"Not a day goes by that I don't think about that night. Every single day I think about it, about what I did." Bryce moved forward. "Some people might say that I took on this mission, this suicide mission, so that I can die, but the truth is I don't want to die. I want to suffer for what I did. I want to punish myself."
Bryce was in an underground cave. It was dark, and the only light came from a lantern that was barely lit.
In front of him, the thing he was talking to was a demon chained to a wall, unable to get free.
Bryce moved closer to the light, and now he was visible to the demon. His hair was dark and short, and his pupils were bright white. He slowly removed the long coat he was wearing. The tattoos all over his body were now visible as he stepped closer to the demon.
"What are you?" The demon asked frightened.
The demon saw the aura coming out of Bryce's body, and it was so much, it was unusual even for a high-level exorst.
"I wish I was no one, but I am the one who started all this, and I swore to myself that I will be the one to end it. Right now, I need information. Information that I can use to end all this." Bryce said as he starred at the Demon, his face showed no emotions.
"I have told you everything I know. The seven demon lords don't stay in this realm. They stay in our realm, and I don't know exactly where."
"You tell me what I already know, what any common exorst knows. But I never expect much from the likes of you, so now I have no use for you." Bryce stood right in front of the demon.
"Wait, I know where Valtor stays. If you set me free, I will show you," the demon said.
"Valtor…" Bryce thought. "I will find him myself. I don't need you for that. And maybe Valtor might not be as useless as you."
Bryce stretched his hand and placed it on the demon's neck.
"You don't have to do this," the demon said.
"Trust me, I want to do it. Killing your kind is the only thing that gives me a little joy."
Bryce's aura increased, engulfing the whole cave, and the demon could not believe what it was seeing. "Now… die," Bryce said as his pupils turned red. Flames started to burn the demon out of thin air.
The demon continued to burn as Bryce went to take his jacket. A tattoo appeared on his body, signifying another kill.
There was nothing else to do in the cave, and watching the demon burn was not an enjoyable sight for Bryce, so he walked out slowly.
Before Bryce could walk out of the demon's sight, the demon began to laugh, making Bryce stop, though he did not turn back.
"No matter how strong you are, you are still no match for them. They will be your end, and your mission will be for nothing." Those were the demon's last words before it died, and the flames went out.
"Even with your last breath, you still managed to say something so useless. Your kind is really pitiful," Bryce said.
Bryce came out of the tunnel and stopped where he was. The sky was blood red, and there was a large visible rip in it. The air was thin, almost toxic.
Houses were in rubble, and the ones left standing were barely holding together. But the thing that stood out more than the rest was the ghosts and demons wandering around.
It was the post-apocalypse, and the human race was at the verge of total annihilation, the ghosts and demons had the upper hand.
11 years ago
Bryce was thirteen, living in an orphanage. He never got to meet his parents because they died in a tragic accident months after he was born.
It was evening, and it was going to get dark soon. Bryce and his friends, Carl, Austin and Tyler were in their room. They all stayed in one small room, but they managed because they had to.
"I don't think we really need to go to the mansion. I mean, it's really creepy," Carl said while they packed things into their backpacks.
"Yeah, I think I'm with Carl on this one. We don't really know what we'll find in that mansion, and this is the first time I'm hearing of it," Tyler agreed.
Bryce dropped his camera on the bed. "C'mon guys, this could be our big break. Nothing that bad happens in these kinds of places. We'll just go there, make some videos, and get out."
"But is it really a good idea to go at night? Why don't we go in the afternoon tomorrow?" Tyler asked.
Before Bryce could answer, someone walked into their room. The door was open, so she didn't need to knock.
"Father William is coming to visit soon, so you guys should be around, especially you Bryce. He wants to talk to you," Sister Anna said. She was one of the sisters who stayed and took care of the children in the orphanage.
After saying that, she walked out.
"At least we should tell her where we're going," Austin said.
"No. Like she said, Father William is coming, and if she knows, she won't let us go. And Tyler, going to a place like that in the afternoon isn't fun. At night is better." Bryce tried to persuade them. "And there isn't much info about the mansion, so we're good."
"Yeah, that's the problem. In a normal haunted place, there would be a history behind it, but this mansion doesn't have any history. It's as if it just appeared from nowhere." Carl said.
"Don't worry about that. After tonight, we'll go back to our normal podcast. I promise we will make history tonight."
"Well, alright then. Let's get going so we can come back on time," Carl finally agreed.
Bryce put his camera inside his backpack. "I'm done packing. What about you guys?"
"I'm done too. I have the flashlights," Austin replied.
"I'm ready," Tyler and Carl said at the same time.
"Alright, let's get going."
The four of them walked out of the room and headed to the back exit of the orphanage to avoid any of the sisters seeing them.
Before Bryce met his friends, he wasn't the type who related with the other kids, and his interest in ghosts and haunted things made the other kids avoid him.
They reached the back exit, but before they could leave, someone called Bryce from behind.
It was a little girl wearing her nightclothes. She had long white hair, bright blue eyes which made her stood out.
They turned back, and it was Ava, another child in the orphanage. She was younger than Bryce and his friends, she was 9.
"I don't think you should go Bryce," she said.