.
Feelings of guilt took over his body as Jonas recalled how excited he had just been to escape, and now he was about to take their money and run like a thief, 'I'll pay them back,' he thought as he closed out his app and began trying to surf the web for information about the sewers but was unsuccessful, and Jonas soon realized the sewage system of the Overworld was so large and complicated it was like traversing New York City for the first time.
However, Jonas managed to conclude that wherever Old Louie was, it had to be near the auction where Jonas was sold because from the time that Boss James had called the old quack to the time that he healed Jonas, only an hour or so had passed which meant that the location to the sewers was within walking distance.
It took Jonas a few moments to pinpoint the right building on his map application but after some careful trial and error, he was able to narrow it down, 'I'm not going back inside,' thought Jonas, 'And I cannot let anyone see me,' he could only imagine the expression of ecstasy that would be on Rick's face if he ever saw Jonas walking alone on the street.
According to his phone app, it would be about a three hours walk to the area near the auction house, but Jonas didn't mind because he felt like he needed to stretch his legs after being cooped up in a house and used as a sex toy for the last week.
The red sky was quite beautiful in the late morning, and between the perfectly manicured crimson-colored grass, and the smooth charcoal-colored roads, it felt like Jonas was strolling through just another suburban neighborhood in Hell.
Very few vehicles drove past him, and most of them were quite nice but had shapes that were so familiar he could have sworn they were the same models he had seen once on Earth, and about halfway through his journey, a black car had passed him and it was so similar to a Mustang he could have assumed it was his brother driving it.
Jonas knew he was getting closer to his destination because the houses and apartments were slowly becoming of worse quality, and he couldn't help but notice that the front gardens were becoming overgrown.
Most of the citizens that he passed would avoid eye contact, and nearly all of them carried some sort of weapon on their person which included knives, small swords, baseball bats, and even one woman was walking around with a shovel, Jonas noticed that it was dirtied with both mud and blood.
True to what he had learned about Hell so far, no one bothered him. Not a single passerby started any problems, but it was also very bright out which meant that Hell's biggest goons and goblins were still sleeping. Jonas had been forewarned by Amberlee not to go out at night, less he ran into them.
Jonas' feet were starting to ache and looking around he appeared to be in what looked like an industrial warehouse district, 'One of these is that auction,' thought Jonas, and he began paying attention to the sidewalks and the sewer grates that were built within them. Jonas noticed a transport truck parked halfway out of a long driveway, it seemed like the driver was doing a once over of his truck before taking off.
"Excuse me," said Jonas while walking over, and the worker froze on the spot and turned around, his body language and face were very tense and intimidating.
"Can I help you?" the worker asked dryly, his hands were in his two pockets, and Jonas was sure he was holding onto a hidden knife in one of them.
"I'm willing to transfer you fifty Sin Stones if you answer a question for me?" Jonas tempted him, and he was completely correct to do so because the worker's expression became slightly friendlier.
"What do you need to know?" he asked, "Mind you, I've only been in Hell for about a year, so it isn't like I'm the most knowledgeable around."
"That's no problem," said Jonas, "I'm looking for an old acquaintance who lives around here, and he told me to come to the sewers if I was ever in the area," he added, "Where would I look?"
"Err," the worker looked like he hadn't been expecting a question like that, and his eyebrows scrunched as he thought, 'You know, now that I think about it, some of my coworkers often talk about going to the underground sewer fights."
"What's that?" Jonas asked excitedly.
"Well," said the worker, "Apparently there is a small city in the sewers, and the main business of this city is underground fighting, literally," he added.
"Do you know how I can get to this underground city?" This question made the worker frown for a moment.
"It's not that I don't want to tell you, it's just that I'm not too sure. I mean, seeing as the sewer system is all connected you should be able to just go down there and eventually find it," but he added, "Then again, the sewage architecture is so complicated that you would probably lose your way a thousand times before you found anything."
"You said your coworkers talked about going to the fights right?" asked Jonas
"Yeah," said the worker, "But-"
"So you could just call one of them and ask the location, couldn't you?" Jonas pressed on and he could see the worker looked slightly awkward.
"Yes," the worker said once more, "But-"
"I will double your payment," Jonas interrupted, "I'll transfer you a hundred Sin Stones if you can find out how to get to this underground city," and the last reserves of that worker finally gave into greed, as he sighed and pulled out his hell phone. He called one of his contacts, put the phone to his ear, and after a few moments, he greeted a person who picked up on the other side.