Soul Drinking - Part 4
A/N - I will try to pump out a new story on a weekly, episodic basis. I'm playing by ear and making up a majority of it as I go along.
Whee~
As I've said before, I will try to update once a week.
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A week had passed since Red and Milly were partners in the eyes of Hell. Very little changed in Milly's life. Before Red decided to show up in her life, her schedule was pretty standard. Get up, go to work, come home, TV, and then bed.
Work, home, TV, bed.
Work, home, TV, bed.
"How you mortals subject yourselves to such torture is beyond me.", Red said as he finished washing the dishes. It was a simple task that could be done with magic, but for some reason Red loved using his hands, especially on titties. He grinned at that thought, scrubbing on the last dish in the sink. "And would it hurt you to invest in a stepladder? I'm tired of using your damn table chair just to reach the sink."
Milly was sitting on the couch, her legs propped up on the table as she snacked on some popcorn and watched Furflix. She had already seen the episode a few times and didn't mind talking over it, "There's just some things in life people accept. Not everyone is rich, outgoing, or socially obligated." She took a bite of some popcorn before continuing, "You have magic, Red. Why not use it?"
She paused the show when Red came back into the living room, wearing the "Messy but cute" apron she had seen him in the first time the met. She scrunched her face, trying not to laugh. Red scowled, putting his hands on his hips. All it did was make Red look more adorable.
"I'll have you know I'm more than capable of doing all the housework with nothing but a wave of my hand! And another thing, why am I doing all the cooking, the cleaning, and all the housework in general?" It had been true that after Red had finished (more like being "encouraged to stop") breastfeeding from Milly, he had been gone right to work cleaning the entire apartment from top to bottom, left to right, and every possible sense of the word 'clean'. Milly couldn't afford to be a packrat, pun not intended, meaning the apartment was usually kept clean anyway. The Fodder had also been kept to zero thanks to Red's efforts in the hallway, and around the apartment complex.
Milly just giggled, flicking a piece of popcorn at Red's forehead. His eye flinched as it bounced off his forehead and onto the floor. "Because it was part of the deal that you offered before we shook hands." She then leaned back, putting her hands behind her head, still eying Red, "It's not my fault you didn't think the deal through."
Red brought his hand to his chin, rubbing it thoughtfully. Technically it was true. He did say that didn't he? The demon let out a soft sigh of defeat, removing the apron with a wave of his hand and making it float back into the kitchen to hang from the wall. He planted his ass on the couch, taking a handful of popcorn and crunching into it with ease. "So shall we continue our marathon of Furflix? I admit the idea of watching almost any movie in history makes me think slightly more of you mortals."
"Gee thanks."
While they watched Furflix, Milly began to think about some of the questions she had asked him over the past week. About how she a beacon, the mark, and so on. He answered them in a fairly detailed explanation but she could only remember the important parts anyway.
"The mark on your forehead means you are marked by me, a demon. It also means you can see demons, but it also means they can see you. Or rather, draw their attention easier. Anyone who isn't marked cannot see demons, however some mortals have developed acute awareness of being watched. In most cases we cannot interact with an unmarked. Not all demons are tied to those who are not marked. Incubi, Succubi, and so on. It's how I was able to interact with you, through manipulation.
I don't think any demon will bother with you seeing as you are marked, and under the jurisdiction of Hell. That means if any rogue demon messes with you or me, they will be dealt with. Some demons don't care but a lot of the demons on this plane are pretty decent people, wanting to carve a living for themselves instead of seeing nothing but fire, brimstone, and dead people all day. Of course the first two things are reserved for the lower levels."
Milly was still a little on edge about the whole prospect of being marked, demons, and ...basically everything when Red came into her life.
A strange set of circumstances indeed.
"...Girl, you might want to get that." Red's voice spoke up, making Milly blink and look around. She looked at him, then where he was pointing.
In front of Milly was a scroll, floating gently a few feet in front of her.. She grasped the scroll, feeling the tingly feeling of magic fade to nothingness. A wax seal detailing a pentagram kept the scroll from unraveling. She looked at Red before unraveling the scroll. She unraveled it slowly, finding the page blank. She quickly became annoyed, unraveling the rest of it to reveal in tiny print, "Accepted."
She looked at Red again, giving him a look that demanded an explanation.
Milly felt the oddest sense of vertigo, forcing her to grasp onto her couch.
Milly blinked again, suddenly finding herself in a completely different room. Red was no longer in her field of vision. She got up slowly from her chair, looking around at the new room. It looked like a waiting room at a Dentist office. Chairs as far as the eye could see, and a single spotlight shining above onto a small window and a table nearby. She looked around, approaching the window carefully, keeping an ear and eye out for anything strange. Well, stranger than normal. When approaching the window, Milly noticed to the right a small sign with the words, "Now Serving" and below it, a number that was just too long for Milly to even say aloud.
Now serving - 428,357,229,230,781,981,023.
Milly kept a straight face.
"Oh, this seems perfectly normal." Milly said aloud sarcastically. She tapped on the window gently, attempting to get someones attention. "Um...excuse me? Hello?" Milly stepped away from the window when she heard shuffling behind the window.
"Yes?", said a flat, raspy voice.
Milly got a good look at the source of the voice through the window. She looked a bit too much like Roz from Monsters Inc. The voice was spot on too.
"I uh...I got this scroll, said I was accepted. Now what?"
The clerk gestured to Milly's arm, "Check your arm for the number. You will be notified when it's your turn to speak to Satan." Again with the flat tone. "Have a nice day." She said before oozing back out of the window.
That went well.
"Wait a minute. Satan is here?" Suddenly, Milly felt a few inches smaller. She cupped her hands over her face, rubbing them across it, letting out a sharp exhale. She missed her normal life with her normal job and her normal everything.
Milly turned her arm over, exposing a tattooed number just as long as the number on the sign. She sat down next to the window with a sigh, watching the last digit click occasionally.
428,357,229,230,781,981,026........428,357,229,230,781,981,032...........
Several minutes had passed before Milly decided to count the tiles on the floor. She reached close to three hundred before the boredom of counting make her stop and check her arm, and the number on the wall.
She blinked, looked at her arm, then the number on the wall.
Her number was several numbers higher compared to the numbers on the wall! She'd be here til the day she died just to see Satan?!
"You know girl, if you want to meet Satan, you could just walk to the door and knock." Milly turned to the voice, seeing Red licking icecream in a wafflecone, sitting upside down in a chair. He flipped his position, landing on his feet and then walking past the window kept going. Milly looked around briefly before following right behind. They passed nothing but chairs for miles and not a soul was seen. No movement, no...nothing. Did Satan honestly need a waiting room this big?
Milly felt a pressure in her stomach as they started to approach a large red door. Was this it? Was this the thing she had been told to avoid all her life right in front of her? Each step made the butterflies in her stomach a little worse.
"Calm down, girl. He's not all that bad a guy.", said Red, slurping up the last of his icecream and biting into the cone with a crunch.
"Says you. I've never meet the guy that apparently got so bored of Heaven he left and created Hell."
Red sighed, pausing before the large doors that spelled the words 'SA' on the left door, and "AN' on the right door. In the middle were two doorknobs shaped like a 'T'.
"Listen, before we talk to the big man himself, you have to understand that you're here on business. Since you're not dead, he can't nor won't do anything to you. Sure he might be a little scary, but still, he was once an angel remember?" Red explained, to which Milly nodded. It certainly didn't stop from hearing her own heart pounding in her ears as Red raised his hand to tap on the door. Milly's hand shot out, stopping him briefly.
"Wait a minute. What do I call him anyway? Mr. Satan?"
Red looked up at Milly with a raised eyebrow, before his trademark smirk displayed once more. He took the last bite of his wafflecone before starting, "Well there's all kinds of names. The Antichrist, the Morning Star, Big Red, Ol' Scratch, Beelzebub, Mephisto, Diablo, Baal, King of Babylon, Father of Lies, Lucifer...." With each name, Red raised a finger, stopping at 10, but kept going, " ....The Prince of Darkness, Abaddon, and so on. I thing he likes Diablo the most though. Just don't call him by his name before he turned. I heard the last guy to do that ended up being sent back to the mortal plain as a toilet."
Milly had a look of disgust on her face after that new nugget of info. Diablo it would be then.
Red tapped gently on the big red double door.
" WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!" A voice suddenly roared out, causing the ground to shake, sending Milly to the ground with a squeak. Red had braced himself, expecting just that to happen.
"Hey fuckface, let us in. We're your next appointment!"
Milly rubbed her sore bottom as she got up slowly. "Did you just call Satan a fuckface?"
"Yeah, so what of it?"
"I'd prefer to not make enemies with the Antichrist."
Red just shrugged as the giant doors began to slowly creak open. "Oh please. He's been called much worse I imagine."
The doors parted open entirely and stopped to reveal stacks of papers, several feet high. Several imps were flying around, carrying folders and stacks of paper from one place to another. It was clear the giant roar from earlier had knocked several stacks of files down and the Imps were scrambling to get everything reorganized.
"Welcome to Hell, girl. Welcome to what is probably the biggest mess of bureaucracy you will ever see." Red stepped into the door, moving onto the carved path of papers and folders. Milly followed behind slowly, ducking her head when an Imp would fly too low for her comfort.
Milly's heart sank when she turned a corner, spying the one thing she would've dreaded to see a few days ago. Before her was Satan in the flesh. He looked like a goat from her account, just like how all the stories and pictures depicted him. Satan was usually drawn out as a mixture between a goat, a serpent, and a dragon. Milly could see the resemblance. He was sitting in a very nice leather chair next to a fireplace, clipboard in hand, and a glass of whiskey in the other. As she approached, she got a much better look at him. He was apparently wearing a business suit as well, complete with tie. The goatee almost made her smile. Almost.
As soon as his eyes met Milly did she suddenly freeze in place. Satan, the Lord of Hell, chuckled. "Oh, that time again already? So what brings you to Hell, missy?"
Milly was still frozen in place, her heart pounding in her chest. Red approached Satan, offering a scroll. "We're here to see her dead Grandmother. We were accepted but we still need the final say from you before we can go on."
Satan finished his whiskey, tossed the glass behind him into the abyss, and took the scroll from Red. "Well now...let's see here...." He paused to look at Milly. "You might wanna sit down Milly. This might take a moment."
Milly blinked and followed suit. When the Lord of Hell said you do something, you did it. She sat down in the surprisingly comfy chair, her hands in her lap as she followed her best manners. Satan looked over the scroll, hmming a small tune before rolling it back up and handing it to Red. "I remember your Grandmother. She was absolutely furious. Took several demons to get her pinned before I had to intervene personally. She's got one hell of a left hook too, for an old woman anyway." Satan finished his sentence, rubbing his jaw as emphasis and remembering the pain all too well. "Can't say I blame her. Preaching in a church for several decades over the hogwash you read only to end up in the place you're trying to avoid." Satan chuckled once more, pulling another glass of whiskey out of thin air and taking a sip. "But yes, I approve and blah blah blah."
Milly looked over at Satan, from the hooves he had for feet, to the goatee he was sporting, until his red eyes met hers. "See something you like, girl?"
Milly let out a squeak, looking away quickly from the Lord of Hell, blushing furiously, "N-no...I'm fine, thanks." Satan just grinned. Her eyes returned to the fireplace, eying the wood that was popping and crackling.
"Dunno what you see in her, boy, but I guess you did okay. Hope she's better than the last one you had." Satan said, returning to the clipboard he had put down. "Now get out of here. I've got all eternity to fill out all this paperwork." He said, gesturing to the thousands of piles of folders stacked several feet high.
Milly blinked as she looked at the piles then at Satan. "Wait, what? I was taught that you were always planning to attack Heaven or something else."
Satan pulled out a pen and began writing on his clipboard, no longer looking at Milly, "Hah! Is that what they say these days? Fucking idiots." He said, continuing to scribble away at his clipboard before turning a page and doing it again. "I've got more things on my mind than attacking the Pearly Gates. God can keep his fluffy ass paradise. I've got my hands full with the trillions of souls and trillions of demons that live here. Plus I doubt the old fuck even remembers me. His son, however, likes to come over from time to time."
Milly gaped. "Wait...Jesus, willingly comes down here, to hang out with you?"
Satan's eyes moved from the clipboard and back at Milly. "Girl, you don't know dick about what goes on around here.", before returning his eyes back down to the clipboard.
Red jabbed Milly gently with the scroll, motioning his head to the left, signaling them that their time was up. Milly slowly got up from her chair, bowing gently to Satan. "Um....thank you, Mr. Satan, for your time."
Satan just chuckled again, waving her off. "We'll meet again real soon, girl. Sooner than you think."
"Stop scaring her you old fart." taunted Red. Satan didn't say a thing, waving them off again. "He likes to scare newcomers. Don't worry about it." Red said, taking Milly by the hand and leading her out of the room and beyond the jungle of folders and paperwork.