I Was a Twenty-Something Demon Girl

Chapter 3

It was probably midday. The sun was blinding compared to the endless dusk of Hell. I spent several minutes kneeled over in the alleyway, blood still dripping off of my soaked shirt. The pain was unbearable. My flesh was on fire. All I could think about was the pain. I sat for ages, just sobbing and cursing my sister and former boss. I expected it out of him, but Ruby? She was supposed to have my back! I trusted her, and this is what she does? I just couldn't understand why she suddenly turned her back on me.

I don't know how long I actually spent hunched over myself, but eventually a voice shot through my pained sobs and jolted me back to reality. "Hey, are you alright?"

I turned to look for the source, and standing over me was a beautiful woman with neon red hair and dressed like she was on her way to a metal concert. Between the pain and the crying, I couldn't muster a single word. She tilted her head and her eyes widened as she noticed the red on my shirt wasn't dye. "Oh, god, you are not alright! Should I call for an ambulance?"

I had gathered by now that I was on Earth again, and was definitely not prepared to deal with explaining my current situation to a doctor, especially if they managed to recognize me. How would I even explain that? 'Oh, yes, I did die two years ago, but I'm in the afterlife now and basically a ghost.' Yeah, I don't think so. Through the pain, I managed to shake my head.

"Oh...Okay, then. Can I at least help you up? Do you have someplace safe to go?"

I shook my head again, and allowed her to pick me up.

"Alright. I don't live far from here. I'll bring you to my apartment and we can go from there, how about that?"

I nodded. Carefully, she found a place for her arm to keep me steady while we walked, and she guided me ever so gingerly to her apartment roughly five minutes away. I don't remember much about the walk, because every step shot a sharp pain all the way up my back. Eventually, we got to her home and she helped me to her couch.

"I'll get some bandages and some old washrags to clean you up. If you can, try to get your shirt off for me."

I nodded again and as she went to collect her medical supplies, I tried and failed to remove the shirt that was now sticking to me as the blood dried. Not only was it stuck to my wounds, but it was far too painful to move my arms a meaningful amount. Instead, I sat and awaited for my savior to return so she could help me.

Eventually, she did come back, seeming very concerned at my inability to move. "Are you absolutely sure you don't want to go to a hospital? It looks like you've lost a lot of blood."

I was unable to explain that I physically couldn't bleed out (just another perk of this second life), and that visiting a hospital would only cause more problems than it would solve. All I could do was lift my arms up ever so slightly, hoping she would understand that it meant I wanted her to take the shirt for me.

She got the idea, and very carefully began to remove it, with every tug a bit more of the shirt tore off of the flesh wounds on my back, causing me to wince each time. She was eventually able to yank it all off, and get it up and over my head. Once the shirt was off, I shakily returned my arms to my chest, hugging myself tightly, partially to cover up and partially to comfort myself through the stinging sensation still ravaging my shoulder blades. She cautiously used a wet rag to clean the area around my wounds, slowly dabbing and soaking up the blood still oozing down my back. After going through about three rags, she was finally able to dress the wound. After a gentle warning that it would sting, she sprayed something on my back that felt like a flamethrower, and then gently placed some cotton over my wounds and began wrapping my torso in bandages. Gradually, the sting lessened to a burn, and it became somewhat tolerable, at least to the point where I could speak, more or less.