HELLBOUND

1. The Tragedy

Armand Rumanos, an eighteen-year-old youth. A senior student at a high school in the city of Archos. He is quiet and too lazy. Today he just came home from school. He had imagined going to sleep in his room and playing online games when he got home.

The journey from school takes ten minutes on foot. He, tired and hungry, immediately opened the gate of his house when he arrived. But something is off.

"Strange?" muttered Armand. "Why isn't it closed?"

His house gate was not closed so tightly until it was hollow. He immediately entered, though surprised. Usually, grandparents close the gate tightly.

"Grandma, I'm hungry. Do you have something for me to eat?" he asked. During this time, he lived in the house of his grandfather, Matt Dimitri, and his grandmother Gwen Salvador. And also with his mother, Alexa Dimitri. He doesn't have a father. The mother never told Armand about him.

There is no answer at all. This was odd because it wasn't usually for his grandparents to ignore him.

"Grandma?" Armand once again called out. He was walking towards the kitchen, but his steps suddenly stopped when he saw a pool of red water near his grandparents' room.

"What's this?" muttered Armand. Instantly he was shocked to realize that the water was fresh blood. Armand's eyes widened, and his whole body trembled. He looked towards his grandparent's room. Armand did not dare look, but he had to know what was happening.

Armand walked over to his grandparent's room. He took several deep breaths out of fear. His eyes closed before finally holding his hand on the door. It took a few seconds for Arman actually to open it.

"Aargh!" 

Armand was shocked when he opened the door wide. Armand saw that his grandparents were dead. His grandmother was in bed with her face destroyed. At the same time, his grandfather was on the floor. His face was also destroyed. And what is even more surprising is that there is a smell like something burning and very pungent.

Armand could not react to anything but only fear and trembling. The two people who had cared for him now had died in a very sad way. Who did this? Why did they slaughter Armand's family?

Amid his fear, Armand took the initiative to call his mother. He took his phone out of his trouser pocket. But because he was shaking so much, the phone fell right into the pool of blood.

"Fuck!" shrieked Armand. He was forced to pick up his cell phone, which fell and is now covered in blood. He immediately called his mother, who should be currently selling at the market. His mother was a trader in the market near the house.

Armand was annoyed because his mother could not be contacted. Her mother's cell phone is off at the moment. Armand didn't know what to do now. He rushed out of the house. His clothes were stained with blood, but he didn't care. He rushed to the market to find his mother.

When they arrived at the market, several people saw Armand, whose clothes were stained with blood. He didn't care what other people thought because right now Armand was scared and panicking.

Armand arrived at his mother's stall but found that the stall was closed. Alexa's page needs to be opened. Where's his mother? Why is his mother not there at a time like this?

"Armand?" Someone calls him. Armand turned around. He saw an older woman whom Armand knew quite well, Mrs. Kim.

"Oh, Mrs. Kim," said Armand. He had to smile and tried to cover up what had happened to his family.

"Why are you here?" asked Mrs. Kim. "Didn't your mother come home earlier? She said she wasn't feeling well, so she closed her shop," said Mrs. Kim.

Armand was really surprised. He needed more time to look for his mother in the house. The guess is that her mother was still selling at the market, so when the incident happened, she rushed to the market.

"Why?" Mrs. Kim asked a question. "Your mother isn't home?" asked Mrs. Kim.

Armand did not care what Mrs. Kim said at this time. He just turned around and ran. He had to return home to find out how his mother was doing.

On the way home, he saw some of his school friends using motorbikes. They stopped Armand, who was currently agitated.

"Hey, you. Why are you covered in blood? Did you just kill someone?" teased Vero Bastian. Armand's school friend.

Armand was only silent when his friend interfered. He was often bullied by them and never fought back.

"Get out of my way," Armand said. Now is not the time to respond to them. Armand had to come home soon.

Vero was surprised that Armand dared to respond to your words. He immediately got off the motorbike and grabbed Armand by the collar of his clothes.

"Who are you to go against my words?" said Vero.

Armand really didn't have time for them. The current situation is an emergency.

"I don't have time for you!" said Armand. He removed Vero's hand and walked past Vero and his friends.

Vero was even more offended when Armand just walked away. He felt that Armand was being presumptuous. The noob at school has now dared to fight. He grabbed Armand's shoulder roughly, causing him to stagger.

"Stop it!" screamed Armand.

Vero smiled sarcastically. He didn't expect Armand would fight against him.

"Now you dare me?" said Vero. He kicked Armand's leg on purpose until Armand was in pain. "Come on! Come on, Dude!"

Vero's friends also helped Vero beat him up. Armand did not move when his school friends bullied him.

After they were satisfied, they just left. Armand's body was battered. But he had to return home soon. With the last of his strength, Armand rushed home to find his mother.

Armand just walked into the house. He went back past his grandfather's room. He turned slightly but then walked away. Armand went to his mother's room to see if her mother was there. He immediately barged in.

"Mom!" Armand called. He was in a hurry and worried.

But Armand was speechless when he saw that his mother's room had been torn apart. The pillows were broken apart. His mother's belongings were also scattered on the floor. And Armand saw the cupboard door in the room wide open, and the contents were already a mess.

"What is this? Where is my mom?" muttered Armand. He rushed to his room. He felt that robbers had come to his house and killed his family.

When Armand went up to the second floor. Di had to stop because he saw a sign on the wall. An inscription is written in blood.

"RETURN MY SACRED STONE! OR EVERYONE WILL DIE!"

"S-Sacred Stone?" muttered Armand. "What is that?" Armand went to his room. The same condition also occurred in his room. The room is very messy. The objects that were on the table all fell on the floor. His wardrobe was also open. All her clothes were disheveled.

"What the hell!" Armand was confused and scared. He didn't know what to do now. He also could not find his mother anywhere.

As a result, Armand was silent for a while. A suspicion arose in his mind.

"Is it my mother who did it?" Armand muttered. "She always fights with grandpa and grandma. She always gets mad when grandpa and grandma talk about that guy."

Armand got back up. He must seek help and couldn't handle all of this alone. He was scared and also down.

Armand immediately called 911. He wanted to call the police and ask for help. Using the phone, he called the police. He waited a few moments for someone to pick up his call.

"Hello, police? I-I need help!" Armand spoke very hurriedly.

However, there was no answer from the other side. Shouldn't the police be responsive when people ask for help?

"Hello! Hello!" said Armand panicked. "Come here! Your grandparents were killed! Help me! Help!" He kept trying to talk.

Armand actually heard giggling from the other side of the phone. He wonders why the police are behaving like this.

"Are you laughing at me? My family died, and you're laughing at me!" Armand actually grew frustrated.

"Give it back..." Suddenly, a man's voice came from across the phone. His voice was deep and a little hoarse.

Armand couldn't understand why the man on the other end of the phone asked him to return something.

"What do you mean? I don't understand!" shrieked Armand.

"The Sacred Stone. Give it back. Your mother found out, and she ran away. If you don't give it back to me, I will find your mother and take her to hell," said the man on the other side of the phone.

Armand widened his eyes. The man's words were terrible. But what he was talking about was completely incomprehensible to Armand.

"Sacred Stones? I don't know that. I don't know what you're talking about…. I just…."

"Oh, I will help you take care of the bodies of those old people. Sorry, actually, I have no interest in killing them. The grim reaper will pick them up in just a few days. I was too rough."

"W-what?" Armand was even more confused.

During his confusion, Armand smelled something burning. The scent was coming from downstairs. Armand, who panicked, immediately came out. He was surprised. Because the fire was already raging at the back house, and the source came from his grandparents' room.

"No! No!" Armand wanted to save the bodies of his grandparents, but someone suddenly pulled his hand.

"You could die!" said the man.

Armand turned to the man. He saw an old man with shoulder-length white hair wearing strange clothes. Similar clothes are worn by people in royal films.

"Who are you?" Armand asked. "You killed my family?"

The man didn't answer. He actually dragged Armand out of this house. The fire spreads faster. Several residents around Armand's house gathered when they saw smoke coming from the house.

"Let me go!" shrieked Armand.

"I'll let you go once you're safe," the man replied.

He took Armand to the back of the house. Armand wants to go back into the house. He didn't want his grandparents' bodies to be burned, but the old man held him back.

"Let me go! Let me go! I have to save them!"

"They are dead," answered the mysterious man.

"No! No!"

Armand was getting out of control. The mysterious man finally hit Armand on the back of the neck, so he fainted.

The mysterious man looked at Armand, who was lying on the floor. He sighed.

"Who's going to stop all this?" muttered the mysterious man while staring at Armand's house, which was already on fire.

****

In a room,

Armand opened his eyes. He felt his body ache excruciatingly.

"Argh, my body hurts so bad?" he groaned.

Armand looked around. He didn't recognize this place. He tried to get up even though his body was in great pain.

"Fuck!" Armand cursed because he was really in pain. He was beaten by Vero and his friends and then experienced a tragic incident. His body was really in bad shape right now.

"You need to calm down, Young Boy." Nearby was the mysterious man's voice. Armand immediately turned his head, and it was him. The man who was at Armand's house.

"Who are you?" he asked. Armand showed a suspicious expression toward the man in front of him.

So even this mysterious man. He crossed his arms behind him. "I am Viserys," answered the mysterious man.

"Viserys?" Armand frowned. "What do you want?"

Viserys walked up to Armand. He looked at her, still smiling. "I want to help you," he replied.

"Why?" Armand couldn't just trust a stranger. "You're a foreigner. And I can't believe you. My family just died…." Armand's words suddenly stopped when he saw Viserys' eyes turn black and his face look scary.

Armand was scared. He didn't know what creature was in front of him. "Wh-who are you? Why are you bothering me?" shrieked Armand.

"I said I would help you," the man replied. His voice turned scary.

Armand wanted to try to run away, but his body couldn't move at all.

"Help me! Help!" shouted Armand.

"If you try to run away. I could just kill you. Calm down. I don't mean anything bad," said Viserys.

"You are not human. How can you believe me? Could it be that you killed my family?" shrieked Armand.

"No, I am not. I don't kill humans. Other divisions are in charge of that, but your family's death was not caused by the grim reaper. As far as I know, their schedule hasn't come out yet," Viserys replied.

Armand was even dizzier because of Viserys' answer. What is this? Why would he get involved with things like this?

"Then how can you help me?" he asked.

Viserys smiled. He was glad Armand finally asked.

"By turning you into like me," Viserys replied.