Welcome to Hell

Part 6

"Hello, Helpful Angels Agency. This is Persi. How may I help you?" her sweet voice gushed.

"Good afternoon, Persi. It's Mel, returning Raphael's call. He said it was urgent?" Mel tried to hide her curiosity. What could possibly be so urgent that Raphael had needed to call her before he knew if she'd left the HELL Corporation office?

"Oh! Oh, yes. Um, he's on a call – what do I do?" Persi giggled nervously. "I'm still not used to this switchboard thingy."

"You could put me on hold, or you could tell me a bit more about what Raphael feels is so urgent. I've only been back from Iran for two days. I've spent most of that time either preparing for, or attending, today's job interview as a favour to him, when I was looking forward to taking some time off. I have so much washing to do and there's no food in the house." Mel could almost hear Persi's mind wandering. "How's your mother, Persi?"

"She's good. She's always good. Worried, though. The rumours say the old devil's working on another bid for power and no one's sure when he'll show his hand. They're saying he wants out of Hell and he'll do anything to get it." Another high-pitched giggle. "It's frightening, Mel!"

"People have been saying that for as long as I can remember and Lucifer is still firmly in Hell, Persi. I wouldn't worry about him. If he was marshalling all the forces of Hell for a takeover bid, we'd notice."

"But he's sneaky and this time's different, they say. He might…OH! The blinky light for Raphael's phone is off. That means he's free to talk to you!" Persi squealed. "One sec and I'll –" The beep of buttons cut off her voice before it returned. "Raphael, it's Mel!"

"No, just me," Mel replied. "Did you hit the flash key to transfer after you entered his number?"

"OH! Thank you. Putting you through now, Mel!" Persi said with another giggle.

A single beep, followed by some recorded music – the unearthly sound of a string quartet, Mel guessed. The music cut off after a few seconds.

"Mel, you're the best and I need you," Raphael said. "You have to take this job."

Mel sighed. "I thought you just wanted me to go in for the interview, to take a look around and report back on my findings. Now you want me to accept a job there?"

"We need an insider at the HELL Corporation. They won the contract for mining this morning. You've seen how they're taking over. First the health and justice systems, then environment, fishing, mining…pretty soon, they'll control all of the privatised government departments. We can't let that happen."

Mel wet her lips. "Why me? Why can't you send an archangel in? I thought Gabrielle was due back from Russia any day. She's experienced and more than qualified. What about Michael? He's good with IT – he fits in anywhere."

"Gabi's still in Russia and Michael…he won't be involved in this one. It's too dangerous." Raphael didn't elaborate. His breathing crackled through the phone line.

"You're not selling me on this, Raphael. Too dangerous for Michael, part of HELL's biggest bid for power in millennia…I'm the last person you should tap for this one. You know I'm better in the background, managing from the shadows. I don't have a taste for danger like some of your guardian angels. I'm…"

"You're perfect," Raphael interrupted eagerly. "They won't suspect you because no one knows you. They'll dismiss you as a brand-new guardian. That's why we'll send you in as a new office temp, so you can…"

"An office temp? The errand girl who answers the phone, takes minutes at meetings and does the photocopying? Are you serious? Was that what I was interviewing for? They'll never buy it. I'm qualified to run their entire company, Raphael. They knew I wasn't an angel-in-training like Persi – from the beginning of the interview. I'm surprised I made it out of there safely." Mel shook her head. "Gabi, Mike…you should be sending in the archangels for something like this. I was planning on heading up to Korea…"

"We can't send Michael in and he knows Gabi, too," Raphael began, but didn't seem to want to continue.

Mel took the bait tiredly. "Who's 'he', Raphael? Michael's not afraid of anyone. After taking on Lucifer himself, Michael's not likely to get nervous around one of his deputy demons."

"We think Lucifer's in charge – directly, this time. If he appears in the office, you know Michael will pull out his flaming sword and all Hell will break loose. He'll set every demon he has against Michael. He won't let Gabi near any sensitive material, either. You're our only hope." Now Raphael sounded scared.

Mel blew out a breath, trying not to laugh. The CEO she'd met looked like he wanted her all over something sensitive – which had nothing to do with the Corporation. He couldn't possibly have been… "Lucifer. Out of the Pit and managing a company. Well, I guess I can't say I'm shocked. The whole place was full of demons in suits. The entire interview panel and their CEO, too. Look, I know demons are into the bureaucracy of contracts and such – they've been doing it since Roman times and they've gotten a lot better since Faustus – but surely Lucifer wouldn't be stupid enough to make such an obvious bid for power. It doesn't make sense." She thought of the arrogant CEO, passing his coffee cup to Lilith so he could check Mel out. The way Lilith had bowed her head, as if in respect – but Lilith was one of Lucifer's most trusted lieutenants. If the rumours were true, she was his mistress, too. Could the sleazy man truly have been the Lord of Hell? She couldn't tell Raphael that – what if she was wrong? She'd never had anything to do with Lucifer before and she knew very little about demons. Mel knew she needed to investigate further before she said anything. That meant returning to HELL. "Ah Hell. You think it's a serious attempt, if he's making it known he's involved, don't you?" She didn't want to believe it.

"That's why I need you, Mel," Raphael persisted. "If they think you're insignificant, they'll give you access to more than any other angel we send in. Being you, you'll see to the heart and soul of the matter faster than anyone else can. And…and you'll be well placed to take over the whole Corporation if it becomes necessary. Or get out quickly if he makes an appearance – so you can warn us. No one else can do what you can, Mel."

Mel felt distinctly uneasy. "Take over? You mean dispose of Lucifer? I don't kill demons, Raphael – you know that. Send in one of the Powers – you know this is more their area than mine."

If Mel couldn't hear Raphael breathing on the other end, or she'd have assumed his silence meant he'd hung up. "We did," he finally said. "We sent in the twins – Camael and Samael. They were in the office long enough to learn that all the contracts between the Corporation and humans are watertight, before we lost contact with them. It seems they joined the HELL Corporation as part of a more…permanent arrangement. In their legal division."

"They poached our staff? Or is it worse than that? Raphael, if they're corrupting angels, I don't see how you can justify sending anyone in there. The risk is too high."

"Please, Mel," he begged. "You'll be fine. You're not as susceptible to corruption as any of the others. I'll bring in other angels to back you up as quickly as I can. The moment Gabi gets home, I'll send her to you, plus anyone else they'll take. The more power HELL gets, the harder they'll be to take down, and we have to stop them. We can't let Lucifer win."

Mel knew he was right, but that didn't mean she had to give in easily. Especially if it meant trading North Korea for Western Australia. The bulgogi was better in Korea, for a start, and there was something about the purity of fresh snow in winter. Hell would see snow before Perth did. "All right, Raphael. If they want me to work for them, I'll do it, but you'll owe me a huge favour."

"Oh, thank God!" Raphael cheered. "They already called to say you've got the job. They want you to start on Monday. I can email you the details, or you can write them down now if you like…"

"Send them through via email. I'll have to find something suitable to wear – it's been a long time since I spent any time in an office, and my luggage went missing between Tehran and home. I'm not sure where they sent my suitcase, but it arrived this morning, two days after I did, and it's full of sand. I think some of my underwear's missing, too. I'll need to do a fair bit of washing, in order to have a presentable work wardrobe."

"Thank you, Mel! You're wonderful – I love you."

"Yes, Raphael, I know. You're lucky I know you say that to all the girls. As long as you let me investigate this in my own way, we have a deal."

"Congratulations on your new job. We'll see you in HELL at nine on Monday morning."