Page 39 of The Good Char
Grunting, I got out my key and ignored everyone around me who was staring.Once inside, I slammed the door and looked around the empty space.I discovered a secret latch in the middle of the floor, covered by a throw rug the moment I acquired this piece of crap home.
Curiosity had me exploring to find a small crawl space.I had been digging each night when Kimmy’s face and phantom touches haunted me.The physical labor and pain in my muscles helped rid me of her temporarily and much to my delight… I stumbled upon stacks of skeletons beneath the building.
The interesting discovery had me digging further until an entire room was clawed out to my liking.
It smelled of death and decay.It reminded me of home.
Crawling into my personal hell hole, I climb down onto a couch I hauled in.It was a horrendous feat to get inside, but I managed with a few scruffs and tears.Not that it mattered.It wasn’t like I was trying to get my humble abode on television.
Chitter chatters of sprites was my first warning.I groaned when the rest of their voices came afterward.
“So this is where you’re staying, Dick?Nice, nice.Not too bad,” Zychor called out, kicking one of the sprites out of the way and slamming him into the cavern wall.
The disgusting splat, followed by a sulfuric smelling evaporation made me grin as I crossed my leg and rested my head against my closed fist.
His long tongue snaked out as if to test the air right as Belchar appeared.
“Well, well.Does the master know you’re living it up here in the human realm?I almost feel cheated looking at this place here.Peace, quiet, solitude.And you don’t have to look at Zychor’s ugly face.”
Zychor threw a punch and Belchar ducked, throwing a sprite in his place.Blood splattered on the walls and they both threw their heads back laughing at one another.
“Just like home,” Zychor grinned.“What is that revolting thing you’re sitting on, Dick?”
I scowled at his constant use of the stupid nickname.He reminded me too much of Justin.One of these days, Zychor was going to get what was coming to him.When his curved horns hit the ceiling, a cloud of dust fell on our heads and we all coughed, waving our hands in front of us.
“Would you watch where you’re going, you fool?”I snarled.
“It’s not my fault your pathetic little home can’t accommodate an amazing demon like me,” he growled back, jerking his head until more dust came down and he finally ripped his horns free.
“Enough about your small cock, Zychor.Why are you sitting on something that looks like an ancient human threw up?”Belchar spat out before sniffing around and plopping himself down beside me.
“Then why is your ass on it if it's so ugly?It's not uglier than the womb you came from,” I taunted and Belchar snarled, ripping more of the fabric and cackling.
“Ah, that was a good one.When is your sentence over?”
Zychor scoffed.“When the master feels like it.Or when he kills off another demon in his rage.It would be easier for him to replace a demon with one he already knows than one he needs to find.”
His long tongue snaked out and I wanted to tear it from his mouth.I didn’t come here to hear them talk about my never ending sentence in this wretched place.My mind would like to think my sentence was coming to an end sometime this century, but with each day that passes the hope I harbored rotted.I could practically feel the maggots crawling all over it as we spoke.
“Why are you both here?”I barked out, irritation furling in my gut.
“What is this, Dick?Are you eating fresh human flesh in your off time?Why are there so many bones about?”asked Zychor curiously.His tone of voice sounded as if he was upset he wasn’t invited if it were the truth.
I gave him a side eye and he scowled back.
“How am I supposed to know what humans are up to?”I snapped.
“Come on, Dick.You mean to tell me, you didn’t choose this placebecauseof this?”Belchar taunted, his beast-like face panting with his tongue lolled out while his tusks and half sloughed off skin shakes with his laughter.“I mean, by the looks of it, I’m surprised your gut hasn’t exploded.That’s a lot of bones, Dick.”
I shoved him off my dirty floral couch with a growl.He landed in a heap, his horns hooking into the ground as sprites poofed in and began dancing on top of him, cackling with mirth.
“Good to see you haven’t lost too much of yourself while you’re here, Dick.Humans and their strange ways can be infectious.Look at Obsideo.He was gone so long, he came back with one,” Zychor chuckled.
I rolled my eyes and clasped my hands behind my head, staring at the dirt ceiling.“Why are you guys here?You’ve never visited me before.Why now?”
“Ah, well,” Zychor began, rubbing his distorted skull and jawline.“It was getting boring down there without you, torturing the same souls over and over again.They never seem to remember my taunts after they die and come back.Then I find myself throwing out the same taunts, eliciting the same response.It’s monotonous over the eons.Was hoping for another plague to bring in fresh souls, but here we are… not a plague in sight since the last one.”
“Zychor’s memory is shit.We’ve had a small influx lately but they come one at a time much more frequently, sometimes two at a time.But he’s right.It’s not enough for entertainment.They all start to sound the same when they scream,” chimed in Belchar as he ripped apart the closest sprite and bit into him.
