Copyright © 2019 James Russell Stoakes. All rights reserved.
http://JamesStoakes.com
“What a party!” Jarred thought as he rolled over and leaned against another body. Things had wound down close to dawn, and many had left, but a few remained. He recognized the tall, thin, blonde woman next to him, but he couldn’t come up with her name. A singer, he seemed to remember.
Jarred got up and padded around until he found Jenny. She was entangled with Satan and loving it. He never seemed to run out of energy and was still going. “When you’re done here,” Jarred said as Satan continued to move, “you and the others will be responsible for cleaning this up.”
Jenny let out a moan, “As you command,” she said with a stuttering purr, punctuated by Satan’s movements. Jarrad continued his search, he needed to find Wendy because they would be leaving soon, and he had instructions for her too.
“I understand, Jarred,” Wendy said with a sly grin. “It will be done, and we will see you soon.”
Satan and Sorrel approached. “Are you ready?” he asked.
“Oh, I suppose,” Jarred responded non-committedly. He really was not sure what he was supposed to be ready for.
“I thought you would be more excited,” Satan said, disappointed, “but I guess with you not remembering anything, it’s to be expected.” He reached over and put his hand on Jarred’s shoulder. “Hazarock will have you figured out and fixed in no time,” Satan said confidently.
Jarred’s vision blurred suddenly, and pain in his head began growing until he heard a howl emanating from his own lips before he passed out. Waking for a second, Jarred got a momentary glimpse of Satan looking down on him, in what looked like an office space, “Hang in there, Kid,” he said.
Jarred awoke with what he assumed was another demon looking down on him. “How are you feeling, Rigal?” the demon asked in Demonic.
“Like I’ll survive,” Jarred responded in kind. “What happened?”
Hazarock noticed Jarred responded in Demonic. “You’re speaking Demonic now, at least. Maybe the skin suit you were in was the problem. It was a little tight on you.”
Jarred lifted a hand and looked at it. It looked normal to him. Five fingers, long talons, dark brown and black skin, but then he remembered. His hands were human hands recently. Jarred twisted and hung his legs off of the table he had been laying on. He stood and towered over Hazarock. “Where is it?” Jarred demanded to know.
“What? Your human suit?” Hazarock asked. “It was destroyed when you shed it,” he answered. “Guzroruth has located a larger replacement and is waiting for word from us to claim it.”
The lack of feeling was something he had forgotten. He understood now why the demons longed to possess the humans on the earthly plane. “Take me to Satan,” he demanded.
“He’s a little busy,” Hazarock answered hesitantly. “Your brothers have not taken the news about the contest well and have been trying to see him since returning to Hell.”
Standing there, listening to Hazarock, Jarred felt stronger than he could remember. “Lead me to them,” he growled, “Now!”
Hazarock bowed obediently, “This way, my Prince,” he said as he turned and led the way.
Some of the halls seemed familiar to Jarred as they moved through them: it was like he had walked these halls before. More and more of his memory was rapidly coming back. Iknodan and Erichor always were greedy, and Jarred could suddenly remember that he never got along with either of them.
Standing to the side, Hazarock indicated the door to Jarred; there was no way he was going to get between these three. Death here was final, and he did not want to die yet. Screaming and banging could be heard inside.
Pushing through the door, Jarred could see his brothers banging on the ornate door on the other side of the room. The click of the door closing caught their attention, and they turned to Jarred. “You!” Iknodan screamed in Demonic and ran towards Jarred at full speed. “I’ll kill you with my own hands!”
Surging forward, Jarred met him in the middle of the room. Iknodan underestimated Jarred’s size and reach, and as Jarred fingers closed around his neck, he knew he was in trouble. More evidence landed on his face as Jarred pummeled him with his free hand. Erichor was about to join the fray when the door to Satan’s office opened.
“Don’t Kill him, Jarred,” Satan said, entering the room. Erichor turned to his father but was met with the back of his hand. He crumbled to the floor. “Sit down and shut up,” he said to Erichor before turning his attention to Jarred, who was placing a few more blows on Iknodan before releasing him.
“Don’t kill him,” Jarred thought. “I did not intend to, but it kind of feels like I really could. Overpowering Iknodan was easy.”
Satan’s glare was intense enough that Jarred felt he had to release his brother. He kicked Iknodan once as he fell to the floor. “Enough!” Satan yelled while trying to suppress a knowing grin. He reached over to Iknodan and grasped him by the arm and tossed him to the corner with his brother.
“These two have been caterwauling at my door for days!” Satan roared. “I’ve just been waiting for you to get back on your feet before addressing them.” Iknodan groaned and began moving. “As soon as they can join us,” Satan said, turning and moving back into his office, “we’ll get all this settled.”
Jarred couldn’t resist kicking Erichor once as he followed his father into the room.
“It looks like Hazarock managed to get you fixed up,” Satan observed. “Your promotion has a few perks. You have evolved during your rest. That is why you were able to overpower your brothers so easily. A greater demon, such as yourself, is much more powerful than they are.”
“Hazarock told me that I was cured as soon as I shed my human skin,” Jarred said.
“That’s all?” Satan questioned. “I wonder what was wrong with it. Did he say?” Erichor and Iknodan hobbled into the room and sat nearby.
“He said that it might have been too tight,” Jarred answered. “He’s coordinating with Guzroruth for a larger one.”
“Good,” Satan said, smiling. He looked at Erichor and Iknodan. “Has it sunk in yet? My decision is final, and the contest is over.”
“I don’t understand, but it’s clearly too late,” Erichor said.
“Me either,” Iknodan whimpered. “I was so close to staying on Earth,” he complained.
“You could have had it wrapped up months ago if you had been serious about it,” Satan admonished him. “Instead, you languished.” Iknodan fidgeted under Satan’s scrutiny.
“I still don’t have to like it,” Iknodan said.
“Are you sure you don’t want me to kill him?” Jarred joked.
Satan laughed. “I’m sure,” he said. Iknodan was not pleased with the light-hearted nature his death was discussed with. “There will be other opportunities, Iknodan,” Satan reassured his son.
“Like what?” Iknodan asked, now curious.
“Oh, I don’t know,” Satan said as he tried to think of something quick. “I may need someone to determine appropriate punishment of new arrivals.”
“Clerical work?” Iknodan said, clearly not interested in that. “Nothing will be as good as being on earth. You didn’t even let us keep our skin suits!”
“We’ll have to play it by ear,” Satan said, now actively trying to evade the question. “You two are dismissed. Don’t be causing any more trouble. There are worse places in Hell than around here.”
They knew where he meant, and they were even less interested in that than they were in clerical work. Once assigned to the pits, most demons never, ever, emerged to a new role. Iknodan and Erichor quickly left the room to find someone or something to entertain them. There were perks to being a prince in Hell that they could avail themselves of. Satan waited for them to leave.
Once the door closed, Satan addressed Jarred. “So when are you going back to the Earth plane?”
“I’m ready for you to take me back whenever you’re ready,” Jarred answered.
“What? I’m not taking you back,” Satan said.
“What!” Jarred screamed. “I need to get back!”
Satan laughed again. “You do not need me to take you back,” he chided.
Jarred sat back. “What are you saying?” Jarred asked. “Are you telling me I can go back on my own?”
“You can if Guzroruth is ready with your replacement skin, that is unless you would rather possess someone random,” Satan said.
“Hazarock said Guzroruth had someone in mind for me,” Jarred remembered. “How will I know if she is ready for me,” he asked.
A voice inside Jarred’s head answered. “When you evolved, you gained the ability to talk to other demons through telepathy,” Satan said. “Try it on me,” he suggested.
Jarred was shocked at first. The words in his head were so clear and easy to understand. A vague memory of his father using telepathy on him before began to emerge. “I seem to remember you using telepathy on me as a child,” Jarred projected towards Satan.
Satan smiled. “All the time,” he responded out loud. “This is how you will let Guzroruth know you are ready. Guzroruth, in turn, will use the same calling curse that was taught to you for bringing demons across to the Earth plane, but she will insert your name into it. When she does, you will hear it, and you can shift to the new body.”
“Okay, how do I shift to the new body?” Jarred asked.
“It’s just a matter of will,” Satan answered. “You just will yourself to be there, and you will shift from here to wherever you are being called to.”
“Just like that,” Jarred said skeptically.
“Just like that,” Satan confirmed with a smirk.
“Guzroruth, call for me as soon as you have the new skin available, I am ready,” Jarred commanded.
“I’ve let Guzroruth know that I’m ready,” Jarred said.
“Good, good,” Satan said. “It should only be a few moments before she is calling you.”
“That quickly?” Jarred wondered aloud.
“Time passes differently between the planes,” Satan confirmed. “Here, it’s a bit slower than there.”
Almost as if Guzroruth had been listening in on the conversation, Jarred could hear his name being called and feel the draw upon him. “It’s time,” he said and gave in to the feeling. He willed himself to go where he was being called from and his vision went black.
Jarred felt like he was suffocating. He suddenly pulled air into his damaged lungs and opened his eyes. Guzroruth, the demon in the skin suit that he called Jenny, stood in front of him, looking up with a huge grin on her face. She had a knife in one hand and was effortlessly holding him up by his shirt with the other. “Welcome back, Jarred!” she said excitedly as she let go of his shirt. “Do you like the new body?” The rest of his demons stood nearby with varying degrees of joy on their faces. There were a few humans, as well, in the unfamiliar home.
His body was still healing from the knife wounds in his lungs and heart, but it felt like a good fit for him, “Time will tell,” he thought to himself as he looked around quickly. This one was a lot taller than his previous earthly body. “Mirror,” he commanded.
“Behind you,” Tina said.
Jarred turned and was greeted by a very boyish face. “So young,” he said. “How old was this boy?” he asked.
A woman Jarred had not met yet, stepped forward; Jarred noticed that she had a truly wicked aura. “He just had his twentieth birthday,” she said, her hips swaying sexily as she walked forward to stand before Jarred, “He was my son,” she said as she took Jarred’s hand and knelt before him. “Jenny approached me a few years ago, and we began grooming him for today,” She said. “I hope Satan is pleased, my Prince.”
A name and an image popped into Jarred’s head. “You made a deal with my father,” he said. “You desired to live forever.”
“That was my request,” she said.
“Selling your own soul is evil, Lisa. Convincing someone, like your son, to sell theirs on your behalf, is demonic,” Jarred smiled at her. “Your evil knows no bounds and you will live forever.”
“Thank you, my Prince,” Lisa said, relieved and excited that she had achieved her goal.
“When your mortal body fails, you will, in all your fantastic evil nature, become a demon in service to the administrators of Hell,” he said. “Congratulations.”
The smile left her face and she stared at him for a moment. “That’s not what I wanted,” Lisa said.
“A deal is a deal,” Jarred intoned. “Do you wish to discuss it with Satan? I can send you to him.”
Lisa did not like the implication and backed away until she ran into Jenny. “I’m not sure it would help,” Lisa said, wanting to live on the Earth plane as long as possible. “I accept your interpretation of the deal.” She looked at Jenny who was grinning evilly at her. “How bad could it be,” she thought to herself. “These demons seem to be having a good time.”
Jarred laughed at her sudden realization. “Serve me well, and you shall not want,” he said.