𝕼𝖚𝖊𝖊𝖓 𝖔𝖋 𝕳𝖊𝖑𝖑 ⛦𝕮𝖗𝖔𝖜𝖑𝖊𝖞⛦

The Five Circles of Hell

Chapter 9: The Five Circles of Hell

It had been a few weeks and Margo had learned she wasn't actually in hell like she'd assumed. She was in a base of operations - a residence on Earth that reflected Hell. What Crowley called his palace was formerly known as Needham Asylum; a mental hospital in Massachusetts. The more she explored the place, the more she saw why the demon picked it. 

The building was abandoned and old, reflected in the cracked brick and concrete. The negative energy the structure had captured during its time as a nuthouse was still deep in the walls; seeping out towards anyone that passed. She assumed the halls used to hold roaming ghosts before the demons shipped them down south. 

The place was big, meaning that it had plenty of room for any demons Crowley deemed necessary. It also meant at any moment, most of the demons weren't in his presence. She'd learned fairly quickly that the man held quite a bit of disdain for most of his fellow twisted souls. She could easily tell why. Most were completely hellbent on violence and chaos. And only violence and chaos. They lacked the finesse to create and execute plans; something Crowley excelled at. Most were dimwitted and she wasn't sure if it came from the torture to their souls or if that's just what they'd been like as humans. She figured it was the latter as every person she'd ever thought was destined for hell was a raging dumbass.

Needham Asylum was also home to multiple cells that had been converted into dungeons. There were a few bedrooms for Crowley's top personnel and a kitchen for anyone with late-night cravings. Anyone other than Crowley and Margo used the big multi-person bathrooms the building had come with. Despite her thoughts on torture, there was even old experiment equipment that had been brought up from the basement. 

The entire building had no power. Crowley liked the aesthetic of the candles flickering on the old brick. Much like Margo liked the aesthetic of the 1900's structure. She appreciated the concrete columns and railings outside. The place was very rustic and she liked the feel of it. 

Despite having no power, Crowley had gotten electricity installed for specific things. Like the hot water heater. Any demon absolutely despised cold showers and the king of them all was no different. There was also power hooked up to the medical wing, which was used more for torture than actual medical procedures. The only other things with power were the kitchen and the outlet connected to Crowley's tv; which Margo used often. 

Along with learning about the rest of the building, she'd also found out Crowley's bedroom used to be the warden's office. He'd had the demons renovate it when they started using the asylum. She'd discovered the bathroom led outside and spent much of her time on the balcony, going through paperwork. The room was on the second floor, along with the medical wing. All dungeons and the throne room Crowley loved were on the first. The only other things on the same floor as them were the other demons rooms, which were clear on the other side. There was also a third floor but to Margo's knowledge, it wasn't used for anything. Same with the attic. She was fairly certain the basement housed way more dead bodies than she would ever want to know. 

The demons didn't take to Margo at first. There were whispers of Crowley growing weak and naive, bringing a human into the fold. It was only a week before they noticed things were running a bit more efficiently and the menial work was actually getting done. On top of that, Crowley seemed to be in much higher spirits, which was better for everyone. 

The first time Crowley asked her opinion on an executive decision on how to obtain more souls, everyone bristled. A human, especially one who had made her distaste for torture known, couldn't possibly make a decision regarding souls to be tormented in hell. Despite this, Margo knew how to be logistic without tapping into her emotions and spouted off an answer that surprised the demons and pleased Crowley. After that, they stopped questioning her.