Zag is an inept demon who is given one last chance to harvest a soul. He just wants to be left alone, but failure means he can never leave hell again, and he really hates the climate.
The transference process was always an uncomfortable experience for Zag. Even though it had been nearly seventy years since he'd last suffered through it, it remained clear in his mind. It wasn't so much the queasiness that bothered him, it was the barrage of negative feelings and the sense of impending doom that accompanied it.
He grasped the small soul-safe that hung about his neck. The marble-sized hollow orb was his only hope in avoiding an eternity in the deepest level of Hell. Baal had made it very clear that if, in two days, he returned with the orb still empty, he would be directly banished to that nightmare landscape, never to leave it again. His name would be stricken from all the roles of the Infernal Kingdom and it would be as though he had never existed.
Those dark and debilitating thoughts filled his mind during the transport. He barely even noticed when the fog in his mind cleared and the room around him materialized.
He lay in the center of a magical circle. The room itself was bright and airy. Its walls were covered in posters from every heavy metal band of the past forty years. The floor was covered in dirty clothes and a double bed was in the corner, unmade. Next to the bed there was a hookah and three bongs.
Zag was taking this all in when a head suddenly appeared from behind the bed.
"Holy shit! Holy shit! It worked!"
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Zane Maddox spent a great deal of his time alone. It was the preferred option given that the alternative would probably involve his step-brother, Atticus. Zane always felt that fate was a cruel mistress with a sick sense of humor. He was dependent on his brother, at least for now, and his brother was, by any definition of the word, a freak.
They had been orphaned when Zane was fourteen and the entire bulk of their parent's estate was left to Atticus. The past five years were a series of paranoid nightmares driven by his brother's disturbed lunacy.
Atticus fancied himself a sociopath and misfit, convinced that the world was filled with pathetic mistakes to whom he was superior. He never actually harmed Zane physically in any way, but did spend most of their time together ranting his anti-social screed and discouraging his younger brother from normal contact with the outside world.
All of these tragic conditions aside, Zane was a surprisingly cheerful individual. He spent most of his time painting, convinced that in the near future, when he had raised enough money through his e-bay business selling antique clothing (both his parents were once quite fashionable and there were many closets full of clothing), he would have enough cash to sever all ties with Atticus. Once that was done, he hoped to be a full-time artist.
Atticus, on the other hand, collected books on witchcraft and satanism. His collection was envied by those in his circle. He didn't really believe in it, but it was in concert with the image he presented to the public. Numerous tattoos, piercings, and body modifications completed the look. This all served to create the image he desired as the lead singer of a dreadful death-rock band named Putrid Blood Clot. Zane preferred Bach.
