The sky was cloudy and the air was filled with gunshots and bombshells. My heart was pounding and my head felt dizzy. Where was I again?

“Stop, please! We’re comrades Michael! Get- get off me!”

I thought I heard someone shouting, but I wasn’t sure. Something felt warm.

“Wa-wait! Stop! Please, Michael! PLEASE!!”

The Devil would surely smile on this wonderful day.

…

Some time later, I woke up to find myself surrounded by corpses and on top of a woman I didn’t recognize. I stood and looked around, only to notice an officer waving at me urgently from the trench. I crawled over, realizing that I was only alive by some miracle after staying in the open so long. Sure enough, as soon as I jumped into the trench, a bullet flew past my head.

“Private Michael, what were you doing away from your position?”

His words seemed to set off a spark in my brain, bringing back memories I felt like I shouldn’t remember.

“I... I’m not sure, Sarge. I just woke up and I was there.”

“Well, don’t do it again. Go back to your squad Private.”

“Yes sir!”

I crawled back to my designated squadron – Squad 13. When I got back, I noticed that some people were missing, including the woman I had a crush on. I tried asking the squad leader only for him to shoot me a question back.

“Leader sir, where is Cassandra?”

“Last time I saw her Michael, she was with you. You said you had something to talk to her about.”

Something whispered that I should agree, so I nodded my head affirmatively.

“Anyway, Michael, where were you for the last few hours? Every squad member was required to report back to their stations at 1500.”

“Sorry Lieutenant, I can’t confirm either. I woke up out in the open next to Gordon Trench.”

“Jesus Christ, out in the open!? How the hell did you get there!?”

“No idea sir, some devil must have taken me.”

“Well, when a medic comes by we’ll get you checked out. Do you still know your designation, Private?”

“301 Sir!”

“Looks like you’re fine to me. Just be careful next time. Oh, and what happened to Private Sandra?”

For some reason I couldn’t understand, my heart started pumping loudly in my chest. I stuttered in my reply.

“Sh-She said she had somewhere to be and we split up halfway. She should have been long gone by the time I woke up in the field.”

“I’ll have to ask MP to do an investigation later. Report to your station Private.”

“Yes sir!”

After wiping an innocuous bead of sweat off my head – for some reason the freezing underground air felt warm – I went back to my assigned station. After sitting there for a while, I got the order that every soldier hopes he’ll never hear. Charge forward.

“All soldiers in Area 4, observers have reported that there is a lapse in fire from enemy lines. At 1800, all soldiers are to charge forward.”

After acknowledging the order, I grouped together with my squadmates and waited by the open for the time to come. The squad leader looked at our blank faces and nervously stammered some encouragement.

“Alright men! It’s - it’s time to push the enemy back! When the clock turns 1800 in 300 seconds and the officers signal the charge, we’re going to show those bastards what for!”

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My squadmates and I silently nodded our heads, too anxious to respond. After waiting for what felt like a lifetime, the signal finally came.

“All units, Charge!”

I jumped out of the trench with my leader on my left and the rest of the squad right behind me. The empty battlefield was suddenly filled with screams and a thousand gunshots for a trumpet. The bright flashes of muzzles and the smell of blood and gunpowder immediately assailed my mind as I ran forward. The sound of bullet fire, which Command said had lapsed, was as loud as thunder in my ears. Even louder was the stampede of footsteps to drown it. In the middle of roaring beasts, I couldn’t tell if I was screaming too. Suddenly, I saw something strange on the battlefield. Someone strange.

A man in a black business suit stood in front of me, smoking a cigarette while casually looking around. He looked like a salaryman from an office building, not a man on the killing field. He wasn’t a soldier holding a gun nor a displaced civilian looking for cover. No, he was something else. Something else entirely.

He turned his head towards me and suddenly the emotions that I thought were numb came crashing back into my mind. His eyes were a pale yellow, like those of a wolf. From under his black hair, two inconspicuous horns poked out. His mouth, which I thought was closed, suddenly opened and a full array of shark-like teeth displayed themselves. His forked tongue licked his lips as he said something to me.

“A human shouldn’t be able to see me. Are company spells getting cheaper?”

I tried to scream, but my jaw wouldn’t move. The devil himself was in front of me and fear froze my tongue. He slowly approached me and I turned around to run. My desperate escape away from the battle didn’t escape my superiors, however. An officer saw me deserting and decided that he had to promote discipline. Taking out a pistol, he shot me right through the eyes. I thought I heard him mutter something.

“Don’t blame me, blame yourself. Cowards die in war.”

I wanted to shout that he was wrong, that I was running from something far worse than war! But my voice wouldn’t leave my lungs and I fell to the ground helplessly. I tried to look behind me, so strong was the fear that even as I lay dying I wanted to check if I was safe. Or maybe, it was precisely because I was dying that my fear only grew stronger.

I looked and there he was. Right in front of my blurry eyes. I knew he would take me, I knew I was going to be tortured for eternity. I prayed for God to save me, something I had done a few times on the battlefield but never like this. Never hoping so desperately. Please, save me! Anyone!

—

I looked at the dying man before me and shook my head. Did he really think I was going to eat him? There's no way I would do that on a business trip. It's too unprofessional and besides, corporate would kill me. Still, if he was already dead… Why not grab a soul while I’m here? Those company quotas are only getting worse and worse these days.

I reached out for his soul and stashed it in my briefcase. Gunfire and chaos were all around but it just passed right over me. The greatest benefits of traveling for work were the safety packages the company offered. If I came to the human world on my own time, I couldn’t imagine how much an invulnerability spell would have cost me.

“Well, I might not have needed it anyway,” I muttered as I finished storing the soul and closed the briefcase. Technology these days was only getting more advanced and visiting the human world was more dangerous than ever before. But if I came in a personal capacity rather than for work, I would never have been in a scary place like a battlefield to begin with. Rather, I would much rather not be here and instead, try to get some albums signed…

“What can you do, I suppose. Even humans have to work.”

I shook my head ruefully to get rid of the useless thoughts and focus back on my job. Looking around the piles of bullet-ridden corpses, I spotted a few intact souls. After collecting all of them, I got back to smoking a cigarette while I waited for more people to die.

“The life of a soul collector really isn’t as glamorous as corporate makes it seem,” I laughed to myself as I sat idly puffing rings. From the long trips to the endless waiting, collector work is extremely mundane and boring. Maybe back in the old days, before the non-intervention laws, collector work was more fun.

“No, that’s certainly how it was. What kind of demon would enjoy waiting around for others to do his killing rather than slaughter his prey himself? Still, I suppose it’s much safer now…”

Hey, killjoy, you mind not complaining on the open channel? You’re really bringing the mood down here.

“No way, you guys think you can have a good time when I’m up here struggling? I’m gonna ruin your day too,” I joked in response.

Try to have some fun while you’re there David. It’s not every decade that you get an all-expense-paid trip to the human world.

“I know that much. I’m just a bit bored sitting around all day.”

Well… why not do something interesting then? I’m sure corporate wouldn’t mind a little bit of… recreation.

David nearly fell over in shock. He asked again to check his ears.

“Are you sure? You know what would happen if I got caught. You as well, since you’re my supervisor.”

It’s not as serious as you think, David. Everyone does it from time to time. Why do you think the inner-liberation party is so popular? Because occasionally we need to let loose.

David couldn’t help nodding his head in agreement. All those non-intervention laws and policies really restricted a demon’s behavior. Still, he didn’t want to lose his job or end up in the tenth circle.

“Are you sure Jesse? I don’t want to face the consequences if you’re wrong.”

Don’t worry, I’m sure. Some other collectors I’ve supervised did the same thing and no one cared. Just make sure you don’t go too crazy.

A smile crossed David’s wicked features.

“Time to have some fun.”