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   Hart woke up in his large bed to the sudden, unexpected heart-pounding realization that he was in hell and it wasn't a dream. A tall, beautiful gentlemen walked in front of his bed carrying a basket of gorgeous fruits Hart had never seen.

“A gift from Siren,” the man said, leaving the basket at the foot of his bed and disappearing through the double doors.

The basket had a note on the side, so he pushed the covers aside and crawled to the end of the bed, grabbing the little paper. He unfolded it and read it.

Hello, Prince Hartheon. I hope you had a good sleep. Please enjoy the basket of extravagant fruits from our world. I know you don't feel hunger like some of us do, but you'll enjoy the taste either way. - Siren.

Hart grabbed the bright red fruit, which looked like an apple, except apples didn't glow or feel soft like a marshmallow. As he climbed out of the bed, he took a skeptical bite of the fruit and immediately grimaced. It wasn't bad, just sour – in a tasteful kind of way. It was as juicy as an orange and sour like a strawberry. But neither flavors could match what his taste buds were tasting. It was a new flavor and smell to his senses.

“Can any of you take me to Siren?” Hart asked the humans in his room as his armor appeared back on his skin.

The humans pointed down the hall but they didn't move to guide him. Hart saw nothing down the hall, just darkness. He began to walk out of his room and all of the sudden felt dizzy as he appeared somewhere else that wasn't the hall with the huge windows that overlooked the city.

“Hartheon,” said voices he didn't recognize.

While he blinked hard to get the dizzy feeling out of his eyes, he saw figures getting taller in front of him. The figures were completely dark, he couldn't tell what they were.

“Sorry about that, transportation between doors can be a little nauseating,” Siren said.

Everything cleared and Hart saw that the tall figures were only tall because they had gotten out of their seats. Hart was in a windowless room and it would have been impossible to see anything if it weren't for the fireplace.

In front of the fireplace was a long black table and twelve seats. All of the seats were occupied, except they were all standing now, watching Hartheon with curious eyes. These . . . figures, were not human. They had human looks but were entirely something else. There were many creatures and monsters in hell, many who looked like ordinary humans but were not.

“Would you give us a moment?” Siren asked the others.

None of them refused, just bowed their heads and silently vanished into thin air.

“Where did they go?”

“It doesn't matter now, what can I help you with, Hartheon?” Siren said, smiling widely, which kind of terrified him.

“I'm going to search for my friends,” Hart reminded her. “It's the only reason I'm here, so I don't see why I shouldn't start now.”

“Oh,” she replied, smile gone. “I was hoping you could stay a little longer, I'm having a meeting with The Dhark Clan and I wanted you to attend.”

“I'm sorry, I cannot,” he told her.

“Surely your friends can wait?”

“Nope,” he simply said, smiling this time.

Siren looked at him and smiled back awkwardly. “Alright, maybe another time then. What can I help you with? Do you need guards for your trip?”

“Guards won't be necessary. I only need a guide, someone who knows hell more than they know themselves.”

“Ah! I know the perfect person! She's a messenger. She travels a lot from city to city.”

“Sounds perfect,” Hart said. “Where can I find her?”

“I'll summon her right away, just . . . give me a moment,” Siren replied, closing her eyes. She made slow gestures with her hands and fingers and quickly pointed at the only door in the room, sending out a bolt of purple lightning at it. “Come in, my dear.”

A very petite girl walked through the door. She was very thin and sick looking. She had long, shaky, bony fingers that were playing with the fabric of her worn out hood. She flashed a yellow smile at Siren and looked at Hart for a second, but quickly darted her eyes away.

“Who is the handsome man?” the girl asked, still looking away.

“I have an important mission for you, Desura,” Siren said, ignoring the girl's question. “My friend here needs help traveling to a very far away place, can you do that?”

“Yeah, sure,” she replied, taking another quick look at Hart and shying away once more like a blushing school girl. “Where to?”

“To The Beginning,” Siren responded.

“The Beginning? Really?”

“Is there a problem?” Siren wondered.

“No, of course not. I just haven't been to The Beginning since . . . you know.”

“The Beginning?” Hart asked, raising a brow.

“It's what the humans call it,” Siren said, grinning.

“When do we leave?” Desura asked.

“Now,” Hart told her.

“Yes, sir!” She saluted him and marched through the door.

Hart turned to Siren and frowned. “Seriously?”

“Don't underestimate her, Hartheon. She knows her way more than I do,” she said, waving at the door. “I'll be watching you. If you run into trouble I will know and I will send my entire army if I have to. Don't worry, you won't be alone.”

Hart nodded and went through the door, suddenly appearing back in the black market, in front of the busiest street he had seen so far. Every corner was filled with all kinds of monsters from demons, to witches who were turning into demons, to even a giant half snake half human creature.

“Over here!” Desura shouted, frantically waving her arms from across the metal street.

Sighing, Hart ran and approached the small girl. She had big brown eyes that made her look extremely innocent, but Hart knew she was far from good.

“You are human?” he asked her as they walked through the black market, towards the front of the city, where he had seen the biggest drop in cliff history.

“Yes, what gave it away? Was it my delicate features? My pearly white teeth?” she said. Hart wasn't sure if she was being sarcastic or if she was just insane.

“You just look very human, that's all. There aren't many humans around.”

“That's because most humans end up turning into twisters eventually. The rest of the humans are scattered across this magnificent universe,” she said happily, expanding her arms far and wide, breathing in the smell of burnt flesh. She started choking and Hart had to awkwardly pat her back while peop–monsters stared.

“Um, twisters are the monsters, right?” he said, pulling back his hand.

“Wrong. Twisters is a sub-category to monsters. You see, there are the real legendary monsters like demons, witches, or even zombies, and then there's the twisters; humans who are so evil that their horrors physically change them to fit whatever they have done. For instance, The Spider. On Earth, he was this murderer who cut people up and obsessed over their body parts, especially their legs. Now he's a spider . . . kind of. He has many legs, basically.”

“What about you? Why haven't you turned into one?”

“Not every one turns, handsome. Besides, you have to do super bad things for that to happen.”

“Then what did you do to get yourself in this place?”

“Oh, nothing bad. I just set my house on fire and purposely killed myself and my entire family. I was very suicidal, but I didn't want to die alone, you get me?” She looked back at him, expecting a response from Hart, but he didn't say anything except stare at her weirdly. “I found it rude, to be honest. Why should I have to die alone while they get to live? Anyway, that won't have me turned into a twister. At least I hope not.”

“Yeah, wouldn't want that,” he said sarcastically.

“What about you? You seem important judging by what you're wearing. How many people did you sacrifice to get yourself here?”

This time he really wasn't sure if she was joking or not. How did she know about the sacrifices? Was it really a joke? A random guess? It didn't matter anyway, he wasn't afraid of anyone or what they thought about him.

“I've killed thousands,” he answered truthfully.

“Whoa. Dude, you're a horrible person.”

“Can you just please take me to where I need to go?”

From the corner of his eyes, he saw two hooded figures just a few feet away from him. He only noticed them because one of them had turned around to search through more of the shops that were selling wood.

Hart froze and kept staring, hoping the one who had turned would face him again. The hood was large and covered almost the entire face, but for a second Hart saw familiar features. Desura was talking at him, but his brain had muted her and everyone around him. He only saw the two figures.

“Please,” Hart whispered.

Both of the hooded figures turned around after finding what they were looking for. The shorter one he couldn't see, but he could see the other one because he had horns that were pushing the hood up just a little bit, exposing his face.

Riley. It was Riley. But it felt so surreal that it was hard for him to truly accept that he was right in front of him. The odds of it happening were so huge that he found it impossible to open his mouth and shout his name. Because it really couldn't be him.

“What are you looking at?” Desura asked, her voice returning to him like a lost echo.

“Riley . . .”

Suddenly, Riley froze. He had heard his name from the ocean of voices all around them. Riley, Hart was sure of it now, grabbed onto the other person and leaned down to whisper something.

“Run,” Hart heard his voice. It was his voice. It was Riley.

Riley and the other person sprinted fast, very fast. Hart pushed Desura aside and ran after them. They were somehow faster than him and knew perfectly well when to duck, when to jump over tumbling bodies, when to avoid being hit by upcoming traffic of supplies being pulled into the city. But Hart didn't stop running.

“RUN FASTER!” Riley shouted as he began to grab things from side shops and tossed them around to try and make an obstacle.

They were nearing the entrance of the city. There was nothing beyond that point except the cliff. Hart was going to corner them, unless they were brave enough to jump off.

By the way they were running, it actually seemed that they were going to jump off, and Hart had to do everything in his power to stop them. Hart couldn't open his wings and fly after them . . . his wings. There was no other choice. If war happened because Hart decided to reveal his existence then so be it. If it could help Riley see him, then he'd do it all over again.

As the hooded runners passed through the tall shiny black gates, Hart opened his wings and jumped forward, landing just outside of the gates. Riley had pulled out a large, weirdly curved branch and was about to jump, but Hart pulled back his wings as hard as he possibly could and managed to control the air, pulling both of them back and have them roll on the ground.

Riley stood up and turned around to face the one who had whispered his name, who had chased him across the black market and who had stopped him from jumping over the cliff.

Hart and Riley stared at each other. There was a lot of confusion written on their faces, but mostly just shock. Riley swallowed and pulled back his hood slowly. He had two black horns, they were small, but they were there. Riley was in his second stage.

“Hart?” he said quietly.

“Yes, it's me. I've come to get you out of here,” Hart said, giving him a little smile.

Riley covered his mouth with trembling hands, choking back tears. His red eyes were shiny and watery. Now Hart was the one who was really confused. Riley was acting like he was looking at a ghost.

“Is this a joke?” Riley said. “What are you? A spiritmaster?”

“Spiritmaster?” Hart repeated. “I don't understand.”

“You don't understand? If you say who you say you are, then I'm sorry to break it to you . . . you're thirty years too late.”

“Thirty years? What are you . . .” Hart fell silent and his knees went weak, so he dropped on the ground and breathed calmly. “No . . . You're . . . lying.”

“Riley, jump now!” said his friend, a female. Both of them looked at Hart while they let themselves fall back, but Hart wasn't going to let them run.

He spread his wings and sprung into the sky, spinning fast as he chased them down the cliff. They didn't have wings, how were they going to survive the fall? Supernatural beings in hell were still vulnerable and not completely immortal, didn't they know that?

“RILEY!” Hart screamed.

Riley looked back over his shoulder and panic filled his eyes as he saw him coming down at full speed. Riley grabbed his friend's hand and pulled out the branch again. They suddenly stopped falling and shot straight through the sky like a rocket. But Hart was faster, so he flew over them and dove down, creating a spiral of wind that knocked them both down from the sky.

Hart swooped down and picked them up before they could hit the ground and he dropped them down as soon as they started fighting back. Hart gently landed on the rocky surface and pulled back his wings, moving forward with a hard face as he stared at Riley.

“Do not run from me,” Hart told him angrily.

“I don't take orders from you!” Riley spat back.

“What is wrong with you? Don't you know who I am?”

“I know who you're imitating.”

“You know very well I'm not imitating anyone,” Hart retorted quickly. “I am Hart, the same Hart you know.”

“NO! BECAUSE THE HART I KNOW WOULDN'T HAVE FORGOTTEN ABOUT ME!” Riley shouted. “THE REAL HART WOULDN'T HAVE LEFT ME HERE TO ROT FOR THIRTY YEARS!”

Every time Hart saw the number in his mind he wanted to curl up in a corner and sleep forever. It made him feel things he didn't want to feel . . . it made him feel guilt and pain. But most of all he felt like he had betrayed Riley.

“I didn't know,” Hart responded quietly. “If I had known . . . but Riley, its only been three months since you died on Earth.”

“What?”

“If you've been in hell this long, then you should know that time works confusingly here. It's always changing, I couldn't have known . . . If I had known that you were going to be here for thirty years, I would've killed the entire world just to get you back on the first hour, please believe me.”

“I almost didn't recognize you without your fancy clothes,” Riley said calmly. “I mean I guess what you're wearing is fancy but not what I had imagined you would wear as a prince.”

“Thirty years . . .” Hart said, stepping closer to him. “I can't even begin to imagine what you've been through and how angry you are at me.”

“Another step and I'll blow your head off,” the female, who Hart had completely ignored, said. “Yeah, remember me?” She took her hood off and Hart wasn't going to admit it but he swallowed.

“Fiona,” Hart muttered.

“Fiona, please put your gun down.”

Hart wasn't scared of her, he was just scared at the fact that Riley and his sister might have possibly spent thirty years together and had plotted on how to torture and kill him like he had done to her. After all, he was the reason she was here.

“You're a rogue,” Hart said, noticing she looked very much like the figures the magic ball had shown. He even realized she moved like them. Riley not so much, he was just a strong supernatural creature in the making, but Fiona was very special.

“Yeah, so you know I can kill monsters like you,” she said, raising her riffle.

“You can try,” he said, smirking. She shot, but Hart caught the bullet and rolled it around between his finger tips, crushing it to dust. “Maybe you shouldn't compare me to monsters. I'm not a monster, I'm not anywhere near a monster. I am the Dark Prince and you cannot kill me, so I suggest you keep your useless threats to yourself.”

“You seem different . . .” Riley pointed out. “Why are you different?”

“I am more human now.”

“More human? That doesn't make any sense. You couldn't be human even if you tried,” Fiona said seriously.

“When Riley died, I felt real pain for the first time,” Hart said, watching Riley's eyes. “I felt human pain. So a new side of me rose, the human side. I am now a complete being. I am in control of all sides. I can feel all of them and their hunger. But I can't seem to turn off these new feelings . . . they make me strange.”

“Stranger than you already are?” Fiona said, concernedly.

“Fiona, please,” Riley begged

“HE KILLED ME!” Fiona went off. “HE'S THE REASON WE'RE BOTH IN THIS PLACE AND YOU'RE ACTING ALL CALM AND FORGIVING?”

Riley grabbed her and pulled her away for some privacy, but Hart could hear anything so he just pretended he didn't.

“We've talked about this,” Riley told his sister. “We went over this a million times.”

Fiona closed her glowing white eyes and nodded. “I know, I'm sorry. It's just different when he's actually standing next to us.”

“I know. I can't believe it either, but it's real so we have to remain strong . . . for the others.” Riley kissed Fiona's forehead and smiled at her.

A monstrous roar made all of their heads snap towards the entrance of Rev.

“Demons, they know we're here,” Fiona said. “Siren must have been watching Hart and figured out we were here when he disappeared off the radar.”

“Split?” Riley said. Fiona looked at Hart for a second and then worriedly looked at her brother again. “It's okay, Fiona.”

“Promise you won't make stupid decisions and that you'll use whatever is left of your human brain?”

“No.”

“Fuck you.”

Fiona dug her hand into her pocket and pulled out a tiny crystal ball. She threw it at the air and the ball grew into a mirror, except it wasn't a mirror, it was a doorway. Fiona jumped through and was gone along with the mirror.

“Follow me,” Riley said.

Riley picked up the branch and immediately rose from the ground and began to hover higher and higher into the air. Hart freed his wings and jumped, joining Riley in the sky as demons began dropping from the cliff to chase them.

Hart couldn't stop staring at Riley as he led the way through the dark sky. Hart could feel it, not only logically, but Riley had changed. He was afraid to find out how much he had changed. Thirty years was a long time. Hart and Riley had only known each other for almost two years. And now finding out thirty years have passed made Hart feel like his heart had been shattered to pieces. He felt responsible, because technically he was.

Something about the new Riley intrigued Hart. He wasn't a demon. Even though so much time had passed, he was still in his second stage. That was almost close to impossible. The curse didn't take that long. The longest it could go for was maybe three or four years. But thirty?

“How can you fly?” Hart asked Riley as he glided next to him.

“I'm a witch, this is my broom,” Riley said, grinning.

“Why aren't you riding it then?”

“It's not really the most comfortable thing to sit on. Besides, as long as you're touching the branch, it doesn't matter.”

“Do all witches have them?”

“No, this was a gift. It comes from a single magic tree in the middle of the most dangerous zone in hell. I'm the only one with a piece of it. Anyone else who has tried to get a piece of the tree has died trying.”

“You've also changed,” Hart pointed out.

Riley became quiet and concentrated on leading them towards a safer place to land. Hart didn't ask anymore questions, just followed behind with his mouth shut. The last thing he wanted to do was upset Riley.

After what seemed like hours, Riley began to slow down as a mountain came into view. Hart followed him down and they flew straight into a dark cave. The cave let them into the middle of the mountain and then down. There was no light inside but they could both see perfectly. Inside the mountain, all the way at the bottom where the cave led them, was a clear glass with purple shimmering. They went through it and popped out of the mountain, but they were completely in another place now.

“Did we just teleport?” Hart asked as they both flew up from the new mountain.

“Yeah. Hell has all of these mysterious wormholes that take you to different locations. Not many are aware of them, so let's keep it a secret.”

They now left the mountain and were flying down to ground level. There was another mountain ahead of them, but this one was very small. In front of this small mountain was also a beautiful pond with crystal clear water.

“How is that possible?” Hart asked as they landed on the ground after flying over the pond.

“You noticed many human things, right?” Riley asked him as he continued to walk towards the mountain.

“Yeah.”

“Sometimes, hell replicates things that exist on earth. You will see a lot of buildings, lakes, and objects that all belong on earth. I don't know why it happens, but I'm grateful for it. There's even animals.”

“That makes sense, I guess,” Hart mumbled.

“This is my home,” Riley said as he stopped in front of a stone pathway. “I live in the cave.” He pointed at the little entrance that was at the end of the trail. “No one will find us here. We're far away from any civilization. There are no monsters here, no anything.”

“Why do you live alone?” Hart asked.

“It's a long story, but I'm not really alone. It's not like I spend every waking moment here. It's only when I need to rest, hide or just get away for a while. I'm usually out doing missions with my sister.”

“Missions?”

“I'll explain everything inside,” he replied, running up the trail of stones, rocks and pebbles that made the totally not suspicious path.

Hart went inside the cave with Riley and was surprised to see that the cave had been decorated to look like a normal home – sort of; it was still a cave. There was a bed, a couch, a table, and a bunch of other furniture that made the cave look more comfortable.

Riley faced Hart and grinned. “So . . .”

“Nice place.”

“How's . . . um, Sarah? No, Se–“

“–Seraphina,” Hart said.

“I was getting there,” Riley said, frowning.

“She's fine. She misses you.”

“So three months, eh?”

“Yeah, three months.”

“What did you do in those three months? Why did it take you so long to finally come here?” Riley asked.

“Why? I turned human. I lost all of my powers because I was mourning you. Then when I finally did get my powers back, it was a roller coaster from there. So many new emotions I never felt. So many thoughts and so much pain, I thought I was broken. But I wasn't broken, I was complete. That's how I was meant to be. That was why Seraphina was better than me, because she was complete and I wasn't.”

“Hybrids are the most confusing thing that Lucifer has ever created, honestly,” Riley muttered.

“It's not at all. Think of it like the curse of hell. You unlock these stages that come with different emotions, different kinds of pain, different powers. And then at the end when you've unlocked all of them, you are complete.”

“And the wings? Where did they come from?” Riley asked, his eyes going to his shoulders where he could see them.

“Apparently I'm half an angel.”

Riley's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “So you're half demon, half human and half angel?”

“I wouldn't really think of myself as an angel. I have wings of an angel because Lucifer used to be an angel. But if you look at my wings,” Hart turned around and slowly let his wings stretch, “they aren't very angelic. I'm just a demon, that's all.”

“They're beautiful,” Riley said, admiring them. “Can I touch them?”

“Yeah, go for it.”

Hart felt Riley's hands gently pat his wings. His touch was so careful and delicate that he became lost in a world of memories and warmth. Memories of the past they shared, of the love they had, and now it may not even exist because Riley could barely remember Seraphina.

His warm hands traveled south, squeezing the featherless twins. It was strange to feel a body part that didn't exist on human bodies. Very strange indeed, but it felt nice to have warm hands brush against them.

“Wait, why are your hands warm?” Hart suddenly realized.

“What do you mean?”

“You're . . . supposed to be cold and lifeless. You're on stage two of the curse. More importantly, why haven't you changed? It's been thirty years, why are you still human?”

“I guess it's time to fill you in on all of the details.” Riley stopped touching Hart's wings and went to sit on the couch.

Hart turned around and decided to stand, since his wings were fairly big and he didn't feel like sitting on them.

“Start with why you haven't changed,” Hart told him.

“Okay, so you know about The Rogues. You know they help innocent humans and keep them safe. I work with them, The Rogues, not the humans. The humans don't know about me, which is why I live here by myself. My sister and all of the other Rogues live together with the humans. They have a secret place where they grow food, take care of animals and do normal things.”

“And what does this have to do with you not changing?”

“The Rogues think it's because I haven't lived my life killing and drowning myself in dark magic and dark doings. I help people, I help humans and I do good things. There is a lot of positive energy around me and that has slowed down the process, almost like curing it. But I still have the curse.”

“And why are you helping the Rogues? Why are you with them? Is it because of your sister?”

“Yeah, mostly. They have children, Hart. There are children who aren't supposed to be here.”

“And what do they do besides keeping these humans safe?”

“All Rogues including myself go on missions. We gather more equipment and items that help us stay safe, we also have dangerous and important missions, ones I cannot talk about with you.”

Hart raised a brow. “Why not?”

“No offense, but I can't trust you.”

Hart breathed out slowly and decided to move to the bed and sat down.

“This is so new to me . . .”

“What? Being in hell? Yeah, it's tough at first but you'll learn fast.”

“No, you,” Hart said, glaring darkly at him. “Just a few months ago you were telling me you loved me and now it's like you don't even remember who I am.”

Riley swallowed but didn't move to comfort him like the old Riley would have. Hart was trying hard to stay calm but he was hurting. All he had felt was pain since the day Riley died and now it continued because he no longer had Riley anymore. He was no longer in love with him and Hart felt so alone and he had no idea what to do.

“I do remember who you are,” Riley said softly. “I just . . . things are different now.”

“Everything is different now,” Hart said.

“I'm sorry.”

“This doesn't mean I've given up on you,” Hart told him, never looking away from his eerie eyes. “I still love you and I always will. If I have to fight for your love, then consider me geared up and ready for war.”

_____________________________

[Author's Message]: Aw, that's so sad honestly. Right? Do you guys think Riley still loves Hart? And if not, do you think he can love Hart again? So many feels and so many burning questions man. Poor Hart :c my bby is all heart broken and he doesn't know how to deal with it because these emotions are so new to him. He has no one to turned to. Time for crys. Anyway, I'm going to do the samething I did in the last book and start dedicating chapters to the best comments! So if you want a chapter dedicated to you then you need to post the best comment and I might just pick you! There's many more chapters to come so don't worry, there's still hope if you don't get it! Lol. Please PLEASE don't forget to vote and comment, it helps so much you have no idea. Your comments give me LIFE and INSPIRATION to continue writing. So <3 Much love to you all and I hope you enjoyed the chapter. :) Share your thoughts!