Chapter Six

Chapter Six

"The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe." - Nietzsche

Ace

Zona was lying next to me in my bed in the apartment I rent out for my surface visits, her breathing slowing down to more of a relaxed pace.  Her clothes were spread out on the floor around the room as were mine.  The bed’s black, silky sheets strongly contrasted against her skin but not so much mine.  They were cool on my always hot skin.  That’s the bad thing about being a demon; your skin’s always hot and people notice when they touch you.  Thankfully I don’t feel as hot as my skin does; otherwise I’d be begging for some way to cool down.  Human skin feels nice and cool against a demon’s and it’s relaxing.  There’s one in particular, however, that felt better than most human’s when they touched my skin.  Well…not a human.  That female slayer.  Ronnie.

I was lying on my back with my hands behind my head, staring up at the ceiling.  Her skin made mine tingle.  She didn’t have the usual, shockingly cold skin that humans and a few other slayers have.  Hers was perfect.  And when her hands played in my hair, I almost fell asleep.  It was more relaxing than even her skin against mine.  Every time she smiled she stole my attention from everything else, and so did her laugh.  It wasn’t because her smile was beautiful or her laugh melodic; actually neither of them were any competition compared to Zona’s seductive and sexy smile and perfectly seductive and playful laugh.  Ronnie’s laugh and smile were…alive and made her eyes sparkle and face glow.

Honestly, during mine and Zona’s hot sex, my mind wasn’t focused.  Zona wasn’t on my mind at all, and neither was the sex.  I didn’t even want to sleep with her but I had to hold up my end of the deal.  All of my focus was thinking about Ronnie from earlier.  Finding out she was a slayer bummed me out a little bit, I’ll admit that, but for some reason, I didn’t feel as threatened as I should have around her.  I mean, I was, don’t get me wrong on that, but I should’ve felt it a lot more.  Especially after figuring out that she killed Aggie, who was a fairly strong demoness.  Sure she wasn’t the strongest one out there, but a slayer would have to be pretty good to be able to take her down single handedly.  Not many slayers know where to kill one of the King’s wives; they don’t know their lifeline is mainly supported in the gem in the middle of their forehead.  The wives can put up with any Holy water, crucifix, or Bible thrown at them and they’d still survive, no matter how much weaker they’ll get.  Hit the gem and the slayer’s home free.  Ronnie must’ve figured that out.  She has to be one smart slayer.  Damn.

“What are you thinking about?” Zona pressed herself against me and rested her head on my chest, looking up at me through her thick eyelashes.  Her voice interrupted my thoughts, which, this time, I wasn’t too thankful for.  I didn’t want to forget about that slayer for some damn reason.  I need to figure out why.

“Nothin’.” My voice was deep and rough, making me mentally kick myself.  I never sound like that unless I’m thinking about something big or just stressed out.

“Is it that slayer from earlier tonight?” She hissed and rolled off of me when I didn’t answer.  Me not saying anything not only answered her verbal question but it probably answered the question I have a feeling she was wondering in her head: “Was I thinking about the slayer during our hot sex?”

Yes.

It shouldn’t be that big of a deal.  It’s just a slayer that’s caught my attention.  Nothing’s gonna be able to happen between us, even if we met again or even if we wanted something to.  I can’t even feel emotions.  The slayers are extremely against a demon-slayer relationship.  Although she wouldn’t find out that I am a demon.  I’m just curious as to how smart and strong she is.  It’d make my survival easier.  I don’t get how Zona didn’t realize that, but I wasn’t about to explain it to her.  She’ll get over it in a few minutes anyways when she realizes the chances of me seeing that slayer again anyways.

“It doesn’t really matter.” I got up and put my jeans back on and walked to the fridge, grabbing a bottle of beer for myself.  My crucifix necklace was like ice on my skin once I put it back around my neck.  I hated not wearing it, but, even with the inverted pentagram carved into it, it still burns Zona and she can’t stand it.  Usually, for demons, and inverted pentagram won’t help against things, but for one as strong as me, it works.  Not that I really need it anyways.  I’m able to touch Holy water, Bibles, crucifixes, and go on hallowed ground without flinching.  More than one at a time, however, is harder for me to deal with, and I may end up flinching or feeling pain.

I guess it’s weird to hear a demon say that they don’t like not wearing a crucifix around their neck but it’s true for me.  I’ve worn it since my first week of being…‘alive’ centuries ago.  The King went to a lot of trouble to have it made for me; he had to find a human good enough at blacksmithing to make it for me with the inverted pentagram in the metal.  The reason it was so troublesome was because no demon in Hell was able to touch it, and they had to figure out how to get the human to Hell, have him place it in a confined area, and get him back up to Earth alive.  To this day I still don’t know how they did it.  Not that I care anyways but it’d be pretty cool to know how to do that.

My body started to tingle and my hands started to shake a little bit at the same time that I started to feel a little light headed.  The spot where my heart’s supposed to be burned and throbbed a little, vibrating in my chest.  Damn.  I was being summoned down to Hell.  My body shimmered out of the kitchen of my small apartment, the heat of Hell making itself noticeable as soon as I arrived in the circle that gave you the four directional options.

Flesh is burning; you can smell it in the air.  That only means that we have some new arrivals here in Hell.  Of course…that’s the reason I’m called down here; for some reason I’m the one they’ll call down when we get a newbie…or a few.  It could be because I enjoy telling them what’s so great about home, here.  However, for some reason, the King believes me to be pretty intimidating to the new guys.  It could have something to do with me being the Prince of Death and all.  The one thing that would make me not seem as intimidating this time…would be the fact that I was lacking a shirt, giving them the opportunity to see the black and gold, upside down gothic style cross tattoo I had on the left side of my chest.  If it wasn’t for it being upside down…I’d probably be dead.

“Hello, fresh meat.  What brings you here to this place?” I stood behind the group of the Damned, watching them all jump at the sound of my voice.  It was a deep, rough sounding tone that came from me, and it actually was one that I used to scare others.  It always worked too.  They turned around and looked at me, not seeming to be as scared of me as they thought they would have been.  I just stood there in an “I am the man” stance, with my arms crossed over my chest and head held high.

“W-Where are we?” One of the scrawny newbies looked around with his shoulders hunched, expression pretty freaked out.  Just like the rest, his skin was ghost white and the hollows under his eyes were dark.  His bones were highly noticeable under his skin, his face looking the worst.  You would associate the way the look with a highly malnourished person, but these guys were individually ten times worse than a single malnourished person.  Even to me it was a little sickening.  Well, as sickening as a demon can find someone’s appearance.

I grinned at the speaker and held my arms out, gesturing to Hell. “You’re in Hell itself.  Ain’t she a beauty?” I looked around, admiring the way Hell looks with an evil little grin on my face. “And I’m your welcoming committee, here to tell you about all the great things about this place.”

“W-We just w-want out,” another whimpered.  Wow.  What a baby.  I don’t know how he’s going to handle the rest of Hell if he already wants out.  I looked back at the group, dropping my arms.

“Poor, poor you; you don’t know anything.  That’s the beauty of this place.  Nothing stops the madness, burning, haunting, or yearning.  You’ll be begging for death, again, or freedom, but you’ll never get it.  You’ll be in constant pain and you’ll be breathing in this air for the rest of eternity, in this heat the whole time.” Speaking of the heat, my human body was starting to break out sweating and the gases were making my head spin.  Damn these human lungs.  I didn’t really want to change to my demon form, so I would have to wrap this up quickly.  They needed to move on and pick where they were gonna go in Hell.

“I don’t want to be here,” one muttered.  The rest joined him, nodding in agreement.  I just grinned and stepped forwards, putting on a dark, mean look that made them shudder.

“Hates to know you belong here, huh?” They flinched at my voice.  I opened my mouth to say more but a familiar ringing filled my ears.  The King wanted to see me in his court.  I contemplated ignoring him, but if I did, the ringing would get worse and then he’d literally force me to shimmer into his court. “Have fun here; I’ll stop by and visit you guys…wherever you wind up.” I turned around and walked towards the Gates.

I heard quiet whispering behind me, along with the sound of a few shuffling feet.  When I stopped walking, it stopped as well, and when I continued, it picked right back up again.  Huh, the newbies were following me.  Well…a few of them were anyways.  They really wouldn’t want to go this way if they new what lies ahead of them.  Once they get past Succorbenoth, they’ll see Scrappers everywhere, just wanting to go at them, but they’re unable to because of how small they are.  They can’t take on one of the Damned because of their size comparison.  That’s why they’re usually in the areas where the Damned can’t do anything but lie there and bare the pain.  Bones will start to appear a little bit, coming from the Damned that have fallen into the River Styx and couldn’t move; Scrappers went after them as well.  The occasional snake would slither past your feet, and if you were one of the Damned, it would try to snap at you.  You didn’t even have to be one of them, if a slayer would somehow get down here, and past Succorbenoth, the snakes would bite at them as well, only they wouldn’t stop if they missed.  They’d keep going.

“Hey there, good buddy,” I said in a friendly tone.  It earned me one of Succorbenoth’s angry glares.  He knew I was full of s**t.  I even knew I was full of s**t.  He didn’t seem to be very oblivious to the fact that I didn’t have a shirt on, and he definitely didn’t miss the silver cross around my neck.  That earned me a disgusted look, which masked his angry one.  I gestured behind me, keeping it very subtle and grinned at him. “Have fun with these guys; new shipment.”

“Good timing too,” he growled quietly. “I’m starving.  Go ahead.” He jerked his head towards the Gate, looking behind me at the newcomers.  I nodded and shimmered out of where I was, reappearing in the presence of the King.

The inside of the castle, where I was anyways, is bigger than a football stadium is, with very little decoration.  The flooring’s pure onyx stone, flat and sleek, allowing one to see their reflection in it slightly.  The onyx black walls were deeply carved, going up over ten stories tall before they started to curve, making the ceiling.  There were six, large stone pillars evenly distributed throughout the room, making me feel like I was an insect.  It happens every time.  Around the room, there were wrought iron candle stands, holding black candles that were burning fervently.  They scented burning flesh, just like the air outside of the castle.  The reason the room is so plain is because sometimes, the King uses it as a fighting rink, just to watch other demons fight each other, or as a punishment for one demon that’s used up the last of the King’s patience.  Other than the candle stands and the four, dark wood doors on each side of the room, there was a single black throne sitting in the middle of the room, the back of it about three times the size of a normal chair.  In it, sat the King.  I knelt down and bowed my head, using my knee as an arm rest while my other arm just hung to the floor, lazily.

“My King,” I said calmly.  I hated addressing him as that, but that’s only because I have issues with letting authority people get the authority recognition they feel they deserve.  Thankfully, the King knows that I have that issue, and that’s why I can think freely around him without feeling like I’m going to get killed.

“Hello Eurynomous.  Don’t feel the need to bow in front of me; it degrades you.  How have things been going lately?” My King, Accursius, kept his voice calm and collected, as with his expression.  He was in his human form, which looked like a man in his twenties.  The air in the castle was kept at a temperature at which a human body can withstand without sweating.  He actually looked a lot like me, only his build was a little more muscular and his hair slightly longer.  His left ear was pierced with a small gold hoop, which, if he was in the right clothing, would make him look like a member of the mafia.

“Things have been going well.” I stood up and nodded my head, looking him straight in the eye.  His were red, meaning he was in a good mood.  Good news for me; I don’t have to worry about him snapping at me.  Not that I couldn’t hold my own against him.

“No…troubles?” He stood up and put his hands in his pockets, shaking his head slowly as he looked at me curiously.  His shoulders were slumped forward a little bit, but that only fed to his image.

“Nope.” Casual.

“Anything…interesting happen lately?”

“Nope.”

“Hm.” He stepped down from his spot and stepped towards the east wing of the room, looking at one of the candles near his throne.  He passed his finger through the flame repeatedly, chuckling as it flickered each time he touched it. “That’s not how I hear it.” His eyes shot to me, a faint hint of black filling in around the edges of the red.  I took a step back and bowed my head respectfully, avoiding eye contact with him for the first time.

S**t.  He knows something I don’t know…something that I should know…maybe something that I even do know and I just don’t know it.  I hate it when he has that advantage on me.

“What do you mean?”

“I hear that you’ve run into a little slayer earlier tonight.  Apparently she’s a pretty little thing too…and smart.  She killed Aggie tonight…am I right?” He sounded interested.  That’s never a good thing.  He’s got some kind of plan up his sleeve, and if he summoned me about it, that means I’m involved.  Usually.  Most of his plans have involved me picking up and delivering things for him.  The dirty work.  Also known as the fun work.

“You heard correct; she must be strong because from what I could tell, I don’t think she was there that long and yet, she’s already managed to kill her.”

“Yes, but her strength is nothing we can’t handle.  However, that’s not what I want to talk about.  We’re here to talk about you and where you stand in this situation.  According to my sources, you seemed to get along with her pretty well…within a few minutes you already got her to dance with you.  You know how to work your charm on those women up above; use it.”

“Wait, what?” I looked up at him and made eye contact again, seeing a mischievous gleam in his eyes.  He grinned at me and walked around a candle stand before going back to his throne and sitting down.

“Get to know her, get her to trust you.  Your assignment is to find out as much as possible about her and her family.  Their strengths, their weaknesses, and their plans.  You may have to tell her you believe in demons, keeping the fact you are one a secret, in order to get her to bring up slayers and her family.  I want to know their hiding places, the way they think, how they track us as well as they do, and the next time they plan to strike.  I’m not going to give you a specific time in which this task needs to be completed, but the faster the better.  Declining this job is not an option like the rest have been; do you understand?”

“Yes, I understand.” This wasn’t just dirty work.  This was something more than dirty work; filthy.  He’s playing dirty.  But this is an all new kind of dirty; there’s no word for it.  Him having one of us on the inside is something he usually pulls only when he’s worried about some serious s**t goin’ down.  He’s not usually one to worry but he can get pretty close if there’s a strong, intelligent slayer out there somewhere.  I know there’s someone else on the inside, which is where he must’ve gotten enough information to know he needs another demon. “Just one question; how am I supposed to know where she’ll be next?”

“You let me worry about that, alright?” He gave me a grin and waved at me with the back of his hand; my cue to leave.  And so I did.  He knew where she’s going to be and when, and when he feels the time’s right, he’ll tell me.