Deals with the Devil (PA #1)

Chapter 27

Lucifer blackmails no less than seven employees before we find ourselves inside the pearly white gates of Disneyland. The first thing to catch my eye as I pass the turnstile into the park is a large bed of flowers arranged to look like Mickey Mouse's head. An iconic silhouette, I'd recognize these three circles anywhere.

At my side, Eli inhales dramatically. On her exhale, she states, "Just as I expected."

Killian questions her before I can. "What?"

"The smell," she answers him. Clearly, she's trying to keep her promise of being nice today because there are no cutting insults or sarcasm in her reply. "I always thought it'd smell like this. Popcorn, cinnamon sugar, pretzels, and the unmistakable scent of childhood wonder."

Killian appears doubtful. "It smells like sweat, sunscreen, and body odor to me."

Elizabeth shrugs. "Same difference."

"They pump artificial scents into the park!" I excitedly inform them. "So, different areas smell like different things depending on what's nearby. Like, the area around the Pirates of the Caribbean ride smells like chlorine and—" I stop talking when I realize that Killian and Elizabeth's eyes have completely glazed over. Lucifer seems to be the only one actually interested in what I'm saying as his head nods enthusiastically in my direction.

When I don't continue, Lucifer says, "So, what I'm hearing is that we should implement smell machines in Hell. We've covered every other sense—touch, sound, taste, and sight—but I never thought to torture the humans with smell! Oh, you incredible, genius girl! I can't wait to get started."

Leaving the Devil to his diabolical plans, I pull out my paper map and try to chart the best course of action. "Should we start farther out and come back in, or do the opposite?" I ask the group.

Elizabeth inspects the map and taps a finger on her lips. "What if we do all of the busy rides first? We can leave the wet ones for tonight, too. No one in their right mind would want to do a water ride when it's dark and cold out."

I turn to her. "If no one in their right minds would do a water ride at night, why should we?"

"Because there won't be a line, duh," she tells me. "Our bodies run hot anyway, so we'll be fine."

Like a broken record, I point to my chest. "My body most certainly does not do that! Human, remember?"

She frowns. "But you won't die, will you? Your fragile human skin can protect you from that much, can't it?"

I ponder the likelihood of hypothermia. "No, I guess I'll be fine. Maybe I could change out of this ridiculous ensemble after it gets wet, though."

Hands fisted on her hips, Eli shouts, "Absolutely not! We have to commit to the theme!"

I place my free hand on her shoulder. "Eli, chill. It's not that serious. Besides, staying in wet clothes when it's cold out could kill my fragile human body."

I'm not even sure if that's true. It's not like I've ever tested it out or anything, but Eli doesn't need to know that.

Elizabeth relaxes her strained posture. "Okay, fine, whatever. But, back to the ride thing. What should we go on first?"

Refocusing on the map, I close my eyes and use my index finger to blindly point at a location. After opening my eyes, I call out, "Space Mountain it is."

The trek to Space Mountain is riddled with distractions. Like my first ever car ride, I feel as though my eyes can't keep up with all of the things my brain wants to look at. There are so many cute shops advertising merchandise of all kinds, small carts offering different mouthwatering treats, and people traversing through the absolute madness of it all.