At the Brink of Insanity

Chapter 8: Beelzebub

Greg Lancaster was never this afraid in his entire life. He was standing in front of the Devil, for crying out loud! Until this moment he was an atheist, but now when the real deal's in front of him, he's willing to become the most religious Christian the world has ever seen, if he survives of course. 

He looked at the faces of his classmates. Except for Natalia, Dante and Sam, who at least looked calm, he could tell everyone else was as scared as he was. Then he looked at the Devil. His previous grin was replaced by a normal smile, a smile someone would give to a friend, while his eyes seemed gentle and caring, but Greg knew better. There was no gentle and caring with the Satan.

If someone was talking, he couldn't hear it. He was too afraid to listen, to think, to act. Greg felt as if he was a robot whose batteries just died. He was waiting for someone to replace those batteries and make him work again. He wanted someone to tap him on his shoulder, to get him out of his reverie, because the more he stayed like this, the more the chance he might go insane. 

Once he set his eyes on the Wicked one, he couldn't remove them. He started breathing hard, sweating, the whole room narrowed in front of his eyes. Young Lancaster felt as if he'd go into cardiac arrest at any given moment. His whole life played in front of his eyes; his successes, his failures, the most fond memories with his family and friends, the biggest argument they ever had, times he won a competition, everything. That's when Greg realized he was the next one to die. And he didn't want to die.

"That's not Satan." With those quiet, but powerful words Iris brought Greg back to reality. Everyone's head snapped towards her. She knew all eyes were on her, including the demon's and she felt quite nervous. 

"Oh? And a pesky little human knows that how?" Asked their new professor.

"His presence is different than yours, his eyes more beautiful and fierce. You're nothing like him." Said Iris bravely. She had to keep her composure, especially when she was making a point in front of everybody.

"You've seen the Devil?" Asked Sam. "When Iris? Did you talk to him?" 

"At the top of a building in which the truck that hit Kim crashed." Explained Iris. Ben's smile turned into a smirk. There was no point in playing with their minds when a smart girl just ratted him out.

"I don't know if you have amazing observation skills or excellent instinct, young lady, but you're right. I'm not Lucifer, but I am one of the seven princes of Hell. The name's Beelzebub. Nice to meet you all." He waved his hand towards class, smile on his face, as if they were meeting for the first time.

The kids were still screwed. It doesn't matter if it's Lucifer himself, or a prince of Hell, their situation doesn't change. "So, what do you plan to do now?" Gulped Laura.

"I don't plan to do anything." Shrugged Beelzebub. "I'm going to observe how you kids will fight back. Simple as that. Look," He shrugged when he noticed their questioning and narrowed stares. "Lucifer loves his games with you humans. I'm just a piece in the game, just like all of you are."

"And just like every piece you have your role." Concluded William. "If you wanted to observe this madness, you could have done it from somewhere else, or not show yourself to us at all. Which means you were sent here, probably by Devil's command to do something."

"You kids are catching on!" Exclaimed Beelzebub. "It took you long enough, but hey, it's not my fault you guys aren't as smart as the previous generations. We really had trouble with those. What a nasty little humans they were!" He chuckled. 

The 'D' class wasn't really happy to be compared to previous generations. For some reason, they were envious, because apparently, if Beelzebub claims they had trouble with them, it means the previous generations were smarter and more observing than the current class. Usually, they probably wouldn't mind in the slightest, but now they did. If they're behind previous 'D' class students, then they have even less of a chance at survival. 

But that's when it clicked in Sam's head. Beelzebub represents envy, the sin before pride, which means that he's the first one below Lucifer. He's probably Hell's second strongest, but currently the one who's affecting him and his classmates. They're suddenly envious because of him.

"Don't fall for it guys." Said Sam, catching everyone's attention. "Our new professor here represents the sixth deadly sin; envy. The feelings you have are his doing so try to ignore them."

"This is interesting. If you guys keep thinking about everything that's happening, your brains will overload and shut down. Relax, will you?" Beelzebub relaxed in his chair, placing his hands behind his head, satisfied smile on his lips. 

He enjoyed watching the kids squirm. He enjoyed the fact they were easy to manipulate, but also the fact they wanted to find a solution to Lucifer's game, as if there ever was one. The lousy thing was, most of these kids, once they die, will probably end in heaven, especially if they don't commit some sins which would give them a reason to stay in the Underworld. Which also means, once Lucifer's game is over, the fun ends, until the next generation of course.

Before he came to meet the cursed kids, he had a talk with the Devil. Lucifer said there were some kids that peeked his interest more than the others. It wasn't a surprise for Beelzebub. There were always some kids who played better that the rest, in every single generation. That's why the whole game was fun.

"Since you confirmed you are in fact Beelzebub and that you came here by Satan's orders, then you can also pass him a message." Said Dane. "Tell him I'd like to make a deal. And I think he'll like it."

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Hey guys! 

I apologize for three days without any updates. Since the school is heating up and exams are on the door, I didn't really have so much time to write, but I know many of you can relate. So, here's the eight chapter of the story!

What do you think about it? Please, let me know :)

Now when the weekend has finally come, I'll try to publish another chapter tomorrow (or maybe two?).

Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed it, if you did drop a vote or a comment, I'd really appreciate it.

Have an amazing weekend guys,

Hugh