• I woke, screaming, to find myself in an unfamiliar place. There was a strange red light everywhere and a constant rumbling. My eyes flicked from side to side. I didn’t trust the shadows. I stood up, stumbling slightly, and placed my hand on a nearby stone wall, only to pull it away, aware for the first time of the heat surrounding me. I looked down. I was wearing a torn dress, a thing of rags. Something I wasn’t used to. I looked up and began wandering around, passing from one room to another, coming upon countless dead ends, gaping pits, and other traps. I was going to go insane if I didn’t find the exit to that wretched place soon. At that moment I heard heavy footsteps and turned to see two young men approaching. One of them was a black man, tall and slender with long black hair. The other was a rather muscular, gruff looking white man. His movements were quick and jerky and I eyed him warily. The black man lifted a hand in greeting as they came within speaking distance. “Greetings!” called the black man, smiling a carefree smile. The “Wild Man”, as I now decided to call the white man, simply grunted.
    “Who are you?” I asked.
    “I’m Jeremiah” said the black man, gesturing towards the wild man, “And this is Logan.” He sighed. “The boss said there was a new girl here but he never said she’d be wary of a lowly servant and the mining instructor.”
    I relaxed slightly. “Who’s the boss?”
    Logan spoke for the first time. His voice was low and rough. “Why, the devil o’course!” He turned to Jeremiah and muttered in his ear, “She daft, too?”
    I laughed at my stupidity mentally. The devil. Hell. That hadn’t been a dream. I had been murdered. “The d-d-devil?” I stammered, feigning fear. I had never believed in God, and without God, there could be no heaven. Surely if Heaven existed I would have been sent there upon my death instead of being banished to hell? The fact that the devil was the ruler here confirmed my suspicions about Heaven. There was no Heaven. “The devil. Logan, why am I in Hell?” I knew the answer before I had even asked the question.
    Logan leaned forward, his eyes sparkling with delight. “Let me share a little secret with ye” he said, smiling a wide, wicked smile, “There ain’t no suck thing as Heaven..”
    I raised an eyebrow and turned to Jeremiah. “He speaks truth” He said, holding up a hand to stop me before I could even say a word. I sighed and closed my eyes for a moment, telling myself that this was all just some stupid dream and I was foolishly playing along. I opened them and looked Jeremiah straight in the eyes. I took a deep, calming breath. “Take me to the devil.”