Previously called "Diary of a Soul in the Underworld."

Summary: Ethan is a soul doomed to spend eternity as a slave in Hell for reasons he can't remember. After centuries of torment he finally snaps and goes on the run from those who enslaved him. Can he escape and become more than a regular soul, or is he doomed to spend an eternity in The Underworld? 

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The story so far: After the death of his first master, Ethan is resold to a factory along with his friend Anya. He is soon berated and renamed Girly Boy by the head soul Foreman, and seeks revenge against the man who tormented him. He meets another soul, known only as Skanky Legs, who also shares his feelings and wants to take the Foreman down.


You need to understand that I was a different person back then. Full of ridiculous ideas and a useless sense of justice that got me nowhere in that place. I went against my instincts and met Skanky Legs that evening.

I vaguely remember being too tired and anxious to get up after lights out. I lay there debating whether or not to sleep until morning (that was one smart idea that I should have stuck with) but when I imagined allowing things to continue the way they were, it became impossible to sleep, and I was soon sneaking through the snoozing bodies and towards the back storage room.

Perhaps I did take one last look at Anya and wonder if I was making a mistake. Maybe her more cautious personality could have talked some sense into me, but I had already gone too far to turn back.

I hesitantly pushed open the rotting wooden door and slipped inside, but the only things there waiting for me were piles of smashed crates and lumps of discontinued thread. I momentarily thought that I'd been lured into some cruel trick by Skanky Legs (and she was out there somewhere laughing away at my misfortune) but then a familiar shadow emerged from the darkness.

"Girly Boy, you came!" Cried Skanky Legs with a bright smile which only lasted for a moment before concern overtook her. "Did you come alone? Did anyone see you?" I could hear panic which I assumed was just fear over getting caught.

"No, it's just me," I whispered back.

"Good."

Her shoulders relaxed in relief and she reached out and took hold of my hand. I was led through the cramped room and around dusty boxes until we reached another soul who was leaning against the far wall.

He resembled a short middle aged man, but he could have been younger than me. It's always impossible to tell how old a soul really is. His arms were crossed over his chest and he appeared agitated like he didn't want to be there. I could faintly recall seeing him on the other side of the factory floor, but I'd never heard him say a word.

"Girly Boy this is Whatshisface," she said. "Whatshisface this is Girly Boy."

Whatshisface forced a smile and extended one hand towards me. I reached out and weakly shook it.
"Whatshisface? That's an interesting name," I said in a pathetic attempt to begin a friendly conversation between us.

"It used to be Duckfeet," he said with a scowl. "But then that bastard forgot my name and just started calling me Whatshisface instead. But at least it's a better name than the one he gave you," his voice didn't give any emotion away, and I couldn't tell if he was trying to be sympathetic or cruel.

Skanky Legs coughed like she wanted to change the subject. "It's probably best not to spend too much time on formalities. We only have a few minutes before anyone notices us gone. We don't want a repeat of what happened last time."

"Yeah, whatever you want," Whatshisface muttered. "You're the boss today right? It's not like I have any cho-"

"Girly Boy," she said. "Is it true that you want to fight back against the Foreman?'

"Yes," I replied.

"Well that's good and all, but how far are you really willing to go?"

"As far as I have to."

"But could you risk weeks of terrible punishment and your own sanity, just for the smallest possibility of getting rid of him forever?"

"Yes, I would do anything."

Skanky Legs extended her arms outwards to the dusty room around us. "Then welcome to the club," she said with a giant smile.

I couldn't see anything which even slightly resembled a club.

"Club? What club?"

"The Down with the Foreman club of course."

"Seriously? Just you and Whatshisname?"

"It's Whatshisface," he snapped.

I had a hard time believing that Skanky Legs could possibly overthrow our merciless supervisor with just the three of us, but she didn't look deterred.

"Of course it would be impossible with such a small group," she said. "That's why there are plenty more of us hidden amongst the others out there. I suppose that there must be about fifty or sixty now, but it's too dangerous to all meet at the same time. Plus, we have no way of knowing if you're really on our side, or planning to rat us out to Foreman the first chance you get. There are plenty of souls here who'll do anything to get on his good side, and it isn't always so easy to tell who they are. I can't risk putting the others in danger."

"But you came to meet me."

"That's because I'm willing to go all the way to get what I want, even if there is a chance that I could loose everything."

Her mouth curved into a nervous smile, and I remember feeling overwhelming admiration for this girl who seemed so brave. I guess most people would have questioned her more about her so called club, but all I could see was the delicious opportunity to get what I wanted. All my logical thoughts and reasoning had been left behind in the pit.

"How are you going to do it?" My voice was laced with excitement, and my face took on a crazy look which never existed before I arrived in that place. "How are you going to get rid of him?"

"I knew you'd ask!" She pulled back a broken sheet of wood from the ground beside her, to unveil a diagram that had been shaped from the dust and grime. It was full of sketches and lines that didn't make sense, but I pretended to understand. I thought she'd find me cool and confident if I pretended to be smart.

"We've been working on a plan to take him down for months, and we've finally made a breakthrough thanks to you," she said.

"Thanks to me?"

"Yes, because of you Girly Boy we've finally found the courage to continue through with our goals."

"I..I.." I was so moved by her words. "I'm not sure what to say."

"There's no need to say anything, just listen," she turned back to her diagram. "Foreman's shitty henchmen follow him everywhere, so we need to attack when he's on his own. Once we get rid of him, his stupid friends should fall one by one like dominos."




"But that guy never goes anywhere alone," I said while thinking of how he always had one of his minions trailing along to rush out and do his dirty work."

"That's true, but we just need him to trust one of us enough to leave his friends behind, and then we strike as soon as his guard's down."

"I see, that's a brilliant idea!"

"Not really," mumbled Whatshisface. "It's just the most effective strategy."

"Every Thursday the factory sends out a shipment of cloth from the loading area," said Skanky Legs. "It's split up from the factory floor and he usually goes down with a group of souls. We're this close to making him pick us," she showed a small gap between her finger and thumb to exaggerate her words. "If all goes well, hopefully we can talk him into picking you too, and other souls who are on our side."

"Foreman's so full of himself that he thinks no one can take him," said Whatshisface. "He has no idea that his own arrogance is going to be his downfall."

"Then what will we do?"

"Once we get down there one of us will create a distraction. Then when Foreman has his back to us, we'll all pounce on him at the same time and tie him up. We'll carry him down to the pit and close the lid forever. He'll never see the light of day again."

As great as it sounded I could see one flaw in their plan.

"But won't the brothers notice him missing?" I asked.

"Well…" Skanky Legs paused like she didn't know the answer.

"We'll just tell them that he ran away," said Whatshisface. "It's not that rare after all. They'll hire people to go out and look for him, but they'll never think to look in the basement. We can even seal off the entrance just in case."

"Like he said," Skanky Legs winked.

There really is nothing worse than being forced to exist in a pitch black hole for the rest of eternity. I know how it feels because I came ever so close to living that way myself, but all I could think of was my hatred for that guy, and how I wanted to repay all the suffering he dealt me tenfold. I didn't care what I had to do, or the risks involved, I would have traded my freedom to watch him go.

"Sounds good," I nodded. "Just tell me what I have to do."

"We need you to help us attack Foreman when we give the signal. Without any hesitation," said Whatshisface. "If you're going to be chicken and give up half-way, then you might as well go back to sleep now."

"No, I'll do it," I reassured him. "I want to do it."

"Looks like Girly Boy's in," said Whatshisface.

"Unfortunately it's all still a plan for now," said Skanky Legs and she swiped one hand over the dust to erase her diagrams. "There's still a few things that we need to prepare, but you'll know when everything's ready. Until then, the less you know the better. I've seen plenty of souls like you crack and spill their guts when the interrogations begin."

"There's no need to worry about me. No matter what they do, I'll never tell them anything."

"That's what I like about you Girly Boy," she said with a smile. "I could tell from the moment you stood up to Foreman, that you were the sort of gutsy guy who would never side with them or back down."

"That's all well and good," said Whatshisface. "But we're running out of time. "We've been in here too long. Big Guy is bound to come down for a patrol soon."

"He's right, we better leave before it's too late," she leapt to her feet, took hold of my hand, and began dragging me back through the room and towards the door like our lives depended on it. "You'll go back out the same door you came in. Whatshisface and I will go out through a hole in the wall. We can't let anyone know that we've been meeting in secret."

"Thanks for the warning."

"And there's one more thing," she grabbed both my shoulders and looked me straight in the eyes. I felt that whatever she wanted to tell me must have been overwhelmingly important. "You can't say a word about this to anyone out there. Not to Twitchy, or that other so called girlfriend that you look so hung up on."

"But Any-"

"Forget about her already! She's not your friend anymore, she's one of them," Skanky lunged forward and embraced me like I was a small frightened child. It was so sudden that I didn't know how to react, but it was the most kindness I'd seen since I arrived in that place, so I readily relaxed into her arms. I probably would have done anything for her at that moment.

"You have us now," she whispered into my ear. "Unlike her, we'll never let you down."




"Okay," I mumbled and hesitantly raised one arm to weakly hug her back.

Skanky Legs squeezed me tightly one last time before slowly letting go and disappearing into the darkness. "Just remember, not a single word," softly echoed her voice before she was gone from the room.

I slipped out the door and returned to my dirty spot on the factory floor. I curled up into a ball and rubbed my shoulder where she hugged me, trying my best to hold onto the memory of being held. I attempted to imagine what it must feel like for real people to hug one another, but I've been dead for so long that all such memories have long disappeared from my mind.

Despite my shitty situation a smile broke out across my face. I was so overjoyed that I'd finally discovered a friend who thought just like me. Together we'd make everything better, and all the souls would live like free people again.

Thanks to her things did change.

Just not in the way that I wanted.

Next chapter: Foreman is going down!

Thanks for reading all the way to chapter nineteen. I do have grand grand ideas for this story, but it's taking a lot longer to get there than I originally intended, but I'm going to keep going to the best of my ability. If you enjoy my work please check out my blog at .com . I have lots of free story previews and my most recent writing updates.
I also have some published stories on Amazon so please check them out if you have the chance. I reccommend Khan and the Kingdom without Gods and How I was Murdered by a Monster King.