Hell is a nightmare of his own making. Claudius Merloche's family is killed in a brutal act. He takes his life in his hands, hoping to rejoin his loved ones in the afterlife. Unfortunately, he finds himself on the verge of oblivion in a shadowy netherworld. On the hunt for love and peace, Claudius encounters a mysterious stranger who suggests a suspicious alliance. Can he resist the darkness when everything he dreams of dangles before him?Exploring human longing, Origins of Hell is a literary and suspenseful short tale that reimagines the underworld for the twenty-first century.