Kit
. . .
Two Weeks Ago
I exited the body of the cat and went to find a suitable human body. I found a man in his late forties. Lived alone. No one to miss him right away. Perfect.
Shame pooled in my gut. Not only had I hurt the one person I cared about in this life of mine, I had the opportunity to truly keep her safe, and I didn’t take it.
I was in Hell, and yet I did not make the effort to add the name Lacy Gordon to the Prohibited Possessions list. I landed days away from the list and I had a choice to make: travel all that way or get out of Hell as soon as possible.
I made the wrong choice.
So now, I needed to rectify that. I needed to go back to Hell. Once I decided that, it seemed ridiculous that I would ever not. I would do anything for Lacy, including trekking through actual Hell.
I closed my eyes tightly, focusing on Hell. However, Hell was a large place, and if one did not have a specific location in mind, who knew where they’d end up.
My feet slipped when I landed, rocks tumbling down the tall peak as my hands shot out to catch myself before I tumbled down after them. Deep cuts slashed into my palms as I slid down, but I eventually managed to get a solid grip, swinging outward before slamming back into a wall of rock. “Oof.”
Well, it had been a while since I’d been rock climbing. I always liked rock climbing. Though when I would do this as a human, it was in a gym and not nearly as bloody.
With shaky arms, I pulled myself to more solid ground, falling to my ass as I observed my surroundings. I groaned when I realized where I was—the top of the goddamn Mountain. This Mountain was less mountain and more active volcano in a nearly deserted section of Hell. Fantastic.
I took a deep breath in and immediately started to hack. The air was so clean up here. Too clean. Blech.
One of the reasons demons thrived so well on Earth nowadays was because of pollution—dirty air was good air to us.
I stared up to the tip of the Mountain. I heard rumors once that there was a passage to Heaven at the peak.
I’d never believed them before, but now…
? Should I…? No, they would never let me in.
I was far too close to somewhere I should never be.
I squeezed my eyes shut, focusing for now on the bottom of the Mountain.
I didn’t budge. The clean air must have weakened me.
I felt it in the heaviness of my arms and legs.
I closed my eyes for an extended moment, understanding what would come next.
I needed to trek down this mountain by foot.
With the first step I took downward, my feet slid on the rocks.
I turned around. If I had to descend this mountain backward on my hands and feet, I would.
I was not giving up now. Eyes trained on the dark rock before me, I crawled backward down the mountain, feeling ridiculous, until it got less steep.
As soon as I could, I turned around, wiping bloody hands on my jeans, and descended the rest of the way on foot.
When I got to the bottom, I better took in my surroundings, staring up at the red swirling clouds above that acted as the sky.
The Mountain seemed tame today, at least compared to the last time I was here during my tour.
That day, it had been spewing lava, running down the sides like waves ready to destroy Pompeii.
This day, I could see a few random spurts of lava, posing immediate danger to me.
Or the human I was possessing. I’d need to find a way to apologize for the cuts in his hands later.
I shook my head and turned away from the Mountain, taking in the long dirt road before me.
There was a train down here that I could take to section A, where I needed to be, but from what I remembered, the train did not run through section J, where I was, avoiding this no man’s land and heading straight into section K, which housed souls.
I’d have to walk to section I to find the nearest station.
I attempted to jump again, just in case, but I was still far too weak.
I set off by foot, hoping I was heading in the right direction.
There was a wooden sign along the road with a red-painted arrow, but it didn’t say what it was pointing toward.
I followed it anyway. I walked for a solid day before I saw a sign of anything beyond dirt.
I knew this section of Hell was used as specialized torture, but I wasn’t too keen on experiencing it first-hand.
Structures started to grow around me, a few bars and stores.
Though none of these establishments took money as currency.
It was all done by trade, whether that was cursed objects, human souls, or cigarettes.
I avoided all that but kept my eyes out for another demon.
Finally, a red-headed one exited one of the bars, shoving his hands in his pockets.
“Hi,” I said, approaching him and earning a suspicious once-over. “Do you know where the closest train station is?”
The demon sneered at me, out of actual distaste or pure habit I didn’t know. He didn’t say a word, just pointed behind himself.
Jerk. “Thanks,” I said half-heartedly, heading in that direction.
An outdoor structure with steps leading up the side to a concrete block came into view, along with train tracks. I ascended the steps and found myself at the ticket office.
“One way to primary section A,” I requested.
The demon behind the counter nodded. “And how would you like to pay today?”
“Shit.” I patted myself down. “I don’t have anything to trade.”
“You have blood, don’t you?”
Indeed, I did. Even though the man I was possessing was not awake, I whispered an apology and held an arm out.
The demon behind the counter took a knife from the desk and sliced my arm, the blood pouring into an open jar below.
Once the demon was satisfied with the amount, he slapped a bandage on my arm, hardly doing the work to conceal the cut.
“There we are. Good. Garficious has been collecting blood.”
“Why?” I couldn’t help but ask.
The demon shrugged. “Something for the Queen.” He pointed to the tracks. “Next train is in five minutes.”
I went to the platform to wait, boarding the train when it arrived and riding it all the way to the start of the line.
Primary section A. Section A temporarily housed new prisoners, but it also contained all of the official offices.
This included the senate meeting room, where the Queen ran meetings, the throne room, and the Queen’s official quarters.
It also was where the Office of Official Possession was. Meaning, this was where the list was.
This part of Hell was built in stone, like a medieval castle, the floor tiled with mismatched stones and walls lined with flaming torches.
I hadn’t been here since right after I became a demon.
Back then, King Adramalech was still in charge and the place had a bit more flourish, with carpets stretching along the long hallways and expensive art hung along the walls in line with the torches.
Now, the floors and walls were bare besides the torches.
It was colder. I had never met the Queen, but this was reason alone to fear her.
This place was also a lot more crowded, with official-looking demons striding through the halls, all appearing to be on important missions. I put my head down and tried to charge forward through the crowds, but was halted when a hand grabbed my shoulder.
The owner of the hand sighed. I spun around to see Garficious with a single, neat eyebrow raised. “Tonkitgrol. I suppose I should be flattered by your visit despite my warning for you to stay away, but must you do it looking so haggard and suspicious?”
“I don’t… Do I really look haggard?”
“Very. Do tell, what are you doing down here?”
“I, uh, the list? Of humans not to possess. I wanted to add a name. The woman I was possessing before.”
“The blonde one?” He narrowed his eyes. “Why?”
“She’s deathly allergic to bees. We got stung and, well, she blew up like a balloon. I had to leave her.”
His eyes narrowed thinner. “Why is she still alive?”
“I…someone saved her.”
His shoulders dropped as his head hung in pure distaste. “Fine. I suppose I don’t care anyway. Adopt as many human pets as you want. Everyone else seems to.” He gestured to a wooden door around the corner. “The office is there. Add her name to the list at the front.”
“Thanks,” I said, trying not to scurry away. Garficious gave me the creeps. Someone that close to the King and Queen was someone to be feared, especially when they were so nonchalant. Something maniacal must have been lurking inside him, waiting to burst out.
I opened the door and spotted the list. It was a large black book resting on the counter of a reception desk.
I gestured to the book when I saw the brunette woman behind the desk peer up at me, her curly hair pulled into an elegant bun atop her head with sharp emerald hairpins sticking out of it.
Her dark eyes narrowed suspiciously as she failed to greet me, clearly waiting for me to speak first.
“Garficious said I could add a name?”
“Go for it,” she said in a bored voice and went back to shuffling through the scrolls in front of her.
I opened the book and looked around for a pen. The woman behind the desk handed me one, shocking me when our hands briefly brushed.
“Static electricity,” she commented interestedly. “Have you been to the Mountain recently?”
My body went stiff. “Oh, uh, yeah. I landed there by mistake.”
The bored voice was back when she said, “Fascinating.”
I gave the open book my attention again and wrote Lacy’s entire name, just in case: Lacy Marie Gordon.
“How does it know?” I asked the woman.
She slowly dragged her eyes away from her work. “Know what?”
“Who I’m talking about. What if there are multiple people with the same exact name?”