Hell on Earth

Hell on Earth. Chapter 1

The leaves of the trees outside the window were turning in hue; from vibrant fresh green tones, to burnt umber and deep rust. The signs of death and decay that swept across the landscape, preparing for a bitter winter onslaught.

For now, though, this was only the beginning of autumn, and there were a few warmer days left. Not that they went outside. No. Outside was nice. Outside had normal people in it.

They stayed inside. Isolated. Well, almost isolated. There were three of them in this room. It was crowded in here to be honest, but it was far better than the alternative.

"Turn it down, guys, yeah?" he asked, turning from his studies laid out on the desk in front of him. He disturbed the paper that was laid strewn in little piles, and his fountain pen clattered onto the wooden slatted floor as his sleeve knocked it. Bloody robes!

Rap and Rave ignored him, still wheezing at Beavis and Butthead's antics on MTV as they sprawled on the sofa.

"GUYS!"

Rap's head lifted from his lifemate's chest. "Wha?"

"Turn it down, please. Come on," he reasoned, gesturing to his work.

"What you doing that for?" the smaller dinosaur asked, as though he were crazy, "come watch TV. We waited three weeks for our SKY dish to be put up..."

Anar picked up his pen, and rolled back his long sleeves, "as soon as I've done this translation. Infernal's about the only subject I'm actually good at. I'll finish it quicker if you turn the volume down. Some of us have larger ears than others!"

Rave scowled as the volume number descended on the screen. "What's that mammal's problem, now? He's always whinging."

"He's finishing his homework, dear."

"Mental," the bigger, darker scaled dinosaur huffed.

Anar sighed, his shoulders sagging. He rubbed his temples and read the paragraph for the tenth time. Still, only about three recognised words actually popped into his head. He wrote them down, anyway.

Footsteps could be heard outside the door.

His long ears pricked over the noise of cartoons.

There was a bang! And the door shivered. "Demon donkey! Demon donkey!" and laughter could be heard.

"Let me at 'em!" Rave roared, shifting from his seat.

Anar waved his hand, "leave 'em, they're just pratting about. I'm not bothered."

"You heard him, dear. Settle down" Rap soothed.

But Rave was agitated now, "settle down? We're his familiars! I'll eat you!" he roared to the fading quickened footsteps as their antagonists made a hasty exit.

He turned on Anar again, sharp fangs glistening in the light of the screen, "you can't let that monkey prick keep calling you that!"

"Hush!" Rap insisted.

"Well, he can't! I'm the only one calls him names around here."

Rap got up and walked over to his studious friend who was rubbing at his eyes. "You ok, mate?" he asked, softly, claws on his robed shoulder.

"Yeah," Anar sniffed, "I'm alright. Smoke from the candles, you know..."

"Sure, sure. Come on, X Files will be on in a bit. Sit with us. You'll feel better."

"Will I?" he asked, hollowly. He scraped back his chair and nestled into the last free inches of leather lounge seat, admitting defeat.

"At least take those silly clothes off," Rave rumbled, still grumpy.