Be Careful What You Wish For: A Zombie Apocalypse-Chapter 301: A Whole Lot More Interesting

Reaching through the bars, I stroked the girl’s face, ignoring the dirt and blood that had been caked onto her cheeks. Her hair was a tangled mass that I didn’t even bother to try and comb through, and it was easy to tell that she hadn’t been properly cared for for a long time.

She was little more than skin-covered bones, but there was a fire burning deep down inside her.

One that refused to be extinguished.

"I can give you that and so much more," I promised her, feeling a deep kinship with her. "But I need to know what revenge looks like to you. To say the word is easy, but I want to do you justice."

’I want them all dead,’ hissed the girl, and I could see a bright spark of red burning where her heart was. Wrath, it made sense.

"I need you to listen to me," I said. "You have a demon seed inside of you. Wrath, if you want to be exact, but because of that seed, you have more options than others. I can keep you alive until you merge with your demon. Then, you can take your own vengeance. You don’t have to die in this cage if you don’t want to."

Before I could finish speaking, the girl was already shaking her head. ’Too tired,’ she sighed. ’I want to end it all, but I don’t want THEM to win. I can already feel myself changing into whatever they were trying to turn me into. I want to die a human; I want to die as me.’

"Okay," I agreed, rubbing my thumb on her cheek, collecting her tears of frustration. This would be her sacrifice for the first part... her tears. "Then I can send you back in time, I can make sure that you are reborn to a time and place of your desire, and you can get revenge for yourself. The demon seed will still be attached to your heart, so you’ll keep your powers and memories and have the strength of Wrath to keep you going."

Resting her cheek in my palm, I felt more than heard her hum.

’I want that,’ she said, looking up at me. ’I want to get my own revenge. But I don’t want THEM living a good life in this timeline, either.’

"Ah," I purred, nodding my head. "A girl after my own heart. How about this, I’ll burn down this lab with your body inside. You will die a painful death but then be reborn. Anyone who participated in what happened to you will be punished. What do you think? Is that acceptable?"

"I want them to suffer for a long time. I’ve been in this cage for three years; I want them to suffer for at least the same amount of time," said the girl, finally speaking out loud. However, the more her lips moved, the more they split and cracked, causing her to bleed down her chin and onto the floor of her cage. "Can you do that?"

"Sweetness," I said, tilting up her face so that she was looking at me. Dropping the illusion, I showed her exactly what I looked like, scars and all. "I am Lucifer, the Devil, Queen of Hell. I can do that and more. You want them to suffer? Then, for three years, I’ll deliver Hell on Earth before finally putting them out of your misery."

’Price?’ sighed the girl. But instead of pain and hurt, this sigh was one of contentment.

"I’ve already taken it," I smiled at her. "Your tears to make sure that the lab is destroyed. Your life to make sure that you are reborn. Your blood to make sure that they suffer for three years before they are finally granted death."

The girl nodded and smiled at me before closing her eyes. ’A year before the apocalypse, please,’ she whispered in my head. ’That will give me enough time to be prepared.’

"Anything for you," I agreed.

With her next breath, I slowly helped to lower her head to the bottom of the cage before once again stroking her cheek. "Daddy, can you hear me?" I called out, not sure if it would work like this, but still wanting to give it a try.

It only took a few seconds before I could feel the caress of air behind me. The girl’s eyes went wide as she stared at someone over my shoulder.

"You called, Princess?" smiled Chang Xuefeng, resting a hand on my shoulder.

"Can you give her a peaceful death?" I asked, looking up at him. "She is going to be reborn, but she has suffered enough."

"Whatever you want," assured Daddy as he crouched down beside me. I could feel his wings wrapping around me as he, too, looked down at the girl in the cage.

"Close your eyes, Seraphina, and know when you wake up, your life will go back to how it was before," he advised just as the lab exploded around us. I could feel the heat from the flames, but his wings were keeping me safe and unharmed.

The two of us watched as the girl caught fire, her mouth opening in a silent scream as the flames continued to consume her.

She continued to stare at us, her eyes never leaving mine, even as Chang Xuefeng pulled her soul out of her body.

’Thank you,’ she breathed just as she and Chang Xuefeng disappeared.

Rising to my feet, I looked around at the burning lab. I had no idea what was going on in this Sanctuary or why this girl was being treated like an animal, but it certainly sparked my interest.

Maybe this place wouldn’t be as boring as I feared. At least now I had something to keep me entertained while I tortured everyone involved in Seraphina’s death.

Seraphina... I like it. It seemed to suit her.

"Time to go back to Tank before he goes insane trying to figure out where I am," I mused out loud as the flames started to lick at five tall, silver canisters in the corner.

Yeah, this place just got a whole lot more interesting.