I woke up energized, feeling truly well and alive for once. However this couldn’t be the truth, as my mind brought me back to the painful memories. My hand immediately flew to my face, feeling it up for any injuries. But there weren't any. My face was covered with dried blood, but the pain was gone. It felt like everything I went through in the past couple of hours was only a hideous nightmare.

My denial was short lived as I assessed the surroundings. I was placed on the sterile-white bed, or something more similar to a gurney. This room most definitely wasn't an ordinary hospital room as it looked more like a holding cell. How did I even get here? The last thing I remembered was a feeling or serenity, all pointing to a conclusion they somehow tranquilized me. The empty, yet spacious room resembled a dark cube, with metal doors and no windows. Right in the middle there was a glass, see-through wall, with two chairs sitting behind the barrier. The doors of the barrier were left wide open, since there was no fear of me breaking out of the heavyset iron bars. Alarming as it may sound, the setting resembled an interrogation room, the lack of the friendly environment pressed on my soul, making the space more intimidating than it already was.

I sobbed with despair, tears relentlessly running down my cheeks. I felt sadness for my friends and family, and I should shamelessly admit – pity, a heart-wrenching pity for myself and the faith that awaited me. The nameless dread right down to the bones fueled the rage of helplessness of the situation I found myself in. I flew out of bed, my bare feet hitting the metallic flooring. Ignoring the fact, I was wearing a white hospital gown and the chills wrecking my body, I screamed my throat out. Seeing no other option to escape I impulsively grabbed the closest chair to my reach, and hurled it at the door. Even as defeat was expected, disappointed washed over me like a cold shower as the thick doors didn't even budge.

"No!" I screamed as loudly as I could, my voice echoing through the empty room. "Why are you doing this? Why me?" Howling, I bawled my eyes out, shaking the bars with a deathly grip. "Let me out!" I rattled the doors with all of my might. I scratched and punched the unyielding barricade, until my nails chipped and my skin bled, yet no matter how I strained myself, it didn’t budge.

"Please," I begged, sliding down the empty cold wall, falling to my knees. I buried my face in my hands. "Please just let me go. I promise I won't tell!" I felt my sanity slowly slipping away, losing itself in the pit of despair.

At what seemed like an eternity, the doors finally opened, displaying Maximillian's figure. Only this time, he was alone.

"Korina-" He started, but I didn't let him finish. I jumped to my legs and charged towards him, hoping to somehow get around him. "You murderous bastards! Let me go! I want to go home!" I roared. My body slammed at the heavy door that closed a mere second before I reached them. The force of the impact sent me staggering backward, subsequently the sudden loss of balance left me wobbly on my feet.

The red-headed man stood completely motionless, trying not to invoke even more fear than I was already in. "Korina you can't go home. I am very sorry," he told me, his expression saddened.

"Please, you don't understand! You have the wrong person! You have to let me go!" I licked my dry lips "My family must be worried!" My eyes bore into his blue ones, but the only thing I saw in them was pity.

At last his body moved, slightly edging toward mine, like I was a wild animal he was trying to tame. "Your families' and friends' memories have been altered. They no longer know you exist, the same goes for everyone you knew."

"That's impossible," my voice broke, tears clouding my vision "Go to hell, you sadistic bastard!" I balled my fists and started punching him in the chest. He grasped my wrists tightly, forcing me to stop fighting and look at him.

"It was necessary. You were endangering them and they would be eventually murdered," he said with a stern voice, looking straight into my eyes. "But we've found you in time, so no harm will come to them. You have to understand that what we did was a precautionary measure. "

I let out a bitter laugh "You altered their memories? You expect me to believe this nonsense? You are a murdering psychopath, you didn't help anyone!" I spat at his face in disgust, applauding myself for my newly gathered courage. The real amount of the strength his body held was unfathomable to me, but I wasn’t that foolish not to realize he could kill immediately if he wanted to. And yet his posture remained nonthreatening, his hands holding me in a semi-gentle grasp.

"Korina you are not who you think you are. And I will prove you that," he said with caution. Apparently confident that I won’t pounce at him again, he slowly released me.

He was right in his assumption, however I did charge again, this time toward a door, foolishly hoping there was still a magical chance for them to open like a heaven’s gate. He watched me patiently as I beat them in despair, not moving them an inch. Even though he realized I was hurting myself, he didn’t do anything to stop me, probably knowing it was useless, considering my hysterical state.

"Korina..." He started. "You are in the process of metamorphosis," he explained.

I immediately ceased with the beating, turning right back at the man. "A what?" I glared at him with disbelief. This man was truly and undeniably insane.

"That is a process in which-"

"I know what it means!" I cut him off. "You are maniacs! All of you!" I screamed at him, pointing at nothing in particular. “Do you seriously expect me to believe such utter nonsense?”

He didn't even flinch at my outburst. "How do you explain what you saw then? The strength? The speed? Daniel’s fire?" He probed me, looking at me intently.

The whole room spun as I remembered what I saw and I trembled violently. How could I forget what I had witnessed? None of it left my mind - the unexplainable abilities nor the gruesome slaughter. "That is impossible," I told him, dread washing over me like a heat wave. "This is some kind of a mad illusion! You drugged me!"

"You don't live in a world you think you do," he sighed, treading a hand through his hair, clipped very close to the scalp. "The men we had to kill - they were lesser demons, powerless to us, but lethal to humans. We had no choice but to terminate them."

"Go to hell," I said with menace in my voice, not believing him in the slightest.

"I wouldn't wish that on anyone, it is a truly vile and dangerous place." He said in all seriousness.

"What will you do with me then? Torture me? Kill me?" I said with a haunted voice, looking at anything but him.

"I hope with all of my heart that it won't come to that," He answered with a sympathetic expression on his face, betraying he after all felt fear and grief.

"Please, just let me go!" I begged him, frenzy overtaking me. “Look I am fine, all right?” Frantically I pointed to myself, ushering a short, hysterical laugh. “There’s nothing wrong with me, I swear! You’ve got it all wrong!”

"Korina I will do all in my power to help you, I swear on my life. But it all depends on you."

"On what?" I whispered, still left a spark of defiance in me, but slowly draining with the hopelessness of the situation. The man was truly and well convinced in his story of metamorphosis and world full of demons.

"On how compliant you’ll be," he told me simply.

"What is destined to become of me?" I asked, taking part in this absurdity. Just maybe, if I led him to believe he has convinced me, it would be somehow easier to steer him in the direction of letting me go.

He sighed and looked away from me. "One of the highest-ranking demons‒ a Cerberus."

"Cerberus? As in ancient multi-headed Greek hound of Hades, ordered to guard the doors of the underworld?" I laughed out loud, thinking him even madder than before.

"Not exactly," a new voice joined in. I spun around as fast as I could, seeing Daniel leaning on the wall. The fact I didn’t even hear him enter, made my blood freeze in my veins.

He buried his hands in the pockets of his washed-out jeans. "Cerberus is a humanoid demon, a soulless creature with immense powers. Legends don't do it justice. They were originally created from a powerful force called Belial, your so-called Devil or like you’ve mentioned - Hades. They were his most trusted personal guards, letting no one in and out of his domain."

"So, you are telling me-" I choked "-That I am supposed to be the real monster here?" Terror rattled my bones, sending chills down my spine.

"Yes," said Daniel nonchalantly as he turned his foot to inspect his sturdy, dark-brown leathery boots.

"Daniel." Maximillian growled in warning.

"It is the truth! You are protecting the abomination! Belial’s creation! We should have already terminated it!" He spat in a sullen way, glaring at me.

"Enough!" Maximillian roared so loudly, I winced. "Know your place!" His eyes blazed with anger. "Nobody touches her," he whispered so quietly it was barely audible to my ears.

Daniel nodded at him, eyes full of dismay "This is on you, Max. See if you can live with the fact of how many bodies she will leave behind. It is your conscience after all. But this place is my home, so this is also my family we are talking about, that’s why I do have a say in it."

With a sigh Maximillian looked away from him, distress twisting his handsome face.

"If I'll become this... Cerberus. Why even bring me here? Why not just end me like he said?" I pointed toward Daniel but kept my gaze on Maximillian.

"I promised someone I will protect you with my life." He said honestly, agony radiating off him.