Midnight CEO. To hell and back.

4.

"Leon, my old friend." Lucifer was standing in front of me, still laughing. "I do love a good practical joke, don't you." He slapped me hard on the back, causing me to stumble forward slightly.

"Not particularly." I fucking hate this place.

"I thought you might enjoy hearing your big brother again. It's been a long time Leon. Far too long if you ask me. I mean, I do you a favor, and you don't even visit?" I stared into his yellow snake-like eyes and nodded softly in agreement.

"It has been a long time," I said, looking at his new form. Lucifer could take any form he wanted, and every time I saw him, he looked different. This time he had taken the form of a tall well built blonde haired human man. I think his name is Hemsworth or something. He looked ridiculous.

"You like it?" Lucifer laughed, flexing his muscles. "The ladies love it, and I gotta tell you. I get so much human ass." He once again slapped my back extremely hard. "You know how good a human feels, don't you, you old dog." He winked in my face like we were pals.

"Yeah, it's great." I rolled my eyes. "I need to talk to you about a problem with our deal."

"Of course. Please come to my office." Lucifer smiled and held the door open as I walked into his office. Much like the devil's appearance, his office was continuously changing its appearance to suit his mood. Today it looked like my childhood bedroom, complete with candles burning by my bed and my favorite old teddy bear I called Gusto sitting on my pillow. I felt physically ill seeing it again, and I could see the joy spread across his face as he saw my reaction.

"Home sweet home." He smiled, walking over to my bed and sitting down. "Come and sit down, old boy." He patted the bed gently and smirked at me, picking up Gusto in his arms and cradling it like a baby.

"Why are you doing this?" I said, not moving.

"Doing what?" He looked shocked at my question.

"Taunting me with my past? I'm not the one condemned to hell, and I refuse to be made fun of like I'm some sort of idiot."

"Make fun of you? No, I was just trying to make you feel welcome. I had no intention of making you feel that way. If you like, I can change it?"

"Yes." I stormed over to him and ripped Gusto out of his arms, placing him back safely in my pillow. "Anything but this."

Without another word and a click of his fingers, he changed the image of my childhood bedroom to that of a busy strip club. Girls on poles and men getting lap dancers now surrounded us. The pungent smell of sex and cigarettes all around me made me feel sick to my stomach.

"Better?" He smiled, sitting at a booth off to the side.

"Not really, but it will do." I sat opposite him and brushed cigarette ash and nut shells off the table and onto the floor.

"Really? I thought you would like it?" Lucifer smiled and looked around proudly. "Remember the good old days when we were young."

"Look, I have a problem. The world I created for Ebony, I mean the human, is not working anymore."

"In what way exactly?" He leaned forward and rested his arms across the table.

"It seems that my brother has somehow been able to affect it. He can control weather and earthquakes, and god knows what else. This was not part of our deal. He was not supposed to be able to have any effect on Ebony or me."

"I can assure you, Leon, that Carter can not contact you or that human girl, and he most certainly can not control anything in your world. The man can hardly lift his head, let alone conjure the kind of magic it would take to affect your world. He is barely alive." Lucifer looked pleased with his words. "That vampire is a vegetable."