Since the water in the sewer drain was shallow it wasn’t like the other times where I ended up treading water first. Thankfully. Yuck. This time, we just felt light as a feather and the floor felt like it was falling out from under us. Almost like one of those really big water slides.

Next thing we knew we were splashing around in the well back at my Mansion.

I climbed out first and then reached down to help Emily. I grabbed her bags and sat them down over the ledge before taking her hand, leveraging her out of the well. Both of us were soaked and let me tell you, if someone thought she looked creepy before… She looked like a Japanese horror movie. Wet black hair, mascara and foundation streaming down her face, and her dress had absorbed so much water it looked like it weighed ten pounds.

Thankfully, Higgin’s had a habit of leaving fresh towels near the well. A trait he picked up from his predecessor no doubt. We patted ourselves dry a little bit and then I said, “come on, let's go upstairs. I’ll introduce you to Higgins and Anabel.”

We went upstairs and heard the TV coming from the drawing room. I shouted out, “Hey guys! It’s Eric! I’m back from Murk!”

Anabel, still wearing her traditional garb, came around the corner in response. She was smiling ear to ear and said, “Eric! You’re back! Oh…but who is this,” her tone dramatically shifted.

“Anabel! Great to see you!” I rushed over and gave her a light hug then added, “This is Emily Grimwood. Emily, this is Anabel Townsend.”

“A pleasure to meet you,” Emily said, as she shook Anabel’s hand.

Anabel had a cautious and suspicious look on her face, but she reciprocated the handshake and then gave a slight curtsy.

Just then, Higgins entered the room from upstairs and said, “Ah, Master Noble. You’ve returned. And you’ve brought a guest.”

“Emily, this is Higgins. Higgins, this is Emily Grimwood. She’s going to be staying with us for a while.”

“She’s what?!” barked Anabel.

“Emily is a detective. A master if I may say so. She did some self-compromising things back in her world and really needs to lay low. So, she decided to take a vacation here. I owed her a favor anyway.”

“Actually, Eric,” said Emily, as she paced the room a little, looking around her, “I believe I’m going to stay in this world permanently.”

Anabel, now mouth fully ajar, muttered, “permanently.”

“If you don’t mind that is? I would gladly offer my services to you when needed.”

“Sure! We have plenty of room here, and I’m certain I could use your help in the future.”

Anabel stared off into the distance and continued under her breath, “her services.”

“So how have things been while I’ve been gone anyway?”

Higgins replied, “Smashing, Master Noble. I’ve been teaching Miss Townsend the ins and outs of running a modern home. She’s adapted quite well.”

“That’s great to hear! Good job, Anabel! Anabel?”

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

Anabel had one hand on the wall and placed the palm of her other hand on her chest and was breathing heavily, “I feel like I’m going to be sick. I need…to go sit down for a moment. Please excuse me.”

“Let me get you some water,” I offered, as she stumbled off to the drawing room and sat down on the couch, “Higgins, would you mind showing Emily to a washroom so she can clean up. Unfortunately, her bags got soaked so she’ll need her clothes dried as well.”

“Right away sir.”

I went into the kitchen and got a glass of water for Anabel. It didn’t seem like anything serious, but I was a little concerned. When I got into the drawing room she was sitting on the couch, leaning back with her hand against her forehead.

“Everything alright?” I asked, as I gave her the glass of water and sat beside her.

“Thank you. Yes, I think I’m fine. I was just worried about you and well…” “Yes?” I prodded.

“It’s just…the way you came back wasn’t at all how I envisioned you would.”

“You mean soaking wet and a hint of sewage odor? Yeah, I didn't think so either. Don’t worry, I'll wash up before dinner.”

“It’s not that…it’s just…well…I didn’t expect you to come back…courting a lass.”

“Huh? Wait. You think that…I assure you, it’s purely a business partnership,” I assured her.

“Really?”

“Really!”

“Okay, It was just so sudden...and the way she was dressed. I thought maybe she was Satan’s temptress. Or worse, that maybe you had brought the devil from that world back!”

“No! You have nothing to worry about. Emily’s style is a little…unorthodox. But there’s girls like that in this world too. I promise you, she’s a really good person. You trust me, right?”

“I do,” she smiled.

Higgins came into the room and said, “Miss Grimwood has been taken care of and I shall prepare a room for her while dinner is cooking, Master Noble.”

“Thank you, Higgins,” I said, before turning my attention back to Anabel, “Then trust me on this. Emily is no demonic temptress.”

“Oh Higgins,” said Emily, “I put my wet dress in the laundry chute. I’ll put the rest in after my shower. I can just wait in a towel for the clothes to dry.”

She came in wearing a black lace lingerie bustier and matching panty set. It was the most skin I had seen her reveal up to this point. And just as quickly as she came in and made her statement, she walked right back out.

My jaw hung open after she left. Higgins had a puzzled look on his face and Anabel just fainted on the couch next to me.

“Well, one thing’s for sure, Master Noble,” said Higgins, “things are going to get a lot more interesting with Miss Grimwood in the house.”

* * *

Dinner came and went without a word between the two girls. I used the awkwardness in the air as an excuse to fill Higgins and Anabel in on what had happened in Murk. I was proud that I turned what was supposed to be a reconnaissance mission to a new world into a temporary neutralization of one of the Seven Devils.

When I retreated to my room, the first thing I did was call Stephanie. I wasn’t about to leave her just hanging again. She answered on the second ring, “Hello?‘

“Stephanie! It’s great to hear your voice.”

“Hey, Eric, what’s up?”

“I just wanted to keep you in the loop a little bit. That’s all. I feel bad about leaving you out for so long before.”

“Okay. So whatcha got for me?” She asked

“...umm, eh, got for you?”

“You said you wanted to keep me in the loop. So, I figured you had something to tell me.”

“Well, ya see, I still can’t really give you any of those details. I just wanted to assure you that things were going swimmingly and I was making headway on that super serious dilemma I was telling you about…”

That’s when it hit me. I can’t believe I hadn’t thought of this before. If I could maintain the success I’d had so far, then it was just a numbers game before I could clear the board and not have to worry about mixing Stephanie up in this devil business at all! At the rate I was going, I could stop all the remaining devils in a couple of months. Six tops. Higgins said it himself that it was unprecedented that I stopped a devil on my first entry to a world. But now that I had neutralized a second one in Murk. Creole was just in jail, but I could figure out something to deal with him. It takes a generation for a new devil to spawn so it wouldn’t concern me when that happened. Some other fool could deal with them then.

That settled it! Starting tomorrow I would devise a plan on how to take these devils down as methodically and quickly as possible.

“Eric…Eric, are you there?”

“Sorry, Steph. I really need to go right now. I was just checking in. I’ll keep you posted when I have something more I can say.”

“...alright,” she sounded unsure,” good night then.”

“Goodnight.”

When I hung up, I noticed I had texts from Wraith. He was looking for an update too. I text him back and said:

Me: hey bro. youre not gonna believe what happened now Wraith: lets hear it buddy!