《From the 8th Circle of Hell》


 Chapter One: To the Tower of Babylon!

    Yawning, Arthur groggily got out of the straw-pile he was using as bed as someone knocked violently on the door of the barn he was living in. ¡°What is it, Agares?¡± he mumbled, ¡°isn¡¯t it too early for work?¡± ¡°You got a letter, you worm of a demon,¡± someone, presumably Agares, shouted back in a fit, ¡°I wanted to rip it into little pieces since it¡¯s from the state, but since you love taking it in the ass, I decided to just hand it to you anyways.¡± A little letter soundlessly slid in from under the door. Arthur¡¯s face lit up in joy as he saw the little red stamp showing this was really the real deal. A letter from the state! Arthur carefully removed the red wax stamp so as to not damage it before ripping the letter itself in two and removing the official paper inside. He was trembling. Had he gotten accepted? Could he finally go to Earth to serve the good Lord in the best way a demon could, by bathing in the blood of the enemy(whoever that was)??


    As long as they didn¡¯t ask him to go in for an interview, they wouldn¡¯t know that, unlike all the other demons in the 8th circle of Hell, he didn¡¯t look the least threatening. He looked like the most common of demons, standing upright, bipedal, with one head and two arms, some black hair, tiny little wings that couldn¡¯t give him flight, a long arrow-tipped tail, only one pair of small, unthreatening horns and a pair of fangs that could barely rival a bat. The most normal demon of all. He really couldn¡¯t hold a candle even to the poultry farmer Agares, who constantly rode a face-less crocodile. His parents, Valac and Ukobach, had thought him to look so normal they gave him a typical 1st circle name. They had even cast him out of the house at the extremely young age of 17(8th circle demons don¡¯t live that long) and he had had no choice but to seek refuge at his uncle Agares¡¯ place.


    But that time was over now! No more soul-hunting in the threatening wilderness, no more scouting out weak-looking humans who are somehow all predatory souls at this circle of hell(most are prey souls but do they get to the 8th circle? Noooo of course not!) and hoping they don¡¯t realize you couldn¡¯t run even if you wanted to, no! If he could just get into the military, that was all over! Swallowing a mouth-full of acidic spit, Arthur timidly(as he always is) unfolded the letter, his eyes widening as they fell upon the contents.


    ¡°Congratulations!


    Thanks to your current status of living in the (8th) circle, you do not need to come in for any further training or questioning. You have been chosen to work as a Hunter on Earth. Your job is to find crooked humans, and give them a one-way ticket to hell. Your payment will be given according to quality and quantity of souls. In case you get noticed by an angel, make sure to hitch a ride with a soul on it¡¯s way to hell. For a demon of your rank, your ability to do such things as ¡°hitching a ride¡±, making a contract, possessing, etc, will be taken for granted. If you are killed in action, the Ministry of Aggression Nullification will not pay any possible life-insurance you may have, nor will it give you any repercussion. You may take the Elevator in Babylon when ready. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.


    Hail Satan! Long live Aggro!¡±


    -And then a strange signature Arthur couldn¡¯t read. He was still trembling. But with excitement! He just couldn¡¯t stand still! He wanted to shout ¡°Yahoo!!¡±, but he knew that if he did, he¡¯d just be bullied by Agares even more for being 1st circle trash, but then again, he was going to be gone in just a while, so¡­ ¡°Yahoo!!!¡± Arthur shouted, jumping into the air with a toothy grin the size of the crescent moon! Agares apparently didn¡¯t hear him, so he just fell to the floor, giggling and trembling in happiness, an emotion usually unfamiliar to demons of this particular circle. But Arthur was quite unlike the rest of the poor, angry sods down here. He had passions! Wants! Needs! Sure, he couldn¡¯t stand the sight of blood, but he was sure he could kill a human or two if he ever met one!


    Arthur didn¡¯t need to pack anything, since he didn¡¯t have anything to pack. His clawed little hands poked and groped and pushed away the hay, because there was, in fact, one thing he needed to bring. In the very center of the hay-pile, he found it. His needle! Perfect for pricking a finger when making a contract, it was the one thing he had been given as a moving-out gift! As for clothes¡­ well, he was currently quite naked, but being naked, even in hell, was a no-no! Where is it, where is it¡­ there! A leather jacket, leather boots, leather everything! Leather was the cheapest material down here, all demons were carnivores and really didn¡¯t need to grow wheat or anything(unless it was like the first two circles where there were only weak, prey souls grazing about, easily domesticated) so leather was abundant here.


    Bursting out of the door and into the eternal night, Arthur gave a loud ¡°hissss¡± to summon Agares from his daily work as a farmer. ¡°What¡¯s it now,¡± Agares shouted, dragging a hoe behind him, ¡°Uncle Stolas tell you to come down the street so he could give you a thick one?¡± ¡°Far from it, Agares,¡± Arthur shouted back, ¡°I got accepted! I¡¯m going to Earth!!¡± Agares gave Arthur a strange look, cocking one eyebrow in disbelief. ¡°Really now,¡± he said, ¡°you did, did you?¡± Arthur puffed out his chest with great pride. ¡°I did!¡± Arthur squeaked, ¡°Point me to babylon and you¡¯ll never see me again!¡± Agares furrowed his brow, before finally replaying by pointing to the west.  ¡°It¡¯s right over there¡±, he said, ¡°just head towards the tower. Can¡¯t go wrong.¡± Arthur smiled broadly and started running, waving back at Agares with large strokes.


    Agares sighed. He really was a good kid. When everybody else was sleeping soundly, Arthur would burst in the door and tell us to go hide the cellar, something was coming. And he was never wrong. He had been in quite a few scuffles, but he had always gotten out alive, if only barely. ¡°I¡¯ll miss him,¡± Agares thought solemnly.


    Arthur, on the other hand, was far too excited to think about anything but his bright, bright future.

 Chapter Two: First Step to a New Life

    In the far distance, a tower stood erect. If you followed the tower all the way up with your eye, it would seem to go on forever into the dark night sky. Originally, you had to climb it step-by-step to get to the next circle of hell, but thanks to new technological inventions, many borrowed from Earth, it was possible to now take the Elevator. The Elevator is a super-fast, super-resilient steel box that zooms up the entire length of the Tower of Babylon, reaching all the way up to Earth in less than five minutes!


    And this was the tower that Arthur was now gazing longingly after, a little satchel containing the letter and seal as well as his little needle by his hip. He took about three steps on the lush, grassy road before his human-sense started tingling. He looked about in a wild stupor, knowing he was around five minutes from being attacked by a horrific creature that was the only source of food for demons.


    And lo and behold, standing around two decimeters behind him, a two-headed serpent, standing on chickens legs, it¡¯s tail buried strangely in the ground, stared him down. It¡¯s breath was thick and heavy with blood. It¡¯s fight, flight or freeze, Arthur. What will you do.


    Arthur didn¡¯t even bother to figure out what kind of human was staring at him before darting towards the nearby woods. A humongous human like this could definately not find him that easily if he¡¯s hidden by the trees, he argued.


    But before he even made it three meters from the static creature, another head burst out of the ground between his feet, mouth wide and hundreds of tiny barb-like teeth pointing at him. The creature screeched some strange human noise ¡°YEEEEEET¡± before lounging at Arthur, ready to strike.


    Arthur had no choice but to jump. He may look like a low-tier demon, but he was still born in the 8th circle, damn it! He kicked the ground, taking to the air. His tiny, comic wings spread out, and started batting and flapping at incredible speeds, allowing him to stay in the air for, well, five or six seconds maybe? After that, he was almost in a free-fall, plummeting towards the open mouth(s) of the three-headed basilisk-thing.


    But it wasn¡¯t too late for him! As he fell, he readied himself, bending one leg and flexing what little muscles he had in it, and as the gaping maw(s) came ever closer, he striked!


    His leg slammed into the side of one of the heads, causing the basilisk to lose balance and fall over. After all, it was somehow standing on  chicken-legs, so it couldn¡¯t have the best balance.


    It roared ¡°KEK¡± and started writing about on the ground. Arthur decided to take this opportunity to A, start running away, and B, shout ¡°HUMAN SIGHTED COME GET ¡®EM¡± as loud as he could. A human of this size and caliber could last a whole family of demons a whole day or two!


    And within only a moment, he could already see a cherub riding a two-headed dragon and a goblin holding burning coals. Better run fast, Arthur. And that he did.


    Arthur was remarkably good at running. Not too fast, but not slow enough to be caught by humans. Just enough.


    After only a minute or so of running, Arthur heard the unmistakable cry of a dying human (¡°Oof¡±) and cautiously slowed down to a normal walking speed. The city of Babylon reared into view on the horizon, with all its square clay buildings in rows and fancy towers striding towards the skies. But the most striking feature of all was, of course, the famous Tower of Babylon. To say that the other towers standing erect around it were scraping the skies would be an insult to this magnificent tower. The city of Babylon was the only even slightly modern city in the 8th circle of hell, and that is not something to be taken lightly. There were literally no other cities there, unless you count larger-than-average villages as ¡°cities¡±, which I recommend you not to.Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!


    Arthur stood transfixed by the bustling city, wherein all kinds of demons, not only those from the 8th circle, could be found. The easiest way to separate these was by their looks, which isn¡¯t such a good way to tell people apart, but when it comes to demons, it is both generally accepted and effective.


    Compared to these five-legged heads and flying deers, Arthur looked remarkably ordinary, which he also was. Stepping into the city, all he could find was resentful gazes from the various lower-circle demons which abounded. Nobody liked 1st circle demons, those lucky pricks. Always have meat on the table, good infrastructures, bah! Who needs it? All you need is a good sword and a big human to slay and you¡¯re set!


    Arthur didn¡¯t exactly share this view, but he was something of an enigma, so it doesn¡¯t really matter. The city was crammed with markets and demons and the shouting was extremely violent. A large-eared demon might get tinnitus just by popping his head into a shop! Regardless, Arthur knew where to go. He stoically ignored the stabbing gazes of the nearby demons who believed him to be some sort of tourist(the most hated kind) and made his way towards the tower. All he had to do was ride the Elevator and he¡¯d be out of here!


    The streets were made of solid rock and lined with stalls filled with, well, human meat. What else could a demon want? There were souvenirs and clothes and the such as well, but nobody really cared for that, so the sweet scent of blood hung like a mist around the city, which pleased most everybody.


    Arthur quickly found himself lost in thoughts. ¡°I¡¯m sure I¡¯ll do well once I get there.¡± he thought with a cautious optimism. He really was quite unlike most demons. But much like most demons born and raised in the 8th circle, he was all too familiar with scamming, albeit for rather good reasons. And so it was that he found himself by that great tower. His eye could follow it all the way up and it still seemed to go on even further.


    ¡°Whoooaaaaa¡± he sighs in awe, arching his back to follow the ascent of the tower, to which someone right beside him answered ¡°This can¡¯t be your first time, Firster,¡± with a smirk. Arthur now came to notice that the great Tower of Babylon was entirely surrounded by a fence of sorts, the only entrance being guarded by the one who called out to him, sitting in a booth of sorts. She was very fair, with round features and a quaint smile, sitting there without a scrap of clothing. She must be cold. She didn¡¯t have any horns or wings or anything of the sort. How strange. Was she even a demon? Ah! After a moment''s hesitation, Arthur realized that she must be a succubus from the upper levels.


    ¡°Well,¡± she snarked, ¡°what are you here for? If you want to ride back up, it¡¯s gonna cost ¡®ya.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve got a permission,¡± Arthur said confidently, handing over the envelope and signea, ¡°from something something himself!¡± ¡°Mhm¡­¡± the succubus said, quickly scanning through the contents of the letter, ¡°and who did you have to suck off for this? Sir Eligos? I can¡¯t imagine a firster like yourself ever getting a letter like this. Did you steal it?¡± ¡°No!¡± Arthur said in response to her accusations, ¡°I got it fair and square, and it¡¯s my ticket to Earth!¡± The succubus gave the seal a sniff. ¡°Huh. Well, considering this is a real drop of Satan¡¯s blood, and since this is the 8th circle, scamming and thievery is hardly a crime, so I guess I¡¯ll just have to wish you a safe trip. Kill lots of humans, will you? There¡¯s a famine going ¡®round these parts,¡± she finally said, opening the gates for Arthur to enter. Which he happily did.


    From the other side of her stall, he noticed she had not only a crossbow, but all sorts of weapons, including some things he wouldn¡¯t even take to the 2d circle!


    Damn, that was a tall tower. But Arthur didn¡¯t have time to dilly-dally around, he had an Elevator to take! The doors to the tower were closed, but when he touched them, they easily slip open without the slightest creak. It was dark and dreary inside, and the smell of dust and mould permeated the place. To the left, he could see the beginning of a spiral staircase. To the right, a wall. And right in front of him, one hell of a fancy elevator.


    It only had one button with two arrows on it, which he pressed. A bell somewhere went ¡°ding!¡± and the doors to the Elevator opened. The inside was smooth and metallic, resembling every single elevator you¡¯ve ever seen on Earth. But, to Arthur, this strange steel box was other-wordly. Truly a work of our Lord Satan himself.


    Arthur stepped inside with big, anxious steps, and gave a little squeal when the doors closed suddenly behind him. He sighed and looked around the steel box curiously. To the left of the doors there was a panel with 19 buttons, ranging from -9 to E to 9. The -1 through -9 must be hell, the 1 through 9 must be heaven, and E must be¡­ Earth! Arthur happily pressed the big green ¡°E¡± button. The Elevator immediately gave a loud metallic whine before rocketing upwards, forcing Arthur to fall to the floor like a pancake with a remarkably human ¡°OOF¡±.


    And, off he was.

 Chapter Three: Finally, on Earth

    The Elevator whizzed upwards for a minute or so, allowing Arthur to get so comfortable as to sit down. However, this relative calm only lasted for a minute at most, before he suddenly and without warning slammed into the roof of the Elevator as it stopped dead in its tracks. A little ¡°ding¡± rang throughout the Elevator and the metal doors slip open. Right above the doors, as Arthur now could see(it was right in his face) there was a little meter showing where exactly they were. The little arrow pointed at a -5. Just as Arthur noticed this, a pair of suit-wearing gentlemen strided inside. They were almost entirely identical, one having two large horns on the right side of his head, the other on his left. Hm. Almost like a matching pair, Arthur thought before unceremoniously slamming back down on the floor once the Elevator closed and continued ascending.


    The two first-floor looking demons were not surprised in the least, neither by Arthurs fall nor the sudden acceleration of the Elevator. Instead, they shrugged and both simultaneously laughed a robotic ¡°ha-ha-ha,¡± at Arthur. Arthur, in response to this, attempted to show that he, too, could be strong and stand in the Elevator, but he barely got to a sitting position before he slammed back down.


    Somehow, compared to even the weakest of demons, Arthur was weak. The most accurate and flattering comparison would be to call Arthur a ¡°human with horns¡±, which, considering where Arthur has spent all of his life, would be semi-flattering.


    A few minutes go by, and Arthur has unwillingly accepted the fact that he, a demon from the 8th circle of hell, was weaker than a demon from the 1st circle. The pair of business-looking demons stood idly by during this, casually chatting about things that Arthur simply couldn''t¡¯t comprehend. What¡¯s a ¡°stock¡±?... The Elevator ground to a sudden halt once more, sending Arthur flying through the air. The meter said -1. ¡°Ding¡±. The two demons left to continue whatever business they had, allowing Arthur to catch a single glimpse of the ever-hate first floor. It looked very luxurious. That¡¯s all he could think. Then it was gone in a flash, he was back on the floor, and the Elevator continued towards Earth.


    After less than a minute, the Elevator stopped at last, the meter pointed at 0, the bell went ¡°ding¡± and the metal doors slid open. After several minutes of either being stuck to the ground or the roof, suddenly standing up was a momentous feat that he could only barely do. Huffing and puffing and trembling, Arthur stepped out of the Elevator, clinging to the sides like a drowning man to his saviour.


    It was dazzling. From the roof hung large, glittering and glowing thing he couldn¡¯t identify(a chandelier), the ground was made entirely of some fancy sort of mineral formed into squares(marble), on the walls hung various things he certainly had no idea what they were(paintings, murals and luxurious fabrics). The whole room must have been atleast twice the size and height as the barn that had previously been his home. The place was filled with people and creatures of various sizes and shapes, some looking like humanoid birds, other like succubi with birds wings, some babies(without horns and things like that) flying with white birds wings and carrying what Arthur could only assume to be instruments of some sort. There were also people without horns or the like wearing strange, big fancy attire(catholic priests and nuns). On his left, almost right beside the Elevator, there was a little table also made of the strange mineral, with glittering details(gold) and ebony coverings. By this extremely fancy desk, a fair long-haired beauty wearing a two-piece gray suit was sitting, looking very concerned. ¡°Can I help you,¡± she said with a sweet voice, ¡°sir?¡±


    Arthur looked at her with big, staring eyes. She must be a succubus as well, he thought conclusively. ¡°Yeah, uh,¡± he stuttered, ¡°I¡¯m the new hunter. Like human hunter? Do you know where I¡¯m supposed to go? Or do?¡± Her first reaction was to widen her eyes in surprise and fear, but then suspicion set in. ¡°Do you have any proof of this claim?¡± she said in a matter-of-fact tone. Arthur fumbled a bit before quickly fishing the letter and seal from his pouch. She quickly read it, every now and then casting a strange glance his way before finally handing it back with a sigh. ¡°Well, if you could ride the Elevator at all, it must be the real deal. Anyhow, your uniform and pin await over there, right by the restrooms,¡± she said, pointing towards a large table connected to wall besides, well, whatever a ¡°restroom¡± is.


    Despite not knowing what those rooms beside where he was going was, he casually walked over to the table. A large, strong man(without any horns or the like - how peculiar) welcomed him with a big smile. ¡°You¡¯re a demon, I assume?¡± he said with a mighty voice. Arthur just had to nod with a little respectful smile. ¡°Right, what¡¯s your rank?¡± he asked as he started to go through the innumerable rows of clothes behind him. Around half were black or red and the other was either white, blue, yellow, or any other super-happy colour. ¡°I¡¯m not sure, the letter I got just said I was a hunter,¡± Arthur said lackadaisical. The large man twiched, turned around, and gave Arthur a weary smile. He quickly made his way to the very end of the rows of clothes, finally taking out a grey three-piece wool suit with a herringbone pattern, a white shirt, a matching bowler hat, a pair of black leather oxfords, and a little black pin with an odd shape, much like a little five-pointed star. Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!


    ¡°Wh-, whoa¡­¡± Arthur gasped a little. He had only seen clothes like this on the fanciest devils he¡¯d seen like a couple minutes ago in Babylon. ¡°Are-, are these for me?...¡± Arthur said, barely being able to touch the suit the man was holding out to him. ¡°Of course they are! Now, just you go ahead and try putting them on in the restroom right here, I¡¯ll hold onto your valuables in the meantime. Arthur looked at his little pouch containing all he owned and back at the robust man. With demons as big and strong as this, trust was a given. Arthur was sure that if he didn¡¯t give them willingly, he¡¯d be lucky to get away with a pair of broken hands. ¡°A-, alright¡­¡± Arthur said, handing over the pouch dejectedly. In return, he took the suit, and cautiously entered the restrooms.


    They were big and luxurious. At this point, Arthur didn¡¯t even know how to process all this fanciness. He assumed that the white porcelling chair-like thing was just that, a chair, and so went and sat down on it. He looked over the suit on his lap. Was he even allowed to wear something like this?... Well, the buff man said it was his, so¡­


    Arthur threw off any and all clothing, soon standing entirely in the nude. First up, pants. They were extremely pleasant and fit very well. Considering how everybody else wearing a suit had looked, he guessed second would be the white shirt? And then, the vest, the jacket, and shoes, and all that¡­


    After a little while, he couldn¡¯t help but admit he looked positively sharp, ready to go out and hunt some humans! He put the little strange star-shaped pin in the hole on the jackets collar, and felt like he could do just about anything. With a prideful geit, he cat-walked out of the restroom and out to dazzle the big man who had given him the uniform. The big man in question did a little whistle to confirm Arthurs hopes, making him very, very happy. This must have been one of the happiest points of his life, comparable to that one time he had found a really fat human that looked like a hairless boar in the wilderness and got to eat almost a third all by himself.


    ¡°Oh, right, before you head out into the world to, well¡­ do your work, there¡¯s some things you¡¯d better know in advance,¡± the big man said, first pointing to the little pin, ¡°that right there is a Voider. If you tap it once, any demonic traits you may have become ¡°voided¡±. Basically, the temporarily disappear. You can¡¯t touch them or see them, but if you tap it again, it becomes visible again. If you tap it twice, the entirety of you, clothes included, gets voided. I can personally recommend almost always being entirely voided, especially now in the beginning. You won¡¯t die or anything, you just become invisible and the such, like a ghost. Don¡¯t ask how it works, it has to do with exposing the soul and storing the body in Limbo or something. Tap it twice again and you become un-voided. Right, and if you need help, just tap it trice quickly, then thrice slowly and thrice quickly. Bibibi, beep beep beep, bibibi. You got it?¡± he asked after a helluva long time.


    ¡°Uh, yes,¡± Arthur said, itching to press it just a couple of times. ¡°Right. Also, in the back of your blazer, theres a pair of pockets that hide your wings, and if you just curl your tail close to your body it should be hidden as well. As for your horns, your hat already hides them quite well. Your fangs and claws can¡¯t really be hidden, but¡­ be carefull out there, alright? You seem like a pretty good guy, so¡­ once you get out there in the big world, don¡¯t come here and kill me, alright?¡± he said, cocking his brow in uncertainty. Arthur looked extremely confused. ¡°Why would I kill you, aren¡¯t you a demon as well?¡± he said, raising an eyebrow. ¡°Well, sorry to break the news, but I¡¯m very much human,¡± he said with a weary smile. Arthur could barely hold his laughter. ¡°I¡¯ve seen my fair share of humans, and none have ever looked like you do. You look more demonic than human!¡± Arthur exclaimed with a big smile. The big man couldn¡¯t help but ask: ¡°Which circle are you from, anyhow?...¡± to which Arthur blankly replied ¡°The 8th.¡± The big man couldn¡¯t help but be surprised. He had seen many demons and angels in his days, and as far as he knew, the deeper a demon or angel lived, the more of a presence they had in the bible, so to see such an ordinary demon from such a deep part of hell¡­ aha! It suddenly hit him. Scammers. That¡¯s who go to the 8th circle.


    ¡°Oh, right,¡± Arthur said, interrupting his thoughts, ¡°what¡¯s your name? I¡¯m Arthur!¡± The big man stared blankly, before replaying ¡°I¡¯m Fred.¡± Arthur grinned and held out his hand. Fred looked at it suspiciously. ¡°What, don¡¯t you shake hands up here?¡± Arthur asked genuinely. ¡°Oh, no, of course,¡± Fred finally said, gripping Arthur¡¯s hand and shaking it vigorously and strongly. ¡°Ow! Hey, don¡¯t press that hard, I¡¯m not that strong!¡± Arthur said half-jokingly, soothingly massaging his right hand. Fred made a strange grimace, combining cautiousness, confusion and worry all into one. Finally, he scratched his neck, and said ¡°Sorry, since you were from the 8th circle, I sort of-,¡± ¡°Assumed I was fooling you? I wouldn¡¯t do that to you, Fred! We¡¯re both demons here! I¡¯ll be coming back if I ever need your help, that alright?¡± Arthur interrupted with a knowing smile. Fred knit his brows but couldn¡¯t help but laugh. ¡°Heh, I guess so, Arthur. Come back any time. Oh, right, just press the Voider four times quick, three times slow, two times quick, one slow, another slow and then two quick, and it¡¯ll connect right to me, alright?¡± ¡°Oh! Nice! Alright, I¡¯ll see you around!¡± Arthur finally said, waving goodbye as he bounced towards the double doors from which he had seen people come and go.


    He tapped the Voider once and felt how something on his head, back and ass disappeared. His claws were trimmed down and he couldn¡¯t feel his fangs anymore. Had he had a mirror, he would have seen his red, slitted eyes turn a sky-blue, entrancing hue. He really looked quite charming, especially with that youthful vigour he had about him.


    He pushed the heavy doors open, and was immediately stunned. The whole sky was a bright blue, and in the middle of it, a bright light, much alike the brightness of Babylons Tower at night, only a thousand times amplified, shining so bright his eyes got teary. And everywhere he could see, there we humongous, ginormous steel boxes with innumerable little square holes in them, some reflecting the light of the star above like glass mirrors, others being almost see-through. Stretching right before his eyes, a long, grey carpet of rock was laid out, connecting all the steel boxes together. And on these grey carpets, hundreds and hundreds of horn-less and tail-less demons crowded together, all heading somewhere Arthur couldn¡¯t even imagine.


    Arthur saw a great, big city.

 Chapter Four: Epic Fight with a Redneck Bartender

    Wait. Arthur, you can¡¯t be dazzled just yet, give this all a thought! You¡¯re in the enemy zone now! You blank out one second and a great big 9th circle human is going to storm out and gobble you whole!


    ¡­


    Humans¡­


    Arthur hadn¡¯t heard alot about Earth back at home, but one thing he knew was that Earth was crawling with humans. So, where were they? Something Fred had said popped up in his mind: Fred was a human. Could it be¡­?


    Arthur quickly grabbed the shoulder of a seductive looking woman wearing a navy suit and high heels, swung her around to face him, and with a grim grimace, he asked ¡°Are you a succubus or a human?...¡± She looked extremely confused and frightened for a moment before smiling awkwardly. ¡°I admire your courage, but if you don¡¯t release me, I¡¯m afraid I¡¯ll have to summon the authorities,¡± she said matter-of-factly as she reached for something inside her green leather pouch(certified gucci snakeskin purse).


    Arthur looked her up and down before promptly letting her go and running away. The police had never been any good to get involved with. They catch you, you die. At least in hell. But Earth is pretty much Hell lite, right? Right.


    The woman was left standing, confused and dazed. She had put up a cold exterior, as she always does about everything, but truth is, people grabbing you out of the blue and asking weird semi-flirty questions will shock just about anyone.


    Arthur, on the other hand, was already two dussin meters away, dashing as quick as he could, which really wasn¡¯t that fast. He bumped into just about everyone he met, having no idea how to navigate between people who seemed to be walking in an extremely erratic and unpredictable manner. He kept this pace for a minute or so before finally collapsing into a neon-lit bar on his left.


    The bar was the very definition of ¡°dimly lit¡±, the neon sign outside proudly presenting the ¡°Unfavourable Gin¡± being almost the only source of light. But to Arthur, even a neon light was some sort of insidious witchcraft. The humans can do magic, huh? The bar was decorated with lots of red leather. Red leather barstools, red leather sofas, red leather everything. To the left of the entrance, there was a counter, behind which rows upon rows of gin, rum, tequila, vodka and ¡°flatliner¡± stood haphazardly on wooden shelves. There was also a strange man back there, staring begrudgingly at the confused and half-terrified Arthur huffing and puffing right by the entrance. He had a trucker mustache, a baseball cap and looked like a redneck both in his natural environment and in the middle of his most dreaded place - the big city.


    ¡°If yer not here to drink, get the fuck outta here,¡± the redneck said in a monotone, annoyed voice, sounding much like a pissed off badger. Arthur looked around with big eyes, as entranced as he had been by the sky, before finally acknowledging the redneck. ¡°Drink?¡± Arthur thought aloud, ¡°oh, good Lord, I could do with a drink. What have you?¡± Arthur sat down on one of the red leather barstools, getting really excited to drown his sorrows in human blood. He liked fizzy blood the most, since it was the most common kind and easily transported. ¡°I got gin, rum, tequila, vodka and flatliner, and any combination ¡®o those,¡± the redneck said, pointing at the rows of bottles with his thumb. Arthur looked them over.


    Assuming they must have some interesting variations here, he just picked one at random. ¡°Can you give me a glass of that ¡°vodka¡± thing¡± Arthur said curiously. The redneck looked at him suspiciously. A man in business attire comes in, huffing and puffing, asking for a glass of vodka? Yeah, no. ¡°I¡¯ll give you a shot,¡± he said, grabbing a bottle off of the shelf without looking, pouring it into a tiny glass and sliding it over to Arthur without even batting an eye. Arthur felt a bit insulted, but this was a different kind of world. Maybe they had stronger stuff here? Plus, the liquid was entirely transparent, not reddish in any way. Or even green. Or blue. How strange. Maybe it¡¯s a rare human that¡¯s really expensive?Stolen novel; please report.


    Arthur lifted the glass, swirled it around a bit, looked it over, gave it a whiff, and eventually¡­ Just a little sip. Just the faintest taste of vodka, and he could already feel the gates of heaven opening up in his mouth, burning his throat with holy water. He spit it straight out, right in the rednecks face, who looked extremely annoyed. ¡°What the fuck is-, how is that-, did you try to poison me?!?¡± Arthur cried, clasping his throat in pain. Demons were not meant to eat veggies. Potato is a veggie. Vodka is potato. Russian demons do not exist.


    The redneck looked at him with either reproachful confusion of sheer loathing. Arthur couldn¡¯t tell which, but he was five minutes from puking all over the floor. ¡°That¡¯ll be fifteen bucks,¡± the redneck stated, holding out his scruffy hand. ¡°...What¡¯s a buck?¡± Arthur asked, propping himself up on the counter with one arm in an attempt to keep himself from vomiting. The redneck gave him a mean glare. ¡°Oh,¡± Arthur realized, ¡°is that one of those ¡°currency¡± things they got up in the first couple circles?¡± The redneck took this as a grizzled redneck bartender should - with no disbelief whatsoever, only a somehow increased hatred for the city folk.


    Noticing how the redneck bartender¡¯s eyes got just a bit sharper, Arthur hurriedly said ¡°I don¡¯t have any, uh, ¡°bucks¡±, is it?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t got any bucks, you say?...¡± the redneck growled back, his right hand reaching for the shotgun just beneath the counter. But just as Arthur was about to run straight out of the door, he was suddenly struck with something. Inspiration, perhaps? whatever it was, Arthur knew how to use it.


    ¡°Say, are you perchance, a human? Serious question,¡± Arthur said as seriously as he could, something he seldom did. The grim bartender looked at him and realized he was serious. High motherfucker, he thought. Might as well entertain his delusions. ¡°Yes, I am a human,¡± he replied. Arthur got a glint in his eye. ¡°Say, how about the two of us rumble?¡± he said excitedly, smiling ear-to-ear. ¡°...If you give your written consent, then sure,¡± the redneck said, already readying himself to take out 15 years of city-folk frustrations on one (presumably) extremely high dead-end worker.


    Arthur looked semi-confused when the redneck slid a pre-written contract over the counter. The contract looked old and was hand written. Must have been at least 15 years old. Arthur carefully read it. Not to disclose any of the happenings, all injuries would be compensated by me, any possible outcomes including man-slaughter will be my fault and I will be persecuted for it, this contract will only work in the favour of Billy-Bob Hoethrower so don¡¯t even try going to the police, you will win only if Billy-Bob Howthrower is unable to fight, unconscious or has for some reason decided to surrender¡­ yup, sounds good! Arthur dug for a bit in his satchel, pulled out his magic little needle, pricked his thumb, and pressed it to the paper, creating a bloody red fingerprint.


    The fingerprint glowed a little, indicating the contract to be a success. Must be all the drugs in his system, Billy-Bob(the redneck bartender) figured. ¡°That¡¯ll do, right?¡± Arthur asked. ¡°Yeah, sure,¡± Billy-Bob replied as he stepped over the counter and out in the open. He routinely tied his thin drying around his left hand and took a southpaw position. Arthur tried to replicate his movements, but felt extremely uncomfortable, since he was neither left-handed nor very good at fighting. Actually, this would be his first hand-to-hand fight in, well, forever.


    ¡°You a southpaw too, eh?¡± Billy-Bob noted with a slight hint of recognition and respect. ¡°Southpaw? What¡¯s that?¡± Arthur replied with a look so stupid Billy-Bob lost every ounce of respect he had gained from the whole ¡°fighting¡± ordeal. Arthur was just about to comment on Billy-Bobs stunned silence when his face was pummeled by a wave of infuriated fists, all from the left hand. ¡°Hold-, up-, wha-,¡± Arthur stuttered, but couldn¡¯t even finish his thought before a leg came flying his way, slamming into the left side of his face with enough force to knock him down to the ground. He reached out with his right hand, trying to get back on his feet, but Billy-Bob stopped him by crushing his hand beneath his left foot, the same foot that had just rendered a demon from the very depths of Hell nearly unconscious.


    ¡°I-, I give up-,¡± Arthur tried to say, but instead, he got a mouth-full of oxford. ¡°It¡¯s ain¡¯t done ¡®til I¡¯m done,¡± Billy-Bob growled, staring down at the literal demon with a cold bloodlust rivalering that of even 8th circle demons in the middle of a hunt. What followed was one of the worst hours of Arthur¡¯s life. At first, he was embarrassed from being beat to a pulp by a human, but then again, he had never been able to defeat one, so that was soon replaced by sheer horror and an undying wish to never have to fight a human again.


    After this hour of pure sadism on Billy-Bob¡¯s part had passed, Arthur was unceremoniously thrown out the back-door and left by a dumpster to bleed to death. After about a quarter of Arthur just lying there trying to catch his breath, the back-door opened again, and Billy-Bob stepped out, locked the door behind him, walked right over Arthurs near-unconscious body, and went off into the night.


    I can¡¯t fight humans, Arthur thought. There has to be an easier way.


    ¡­


    How about I just¡­


    Make a contract with someone?


    Then they could hunt humans?


    And I won¡¯t have to do any of the heavy lifting?!


    Arthur, in the wake of this ¡°incredible¡± and ¡°original¡± idea, let himself lie and recover on the dirty, cold, damp street for a couple more minutes, before finally sneaking off into the night, giggling like some fucking maniac.

 Chapter Five: Steve Smith Laments

    It always happened in a frenzy. I would go at her with great passion, and she would always evade me with the very same passion. In that one moment, that one time where there was only us two, we were siblings, bonded in blood and soul. But every time the two us became one, in the midst of the passion, the frenzy, the ecstacy, another emotion would be born, and this feeling would soon usurp the others, becoming the only thing I could feel. This emotion was fear. We became one, and along with her soul, I also absorbed her pure, ruthless feeling of fear. Disgusted, I would always end our intercourse at this moment. The second I felt that great pang of distress, she would be no more, and I would be one again.


    This had been enough. For years upon years upon years, this brief, fleeting bonding was all I needed to feel alive. But, one day, I no longer felt the fear. I took her, and she resisted, as they always do, but we didn¡¯t become one. My feelings of pure glee simply evaporated, leaving me cold and empty. I took her life only out of pity. It was sex without orgasm. Was there something with her? Was she not a virgin, like the others? Can¡¯t be. I am always assured of that one quality. Then, could it have been me?... No. I felt just as empty and lifeless as I always do.


    I tried again the next Friday, but it was the same. Kidnap a young virgin(I have a list for times like these), drive her out to some abandoned building, chase her through the dark, yada yada yada. But the same thing happened. She was a prime example, too. She was lush and young and strong. She could run, too, but that had never been an issue, and neither would it be now. But when I took her, she became just a slab of meat with a hole. I killed her in disgust and frustration.


    It was the same with the next one, and the one after that. It just wasn''t how it used to be.


    The night was cool and dark and I was driving home from my latest rendezvous. Her name had been Sandra Barkley, she came out of town to stay with a friend. Had gone out to party. She was lucky I was there to stop her from being tainted by some young hoodlum. At least, that¡¯s what she thought. I¡¯m not much for having my way with drunk ones, but something is better than nothing. I still hadn¡¯t kicked the habit.


    The wind was strong as I pulled my Ford into the driveway of my suburban home. Opening the door, I was greeted with a hug and a kiss from my wife, Josey. My little girl, Patty, didn¡¯t hug and kiss me anymore. For the better, if you ask me. Josey was holding Morgan, our new little arrival, in her cradling arms. I walked inside with her, and ate a soothing, warm dinner. Josey wasn¡¯t much, but at least she could cook. My other son, Seth, stubbornly heaved the pasta carbonara into his gritty teenaged mouth before storming off, as he always does. Patty was sitting across the table, only occasionally passing me a reproachful, disgusted look. She thinks I¡¯m a serial killer. Kids these days, am I right?


    ¡°Steve, dear, could you pass me the ketchup?¡± Josey asked in her quaint little voice, like a startled bird. ¡°Of course,¡± I said, passing it over to her. She knows I don¡¯t like being bothered on Friday nights, when the wind is as pleasant as it only is after a rendezvous. But I forgive her. It was only ketchup, after all. I finish my plate rather quickly, as I always do, before heading to the bedroom, saying my goodnights to the family as I always do on Fridays in particular.


    The bedroom was dark and pleasantly chilly. I plopped down on the king-sized, well kept bed with a sigh of disappointment, something that has become a tragic routine ever since I stopped becoming one with them. But as my gaze nonchalantly wandered the room, uncertain of whether to take a shower or sleep immediately, I could feel something was amiss. There. In the corner. Something seemed to be staring at me, but I couldn¡¯t see a thing. My instinct was rarely wrong. ¡°Speak,¡± I said calmly, trying to neither make a ruckus so that Josey might come to check on me nor to make conversation with myself over a feeling.


    ¡°Ah, sorry, am I that visible?¡± a voice called out from within the shadows. I knit my brows. So this is how schizophrenia rears its ugly head?... ¡°No, I could simply feel your gaze,¡± I replied to the shadows in a hushed tone. ¡°...I see. Well, I¡¯m sorry to intrude, so I¡¯ll just¡­¡± the voice said. And just as it finished saying that, a strange noise was heard, and a figure stepped out of the shadows. It looked like an ordinary man, with short black hair, a pale complexion and a kind disposition, wearing a matching derby and three-piece suit, all grey with a herringbone pattern. The odd thing was that just as I started wondering what this strangely well-kept man was doing in my house, he removed his hat and brought it to his chest apologetically, revealing a pair of small, bony horns protruding from his head. And now that I give his face a closer look, every part of it seemed vaguely inhuman. His eyes were red and slitted, glowing slightly in the deep darkness of my bedroom. His ears were sharp and long, like that of an elf. And from his mouth, a pair of bat-like fangs protruded ominously. He really would have made for a good vampire.Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.


    ¡°I-, uh-, well, I saw what you did earlier this evening, and considering how well you did it, I was wondering if you would like to make a contract with me?¡± the horned man asked, a little embarrassed from his request. Earlier this evening¡­ ¡°You¡­ saw?¡± I asked, my eyes narrowing. Whoever this man was, if he knew, he was a danger. My right hand slid silently under the mattress, easily grabbing the hilt of a large knife I kept for situations just like these. ¡°Yes, and, well, I couldn¡¯t help but respect what you do, sir. See, I¡¯ve been tasked with doing exactly what you do, but when I tried, I failed miserably, so I figured getting someone¡¯s help would be for the best, and, well¡­ please?...¡± the horned man said, his whole face going red like a tomato as he constantly averted his gaze like a school-girl confessing her crush.


    Let¡¯s think this over. A strange man has barged into my house, expressed extensive knowledge over my nocturnal habits, and instead of taking this intel to the police like a sane man, has expressed his admiration for me, and wishes to co-operate in murder(supposedly). Sounds like a madman to me. But killing him in my own house would rouse great suspicion. There are no signs of a break-in, and the very fact that I keep a knife under my mattress might come into suspicion, so¡­ My best bet is to go along with whatever he wants me to do for the moment, take him to an undisclosed location, and bury him along with the others. Yup, sounds like a plan.


    ¡°What do you need me to do?¡± I asked matter-of-factly. His face shone up like a star, and I think I could see tears of happiness welling up in his demonic eyes. Okay¡­ ¡°R-, really!? Oh lord satan below I can¡¯t believe my luck~¡± he exclaimed in pure joy. ¡°Get on with it,¡± I said in annoyance. ¡°R-, Right! All you¡¯ve gotta do is sign this contract, and then I¡¯ll sign it as well, and then we just have to exchange a little blood, and the contract is sealed!¡± the horned madman said, fishing a piece of ancient-looking paper out of some satchel I hadn¡¯t noticed before on his hip. He handed the paper over, and I read it thoroughly, as you always should with contracts.


    It began with a short introduction that the human(me?) would do the following(: ), after which, in an erratic hand, ¡°I will help Arthur(demon) kill bad guys and send them to hell until Arthur doesn¡¯t want to anymore¡± was scribbled thoughtlessly. Below, ¡°the demon(Arthur) will do this in return(: )¡± was written with a stable, orderly hand. Below this, the erratic hand continued with ¡°whatever the human(me.) wants me to do¡±.


    Is this a template of some sort he just filled in?... And what¡¯s with these requirements, there are no rules or anything so to speak of! This is the worst contract I¡¯ve ever seen in my life, and I¡¯ve seen quite a few! At the very bottom, two lines were drawn, probably to write names on. I was just about to grab my pen when the horned madman, presumably this ¡°demon¡± that¡¯s referred to, stopped me. ¡°App app app, stop right there! I¡¯m not sure if that¡¯s a real pen, Earth is real weird, but if it isn¡¯t, you can¡¯t use it! Only pens like these,¡± he said, fishing out a pen from his satchel, ¡°work with demonic contracts like these!¡± He handed me the pen.


    The pen stung a bit as I held it. Hm?... is there a needle, sticking into me?... There sure is. The inside of the pen quickly filled up with a red liquid(what is my blood doing in there?) and I could feel my index-finger getting numb from the sudden blood-loss. I looked over the contract again, sighed, and signed my name, Steve Smith, in cursive, gorgeous letters on the line marked ¡°human¡± with my own blood. The demon(?) sighed and smiled a big, bright smile. I handed the pen to him.


    ¡°Oh, yes, thank you,¡± he said before grabbing the pen carefully, holding it above his face, and emptying the little blood-tank into his mouth. WhAT. ¡°Hm? What is it, why are you staring at me like that?¡± he said, looking like a confused lamb. Nothing, nothing. I hand him the contract. He gripped the pen firmly, squirmed a bit when the pen drained his blood, before writing ¡°Arthur¡± on the ¡°demon¡± line in big, clumsy letters. Arthur, huh.


    ¡°Alright, just one more step!¡± Arthur said, putting the pen back in his satchel and fishing something else out of there. A fancy little ball-head needle. It was purple and red, the two colours separated by criss-crossing golden lines. Hm. Extremely fancy. Without hesitation, Arthur stabbed his thumb on the fancy needle. Blood started seeping out, and just as I was about to question his self-harming tendencies, he grabbed my right hand out of the blue, stabbed my thumb, and pressed his own bleeding thumb against mine. Our faces came close. I could feel my cold blood exiting and his warm, burning blood flooding into me.


    ¡°What are you-,¡± I managed to force out, but he had already put the contract beneath our merging thumbs, and let our mixed blood, hot and cold, seep together and trickle down on it. A single drop of blood splattered onto the contract, and the whole thing lit up in a glorious violet, basking the bedroom in it¡¯s awe-inducing hues.


    ¡°Alright! It¡¯s done!¡± Arthur said, pulling his thumb away from mine. Blood flowed from it and I instinctively brought it to my face to suckle the bad away. ¡°The contract is sealed! Now you¡¯ll help me, and I¡¯ll help you!¡± Arthur almost shouted with glee. ¡°Hey, keep it down, I got a wife and three kids, you know,¡± I said calmly, despite burning up inside. What in the world just happened?... ¡°Oh, you do? Sorry, I¡¯m just so excited! My time has come, Lord Satan will finally acknowledge me, and I¡¯ll be renowned for my accomplishments!~¡± Arthur said, flashing a smile. ¡°Oh, right! I¡¯ll be on my way now, but if you need me during the night, just call me, alright? I promise I¡¯ll always hear you~!¡± Arthur said, once more merging with the shadows and disappearing into the darkness.


    Huh.


    Curious.

 Chapter Six(sixsix): Arthur Finds a Friend

    Arthur heaved his body off the ground, utilizing every ounce of demonic power he had. Every muscle in his body hurt and ached, and he felt so, so sore. This was no thing a demon like him could do. Not alone.


    Stumbling, Arthur made his way through the shimmering city without really caring too much about the humans looking at him funny. He looked human enough, he thought. The city was filled with glorious, shining lights, all telling him to go here, no, here, no, there, all at once. A strange smell wafted through the air. It smellt like charred human flesh, but Arthur could tell it wasn¡¯t quite human, and neither was it charred. It reminded him of that time he dropped his ration in the fire but fished it out before it was all coal. It hadn¡¯t tasted too good, but it had been edible.


    A myriad of other smells came to Arthur as he nostalgically lifted his nose into the air, none giving Arthur the least bit of pleasure. Arthur couldn¡¯t taste sweet, not in our sense, at least. He could taste it, but if he did, it was almost always poisonous. Arthur was suddenly hit by a nausea-inducing scent, causing him to almost immediately start gagging. The world became a flurry of bright colours and smells he had never and wished to never again smell.


    When he came to, all the lights and smells were gone, all except one. It smelled of salt, like the skin of a panicking human, and some other strange material he couldn¡¯t quite place. He opened his eyes, and what met him was what looked to be an enormous, endless puddle of¡­ something. Arthur had seen many liquids in his life. Blood, piss, tears¡­ but this was something else. The sky was black and dark and filled to the brim with tiny little shining lights, all blinking and twinkling and reflected in the mysterious eternal dark-blue liquid.


    Arthur couldn¡¯t stop looking.


    But, suddenly, he was brought out of his ethereal state by the screams of some nearby creature. He couldn¡¯t understand if it was demon, human or angelic, but¡­ ¡°HELP ME OH PLEASE GOD SOMEONE¡± someone shouted at the top of their lungs. Spinning around, Arthur finally noticed where he was. He was standing on some sort of concrete block right outside the city. A bunch of strange vehicles that floated on the liquid were parked by the concrete block. He was right by the pier.


    ¡°PLEASE OH MY GOD HELP¡± the voice shouted again. Arthur stared in the direction of the screams, noticing a strange, concrete outgrowth coming out of the ground. It seemed to be extremely thick and well made, with a single opening on the top. With heavy steps, Arthur made his way over to what we can understand to be a bunker.


    Arthur immediately got up on top by pressing the Voider once and using his tiny little wings to flap about a meter or so into the air. Not too impressive, but to Arthur, this was a step in the right direction for his flight capabilities. Trying the opening to the bunker, Arthur quickly noticed it was either locked or too heavy to open. Hmmm, he thought. Hmmmm¡­? He looked down at the little star-shaped pin on his lapel. Oh, right!


    This would be his first time being entirely voided. Fred had said it would send his body to Limbo or something, which is pretty spooky, but he also said he didn¡¯t really know how it worked, so¡­


    Beep beep.


    Hm. Arthur felt extremely confused. Not nauseous or non-existant or anything, just very, very confused. Looking down at his hands, he couldn¡¯t notice anything different. He looked just as visible as always. Well, let¡¯s just try the handle again to see-,


    Arthur¡¯s hand went right through it. For a second, he was too baffled to react. But, after that second had passed¡­ ¡°!!!¡± he retracted his hand as fast as he possibly could. Holding his hand, he noticed he could hold it just like normal. But, wait. He was currently standing on the bunker. So, why wasn¡¯t he sinking in?...


    The second he realized this, his whole body sunk into the bunker like a hot knife through butter. He eventually hit the floor, deciding immediately not to think about the ground and why he wouldn¡¯t sink through it any more. It would be bad for his hearts. Standing up on wobbly legs, he dusted himself off and took a look around. He seemed to be standing in a hall. To the right was an opening to some room or another, and otherwise, the corridor just seemed to continue two both sides. The floor was lined with luminescent tape/paint that seemed to point the way, well, somewhere.The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    Arthur could hear whimpers and pleas for help and mercy coming from wherever the luminescent trail was heading. Welp. Nothing better to do, Arthur concluded as he started heading down into the heart of the bunker with a leisurely gait. Along with the screams, he could clearly hear the metallic whine and surring of, well, something. Lord knows what, Arthur concluded in silence.


    The corridor eventually opened up into a large chamber that would probably have been the mess hall. In the very middle of this chamber, two humans were in the middle of a strange activity Arthur couldn¡¯t quite understand. The larger human, wearing a strange yellow rubber suit, covering his entire body, and a strange mask on his face, was on top of the one that was pleading for help. Hm. Arthur wondered for a second whether he should help, but then again, he had seen a lot of humans back home shouting for help and mercy in the middle of a hunt before turning right around to bite your head off, and this was a human affair, so¡­ let¡¯s just let them do their thing.


    After about a minute of them being on top of eachother, the larger one grabbed the thing that was making the strange metallic sounds and held it above his head proudly. The thing was extremely strange. It was mostly composed of a red handle, which the man held, but the other half was a metallic blade that seemed to be whirring about at incredible speeds, making a srrrr sound. This strange weapon was quickly brought down on the screaming female(a pretty little thing with blonde hair and pink cheeks), making Arthur almost squeal, turning around in fear and embarrassment. He could never handle blood, so he had always let everybody else handle the killing and butchering part.


    His tail shivered as he turned around, carefully peeking between his fingers covering his face. On the table, he could a baffling amount of blood, two arms and two legs, a whole, unblemished head, and a thousand or so tiny, square chunks of flesh, just the right size for a midnight snack. Arthur could feel his hunger and horror fighting for dominance inside of him, but eventually, admiration won out, despite not having been in the battle. Arthur really, really wanted to turn off the voider to go ask if he could have just one piece while it was still fresh, but he couldn¡¯t bring himself to, since he feared that the man might get startled and accidentally kill him or something, which really wasn¡¯t that rare in Hell.


    So, instead, Arthur secretly spied on the man as he silently cleaned up the blood and everything, carefully putting the head in a black woolen sack and the rest in a large black bag made of some sort of thin, wrinkly material(plastic). I sure hope that¡¯s for saving, Arthur thought hopefully. Wait¡­ do humans eat humans?... they do, right? I mean, what other creatures are the apart from humans, demons and angels? Arthur pondered and he followed the man out of the bunker and into the night. It-, it can¡¯t be¡­ he finally thought. Do humans eat¡­ demons?! It can¡¯t be, it can¡¯t be, Arthur said, trying to comfort himself.


    The man went up close to a large, black, shiny something, that reminded Arthur of a big rock he had once seen. But what surprised Arthur was that the man took out a little tiny dim rock from his pocket, pointed it at the bigger rock, and the bigger rock lit up with lights and sound and things. Humans. Does everything have to shine bright?...


    The man stuffed both bags he had been holding into the back of the rock, which had opened like a great big mouth. He then removed another black wrinkly bag from the mouth, removed both gloves he had been wearing and stuffed them into the bag. He then quickly and easily removed everything else he had been wearing, revealing a nice, firm suit underneath. It was coal black, with a shimmering black tie and a white shirt, and stuffed it all into the bag, putting it into the mouth as well. When he now turned around to face Arthur, he could finally see what kind of man he was dealing with.


    He looked extremely tired. This was the first thing Arthur noticed. His eyes were sloped and baggy, only a dim light indicating life shining from them lazily, their blue-grayish colour making him look almost inhuman. The rest of his face was entirely square, with a firm jaw and a short, militaristic sort of chestnut-brown hair, only slightly disheveled from his recent hunt. His body was tall and well-built, obviously extremely used to hunting. His every step was extremely deliberate, knowing just where to step and why. Had he not been a human, Arthur would definitely have revered him as a high-level hunter himself.


    But he was a human. And he was just the kind of human Arthur was looking for. The man opened up the side of the rock and stepped inside. Arthur moved quickly, and before the man could close the door, Arthur had already done an acrobatic maneuver to corkscrew through the man and into the rock as well. He was extremely disoriented, but once he sat up, he noticed there was a seat of sorts inside the rock, and if he looked straight ahead, he could see out of it. Extremely curious.


    What made it all the more terrifying was when the man touched a few strange blinking things in the rock, grabbed a wheel-like object and got the rock to start moving. I-, incredible¡­


    Arthur sat transfixed, staring out of the window as the man drove the two of them somewhere. Eventually, they came to a stop at a strange-looking house. The man went inside, and Arthur followed nervously. The man was met with a happy woman, meaning that he must be a very successful hunter. He ate some strange, alien looking food along with around four other humans which really frightened Arthur, who was suddenly the only demon. He also learnt that the man was named Steve, which was an unfitting name for a hunter such as him, but Arthur didn¡¯t exactly have a frightening name either, so...


    Steve, the man, quickly excused himself and went somewhere secluded. Nobody followed him but Arthur. Currently, Arthur was contemplating whether to introduce himself now or some other time. But before he could come to a decision¡­


    ¡°Speak,¡± Steve said calmly, staring straight at Arthur. Arthur was spooked, and reacted the only way he could. You already know what happened during this conversation, so we¡¯ll skip it.


    After Arthur told Steve he would always hear him, he voided himself and slid soundlessly under the bed. Arthur was used to sleeping in strange places, and he was a rather light sleeper, so any unnatural occurrences would easily wake him up.


    And so, both he and Steve went to sleep, Steve with a heavy heart, filled with doubts and confusion, Arthurs hearts lightened by hope and reassurance.

 Chapter Seven: At Two in the Morning

    ¡°Hey. Arthur,¡± Steve whispered at two in the morning. Arthur, lying about two decimeters beneath him under the bed, suddenly awoke, bumping his head on the bed. Rubbing his forehead, he quickly realized why he had woken up, and rolled out from under the bed. Acrobatically, he changed his position from lying to standing in less than a second, a feat of dexterity impossible for most humans. ¡°Wazzit,¡± he said, eyes closed out of tiredness and teeth dangerously close to biting his tongue.


    ¡°...What were you doing under my bed?...¡± Steve asked in confusion. It¡¯s not often you see a demonic man in a suit roll out from under your bed and twirl around to standing in OS-speeds. ¡°Huh? Ah, ye, it was so comfy, a just couldn¡¯t help myself,¡± Arthur slurred, trying his best to get his rebellious tongue under control. A half-moon was shining in on the pair, revealing the truth in Arthur¡¯s statement. Steve furrowed his brows, as he seemed to do at the drop of a hat, looked Arthur up and down, and finally finished thinking enough to ask whatever dire question was on his mind.


    ¡°Are you really a demon?¡± Steve asked honestly. Arthur had to take a moment. Of course he was a demon, he said that yesterday! Did you really need to wake him up for this? Humans. What a bother. But he didn¡¯t say this, no matter how strongly he thought it. Alright. What Steve wanted wasn¡¯t some ¡°of course I¡¯m a demon, don¡¯t you trust me¡± bullcrap, no, he wanted proof. And it was up to Arthur to give him this.


    ¡°Do you have anything strong you don¡¯t mind if I destroy?¡± Arthur asked with a straight face. ¡°Can be anything. Glass, iron, orixion,¡± He added. Steve looked at him for a second in disbelief, before shrugging and pointing at a glass vase standing serenely in the window. Arthur tapped the window once or twice. ¡°Wow, this is really good stuff!¡± he exclaimed upon realizing the glass was quite thin, and yet quite sturdy. ¡°Shush it! Josey might wake up!¡± Steve whispered loudly. ¡°Just destroy the vase and be done with it,¡± Steve added, crossing his arms.


    ¡°Vase? Where is-, oh, this? This is a vase?!¡± Arthur whisper-shouted as well, pointing at the multi-coloured glass vase. He had only ever seen wooden vases. Steve nodded in response, narrowing his eyes in hopes of making Arthur finnish whatever he was going to do. As long as it didn¡¯t wake Josey up¡­


    Arthur smiled a particular smile, grabbed the vase, carefully removed the amber dahlias in it, looked at it for a second, and then licked it. ¡°Slurp¡±. Steve looked extremely appalled for a second, before noticing that something was happening to the vase. It was¡­ melting? Somehow, Steve furrowed his brows even further as Arthur carelessly held onto the quickly melting vase. Eventually, the little water in it fell out, splashing onto the floor.


    ¡°Hrmm, Steve, dear, what was that?...¡± Josey asked groggily, not even turning her face towards the action. Steve immediately put his index-finger over his mouth, a universal sign even Arthur could understand. ¡°Nothing dear, I just spilled my water, don¡¯t worry,¡± Steve said in as reassuring a tone as he could possibly muster. Josey muttered for a bit, before finally telling Steve to clean it up before it got absorbed into the carpet. ¡°Yes, dear,¡± Steve said dejectedly, unwillingly getting out and up of the bed to face Arthur. Arthur gulped, feeling a waft of guilt and shame come over him as his eyes met those of the tired, angry and slightly amazed Steve. Arthur quickly tapped his voider twice and followed Steve into the kitchen, where he immediately turned off the voider again.


    ¡°Before you even say sorry, tell me, did I see that correctly?¡± Steve asked, leaning on the counter. ¡°You want me to do it again?¡± Arthur replied genuinely, preparing to grab something nearby. ¡°No, no, that¡¯s not necessary. I just want to make clear: are you honestly a demon?¡± Steve asked once more. This time, Arthur just couldn¡¯t hide his irritation. ¡°Of course I am! And not just any demon either, I¡¯m from the 8th Circle Hell! That must say something to you, right? I may look like, well, this, but I assure you! I¡¯ve killed humans before!¡± Arthur shouted, crossing his arms in frustration. This all, of course, meant very little to Steve, who wasn¡¯t exactly christian. But from the way Arthur said it, the 8th circle must be a pretty bad place. The only thing that actually stood out to him was the whole thing about having killed humans before.Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.


    ¡°If you¡¯ve killed humans before, why do you need me to do it for you?¡± Steve retorted. Arthur could feel his face going red from embarrassment. ¡°Well, I¡­ I-, it doesn¡¯t matter, right?! You signed the contract, now you have to help me!¡± Arthur said, hoping Steve would accept such a lackluster diversion. Steve looked him in the eye for a few seconds. Arthur diverted his gaze. Steve sighed. ¡°Alright, sure, let¡¯s just clean this up and get back to bed,¡± Steve said, hoping that would be the end of it.


    But just as he was about to grab a little towel¡­ ¡°Grooannn~¡± Arthur¡¯s stomach growled loudly. ¡°Oh, haha, yeah, I haven¡¯t eaten in more than two days,¡± Arthur said with a little smile. He had totally forgotten about that, but when he said he¡¯d killed humans, well¡­ his appetite was a bit roused. Steve looked him in the eye for a good three seconds, sighed, and made his way towards the fridge. ¡°What do you want?¡± Steve asked, opening the fridge. He really wanted to just go back to sleep. ¡°Well, what do you have?¡± Arthur asked, popping up behind Steve to take a peek into the little fridge. ¡°A bit of everything. Salad. Paprika. Pasta,¡± Steve said in a monotone I-want-to-die voice. Arthur seemed, and was, confused. ¡°Where¡¯s the meat?¡± he asked, thinking dearly of the meat Steve had cut up earlier. ¡° We don¡¯t eat much meat,¡± Steve replied. Josey was actually a vegetarian, but since she respected the wishes of the rest of the family, she had gone back to an omnivore diet, but she made sure to use as little as possible.


    ¡°What about the meat you cut up earlier?¡± Arthur asked, already drooling. ¡°What meat?¡± Steve asked unknowingly. ¡°You know - the girl. She looked mighty tasty, I was tempted to ask for a piece right there and then, but you looked so spooky I couldn¡¯t bring myself to~¡± Arthur squealed, his tail wagging back and forth happily and his ears flapping up and down strangely. Steve looked at him with a very funny look. ¡°You can¡¯t be serious,¡± he finally said, almost wanting to laugh. ¡°Do demons eat human meat?¡± he asked with a quaint little smile. ¡°What else is there to eat?¡± Arthur replied honestly. Steve was left speechless. ¡°Come on Steve, I¡¯m sure you still have those delicious little pieces, come on~¡± Arthur pleaded, his tail unconsciously pointing towards the front door, or, more specifically, the car.


    Steve wasn¡¯t sure if he still had those or if he had already disposed of everything, but he didn¡¯t really want to challenge Arthur. It was no longer a question that Arthur was a demon, no, now, it was more a question of what exactly he could do. Arthur was a jolly fellow, but Steve really didn¡¯t want to see him truly angry. Steve reluctantly went out to his dear car, that little fiat, an excited demon following his every move.


    Steve opened the boot, and there they were. Four bags. One with the head(he always wanted to save the head for his collection), one with the limbs, one with his bloodied clothes and chainsaw, and one with the scraps. Arthur wanted the scraps. Steve carefully scanned the surrounding. It was dark and cool, as it had been hours ago when he drove home. Not one house was lit even in the slightest, and no creature stirred. The boot reeked of blood. How had he forgotten to dispose of it?... he had gotten lazy and careless ever since he stopped becoming one. He had to be more careful, otherwise, this might just have been the last one he¡¯s ever-, ¡°So? Are they there? Oh! They are! Come on, come on, I¡¯m starving!~¡± Arthur gleefully squealed from behind.


    Hesitantly, Steve handed Arthur the bag filled with scraps, bare-handed. Arthur took one look in the bag, sniffed it deeply, and exhaled it, as if it were some sort of premium ganja. ¡°This is¡­ This smells a thousand times better than any human I¡¯ve ever smelled...¡± Arthur finally said, looking fondly at the meat in the bag. He looked up a little, noticed Steve, shouted something about Steve not having any, and ran of into a bush. Steve couldn¡¯t even bother anymore, just going straight inside, locking the door, and going back to bed. Josey was sleeping soundly, her prized 500¡ê vase lying in a molten mess on the floor. Steve just fell asleep. At around three, he woke up by Arthur sliding in under the bed, but couldn¡¯t even bother to care, simply falling asleep again.

 Chapter Eight: Adventure in the Morning

    When I awoke in the morning, at seven sharp, as I always do, the bedroom I and my wife took such pride in simply reeked of blood. I could almost see the foul odor, wafting about the room much like a red mist, localized entirely within my bedroom. Yes. And I knew who the culprit was. Underneath the bed, I could hear the lightest of snores, a soft breathing, every exhale adding to the already obnoxiously thick mist of blood. Without even checking in on how the demon now residing underneath my bed was doing, I got out of bed, energized and ready for the day, as I always am, went to the window, and thrust the shutters open, allowing the red mist to escape outside and flee with the wind.


    The light snores from underneath the bed stopped the very second I could smell something other than blood, and without skipping a single beat, Arthur rolled out from beneath the bed, swivelled to his feet, and blinked with one eye like a frog, in less than a second. He¡¯s not a demon for nothing, I suppose. He was mostly naked, apart from some black boxers that mad eme glad he wasn¡¯t a complete beast. Bending my back a bit, I noticed his oddly professional suit, folded neatly by the foot of the bed, with the bowler hat on top. Arthur himself, well¡­


    His hair was all fuzzy, and seemed to be slightly longer than it was yesterday. His horns also seemed a little bit longer, but it may just have been the light. But that wasn¡¯t really the part that stood out. Almost his entire face and upper body, plus his hands and arms, were covered in blood. Well, dried blood, thank God. It seems he had quite the feast yesterday. I can¡¯t say I¡¯m much surprised, but¡­ it¡¯s still wierd, seeing such a cheerfull and innocent kid covered in blood from head to toe.


    Our eyes met. I had no expression on my face. He didn¡¯t seem to recognize me, furrowing his brows instead of smiling as he always seem to do whenever he saw, well, anyone. He¡¯s a real smiler. ¡°Good morning,¡± I said to him, noticing my wife squirming a bit under her covers, extremely unwilling to get up in the mornings. But she usually did, after a while. ¡°Hey, Arthur, I need you to get out of here,¡± I told Arthur sternly shooting a gaze and a nodd at my wife meaningly. His brows furrowed further, before he took a look back, noticed her, looked back at me, and seemed to realize something. His eyes opened wide and he gave me a lackadaisical smile. ¡°Oh! Right! Good awakening, yes!¡± he half-shouted, finally returning to being, well, Arthur. ¡°Not so loud, to the kitchen. Now,¡± I said, guiding him to the kitchen with a hand half on his bare back. He was very warm. Around 50 celcius, I¡¯d say.


    ¡°I¡¯ll go to the kitchen and eat breakfast,¡± I told Josey as I exited the bedroom. She grunted in resignation. I carefully guided the groggy demon from hell to the little table, got him to sit down, and grabbed my usuall breakfast. Yogurt, an apple, and a glass of cold water. Excellent. Arthur had a rather long face. ¡°What¡¯s the matter,¡± I asked him, not looking up from my excellent breakfast at all. ¡°Well, I¡¯m not hungry at all, that meal yesterday left me quite full, but¡­ what exactly are you eating?...¡± he asked, clearly being unable to hide his disgust in the least.


    ¡°What do you think it is?¡± I asked curiously. I¡¯m not sure what exactly exists in Hell, it is quite the mythical place, and I¡¯m not too much of a catholic, but¡­ from what this guy eats, I don¡¯t think there¡¯s too much cattle or the like. Arthur was silent for a moment, most likely in deep thought. ¡°I¡¯m guessing that white goop is bile or semen, that green thing must be a heart or a kidney, although is looks really weird, and that clear liquid must be the fabled ¡°water¡±,¡± he said with a straight face, forehead wrinkled in thought. Hm. No, that¡¯s not what I¡¯m eating. The water was right, but that¡¯s about it.


    ¡°This is yoghurt, this is an apple, and this is water,¡± I said, pointing to each of the items in order. Arthur followed my finger with his gaze, apparently trying to make sense of it all. He was just about to say something, when out of the corner of my eye, I could see a door slam open, and a little girl burst into the room. Patty. She looked at me, calmly eating my yoghurt as if it hadn¡¯t just been called bile, and then to the other end of the table, where Arthur sat, staring at her in extreme confusion(his most regular emotion, I¡¯ve found), Arthur being not only a demon with tiny wings, a tail and horns, but also entirely covered in blood. All and all, he made quite the stunning visage. Had I been quite right in the head, I¡¯d probably have had exactly the expression of fear, disbelief, surprise and morbid curiosity that my young daughter was currently displaying quite well.


    She gave one yelp, and ran right back to from whence she had came. Interesting. I looked at Arthur. Arthur looked at me. ¡°Go hide,¡± I told him as I put another spoon-full of yoghurt in my mouth. Arthur stood up, looked around, and ran towards any nearby door, which just so happened to be the door to the cellar.


    Arthur ran like the wind. That little girl had really looked terrified. Had he done something bad?... Nah, can¡¯t be. Maybe it¡¯s because he¡¯s only in his boxers?... Yup, let¡¯s say that. Arthur ripped the door open, fled inside, and shut it behind him. He was immediately met with darkness. Thankfully, since demons live in perpetual darkness, Arthur had absolutely no problem noticing the stone stairs descending before him. Arthur could hear a commotion brewing behind him and decided to make a run for it.


    ¡°There she goes at it again. First, she says I kill girls and butcher them, and now, she says I¡¯ve made a deal with the devil, and just so happen to do this by the kitchen table, both of us dressed only in boxers?¡± I told Josey. Patty was hiding behind Josey, clutching tightly to the brim of her nightgown, looking at me extremely accusingly. Patty was no lier, that I knew. In fact, everything she said about everybody was the objective truth. But since she said such outrageous things about me, well¡­ in short, she¡¯s a liar with no redeeming qualities. Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.


    Josey looked at Patty, and then looked at me. She had a complex expression on her face. She hated punishing just about anyone, but how else would you handle a liar like Patty? ¡°Patty! What have I told you about lying?!¡± Josey shouted, turning around to face Patty. ¡°B-, but I rewy saw it! He hawd howns and a taiw and wigws!!¡± Patty defended herself, despite her eyes tearing up at suddenly losing her one defence against her serial-killing satan-praising demon-worshipping father.


    There was a loud rumble in the stairs of someone coming downstairs. I already knew it was Seth. Within seconds, his pimple-covered, snow-white face popped out from behind the wall, his normally tired eyes, with heavy black bags beneath them, looked unusually energetic as he proved that he had been listening in on the whole exchange. ¡°What¡¯s all this about a demon?¡± he said, trying his hardest not to smile as he said this. Seth was the one real satanic in the house. Better make sure he never meets Arthur, all his dreams would be crushed.


    ¡°Patty is accusing me of treating a demon to breakfast,¡± I told him in order to put down any hopes he may have. He took it like you usually do. ¡°Oh,¡± he said, turned around, and went back to sleep. Frankly, it was quite the surprise that he could get up at this hour at all. As for Patty¡­ well, she¡¯s usually running about at any hour. She¡¯s a light sleeper. ¡°You can just go right back to bed, Josey, I¡¯ve gotta eat this and get to work soon,¡± I said, trying to disarm the whole situation. Josey seemed to accept it well enough, nodding quietly as she carried Patty back to her room.


    Arthur decided pretty quickly that it would be dangerous to touch anything since it might be a bomb or something, so he just sat in a corner of the damn wine-cellar, waiting out the conversation going on above. After a little while, everything got quiet. There was a knock on the cellar door. Arthur gulped. ¡°Wh-, who¡¯s there?...¡± Arthur cautiously asked. The door opened with a creak, and a sliver or light slithered down the stairs. Then it creaked back closed again, and Arthur was left again in the darkness and silence. He slowly climbed the stairs on all fours, and at the very top, right by the door, he found his clothes. And on top, he saw a little note, saying ¡°Get cleaned, being covered in human blood is hardly a flattering look here.¡± Arthur could somewhat understand. He grabbed the coat, removed the voider, and stuck it right on his boxers. He hoped to the good Lord below that this would work.


    Tap tap. He tried opening the door. He could not. Great! He soundlessly slid right through the door, and was right back where he had come in. It was bright. His eyes had to adjust, but soon enough, he could easily navigate through the room and to wherever he was going. He was in the kitchen. Steve was still sitting by the table, slurping his yoghurt. Arthur sneaked up behind him, something he was very, very good at. ¡°Where do I clean myself?¡± Arthur whispered into Steve¡¯s ear. Steve shuttered at this, but otherwise made no visual remark of the sudden question. He didn¡¯t even bother remarking to himself that a demon was literally whispering in his ear. ¡°Up the stairs, right on the left,¡± Steve whispered back before immediately taking a sip of his water. Arthur nodded, thanked, and went on his little trip about the house to find A. the stairs, and B. the bathroom.


    The kitchen was the heart of the house. Over there was the cellar, that way the bedroom, and that way was outside. There was only one door left that could possibly lead to his destination. Arthur didn¡¯t even bother testing if he could open it or not. Only extremely powerful spirits could move material things without, and Arthur probably wasn¡¯t one of those. He slid through the door, and was met with a hall. It went to the left and right. To the left was a single door, and to the right he could see, well, nothing, but if he looked straight ahead, he could see parts of the stairs, so he went right, and sure as hell, there it was. Arthur patted himself on the back for his amazing detective work.


    Arthur went up the stairs, and was met with another little hall. There were four doors in total, two on the left, two on the right. Right on the left. Right or left. Hm. Arthur decided to just check all the doors just to be sure. He popped his head into the first door on the right and was immidietly hit by the unmistakable smell of human (teenage) sweat. The entire room was black, the walls were covered in a myriad of posters, some having that star the voider was shaped like, some having strange demons that looked like they came straight from the 6¡¯th or 7¡¯th circle, and some with humans and big sketchy-looking words Arthur could barely read. The floor was covered in a black mat, but this was extremely hard to notice, since it was also covered in clothes, and strange square things(records) and a variety of other, unidentifiable things. To the left was a desk absolutely covered in things, and to the right, there was a very soft looking bed, from which Arthur could hear loud snoring. This was probably not the right room.


    Arthur popped his head back out. Never again. He tried the first door on the left next. It was very, very white. The floor was shiny, and the walls were shiny, really everything was shiny. It reminded Arthur of big, square scales, the kind only the strongest of humans and demons had. To think humans had access to these kinds of materials¡­ Arthur was quite stunned. But what really grabbed his attention was a little sign on the right of the room, right by a metallic sheet so polished he could see the whole room(but not himself, for some reason(probably because he was just a spirit at this moment)), that said ¡°cleanliness is a virtue¡±, which made Arthur think that this probably was the place. Arthur entered.


    On the right there was a strange altar that seemed to have religious use, which was connected to the metallic sheet and the sign. On the left, there was a large white tub-looking thing. Under the metallic sheet, there was a little handle, and underneath the handle there was another little white tub. Curious. Arthur was very curious. He turned the lever to the left. Nothing happened. To the right. Nothing. But then, he tried to turn it up, and that fabled water started flowing out of it! Whoa!! Arthur turned off his voider before holding his hand under it, despite the fear that it may be lethal. The blood he was covered in simply dissolved and went away. Arthur gasped. I see!


    Arthur spent the next quarter or so cleaning himself up, getting bloody water all over the floor. When he was done, he happily turned the voider back on, made his way downstairs and back to the cellar, got dressed, and stood proudly in the kitchen, hoping Steve would come along soon.

 Chapter Nine: A Detour to the Secret Lair to Dispose of the Body Stinking up the Car

    Arthur stood for quite the moment in the middle of the kitchen, just waiting for something to happen. Just as he was about to leave the house to check if the car was still there though, Steve emerged from the bedroom, dressed entirely in a dark navy suit. Josey kissed him goodbye, Steve said ¡°love you¡± and she said ¡°love you too¡±. He went outside, and Arthur followed along silently. Steve sighed as he walked along, clearly wanting to ask if Arthur was there or if he was coming along, but being unable to, since Arthur was probably invisible(God knows how) and talking to himself would be a one-way trip to a therapist. He ever met one of those and he would get a diagnose slapped on his ass, something which would be quite bad for his reputation.


    The moment he stepped into his car, he noticed the putrid stench of rotting human flesh. Goddamnit. He really should have cleared everything out last night, but then again, he had a contract to sign, so¡­ Well, wahetever. He can handle that later. His first stop would be down at the pier. He quickly turned the car around and drove towards the sea. The second he couldn¡¯t see the house anymore, he heard someone take a deep, sensual breath beside him. A digital beep sounded, and Arthur was sitting right next to him, breathing in the putrid air with a big, goofy smile on his face, as if he was smelling roses, and not the corroding flesh of murder.


    ¡°Ah, sorry, this smell just reminds me of grandma¡¯s place is all~¡± Arthur said, clearly lost in nostalgia at this point. ¡°How is it like there? In Hell?¡± Steve asked, being unable to hide his curiosity at this point. ¡°Hm? Oh, yeah, it¡¯s really nice! I¡¯m not too strong, so I usually just scout out the humans and let everybody else kill and butcher them,¡± Arthur said with a wry smile. Steve kept himself from saying that he could probably kill just about anyone by simply spitting on them. He wanted to ask Arthur more about Hell, but he could see the sea coming into view, and instead decided to just finnish up with yesterday¡¯s work.


    He parked the car in a rather secluded location, right next to an abandoned warehouse. The smell of the sea was gorgeous, as usual. It was one of his favourite smells, and he figured that his obsession with it was almost entirely from it¡¯s delicious smell that reminded him of his old grandfathers house by the sea. But enough about that. Arthur stepped out as well, stuck his nose in the air and gave it a great big whiff. Arthur didn¡¯t really know if he liked the smell or not, but for the moment, he could do well by it. Steve noticed that Arthur¡¯s suit was clean and dry, despite him having snuck off into the night with a bag of bloody meat and ravaged it. Already having come to trust the truthfulness of Arthur¡¯s word, Steve inquired about it. ¡°Oh, yeah, I figured I might get it dirty if I ate with it on, so I ate naked~¡± Arthur said with a smile, happily thinking back to the night before. This man is even worse off than I am, Steve thought to himself.


    Steve shrugged in response to Arthur before opening the boot, removing the three remaining bags and carrying them inside the abandoned warehouse. Arthur followed obediently and curiously.


    The warehouse was dark and cool and filled with iron and rust and chains and everything a warehouse used for fixing old ships could ever use. Arthur felt a bit spooked by it all. He could recognize exactly nothing of all of these things, and really, the only thing he could understand in the dim light was that these inanimate objects were, well, threatening. Spooky scary, even. Arthur would have tucked his tail between his legs in any other scenario, but he had already gotten used to the voider, and so, at this moment, he possessed none of his demonic qualities. He desperately wanted to do something to calm his anxious mind, such as grabbing Steves hand or asking them how much further, but he was a strong, scary demon from the 8th circle of hell! No way could he show Steve how miserable he was!!Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    The odd pair continued through the dimly lit warehouse for around a minute or so, before they came to a door, locked with a pin-code. Steve entered a code so quickly that Arthur didn¡¯t even have time to ask what the heck that little thing was, and then, the thick door slid open. A light went on, making the room get bright enough to just barely see what was in there. The wall that Arthur and Steve were met by was entirely covered by shelves, and on the shelves, an innumerable number of heads could be found. In jars. The fluid in the jars was slightly green, suggesting the liquid to be formaldehyde. As for the amount of heads¡­ Arthur could barely read, education was hardly a necessity down in Hell, but when trying to count the heads, he quickly ran out of fingers, toes, wings and tails.


    All of the heads were female. Young females, around 20-30 year olds. There were at least more than 50 of them. Arthur could only barely move his gaze enough to notice that Steve was looking at these heads with a wry smile, his eyes touched by the most gentle of sorrows. Arthur turned his attention to the left and right sides or the small, rectangular room. To the left, there was a square opening in the wall, with a pair of chains and a large lock keeping it shut. To the left of this opening there was a pitcher and a long blunt metal object, like the stick used to grind herbs in a mortar.


    ¡°Ah, the oven, yes,¡± Steve said in a calm, almost lackadaisical voice, very much unlike his regular, monotone voice, especially in it¡¯s strange, serene joy. Steve easily carried the rather heavy bags over to the oven, fished a large, metal key out of his pocket, inserted it into the lock, turned it around once or twice, and grinned as the heavy chains fell to the floor with a loud clang. ¡°Would you like to help?¡± he asked genuinely, smiling a curious little smile. Arthur was curious about the machine, but he would much rather observe than enrage Steve with a mistake. If Steve wanted to, he could probably kill him with one well placed stab! Steve really didn¡¯t want to take this risk, so he politely declined. ¡°All the more fun for me,¡± Steve said, shrugging.


    He operated some sort of lever that was on the hatch, allowing it to slide open. The hatch itself was around 5 centimeters thick at the least, and it must have been made of steel, considering its use. The inside was black like charcoal. Steve started humming as he thrust one of the bags, the lightest one, containing the clothes, into the hatch. He placed the cloth bag containing the head out of the way, apparently unwilling to put it in the hatch with the rest. When he picked up the last bag, he suddenly looked a fair bit confused. He quickly put the bag back on the floor again, opened it up, took a look inside, and looked back at Arthur, who suddenly realized why Steve looked so suspicious. ¡°Did you eat the legs?...¡± Steve asked, narrowing his eyes. ¡°I-, I was just hungry! I figured you didn¡¯t need them!¡± Arthur argued, averting his gaze out of guilt. Steve didn¡¯t like Arthur raveging his prey, but he didn¡¯t really cherish the legs, so he just gave Arthur a warning to never touch the face and that was that.


    He threw the bag into the hatch, pressed a couple button on the side of it that Arthur hadn¡¯t noticed before, and closed the hatch again. Arthur noticed that just as he closed the hatch, it became bright in there. Oven, Arthur finally thought. Steve sighed and made his way back into the main part of the warehouse, leaving what Arthur could only consider a secret room behind. Arthur followed, having gained even more respect for Steve.


    They got back into the car that smelled like a rotting corpse, and started driving once more, this time, heading to Steve¡¯s work. Steve didn¡¯t really know what to do with Arthur, but he thought that he might be able to get Arthur to join the team if he vouched for him. But he didn¡¯t know if he should. That¡¯s a thought for later, he thought.

 Chapter Ten: In the LDPD

    The car ride was, regrettably, spent mostly in silence. Every now and then, Steve would ask Arthur some question like ¡°So what happens to humans in Hell?¡± which Arthur would answer as best as he could, which usually wasn¡¯t too descriptive. He had never really considered the possibility of him having to explain Hell in detail to someone, so he had never really thought about what everything was like. ¡°Well, I¡¯m not really sure? Humans down there don¡¯t look like you do here in the least, but I have no idea why, sorry,¡± Arthur would say. He really had no idea. He could barely tell a human and a demon apart down there. And then, Arthur would respond with a question regarding Earth of his own. ¡°What are we sitting in, anyways?¡± he¡¯d ask, still wondering whether they were driving a magical rock or some strange creature he¡¯d simply never seen before. Steve would try to explain that it was a ¡°car¡±, but no matter how much he explained it by saying ¡°it¡¯s like a pair of bikes connected with metal but faster¡± or ¡°it¡¯s like sitting in a very fast bug¡±, Arthur simply couldn¡¯t understand the context. All he could do was accept that this strange thing was a ¡°car¡±, and that¡¯s about it.


    Eventually, Steve drove into a parking lot near a large skyscraper that had a logo on it saying ¡°LDPD¡± on a shield-like fixture. ¡°What¡¯s that stand for?¡± Arthur asked, pointing at the sign. ¡°That¡¯s the sign for the ¡°Los Demonios Police Department,¡± where I work,¡± Steve replied. ¡°What¡¯s a police department?¡± Arthur asked. Steve gave him quite the look before he got himself together. ¡°The police department is a state-owned company of sorts that offers protective and persecutory services to the people, in this case, specifically the people of Los Demonios,¡± Steve replied as calmly and collectively as he possibly could. Arthur wasn¡¯t stupid, he just didn¡¯t know how anything worked.


    ¡°Are we going inside?¡± Arthur asked, confused as to why they were still sitting in the car. ¡°Well, I¡¯ve been thinking, and I don¡¯t think it would do too well to have you around being all, well, visible and such, so I thought you could get invisible and just follow me around,¡± Steve said, hoping Arthur could agree so he didn¡¯t have to explain why a kid was following him around at work. Arthur furrowed his brows in thought for a moment before looking back up and nodding in agreement. ¡°Oh, by the way? How do you turn invisible?¡± Steve asked just as Arthur was about to press his voider twice. ¡°Well, I got this little handy device from the state when I joined the military to hunt humans,¡± Arthur said, pointing to the little five-pointed star-pin on his chest. Steve noticed that, unlike how the satanic symbol is usually, this one was, in comparison upside-down, the point pointing, well, upwards. He did not point this out.


    Instead, he simply nodded, Arthur pressed the voider twice, and off he was. Steve stepped out of the car, and the second he did, a voice whispered in his ear, ¡°I¡¯ll be right behind you, so don¡¯t be afraid.¡± Steve simply nodded again, despite not knowing why he, a well respected detective, should fear, well, anyone. Really, considering his nightly escapades and his invisible companion, he is more of a ¡°I am the one who knocks¡± than the guy who opens the door. But he didn¡¯t say this. He doesn¡¯t say too much, really.


    The breeze was warm and pleasant, birds chirped happily, the sky was blue and only a couple of clouds wafted through the skies, really, it was a pleasant day, had I not been stalked by an invisible demon expecting me to kill ¡°baddies¡±. But he seems like a pretty nice guy, so I¡¯ll accept it all.


    I quickly and easily made my way to the entrance of the prison I call ¡°work¡±, enter the spinning doors, give Bill, the security guard, a smile and a look at my id, walk through the pair of doors operated by Bill, get into the elevator, and pretend I can¡¯t hear Arthur panicking about, well, just about everything. Still can¡¯t get over the fact I¡¯ve somehow made friends with a literal demon. The elevator whirrs and whizzes and I¡¯m at the 7¡¯th floor, homicide. Yes, it¡¯s ironic, no, I didn¡¯t choose. People just thought that ¡°gee, that Smith fella sure does well solving homicides, he must have a talent!¡± and sent me to this poor excuse of sarcasm. I could hear a faint ¡°whoaaa¡± from behind me.


    ¡°Oh, Smith! Great timing!¡± I hear someone exclaim cheerfully. I already know who it is. A hairy man runs towards me, a stack of approx. 350 pages of pure report in his hand. His body was much like that of a gorilla, with a square jaw, square, defined muscles, square eyes, square beard, square hair, square being, a square man. He¡¯s the perfect example of a raw, well-trained officer who somehow got promoted past street-work(mostly) and all the way up to paper-work, something I can personally relate to. This man, Farber, is my partner. I already know what that report is before he reaches me at the speed of a small ballistic missile. This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    It¡¯s the report on Anna-Lisa Persson. She died the other day, parched, starved, thin as a needle, hair non-existent, arms covered in holes, really, quite gruesome. The scary thing isn¡¯t the state she was found in, no, the scary part is that her body was found at 6 am, but she disappeared at 4 am. Somehow or another, her body and soul had been drained entirely in less than two hours, something that would naturally take, well, a week at least.


    ¡°Ey bud! Glad ya came! Didn¡¯t think ya¡¯d come in on a saturday!¡± Farber shouted as he gave me a big ol¡¯ bear hug and I pretended not to hear someone whisper ¡°who is this should I stab them¡± behind me. ¡°Hey, Farber. You know I couldn¡¯t leave you alone to get ahead of me,¡± I told him jokingly. ¡°Hahahahahah! You just can¡¯t stay away from me, can ¡®ya?¡± he joked back, patting me on the back, noticing the lexicon of a report in his hand, remembering why he was holding it, and immediately shoving it in my hands. ¡°This is that report on that poor Anna-Lisa fella! Those forensic geeks just couldn¡¯t keep away from her, the perverts!¡± Farber said, reinforcing just how much of a jock he was. How he became a detective is beyond me.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure they don¡¯t do that. Now, what does it say?¡± I asked, flipping gently through the report without paying much attention to anything except the pictures, as those tell the biggest story. ¡°Well, I¡¯d luv¡¯ ¡®ta call it standard, but it really ¡®ain¡¯t. ¡®Parantly she was aware during the whole of it all, and she didn¡¯t die from blood-loss, nah, that¡¯d be too easy, somehow, she actually died from starvation. All her fats, muscle-mass, liquids, everything was just taken, blood almost least of all. Loss ¡®o blood would atleasta¡¯ been quick, but nah. Extremely curious. I ¡®ain¡¯t like it,¡± he said in pure pity and disdain. I had already known all this, but I might as well entertain him. I nodded silently and started walking towards my bed.


    Farber (and that other one) followed along. I nodded in greeting to anyone who made eye-contact with me. Nobody said it, but I was generally known as a ¡°cold motherfucker¡±, which is rather accurate, I suppose. My desk was located right in the corner, with a rather excellent view of the city. Our office was an ¡°open¡± one, with no cubicles or the like. People generally enjoy this, and I suppose I do too, in general. It¡¯s not good when I¡¯m pursuing the work of others like me and I accidentally pop a smile, but I usually hide it in time.


    I could kind of hear Arthur standing in the corner, looking out over the city with a ¡°woooww¡±, but I, as always when it comes to him, ignored it. Farber seemed to notice it though, turning around sharply to stare into the corner suspiciously. Not what I think about it, he¡¯d been glancing behind me all the time when we were talking. Could he see him?... probably not. My family couldn¡¯t, I cannot, him being able to see him would be slightly ridiculous, even for someone like Farber, who has a literal emotional radar, I swear to God.


    I slapped the report down on my desk and sat down. ¡°I¡¯ll come back when yer finished!¡± Farber said, waving as he went to his desk on the other side of the office, which is extremely inconvenient. Is it just my imagination, but did he glance to the window before he left? ...Must have seen a bird or something. I started flipping through the thing, checking which parts will be relevant to me and which won¡¯t be. Hm. Needle-like marks all over the forearms, strange bite-mark on left buttock, no signs or any sexual abuse, she was a virgin, left a party unintoxicated(she was a teetotaller, apparently) with two friends before suddenly disappearing into the night, no signs of a struggle, found in a little river just outside the city around five hours after disappearance, no signs or either struggle or drowning¡­ basically, just what I already knew. I could almost feel Arthur breathing down my neck, reading the report to along with me.


    I had gotten around half-way through the report when I hear heavy, rapid steps headed for my desk. I finished reading the sentence before looking up to see what Farber had to say. ¡°They found anuther one!¡± he said in a complex mixture of dismay at another death and glee at finding more clues to catch the bastards who did this. I felt neither emotion of the two. But I did hear a little gasp from behind me. ¡°Where?¡± I asked cooly, already standing up and grabbing my coat. ¡°Down by the pier, by the Grendarell Roundabout,¡± Farber said, already heading towards the elevator. I followed. We spent the elevator-ride discussing this new victim. Faber had heard very little, but he knew it was another young girl, unidentified at the moment, same as the other girl. Needle marks, thin as a twig, the such.


    We got outside to the parking lot and were just about to head to my car when I asked if we could go in his car instead. ¡°How sa?¡± he asked, since we always took my car. ¡°Well, I¡¯m not sure what happened, but my car smells simply horrid, like something died in there,¡± I told him. He expressed a bit of concern, before guiding me to his car instead. I could hear Arthur whimper.  Faber had a nice, military-green porsche, big enough for two. I envied him, really, but killing someone and stealing their car was generally frowned upon, so I chose not to. I¡¯m not sure where Arthur decided to sit, but¡­ I figure he found a pretty good place to sit.


    Now all that¡¯s left is going back to the pier and hope they don¡¯t inspect that conveniently-placed abandoned warehouse that looked just like the sort of place in which you would find whoever had decided to suddenly go after young virgins, apart from myself, that is.