Everyone’s head was bowed and all they could see was the concrete floor of the large room.

  “Hmmmmm,” a creature with a voice like thunder spoke, shaking the very walls around it.

  THUMP…THUMP….THUMP… Anna’s heart rate increased. Her heart beat so hard, she thought it would burst if it kept beating.

  She tried to calm herself, her entire body quivering with terror, but she could do nothing but shake.

  “I come in peace and with a proposal oh terrible one,” Crow said, as her voice shook. She was terrified too, and it was at that moment Annabelle and her friends realized what she meant by the trip being dangerous.

  “Rise,” he said, the very walls and floor trembling at the sound of his voice.

  Annabelle slowly raised her head to behold what Doom looked like, and he was terrifying.

  She couldn’t contain her trembling, as she looked into his red eyes which glared at her as if he were trying to read her.

  “How dare you bring mortals into this place?!” he screamed in a thundering voice, toppling everyone off their feet.

  Doom was a black hairy creature which had the physique of a man but the features of an animal.

  He was at least twenty feet tall, covered in black fur, and he had white long claws and fangs which were bloodstained. On each side of his head was a black horn, resembling that of a goat, and he wore a thick long robe that flowed all the way to his clawed furry feet. He sat on a tall throne, which was almost as tall as the gate, and Annabelle and her friends trembled as he looked down on them as if they were toothpicks.

  This is Doom? Anna thought to herself, nearly peeing her pants. On the right side of his throne was a fresh heap of corpses of creatures Anna had never seen and, “Looks like I’ll be having humans for breakfast,” he said, as he reached down and picked a corpse, throwing it into his mouth and eating it whole. The bones crunched as he chewed, and Jacob couldn’t help but throw up.

  “You are first,” he said, and picked Jacob off the floor with his monstrous hand. Jacob knew trying to struggle was useless so he just stayed still, with his heart racing intensely, as Doom brought him closer to his colossal mouth. His heart pounded so much his entire body started to hurt.

  “Your orb!” Crow screamed, trembling as she looked Doom in the eyes.

  “What about it?” Doom asked, as he paused to listen to what Crow had to say.

  “I can get it back for you,” Crow said, stretching out her hand, motioning for Doom not to eat Jacob.

  “Hah!” Doom screamed, nearly dropping Jacob.

  “What makes you think it’s gone?” Doom asked, holding Jacob as close to his mouth as possible. It was very clear he had decided to eat him.

  “Your brother came here out of his own free will and gave me an offer I couldn’t resist. He will be returning the orb in a few months from now, three months to be exact and I will finally be free from all this mess. Once I have both orbs, I will be unstoppable,” Doom said, with a grin on his demonic face.

  “Wait, what do you mean both orbs?” Crow asked, just as he sighed, and put Jacob on the floor who instantly peed his pants. Before their very eyes, Doom transformed into a regular sized man.

  Everyone including Crow was shocked at the transformation, for they thought he was a beast and a beast alone.

  But what did they expect from the most powerful being in the underworld?

  “What?” he asked with a grin on his face as he dusted his golden robe with his well-manicured hands. His clothes had transformed too, and he looked nothing like the monster that had just eaten corpses whole. His hair was golden in color which matched the color of his eyes.

  “Where did all those people go?” Annabelle whispered to herself as he approached her. She wondered how his tiny stomach could contain all those corpses. Everyone including Anna stood still as Doom approached her, smiling and revealing his perfect white teeth. Anna tried her best not to make eye contact with him, so she fixed her gaze on the golden skull pendant that adorned his chest.

  He stopped in front of her, took a whiff of her scent and “Ahh, you must be the one Pepper Crow talks about, the one he wants to kill for reasons he refused to say,” he said, as Anna glanced at the corpses beside his throne.

  “Oh, that was just an appetizer,” he said, as he whispered into her nose with a surprisingly mint breath.

  He was handsome, a bit too handsome and he could be classified as a dark angel sent to sweep women off their feet.

  “Okay, no more dilly dallying,” he said, as he clapped his hands twice and the creature that let them into Astra 12 walked in with a black chest in its hands.

  “Hurry up, I wouldn’t want to keep my guests waiting before I kill them,” he said, causing it to run faster. It ran too fast, and tripped in the process. The chest fell to the ground and was forced open, a red orb rolling out of it.

  Mrs. Crow thought of using that opportunity to snatch the orb, but was also considering the lives of the people she had brought there.

  “I told you not to follow me,” she muttered to herself as Doom slowly and confidently walked to the orb and picked it up. The glow got brighter the moment he picked it and “Aah,” he said as he glared at the orb which seemed to glow even brighter as if it were happy to see him.

  “It can’t be,” Crow said in utter disbelief, recognizing what it was.

  Annabelle and her friends had been trembling, and Jackson was on the verge of tears.

  “Oh, but it is. I present to you the destruction orb!” Doom screamed, his voice shaking the entire room.

  “But how? I thought that my brother…..”

  “Your brother came here and gave it to me on his own, and in return I gave him power beyond all measure,” he interrupted as he threw the orb in the air and snapped his fingers causing it to vanish.

  “You,” he said, turning to the creature that was still on the ground.

  “Please mmmmmasasssssttteer,” the creature stuttered as it begged for its life.

  “I gave you one simple task and you couldn’t even execute,” he said, slowly approaching the creature.

  “Please I’m sorry I tripped,” the creature replied, bowing its head and sobbing.

  “It’s okay, I forgive you, now go!” Doom said as he watched the creature run towards the door. It was just about to reach the door when he stretched forth his hand and magically pulled it toward himself.

  He grabbed it by the neck, but it didn’t struggle at all. It seemed like it had accepted its fate and was ready to die.

  With a grin, Doom stared at it, and his eyes glowed a bright red. At first, the creature winced uncomfortably, then it grunted, then it started to scream in agony. Red veins slowly appeared all over its body, being mostly obvious on its head. It thrashed around, trying to break free of Doom’s grasp but all efforts were wasted.

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  Slowly, Doom turned his head towards Annabelle, a cheeky smile on his face, while the creature screamed in pain. All of a sudden, it stopped screaming, and one would have thought it was dead, but it let out a deafening high-pitched sound, like a thousand screeching bats. The sound was so loud, everyone had to cover their ears.

  It thrashed even harder, clawing at Doom’s arm, trying to break free. Its eyes turned red, and it foamed at the mouth, before it went silent.

  “Nothing beats killing with your own hands,” Doom said, and dropped the creature.

  Annabelle had begun shedding tears, and she regretted following Crow to Astra 12.

  “It’s dangerous! Doom is the most powerful being in the underworld!” Crow’s warning played in her head as drops of tears trickled down her face.

  “Ok time for me to eat,” Doom said and closed the distance between himself and Jackson within a split second. He was about to rip his head off when, “Noooooooooooo!!!!!” Annabelle screamed, stopping him.

  Mrs. Crow signaled Anna to stop talking, but she ignored her and approached Doom, her entire body trembling. She could feel the adrenaline coursing through her body.

  “Oh, do you like him?” Doom asked playfully.

  “Could he be your boyfriend?” he asked, his right hand latched onto Jackson’s neck.

  “Don’t kill him, we came here to ask you for power,” Annabelle said, boldly placing her hand on Doom’s shoulder.

  “Oh now you got the nerve,” Doom said, and pointed at Jacob. Immediately, Jacob spat out blood, and fell to the ground.

  “Jacob!” Annabelle screamed, as she ran to Jacob. She found a blade in his stomach, and he was losing blood fast. How did a blade end up there?

  “Don’t pull it out,” Crow said, her eyes still locked on Doom.

  He let out a wicked laugh which was accompanied by thunderclaps.

  “Well this was fun,” he said, just about to snap Jackson’s neck when

  “Her book!” Joanna screamed, trembling like a leaf in the wind.

  “What book?” Doom asked, loosening the grip on Jackson’s neck.

  “Her book of shadows. She will give you the book alongside the orb if you help us and give her power.”

  “You are really bold. Who do you think you are to bargain with me?! Such mortals!” Doom screamed, assuming his despicable form.

  “You are just snacks to me!” He bellowed as he raised his colossal leg to trample on them. Everyone ran to Crow for protection, and she put up a slightly visible force field to protect them. Doom stomped on the force field, breaking it in the process and leaving everyone barely conscious.

  “Now you die!” he roared, just as, “Remember my father!” Mrs. Crow screamed.

  “What about your father?”

  “He trusted you with the summoning orb, you can trust me with your power. I will kill my brother and bring back the summoning orb. I will even capture a blurb for you,” Crow said, as she shakily got on her feet.

  “Well, as much as I’d like to eat you all,” Doom said, as he turned human again.

  “I’d also like to see who wins between you both,” he said, as he walked over to Jacob who had passed out and pulled out the knife from his gut.

  His blood spattered all over the floor, and Doom pressed his finger against the wound, healing it in the process.

  “Well, I’ll give you power, but first,” he said as he darted towards Crow, and sank his teeth in her neck. Her eyes rolled to the back of her head as he sipped, draining almost all her blood in mere seconds, then she fell to the ground.

  “Well, that was delicious,” he said, licking the blood on his lips.

  Annabelle was still a bit dizzy from the shock of the broken force field, so she just lay down. All she could think of was how sad her parents would have been if she had died.

  “Looks like it’s time,” he said, adjusting his robe. His eyes turned bright red and his facial structure changed. It was like he was about to transform again but slower than usual.

  He levitated off the floor, alongside Crow who was still weak. He cupped her head in his hand and breathed into her nostrils a red mist.

  On inhaling the gas, she started to shake, and made muffled sounds like she was drowning. Her eyes turned red just like his, and her veins popped out and turned red. Not long after, her skin became red and she started to scream.

  “Aaaaah!” she yelled, as Anna watched in fear, wondering how she still had so much energy to scream after all the blood loss.

  The screaming lasted for a while, after which she was dropped on the floor like a ragdoll.

  “Well, when she wakes up, tell her she has it,” Doom said, and vanished into thin air.

  “Where did he go?” Anna whispered to herself as her heart pounded in fear of her being the next victim of blood loss. She looked behind her, in fear of Doom being there but he was nowhere to be found.

  He just vanished.

  She stood to her feet, and headed towards Crow who was still unconscious.

  “I wouldn’t touch her if I were you,” Doom said, causing Anna to turn around in fear.

  He could see the fear in her eyes then, “Oh, I’m not gonna hurt you, I’m a pretty nice guy,” he said, smiling.

  “Wwhhhatttt aarrree yyyyoouu?” Annabelle asked, trembling. Her entire head felt hot.

  “Well,” he replied, as he took a quick glance at Anna’s unconscious friends.

  “Looks like they aren’t as strong as you are. And they don’t have it,” he remarked, as he peered at Anna, refusing to blink.

  “Have what?” Annabelle asked, trying to remain as still as possible.

  “Oh, you don’t even know. Well, I won’t be the one to tell you,” he said, still peering into her eyes as if he was looking for something he had kept there.

  “What am I? Well, let’s see,” he said, dramatically spreading his arms wide, the gold rings on his fingers glistening.

  “I am nothing and everything.” He ran his hand through his hair.

  “I don’t have a specific form. Well, I do but I don’t like to stay that way.”

  “So is this your true form?” Annabelle asked, feeling a bit relaxed.

  “Well, yes I look human but I transform into a monster just to scare people. Ooooooh it’s fun right?” he asked gleefully.

  “Well, she’ll be awake soon,” Doom said, and closed the distance between himself and Annabelle in a split second.

  “Why does he want you dead?” he asked rhetorically as he looked into her eyes again.

  “Would you mind?” he asked, just as he was about to place his hands on her head.

  “Well, I…” Annabelle hadn’t completed her sentence when he grabbed her head in his hands and began to search her memories. For the few seconds Annabelle’s memories were being searched, she felt completely calm and there was a soothing feeling that enveloped her entire head. It was much more blissful than the experience she had with Crow.

  “Mmmmmm, that feels good,” she muttered as Doom probed deeper into her memories. He searched every memory she had from the first day she was born till that day and “Ahh!” he screamed in satisfaction as he gently let go of her head.

  “Hmm this is so interesting,” Doom said, chuckling and placing his hands over his face.

  “What? What’s interesting?”

  “He’s toying with you,” Doom said, as the grin on his face grew wider. Annabelle still couldn’t understand what he meant and was about to ask him when, “You didn’t tell me you’ve met him already,” he said, as he burst into laughter.

  “Wait what? Met him? What do you mean? I’ve only met him in my dreams but with a mask on,” she said in confusion, as she tried to think of where she had seen him and who it was.

  “No, you’ve met him in real life and you didn’t even realize it. He’s toying with you,” Doom said again, trying so hard not to laugh.

  “Who could it be? One of my teachers?” Anna muttered to herself as Crow regained consciousness.

  “Ahh! Looks like it’s time. Think deeply about what I just said Annabelle Peterson and tell no one about this or you’ll cause more confusion for your friends,” he said, as he pointed at Jackson, Joanna and Jacob who just regained consciousness.

  “I..I feel much stronger,” Crow said as she clenched her fists, a red flame engulfing them.

  “Her eyes turned red, and she felt lighter, faster and more alert. Her hearing had gotten better and she could hear the heartbeat of everyone in the room, everyone except Doom.

  Her sight was so good that she could see the tiny drop of sweat on Anna’s forehead and the pulsating veins on her neck.

  “You are just as strong as your brother now. If in three months he is not dead and I don’t have the summoning orb, I’ll reign hell on your world.”

  The thought of killing Doom with her newly possessed power crossed Crow’s mind, so she decided to give it a try.

  She charged at him, and stabbed him right through the heart.