“Mmmph…” The sounds of approaching footsteps wakes me from my sleep. Opening my eyes, I see a concrete ceiling, one I can be sure I’ve never seen before. My eyes trace over the room, noticing nothing beyond the fact its small and is fully concrete. The only item in here appears to be the bed I’m sleeping on. Feeling it up, I notice that it’s, above all else, a very uncomfortable bed. I question how it was even possible for me to sleep on this thing when the footsteps finally arrive outside the room’s door. Opening it wide, I’m met by the sight of a girl in a red tee and black sweatpants wearing a gray jacket. She seems unenthused.
“So, you’re the guy?” The girl asks before sighing. “Not like there are any other guys around. Alright, listen up and listen good. I’m here to tell you the basic stuff, and I need you not to ask me any questions until after I’ve had my say. Else we’ll be here all day, and I have shit to do.” The girl makes her demand before sitting down on the ground and raising a finger. “First topic, and this one’s gonna be the hardest to swallow. You’re dead. The only reason you aren’t in heaven's bubble or hell is because we had a use for your soul.”
“De-”
“Shut up. So, you’re dead. What exactly does that mean for you? I’m glad you asked.” She takes the finger she was holding up and points it right at me. “It means that from now on, we’ll be putting you to work as an angel slayer. Maria had good stuff to say about your involvement in that kill which, well, we could definitely use someone who knows how to be crafty in their kills. So, we’ll be showing you how to be more useful as part of your debt to us. This all clicking in your head?” I nod slowly. “Good, you’re learning. Alright, what else?”
“Maria. How is she?” I speak faster than the girl can tell me to shut up. She does seem annoyed at being interrupted from her thoughts, but seems accepting of the topic change. She stands up, walking over while pulling out her phone. Once she’s right in front of me, she shows me a picture of the girl I remember meeting oh so recently, laying in a bed, covered in stitches and bandages, but she’s alive. I sigh with relief, feeling my chest relax some. “Thank god.” I whisper, earning me a surprising glare from the girl in front of me.
“She has a girlfriend already, in case you weren’t aware.” The words catch me off guard. Jesus I wasn’t trying to get with her or anything! I click my tongue in agitation as she seems to find satisfaction in her words before going back to sitting on the floor. “Now that we have that cleared up, I wanna get something personal off my chest.” The girl goes quiet, making space in her words before finally spilling what's in her chest. “This is not a place for you. I don’t care that you’re staying here, this is a place for those who can manifest demons. Since there’s no way in hell you’ll be able to do that, I at least want you to acknowledge yourself as beneath us.” The girl’s declaration was even more of a mental deterioration than the last one. I felt my teeth gritting…wait…oh shit my teeth are back! Actually, now that I think about it, every part of me is pretty much back together! Hell yeah, this is awesome! “H-hey, I’m talking to you.” I feel my ribs to make sure they’re all still there and laugh a little. Alright. I’m in tip top shape. I can definitely face Maria like-BANG!-my thoughts are interrupted by a bullet whizzing past my head.
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“WHAT THE FUCK?!” I turned to my left to see a bullet hole in the wall. Looking back at the girl on the ground, I saw her looking violently enraged, holding a pistol in her hand. D-did she just try to shoot me?! I try running for the door, ignoring her shouts for me to wait. Once managing to get the thing open, I slam into someone and we both fall to the floor. Groaning, I pick my head up to see Maria looking at me with a smile on her face. “Maria! Wa-shit, help me!” I quickly asked for help as I saw the girl leaving the room. Maria turns to the girl and sighs.
“Bea, what the hell did you do?” Maria asks with slight exasperation. The girl attempts to justify herself, claiming me to be a poor listener and that I needed to be quieted down so I could pay attention. I retorted that she was only mad I wouldn’t agree to being a less than and soon, me and her are at each other's throats, barking off about this and that. I would say I should know better but, honestly? This girl just tried to shoot me. I feel no need to be nice. Sometime during our spat I could feel the calm relaxing hand of a familiar woman pick me up by the shirt collar and place me just a bit further back. The same occurred for loose shots over there. “Yeah, okay, you both need to calm down just a little bit. Maybe a 2 instead of a 10?” Her suggestion seems to immediately fall on deaf ears.
“Nah, he needs to agree to my terms if he doesn’t wanna get shot tonight!” I bite my lip, growing increasingly annoyed with this girl. “It’s not hard, especially since it’s the truth! Hey, are you still listening?! Where are you taking hi-wait up!” Bea, complaining still, rushes after us as Maria begins leading me down the hall. The place feels horrifically cramped, almost like some kind of bunker. Around us, doors to seemingly similar rooms to the one I just left seem to be endless. How many people are living down here I wonder. Eventually, we reach the very end of the place, and a steel ladder. Hey, wait, is this actually a bunker? “Well? Get going.” Bea finally opens her mouth again, though I’m surprised she’s letting me go at all. I nod my head and grab onto the steel ladder. Climbing up, I can hear the sounds of…people? Only a few people, but they’re surrounding the area just above us.
After half a minute of climbing, I reach what appears to be a metal door. I push on it, but nothing happens. Concerned that I’ve done something wrong, I hear the sound of a loud unlocking before a voice on the other side tells me it's safe to open now. With a gulp, I touch the door, and push up.