James Exosia

In the dark, cramped, noisy Omega dungeon, under Lucifer’s castle in Hell, I held Emily as she sobbed into my shoulder. Her cries mixed with the persistent moans of the damned, and echoed through the halls.

“I’m here, Emily, you have me.” I repeated.

Emily looked up. Her makeup, already smudged from the heat and sweat, was now smeared down her cheeks. She wiped it away. “I’m sorry you had to see that. Thank you James.”

“Not a problem” I answered. “But, you know, we really should get going.”

Emily disentangled herself from me, and we both stood up.

SLAM! A loud noise came from behind me, reverberating up the hallway.

“Shit, we left the door open.” I said.

As Emily and I approached the end of the hallway, we heard voices. The words were hard to make out over the constant groan emanating from the cells, but the voices were distinct.

And they were growing closer.

Emily and I looked at each other in horror. There were only two ways to go: up to the hallway, towards the dungeon entrance, and towards the approaching demons. Or down the hallway, away from the demons and the way out.

We backed up cautiously, and I flipped the latch on the one place we could hide: Nigel Butler’s as-yet-unoccupied torture cell. Emily and I squeezed inside, and pulled the door almost closed, but not latched.

As the demons passed, we could make out their conversation.

“You need to stop leaving the Omega dungeon door open.”

“I swear, I closed it last time I was down here.”

“That’s what you said last time.”

“Yeah, I know, but come on. Who’s going to escape? This is Hell after all.”

“It’s protocol. And if you don’t like it, you can stay a Lackey for all eternity.”

“Screw you.”

“Seriously, have you been living under a rock?”

“What?”

“You haven’t heard about the Hybrid that’s been running around pissing off Lucifer? If you ever wanna get into the field, you’ll have to stay up to date”

“I dunno. I’m a Lackey. Mortal shit is above my pay grade.”

“We’re demons, you idiot. We don’t have a pay grade.”

“Exactly.”

“You are infuriatingly stupid.”

“So I’m infuriating? Good, I’m doing well.”

There was a sudden loud roar, a wet smack, and a sizzling hiss. The demons’ conversation ceased after that.

As the footsteps faded off, Emily and I nudged the cell door back open. Hardly daring to breathe, we listened for the demons. Hearing nothing, we tiptoed back to the head of the hallway, slipped through the door (and closed it behind us) and darted back up the stairs.

“That was close” I said, once we were safely away.

“Tell me about it.” Emily replied.

We navigated back through the castle wing, and after not too long, we found the original intersection where we had decided to detour to the dungeons. This time, however, we followed the signs for the throne room.

As we followed these signs, the castle became more and more gratuitously macabre, with torches made of human bone and ear wax, drapes made of skin, and decor made of fingers and toes.

It was mildly disturbing. I hadn’t come this way before, but eventually the gruesome decor gave way to the familiar blood-red carpets, sulfuric incense, and demonic portraits.

And then we were at the throne room, where I realized with yet another sinking feeling that I hadn’t thought this far ahead. Lucifer would undoubtedly be in or near his throne, between us and the Scroll.

Emily must have noticed my hesitation. “You didn’t have a plan here, did you?”

I shook my head. “I don’t really have one, other than grabbing it and getting out by not wanting to be here anymore.”

“If we can even get to it.”

And then we heard another set of approaching footsteps. Emily and I hid behind a nearby ceiling-to-floor tapestry. It was dark red, and reeked of death. Dyed red with blood, of course.

The footsteps stopped on the other side of the tapestry. There was a great creaking groan as the doors were opened. Quietly, we tiptoed out of our hiding spot, and tailgated into the throne room behind the demon. As it began the long trek up towards the throne room, we darted off to the left side, behind a statue.

Through the smoke and haze, we sneaked from statue to statue, tiptoeing, hopping over the rivulets of blood and sulfur that came down from the walls, until eventually we were near enough to the head of the room to make out the conversation.

We could also see the Scroll, sitting on a stone ledge next to the enormous built-in throne. By good luck, it was also on the left side.

“Thank you for bringing me this, Qkxztl” Lucifer drawled.

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“Of course, my lord.”

“Now get out of here, you miscreant.”

“As you wish.”

Peering around the pillars, we could see the demon Qkxztl backpedaling furiously towards the throne room entrance.

“AAMON!” Lucifer suddenly roared, and Emily and I jumped. A tendril of dark smoke shot down from the ceiling, slammed into the floor, expanded into a tornado of unholy energy, and coalesced into Aamon. I hadn’t seen him since the bank, and I wasn’t eager to go face to face with the cruel demon again.

“Yes?”

“The Hybrid has entered Hell.” Lucifer said. “This was found in the Fields of Torment, where the extraction party made their incursion into the Hybrid’s quarters.”

Aamon raised his arms, and caught… my suit jacket. Fuck.

“Find him.” Lucifer ordered.

Aamon raised my jacket to his face and inhaled. “It will be my pleasure.” he said, grinning.

“And bring me Naqud from the Treasury.” Lucifer continued. “I need to move the Scroll into the Vault until this is over.”

“Of course.” Aamon bowed, turned, and stalked towards the exit.

“He knows we’re here.” Emily whispered to me, the worry clearly displayed in her facial expression.

“No.” I corrected her. “He knows I’m here.” Emily’s fear turned to excitement, as she realized the implications. “I distract him. You get the Scroll.”

At the same moment, however, Aamon roared from the entrance. “HE’S HERE!”

“What?” Lucifer called.

“THE HYBRID IS IN THIS ROOM! HE CAME THROUGH THE DOOR!” Aamon shouted from the far end.

Gulp. I stepped out from the pillar. “Hi, Lucifer.”

He snarled at me. “You idiot boy. You really thought you could waltz in here and just steal my things?”

“Well, I got this far, didn’t I?” I asked, working my way to the towards the right-hand side of the room, turning Lucifer’s back to the Scroll.

Lucifer walked down the steps from his throne. “So close, yet you failed. You’re in my kingdom now, boy, and that means you play by my rules. You could have had wealth, power, love. But you threw it all away. And for what? A misguided sense of righteousness?”

“Get this through your thick skull.” I said, keeping Lucifer’s attention firmly on myself. And Aamon’s too. He was somewhere behind me, presumably stalking closer. “You don’t own me, you don’t control me. I have my own reasons for my actions. You pompous twit.”

Lucifer’s voice turned cold. “Don’t disrespect me in my own home, boy.” He waved his hand, and a bolt of flame shot towards me. I stumbled back reflexively, and fell down.

The fire washed over me. I could feel its heat, and see it scorching my clothes, but it wasn’t painful. It didn’t burn me.

Lucifer couldn’t hurt me, not here.

I opened my eyes and stood up. Behind Lucifer, Emily was inching closer to the Scroll.

Lucifer realized I wasn’t looking at him, but rather, behind him. He turned, and saw Emily.

She grabbed the Scroll. Lucifer screeched, and shot towards her in a smokey blur. But the space around Emily twisted and contorted - and they both vanished.

I want to leave I thought. With the all-too familiar gut-wrenching jerk, the spatial topography of Hell distorted around me, and I shot straight up, through the throat of hell, and landed on my dorm ceiling.

Emily and Lucifer were fighting for the Scroll. She was on my bed, curled around it in the fetal position, and Lucifer was beating on her.

But Emily wasn’t a Hybrid, and on Earth, Lucifer was powerless to force her arms open. Heavy ears were streaming down her face. The mental anguish of Lucifer’s beatdown must have been terrible.

I dropped from the ceiling, and kicked Lucifer away. With a casual backhand, he threw me into the opposite wall.

Next to my closet. Heaven. I pulled open the door, revealing the pristine entrance hallway.

I tried to helped Emily up. “Keep the scroll.” I said. “Lucifer can’t get it if you hold on to it.” But she didn’t move. The shock of everything in Hell, combined with Lucifer’s psychological onslaught, had finally taken her out of the fight.

I started to extract the Scroll from Emily’s arms, but Lucifer knocked me out of the way. I landed in an undignified mess on Kevin’s desk.

There was only one easy solution here.

I got off the desk and kicked Lucifer in the crotch.

It was like kicking a brick wall. My foot stung, and I was sure I’d broken something. But Lucifer recoiled in pain, covering his groin with his hands.

I grabbed the scroll from Emily, and unceremoniously threw it into the closet.

Lucifer jumped after it. As the tips of his fingers crossed the plane of the closet door, Heaven itself violently rejected him. A bright white tendril of holy energy shot out of the closet, throwing Lucifer against the far wall and pinning him there.

The Scroll itself was safely on the floor of the hallway. No demon could reach it there. We had won.

I walked up to Lucifer, still struggling against the holy force that was crushing him against the wall. “What was that about me failing?” Lucifer didn’t respond, clearly preoocupied with resisting the incorporeal tendril of power that arced across the room in a mesmerising display. It seemed to be taking all his strength.

I took a moment to appreciate the fact that Satan himself was fighting a doorframe and losing badly. Then I walked across the room and closed the closet door. Lucifer collapsed on the floor, drained from his unexpected ordeal. I kicked him in the nuts again for good measure.

Lucifer coughed, flipped me off, and rolled into the abyss. The pit of Hell closed behind him, the smoke and ash and sulfur retreating into the chasm as it sealed itself.

I turned to the bed. Emily was still curled up in the fetal position, crying. Her dress was covered in soot and ash. “Emily? It’s over. We won.”

----------------------------------------

Emily Butler

I was stunned, shocked. Lucifer had just flamed James. I almost cried out in horror. But then he stood up, and I was relieved.

Oh right. The mission. I inched closer to the scroll, but Lucifer turned to face me. Shit. I grabbed the scroll. He roared, and shot towards me in a bolt of dark smoke. I need to leave.

I felt the castle contort itself around me. With a jerk that felt like my internal organs were getting scrambled, I flew upwards.

But something was holding on to my ankle.

I slammed into the ceiling, rolled, and fell onto the bed. Lucifer was right behind me, and I needed to protect the Scroll. I clutched it tightly.

But why am I doing so much for James? He’s driven by his cock, just like all other guys are. He was staring at my tits all throughout dinner. I shouldn’t have worn such a slutty, form-fitting dress. Really, I was just asking to be ogled. I know he just wants to get into my pants. I suppose it’s really all I’m good for. I should know, I’m essentially a professional at it by now since that’s what I’ve been doing my whole life. Good thing my father started me off young so I could get used to what it’s like.

The world blurred as the tears came. I closed my eyes, curling into a ball as the torrent of terrible thoughts saturated my mind.

And I thought he’d face justice now that he’s been arrested. Ha. As if. The judge is probably going to be part of his circle of perverts, and let him off easy. I can imagine it now, they’ll wink at each other knowingly, as the judge gives him community service. He won’t even have to face other inmates. And then he’ll be back… for me. I may as well just drop out of college now and start working the streets; it would probably be safer.

I could hear James saying something. His voice was distant, and I felt something clawing at my chest. I curled tighter.

*I should just end everything now. If I’m dead, then my father can’t get back at me, and James can never get the chance to hurt me. Oh, I wish I was dead. *

The Scroll was torn out of my arms. I had failed. I buried my face in my hands and cried harder.

There was a bright light, and a sound like electricity. I tightened my eyes against the light.

Then the light stopped.

“Emily?” I heard James say. “It’s over. We won.”

I cried harder. James was going to hurt me, he didn’t love me, he just wanted to get me in bed-

“It’s alright Emily. I’m here for you.” I felt his fingers in my hair. I felt his arms around me, and I remembered how comforting they were earlier. “It’s alright, Emily. Lucifer’s gone. I’ve got you. I’m here.” The flood of fear and sadness was slowly wiped away by the reminder that James was the only one who had stuck through everything with me.

Slowly, I dried the tears from my eyes. James was holding me. Everything was alright. As my mind cleared, I looked around the room.

The hole to Hell was gone. Kevin was still frozen in his chair. James’s clothes were scorched beyond recognition, and his face was covered in soot, but he was there.

I started crying again, but this time, it was out of happiness.