The High Order

25. The Devil and Dan

25. The Devil and Dan

1. Across the skyline of Hell, the calendar at the Martyr Demon Academy rang a toll that echoed through the streets. It was now officially one whole week until Blood Moon Day. Across the city, Dan and Lucifer were huddled up in the palace by the Dis, worried to death about what awaited them in one hundred and sixty-eight short hours.

"you tense?" Dan looked over from the couch to Lucifer.

"of course, I'm tense, but there's nothing I can do about it" Lucifer traced the room in worry.

"same here. I'm not sure there's anything that can get the angst out of my head" Lucifer said while Dan took a sip of whisky from a bottle on the coffee table. He was just as worried as Lucifer about Blood Moon Day.

"maybe staring at the same four walls is doing none of us any good. You know a good place in town?" Dan proposed.

"you think staying at a hotel for the night will get our minds off the coming slaughter?" Lucifer judged.

"yes" Dan blurted.

"well alright then, do you have a map?" Lucifer asked. Dan showed him the map, with both prodding the paper looking for a hotel somewhere In Hell that could even for the smallest moment make them both forget about their worries. They soon found the Connoisseur hotel in the district of Sheol, not far south of Satan's citadel. It was a four-story building with two smaller wings giving way to a taller tower. It was colored a dark yellow on the exterior, with numerous small glass windows looking out onto Inferi street. Dan and Lucifer stood in front of the edifice.

2. "are you sure you want to do this?" Lucifer asked.

"it was either this or binge-watching a series or two under the influence" Dan led the way to the white steps of the front entrance. The hotel was owned by a man called Dr T. T. Trayman, but for all anyone knew, he could have been a doctor in anything from podiatry to voodoo.

"good day gents, DR T.T Trayman, at your service" a man in a top hat, chequered shirt and brown pants greeted the men at the front door to the hotel.

"hi, I'm Dan, this is Lucifer, you probably know him. We'd like to rent a room for the night" Dan introduced them both before the doctor escorted them into the dimly lit reception area of the hotel. It was deathly quiet, with no souls or staff in sight except for the doctor himself, who continued to smile and beam positivity, as any business owner would at the gaze of new customers

"of course, you can, just come on over to the front desk and we can get through some of the paperwork" the doctor took out a large black book and ink and quill for Dan and Lucifer to write their names in. above their own were over twenty other names of guests that had stayed at the hotel in the not too distant past.

"here you go, room key number 12, first door at the end of the hallway on your left. By the way, dinner is in an hour, try not to get too lost, you hear?" the doctor waved them off and went to the hotel's kitchen in the basement to prepare dinner

"This isn't so bad now, is it?" Dan opened the door to the bright room, with two springy beds, green wallpaper and a large window giving a view onto the east wing of the hotel below and the surrounding city.

"of course not, not when we have the end of the cosmos to think about" Lucifer sat on one of the beds in despair, aware that a forced stay at a hotel was not going to make him feel any better.

3. "Maybe there's more to this hotel. Come on, you go to one wing, and I'll go to the other" Dan proposed an idea to stave off the inevitable meltdowns they were to both endure. Dan and Lucifer both exited the room and locked the door, heading back to the reception area and splitting up to explore the separate wings of the hotel. Lucifer took the east while Dan went for the west. Dan saw a staircase that led up to a door, but when he turned the door, it only led to a brick wall behind it. He also discovered a large dark ballroom lit only by stray beams of sunlight from outside as if it had not been used in years.