Suck-ubus : A Demon Love Story

Meeting with the Big Man

As the two of them reanimated, they found themselves in the deepest, darkest place of the known universe: Hell. Sure, it had the cave-like structure, the lava pits, the millions of tortured and damned souls wandering around, but that's not where they appeared. Instead, the two showed up in the lobby of what looked to be an office building.

The setup was similar to any one like it that you'd see on Earth, including nicely kept chairs with little end tables, minimalist styling, and a desk for a concierge. But, this lobby was dark and austere, with gray walls trimmed in black. The chairs were made of the darkest black leather and were adorned with spikes around the tops. The duo looked toward the receptionist at her desk who, though beautiful, had an unsettling appearance due to her emerald skin and large, ram-like horns poking through her forest-colored hair. As they approached the desk, she looked up that them, her blackened eyes blinking towards them. 

"Hello there, do you guys have an appointment with Him today?" She asked, with a deep and sultry voice. Valerie laid her hand on the desk, "Yes, we're a pair of his soul collectors from Earth, he should be expecting us." The demon lady nodded and fixed her black pencil skirt before picking up a telephone hidden behind the counter. She sat, holding it on her ear for a few seconds before jolting a bit and beginning to speak in a very polished voice. "Ah!- Yes, sir! A pair of employees from the succubi program are here to see you, they say you should be expecting them?" Valerie and Charlie can hear a deep and grizzled voice on the other line, though they can't make out what it is saying.

"Yes! Mhmm... okay! Right away, sir! Goodbye!" She says sweetly, before hanging up the phone and standing. "Alright, he says he will see you now!" She says cheerfully, before directing her hand towards a door on the right side of the room. Valerie sighs, heading to the door with her friend following closely behind. The door leads into a black painted hallway; the only color in the area coming from a long, red rug leading towards a door at the other end. They walk down it, though the closer they get the more Val seems to slow down. "Come on, love. I don't want to see him any more than you do, but you know we have to do this." Charlie says, putting a hand on her shoulder and looking down at her. 

"I know, I know, I just hate being around him too long. Let's hope he makes it quick." As they reach the red door, Charlie gently puts his hand on it's golden knob, slowly opening it with a little bit of hesitation in his action. 

Inside, the walls are all painted completely black. The farthest wall is lined ceiling to floor with black bookshelves, many of the books looking older than time itself. The wall to the left of them has a large window, now covered with dark gray blinds, though the light emitting from the lava pits below shines through them. The other wall is blank, minus a picture, framed in a solid gold frame with ornate detailing, the image containing the man himself: The Big Man Downstairs, The Boss, Satan, Lucifer... The Devil. 

As if on cue, the big black chair in the middle of the room spins around with quick swoosh, and a low laugh comes from it. Valerie looked up, face to face with a majority of peoples' worst nightmare. He had the stereotypical red skin, horns protruding large and pointy out of his forehead. His pointed tail swished around in delight, like anyone would assume it would. but, unlike any other portrayals of him and to everyone's dismay... he was incredibly handsome.

Above the base of his horns was a head of slicked back, jet black hair, with a single short strand hanging down in the center of his forehead. He wore a well-fitted, probably specially tailored, black suit. His suit jacket lay across the back of his chair, the inside of it lined with red silk. The sleeves of his black dress shirt were neatly rolled up above his elbows, exposing his toned forearms covered in numerous tattoos. His red tie was made of the same silky fabric, tied as close to perfect as possible around his neck, and embellished with the golden crest of the underworld. 

He set his elbows on his desk, resting his chin on his ring-bearing fingers. "Valerie! Charlie! How nice of you both to join me today." His deep, scratchy voice belted. "I see our leading lady here has caught me another soul, and not even a week before your last one. I'm almost impressed." He stated, a half smirk coming over his lips as he looked towards Val. 

She leaned her hands on the black chair in front of her as Charlie crossed his arms in front of him. "Yeah, I worked hard real hard to get this one." She said sarcastically, leaning her head to one side, her hair flowing to one side of her. "Now that you have your soul, can I have my payment and get the hell out of here?" The large man raises his head off his hands, looking directly at her. "Ooh, why so hostile, Valerie? You almost sound like you don't want to see me. Here, why don't you take a seat." 

As he finishes his last word, his yellow irises glow brightly, and before she knows it, Valerie is lifted into the air, then being quickly placed in the chair in front of her. She gasps, breathing heavily as she sticks to the back of the chair. The Boss points his gaze to Charlie, motioning towards the other chair, where Charlie hastily takes his seat. "Now, if you're done making demands when you aren't NEAR the ones in charge here, we can discuss your payment." He snaps his fingers and in a wave of the same yellow light, a stack of about 5 or 6 papers appeared in his hand. 

He examines them, going through a few and quickly sighing. "Well, considering the guy doesn't have a lot of attributes that'll help him as a servant of my domain and the fact his markings were so sloppily done, you're only gonna be paid 450 for him." Valerie scoffs, finally sitting up in her chair with a furrowed brow. "450? I usually get almost 700! sometimes 8! His soul fought me way to damn hard for only 450!" She argues. "Yeah, man, that's not the least bit fair." Charlie chimes in. "Hmm, I suppose it's not. But, I'm not fair in the first place so I don't know what you really expected, my dear." Valerie cringes, she absolutely despised when he called her that, though he seemed to always do it.

She lowered her head with a sigh. "But, if you REALLY want some extra money, I may have a little proposition for you." The evil being smiled, flicking his wrist and making the previous loose papers in his hands flash into a grey folder, closed with a golden wax seal containing the same crest that sat on his tie. He handed it across to her, then running his large hand through his hair. Valerie went to break the seal and open the envelope, but was stopped by his voice. "No no, dear. This is a... special case." He said with a little chuckle. 

"You can't open this one until after you're back home. It's a bit different from your normal cases." She raised an eyebrow at him. "What do you mean by that, exactly?" She snapped, her lips curved into a scowl. He laughed again "Oh, so feisty. That's why I like having you around here." He stood up from his chair, putting one hand in his pocket as he walked towards the window. "Just trust me. Now, if you don't mind, I have some other business to attend to. As always, report back to me once you get what you need." 

He turned to them one last time before raising his hand. Before Valerie could question him any more, he waved his fingers and they were both nothing more than flickering yellow light as they were transported back to Earth. The Devil smirked, exposing his sharpened teeth, as he put his other hand in his pocket and peeking through his blinds to his nightmarish kingdom below.