A web developer AND The succubus

Pandemic

I look out the window. Closed, because even though I know it's safe now, something stops me from opening it. Maybe because of the uneasy atmosphere coming from outside, as there's no one on the streets.

I'd call it a ghost town. Pentagram City is emptier than ever before.

I didn't expect something like this to happen. I had never heard of it.

I knew about the Extermination Day, and I had taken some precautions regarding it.

The demons who need to worry are humans like me. Hell-born demons are spared and ignored by the angels, even though they avoid going out on Extermination Day.

Knowing this, I installed missile-proof windows. I bought them from a group of Imps who go back and forth from the human world to avenge sinners.

Of course, I also closed the shutters, but in the end, both were just precautions. I heard some explosions and chaos in the city, not just from the news, but also personally with my own ears.

Then yesterday, the second news arrived.

An unspecified native demon had contracted a strange infection that manifested with strange pustules on the skin.

Not much was known until a few hours later when the symptoms were linked to a typical angelic disease of the heavenly populations. No one imagined it could also infect demons, and yesterday was the first case. In the morning...

In the afternoon, the cases rose to about 200, with some dozens of deaths. And by evening, we reached around 1700 infected. In just a few hours, the propagation speed is frightening.

Lucifer's jurisdiction then decided to declare a state of emergency, issuing the closure of all businesses, a ban on leaving homes except in special cases, and a ban on entering or leaving Pentagram City. But the latter only applies to native demons because we humans can't leave Pentagram City even if we wanted to.

I keep straining my eyes to find someone, but the streets are completely deserted.

It's strange. I've always been isolated from the world inside here, yet now that the situation is what it is, I almost feel the need to have contact, even just visual, with another living being.

I detach myself from the window and move down, where I keep the jars with my little plants.

I smile looking at them. So small, made only of a few leaves and some green filaments, yet so full of life.

I like watching them; sometimes I stay for 10 minutes or even more. I like staring at them for a long time and losing myself in the green. It's a color that relaxes me.

I'll definitely have to spend quite a bit of time locked up in here. Luckily, I have their company. And thank goodness Lucifer has kept some services active that deliver essential goods directly to your home.

Fortunately, I have enough money to survive for a while, and besides, I'll keep working since I work remotely. And today is Saturday. In the end, staying indoors is a habit for me. It won't be hard to stay here.

I get up and go into the bathroom, standing right in front of the mirror.

I take off my pajama shirt. I don't want to get it wet or dirty with toothpaste.

As I take off the shirt, I notice that my muscle tone has increased.

I smile, thinking it was a good idea to use the beam above the sofa to exercise a bit in these months. And even better, the idea of buying some equipment.

Exercise is another thing that helps my mental well-being, along with my plants and my diet.

These thoughts, however, are interrupted when I remember what my body looks like.