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

warehouse further before they returned to the Red House of Satan, where Alex presumed she would torture Marvin some more. He wasn’t sure how he felt about torture, but he was beginning to feel more partial towards it happening to Marvin. The demon had sent them here to die.

Alex tried to ignore the voice in his head as they moved down the warehouse floor. It wasn’t easy. Having amnesia hadn’t caused the voice to be a bit more thoughtful or spend any time contemplating who or what it was. No, the voice was as annoying as ever.

There were hundreds of crates in the warehouse pressed against each other with narrow corridor space left in-between. They were walking in-between this space now. It was dark and dusty.

“What are you looking for?” Alex asked.

Karen shrugged. “Krumiers are like Satan’s guard dogs. What was this one guarding?”

“Furniture?”

Karen looked up at him, confused. “Is that a joke?”

Alex nodded sheepishly and Karen rolled her eyes. They continued to walk down the darkened space in-between the crates.

“Smooth,” the voice said. “You’re a virgin, aren’t you?”

“You’re going to start that shit again?” Alex thought.

“What shit?”

“The last time you were in my head, you kept going on about how I was a virgin.”

“...oh. I don’t remember any of that, obviously. Which reminds me, who am I?”

“You’re a voice in my head. An annoying voice in my head. So annoying, if you stay in there for long, I think I might blow my brains out.”

“Asshole,” the voice said. “Seriously though, who am I? I feel like I'm someone important. I am, aren’t I?” 

“I don’t know,” Alex said. 

“What do you mean you don’t know?” 

“The last time you were in my head, it was for less than a day. You didn’t tell me who you were. You mostly just insulted me, man. You were a bit of a dick.” 

“You really don’t know who I am?” the voice said incredulously.

“Sorry dude…” 

Alex expected the voice to curse, to call him names, but there was silence. It was a strange silence. Inside his head, it was usually silent. Having a voice in there, Alex remembered back to the first time it had happened. It was like a small room had suddenly appeared inside his head. A room empty but for the voice that sat in the centre. And every time it spoke, its words reverberated. It was strange, it was loud, and it felt intrusive.

Given the choice, Alex would have naturally wanted the voice out, to not hear it again. But, for an inexplicable reason, he felt bad for it. He sighed. He knew he was going to regret this.    

“You olrite?” he asked. 

“Fuck you, virgin,” the voice said. 

Yup, just as expected, Alex regretted talking to the voice. He wondered why he felt sorry for the asshat. He should be focusing on what had just happened in the warehouse. Satan’s beast was on the loose. Satan, not Satani.

The corridor they were walked down led to a brick wall. The end of the warehouse. They turned left and walked along the wall. Alex was unsure what they were looking for. He doubted Karen knew either. There certainly were no human-body-part dealing demons here.

There was only Satan’s now dead beast.

“So… Satan’s beast, huh?”

Karen nodded, her eyes still ahead, staring down the dark path between the wall and the crates. Alex realised she was a lot more tense than he, a lot more focused. She had her two blades gripped tightly in hand. She was expecting more danger. His longsword was back in the scabbard on his back. He wondered if he should pull it out.

“The Krumier,” Karen said softly. “Their wild beasts from hell. Only Satan knows how to control them. No one else.”

“Load of shit,” the voice said. “Krumiers aren’t beasts from hell. Most fucking certainly not Satan’s beasts.” 

Alex ignored the voice in his head. “What do you think it was doing here?”

Karen stopped walking and looked up at him, unease in her eyes. “I don’t know,” she muttered. “This is way above me, Alex… I’d only ever heard about Krumiers. They’re know for being fierce. They almost broke Satan free from Satani’s trap.”

“Satani? Who the fuck is Satani?” 

“Satan’s sister,” Alex said out loud. Karen looked at him, an eyebrow raised. Alex swallowed nervously. “I’m just… reminding myself who Satani is…”

“You forgot who Satani was?”

“I didn’t forget, I just-”

“How do you forget who Satani is?” Karen interrupted him.

“You’re an idiot,” the voice in his head said. 

“Fuck off,” Alex grumbled.

“Excuse me?” Karen’s eyes widened.

“Not you!” Alex said, raising his hands quickly.

Karen’s mouth opened in what was sure to be a justifiably angry retort, but then, she froze. Her mouth still open, her eyes wide, she stared at him, no words coming out. She turned suddenly. Alex heard her sniff. Then she marched towards a large crate.

Alex followed after her. There was nothing out of the ordinary about the crate. He nudged her on the shoulder. “You olrite?”

“I think there’s something in the crate,” she mumbled.

“Furniture?”

Karen ignored him. With both blades held beside her, she bent her knees slightly. She was going to tear it open. Probably to find furniture, Alex thought. But then, he noticed the differences. The other crates were made of planks of light brown wood. Each plank had a few inches gap between them, enough room for someone to look inside.

This crate had no gaps between the planks of wood. It was impossible to see inside. And the colour was the same light brown as the others, except for the planks at the bottom. They were a darker shade. Much darker, as if painted red.

Karen sliced at the wooden crate with her two blades. The speed her hands moved with and the accuracy was something