Hellraiser-Requiem For A Soldier

It has been a long time since I've written anything for this fandom-or anything at all, actually. Unfortunately, I will not be updating any of my fics that haven't been updated by now, as I simply do not have the concentration level anymore. Thank you to everyone who enquired about them, however, and yes, I'm ok, I just haven't been writing.

This is just a simple tiny HR oneshot, an attempt to once again ease myself back into this world.

Dedicated to Laura-whose own stories in turn inspired my work.

Elliot Spencer had never been a dreamer; certainly, he had always considered himself a realist, a man of reason and practicality. Someone who was reliable. Someone with a profound faith in God.

But the Great War of 1914 had stripped him of his reason, his sensibility. And had damn sure stripped him of any faith he had once possessed.

He had survived that terrible war, with so much pointless loss of life, but a lot of his comrades had fallen-and left the former Captain Spencer with an overwhelming sense of guilt and anger. He should have died with them, he reasoned-it was grossly unfair that they had died and he had lived. What kind of God would allow a man to live out the rest of his days believing he didn't deserve to be alive?

And so, Elliott had gone to India, determined to plumb the depths of the most debauched hedonistic pleasures, to lose himself, and try to blot out his own feelings of worthlessness.

It had almost worked, too-opium, alcohol, and an almost endless parade of women for hire had very nearly succeeded in helping him forget those four years of hell in the trenches, watching his friends get blown to hell…

Nearly, but not quite.

If anything, Elliott's experiences had ultimately made him feel even more guilty and enraged. He needed more, needed to truly lose all sense of being. But he had no idea how he would do this…

And then, he had found it. The Lament Configuration. Ostensibly a simple puzzle box, but for Elliott, perhaps it was the key to his salvation. After all, he had been told it was 'a gateway to unknown pleasures'. Surely this was what he had sought? Surely this would provide him with the intense pleasure he so desperately desired…

/

Elliott Spencer no longer dreamed. He no longer slept. He no longer even remembered what it was to sleep.

But then, he was no longer Elliott Spencer.

It was not hands that opened the Lament Configuration puzzle box, but desire. The box had opened for him like a willing lover, and Hell had claimed him.

The dark depths of the Labyrinth, where pleasure was pain, and pain was eternal.

His new name was Xipe Totec, a Cenobite, leader of the Order Of The Gash, the Dark Prince Of Pain, second only in command to the dark god Leviathan. He was no longer human, but more than human-judge, jury and executioner over those who would solve the puzzle box, and ultimately, seal their fate. Those who were claimed were torn apart, their very nerve endings stretched to the point of absolute agony-so intense, it could be construed as pleasure.

He had fulfilled his own destiny, taken his place among the damned.

No longer a man.

But forever a soldier.

I know, I know, it's horrendously short, but I'm just trying to get my 'mojo' back, so it's baby steps at the moment. Anyway, as always, reviews are my friends, folks! *Ellen*