Down Goes The Devil

Chapter 14

Chris' Dream

With a bit of devilish magic, Ethan made His ex-girlfriend, and his former colleague, Jessica and Aaron, appear is his office. Chris was visibly startled, and when he tried to speak, he found out that his mouth was sewn with a needle and a thread, and he couldn't speak up for himself.

"You are a loser, you'll never amount to anything." Jessica shouted

"You don't deserve this job." Aaron yelled.

Both of them kept throwing a rage fit at Chris while he kept pleading them with his eyes to make it stop. His tears started flowing and he felt as if his entire perception of the world was collapsing, as if his past wrongdoings came back to haunt him down and prevent him from ever reaching glory. All of a sudden, a scream came out of his mouth, and he realized that the thread came undone and that he was able to speak at that moment, yet, he had no words to utter, all that came out was a stifled cry for help. As he took a closer look and Jessica's and Aaron's faces, Chris noticed that their eyes were hollow, just dark pits of emptiness, while they had mischievous grins painted on their faces. Chris wanted to scream again, but his lips were sewn all over again, and he was paralyzed as he watched them get closer to him, one step at a time. The closer they got, the wider their smiles got, and Chris was unable to do anything but cry while watching them get nearer and nearer. As they were just a few steps away from him, Ethan ended Chris' dream, and Chris woke up trembling, panting, and grateful that whatever that was, was just a nightmare. He gulped as he thought about the day he was going to confront Jessica and Aaron, but he shook the thought away immediately, and got up to get ready for his interview, which was due that day.

Chris went in the bathroom, took a hot shower, and blew dried his hair, which he hasn't done in years, as he didn't seek anyone's approval and didn't need to impress anyone in years. He finally came out of his room wearing a towel around his waist.

"Good morning, mom." His mother was startled as if she had just seen a ghost.

"Good morning! Jesus, Chris put some clothes on!" She exclaimed.

"Yeah, yeah, will do. Can you please iron my suit?" He asked in a squeaky voice, as if was more embarrassed by his request than the fact that he was practically half-naked.

"Absolutely! What's the reason?" His mom seemed to be quite amused by the change of atmosphere in the house.

"I have... a job interview" Chris shied away from his mother as he has already known that she was about to coddle him like a baby at that moment.

"Oh dear! Of course I'll iron your suit! If you have told me last night, I would've prepared your breakfast!" His mother threw away her hands frantically and hurried towards his room to get his suit.

"Mom, no need to be loud, I'll just have a bowl of cereal, I don't feel like eating that much. Don't get your hopes up." He sat at the kitchen table as he poured some milk into a bowl, side-eyeing his mother to ensure that she let that last part of the sentence sink in.

"Well, nothing isguaranteed, but let's be positive, alright?" She smiled at him.

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Chris found himself standing in front of a tall building, ornamented with architectural glass all over. At the entrance of the building stood two guards, wearing black uniforms and checking every visitor's bag. Chris felt so small standing in front of what seemed to be almost a skyscraper, but he made an oath to himself that he was going to stand tall and exhibit confidence no matter what. As he walked in through the scanner at the entrance of the building, he felt tense, as if he was hiding a sword underneath his suit. The moment he walked in, he was greeted by a receptionist, and he asked to meet with Amy Brown, the interviewer.