BELIAL
Description:
Johnny has been given a chance to escape from jail. The catch? He is given a unique ability to literally smell the guilt coming off a person. Physically, Johnny is ready for the journey, but mentally, the horrifying images stain his thoughts.
In this novella, follow Johnny from his escape of a clandestine government facility as he exacts revenge on those who had him locked up in the first place. Will he succeed, or will the Sin Scent become too much for him to handle?
A little additional info about the story:
In 2014, I released The Gods of Chaos Vol 2, Netherworld. In it, I had Jack's tale alongside numerous short stories, two of which can be read here: The Djinn Trials Shorts Temujin and The Djinn Induction of Old Dirty Willie were good tales and worth reading on their own right, but they distracted from the core story.
On top of that, I tried to use a back and forth approach with the narrative. At the end of 2015, a few huge concepts injected themselves into my head. And to move forward with these ideas, I had to analyze my previous work with a more critical eye. At that point, I looked at what I had and made the decision to essentially cut the story in half. One half became the new version of Netherworld, which now focuses solely on Jack's side of the story. The other half is what you have here, Johnny's side of the story, Belial. Netherworld and Belial chronologically run side by side, but they don't need to both be read to understand each other.
Belial is it's own tale from start to finish. It tells the story of a gang-banger being inducted into the Djinn ranks. It is wild, cruel, unrestrained, and violent, and is my best effort of showing off the epitome of an anti-hero that could literally smell the disgusting stench of guilt radiating off others.