Unsolved Deceptions Prologue

  A century ago, an era glorious by stardom, and ambition but tainted by cruelty and sin. Many have questioned what lies ahead after we take our last and final breath. Some say our fait lies in Heaven or Hell, others believe there’s nothing at all. But deep within the secrets of legend, known only by a small few, whisper of a dark dimension.

A place where the fallen souls of the most vile and cruel gather to wage war to take the crown as the ultimate pure evil, and risen from the fire stood one of the most powerful beings of all, Malak. A woman by the name of Helen Bierce was blinded by the lights of stardom, was willing to sacrifice everything to even touch the glory of fame. 

She had found connections within a cult of darkness one that could grant her wish, after spilling the blood of a young girl as sacrifice she had summoned none other than Lord Malak himself. He offered fame beyond her wildest dreams, but at a price. For once she closed her eyes for good, her soul will belong to him. 

And so the deal was sealed and she lived a life touching every cinema in the city, her name known by thousands, she grew fabulously wealthy, but this would not last forever. When her time finally came Malak very much expected his payment but she had other plans. For she had discovered a powerful magic source known as the Riddle of Heaven.

A ring made up of the souls of the fallen that formed a bound with her soul. She had attempted to use its power to subdue the demon but it failed, with Malak shattering the ring and taking all the pieces. But she still had one left he didn’t reach so she used it’s power to seal herself in a pocket dimension of strong barriers one that Malak couldn’t breach where her soul could never be taken.

But this protection proved to be her prison as she had no way out herself. The only way she could think to escape is collecting the remaining pieces from Malak to break free, but she was trapped within the ballroom walls unable to leave. So she sought out to find souls promising a wish for if they can retrieve the pieces of the ring for her. 

Many of the most desperate of souls had tried to fulfill her command but within those dark realms Malak had an army of monsters formed by dark corrupted fallen souls waiting to terminate all that who enter for the ring in the form of nightmarish portals with each being more horrific than the last. The monsters within take form of the fears and traumas of the victim. 

Using their very own past and memories against them, giving the title of nightmares. None had made it very far that was until a about 2 decades ago, where soul of a man that reeked of guilt, shame and regret. The man had a lot of many heinous deeds on his hands. With scars of an abusive mother he never let heal. 

So he sought to fill the void with greed and lust which left neglect for his poor daughter when she needed him most and for him to grow a bitter resentment to his marriage. This bitterness and hatred grew until one day he planned a truly evil deed. For he had swapped the medicine of his wife so that such dose would seal her fate.

But what he did not know was the tragedy that would arise from such a careless hate filled act. As such dose did not prove fetal while his wife was alone, but rather in a car with his very daughter. Once such poison had hit it ended with the car crashing into another killing two others, and both his wife and daughter as the car fell over the bridge into depths of the sea. 

This sealed the fates of both his wife and daughter. This left the man in complete and utter despair. For the life of his hatred of his wife caused the loss of his own daughter that he never wanted. After the loss of his family and the blood of two others all upon his hands, he tried all he could to make up for his vile deeds and regrets. 

Charity groups, therapy, even drowning his pain in drugs but none could make up for the tragedy he had caused, and he was completely alone as his vile deeds left his reputation in shambles. As the years went on his health began to fail him. As cancer withered him away he found the Riddle of Heaven as his last resort in death to hopefully find a way to turn back time and make things right. 

In death he sought out to finally win this challenge. In all the years of souls who had tried and lost, none had made it as far as he did, none had such skill and resilience. The man grew to know the methods of the monsters and the tricks to escape better than anyone, which started to surprise even Malak himself. But this unfortunately would only result in tragedy. 

As he would be gone just a few pieces away from success. For the first time since Bierce had grown cold and numb to the deaths of all that had failed her, she felt a twinge of disappointment and and dare say grief for such soul to make it so far for nothing, but soon a new soul will rise to take on the challenge of forming the powerful ring. 

Will they succeed or meet their end just like all the rest? And if they manage to gain the final piece, what magic truly lies within the Riddle of Heaven? Will Bierce keep her word, or will this be nothing but a game of Deception?