Hello there! Yes it's Sunday, I know. Blame my parents having a party for a 50th birthday. But either way, here we are, and I hope you enjoy!
I stood up, looking at our new surroundings. It was hot, and I could see fire burning in the distance. We were in what seemed to be a large room, the walls like molten rock. The ceiling was non-existent, instead just an opening to a red and orange sky.
“What the hell,” I muttered, holding my head.
A dark laughter rang through the room, and I realized we weren’t alone. A man was sitting on a throne that seemed to be made of bones and skulls. Some looked human, others animal, some I couldn’t recognize.
“Precisely,” he said. He crossed his legs and tapped his foot, as if waiting for us to speak. I looked over at Logan, who was up as well. He seemed tired, but compared to how he was in the hospital he looked fine. Even his cuts and bruises were gone. He looked at the guy in the throne before looking back at me. Somehow he was still holding the photo the demon hunter had dropped. He pointed to the guy with the crown and I realized what he meant.
The guy on the throne was the one in the picture, same crown and everything.
“Who are you? Where are we,” I asked, stepping in front of Logan in case there was a fight.
The man stood up, arms spread out. “The name is Asmodeus, the sin of Lust,” he said. “Welcome to Hell!”
I stumbled back a little. “I…excuse me?”
Asmodeus walked closer to us, and I realized he was about a foot taller than me. Unconsciously I stood up straighter to match him as best I could.
“I’m not here to fight, believe me. That is more my brother’s department, he’s so violent it’s disturbing. I’m just giving you an offer which I have a feeling you won’t be able to refuse,” he said. A smile appeared on his lips which I assumed he did to convince us of friendship, but to me it just looked predatory. Like a hunter who knew he had his prey trapped in the corner.
Logan pushed a little forward, as if trying to protect me like I had tried. “What’s your offer,” he asked.
Asmodeus gave a satisfied nod. “Well well well, what a brave young man,” he said, dragging his hand across Logan’s shoulder as he circled us. I glared but he didn’t seem to even notice.
Asmodeus finally made his way back so we were face to face. “My offer is simple. You find Belphegor. Then you just call me with a classic pentagram and I’ll bring him back here, where he belongs.”
Logan crossed his arms. “As we told that bounty hunter, we killed that monster already. Unless you have proof he’s not dead.”
Asmodeus looked like he expected this. “Oh, we have proof.” He raised his hand and a crystal appeared in it from his pocket. He whispered some words clearly not meant for human ears and the crystal glowed. When the glow died down, I saw someone in the crystal, like it was a screen. It was Belphegor, that much was certain. How could I forget that face?
I couldn’t tell where he was or even what he was doing, but he was there, and I could tell from the light around him was sunlight, our kind of sunlight. He was on Earth.
“How-how is that possible,” I asked as Asmodeus put the crystal away. “You tried to kill him with a weapon dipped in holy water, right,” he asked Me and Logan both nodded.
Asmodeus shook his head like a teacher who had just given us both a 50. “That was your biggest mistake. Sure, that would hurt like Hell, and yes it would kill your average demon. But Belphie here is a Deadly Sin. The least powerful of course, but still. What you did just brought him back here.”
Logan smirked. “So he was here and you lost him?” He looked at me. “And now you want us to clean up your mess?”
Asmodeus scowled, and I realized his teeth were sharper than I expected. “I didn’t lose him. That was the work of my imbecile subjects. But either way, we need to find him and bring him back before he can ruin anything else. I think that would be in both of our best interests.”
Logan was too deep in it now, so while I would’ve just accepted the deal so we could get the hell out of hell, he wanted to bargain. “Not good enough.”
Asmodeus looked appalled. “Excuse me?” Behind him I could see horns in his shadow, larger ones than the demon bounty hunter had.
Logan shrugged. “I’m not dying for some demon king or lord or whatever you are. Give us something big, and we’ll agree to fight your battle for you.”
Asmodeus was silent before grinning like a shark. “I will admit, I’m impressed. Usually I can convince anyone to do anything with a snap, but I like you, so I’ll give you a new offer. Get Belphegor, and I’ll close all the gates to Hell. No more demons coming up to tempt your poor little misguided humans.”
Logan looked as if he was considering it, but I knew what he was thinking. The idea of never having to deal with someone like Belphegor, or even just a normal demon like the one that attacked Logan, it seemed too good to be true.
“You’ve got yourself a deal, Mr. Asmodeus,” Logan said, sticking out his hand. Asmodeus grinned. “You can call me King of Hell.” He shook Logan’s hand. There was a bright dark blue glow, and then we were back in the hospital.
Everything was clean and back to normal, like nothing had happened. Marina walked in, holding a bag full of sweets and other things I couldn’t see. Seeing our expressions, she stopped and her smile faltered.
“What happened now?”
“This is not a good idea,” was all Marina could say after we told her what happened and the deal we made.
Logan shook his head. “Marina, if Belphegor is still out there, we need to stop him before he does something and we can’t, like killing another nephalem.”
Marina knew he was right, and so did I. Didn’t mean I thought this was a good idea. Trusting a demon to catch another demon, something was off. Why did Asmodeus want Belphegor back so bad? Wouldn’t it be better to keep him on Earth, to use him? Then again, I didn’t know demonic politics.
I sighed. “We don’t even know where to start,” I reminded Logan. He thought for a minute.
“Actually, I might have an idea.”
I hate vampires. I mean, I hate most monsters, but they’re some of the worst. Maybe I just think that because they helped a demon frame me for murder and then tried to kill me, but I think that’s a good enough reason to be wary. So when Logan suggested finding one to ask about Belphegor, I originally told him no. But considering we had no better idea, I eventually agreed, albeit begrudgingly.
The problem was we had to find one, and we had no idea where to start. I tried to remember any of the ones we’d met, but the only one I really remembered was the one that tried to bleed me dry and who Logan beheaded. She probably wouldn’t be too helpful.
Logan searched every lead he could find on vampires. Increase in animal deaths, bled out victims, the works.
“I think I found something,” Logan finally said, calling me over. I sighed and sat down next to him. The screen showed a news article about a murder. The victim had a strange mark on his neck that seemed to be fang marks, though the picture was too grainy to tell. It was a thin lead, but it was the best we had gotten all day, so what was the harm in checking it out?
The murder was behind a diner, so naturally we had to go in there. It wasn’t because Logan was starving, like usual. Totally not.
When people say you have a monster’s appetite, take it as a compliment. Because I’m 90% sure Logan could eat an entire farm on his own.
“You’re really not hungry,” Logan asked, almost seeming worried. I shook my head. “I ate earlier. Eat as much as you want though, it’s fine,” I assured him. He gave a small smile and took a big bite of his burger.
The waitress came over. “Hi boys. Anything else I can get you?” Logan wiped his face. “I’m fine.” He looked expectantly at me. I looked at the waitress. Something seemed off with her, but I just smiled. “Just a coffee, black.”
Logan gave me a look. “Black? Wow, must you be devoid of all sweetness?”
I glared at him, though it wasn’t serious. “I got you, does that count?” Logan’s eyes widened and his face got red.
The waitress laughed. “Now that’s sweet. Good for you two.” I looked back at her, a playful smile on my lips. “I’m kidding. He’s not as sweet as he appears.” The waitress raised an eyebrow and smiled. “Oh really?”
Her smile…fangs.
Found her.
“Yeah, he can be a real psycho about his monster obsession.”
The waitress’ smile faltered. “Oh, monsters?” I nodded. “Yep. He’s a complete nerd.” That seemed to be the waitress’ hint to leave, so she confirmed our order and did.
Logan glared at me. “Really?” I shrugged. “You are a monster nerd.” He continued to glare, as if asking if everything I said was necessary. I put my hands up. “Okay okay, sorry.”
We both got up. The waitress speed walked out the side door and we followed. At first we tried to keep a good distance, so it didn’t look like we were following her. Then as we got farther away we began trying to catch her. She didn’t see us until we were right behind her.
“What the hell do you-” she asked, but Logan grabbed her before she could run off. He wasn’t too aggressive, but he still was strong. He pushed her to the wall. “We don’t want to hurt you,” he tried, but the vampire still fought.
“I haven’t done anything,” she exclaimed. “That guy was an accident, I swear!” Logan loosened his grip. “We’re not trying to kill you. We just want to ask you some questions.”
The vampire looked between us. “And how do I know you won’t kill me after I answer your questions?” I showed her my pockets and the inside of my jacket. “We don’t have any weapons. Just tell us, have you worked with the demon Belphegor?”
The vampire looked at me, eyes wide. She looked as if she never expected to hear that name again. “Belphegor…yeah. I used to work for him. I just needed the money, and I was pretty new to the job when the whole thing went downhill.”
Logan let go of her and she fixed her outfit. “Why do you want to know anyway? Belphegor’s dead isn’t he?” Me and Logan both looked at each other.
“Wait, no way!” The waitress smiled. “I never thought…huh. He was one of my better bosses to be honest. That still doesn’t answer my question though. Why were you looking for me?”
I stepped up. “We need to find him. We were hoping you’d have an idea where he’d hide.”
The waitress thought for a moment. “I don’t know, I didn’t really know him personally,” she said. “Oh! But I did hear that he had an apartment.”
Logan raised an eyebrow. “An apartment?”
The waitress nodded. “Yeah. It’s on Johnson street from what I heard the other vamps say. He’d stay there every now and then, just for a break.”
Logan smiled. “Thank you. And…sorry to give you a scare like that. I know how terrifying it is.” The waitress tilted her head to the side before she noticed what he was. “Huh. Small world,” she said. Then she looked around. “Can I go now?” We both moved out of her way and she left with an awkward wave.
Maybe there had been easier ways to do that.
“Nice building,” Logan said as we walked in. I gave him a judgemental look. “Don’t compliment the demon’s apartment.”
He motioned around the lobby. “Oh come on, you gotta admit it’s nice.” I sighed. “Fine, it’s nice. Now can we find you know who please?” Logan nodded.
We walked through the apartment, but the problem was it was 3 floors and we had no idea what room he owned. We would have to check thousands of rooms to find which one he was in, if he was in any. We decided to split up to make it easier. Logan went left, I went right.
After the first 5 rooms in which I checked I was already done with this. If he wasn’t here we were wasting time. If that bounty hunter found him before us, Asmodeus wouldn’t close the gates of Hell. This was too good to just pass up.
I was about to just quit this floor when my phone buzzed. Logan had texted me. I think I found him. Room 361, 3rd floor.
I went up and found Logan by the door. He motioned to the door and I listened. There was somebody walking around in there, and I heard muttering.
“Okay, got that…ugh this is so stupid…come on…”
I’d remember that voice anywhere. It still haunted me sometimes. Belphegor.
Me and Logan looked at each other. Logan knocked on the door and we heard Belphegor curse. He then came to the door. “Hey, listen I’m leaving in-”
It was him. Same blue eyes, same brown hair (though it was a little longer), even same height (he was slightly shorter than me and Logan). He was wearing a short sleeve shirt, so I could clearly see the sloth tattoo on his arm. Still didn’t understand that.
HIs eyes began to glow blue but we both came into the room. I closed the door behind us and Logan slammed Belphegor into the wall. He took out his knife and put it to the demon’s throat.
“Ugh, why’d it have to be you two,” Belphegor whined, trying to move away but failing. The knife just dug deeper into his skin, which burned from the holy water we’d drenched it in. It may not kill him, but it would hurt.
I stepped closer into the room. “Good, you remember us.” Belphegor looked at me and scoffed. “How could I forget the guy who killed me? Or tried to, I guess. Though I got to be honest, I expected you two sooner.”
Logan pressed the knife so Belphegor was bleeding. He hissed. “You two have made a small name for yourselves over the past few months. There’s always been monster hunters, but most of them are dead now. I’ll admit, I’m impressed. You two have grown a lot since our last tango.”
“We don’t need your praise,” Logan said with malice. Belphegor put his hands up. “Listen, listen! I haven’t done anything wrong since getting back here. I’m not with Hell anymore.”
Logan laughed. “You think we believe that?” I looked at Belphegor. He seemed like he was being honest, if that was possible for demons.
“I’m serious. My brother, the sadist, wanted to lock me up. I ran from Hell, and I’m not going back,” he said. Logan dug his hand into Belphegor’s shoulder, his claws coming out. “You sure?”
I gently touched Logan’s shoulder. “Logan, wait.”
He turned to me. “Oh come on, you don’t believe him. You’re the one with the trust issues.” I glared at him. “Thanks.”
“You know what I mean. We can’t trust him,” Logan said, looking back at Belphegor. The demon was trying to fix his arm, but it didn’t seem like he had healing abilities. He muttered something about wishing someone was here.
I looked back at Logan. “I’m not saying we should trust him. I just like getting the entire story. If we’re working with a demon let’s at least make sure he’s not worse than this one.”
Belphegor stood up straight. “Asmodeus is worse. Believe me, he’s a complete freak.”
I stepped up to him, taking out my gun. It wasn’t loaded, but he didn’t know that.
“Alright, you want to live? Talk.”
He's alive! You shocked?
What do you think Belphegor's role will be? Do you think he can be trusted, or will this be a mistake?