After Liz's funeral, Kutichay sat on his deceased aunt's bed, surrounded by a somber atmosphere that reflected the sadness of the day. The room was barely lit by the dim glow of a flickering lamp, casting long shadows on the walls covered with black-and-white photos, memories of times long past. The stillness was so dense that the faint creak of the wooden floor beneath his steps could be heard. With his head bowed, Kutichay began to sing one of his aunt's favorite songs, his voice broken yet determined, filling the room with a melancholic feeling, almost as if the house itself wept in silence.
"That is why we sing, death is swallowed up in victory, hallelujah, hallelujah!Oh death, where is your victory? Hallelujah, hallelujah!Oh death, where is your sting? Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah!"
sang Kutichay, while tears, warm like fire, ran down his face.
Camila, his friend, approached slowly, the sound of her footsteps muffled by the carpet, as if each movement were a gentle caress to his pain. With an expression of deep tenderness, she wiped away his tears with a soft handkerchief, gently stroking his skin.
"Please, don't cry anymore," she said, her voice soft like a whisper, a mix of comfort and helplessness in her tone.
Kutichay, his eyes red from so much crying, looked off into the horizon with a lost gaze, as if he expected heaven itself to give him an answer.
"Why? Why did it have to be my father?" he asked, his voice cracking with confusion and pain, searching for an explanation in the heavy air around them.
"I don't know, Kutichay. Sometimes life just doesn't make sense…" Camila responded, feeling her words vanish into the vast silence that seemed to consume them.
The sun was slowly setting outside the window, painting the sky with shades of purple and orange, while Kutichay, with infinite sadness, whispered:
"Could there be goodness in him, in his heart?"
Kutichay wondered, doubting, but his heart knew that his father could be redeemed.
In the vast spiritual world, where darkness has neither beginning nor end, Lucifer, the prince of shadows, watched with satisfaction. From his throne of dark mist, surrounded by demons whispering and moving restlessly, he gave orders with unbreakable authority. The air was heavy with an acrid stench, as if hell itself was present there.
Ishnofel, his fury incarnate, approached Lucifer, pushing the other demons aside in anger, his eyes filled with rage and an inextinguishable fire.
"You're a traitor! You told me my wife and son died by accident!"
shouted Ishnofel, his voice echoing through the abyss, an explosion of pain and fury.
Lucifer turned slowly, a cold and macabre smile lighting up his face in the gloom. He raised his hand and, with an almost imperceptible movement, struck Ishnofel in the stomach, sending him backward with a choked cry.
"Ha, ha, ha! Do you really think you, a human turned demon, can challenge me?"
he mocked, relishing in the suffering of others, like a master watching the pain of his disciple.
A thick, dark smoke surrounded Ishnofel, the air growing heavy and hot, as if a memory from his past was suffocating him. Images began to cloud his mind, memories of the horrors he had committed in his past life, a torrent of guilt that dragged him into despair.
Flashback: when he was human and living in Peru
The land was arid, the sun scorching Ishnofel's face as he watched lives he had taken fall without mercy or regret. He remembered the faces of those he had destroyed:
He massacred Luciferis responsible for his mother's death, rage as his only fuel.
He killed a boy and his family for lying to him, vengeance consuming his heart.
He murdered innocent children, no longer understanding that there was no humanity left within him.
He committed genocide against Luciferis in Peru, the ground soaked with blood.
He accidentally killed his wife, Eliana, while trying to convince her of his dark vision.
When he became a demon:
Heaven no longer existed for him, only emptiness. Like a predator, he hunted without mercy:
He eliminated many weak demons, his growing power like a beast.
He tortured Luciferis who failed their missions, the shadows of his rage never fading.
He hunted Christians, inflicting unimaginable suffering, leaving a trail of corpses.
He destroyed a neighborhood for mistreating an orphan boy, his soul already lost.
He murdered many atheists, convinced of his own superiority.
He killed César, a friend who had fallen into his own darkness.
He ended the life of Liz, the last seed of hope left in his heart.
Panic seized him as the ghosts of his victims began to materialize around him, mocking him and reminding him of what he had done.
Flashback: the ghosts of César and Liz
"I raised you like a son, and now you killed me. I hate you, you deserve no one's forgiveness,"
said César, his voice full of fury, his face twisted by suffering.
"My sister loved you, and you destroyed her. You have always been a disappointment,"
added Liz, with a scorn that cut to the bone.
A painful echo from his past then emerged: Eliana appeared, her face empty, marked by disdain.
"I never should have married you. In the end, I don't know what I ever saw in you,"
she said coldly, her words like knives.
The ghost of his mother, Rosita
Finally, the face of his mother appeared in the darkness, her gaze as cold as ice.
"Son, I should never have had you. I should have aborted when I knew I was pregnant. You are a disappointment to this family,"
she said, disappearing into the mist like a distant specter.
Ishnofel, trapped in this spiral of torment, fell to his knees, his heart broken, begging for an answer, for a salvation that seemed unreachable.
Lucifer approached, his shadow wrapping Ishnofel like a heavy, icy blanket.
"Do you really think you can reunite with your son Kutichay knowing you killed his Aunt Liz and César? Do you think God will forgive you?"
said Lucifer, enjoying his collapse.
Ishnofel, now known as Sumaq, staring into the void, understood there was no way out, that his only choice was to yield.
"All right, I'll do what you say,"
he pleaded, hope already extinguished in his chest.
Lucifer smiled, satisfied, as the demon walked away, his soul torn and his future uncertain.
Far away, on earth, Kutichay gazed at the horizon with renewed determination. The darkness that had filled his life seemed to fade little by little, replaced by a light only he could see.
"Listen, my friends, I will not take revenge on my own father. Even if he is a demon, it is better to forgive than to hate. There is goodness in him; no matter how dark he is, there will always be light,"
declared Kutichay, his voice ringing with the firmness of someone who had found his purpose.
Camila, Daniel, and Rosenda looked at him with admiration. The sacrifice their faith demanded seemed greater than ever, but in their hearts, they knew that the light of hope would never be extinguished.
"You're right, it is better to forgive than to hold a grudge,"
said Rosenda, with a proud smile, looking at Kutichay as if he were a spark in the darkness.
Jesus, from his heavenly kingdom, watched Kutichay, knowing that his path toward the light was only just beginning. A new hope arose, a new possibility of redemption that renewed everything.