Tragedy On The Roof

(9): A New Home

"Fuck, my head." Bret groaned as he woke up in an alleyway in hell, "Where the hell am I?"

He lifted his body off everything and walked out of the alley, shaking his head to try and remove the ringing from his ears. After his ear fiasco, he walked to a nearby building, where he got in unharmed. He sat at a bar table, away from the bartenders. Bret was twenty-one when he died, a junior in college. He heard nothing about anything being built in his honor, which he didn't mind. Realizing the situation, he walked out after forty minutes of sitting around. He had no idea what he looked like in hell.

Bret looks at his arm, "Am... I a hellhound?"

He noticed that his skin was a deep shade of gray, with black hair and red eyes. A tail snaked out from behind him, flicking back and forth as he tried to process everything that was happening.

Feeling lost and confused, Bret wandered through the streets of hell. He couldn't believe that he was dead, let alone suffering. The last thing he remembered was being shoved off the rooftop by Loona and landing on the cold concrete below.

As he wandered, he heard screams and cries for help coming from all around him. He knew he should be terrified. He felt strangely numb to everything.

Eventually, Bret stumbled upon a group of demons. They eyed him warily but didn't make any move to attack him. Instead, they started talking to him, asking him questions about his life on Earth.

Bret realized that he wasn't afraid of them. He felt he fit in with them better than he ever did with humans. Maybe this was where he belonged.

As he walked away from the group of demons, Bret knew that he had much to learn about hell and its inhabitants. But one thing was infallible - he wasn't letting being dead stop him from living his life to the fullest.

He walked across a street into a building with a name called I.M.P., which stood for Immediate Murder Professionals. Bret thought it was nothing personal until he saw an imp run toward him, "Have you seen my daughter?"

"I'm... sorry? What did you say?" Bret asked.

"My daughter, Loona, is her name." The demon started crying, "Oh, my sweet, Loony. Where are you?"

"Loona..." Bret felt his heart skip a beat, "She's in the living world. She killed me. I don't know why, but... It felt calming."

"Please help me find her!" The imp rubbed his cheeks, "She's all I have left."

"She's in Florida. Shocking right? You'll need a plan. You can't just act on nothing!"  Bret exclaimed, "Coral Gables, to be exact. Please don't mind why I know that. I went to that damn University for three years. I'm a twenty-one-year-old Junior. Well, was a junior."

The demon sighed, "What's your name, kid?"

"Bret. Anything else?" Bret greeted.

"The name is Blitzo, but the "o" is silent." Blitz greeted him and sighed, "Are you willing to help me?"

"It's Loona, my girlfriend! For fuck's sake! Blitz, we need to get her back!" Bret realized what he said, "Oh... fuck."

Blitz raised an eyebrow, "Interesting. I didn't expect that."

Bret shook his head, "I didn't either. Everything is so confusing right now."

Blitz patted his back, "Don't worry, I'll help you both. Let's go."

They both walked out of the building, and Blitz called out to someone, "Stolas, come with us! We need your help."

A giant bird-like demon appeared behind them and asked, "What kind of help?"

"We need to find Loona. She's in the living world," Blitz explained.

Stolas nodded, "I know some people who can help. Let's go to Florida."

Bret followed them, feeling a mix of emotions. He had never expected to be involved with demons and their world, but he had no choice now if he wanted to find Loona. They all drove to Florida, determined to find and bring her back. It would be a challenging journey. But they would do anything to save her.

***

Loona ran toward the roof, "Make it toward the roof, and get a portal open!"

Frank and Hen were on her trail, "You can't escape the past! Suffer the consequences!"

As Loona fumbled with her bag, a portal opened as she was about to jump in. Frank shot her leg, stopping her from going any farther, "I trusted you, Loona, I did. For what? For you to feed me lies and keep me from breaking you?"

"You're a bad friend! You never once asked him how he was doing mentally!" Loona cried as she held her leg, "I need the portal..."

Hen rushed to stop her, "No escape for you, Loona!"

Hen dragged Loona against the wall next to the door, "For a cheerleader, I'd thought you wouldn't break, yet here we are, holding on to dear life. Grasping every moment you can before your death."

"You turned against everyone just to become... a monster! No one would see you the same..." Loona steadied her breathing, "All for nothing..."

"That's sweet, but your time has been cut short. Any last words?" Frank cocked the gun back, "Anything before you see your athletic boyfriend?"

Loona closed her eyes before hearing a gunshot, but Frank didn't fire it, "Loona! Get your ass in here! Let's go! Come on!"

Loona got up and ran into the portal before it closed behind her, "Blitz! You saved me!"

"It wasn't just me, Loony." Blitz smirked, "Someone else helped me find where you were."

He pointed outside the meeting room, where the reception desk stood. There another hellhound sat, "Hello, Loona. Remember me?"

Loona broke down in tears as the other hellhound raised his head, becoming eye level with her, "Did you forget about me?"

"Bret? How did you find me?" Loona asked, tears streaming down her face.

"Thanks to those two over there." He points at Blitz and Stolas, "They helped me save you from Frank."

The two almost kissed when Blitz spoke up, "HEY! NONE OF THAT KISSING SHIT!"

Bret pulled back, "Sorry!"

"Hehe." Loona giggled, "We may be in Satan's realm together, but here. Together."

The two sat at the I.M.P. reception room, recalling everything before Bret died. Blitz felt guilty for the male hellhound, only to find out Loona had shoved him off the room, "You did what, Loona?!"

"Hey! She said she was sorry! Well... Before she shoved me, that is." Bret looked down at Loona's leg, "Your leg... Did he shoot you?"

"Yeah, but he was killed." Loona began to cry.

"Shh. It's okay." Bret held her tightly.

How long would it be? Frank's role as the interrogator would be realized by the public.