Zein's Point of View
We followed the Supremo, who walked with a slow, deliberate pace. I walked beside the man, Ferry, who hadn't stopped shaking since we left the cafeteria. Onel and Fritzy followed closely behind, their faces unreadable.
To an outsider, spilling a bit of juice is a trivial accident. You might get angry, sure, but it shouldn't lead to this. I hadn't seen the Dark Hell Jail (DHJ) yet, but I didn't need to see it to know it was a place of no return. I was certain it meant death for anyone sent there.
"I don't want to die yet..." Ferry whispered. He kept repeating the words like a mantra, his voice cracking.
I felt a surge of pity, but I couldn't speak up. I couldn't contradict Ace—not now, while he was radiating such cold, concentrated fury. I saw the demon hiding inside him again. It was terrifying.
As we walked, we moved further away from the main campus of Hell University. It felt like we were heading into the "backyard" of the school—a dense wilderness of towering trees and tangled bushes. Luckily, it was only noon, so the path was visible, but the atmosphere was suffocating.
"I don't want to die yet..." Ferry sobbed to himself.
I looked at Onel, who had been sighing for the last few minutes. "Once he gives the word, there are no more questions," Onel remarked. "That's just who Ace Craige is."
"If I were you, Zein, I'd give up that position," Fritzy threatened with a sharp grin. "You wouldn't want to be around to see the full demon hiding inside him."
"I'm not scared," I said firmly, though her soft laughter made my skin crawl.
"Really? Because I am," she whispered. "I've seen him truly angry before. It's silent... but deadly."
I had to admit to myself that I hadn't seen the "real" Ace yet. He was the President of this hell for a reason; he was a devil with a brilliant, evil mind.
We finally stopped at a solitary prison in the middle of the jungle. It was a brutal, windowless concrete block with a single door made of reinforced steel. It looked unbreakable. I couldn't see anything inside; it was just an abyss of darkness. What was in there? Only death.
Ace reached into his pocket and pulled out a key—the key to DHJ. As the iron door creaked open, a pungent, metallic scent hit us, forcing Onel, Fritzy, and me to take a step back. The door was stained with layers of dried blood. God, what kind of punishment is this?
"Don't make me push you inside," Ace said emotionlessly. He looked at Ferry, who had suddenly gone silent, as if he had finally accepted his fate.
Suddenly, a strange smile spread across Ferry's lips. He began to laugh softly. "I know you, Supremo. I know your secret."
Ace's grin widened as he stepped closer to the man. "I know you do. That's why I brought you here. I also know your secret," Ace countered.
Ferry's smile vanished. "H-how did you know?"
"I'm not so shallow that I'd punish you like this just for spilled juice," Ace replied. "I know what you did. You killed Grace. And you know Jane won't like it if I tell her the truth."
I swallowed hard. Onel had mentioned earlier that Grace was the woman I had witnessed being killed. Ferry did it? Was he a member of the Black Blood Gang?
"Please, don't," Ferry begged, falling to his knees. Ace just laughed.
It was hard to tell who was more evil—Ace for his cruelty, or Ferry for being a murderer. They were all demons.
"I won't tell her... as long as you go inside DHJ. Now!"
Ferry scrambled into the darkness, and the Supremo slammed the door shut, locking it tight. We stood there in silence. No screams, no noise. Just nothingness.
"This is our job, Ms. Zein," Onel said, smiling as if nothing had happened. "We have to eliminate the sinners. we have to remove everything that needs to be purged."
I followed them back toward the campus, but I couldn't help but glance back at the DHJ. For a split second, I thought I saw movement in the shadows—other people were in there. Terrified, I hurried to catch up with the others.
"The President is the one who implemented that punishment," Onel added cheerfully.
Ace? He was the one who created this death sentence? This monster was even more terrifying than I thought. I realized I had to be extremely careful around him. I didn't want to end up like Ferry.
As we reached the edge of the campus, a woman suddenly blocked our path and threw herself at Ace's feet.
"Supremo! Supremo!" she cried. "Where is Ferry? Please, where is he?"
"He's gone," Ace replied sternly.
The girl broke down in tears. I stepped forward and led her to a nearby bench. As soon as we sat down, the other students nearby scrambled away.
"N-Number 9?" she shouted, looking at my uniform. "You're one of them now!"
"I'm sorry," was all I could say.
"Sorry?" she asked, stunned. "You're apologizing?"
"I'm sorry. I didn't want that to happen to Ferry," I repeated.
"You're in the Highest 10! You shouldn't say sorry! You're the Secretary! None of the high-ranking students ever apologize."
I sighed. People were already viewing me as a demon just because of my rank. "What's your name? And what was your relationship with Ferry?" I asked, trying to change the subject.
She wiped her eyes and stared into the distance. "I'm Jane. Ferry was my boyfriend."
My heart sank. So this was the woman Ace had mentioned. Ferry had killed her best friend, Grace, and Ace had used that to force him into the jail. But why did Ferry kill Grace? What was his motive?
"I don't know what to do," Jane sobbed. "They killed my best friend, Grace, and now my boyfriend is gone too."
I felt a surge of nausea. Ferry had murdered his girlfriend's best friend. This school really does turn people into monsters.
"What's your name?" Jane asked me.
"Zein," I replied.
"You're the newbie, right? In five years, you're the first new person to make it this far," she said.
Five years ago? Another mystery. "What happened to the people who were here five years ago?" I asked.
"Dead. All of them," she replied, making the hair on my neck stand up. "But for a short time, there was peace in HU. For the first time, the bloodshed stopped. That was because of her."
"Her? Who was she?"
"Everything has a limit," Jane continued, ignoring my question. "Everything eventually returned to the way it was. But now it's even scarier. The demons that used to hunt us have become even more ferocious."
I couldn't wrap my head around it. What really happened five years ago?
"Zein," Jane said, looking at me seriously. "You've already surpassed that girl. She didn't make it into the Highest 10 until two months after she arrived. You did it in less than a month. The only difference is that the 'Supremo'—the son of the former headmaster—fell in love with her. I have to go now."
I watched Jane disappear into the crowd. My mind was racing. Who was this girl from five years ago? Who was the former Supremo? And who was the headmaster Jane was referring to?
How did they all die? And what really happened five years ago that changed everything?