Hells Escape: A Journey of Redemption

The giant insect lay sprawled on the sand, its once-blazing red eyes now dull and ashen, its body still and broken. A faint heat still radiated from it, but the fight was over.

The Hellbounds gathered around it in a loose half-circle, the quiet settling heavy on the blood-streaked dunes. Joseph stood at the front, sword resting across his shoulder, his blond curls disheveled, yet his confidence intact. To his right, James loitered lazily with his hands in his pockets, his breathing heavy. Damien and Jenna stood a few paces back to Joseph's left, side by side, still catching their breath.

Farther behind them, Blythe knelt over the two dead Hellbound girls, her white sundress streaked with blue ichor. The Grey Monk stood beside her silently, his spear planted in the sand, while the bubble girl crouched nearby, quiet and pale.

James broke the silence first, his raspy voice carrying across the group."Who gets to absorb it?" He gestured vaguely at the carcass.

Joseph raised his sword and declared without hesitation,

"Well, I did blind it with my fire. It should be me."

Even as the words left his mouth, the air around him changed — his shackle reacting.

Joseph stiffened, his sword clattering to the ground as pain slammed into him like a hammer. His whole body convulsed, knees buckling into the sand as he choked out a strangled gasp.

"Ah—! Fuck—!" he gritted through clenched teeth, his pride quite literally punished, leaving him shivering and hunched, breath ragged.

Everyone — except Blythe, the bubble girl, and the Monk by the bodies — turned toward him with open disgust now, some barely suppressing smirks at his humiliation.

You're moving up the list, Damien thought, eyes narrowing as he imagined the satisfying weight of his blade slicing through Joseph's golden curls.

He shook his head.

No… I don't need the XP, and gaining his favor will pay off later.

Letting out a chuckle that cut through the tense silence, he drew everyone's gaze.

"I agree," Damien said smoothly, smirking faintly even though his shackle punished him for the lie with white hot pain. "Joseph did most of the work. Let him absorb it."

To his left, Jenna snapped her head toward him, her jaw dropping in disbelief. Her cheeks flushed deep red, but not from embarrassment.

Her voice cracked the quiet like a whip.

"What are you talking about, you douches?"

The word hung in the air, shocking enough to make several of them flinch. Joseph, still on one knee and recovering, actually blinked in surprise, and even James straightened slightly, as though unsure she'd really said it.

Damien, of course, didn't flinch at all.

Jenna wasn't done.

Hands curled into fists at her sides, her chest heaving.

"You all couldn't have killed it without me! I'm the one whose blood blew up its insides! I'm the one who sacrificed myself to an orange fucking demon! And what have I gotten in return? Nothing!!"

Her voice echoed across the dunes, hard and sharp.

She glared at each of them in turn, daring anyone to argue. The only answer was silence, the group shifting uncomfortably under her fiery gaze.

Finally, Joseph raised a hand from where he still half-knelt in the sand, his expression caught somewhere between pride and confusion.

Jenna's sharp gaze snapped to him instantly."What?" she barked.

Joseph scratched at his tangled blond curls, glancing at her with a hesitant tilt of his head."That… orange demon you mentioned," he began slowly. "What are you talking about?"

Narrowing her eyes into dangerous slits, the heat practically rolled off her.

"Don't worry about it," she hissed, each word dripping acid.

Standing a few feet away with his arms crossed, Damien arched an eyebrow at the exchange. A faint smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth.

Why isn't she like this more often?

He thought, amused as she turned that sharp tongue on someone else for once, but then her fiery eyes locked onto his, still burning with all the anger she'd just leveled at Joseph.

"What? You got something to say, douche?"

The smirk slid right off his face. His expression hardened into stone as the amusement vanished, her voice scraping against his skull.

"No," he replied flatly.

The silence that followed was heavy and awkward, with everyone quietly glancing between the two of them. Finally, Jenna straightened, brushed herself off with a defiant flick of her wrist, and gave a satisfied little shake of her head.

"Good," she announced loudly, as though declaring victory. Then she jabbed a finger at the insect's corpse.

"Then I'm going to absorb it."

However, the moment Jenna took her first step toward the corpse, her body locked up.

She let out a sharp yelp before collapsing into the sand, her limbs jerking as if an unseen current was tearing through her.

"Damn it!" she spat between gritted teeth, eyes wide, her body thrashing violently against the ground.

Damien stood a few paces away, arms still folded, watching her convulse. The corner of his mouth twitched, but he forced the laughter down. For now, he reminded himself, he still needed to stay on Jenna's good side. At least a little longer.

Although Jenna did something no one expected.

Her fingers clawed into the sand, dragging herself forward inch by inch, her arms trembling violently. Every movement sent a fresh jolt of pain through her already convulsing body, but she didn't stop.

"I'm going to absorb you," she growled through clenched teeth, eyes blazing with defiance. "I don't care!"

Joseph and James exchanged a look of stunned disbelief, frozen in place, unsure whether to stop her or help.

With a quiet sigh, Damien finally stepped forward. Without a word, he reached down and scooped up the frail, trembling girl. Her body was blazing hot in his arms, like holding raw fire.

She didn't protest, just glared at the corpse as he carried her the rest of the way and set her down gently beside the fallen insect.

Neither of them spoke.

As Damien turned and walked away, he felt it behind him—the faint shimmer of golden light rising as the massive carcass finally dissolved into nothing. In front of him, the Grey Monk touched the two dead bland girls on their faces, and with a shimmering golden light, they too dissolved into nothingness.

Such a greedy girl, Damien thought, the faintest trace of a smirk playing at his lips. Also, I didn't know you could absorb people...Noted.