Zachary woke up and got ready for work like he usually did, making sure to check on Red and Solomon before making breakfast.
Zachary was able to find Solomon, still asleep on his bed, but couldn't find Red anywhere. He looked everywhere in the kitchen and the rest of the apartment, but still couldn't find him.
As Solomon slowly woke up, Zach asked him if he knew where Red was. "Oh, uh... Did you look under the bed?" Solomon asked with a yawn as Zach looked under the bed. "He might be under there. He likes sleeping in dark places" Solomon added.
Zachary reached under the bed, and dragged Red out from under it, who was wearing one of his hoodies. The same hoodie he couldn't find the other day.
"Oh, so that's where my hoodie went." Zachary mumbled, holding Red in his arms as the Hellbeast slowly awoke, already in a bad mood. "Morning sleepy head." Zach teased, putting Red in a slightly worse mood, "Leave me alone..." He groaned, pulling the hood further over his eyes.
"Let me sleep..." Red mumbled, annoyed and tired.
"Fine, fine, I'll let you go back to sleep." Zach said, putting Red back under the bed before the Hellbeast dragged himself back to the spot where he was sleeping, while Zach went on with his day, making breakfast, giving the scraps to Red and Solomon, before leaving for work that day.
Once Zachary left, Solomon got down from the bed, and tapped Red on the shoulder from under the bed, "Hey, Red?" Solomon said, catching the Hellbeast's attention.
"What do you want, Solomon?" Red asked, still tired and slightly annoyed.
"I just wanted to know how you were doing. You know, wondering if you had an okay sleep last night and all..." Solomon mumbled, as Red poked his head out from under the bed.
"I'm... Fine. I'm just really tired... I just want to go home." Red said.
"Don't worry, one day, I'm sure that they'll let us back in the game. The only thing that we probably can't fix is you not being in control of the game anymore, but that's okay-"
Red cut Solomon off, "No, things won't be okay. Things were never 'okay', they were always horrible, and will just get worse." Red snapped, "It's already bad enough that Melissa won't let me back in the game. Don't make things worse for everyone by annoying me."
Solomon sat on the floor of Zach's room silently for a few seconds, before he went back to talking to Red again.
"Hey, Red?"
"What is it now?"
"You know what I found weird? How they let me redeem myself by defeating you, but they won't let you redeem yourself by fixing everything you destroyed. It's really weird. They instantly let me redeem myself, while they think it's impossible for you to redeem yourself, when you can. They just won't let you." Solomon rambled, as Red silently listened.
"You're not wrong. It is really... Odd. And possibly a bit hypocritical."
"Yeah, it is!" Solomon said, laying down on the floor.
"Solomon?"
"Yeah?"
"Did you... Miss me when I was... 'Dead'... In Hell?" Red quietly asked. "I don't blame you if you didn't miss me since nobody ever does-" Red mumbled to himself.
"Yeah, sort of did miss you in a weird way sometimes. Like, I didn't miss you destroying things, I just... Missed you when you were calm, and not in a bad mood." Solomon replied.
"Solomon, can you just... Let me sleep for a bit?" Red asked, slipping his head back under the bed."
"Oh, sure thing." Solomon said, getting back onto the bed to leave Red alone.
*****
Once Zach got home from work, he instantly went to go find Red and Solomon to check on them. Zachary found both of the Demons lying in the middle of his bed, asleep with each other.
Zach let out a sigh of relief, knowing that both Red and Solomon hadn't tried to kill each other while he was gone.
That's when Zach remembered, Billy was going to visit him later that day.
Zach went back in his room to wake up both Red and Solomon.
"Red, Solomon, wake up!" Zach said, shaking both Demons by the shoulders, as Red and Solomon slowly woke up, sleepily groaning.
"What do you want, Zachary?" Red mumbled as he slowly awoke.
"Billy said that he'd be here in an hour, and you guys have to hide while he's here, remember?" Zach explained, as Solomon sat up from the bed, yawning.
"Don't worry, we'll find somewhere to hide." Red mumbled, "I could hide under the bed, and Solomon could hide..." Red began looking around the room for a few seconds before pointing to the closet. "Solomon could hide somewhere in the closet."
"Why would I hide in the closet of all places?" Solomon asked.
"What? You want to be under the bed with me?" Red asked.
"No, no, I'd rather not be torn to peices by you... I'm fine hiding in the closet." Solomon insisted.
"Yeah, that could work. Solomon hides in the closet while it's shut, and Red hides under the bed." Zachary noted, before turning to Red. "Why do you still have my hoodie on, though?" Zach asked.
"In case your friend looks under the bed for some reason, they won't see a Demon, but just some old clothes." Red explained, "Like a disguise of sorts."
"Wow, you really thought this out, didn't you?" Solomon asked.
"A good plan is a well thought out plan." Red mumbled.
*****
Billy had only stayed over for about two hours or so, watching Zachary play the cursed NES Godzilla game. The game was completely normal. Normal Kaiju's, normal bosses, normal music and worlds.
Nothing odd happened with the game at all, no glitches, no obscure monsters, no traces of Red or anything else odd. Nothing.
After about two hours of Zach playing the game, with Billy watching, and nothing odd happening, he decided to leave.
Once Billy left, Red crawled out from under the bed, the hood of Zach's hoodie covering his eyes, while Solomon fell from the shelf of Zach's closet while opening the door, and landing on the floor with a thud.
Zach went back to his room to see if Solomon was injured or anything.
"Oh noo... Solomon's dead. Whatever shall we do?" Red sarcastically joked, trying not to laugh to himself.
"I'm not dead, asshole!" Solomon retorted as Zach helped him up, not amused with Red's attempt at a joke.
"I know you aren't. I was trying to tell a joke." Red explained.
"Well, it's not a very good joke."
"That's pretty hypocritical. You and all the other monsters joke about my death, and laugh. But the second I try making a joke similar to the ones you laugh at, you get mad." Red remarked.
Solomon was going to respond, but ended up staying quiet about it, knowing that Red was right. They did make jokes about Red's death and about Red in general, and he and everyone else would laugh about it.
"Starting to regret it now, aren't you?" Red asked.
"You shouldn't joke about anyone's death, or anyone getting hurt. That makes you look like a jerk, the worst person in the room." Zach said to Solomon as he got up, before walking over to Red.
"Can I have my hoodie back now?" Zach asked, holding his hand out. Red slipped out of the warm hoodie, before giving it back to Zachary.
"You might want to clean it. I'm a very messy Demon." Red mumbled.
Zach gave him a look of confusion.
"It's very dusty under the bed." Red explained.
*****
Red had been wide awake for the past few hours. Hours after both Zachary and Solomon had fallen asleep.
Red wasn't in the mood for sleeping under the bed that night. It was cold in the kitchen, and the cage was uncomfortable, but he liked looking at the stars outside at night.
Red lay down in the cage, silently looking at the stars outside the kitchen window. The Hellbeast began staring at the moon. Usually he liked looking at the moon, but for some reason, he didn't like looking at the stars or the moon that night.
Red felt a strange chill in the air.
Red's eyes began to glow, as he knew that someone else was with him in the room.
Red turned around to see the familiar silhouette of a woman, a spirit, a faintly glowing blue figure.
A spirit he recognized.
Melissa.
"Hello, Red." She greeted him, looking down at the Hellbeast who used to be so much bigger and stronger then he was now.
"What do you want?" Red muttered in annoyance.
"Hm... It's funny seeing you trapped and imprisoned just like I was." Melissa said, knowingly making the Hellbeast even more annoyed.
"Shut. Up." He growled.
"Why?" She asked, "You can't do anything about it at all. I'm a spirit, you can't hurt me when you're like this." Melissa explained.
"Are you here for a reason, or to just piss me off?!" Red angrily snapped.
"A bit of both." She responded.
Red was silent, waiting for her explanation.
"Since you want to get back in the game so badly, I'm here to tell you how to." Melissa said.
"Go on."
"I made a deal with Warlock, another Demon in the game, that if you prove that you are really sorry for everything, then I'll tell him to let you back in the game." Melissa explained.
"That's a stupid deal." Red mumbled, "Of all the Demons to make a deal with, you make a deal with him?"
"Well, I'm actually in control of the game for now, i just make Warlock think he's in control so that he doesn't go on a rampage or something..." Melissa explained. "He's the only one I know that can make portals and such."
"That was still a stupid deal to make. Besides, how the Hell am I supposed to 'prove' I'm really sorry? Do you know how much this is messing up Zachary mentally?-"
Melissa cut Red off, "Listen here, you whiny little bastard, you better prove that you're really sorry, or you and that pathetic bat are never going back home ever again." She angrily muttered as her voice deepened between gritted teeth, as her eyes began glowing a bright green.
Red suddenly got a feeling of sickness in his stomach. Who he was talking to wasn't Melissa. It was Warlock disguised as her.
"Melissa's" eyes and voice went back to normal before "she" disappeared.
"Being trapped in a place you never wanted to be in is horrible, isn't it?" 'Melissa' asked as "she" faded away, disappearing.
Red was silent for a long while, unmoving. Trying to process everything that just happened. The sick feeling in his stomach still remained.
Red silently scurried back to Zachary's room, before slipping under the covers and curling up next to Zach, who had Solomon asleep next to him, listening to his soft breathing and heartbeat to calm himself enough to doze off.
For the first time in hundreds of years, Red was actually scared out of his mind. Scared at the thought of never going home again.