As Ondina walks down 5th Avenue in the dark humid night, she wonders what comes after life. If the myths about heaven and hell are true, if she died where would she go? She didn't know. No human knew until it was too late. Unfortunately, today would be the day Ondina found out. Suddenly, Ondina felt an unusual sense. Then, she saw something she did not recognize. Something she had never seen before. A bright light that was radiating heat. She thought to herself, “maybe I should stay away.” Indeed, she should have stayed away. But Ondina was a curious cat and her curiosity is what drove her to her demise. As she walked towards the mysterious light, she felt weak and heavy, and she fell unconscious.

   About an hour later, Ondina regained consciousness. She was in a very unfamiliar place and she felt unsteady. She laid in a tall room, with dark oak walls and cold tile floor, the floor was a deep maroon. The setting of the room was antiquated. There was a long table with eight wooden chairs, the type fancy rich people sat in. It was almost as if she traveled back in time. While she sat there on the floor, she felt cold, very cold. It was as if she sat in a freezer. She felt naked, but was fully dressed. She felt trapped, and there was no way to escape. Then suddenly, one of the long doors in the room had opened and out came eight men. She froze out of fear and could not move a muscle. Ondina’s fear ate her alive. There was a strange and powerful aura about these men, Ondina could feel it. She felt trapped under it, like a spell. 

   Almost in an instant, one of the men had noticed Ondina sitting in an unusual place on the floor. “Who are you, and how did you get here?” The man questioned. The man who had spoken to Ondina was tall, with dark piercing black eyes and luscious raven colored hair. Ondina felt terrified, but could tell that the man was not hostile towards her. There was something calming about his tone and the look on his eyes. “You’re human, correct?” “What? What do you mean? Of course I'm human, what else would I be?” The man sighed. “You have no idea what kind of predicament you have yourself in right now, do you?” Ondina shook her head. She didn’t know what he meant or what he was talking about. “Let me explain in simple terms… you are no longer in the world you once knew. You are now in the demon realm, The Devildom. I, along with my six other brothers are the rulers of this realm. We are the seven deadly sins, I am Lucifer. Avatar of pride.” “What? What do you mean.. You can’t be serious. If this is a joke it isn’t funny.” Lucifer wasn’t laughing. Ondina could tell that he was dead serious. “But- how? How am I here? Am I dead..?” “No, you are certainly not dead. You could tell if you were. Trust me.” Lucifer helped Ondina to her feet, and turned to the men that were sitting at the long, old table. They were chatting away like nothing was wrong. 

 “Let me introduce you to my brothers.” First, Lucifer pointed to a man with white, wavy hair. He was wearing sunglasses and his skin was a rich brown color. “This is Mammon, avatar of greed.” Then, Lucifer pointed to a very feminine looking man. He had amber colored eyes and dirty blonde hair, it almost looked pink from her perspective. “This is Asmodeus, avatar of lust. Be wary of him. He likes to toy with humans.” Next, he pointed to a man that was on his phone, very focused like he was playing a game. He had light blue hair with a mix of lavender. “This is Leviathan, avatar of envy.” Next, he pointed to a man that looked almost exactly like him, but he had dark green eyes and yellow hair. “This is Satan, avatar of wrath, who is also my twin brother.” Lucifer looked annoyed after saying that. Maybe he and his twin brother did not get along so well. Who knew? Last, but not least Lucifer pointed to two men sitting together. “These two are also twins. Beelzebub and Belphegor.” Lucifer pointed to Beelzebub first, he was built and had broad shoulders. His hair was a bright orange shade and his eyes matched that. “Avatar of gluttony. And his twin brother- avatar of sloth.” Belphegor was almost the complete opposite of Beelzebub. He was skinny and slouched. He had black hair with white colored tips at the end. His eyes were a dark purple and he looked very tired compared to his twin brother. 

  “Well, now that you know everyone. I think it’s only fair if you introduce yourself to us too.” “I’m Ondina, just an ordinary human. Nothing special about me I’m afraid.” “Well, Ondina, if you found your way down here you must be special. We don’t get human visitors often.” “But I don’t even know how I ended up here..” “Even so.. you’re still here, and it will take a while to send you back to your realm so i’m giving you a room in the castle. My secretary Barbatos will show you the way.” As Lucifer said his name, Barbatos came to his side as a dog to its owner. “Follow me, ma’am.” Barbatos ordered. He and Ondina walked down the room and once they were out of the room, it was extraordinary. It was like Ondina was in medieval times. White oak flooring, and a tall ceiling with glass chandeliers hanging from the top. There were windows that showed the outside. It was dark and the sky was a deep red mixed with purple. There seemed to be no sun, no sources of light anywhere. There was only light in the castle because of the lanterns. Barbatos and Ondina walked down a long hallway and up some stairs. He showed Ondina to her temporary room without saying a word to her. “So.. how long will I have to stay?”  There was no response to that. “If you have the urge to feast, the kitchen is on the last floor.” And with that, he left her alone in the room. 

  Lucifer decided to visit Ondina to see how she was doing, so he did. When he walked into the room, Ondina was surprised by his visit. “Lucifer? What are you doing here? ""Can I not visit my own guest?” He said jokingly. Ondina giggled at that, relieved that demons could also have a sense of humor. The two talked about each other, the devildom, and about some other random topics. They felt comfortable with each other, their talk lightened Ondina’s mood and they were quite happy with each other. Lucifer had to go to see Diavolo about the portal back to the human realm, so they said their goodbyes. Ondina felt like a light snack, so she went down to explore what was in the kitchen. When she was there, she found Beelzebub hoarding everything in the pantry. It was not even an exaggeration, Beelzebub was the sin of gluttony after all and he wanted whatever food there was there for himself. “Hey Beelzebub, can I have something small to eat?” Beelzebub looked Ondina up and down and shook his head. She sighed and went out to explore other parts of the castle. It was mostly filled with long hallways with doors to the Brother’s rooms. There was an enormous library in the main hallway, and there sat Satan reading a book about cats. Ondina wanted to try and get to know Satan, she thought since he and Lucifer were twin brothers, they might be alike. Little did Ondina know, Satan loathed humans. He thought them to be lesser beings and invaluable. Satan’s hatred and disgust was so strong that even Ondina could feel it. Ondina wanted to talk to Satan, he intrigued her, but his wrath would not let her. So with that, she walked away. She stumbled into Lucifer on her way to her temporary room and they got to chatting. Lucifer grew very fond of Ondina, he liked her. Lucifer had let Ondina know that he and his close friend Diavolo were working on a portal back to the human realm. It would take a full two days so she had to get comfortable for a bit. “Lucifer, may I ask something?” “Go ahead.” “Have you ever been in love?” Ondina knew this was a sensitive topic yet she still wanted to talk about it. She wanted to know Lucifer on a deeper level, where she would know every little detail about his life. Lucifer felt uncomfortable by this question. He did not know how to respond, since he has never felt love for someone before. “I have not.” Is all he said. 

  As Ondina got to know Lucifer, she began to like him. She found out that the demons were not that different from humans. They were nice and had personalities. They were not evil like the stories said to be. Although they did not have souls, they were still understanding and cared. She knew this thanks to Lucifer. She felt a connection with him. Demon and human, two different worlds yet they became the perfect pair. As for the rest of the brothers, they warmed up to Ondina. All but Satan. As the night came, slowly but surely, Ondina settled down within a day. She oddly felt welcomed, because of Lucifer. Little did she know, this welcoming feeling would be short lived. When Ondina got back to her room, strangely, Satan came to visit her. She thought to herself maybe he wants to talk now. She was devastatingly wrong. Satan pulled out a knife and slit her throat. Ondina’s blood sprayed the bed and he stabbed her 26 more times in the chest. Satan was utterly insane. He felt a sense of joy in killing Ondina, he felt as this was the thing he lived for. The walls were painted red, the blood leaked onto the carpet. Everything soaking in Ondina’s presence, or what was left of it at least. Satan purposefully left the room a mess because he wanted his twin brother, Lucifer, to see. He could tell Lucifer had fallen for the human. So, he “solved” the problem. Satan did not care for his brother’s feelings but only acted on his own. He wanted to show his brother what happens when a demon comes to care a little too much for a human. Humans are weak, they die fast. Demons live forever. This was Satan’s belief. 

  Meanwhile, Lucifer  was headed to his room to get some rest. After all, it was the middle of the night. He thought of Ondina, how special she was and how delighted he was to get to know such a beautiful person inside and out. He felt himself falling for Ondina. He’s never felt this way about anyone before and it confused him. He didn’t know if it was a good or bad thing. He wanted to see her. He knew he wanted to be with her, talk to her. He wanted to see her astonishingly beautiful face and hear her voice, so he went to her room in hopes to see her. He saw Satan looking awfully joyous, which concerned him. Satan was never happy. He began to worry about Ondina’s safety. Lucifer rushed up to Ondina’s room and grabbed at the doorknob. His heart dropped from his chest. He could feel a presence that was not Ondina’s. It was different from hers. He hesitantly opened the door, and what he saw made his mouth gape. He could not believe what he was seeing, Ondina’s disfigured body on the bed, her blood still dripping down onto the carpet and almost immediately he knew this was Satan’s doing. He knew Satan was mad, but to kill a human in such a revolting way? It was repulsive. Lucifer didn’t know what to do, how to react. In his long, lonely life he has never felt this way about anyone, yet Satan was selfish enough to take that away from his brother. Lucifer walked over next to the body and held onto her still warm hand, clinging onto what was left of her. He felt an immense sense of sorrow. “Why must God punish me in this despicable way, have I not suffered enough?” He said quietly to himself. And on that day, Lucifer died twice. The Avatar of Pride was no longer prideful.