The bright lights seemed to have both burn and freeze my skin at the same time. The funny thing was, they weren't really lights. They were these weird, orb-type, blinding... things, and they were everywhere. I was in so much pain I could hardly move, but all the same, I didn't hurt. I registered the pain as just what it was: pain. The only physical thing I was feeling was this odd sense of confusion and... warmness. It was almost burningly warm, but not enough to actually burn. It was all so... confusing.

It was always like this here.

I sat up and looked out through the white-darkness that enclosed the "room" I was in. I'm not sure that it was a room at all. It seemed like an open space, but a cage all the same. I'd been to many places in my-what I usually call-pretty fucked up life, yet this was always the worst.

I looked at my skin; same ghostly pale shade as usual, it seemed the pigment of my skin got somehow lighter here. I looked at my nails; they were still deathly long as normal, but not to the normal humans eye. Then again, I wasn't a normal human.

Hell, I wasn't even a human.

I stood up, my legs shaking slightly until I reminded myself that I had to make it look like I wasn't scared. They could probably smell fear. Most of them could; I could... In mortals at least, but that's only because mortals are weak.

The bright white light seemed to be dimming, but not by much because it was still painfully blinding. I could hear my name being called over and over. It was quiet at first, until it got louder and louder. The brightness died down completely, but just at that same time the heat intensified. Even though I'd just stood up, I fell down to the ground once again. It turned out that the ground was just that: the ground. It seemed to be dead grass, dirt and other natural, but destroyed, things. Once I got over the immense heat that felt as if it were actually burning my skin off, I looked out at the distance. There was a large, black fence circling around the enclosure. It was as if I were in a very large, open cage. God only knows what kind of sick games they'd play with me before everything was said and done, that is if they-or whoever the hell was in charge-didn't kill me right off the bat.

The sad thing is, if they killed me right off the bat, I'd probably be lucky.

Nevertheless, it seemed as if someone had dropped me right in hell. Not as if that would be anything new for me, but even after being in hell for so long, you never get used to the intense heat or any of the other shit that is thrown your way. This place was probably one of the more... I guess the only way to describe it is safest places in hell. Pretty depressing, huh?

"Hello?" I said, not exactly confidently, but not with enough fear that it would trigger whoever was out there. If Agramon, or any of those other wretched demons that turned into your worst fear, were here, they'd definitely feed off of my already scared state of mind.

Everything returned to the silence it once was. The voices had stooped, making me think that it was all in my head momentarily, which was dumb. Mind games are quite popular in hell. The heat was still overwhelmingly painful, but I'd endured worse. I took a deep breath and sat up, ignoring a sharp pain, worse than all the other pain, in my side. I put my hand to my side just for a moment, only to see that I had a gash running across my side. Blood was trickling out, but I didn't think it was life threatening.

Like I said, I'd been through much worse.

"Kurt Hummel." My head shot up to see who had called out my name. This time, it was only one voice. I blinked a few times, letting my eyes focus into the body gliding towards me. It only took me a moment to realize who it was: Azazel. I should have known it was him. Lord forbid Lucifer do his actual job, I guess sending his son just seemed easier to him. Not that Azazel minded, it just gave him a chance to use one of his many weapons of torture.

"Why am I here?" I asked outright. I honestly didn't give a shit what would happen at this point, I knew there was only about a thirty percent chance I'd make it out of here alive anyways. With any luck I could talk myself out of this. It was Azazel of course.

Azazel made a tutting noise and circled me. It seemed wherever he went, the heat followed. Now, thankfully, it wasn't as bad; that would change, though, I'm sure. "Don't you know?"

"I wouldn't have asked if I knew, now would I?" I spat. Azazel whirled around, his black cloak catching to flames as he moved to face me. If I didn't know he were immune to it, I would have been hoping it would catch him on fire and kill him. I can wish though, can't I?

"You talk to the son of Lucifer like that?" He gave out a laugh and pushed me, hard back into the gate. And when I say back, I mean way back. We were at least ten feet away from the black bars surrounding us. I felt my head crash against the scolding, hot, metal, and within a matter of seconds, Azazel had lifted me by what was left of the collar of my shirt. "I should kill you right now."

"Do it," I challenged in a way that made it sound like I actually had a fighting chance. I'm not saying I'm completely innocent, I was basically raised in hell for fuck's sake, but against the son of Lucifer? Even if somehow I managed to kill him, can you even imagine what Lucifer himself would do to me? No... Don't. That's too scary even for me.

"That'd be too easy. After all you've done-"

"What have I done, Azazel, other than fuck with your precious pride?"

He dropped me, my body hitting the ground with more force than I can put into words. However, I stood up to face him in a matter of seconds. Well, not really face him as he were about two heads taller than me, but I was standing nevertheless.

"This has nothing to do with... my offer, Hummel," he hissed. "This has to do with you and you alone. On Earth."

Oh yes, that.

"You've disobeyed rules, Hummel," Azazel snapped, the fire behind hum blazing higher and hotter than ever before. "Even in hell there are rules; you are to be punished."

I scoffed, knowing what he was doing. I could tell by the way his black eyes turned silver, then red, in anger. "If any other demon had committed my 'crime' it would go unnoticed. It's an ancient rule that isn't enforced," I snapped at him. His already red eyes got somehow redder; he looked as if he'd tear me apart by hand at any moment, no matter our history.

"You lied to me, and to Lucifer himself!" Azazel boomed. His voice loud enough to shake all of hell.

"It wasn't a lie, Azazel. I told you I thought I was incapable of love and I truly thought I was," I answered honestly. I might speak to him rudely, but I would never lie to the son of Lucifer. If that got back to Lucifer my death would be the least of my worries.

"So you fall in love with a mortal-"

"-But not the son of Lucifer," I completed his sentence. "Don't act as if you feelings for me were anything beyond a sexual desire."

The fire died down behind him and all was quite. I swear, hell actually froze over for about three seconds.

"You have no idea what I'm feeling, Hummel," he hissed quietly. It surprised me, I didn't think Azazel was capable of feeling anything other than hatred for everyone and everything except for war. "I want you gone."

I shrugged and leaned against the back fence, ignoring the sharp pain... well, everywhere; I wanted to be gone too, to be honest. "Fine, kill me then. Or send me off to some shitty-ass place in hell; you act as if I give a shit, and I think we both know that I really don't."

"I meant gone from my presence," he clarified in a low growl.

I have no idea what possessed me to ask, "So what, am I off scotch free?"

He gave a small, low, laugh and smirked. "Not precisely, you see, you have broken a law, Hummel. And you and I know my father has put me in charge of punishment for the time being."

"Fine. What's my punishment then?" I asked, hoping he couldn't see how frightened I really was. I tried to pass off apathy, but I'm not sure it was working.

"You are to disguise yourself as a normal, seventeen year old, boy," he started and so far, it didn't seem too hard. I "died" when I was about seventeen, so when in human form, I looked the part. "There's a human that made a deal with another crossroad."

"Your point?" I questioned Azazel. His smirk intensified and he gave out an evil chuckle. I was starting to get pretty fucking scared. I mean, who the hell knows what Azazel could have in store for me?

"My point is that I want you to carry out the deal."

Again, it didn't seem too hard. I was a crossroad demon, making deals and eventually watching as their soul was taken to hell for whatever they wanted wasn't that big a deal. I shrugged and started to feel my nerves go down a little.

"Sure, that's my job, isn't it?" I asked sarcastically. Of course it was my job, and I was fucking good at it, too. At first it really bothered me, giving people whatever the hell they wanted only to see the hellhounds carry them off to the worst fucking place in the goddamn universe, but now... it was just... routine.

"This is a... special... case. See, about ten years ago next month, a girl made a deal with another crossroad. See, sad thing is, this demon has been... suspended, for the time being." Suspended. I thought the word over in my head. By suspended, I'm sure he meant hid away in a place where Azazel could torture and drain whatever power he or she had left. "I need you to go and get acquainted with this particular human-being to make sure things are carried out properly. See, she isn't very smart. Would you actually believe an eight year old would make a deal with a crossroad? Whatever it is, she got scared over something stupid; something only dumbass mortals care about. She wanted a secret she had to stay a secret. The humorous thing is, she doesn't want the secret to stay a secret anymore. Years after years of being able to hide her secret without a single flaw, and one day she decides to tell the whole world her secret. And I certainly hope that she's been pleased with her decision considering in about... eh, thirty days, she'll be among us."

I raised my brow a little. "Wait, so, she already made her deal. So what? Whoever this bitch is, she'll be taken away whenever her ten years is up. What do I have to do with this? Do I look like a fucking hellhound to you?"

Azazel shook his head and rolled his eyes. "See, Hummel, she's a... special case. Other than the fact she made a deal when she was eight, she's a cambion. She's pretty balanced, not as demonic as most cambions can be. The point is, I'm sure her father won't want her to join him here. No one with even an ounce of a heart would wish hell on someone. I need you to make sure he doesn't interfere with her being taken to where she belongs. Here."

I sighed and shrugged a little. "Whatever. Where exactly am I going then? I've only been in Lima for about a month, and even then I highly doubt anyone would miss me." Especially not Blaine... I shook my head and bit my lip a little.

"You aren't leaving Lima. Your task is in Lima."

"Fine. Then who the hell am I dealing with?"

"Her name is Santana Lopez-"

Shit, Santana. I knew there had been something about here that was... off. I know this makes me sound like a stalker, but I'd... sort of been following Blaine around a lot lately. I'm not a stalker though. I'm just... I've never felt things like this before, okay? I never thought it was possible for me to even fall in love. When I first saw Blaine I instantly felt something. Something I'd never seen before.

I was making a deal with a man one day, no big deal, and out of the corner of my eye I saw the most beautiful person I'd ever seen in my life. I wanted to drop everything I was doing and just run over to him. I wanted to talk to him, to touch him and to... feel him.

Ever since, I stayed in Lima. I found a way to join McKinley High and just sort of hung around. It's not like I'd needed the extra educational experience. I've been through high school at least five times. Once for real and four other times because...well, because what the fuck else am I supposed to do?

This wasn't going to be as easy as I thought it would be. Santana was Blaine's best friend. From where I watched him from a far, they were always together. Like, always. Other than when Santana was with Brittany that is.

How the hell was I supposed to be a part of Blaine losing his best friend?