“The hell is wrong with you, boss?” Becca said, fumbling around with her seatbelt, “What’d you see?”

“A god damn Dominion,” I muttered, “Why was there an Dominion there?”

“A what?” Becca asked.

“An Angel,” Steven said, “that’s an Angel.”

“Oh, like one of those Angels from the, what? 4th circle of Heaven or whatever?” Becca said, sounding a little grouchy, “But why would we run from one of those? Aren’t they supposed to be the good guys”

“It's the 6th choir, Becca, circles are reserved for Demons. And good guys?” remarked Steven, “I guess in some ways you are correct.”

“Whatever, Steve, same fucking thing. But why would this Dominion thing be all that scary for us? I mean, I know that what the boss does isn’t exactly legal, but we’re not going around killing people. We’re not, like, evil or anything… I think. And shouldn’t Angels be hunting Demons or something more important instead?”

“They are hunting Demons…” I muttered, “I’ll explain later, but we need to get back to the office.”

I made it back in record time, and from the looks of the people I passed everyone they were just as happy as I was to be off the road. I don’t blame them, I nearly ran over 3 sets of pedestrians, and I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve been honked at. I got out of the car, and all but dragged my two companions back to my office. The wards I’ve placed in the building should be enough to hide our presence from any prying eyes, and I hoped that it was strong enough to keep any Angels out as well. At the very least it’ll buy me time.

“What the hell boss.” Becca said, undoubtedly unnerved at my actions, “What’s that all about?”

I ignored her for the moment and instructed Steven to tell the other workers to leave and take the next couple of days off, regular pay. He left without saying much, and only after I checked the windows to make sure that I wasn’t followed did I turn my attention back to my secretary.

“Ok Becca,” I said, “I think you should sit down for this.”

“Boss, you’re seriously starting to freak me out.” she said, slumping on the chair opposite mine.

“Yeah, well, prepare to be freaked out more.”

“What is it?” she said nervously.

“You remember how I said that the Angel was hunting for Demons?”

Becca nodded.

“Well, that Angel has its eyes on me.”

I allowed her to let what I said sink in. She raised an eyebrow, and her expression changed from surprise, and then disbelief. I didn’t blame the girl for acting like that.

“You’re saying you’re some kind of demon, boss?” That was the disbelief talking.

Instead of answering her with words I stood up from where I sat, took off my nice, new coat and willed my human guise away. The process is never pleasant - a side effect of pain receptors coupled with having every bone and organ in the body break - but I felt it necessary to erase all doubt from Becca’s mind. Last thing I want is for her to think I’m insane. As soon as my the last traces of my guise wore off, I took a seat back into my now-too-small office chair, facing the awestruck girl.

My “true” form, or more accurately the body I default to if I wore no guise, certainly would be an impressive one, as my figure probably expanded 200% in volume and I gain at least 6 inches in height. Since my physical body in this world depended a lot on how society views demons in general, I appeared to be a slightly red, hoofed individual with big horns and long, pointy teeth. I never did like how it looked, way too cliché, no depth to it, but there was definitely no mistaking what I am in this form.

“I… uh, wow, boss.” she said, eyes wide with wonder, “I dunno what to say, but, uh, that’s pretty damn cool! Like, really damned cool.”

“Interesting reaction,” I said, “most people usually cower in fear or are too busy worshiping me. It‘s a nice change, I suppose.”

“Yeah, with you being a Demon ‘n all… Oh shit!” Becca’s eyes widened again, but this time it was from fear, “Does that mean I sold my soul or whatever to you when I signed the contract to work here? Cause I didn’t read the thing before I signed. I mean, no one reads ’em right?”

I laughed out loud, my voice booming, of all the things she’s worried about, it’s this! “No, Becca, I don’t think it works that way. Not even Hell would allow the use of contracts to be abused like it is in the Human world.”

“Oh, good.” she said, “Still awesome then. But uh, boss, if there‘s Demons, then there’s a hell, right?”

“Correct.”

“And since I’m kind of working for you, and uh… I haven’t exactly been the saintliest of people, does that mean I’m going to Hell when I die?”

“That depends.”

Becca looked at me like I’d just spat on her mothers face, she was clearly not happy with my answer, “Boss, why the fuck are you so calm about this? I could go to Hell, and burn for eternity of whatever the fuck you people do down there.”

I chuckled a little, “It doesn’t quite work like that, Becca. You have to screw up a lot, and I mean a lot, to be sent down to Hell, and even then the sentence is never for an eternity... That is reserved for us. At worst you’ll spend a few hundred years and get reincarnated or something.”

“That still kind of sucks, boss.”

“Oh don’t worry Becca,” I said with a smile, “I’ll put in a good word for ya, get you the VIP treatment and whatnot. Heck, you even have a buddy of mine to vouch for you, so you’ll be fine. And plus, you’ve got a long while to go before you’ll need to worry about the afterlife.

“Anyway, now that you know the truth, and your curiosity is satiated,” I said, “I suppose I should give you a raise if you’re still interested to work for me.”

“Oh hell yeah! Er, pardon the pun… I guess that expression sounds pretty dumb now that I think about the context… but uh, of course I’ll still work for ya, boss! Who else can say that they work for the Devil and get away with it? And I get paid too! Fuck yeah I'm down!”

I smiled, got up again and willed my Demonic form away. I closed my eyes and I pictured the appearance of the human who’s form I was taking: a young, 26 year old Caucasian male just a bit shy under 6”1. I pictured the short, raven black hair neatly styled to one side, the well trimmed beard and the handsome, angular features of his face, and finally the structure of his body. I envisioned every muscle, every cell and molecule that made up his athletic frame and with one final bit of will I forced my physical body to form into that ideal. I opened my eyes again, feeling like I have for the past 500 or so years, back in that familiar body.

I saw that Becca’s face was looking rather red, and a big grin was on her face. I was about to say something but she beat me to it.

“Say, boss,” she said, barely holding back a chuckle, “I know that I don’t exactly follow company dress code, but even I wouldn’t go that far. Not that I mind though, I‘ve always thought you were a looker!”

I was confused at first, but then I felt an odd chill down in an area that shouldn‘t get chilled. I looked down and saw that the pants that I was wearing had ripped at the seams and had subsequently fallen off my body. I also realized that the shirt I had been wearing had also ripped off, and I was in fact fully nude - it was one of the less appealing aspects of changing forms.

I blushed a little, and immediately took my discarded jacket, covered the important bits and sat down again.

I cleared my throat, and forced a neutral expression before I said, “I am glad that you got a laugh out of that, Becca, but if you would be so kind as to get me a new set of clothing, we can continue our discussion. Oh, and bring Steven here as well, I’ll need both of you.”

“Gotcha, boss.” she said, her grin as big as ever, “And you should ‘dress’ like that more often, it’s a good look.”

I ignored her remark and rolled my eyes.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

When I finished dressing I told Becca and Steven to enter my office. From the laughing outside I could tell that Becca had just recounted what happened in here earlier to Steven, and from the look on Steven’s face when he entered I could tell that he was less than amused.

“Madam,” he said, “need I say how unwise it is to behave like that to someone like the Master?”

“Ah, shut up,” she replied, “the boss can take a joke or two, and it’s not like he has anything to be embarrassed about. I mean, damn! Have you seen the package he’s hiding?”

I sighed again, and stopped both of their bickering. I usually enjoyed seeing the two get at each other, even at my expense, but there were serious matters to attend to. The two stopped and looked at me; I could see that all semblance of fun and games had drained from their faces. When I mean business, I show it.

“I’m glad to see I have your attentions,” I said, “but if you haven’t noticed by now, we have bigger problems to take care of. There‘s an Angel after me, and it‘s going to be all too happy to hull my ass back to Hell. And if that happens, both of you will be without a job.”

“Of course, sir.”

“Yeah, wouldn’t want that, and uh, sorry ‘bout earlier, boss.”

“Which is why I need both of your help.” I continued, ignoring the two, “That Dominion won’t back off unless one of us goes, and I’m hoping that it won’t be me. It will chase me, and it will find me. And unfortunately, you two are involved in this as well.”

“Uh… what can we do though?” Becca asked, looking a little more nervous.  “Can’t you just kick it’s ass or something?”

I glanced at Steven saw that he looked dumbfounded that Becca would even suggest such a thing. True, the girl was still ignorant, and with all the things that are happening to her I don’t blame her inability to measure the situation accurately. If only I could just “kick its ass”, as she puts it. If only it were that easy.

“Unfortunately, for certain reasons, that is not something that is feasible, or even remotely possible.” I said.

“Then what do we do?”

“Easy, we get help.” I answered, before turning to address Steven, “Do you still have influence with the Order?

”

Steven nodded.

“Good, get me a young, good looking male, preferably 18 to 22 years of age. It doesn’t matter if he’s well versed or not, but it would probably be better if he won’t be missed. I want him here as soon as possible, and make sure to tell him only the minimum amount of information. Bullshit if you have to, I don’t care, just get him here fast. You know the drill.”

Steven nodded, and asked, “Is there anything else that needs to be done, sir?”

“Yeah, prepare the old summoning circle while you‘re at it. I’ll get everything else ready.”

“Of course, sir.”

With that Steven left the room. That was another good quality about Steven, he never questioned my orders, and he never asked about why or what I’m doing. I wouldn’t call it blind faith, exactly, but more like experience. He knew that things were easier to understand through action rather than explanation, especially in this kind of business, and he also knew that questioning a Demon was not a wise thing to do. It’s a good trait, but that kind of devotion gets tiresome. That’s where Becca came in.

I could tell that she was absolutely confused. As soon as Steven left she drilled me with half a dozen questions, and it was nice to see that she disregarded the fact that I could disintegrate her bones on a whim. I answered her as best I could, I explained to her the basic nature of the world, about the Demons and the Angels. I told her about the fall of Lucifer and the subsequent consequences. I told her the hierarchical structure of Hell, the difference between the Fallen and the newly arisen Demons, although the terms are more or less interchangeable nowadays.

“I’ve read about most of that stuff already, boss.” Becca said, eyes rolling, “I thought that things wouldn’t be so… I don’t know, predictable, I guess. Or at least it should be more dark and demonic or something.”

I sighed, “Who do you think told these people to write the books, Becca?”

“Oh, I guess you guys did, huh?”

“Exactly.” I answered, “We can’t exactly do our business if our clients are fed false information… or at least false information that prevents them from contacting us.”

“So, like, we’re gonna summon another Demon for help?”

“You’re starting to see it, Becca, and you’re going to help me.”

“I still get to keep my soul, right?” she said, giving me a curious look.

“You won’t be doing the actually summoning, so yes, you keep your soul.” I said with a laugh, “However, one of the materials needed is the blood of a virgin. Fresh, preferably.”

She looked at me, shocked, and then her face shifted fourteen shades redder. I guess she thought that I didn’t know about her sex life - or lack there of - and given the way she dressed I could see that she didn’t want anyone to know. Do kids these days think that their virginity was something to be ashamed about? Was sex seen as a badge of honour?

“What?” I asked, “You actually thought I didn’t know?”

“I thought that…” she said, voice wavering with the embarrassment, “I… yeah, you can laugh all you want.”

“I’m not going to laugh,” I said, patting the kid on the head. I really did like Becca, no need to trample on her pride, “I actually like virgins, back in the day families used to sacrifice their virgin daughters to summon me. Not a bad thing at all, and plus you‘re still young. I wouldn‘t want some guy to take you away now. I'd get jealous!”

She only nodded, her cheeks still red. She gave me a rather strange look, one that I haven’t seen in a long while. I realized that she could have interpreted my last statement in a whole different way, and although I do like her, I didn’t like her quite that way. She’s way too young for me, about several thousand millennia to be precise. I’ll just assume that she didn’t think of me that way.

“Well then,” I said, breaking the awkward silence, “I think you should take the rest of the day off, go watch tv or use one of the computers. But do not go outside! That Angel’s still looking for us, and you should probably spend the night here as well. I think I have some spare blankets around here, you’re free to sleep in the office.”

She nodded again, blushing. She quietly left my office, her usual spark quelled for the moment, and from my window I saw that she sat down beside a computer and opened up FaceBook or porn or whatever young people do on the net.

I went back to my desk, and for the next few hours I simply pondered the situation in front of me. If I didn’t get the help that I needed then I was in serious trouble. I didn’t have Hell’s backing any more, and without its influence I was severely limited in what I could do; without some sort of connection I’m basically doomed. The prospect of going back to Hell was also less than appealing, after all, I didn’t leave there without a reason. This meant that the only way to survive was through some help from an old “friend” of mine, but we left on… less than friendly terms. Although I sounded confidant when I told Becca and Steven the plan, I honestly don't think things will go that smoothly. Hopefully everything will go as planned, because there certainly isn't a plan B this time.

I stared at the wall, thinking over everything that could go wrong, when I heard my cell phone ring. I took the thing out of my drawer and saw a familiar number.

“Yes, Steven?”

“Everything is taken care of, sir. Your man should be arriving tomorrow morning at noon.”

“Good, I assume that he’s what I requested?”

“Of course, sir.”

“Wonderful, let’s get this over with then.”

I hung up and spent the rest of the night setting everything that I needed for the coming day.