Life at Last
Chapter One
Staring into the brown soulless eyes of my mother I watch helplessly as she plunges our kitchen knife into my chest before sliding it out, licking the blood off the sharp side of the blade. Struggling against my binds restraining me to the floor, my mother brings the warm blade to my throat.
I've lived this scene thousands of times so I'm not afraid, simply annoyed at the irrelevance of this situation. Waiting for my mother to plunge the knife into my neck I feel my eyes widen and my lungs expand as I suck in a cold breath of air watching as she dissolves into black dust getting whisked away in the wind. Staring up at the white ceiling of my childhood bedroom I shut my eyes and try to take advantage of the momentary silence trying to force myself to fall asleep.
Hell is a terrible place but my will hasn't been broken and one day I'll escape this place. Feeling my cold restraints vanish I feel a pair of muscular arms embrace me in a warm hug.
"Ryan it's me, it's Leo!" Hearing the familiar shouting voice of my brother I open my eyes and feel my breath get caught in my throat as I stare into the familiar hazel eyes of my closest friend.
"L-Leo?" Raising my thin pale hand I hold his shoulder as support while looking into his eyes watching as he looks me over with eyes filled with elation.
"Here I was thinking you'd forget me, let's get you out of this hell hole." Feeling a grin stretch across my face my stomach flips as I fall onto a soft bed. Staring in shock at my new surroundings I stumble off the neatly made bed making my way to the full mirror hanging on the wall. I look the same, it's as if my body hasn't been touched by time. My blonde hair is freshly cut and all of my muscles still seem just as strong.
"What do you think, is it cool or what?" Hearing the cheery voice of Leo I turn my head and smile at my best friend. Leo and I are half siblings raised by the same mother with no present father. Leo was two years older than I was but we had always been close up until I died? At least I think I died. The last week of my living memory is completely gone; one night I was heading to prom and the next I was rotting in hell.
"How did you do this?" I ask, raising my arms looking around at the most expensive hotel room I've ever seen. "I've been in hell for so long, how did you get me out?" I plead while watching Leo take out a golden apple tossing it in the air catching it in his hand. This doesn't seem real, I'm expecting Leo to plunge a hidden blade into my body yet something is screaming at me telling me that this is real.
"Well to make a long story short I gained godhood and took my Brother's soul out of the palm of the devil's hand." Still staring at me with that infectious smile I catch the golden apple that he lightly lobs in the air. "Ryan I don't want to force you to do anything so I am offering you a position by my side. If you accept, I can give you anything you want, girls, money, power, and all you have to do is help me take over the galaxy." Hearing those words I feel a rare smile come to my face as I weakly walk over to my friend and embrace him in a hug.
"Leo I would never turn down an offer to help conquer the galaxy." Breaking the hug I hold my brother's shoulders and stare at his face. He looks just how I remember him with the same curly brown hair and hazel eyes with the physique of a model. Ever since I could remember Leo has always been freakishly handsome but now that I know he's a god it makes sense.
"Good, then why don't you eat the apple and get changed while I explain everything to you." Handing me a change of clothes that appear from thin air Leo turns around while I slip on a pair of the most comfortable boxers I've ever felt. "Ryan, I understand that you've just gone through a tragedy but I will not let this ruin our conquest. You need this adventure after spending so much time in Hell letting loose and having fun will be good for you." Letting out a light chuckle I pull over the dark blue baggy T-shirt before pulling up my pair of black baggy sweatpants.
"Don't worry I won't rain on your parade oh Holy One. Once you get used to the shock factor of what they show you in hell all you really feel is the pain of the torture but after so long even the pain doesn't feel like anything." Remembering some of the more gorey situations I had to go through I physically shake just thinking about the pain. Staring down at the smooth golden apple I sink my teeth into the juicy fruit taking a huge bite filling my mouth with the most delicious flavor I've ever tasted.
"Well that's what happens when you spend over a thousand years in hell, but if we ever go back to our homeworld we'll both be damned by Satan himself, and not only that but everyone that we love is dead. I know that this is really sudden and you might not want to hear it but we are literally the last two humans alive from our planet. We are homeless, which is why I am fulfilling our dream of conquering and building a home that can never be destroyed. I am building an empire that is going to last millions of eons and you are going to be my right-hand man. Once you finish eating that apple I'm going to give you a ton of crazy cool powers befitting of your newfound status, then we're going to invade and start making a fucking empire that covers the empire. Whenever you ask, `` I can make you wives and troops to keep you satisfied and successful in your conquering, the only thing you have to do is take over the other planets." Grasping my shoulder Leo stares deeply into my eyes making my body tense. "I can see the future Ryan and in it I see us ruling the universe."
"I was only there for a thousand years, it felt longer. If we're going to be making an empire then we're going to need an army and power." Taking a big bite of the delicious apple I let tears of pure bliss roll down my face. "I will fucking slaughter worlds for our empire, but there's only one of me," I mumble with my mouth full. This is a second chance at life, an opportunity that I won't let slip through my fingers. I was sent to hell to pay for my sins yet all it did was make me crave them more but thanks to Leo I'll never have to crave anything ever again. Gaining powers and conquering worlds to bring them into our empire is simply a plus but I am just one man.
"I know and you will be given an army to help quicken the process, there are already other Generals who have already begun conquering. For now, just finish eating your apple because once you've finished eating you're going to pass out and evolve into the genetically perfect version of yourself. About halfway through that process while you're sleeping I'll give you a cocktail of powers that will be incorporated into the perfect godly version of yourself." Swallowing a large piece of apple I wipe my mouth with my sleeve while nodding my head.
"What powers am I going to be getting?" I ask while taking another large bite of the apple.
"Well, you're going to be able to fly, shoot lasers out of your eye, super strength, super speed, invulnerability; I'll make you overpowered don't worry, just take that last bite so we can start."
Nodding my head I take the last bite of the apple savoring the taste in my mouth while looking over the extravagant hotel room. Whether this is real or fake, this is the most fun I've had in a long time and I'm crossing my fingers I wake back up. Shutting my eyes I lay down on the comfortable bed and swallow the last bite of the golden apple. Letting myself drift to sleep I savor the feeling of safety that's been missing from my life for so long.