Summation: Chapter 1 - Out of Hell then Back In

Chapter 1 – Out of Hell then Back In

Michael is just a normal boy by any standard, but he of all boys is kidnapped by the Doll Factory, a secret organization notorious for turning people into sellable sex slaves. He is picked up at the request of a special client who wants him. Everything that he has on him is taken away except for his special cross, which he swallows. The kidnappers try to beat it out of him, but the special object never comes out. They give up and just deliver him to their client. She’s a woman who likes boys like Michael. The woman sexually abuses the boy while also dressing him up like a girl every now and then. Even though the boy never gives in to lust, he is heavily abused for a week until the woman gives up.

She gives Michael to her husband who’s had his eyes on the boy from the beginning. Her husband arranges a satanic marriage between him and Michael and dresses him in the finest black dress he could find. On the day of the wedding, the boy’s psyche goes off, which afflicts everyone in the building. Everything then catches fire and Michael is the only one who makes it out. His clothes are torn, and his mind is fractured from his experiences, and yet, he persists and walks to the nearest place that he might find rest, Hillside City, a city notorious for crazy and off-beat people. It might be the perfect place for him. It just might be the right place for me.

This kind of reminds me of home. I wish I was at home. Wait, is this the place where I’m from? The places look so similar to each other. I think my home is in that direction past the skyscrapers and the city center. It’s going to be a long walk, but I think I can do it. Where am I now anyway? It doesn’t seem like a clean place. There are weird clubs around here. I think they’re strip clubs. I always heard the north part of my city was bad. Now I see why.

There are two guys standing outside one of the clubs talking to one another. They don’t seem to be nice people, but I can use all the help I can get.

“Ex-excuse me,” I say to them.

They look at me funny before one of them says, “You look like you’ve been through a lot. Do you need any help?”

“Ah, yes! I need help going home. My head is a little fuzzy and I don’t remember the name of the street I live on, but I can tell you how to get there.”

“Why don’t you come in and rest for a bit? You’re obviously tired.”

I don’t like the smile on their faces.

“Umm. No thank you. On second thought, I think I can get there on my own.”

“Are you sure? It’s a dangerous journey there.”

“Thank you, but I can manage.”

I quickly cross the street. When I cross, it feels like an arm reaches for me. I look back at the men to see them smiling still though their grins are larger. I know a rapist when I see one or at least I should by now. There’s another club not too far from this one. This one has two women standing outside of it. They appear to know what happened judging by faces.

“Do you need help little boy?” one of them says.

“No, thank you.”

“We could help you if you’d like. We don’t bite.”

These women are just like those men. I can tell so I walk away from them. When I look behind me, I see them coming after me. I run away from them and then a car honks next to me.

“Get in, Michael!” I hear a familiar voice calling from the car.

Without anywhere else to go and my legs running out of energy, I run into the car to see a friend of mine from school in the passenger seat with her father driving the car.

“Where have you been, Michael? You’ve been missing for days,” she says.

“It’s a long story-uh.”

Wait, a minute. Why would she care about me? I barely even remember her name. Angel something is maybe it. Why would she even be out here? She’s smiling at me now and I can see her father smiling too. Before I can react, she puts a napkin in my face and…

“AAAHHHHHH!!!!”

“Don’t cry or scream, Michael. You’re safe now.”

“Ahhh…I…where…ahhhh…”

“You’re mine now. Get comfortable while I go out for a while.”

She…she cut off my arms and legs. I…I’m in her room with hooks where my limbs used to be. I’m just hanging like meat in a grindhouse. This is just like how it was when I was that woman’s pet. I have to get out of here. I don’t want to die like this. Come on! With whatever strength I have, I pull my stubs out of the hooks and fall to the ground.

“You can still do it!”

Dad?

“You’re not weak, you’re my son! Now get up and keep going!”

Okay, dad. The door’s right there. Someone opened it. Agh! Someone stepped my head into the ground. Woah! I have my hands and legs back! Agh! What happened? Oh, it’s time to get up for school! I’ve got to hurry up and get ready. I quickly grab a few snacks to eat along the way.

“Bye, mom! Bye, dad! Bye, grandma!”

That’s weird. They’re oddly silent today. What’s even weirder are the people on the street. Cars seem to be aiming for me and people are looking at me as if they hate me. It’s the same in school. The teachers don’t even call on me when I raise my hand. They even yell at me when I do the smallest thing. I guess everyone is just in a bad mood today. I can’t wait to see my friends and my girlfriend. They always make my day bright. There they are now!

“Hey, guys!” I say to them while waving my hand.

They shrug me off and don’t pay attention. Is something going on that I don’t know about? Am I being insensitive to something? Did I do something bad? Does my breath smell? Whatever is, it lasts for the rest of the school day. I apologize to my friends and whoever I talk to, but nothing seems to reach anyone. Maybe something will happen tonight. There’s an event on Market Street with games, sales, and performances there. The happy atmosphere and events should make up for the miserable day.

Or maybe not. Everyone in the city seems to dislike me. I swear they’re trying to bump into me with the way they’re walking. My girlfriend should be around here somewhere…she’s dancing with another guy. They’re getting really touchy-and they kissed for the finale.

“Okay, what’s going on here?” I say as I approach them.

“It’s over between us, Michael. I found a better man.”

“What are you talking about? Where did this come from?”

“You know where. I don’t accept men who look like women and get treated like slaves.”

“What? How do you know about that? What’s going on here? Am I dreaming?”

Everyone’s laughing at me.

“Stop it!”

Why are they throwing things at me? I have to get out of here. Ah, damn it. I just slipped and fell into some mud. Now all of my clothes are dirty. Why is this happening to me? Oh…that’s right.

“Why did you fail?! You’re an idiot if you do this poorly!”

“Are you slow? Why didn’t you see this? It’s right here.”

“Why don’t you do as well as your classmates? They accomplish so much more than you do.”

“Ungrateful child.”

“You’re slow and weak. Can’t you do anything right?”

“Why do you always mess this up? Why can’t you do this right?”

“Don’t be so lazy!”

“You’re making us look bad!”

I remember my parents saying things like this. They might’ve rarely hit me, but they always degraded me with their words. I felt like trash every single time I did something wrong.

“You’re so stupid.”

“I didn’t tell you anything because I didn’t trust you with it. You have a habit of messing things up.”

“Who fails at that?”

“You’re so weak.”

“You’re not good enough.”

“I don’t want to be with you.”

I remember my friends and my girlfriend saying things like this. My friends abandoned me during the summer because they had better people to be with. Even my girlfriend cheated on me with another boy. I tried everything I could to make people like me. Dressed nice, got the best comics and games, was up to date on the latest jokes, showed my appreciation to them by giving them gifts, and going out of my way to help them. I guess nothing worked. The constant criticisms and insults banged my head every single time I made a single mistake. They kept beating my head into the ground as if I committed a sin, I could never do enough penance for. Whenever I looked into a mirror, I saw someone I didn’t want to be. An ugly disgusting failure of a son and friend. Maybe I don’t want to go back home. Maybe I’d rather go to Hillside City. Huh? Oh!

I never stepped foot into the city yet. I’ve been looking at from the hills. Maybe I can make a life for myself here. It’s better than going back home. Even if I do go back, I’ll just get beat over the head again with damning words from people who say they care about me. I’d rather be homeless and die of starvation and thirst than to hear another lie out of their mouths. The city doesn’t look at bad as I imagined. Since there’s no place for me to go, I might as well just lay in this alleyway for now.

“Ah! Hey, you startled me there, puppy!”

Okay, it’s not actually a puppy. He’s more like a full-grown dog, but I still like calling them puppies. I pet him and he doesn’t seem to mind it. In fact, he likes me. He licks my hands and rubs up against me. He seemed to be looking through the garbage here for food, but it seems like he cleared out whatever was in here. The only thing I find is half of a blue stuffed elephant. It’s stuffing spills out as I hold it up, so I quickly hold it from the bottom. This is kind of like one of the elephants I had back home. I’ll keep it. Maybe it’ll make a person feel more sympathy for me. It’s also kind of cute. It reminds me of myself.

My entire body hurts after what I went through, so I sit and rest with my two new friends. This may not be the best start to a new life for me, but at least it’s better than my last one.

The title of this chapter is a reference to Out of Hell by Skillet. The song that's referenced in each title will usually have to do with the story.