Kaiser casted himself towards the vague illumination of the single tubular light bulb. Faint figures stirred across it, catching their defined forms as he came closer.

“Where’s Mr. Hunt?” He asked to one of the three men, clothed in white garment. They stood in front of an underground dungeon as it may be… as it should be.

“Well, well, well…” the man grinned and removed his gray cap, revealing a face of a middle-aged man; shallow crow’s feet forming on the corners of his droopy hooded eyes.

“It’s been a while, Kaiser. What have we got this time? Can we cross the other realm now?”

“Soon,” Kaiser’s voice remained low. He didn’t have any problem engaging a conversation with them; however, he’s in a hurry.

"He’s in his lair,” one of the men joked. Heaving a deep breath, Kaiser nodded and stepped into what he always believes to be one of the gates of hell. It’s dingy and the air feels dry despite having liquids randomly dripping from the clammy ceiling.

Slowly, he started hearing screams mixed with guffaws… must be from pleasure of watching someone in pain. Along the sticky walls are cells of deranged people which were once sane. They were tortured until they lost all of their reasonings and just became one of Mr. Hunt’s lab rats—experiments which never worked.

Kaiser focused his attention towards the light at the end of the tunnel-like cell, trying not to get distracted by the figures humping and twisting, groaning with lust.

After all, he’s still a man… a weaker one in temptation. He cleared his throat when he reached the end of the entrance. Now, he stood facing the place they call the tabernacle. It’s basically a house of worship.

Nevertheless, instead of God, Himself, it was Mr. Hunt whom they worship as they believe the man spoke the words of the gospel and salvation. They do not have the slightest idea that they were only experimental subjects for his wicked plans to enter the other realm.

Kaiser turned to his right to enter a white door, leading to another dark dungeon where they hide the cursed people that they’ve managed to catch.

They are ones with weaker demons or brittle bindings—those ones who didn’t give up much in order to gain something in return. Yes, they, too, exists. Although in such cases, they are not capable of entering the other realm, let alone, open a door to it.

As soon as he entered, all the eyes are pierced on him. Several frail hands reached towards the railings, pressing their bodies against it just to look at the man who lured them inside their nightmares.

“Y-You won’t get away with this. All of you will rot in hell!” A coarse voice emerged from one of the cells. It’s too raspy, Kaiser could almost feel his throat prick from its dehydration.

Sudden poundings brought Kaiser’s attention to his left to where a man on his twenties stood. He’s behind the bars and was staring at him.

Even from meters away, Kaiser felt as if the man’s only in front of him. He knew him quite ably, so he stopped and went to greet a companion.

“You’re already awake?” Kaiser started in a lively manner. Although the man’s expression remained neutral, he could feel his wrath through the railings when they shuddered.

“Yes, I am and fuck you with respect!” The man answered; his eyes measured the spaces behind Kaiser. “I don’t see the son. I believe your plans failed again,” he jeered, grinning against his cut lips.

He’s evidently the latest one to be tortured as the blood stains on his white shirt are still fresh unlike the others. Seeing the glint of guilt in Kaiser’s eyes, he chuckled.

“Well, I’m not even surprised. We’ve been telling all of you there’s no way to open a portal between the living and the dead. You, obviously, know about that,” he casually wiped the trickling blood from his nose as if it’s the most normal thing to do.

“I don’t,” Kaiser removed the man’s fingers, wrapped around the railings. “And I believe I told you to refrain from touching them so roughly, Jay. You might trigger the electric shock alarms; you’ll surely die next time.”

Yes, his name is Jay. Jay Acoba, one of the trainees in the BPO company where Kathleen works. Jay stared at Kaiser; not sure what to say.

He knows Kaiser is a good man; they’ve might only know each other at work for a short time, but as far as things are looking like, he’s only trying to follow Mr. Hunt’s commands. Why? That—he doesn’t have any idea about.

“Look,” he took a small step away from the railings. “Just spare the women and the children. They could never contribute from whatever you, guys, are planning. Don’t you feel bad about them?” He turned to look at the individuals behind him, cowering in fear in the corners of the thronged cell. Most of them are, indeed, children and women in various races.

Kaiser held his head down. “It’s not for me decide,” he talked between breaths.

“Besides, the moment Mr. Hunt finds out that Diego escaped, do you think he's not gonna take anyone’s life? Most likely, he’ll take those who have no use to him.”

Jay teetered all of the sudden, staggering backwards. How did he notice? Diego is the least noticeable person among them. Ever since Jay entered the place, he’s never seen him get out; he’s never been tortured the entire time he’s there either.

“Don’t stress yourself too much, I met him outside. He tried killing Kathleen. I assume you know her. She’s one of the supervisors of the company you’re working at, but you know what’s making me furious?” Kaiser’s soft expressions changed in a heartbeat; Jay felt as though he burned from one persona to another.

“My man Diego… he shot my friend, Scott, instead and now he’s dying,” he chuckled in contempt, grasping on the railings Jay held earlier and stepped away completely when the electric shock alarmed.

Everyone in the dungeon watched the electricity travel through the steel and towards Kaiser yet he didn’t extricate himself out.

He only let the current penetrated his whole body as though he didn’t feel any pain at all. Couple of seconds had passed before he decided to let go.

All of them could smell his burnt flesh and felt his pain just by seeing the vapor from his singed hands. “I’ve been very lenient with everything, but if something happens to him, I’ll open the gates myself no matter who it takes.”

Jay was left tottering on the same spot, eyeing Kaiser walking vigorously towards Mr. Hunt’s lair. It was the first time he’s seen him in such an aura.

He ended up slapping his forehead in exhaustion. What have you done, Diego? Why did it become Scott?

“Don’t worry about it, Jay,” a little boy went near him, tugging the bottom hem of his rugged white long-sleeved shirt. He was heading back from work one night when he got abducted by the members of the obvious cult.

“I’m not,” he forced a smile, squatting down to face the boy. “You should get some sleep.”

The boy cheerfully nodded through his bruised cheek and went back to the woman he became closer with.

“W-What do we do now?” The man behind him gasped. “Of all people, why did he get to shot the son?! He’s our only hope to put an end to all of this. If a door will be opened, our sacrifices and the lives of those who died will be wasted.”

“Fortunately for Diego, he escaped and enjoy the cops’ protection in jail,” another man beside him sarcastically laughed. “A better one, that’s it. What should we do now, Jay? You said that Kathleen is the only one capable of opening a door.”

“I did, but that was only my theory. I believe I made that clear,” Jay sat down the greasy floor comfortably. “She’s the only one left having genuine connections with Samantha. Their bond should be strong enough to do so. Samantha’s curse, as far as all of us know, is the strongest amongst all of us, thus, it requires a strong bond as well for her to be taken back.

“And are you sure she’s gonna open one? We might murder an innocent person.”

Jay’s lips thinned. “What other choice do we have? We might be too late if we wavered. It’s one over everyone.”

“I-I’m sorry,” they turned to the woman crawling in front of Jay. “I d-don’t have the idea what’s going on. I thought t-this was just a human trafficking set-up, but then I kept hearing things about demons, doors, other realm…” her lips trembled. She’s a new one from yesterday.

“You didn’t know why you’ve been abducted?” Jay had to ask and the woman shook her head. “You didn’t have any binding?” Again, she passed up. “I don’t even know what that is.”

Jay’s lips pressed against each other. “Any marks?” The woman looked confused, so Kendra, moved over. “I’ll check,” she grinned and carefully examined the woman’s body and in due course, she found three snarled marks on the woman’s back. “Yep, she’s marked. How long have you had these…” Kendra paused for her name.

“Belle. Belle Del Valle.”

“Alright, Belle. How long have you had them?”

“A m-month ago? W-Wait why?”

For a moment, all of them felt relieved and gathered near Belle.

“Belle, you are our only hope to escape this place,” Jay placed a hand on her shoulder. “What do y-you mean?”

She stuttered when he looked at her directly in the eyes. “For the sake of these children,” Jay glanced at the innocent angels at the corners and back at her. “Are you willing to do a binding with a demon?”

“I’m sorry?” Her voice cracked.