Redemption [malexmale]

Chapter One

Chapter One

You only get one second chance in life.

After that, you're screwed up the rear like a bitch in heat at Mardis Gras. If you manage to redeem your soul of the evils it collected while in the mortal realm, good for you. You get to go to the sunny warm paradise of Heaven. If your soul remains tainted, or becomes even more so, you get to pop a squat in the dark vast world of Hell. But what's even worse than either of those is if you don't know you're being given that second chance and you're trapped.

In the wonderful desert wasteland of Purgatory.

Ah, yes, purgatory. Endless miles of hot dry desert with scattered oasises created by lost souls or other mysterious supernatural creatures, particularly shapeshifters, who are mostly there to provide tests and challenges for souls. Other times, the shapeshifters are there to urge souls to take their second chance while they still could. Because redemption didn't last long.

This awesome land of sand dunes, poisonous snakes, searing hot artifical sun, and empty blue skies was my domain. Who am I?

Thorn. Son of the almighty angel, Lucifer.

Who, contrary to popular opinion, was not a red-skinned devil with fangs and claws and the like. No, it was quite the opposite. Lucifer was tall, much like myself, but unlike my dark wavy hair, Lucifer's was thick and blonde and curly. His eyes a piercing shade of blue. His wings were almost always not revealed and he usually only did it if he wanted to intimidate or impress someone.

But enough about daddy.

I spent day after day after sun-scorching day sitting in a dark dismal office in the home of a lavish mansion in the middle of the desert; a mansion, which in fact, was hidden from the rest of the creatures here in purgatory. A cloaking device engulfed my three story desert manor, complete with a courtyard and luxerious pool and horse stables. Only gods, demigods, and redeemed souls could see my wonderful home.

Which meant my visitor count was enough so that I could count them on my hands.

It probably explained my lack of social skills.

I wiped a hand across my face before expelling a heavy sigh, then reached up to brush a hand through dark hair, pushing the keffiyah from my head so it fell like a black snake about my neck and draped over my shoulders. I stood from my mahogany desk, pinching the bridge of my nose, fed up with working in the dark. I made my way across cool hardwood floors to one of the many floor-to-ceiling windows in my office, throwing open the black shutters to allow the summer sun into the room. It flooded in and I actually flinched at the sight of it momentarily, blinking back the momentary blindness. I watched the sunlight paint the room in gold, bouncing off expensive ancient artifacts and decorations that seemed to glitter and dance in the light.

I inhaled the warm dry scent of the deserts, the chlorine of the pool down below and the faint sent of the horse stables. Even from here, I could see the four horses beating their hooves against the floors, throwing their heads back and making quite a ruckus. A frown turned my lips down.

They usually only reacted like that when I had visitors.

Cool.

I gave a weary sigh, expecting my father to be the one to drop by again. He made occasional visits, like he felt obligated to give me attention since I was the only one of his children who didn't live in his domain of Hell.

There were seven of us.

The eldest was Jaques, now married and on leave from my father's personal guard to tend to his wife, Niya, as they were expecting their third child any day now.