Termino.
Diabolus
--
Hiro looked up at the clock. He could see it on the wall through the bars. It had been four days, eleven hours and thirteen minutes since Hiro had been imprisoned. The cell was cold and dark, the walls were damp and the bars were rusty. There was a leak in the ceiling and the sound of each drop of water hitting the floor was slowly driving Hiro insane.
Drip. Drip. Drip…
His mind wandered back to a few days ago, when the police had found the drugs on his person, and the next thing he knew, he was being escorted through the door to his jail cell.
So much for trying to be a good person and help a lost kid. It didn’t help that he had absolutely no idea where he was or what he was doing. His luck really couldn’t get any worse. He was sitting in silence contemplating just how unfortunate he was when he heard the click of a lock.
The door to his cell swung open.
It was a police officer. Hiro vaguely remembered him being around when he had been caught.
“Mr Hiro Inayashi, cell number 35?”
Hiro nodded hesitantly.
“Charged with the murders of your wife and her brother, and kidnapping of the brother’s daughter?” the officer glared pointedly.
Hiro’s mouth fell open in shock. He may not have been a saint, but this was definitely not a crime he had committed.
“What?! No, that wasn’t me, I-”
“Shut up. You know what you did,” the officer snapped. He grabbed Hiro roughly by the arm. “This way, you moron.”
Hiro’s mind was fraught with anxiety and confusion. He almost opened his mouth to speak just as he was shoved into a decrepit room with a single light bulb on the wall. In the centre of the room sat a large tub of water, with two prison guards standing on either side. Hiro’s heart was racing. This could not be a good thing.
The officer yanked him by the collar and brought him in front of the tub. The prison guards wasted no time in handcuffing him and standing on either side.
“Now,” the officer sneered, “You will tell me what you did to that little girl.”
“I’m telling you, that wasn’t me! I didn’t-”
Hiro found his head being thrust roughly into the tub. The cold water filled his mouth and nose. He thrashed helplessly against the officer’s grip, struggling to breathe as his eyes scrunched up in pain.
Then the hold on his head relaxed, and he came up, gasping and sputtering.
“Where is the kid? Have you hurt her?”
Hiro screamed in anguish and frustration. “I did not kidnap her! It’s not true, I did not-”
And once again, he was plunged into the water, his face hitting the surface with a slap. Hiro’s mind was numb from the cold and the suffocation from the water entering his lungs.
After what seemed like an eternity, he emerged from the tub, coughing.
“Please, you have the wrong person,” Hiro gasped. “I was caught for possession of illegal substances, I didn’t murder or kidnap anybody!”
“Silence!” the officer yelled. “Do you think,” he continued in a dangerously soft voice, “that I don’t know exactly what you’ve done?” He pushed at the back of Hiro’s head. “You will tell me where she is, before I-”
“Oh, hi Mark,” came a voice from the door. His tone was far from suited to the situation at hand, it was of a man who had seen it all. “Leave him to me.”
Hiro looked up in horror as the officer released his hold on him.
Standing in the doorway was a tall, lean man in jeans and a casual red t-shirt, leaning against the door frame. A bit too casual, Hiro thought nervously, as though he wasn’t aware that he was in a prison…
“Hiro Inayashi,” the man began as he walked up to him, “I will make you an offer.”
His tone was akin to his stance. Casual, comfortable, almost mocking.
“Who are you?” Hiro coughed out.
“Ah,” the man smirked and chuckled. “I am Satan, but you can call me Lucifer.”
His eyes glinted red as he stepped forward into the light.
Hiro’s eyes widened.
“Oh, don’t mind these, these are just contacts,” he went on in his offhand tone. “Thought red eyes would fit with the whole… theme.”
Hiro was now irritated as well as terrified. Who was this nut who claimed to be Satan? And why had the officer listened to him?
“I don’t…” Hiro began. “I don’t know who you are, but I can only assume you have some form of authority here. I really hope you know that I didn’t commit any of those crimes I was being tortured for,” Hiro gulped. “I was brought here for illegal drug possession, I didn’t murder…” He trailed off. The man didn’t seem to be listening. Instead, he was looking around the dingy room with a curious, interested expression, like a tourist in a foreign country. Hiro simply stared.
“Um… excuse me… sir?”
The man turned around and blinked. “Ah, yes, Hiro Inayashi. Right. I have an offer for you,” he said nonchalantly. “What do you say, we get you out of here, hmm?”
“Yes, thank you, sir… I was telling you he had the wrong person, I wasn’t-”
“I mean out of here, Hiro,” he cut him off. “Out of jail. Free.”
“Um…yes, sir, I would like that very much…”
“Great!” the man replied. His utter lack of reaction to the place he was in was unnerving. He snapped his fingers and turned around to the door, which promptly swung open. “The officers and guards are all asleep now. The front gate is open. Off you go.”
Hiro gaped at the man, taking an uncertain step towards it.
“Oh, yeah, one more thing.”
Hiro paused.
“You can’t have something for nothing,” the man smirked. “Don’t worry, nothing much. If I let you out right now, you have to get rid of someone for me.”
“Get rid of-”
“Kill. Annihilate. Murder. You know, switch off the heartbeat, make them cease to exist?”
“What? Who?”
“You’ll know when the opportunity presents itself.” the man declared. “I’ll let you sleep on it. A little hard to make decisions around here, don’t you think?”
Hiro opened his mouth, trying to form words.
“Well, I’ll be off,” the man started. “Let’s get you back to cell 35.” He poked Hiro in the back, pushing him towards the door. Hiro staggered forward in a daze. Was this truly a chance for him to get out of jail?
“Oh, by the way,” came a voice. Hiro turned around. He swore he saw a glint in the man’s eye. “Mark will be back tomorrow.”
Hiro walked on, dumbfounded. He made his way back to the cell and leaned his head against the cold metal bar. He knew what he would be doing the next day.
A fair bargain. Freedom, for a price — a task Hiro must finish.
