7. Beach Day Blues #3
“Work, work, work… Can I ever catch a break?” I whined as Evris procured the key to Beatrix’s Layer.
She used the ancient key on one of the doors, which opened to the entrance of a throne room.
She rolled her eyes and yanked me through the portal, giggling when my shoes stuck to the squishy floors below us.
“Oh, yuck! The one time I’m not wearing boots!
” I hacked, bringing my sticky flip-flop up out of the sickly pink flooring.
“You’re in Gluttony, kiddo. This place is a disgusting, grotesque Layer.
You wonder why Beatrix likes to leave it as much as possible.
” Evris snorted and dragged us across the sticky floors, through a substance I didn’t want to begin guessing I was walking in.
The throne was empty, but there was loud talking coming from a dining room off the main room.
Evris followed the sounds until she found her sister rapidly arguing with two girls, who I was more than familiar with. “Um, Beatrix?” Evris peeped.
Beatrix’s mouth was already morphed into its demon form, with her razor-sharp teeth seeping saliva as she boiled alive with rage.
She slammed her fist onto the table and roared, “Do you know the kind of problems you two fucking fools are causing? You’re releasing tons of demons, and if Atlas or Nicodemus finds out about this-… ?”
“I already know,” I barked, making Beatrix cringe at the sound of my deadpan voice.
She reverted back to normal and spun on her heel. “Nick, please, I was-…?”
“Don’t upset yourself. I figured this had something to do with these two.” I stepped around Beatrix and crossed my arms, glaring down at the two ashamed twins before me. “Isadora, Odessa… long time no see.”
“You never answered our call!” Odessa sniffed.
“I don’t remember receiving one?” I questioned.
Isadora elbowed Odessa, making her hack from the force of the blow. “You were supposed to take care of that, you moron!”
“Do something yourself once in a while!”
My left eye began to twitch as their arguing grew more intense.
My hands followed the action, turning to bone as my agitation grew worse.
Evris and Beatrix gulped and side-stepped away from me, seeing I was seconds from losing it, and not wanting to be in the blast zone.
“I have had enough of you two arguing like five-year-olds!” I slammed my fist down on the table, which made them cut off and tremble at the smoke pluming from my eyes.
“You have been nothing but trouble from the moment we met. Who gave you any right to release demons from my Realm, especially so close to Humans. Do you know what kind of damage you would have caused, how many lives you would have stolen?”
“Quota was down in our Layer! We were trying to hit productivity markers is all!” Odessa pleaded innocently, batting her long lashes.
“Quota? You think I give a shit about your quota?” I jabbed my finger into her chest. “You were told to wait for me before making any decisions in that Layer, let alone before you could call shots like head honchos. Beatrix and Evris are the only two beings permitted to make calls, and they are who you answer to, regardless of if you like it or not.”
“How fair is that?” Odessa interjected, her blood-red eyes pooling with anger. “You expect us to wait around like two lost puppies when our Layer is suffering? These two don’t know their heads from their asses, and you expect them to run a Layer we have helped govern for centuries?”
“Watch yourself, bitch,” Beatrix snarled.
Odessa hugged herself with a playful scoff. “Oh, goodness, am I scared! Whatchya gonna do, fatty? Eat me? I sure am quaking in my boots!”
“That’s it!” Beatrix changed into her demon form and shrieked like a banshee, posing to hurl herself towards Odessa.
I jumped in between the two and threw my arms out, which did make Beatrix fall back slightly. “Enough, now. Beatrix, Evris, why don’t you go seal the Layer and make sure nothing else gets out while I deal with these two?”
“You’re lucky he’s here, or I’d swallow you whole…” Beatrix hissed as she changed back to normal and followed her sister out of the room.
I sighed in relief before turning back to the fuming twins to my left. “As for you two: instigating the people you intend to work with is not going to gain you any points, with them or me. If you want any kind of chance at the Layer, you need to start proving yourselves, now.”
“And how exactly do we do that? It’s not like you’re giving us objectives or something?” Isadora pointed out.
I pondered her words before nodding stiffly.
“I see what you mean. Here’s the deal. Meet at the Inn this time Monday afternoon.
I will converse with my father and put together some trials for you to complete.
In the meantime,” I pointed at each girl as I spoke, “don’t cause any more trouble, or you will be disqualified from the race immediately. Understood?”
“Fine, fine…” they said simultaneously.
“For now…” I slid my sunglasses back on and conjured a portal back to Italy. “Don’t bother me for the rest of the day. I’m enjoying my vacation whether the world wants me to or not.”