The Devil's Apprentice by Patrick Stewart (polar express read aloud TXT) 📕

didn’t feel he needed any from her. It was an odd and strange feeling, that, being comfortable naked in the presence of a gorgeous woman.

Alex grabbed a pair of clean boxers and pulled on a V-neck white t-shirt and denim jeans. He was tying the laces on his white sneakers by the front door when Jessica appeared. He noted with a bit of disappointment that she was fully clothed. A maroon silky robe coming down to her knees hugged her figure.

“Hey,” he looked up at her with some concern.

“Are you going out?” she asked tentatively her arms folded across her chest.

Alex nodded. “Are you alright?”

She nodded quickly. “What time will you be back?”

“I’ll bring him back around five,” Karen said with a wink.

Jessica’s cheeks reddened. She mumbled something under her breath, then turned and disappeared into her room. It was very strange behaviour from his flatmate. They were in the elevator and Jessica was still on his mind.

“Is she going to be okay?”

“I’ve forgotten how sensitive rookies are,” Karen sighed. “You need to relax and not worry about every little thing. The girl is fine. All you’ve done is taken away her inhibitions. Us Demon Hunters have that effect on humans. It’s our aura. The weaker the mind, the easier they give in. She’s probably fingering herself right now, thinking of taking your cock inside her cunt.”

Alex stared at Karen. “Bit vulgar, aren’t you?”

Karen shrugged. “It’s the truth.”

Alex did wonder if it really was the truth. Jessica had never shown any interest in him before. This aura thing, maybe it was more like hypnosis of some sort? Like some vampires had in the movies? Then he wondered if vampires were real. But only briefly before his mind returned to Jessica. Karen had stripped his sexy roommate naked. Karen who then played with the girl’s nipples.

“What?” Karen asked, noticing his stare.

“Are you bisexual?”

“All Demon Hunters have to be.”

“Why’s that?”

The elevator came to the ground floor. The doors parted. Karen stepped out before looking back at him, that mischievous grin on her face.

“Because Satani likes to have fun with us…”

* * *

This wasn’t much fun at all, the walking. They’d been doing it for hours. Or probably more accurately, about twenty minutes. But it felt like hours what with the sun blazing overhead. This wasn’t even the good sort of walking. It wasn’t a nice trek through the woods, or up gloriously green hills.

No, this was walking through one of London’s less desirable boroughs. The streets were narrow, the houses were terraced and almost as unappealing to look at as the few people that roamed the streets at this time of the day. The people that were unemployed, or self-employed. Trailing behind Karen, Alex kept his eyes firmly on her butt as he passed a young man wearing a hoodie. It was drawn to cover his head and more. The smell of weed was strong on him

“Where are you taking me?” Alex asked, as they came to the end of the road and turned right. “I’m tired.”

“You’re weak is what you are,” Karen grumbled.

If that was supposed to be an insult it had no effect on Alex. “Yup,” he agreed. “When am I going to get that immense power and strength you promised?”

“It can take a few days,” Karen said. She stared him up and down, taking in his skinny pale figure. “Maybe a little more in your case,” she muttered under her breathe. “We’re almost there. Past the junction, up the hill. Ignis Estate. Heard of it?”

Alex had definitely heard of it. It was a council estate that had the reputation of being a particularly rough area, rougher even than the surrounding east end of London. The sort of place that quite frequently featured in the local newspaper for its violent crimes.

“Why are we going there?”

“That’s where the demons are. All around the country and the world over, demons live in small enclaves. Ignis Estates is the place where we’re law and order.”

Knowing they didn’t have far to go, Alex had renewed energy. As they came to the junction though, he popped into the corner shop and bought himself a bottle of cold water. He drank half of it in a single gulp, then held it out for Karen as he wiped the sweat beads from his forehead.

“You don’t feel hot?” Alex asked, when she declined.

“Not like humans do. Once our souls leave and the juices of the devil flow through us, our feelings numb quite a bit. Heat, cold, pain, we feel it a lot less.”

“The devil’s juices?” Alex made a face.

Karen frowned. “Don’t pretend you didn’t like it. Hell, I loved it and at the time I considered myself straight.”

They continued on. Crossing the junction, they climbed up the small hill. The houses on either side of the road were terraced. Most had front walls of concrete slabs measuring two feet in height. Some had overgrown hedges and wrought iron gates through which were narrow paths that led to the sometimes blue, other times white or grey doors.

Once at the top, they stopped opposite Ignis Estate. Even with the midday sun blaring up in the sky, a darkness hung over the estate. The block of flats on either side of Hookers Road leading into the estate appeared as darkened structures of concrete and metal, rising ten floors up.

A few feet away from them was an angel. Alex had seen an angel before, but he still blinked twice. Wearing skinny black jeans and a V-neck vest, his white wings rose either side of him like magnificent and magical extensions. With dark hair slicked back, he had that angelic glow about him - like a glow in the dark stick.

He stood directly opposite the entrance to Hookers Road. Leaning against a lamppost,