Page 11 of The Good Char
Once all of the humans were away sans the security that walked the parameter, it was time for me to open the portal back home.My eyes tracked his movements, making sure he was well out of my line of sight before I made my move.
Turning the knob, the igniter crackled a couple of times before the flames jumped and came alive with the smell of burnt flesh still on the metal.With a wide grin, I felt the hairs on my arm singe right before I contorted myself and jumped into it.Darkness and tortured screams engulfed my short trip as I landed feet first back on familiar grounds.Chitter chatters faded in and out, claws pulling at my flesh suit as I straightened myself to my full height, taking in the desolate landscape and the familiar decaying, sulfuric scent of home.
The roaring flames and dark mountains were a comfort to me as were the screams of agony in the background, constantly playing like a lullaby.I missed this place.
“Hey, Dick.I see you’re back from the human realm.Still on punishment, eh?”A familiar voice sounded from behind me, making my shoulders tense in agitation.
Chapter7
My probation demon,Zychor, laughed.Chitter chatters of sprites fading in and out around us added to his disgusting, teasing voice.He was a tall, bony looking creature with curved horns and a grotesque face only a mother could love—except for the fact that he didn’t have a mother.I didn’t blame the universe one bit.Nothing wanted to claimthatthing came out of their womb.
“It’s Dzik, you fool.You already know I'm here for my normal pick up,” I snarled.
His smile grew wider, showcasing rows of sharp fangs.I never did like the bastard.The authority he had over my punishment added to the inflated ego he already sported, expanding his inhuman head into a warped shape.
As if he knew what I was thinking, a long tongue snaked out and flickered in my direction.
My hands itched to rip it out of his skull when better company came toward us with a giant grin.Belchar was a demon of adultery and one of the few I got along with well.
“You know the master still wants to kill you, right?”he teased.
“I made one little mistake,” I grumbled and ran a hand down my face, needing to complete my allotted task before having to return to the realm of men.“A soul escaped under my watch and they were revived somehow, following some of the sprites back to the other side.My bladder threatened to rip me open and I answered its call.It wasn’t my fault they escaped, and the master is still charging me with that shit.Plus, I've been in the human realm for one measly soul—and the guy died a week later!”
Crossing my arms, my claws extended and I was tempted to score my flesh suit in agitation when one of the sprites chitter chattered and poofed in front of me, pointing an accusatory finger at my face.I grabbed its neck and kicked it back into the flames licking up the side of one of the mountain walls nearby.The sprite splattered against the surface into black goo, sliding down to the ground before reforming into a cackling being once more.
“Yeah, but he went up above,” Belchar needlessly reminded me, pointing his finger upward with a twist of his face.To think that I thought he was on my side.“That’swhy the master’s pissed off.”
“Right, right,” I humored him, glaring in his direction.He threw his head back and let out a booming laugh, holding his stomach while I continued.“Who would’ve thought he would do so much good and get to go upthere.”I pointed upward with a disgusted look.“But enough of all this blabbering.My time here is nearly up and Iwillbe back home soon enough, doing what I normally do—torturing human souls with the rest of you lot.”
“Aren’t you torturing them now?I mean you are in the human realm…where all the humans come from?”Belchar questioned with a confused look on his beast-like face.His tusks and half sloughed off skin wrinkled as he gave me another wide grin, holding back his laugh.
“Do you have any idea of the torment I am under?”I gritted out.“Do you even want to know what I'm doing?I’m feeding them, that’s what I'm doing.But because I’m a demon and enjoy being evil, I’m feeding them human flesh from the underworld which I then turned into breaded weiners dipped in their own vat of torture.”
An awkward pregnant pause passed between us before the two demons in front of me fell over each other laughing, slapping each other’s heads like imbeciles.
It really wasn’t that funny.
“T-They’re eating human flesh?”Zychor snorted.
I began to laugh with them the moment sprites popped onto their shoulders and fell to the ground from cackling in their chitter chatters.I lost my own breath while slapping my knees, the humor in the moment too much to overcome.Humans were fools.
“Yes, well,” I slowed down to a chuckle and caught my breath.“It is kind of funny and ironic that humans will pretty much eat fried anything.Especially the ones that come to my counter.”
Belchar rolled his eyes once he got a hold of himself.“So, you’re feeding humans.That’s sodastardly, Dzik,” he snickered.
When my punishment was over, I was going to rip his arm off and shove it in his gaping maw.“I’ll have you know I have done extraordinarily bad things since I’ve been gone!”I snapped, my tail whipping about angrily having torn through the back of my flesh suit.“I have donehorriblethings since I left, things that would make your skin crawl.”
One of the mountains in the distance roared as it erupted, sending volcanic ash into the air for an added dramatic flare to the moment.
“Oh, do tell,” piped in Zychor.“Tell us all the bad you’ve done since you’ve been in the other realm.”
I sputtered and then cleared my throat, my hands on my hips with my chest puffed.“I randomly break parking meters!I have single handedly jaywalked several times and, not to mention, told a police officer a drug deal was going to happen.”
All laughter around us ceased before it started anew, aggravatingly louder this time around.My head felt hot from the flush beneath my skin and I bared my teeth at the sprites, grabbing the closest one and throwing it to channel my anger.
“Hey, imbecile,” Belchar choked out.“That’s agooddeed.And you breaking the parking meter gave them all the time they needed, it saved them from getting a ticket.”
Zychor fell, laughing so hard his horns got lodged in the dry, cracked ground.Sprites began to appear on his chest, dancing and laughing with him like a bunch of monkeys in a human circus.
