Page 12 of The Good Char
“And about that jaywalk thing.We heard all about it,” Belchar continued.“That guy that swerved around you, missing you afteralmostkilling you?He was supposed to have an accident right up the street from where you walked because he was drunk.But instead, he pulled over and fell asleep and no one was harmed.Great jobdemoning.”
Belchar shook his head in utter disappointment and I felt my shoulders slouch as Zychor got back on his feet, dusting himself off and shaking his head in my direction as well.
“Your demon card is about to be pulled,” Zychor chortled.“I hear angels are accepting applications.”
Leaving the two bastards behind me, I stomped my way into the mountainside, weaving through the tunnels until I came upon the chamber I was looking for.
“Blasted ingrates.I’ll show them,” I mumbled under my breath.
In the far dark corners, shadows covered most of the crates, filled with products, waiting for me.The master hadn’t yet caught wind of my little arrangement with the demon of iniquity.As long as we kept our tight schedule and our mouths shut, he wouldn’t ever have to know.He was a busy man after all.
Ignoring the earlier annoyance, I rolled my shoulder and made my way toward them when I caught sight of a familiar face from my periphery.
My former employee, Daniel.
All the souls around us cried out for mercy as Melkgard continued humming a tune, chopping on his table.
“All your shipments should be ready, Dzik,” he laughed as he slammed down his blade once more with a loud thud.One of the fingers slipped and rolled onto the floor beside his hind leg, leaving a trail of red.
I nodded in acknowledgement despite him keeping his back to me.
“Dzik!”one of the souls cried out as I performed ergonomically sound human body mechanics before lifting the first crate.I needed to keep chances of injuries down if I was to move all these crates efficiently.
“Dzik!”I looked over my shoulder to see Daniel, reaching his arm through his cage, his face distorted in anger."Why didn’t you tell me that you were a demon?I was a great employee, wasn’t I?How could you let this happen?Let me out of here, please, Mr.Dzik!”
“Silence, human!”I snap, straightening out my knees.“It wasn’t my fault that your stupidity led you to fall into the vortex.Now, you’ll be trapped here in the underworld forever, especially around the likes of Melkgard.Plus, you were a thief, stealing not only from me but from your dead motherandyou cheated on your girlfriend.By the way, from what I’ve seen, she’s moved on to someone much better looking than you,” I laughed hysterically.
See.I could be evil when I wanted to, I mentally patted myself on the back since my arms were currently occupied.
On my third round of moving boxes, Melkgard finally turned around, his distended, five arm body comically wrapped beneath a midnight blue apron.I narrowed my eyes in suspicion at the familiar fabric.He ignored my glare.
“Here you are, your last box of human parts.I hope they enjoy them,” he gleefully chimed with a wicked smile.
I ignored his dripping maw and brought the last of the boxes outside the mountain where Zychor stood waiting.“Look at you.You’ve been working out, have you?Last I remember, you could barely hold onto the soul that got away,” he roared in laughter.
My tail whipped in the direction of his face but he quickly ducked.
“You should visit more often, Dzik!Oh wait, you can’t,” he howled.“You can only visit once a week!Master’s orders and all.”
“Goodbye, Zychor,” I mumbled under my breath before I reopened the portal and jumped through again and again with each crate, one at a time.
When the final crate was placed in the back room, I no longer heard the screams of torments or felt the flames of home.Any scraps of happiness I felt dissipated like the portal—into thin air.Time moved differently in the other realm.By the time I stacked the crates in the farthest corner of the room and re-emerged at the front of The Good Char, the only screams I heard were the cackles of teenagers and the only boils I saw were the pimples of these hormone-filled gangling humans.
Why, me?Why?
The master knew exactly what he was doing when he exiled me here for my punishment.I pulled up a folding chair to the counter, sat my flesh suit down and slammed my forehead on the counter with a sad groan, resigned to my fate.
“Hey, sir?”a squeaky voice floated from in front of me.“Are you open?I want a corndog.”
Chapter8
KIMMY
I finally madeit home where my parents were waiting for my arrival.Taking off my helmet and placing it on one of the side tables beside the front door, I looked at them curiously
“...Is everything okay?”I asked quietly, unsure if I should say anything at all.
Both of them had the look of disappointment etched across their faces and I gulped.
