Sorren
Went to work. Be back later. Keep an eye out for Catrick Swayze.
—E
What is a ‘Catrick Swayze’? That sneaky little witch. If she’s going to abandon me here, then I’m going to eat her food. I already know the cabinets are mostly empty since I ransacked those last night looking for something for Eva to eat after she fainted.
I open the refrigerator and take stock. What I find is horrific.
A handful of takeout containers, mustard, a small carton of milk, and four different kinds of pickles.
The smell of the takeout tells me none of it is remotely fresh.
I unscrew a jar of pickles and pop one in my mouth, expecting some salty goodness, but the tiny pickle is sweet and way too soft.
I spit it into the garbage. I go for the jar with pickle spears next and hope for the best.
Sitting at the table, I look around and assess the situation.
It doesn’t look like the lair I was warned about as a kid.
The house is cozy, and the kitchen has an antique look to it.
The tile countertops have chipped pale pink tiles and white grout that’s missing here and there.
Tiny mint green curtains cover half the window over the sink.
Pictures plaster the top half of the fridge grabbing my attention.
I walk over to get a closer look. The magnets holding them up have cheesy witch puns on them.
Everyone has big happy smiles. There are a handful of selfies of Eva with a woman of East Asian descent about her age.
Eva’s wild brown wavy hair is a stark contrast to her friend’s straight black hair styled in a sharp bob.
One polaroid has “Eva and Riley, 2025” written in blue marker.
In the top corner of the fridge is a picture of a younger Eva with a much older woman, sitting on Eva’s back porch.
Hand in hand, they grin at the camera. The fridge shows a life that is full of love, and I wonder if everyone in this realm has a similar upbringing. It’s nothing like mine.
I finish off the last pickle spear and head upstairs.
A shower is an absolute necessity before I go out and track down my captor.
I grab a towel from the linen closet and head to the tiny bathroom.
It’s small enough that I could reach out and touch opposite walls at the same time.
I watch myself in the mirror while the water heats up, still not used to the reflection.
I feel again for my horns. It feels so strange without them.
I pull back the plastic curtain and step inside the steamy shower.
The shower head comes up to my chin, hardly spraying enough water to get half of my body wet.
I crouch down and turn awkwardly, knocking shampoo bottles and soap all over the place.
The plastic shower curtain sticks to me and gets tangled up.
I finally break free, wash up and get out before the thing can attack me again.
Dried and dressed back in my clothes from last night, I head for the front door. The morning light pierces my eyes when I swing the door open, so I shield them as I start to walk through.
My body slams against an invisible force blocking the jamb. Shaking it off, I reach my arm out to feel for the barrier.
That witch bound me to her house!
The black and white cat runs inside and rubs up against my leg.
“Ah, you must be Catrick! Hey there buddy. I’m Sorren.
” I gather him up. There’s got to be some food for him somewhere.
Cans of tuna are neatly stacked on the counter next to the door, so I pry one open and knock the contents onto a plate.
The little guy chomps at the flaky meat without hesitation.
Crouching down, I pet him softly, trying to figure out how I can get out of here.
I reach out with my own magick to push through the boundary keeping me locked in, only to be blocked.
Catrick finishes his breakfast by licking the plate clean and follows me back inside the house. I stare down at the book. I poke it and get burned again. In one of the drawers is an oven mitt–I grab it and a wooden spoon from the counter.
“You must think you’re pretty smart, book. We’ll see about that.” I might look like an idiot, but I’m able to flip the cover open and indelicately turn toward the middle of the book. All of the pages are blank. There has to be some way to get the spells to show up again. I need to get back home.
Malachi must be freaking out right about now.
One minute, I’m ready to sign paperwork to take over the underworld, then poof.
Gone. When our father died unexpectedly at the young age of 665, there was no succession plan.
Malachi and I both worked for the family business, me in Accounting while Malachi haunted the office whenever the mood struck.
Neither one of us were prepared to take over since we expected our father to live for many more centuries.
My half-brother and I discussed how to move forward extensively, and when we couldn’t come to an agreement, the Board of Directors brought in lawyers who also debated it extensively—and expensively. We finally came to an arrangement: I would take over. Begrudgingly.
The endless meetings were enough to drive a demon crazy, but add that to the near-celebrity status that came with the title of CEO of Hell—I was not looking forward to stepping into the role. I’d rather have a quiet life out of the spotlight.
I pile up some wood in the fireplace and light it with a snap of my fingers.
The heat makes me feel at home. I grab the cat and the soft blanket and lie on the couch, my feet dangling off the end.
The long night catches up with me, and I let my eyes close.
Nap first, then I’ll figure out what to do next.
“You’re still here,” Eva says breathlessly, like she ran here. I can’t tell if she is happy or disappointed by my presence. “Wait. What?!” Eva stops in her tracks and stares at me like I grew my horns back. “Catrick Swayze! You traitor.”
The cat jumps out of my arms and hides between the couch and the wall. I glance out the window and realize that I’ve slept most of the day on the couch.
“What’s wrong?” I feel like I’m missing something.
“I’ve been trying to win that cat over for months, and you’re here for one day and he lets you hold him?! Do you have any idea how much tuna I’ve given him?” She drops her belongings on the cluttered entryway table.
“What can I say? Cute things like me.” I smirk, earning an adorable eye roll. Eva stomps into the kitchen, pouting because I’ve earned her cat’s favor before she could.
I get down on my knees and call for Catrick Swayze. “Come on little guy, I think she’s harmless.” He starts walking toward me for more snuggles.
“You ate all the good pickles!” she shrieks from the kitchen.
“Some of the weird ones are left. You left me here to starve.” My stomach grumbles loudly. Eva comes back into the living room, sending Catrick Swayze back to his hiding place. How did I find myself between this witch and her cat?
“Do you know what pizza is?” she asks.
“Of course I do. The underworld is a lot like up here. After all, it’s where people usually go after they leave this realm. Come to think of it, the only real difference is that magick isn’t a secret down there.” I climb up off the ground and brush a few stray cat hairs from my pants.
“So it’s not all endless torture and eternal hell fire?” She smiles at me.
“More like death by a thousand board meetings."
“So, it is endless torture.” She nods.
“It truly is. Now, about that pizza, or is starving your house guests your brand of torment?”
“Yeah, I’m hungry too.” She grabs her purse and keys.
“Bring me back a slice.”
“No, you’re coming too. Let’s go.”
“I can’t leave. You bound me to your house.”
“You’ve got to be shitting me.” She drops her keys and circles around the couch to face me.
“I wish.”
“Wow, that’s the most powerful magick I’ve ever cast,” she says, amazed. “And I don’t even know how I did it.” She sits down opposite me on the ottoman, her eyes wide with disbelief.
“It’s impressive magick. It would be even more impressive if we could figure out a way to reverse it.” My voice is playful. I just met Eva, but I can’t resist the urge to tease her a little
She glares, but her lips curve into a smile. “The shittiest part of all this? Well, other than you being yanked out of your realm. I can’t even tell anyone about it!”
“You don’t want your coven to know you summoned a Prince of Hell and bound him to your house by doing a mysterious spell without knowing what the result would be?” Friendly sarcasm sneaks into my voice.
She tosses a pillow at my face. “Are all demons such smartasses?”
“Just the good looking ones.” I can’t pass up another opportunity to tease her again.
Why am I flirting with this witch? I mean, she’s hot and funny, sure, but this is not a good idea. We need to get me home and pretend like this never happened. We both have lives to get back to.
“I’ll order the pizza,” she says, breaking the tension. What do you like on it?”
“Everything.” At this point I’m almost tempted to eat those sweet pickles.
“Oh! I almost forgot!” Eva jumps up and goes to her bag by the door. She pulls out a pair of gray sweatpants and a clean black T-shirt.
“Yes! Thank you.” I take them and head upstairs to change. She is the realm’s most considerate kidnapper.