“Make yourself comfortable, we have a few things to discuss before I bring you to Lucifer.”
My heart skipped a beat at the mention of Lucifer’s name, knowing I was going to have to meet the fallen angel I had always been taught to fear. This couldn’t be happening. I had to have been in a dream from overdosing and when I woke up, I would be in the hospital being reprimanded by my father for how careless I had been and tarnishing the Ellenberger name. Roman broke the silence.
“So, you’re here for being a Hollywood harlot and overdosing on drugs while in the company of a married man, huh?”
I shrugged. “I guess. That’s what Azriel said at least. I don’t think that justifies being sent to Hell. Hell is for rapists, murderers, and pedophiles, not me who did a few immoral things in my lifetime. I have a life to live!”
“Sorry, sweetheart, but this is your life now, your afterlife. As far as why Azriel sent you down here, that is for God to decide, not you or us. There has to be more that caused your descent into Hell, which is your job to figure out, but for now, Lucifer is who you report to and we need to go see him so you can have your orders given to you.”
I laughed loud making Roman cock his head to the side as though I’d gone mad.
“I am not taking orders from Satan. Get me the fuck out of this place, Roman, and send me back home now!”
Next it was his turn to laugh. “Your demands may have been catered to when you were alive, but you are dead and in this place, no one gives orders except for Lucifer; you’re about to have a rude awakening.”
My stomach churned from his words.
“So, why are you here, Rooooman?” I said sarcastically, tapping my fingernail on the side of the chair.
“Well, as you said before, Hell is for murderers. I murdered a man that raped and killed my wife, leaving her in an alley to be found. I was involved with some bad men when I was alive and that was my punishment for leaving the bad life I was living. So much for good things happening to those who try changing their evil ways.”
“Wouldn’t God forgive that though? You did it due to a terrible crime that was committed on your wife.”
“Regardless of whether we think it was just or not, it is a sin to commit murder. It is not our place to judge; God is the judge, and his verdict was sending me to eternal damnation where I will forever remain a demon sworn to work side by side with Lucifer.” There was sorrow in his eyes. I wondered if it was because of his sad story or because he was in Hell forever over something he did that he felt was morally right. Either way, we were both fucked, and I was not about to spend the end of my days here.
“You’re a demon? I thought demons were scary and looked like creatures from your nightmares. You are far from that, you’re so sex...” I stopped myself before I finished spewing out words I might regret later. My face flushed.
He smirked, showing a dimple on the left side of his mouth. “Well, I’m glad you think so.” He winked at me, making my stomach flutter. “But demons aren’t always the way you see them in horror movies. True, there are some very bad ones that would scare the shit out of you if you were to see them, but there are also ones like me that keep our human form. It just depends how awful the demon was on earth and how much punishment Lucifer wants to inflict. Do you remember those officers you saw out there on the streets when you first arrived?”
I nodded.
“Those were demons. They are also Lucifer’s soldiers, so they kept their human form.”
“Am I a demon too then?”
“No, you’re just a human that died and was sent to Hell. You become a demon if Lucifer designates you to a specific job.”
“So why did I need to come see you? Are you like my demon bodyguard or something?”
He shook his head and rolled his eyes. “No, I am your watcher, meaning I bring you to Lucifer when you arrive to ensure you are brought directly to him to learn of your responsibilities he will give you from here on out.”
“Yeah, that isn’t going to happen. I’ll be damned if he thinks I’m going to do anything he tells me to.”
“You are right, you are damned. Let’s go.” He scooted off the desk and grabbed me by my arm, leading me towards the door with him.
As we walked down the dark, desolate street towards where I was to meet Lucifer, we passed a huge open area that was barricaded and enclosed by towering black bars. The area inside of the bars stretched far beyond where I could see. Smoke rolled throughout it, some of it swirling out onto the street in front of us. It was swarmed with people wandering around inside, lost and chained in black steel handcuffs. They walked back and forth as though they had no direction and were unable to leave the confinement of the cage-like prison.
I stopped in front of the bars to face a man that approached them. He wrapped his fingers around the black metal slats slowly lifting his face to meet mine. A low growl escaped from his mouth that unveiled razor-sharp teeth and his blood red eyes stared back at me through the small space between us, hate seething from them. Inching away, I noticed his long-gnarled fingers had claws at the ends of them.
“What the fuck is that?” I asked Roman.
“That is the kind of demon you were talking about. This area is called the Darklands. It is where absolute evil dwells for eternity and these are the souls that are tortured when they aren’t sent to do the devil’s work. Let’s keep moving.”
I turned around one last time to look at the demon that watched us, flicking his snake-like forked tongue as we walked away.
Lucifer’s was not what I had expected from the outside. The only thing different about this black building was it was a bit larger than the others and had oversized, scarlet colored stained-glass windows in the front with pictures of serpents etched in them. Massive stone steps led up to the door and rather than a number engraved up above it, ‘LUCIFER’ was ingrained in the same scarlet as the windows. Two guards stood to attention at the top of the stairs. They watched us, nodding at Roman and opening the door as we ascended the steps.
The heavy door closed behind us, leaving us standing in a vaulted foyer that flickered with candles hanging in sconces on the walls. All the walls were ebony marble, making the glossy blood red marble floors that looked like no one had ever stepped foot on them glisten under the candlelight. I followed Roman into a sitting room that had black leather Victorian wingback chairs facing a gigantic Baphomet statue that sat perched on a platform in the middle of the room. Behind the magnificent statue was a wall of fire that almost gave the illusion of water raining down the wall, but the red and orange color and radiating heat proved it wasn’t.
Roman gestured for me to sit in one of the chairs, taking a seat in the one opposite of me.
A few moments later, the sound of men’s dress shoes clicked across the marble floors causing Roman to get up from his seat and stand to attention like the soldiers outside. A tall slender built man came from behind us, making his way up the platform and taking a seat on the Baphomet statue whose lap served as a seat. He had smooth suntanned skin without one imperfection, honey blond hair that was perfectly cut and greased back, and when he looked at me from his throne, I could see his piercing pale grey eyes underneath thick dark eyelashes. He was dressed in an all black tailored suit, a fitted red silk dress shirt, and black Italian leather shoes. He crossed his legs and lit a cigar, taking a few big puffs before speaking.