Sid : the Devil's secretary

13. Once upon a time in Hell

13. Once upon a time in Hell

On his way to the office, Sid the secretary was firing his pistol into the air behind him while other shots and knives swiped past him by a thread. The gunshots and ensuing violence had cleared most of the busy morning crowds off the walkways to the citadel. Not far behind him on the street and on adjacent roofs were a variety of people, from average joe to trained professional, all clad in costumes and all chasing Sid through the street and raining heaven on him. 

Sid had little idea how these men had all heard about his ascension to Lucifer's personal ward, a job that they thought came with unrivalled privileges that were rightfully theirs for the taking. The new job had indeed given Sid a new path, but it had also made him into a high class target. If any of these bandits were lucky, they might have been able to hold Sid hostage for a ransom. The fighting raged through the urban jungle, with Sid warding off most of his attackers by the time he had made it to the steps of the citadel. 

Through a combination of sharp marksmanship and the dumb luck of running into traffic and not getting run over, Sid crouched over and panted from his unnecessary sprint through the city. when he looked up, he saw the same man from before, sketching on the citadel steps and looking out onto the roaming traffic around him. Once more, Sid felt flustered with no idea of what to do, possibly to attempt to say hi. He decided that today would be a different day and took the initiative.

"hey" Sid spoke to the man.

"hi" the man looked up from his sketchbook.

"great picture" Sid looked down to the detailed drawing of the city streets made by the man

"you think so?" the man smiled. He did not seem very hostile at all, unlike the other resident demons of Hell. how could a kind man end up down here?

"sure" Sid replied.

"you know where everyone is. the streets are dead today, a little too quiet if you ask me" the man looked around to find the empty pavements but bustling traffic through town.

"not sure. name's Sid" Sid held out his hand for a shake.

"Carlos. Hey, aren't you that from the news, Lucifer's new butler or something?" the man shook Sid's hand then got a reminder in his mind.

"well I'm not really a butler, more of a secretary" Sid shrugged.

"good. Congrats on the job" Carlos nodded.

"thanks" Sid continued. Carlos looked behind Sid to find a man with a knife on one of the upper steps about to pounce.

"watch out!!!" Carlos pushed Sid out of the way and grabbed the knife wielding man, throwing and kicking him off the steps into the road to feel the brunt of an oncoming car before limping off in a retreat.

"you okay?" Carlos helped Sid to his feet from the citadel steps. Sid just stood up silent, his heart beating erratically. Before feeling like he was about to burst, Sid ran out through the streets, away from Carlos' view.