Cocoon (The Burning Butterfly Saga, Book 1)

Hellfire's

Azalea stood there absolutely stunned.

She had committed high treason and was being sentenced to 140 years to the Labor House's.

"What are the charges?" She demanded.

Azalea was not about to go down without a fight, especially when she was innocent and she knew she was innocent.

The larger Hellfire, whose identification number read H61, ground his teeth at her question.

"Your soul..." He breathed out and a little bit of smoke drifted up into the air.

She was incredulous. How could her soul be the charge unless she had sold it but never relinquished it? Though Azalea knew she hadn't sold her soul at all. Why they would think she did such a thing was troubling.

She had never dealt in the dark market; she didn't even know where to go in the city to find the dark market. This didn't make any sense to her.

"My soul? But how, I never..." She was cut off before she could finish her sentence.

"You don't know..?" The other Hellfire tilted and twisted his head like a beguiled snake. He was writhing under her uncomfortable state of being.

He began to slither closer and Azalea caught the faint smell of burnt flesh and swamp water. She shuddered.

His identification card had been burned; the only symbol visible was a distorted S.

"You don't have to be the one to sell your soul... However..." He breathed, a slight hiss escaping his lips. "Other family members can..." He whispered in her ear.

Azalea's neck twitched, a trail of goose bumps ran down her arm.

She tilted her head away from him.

"Your mother sold your soul and you didn't complete the transaction. Not our problem."

His breathe was hot against her cheek. She swallowed hard.

How could she..? She thought. After all Azalea had done for her mother. All the times she worried over her mother being the one sent off to the Labor Houses. She would work over time, double shifts. She payed the bills and cleaned the house. She made sure there was always food on the table and clothes on their backs but most importantly she stuck by her mother through all her problems. And this is what she gets in return.

"So this is how you repay me? Selling my soul to the Devil... And for what?" She called out hysterically.

Her mother sobered up rather quickly, her high dying with each accusation.

"I forgot to tell you. I meant t-."

"Save it. I know all you wanted was a quick high. Well I hope it was worth it. Yeah, you know what, I'd like to see how you'll handle being alone, because you've made it quite clear that I've been on my own for a really long time now."

Tears swelled in her eyes. Her own mother had traded her soul for a vial of Evilod. Now Azalea was enslaved to the Devil; doomed to work the rest of her days.

"Azalea, I'm sick..." Cristith gripped her throat, her words slipping away.

Azalea knew what this drug did to a person. It was slowly killing her mother. Every day she noticed something different. Her hair was thinner. The circles under her eyes were darker. She had age spots all up and down her arms and forehead although she was barely forty-three.

"Maybe this will motivate you to get some help." Her voice croaked. She felt defeated and worn down, like an old war-horse. She lifted her arms towards the two Hellfire's. They cuffed her in metal binds and a blue holographic rope formed between her and Hellfire S.

She cringed in disapproval.

"Azalea, I hope one day I can make things right between you and I..." Her mother reached a hand out.

"Don't touch me. I may as well be dead to you."

"What do I have to do?" She pleaded.

The thought of her mother actually caring briefly crossed her mind. Was she truly sorry? Azalea thought.

No.

It made no sense to her. How could someone mindlessly send their only daughter off to the Labor Houses one moment and then seem so guilty the next.

"It's already done."

Azalea didn't speak another word to her mother. She turned away and waited for her departure.

Hellfire H61 removed Azalea's card from the slot it sat in along the wall. He scanned her card into the pad and then over-road the system with a few simple taps to the screen.

An android voice spoke from the box.

"Azalea R. Echo. Six. Three. Five. Seven. Has been terminated from Loft 901. She has been sentenced to one hundred and forty years at Labor House D371L. File transfer complete. Thank you."

The words reverberated about the small space and Azalea felt this burning sensation deep in her chest. She was ashamed; ashamed of her mother, of her status, of herself.

She jerked forward as the two Hellfire's exited the place she once called home. She would now have to travel through the inner city to Morning-Star palace. Built along the Amber Mountains were the Labor Houses. That's where Azalea would now call home...