The Human And The Satan

3.

Nightmares are the fears we refuse to acknowledge. Aunt Penelope always said to me. Even as a child, Aunt Penelope told me it was better to be shameless than be scared of people. After living an unhappy life with her husband, Aunt Penelope was done with human men. She always said that there is a better variety available. I never dared to ask her how many varieties she had tried.

So when Uncle Mark didn't satisfy her, she wanted to leave him. But something stopped her. I don't know what, but something did. Something stopped her. And to get out of that disappointment and depression, she started to look for alternatives. And when she found one, she was crazy over him. The Satan. The ruler of Hell. She always believed the tempting fire of hell was enough to extinguish her desires.

But what she didn't know was Uncle Mark was a far better option. That no-one can beat humans in chivalry and empathy. Demons possess none of those traits. They were savage, cruel and inhumane. And how can one expect humanity from creatures that are far away from being humans? And Satan was the most demonic creature. He loved to torture people; and he loved the pain even more.

So the other day when I was woken up from my sleep by my body burning, I jolted up in pain and surprise. My eyes burned with pain and my body left like someone was burning me on the stove. I know the feeling because I have once endured it. As soon as I woke up, the burning ceased. Like nothing ever happened.

So when Satan said that I'd wake up on the time I was supposed to wake up, I never realized he would use fire as his personal alarm clock for me. My eyes looked out what they called a window. It was barely a hole. You could fit a coin in it. That's how big it was. How nice.

"Human? So, you're the human, Sire was talking about. You're an interesting creature. And your clothes are even more interesting."I heard a female voice speaking from behind. I turned to look at the voice. But my room was dark. The candles I left burning last night had now diminished.

"Don't panic, little human. I'll get the candles lit in a moment." I heard her speaking again. Little human? And then a second later, the room was illuminated like the clothing shop.

And then I saw her. She was tall. Like insanely tall. Her red body was almost a foot longer than mine. Or maybe more than a foot. And she was dressed in a green cloak, covering her body. It had many stones studded in them. The dress looked too heavy to even carry. Her red glowing eyes were staring at me with fascination and I simply raised my eyebrows at her when she kept staring at me for long enough to make me uncomfortable. I cleared my throat.

"Ah, rude of me to stare at you like that, little human. But it's been a long time since I have seen a human breathing in Hell. It's refreshing to have someone weaker than you in the realm." She said excitedly, and I didn't know if I should be honored that I fascinated her or I should be offended because she called me weak. But honestly, I was none. Neither was I fascinating, nor was I weak.

"I'm not weak. Physical power isn't the only parameter of deciding one's strength......." I trailed off, realizing I didn't know her. And she clapped her palms excitedly, shaking her head.

"See, you even made me forget to introduce myself to you. I'm Basilia. The person in charge of the courtroom and security. Basically, I volunteer in security because I love fighting. But I am a member of dikastés. The highest authority in periochí téssera." She said proudly and I furrowed my eyebrows at her. Woah, woah, woah. What did she just say?

"I am sorry I barely caught your achievements, Basilia. I hope I can call you by your name." When she nodded her head in amusement, I continued. "As I was saying, I barely caught your designation, Basilia. But I must say, you earned pretty much authority at such a young age. You must be proud of yourself and, as a woman, I am proud of you too." I said and she grinned me, letting her dimples on display. '

She was different. Scarily different, but she was immensely beautiful in her own demonic way.

"Yes, I am proud, little woman. And thank you for expressing your pride in me." She said and I took in a breath.

"Basilia, I have a name, you know. You can..... you should call me Leah. I'm Leah Summers, and I'm not weak." I said, and she chuckled, reaching forward, and I took a step back and her smile widened.

"You are scared of me, Leah Summers. So, doesn't that make you weak as well? But I was speaking in terms of physical strength. You lack that. Even your name means delicate. But I'm not here to discuss my physical strength and you lack it, Leah Summers. It's hilarious how your name says so much about you. Delicate. And Summers, your last name is currently describing your status of the heat in Hell." She said and I pursed my lips.

I don't like her. Her tone is sweet but she is cruel. In her words.

"Why are you here?" I asked her with slight irritation and she flashed me another smile, pulling out a small trolley from her cloak. Just like that. Lord, she even knew magic. Her eyes flashed in amusement when I looked at her in awe.

"Ah, little human, did I forget to mention that I can embrace things inside me? That makes me more powerful. Anyway, Sire told me you didn't bring any clothes with you. That was pretty much dumb actually, Leah Summers. Considering how you wanted to stay in Hell, you brought no clothes. But you're lucky the tailor agreed to stay awake all night to sew clothes for you. He charged us loads of gold for that s**t!" She said, pulling the curtain from the trolley, taking me by surprise.

"One, I didn't wish to be here, Basilia. It was a misunderstanding. And two, the cyclone just pulled me. I didn't have time to collect clothes. Neither did I know I would need them." I said and she smiled, shaking her head.

"Oh, don't worry, Leah Summers. Accidents happen. Isn't that how humans are born? Anyways, were you a beggar? It must be hard for a beggar to spend their lives on the street." She said sadly and my fingers curled in rage. How dare she!

"I'm not a beggar! I have a house under my name. Two jobs to attend. And my bosses must have fired me by now! And what even gave you the impression that I am a beggar?" I asked her sharply and she only pointed to my clothes.

"Your pants are torn on your knees. And threads are coming out from your thigh portion. Isn't that what beggars wear on earth? Torn clothes?" She asked me, genuinely confused, and I blinked at her question. Well, well, that wasn't what I had expected out of her. And she wasn't entirely wrong.

"No, this is fashion. People back on earth pay more money to get torn jeans." I said with an awkward smile and she looked at me as if she couldn't believe what I had just said to her.

"You pay more money to get torn clothes? Did the human race all of a sudden fall hard on their heads? It's like paying more money to break a thing! That's ridiculous." She said and I laughed in embarrassment. A demon security head was laughing at our fashion choices. And she was wearing a green cloak on her red body. Heights of hypocrisy.

"Now that you make a sound like that, it does sound ridiculous. But that's fashion....... nevermind. Is there a sort of uniform I'm expected to wear?" I asked her and she laughed, shaking her head.

"Uniforms are for royals. Like healers are expected to wear light blue coats. The security head wears a red cloak and judges wear a green cloak. I'm a judge. Highest in authority. Hence, I have stones on them." She explained to me and I nodded my head.

"You're here on a dokimasía period. So, you'll be wearing clothes without any uniform. We rarely give people dokimasía. So, you're the only one." She explained and I shook my head.

"Dokimasia period?"

"Ah, english. You speak English, I tend to forget, little human— oops, I forgot, Leah Summers." She said and I clenched my jaw in anger.

"What will my job look like and what will be my salary?" I asked her and she looked at me with surprise but quickly masked her surprise.

"You'll be working in the courtroom and jail. Sire wanted you to learn thoroughly from your mistakes and might as well repent for your deeds." She said and I narrowed my eyes at her in displeasure.

"I committed no sin, Basilia. I never tried to harm any individual. And I'm not in hell because I committed sin, I'm here because your Sire is a douchebag!" I said angrily and her eyes widened in alarm.

"You don't speak badly about Sire, Leah Summers. That's the law here. Unless you wish to confront his hellhounds." She said and I clamped my mouth shut.

"Here are your clothes. Dress in anything you desire. These are welcome gifts from Hell. We give it to everyone. But since you're on your probation period, we have given you night gowns as well. You must strictly wear them at night. Once you're dressed, come to the third floor and we can start with the work." She said, and I nodded my head. When she was about to leave, I stopped her again.

"Basilia,"

"Yes, Leah Summers?"

"I need to use the restroom and bathroom. I smell of blood and dust." I said, and she looked uncomfortable to answer next.

"I'm afraid demons don't bath. Except the Sire, of course. That's a luxury he only has." She said, and my eyes widened. Ew.

"And I'm afraid, Basilia, humans can't really live without bathing. Else, we stink." I tried to explain to her. And she finally let out a sigh.

"Grab your favorite dress and I'll try to convince Sire to let you take a bath in his bathroom. I'm not promising you anything, Leah Summers. I'll just give it a shot. And be humble in front of him if you wish to take a bath at all." She said and I pursed my lips but nodded my head. A girl needs to bath, after all.

I looked at the dresses. They were all white in color. And she said I had no uniform. I rolled my eyes, grabbing a simple button-up dress, reaching just above my ankle. It was made of thin, cheap quality material, unlike Basilia's royal quality of clothes. But the heat hell has made the dress very appropriate. I didn't want to die from heat stroke.

And with that we started to make our journey towards Satan's room. We walked floors and floors, leading me back to the room where I first met him. Last night. A shiver ran down my spine when he opened his door, revealing his handsome self, standing in a black cloak, hugging his muscles. His hair was messy, falling on his forehead and his molted golden orbs were staring at me, ready to burn me alive.

"Are you done staring at me, human? And Basilia, what's so important that you brought her into my room?" He asked her harshly and Basilia gulped. Highest authority, my foot!

"Forgive me, your highness. But the human desires to take a bath, saying how important it is to her. And there's only one bathroom in the entire realm. In your room."