Two Days in Hell

Chapter 3

     The sudden aroma of searing flesh hit me like a train. My senses were heightened immediately and I gasped from the stench. The large arms carrying me loosened on their grip, but did not let go.
     “Can you stand?” Lucifer whispered into my ear, and I shuddered at his warm breath against my face.
     “Oh um, I think.” I quickly replied before I did anything rash.
     I reached down with my feet, and made contact with the rough floor. I could feel the warmth through my canvas shoes. My eyes still hurt, but I managed to pry them open, to take a glance at my surroundings. What I was met with jolted my senses even more than the horrid smell.
     The tall cavern was oozing lava from daunting stalactites hanging from the ceiling. We stood on a ledge, 500 feet off the ground, and I flinched at how close we were to the edge.
I took a step back, and was met by a jagged rock wall, but before I could register it was there, my face started searing with pain, and I clutched it with a yelp. 
     The pain grew stronger and my vision was fading. I heard a faint sound beside me, but then the world went black.

     I woke up with a start, and sat up quickly, surprised to find myself wrapped in luxurious, silk sheets. I was wearing a large t-shirt, and it smelled strongly of cologne. My hair had been taken out of my messy bun, and I had on a pair of sweatpants. The room I was in was entirely empty of personnel. The walls were an off-white, which complimented the dark red trim stretching the perimeter of the large room.
     My attention was drawn to the beautiful chandelier hanging gracefully from the raised ceiling. It shimmered in the bright room. Suddenly a man walked through the door on my left.
     “Well it seems the king brought another girl home.” He said, while giving me a smirk. I looked at him, surprised, while he leaned on the door frame. The man looked very similar to Lucifer, but a younger version. His black hair was slightly curly, and it barely sat on his head. He wore a white t-shirt which hung loosely on his broad shoulders, and a seemingly comfortable pair of grey sweatpants. My breath caught as I noticed his toned abs through the sheer shirt. As my silence stretched on, the man looked unamused.
     "Well hello to you too, I'm Ragnar by the way. I assume you already met Lucifer, my older brother." He said coolly. I laughed internally. Was the entire family good looking?
     "Yes, yes we are." Ragnar chuckled. My eyes widened and I opened my mouth to speak, but he beat me to it.
"Now now, I have to get going, the king wants to see you." He flashed his haunting smile and waltzed away.
     My mind raced, and thoughts tumbled as I tried to piece things together. First of all, how did I end up in these clothes, whose bed am I in, and how the heck are they reading my mind? I internally screamed and racked my brain for any recollection. Another man appeared in the doorway and I jumped.
      "Calm down, you're thinking really loudly, everyone in the house can hear you." A familiar voice said. I relaxed to see it was Lucifer, but tensed again when all my questions came to mind.
     "Lucifer! You better tell me what's going on, because I'm kind of freaking out right now!" I scolded the tall man standing next to the bed. He replied instantly.
     "Alright! So you know how you passed out on the rock ledge after I brought you to the underworld? Yeah so I had to bring you to the hospital wing, your face was ripped up pretty badly." I cut him off before he could continue.
     "Wait wait go back to the beginning, if you're the so-called king of the underworld, what were you doing at my cafe?"
     "Oh of course, so I'm in a little bit of a predicament. I went to your cafe to try and find the escaped demon which happened to attack you. Normally the demons possess people and take over their minds, so I figured I'd find it inside the cafe, causing chaos. Obviously I was wrong. The hospital staff still don't know how you resisted the influence of the demon, but I think it's a recessive gene in your family, you can push back against the demon's manipulation."
     "Alright, I guess that makes sense, but how did the demons get out of their imprisonment anyway?"
     "Ha, that's all thanks to my brother Ragnar, pray you never meet him." 
     I looked at him surprised, but decided against mentioning my previous encounter with his younger brother.
     “What’s so bad about your brother?”
     “Ha, he’s after the throne, and he thinks letting out the demons will get dad mad, and I’ll get demoted, which leaves him the successor to the throne. Only problem is, I have a meeting over the next few days and won’t be here to round the demons up, which leads me to ask you a favor, for saving your life of course.” He held out a small cylinder, and at closer inspection, I saw it was a short pen.
     "What is it?" I asked skeptically.
     "It'll help you catch the 3 demons left in the overworld. I've gotten the rest, but dad will be back in a few days to visit, so if you could have them back by then that'd be nice." I gawked at him.
     "You want me to go catch your demons? How am I even supposed to do that. Don't you guys have fancy powers that help you do things in the overworld?"
     "Yeah I guess we do, but you have an advantage over them, you can't be possessed."
     "And how come I should help you?" I climbed out of the constricting sheets, and stood next to Lucifer.
     "I saved your life didn't I?" He looked down at me. And I glared at him.
     "Yeah well I wouldn't have been attacked if it wasn't for you, so it was your fault." I folded my arms and shifted my weight onto one hip, and he looked at me with amusement.
     "I'll have some servants bring you some new clothes, and guide you to the debriefing room. Be ready in 20 minutes." And with that, he turned on his heel and strutted out of the room.