Free Hell Bound by Alina Ray Page A

Craig answered.
    "They call me Karawan, but I suspect my name will be of little importance to you. Do you know where you are?"
    "No. In a dream of some kind. I must have had too many drinks tonight." Craig chuckled, and if the other man noticed, he gave no indication.
    "I can assure you, this is no dream. Do you honestly not know what has happened?"
    Craig searched his mind, trying to recall the past few days. He soon realized that he could recall nothing beyond waking up here in the dark, Defeated, Craig shook his head.. .
    "You have expired," Karawan said simply.
    Craig's head snapped up at this news. Dead? He couldn't understand it, but try as he might, the only thing he could remember about his former life was his own name. Well, he still knew stupid facts like television trivia and the good sports teams, but as far as his own life? It was all a blank. An irritating pain had begun to grow inside of his chest, almost like a slow heartburn.
    "What? How? How did I die? What happened?" Craig sputtered out the questions as fast as he could think of them, but Karawan silenced him with a wave.
    "Do you not think that 'how' is not the most important question right now? Do you think that perhaps, the 'where' might be a better question?" Karawan began to circle Craig once again.
    Craig looked hard at his surroundings, remembering the darkness and the long line, the red tint of the skin of the men, and the pain in his chest. "I'm in Hell." It was barely a whisper, but Craig had no other answer. A quick look at Karawan's smirk told Craig that he was right.
    "But, why? What did I do?" Craig asked.
    "Ah, that is not for me to know," Karawan answered. "That is something that you must discover about yourself throughout your time here."
    Craig slumped his shoulders. "I don't understand. How am I supposed to remember?"
    "It will come in time. I'm sure you have noticed the nagging pain in your chest?" When Craig nodded, Karawan continued, "That is to serve as a constant reminder of where you have found yourself, and it will only increase until you have remembered and dealt with the choices that you have made while living. You will still feel any pain that will befall you. You need to feel remorse for what you have done, if you have any hope of achieving any kind of redemption for yourself."
    With that, Craig perked up and he seized his opportunity. "I am truly sorry for anything that I have done." Suddenly, the stool that Craig was sitting on disappeared beneath him and he fell with a thud to the floor, hitting his head. The demon had been right; he could still feel pain.
    Karawan laughed. "You are hardly the first to try that, nor, do I fear, will you be the last. You need to feel true remorse, and you cannot do that until you truly face what you have done. Only you can determine when you are ready for that. Until then, you belong to me." With those words, Karawan stalked out of the room. As he left, all of the lights turned off, leaving Craig once again in complete darkness.
    Craig sat down, put his head in his hands, and closed his eyes. He couldn't believe that this was really happening. He tried everything he could think of to remember his life, but nothing worked. It was a complete and total blank, as if Craig had never existed in the first place.
    Craig stayed in that room for what felt like an extremely long time. It could have been hours, weeks, maybe even decades. Craig got the sense that time didn't really mean a whole lot down here. Just when Craig thought he couldn't stand the isolation any longer, Karawan returned.
    "Get up" Karawan commanded, in a voice that left no room for argument. Craig hurried to comply and rose to his feet. Karawan chained Craig's wrists behind his back and added a short chain on his feet, just long enough for Craig to take short, quick steps. For the first time since he'd gotten here, Craig realized that he was naked.
    At first, Craig didn't understand the need for the shackles; it wasn't as though he