Jasper awoke as his body hit the ground after being dropped from the grasp of Malak’s tail.

“You can walk,” Growled Malak, “or I can drag you?”

Jasper whimpered as he stood, his body was covered in blisters from the severe burning that had taken place in the old church. His clothes touched the burns causing them to burn even more severely, but being dragged would be excruciating.

Jasper thought about his time as a cop, never had he experienced anything as horrible as what he had gone through in the old church.

“Follow me,” Malak whispered,” And don’t try to run, you will not be able to outrun me.”

Jasper followed like an obedient puppy who had been abused. He knew he would not be able to outrun this creature that had stripped every bit of humanity from him.

They walked down a long tunnel, one that Malak seemed to have traveled a lot by the speed he walked in the utter dark. Jasper followed, whimpering as he went. His feet were bare and burned, he could feel the blisters opening and the sand burned like the hot iron that had caused the wounds.

Jasper stood next to this beautifully terrifying demon on an elevator that rushed towards the bottom of a mine shaft.  There was a tangible sense of fear, one that Jasper imagined he could actually see. It was as if a black fog surrounded his entire existence, he wanted nothing more than to be back in the light of the world far above.

The elevator slowed to a screeching halt and the door opened into a very dimly lit opening with a hand full of tunnels going in different direction.

Jasper was met with a smell he recognized due to his work in law enforcement, it was the undeniable smell of death. The pungent smell seemed to be a part of the air flow that drafted from tunnels before him.

Malak strode right into the tunnel straight ahead of them, and Jasper followed. This tunnel seemed to be rather short compared to the tunnel before the elevator. The end came abruptly and the tunnel opened into a giant hole under the earth. The hole was riddled with bits of partially cleared rubble from a massive mining cave in.

Jasper winced as Malak shoved him out into the open area. Through the dim light of mining lanterns, he saw tens of thousands of green glowing eyes staring at him.

“There is a human in our presence….how delightful!” a voice nearby screeched.

“Silence!” Malak growled in the direction of the voice, ” The Master will decide this human’s fate, no one will talk to him until he has decided what to do with him.”

Malak wrapped his tail around Jasper’s midsection and lifted him off the ground. Jasper screamed out in agony as his burned body was nearly crushed by the tail.  The room filled with a roar of laughter as Malak tossed him into a dark hole in the wall.

Jasper landed in an entirely different realm than that from wich he had just been throw. The lighting was not from any source that Jasper could see, but it was an eerie red glow.

“Welcome to my world Jasper,” A voice cut right into Jaspers thoughts, “We have lots to discuss.”

“wh-who are you?” Jaspers whispered faintly, ” what is this place?”

“I am the one and only,” the voice paused, “Lucifer, though you may know me by satan or the devil.”

Lucifer walked out from behind a throne of sorts in the middle of the room. He was magnificent and beautiful beyond anything Jasper had seen before. His form was the same as Malak, except that he had skin that shone like brilliant crystal. Under that crystal was a fire burning deep red. His face, also crystal in appearance, had a deep blue tint to it. His eyes seemed to be deep purple gems that glowed from within. Upon his head sat a cown of fire that seemed to be a part of him.

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“Don’t look so surprised at my glorious appearance,” Lucifer spoke into Jaspers thoughts, “Have you never read the bible? There is the bit about me being the most beautiful of all the angels.”

Jasper was fighting to follow the words of Lucifer through the intense pain of the burns he had suffered. His eyes struggled to focus, and he thought for a brief moment that he may lose consciousness again.

“Lets cut to the chase, I want to give you an incredible amount of power.” Lucifer said, “I want to give you everything you want and allow you to rule over the world. In exchange for that, you will do what I tell you once that power has been established.”

Lucifer walked to Jasper and lifted him off the ground without touching him. He looked him up and down before causing all of his blisters to burst. Jasper cried out in agony as he fought the darkness that was now closing in on him.

“I will do it!” Screamed Jasper, “Whatever you want I will do it.”

The moment the words left his mouth, the pain ceased entirely. He looked and realized the burns were gone, he did not even have scars to show for the intense pain he had suffered.

“That is the answer I was looking for,” Lucifer said, ” Now let’s get started. You go back to your life, and we will make sure your world gets incredibly better than it ever was.”

“Just like that?” Jasper said with more confidence than he had felt in years.

“Ya, just like that.” Lucifer said,”See you even feel the confidence right now. Go home, enjoy the publicity of having been captured by local gang members to escape and bring them down. Between you and me that is what happened. We will make sure it looks like that is what happened. Expect me to be in touch. Maybe, it will be much less... painful next time.”

Jasper looked around to see if anyone else was in the room with him before he said, “I would really like to have my wife back. Can you make that happen?”

“Raising people from the dead is not something I will be doing,” Lucifer said, “But you will have your pick of the ladies I assure you. Now be gone and send Malak in after you leave.”

Jasper was propelled through the black hole in the wall and to his surprise found himself sitting in his own home. Malak appeared out of thin air right before him.

“what happened?” Malak screamed, “Why are you here in your own home?”

“I work for your boss now,” Jasper said with surprising authority,” He is asking for you.”

Malak strode out of the house without another word and Jasper strode to his liquor cabinet to pour a scotch.

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