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

leant forward, resting his arms on the wrought-iron rail as he stared out at the sprawling city of London. Unlike New York, Hong Kong or Dubai, London was mostly a flat city, very much like its European counterparts. Its portion of skyscrapers were condensed into two spots. One in Canary Wharf, the other in the centre of London. With clear skies and the red light of the evening sun gleaming off the glass structures, they looked like beacons of light and of hope in a dystopian future.

That was how he felt in that moment. Like he was in a dystopian future. Except, there was no hope. Demons, angels, beasts from hell, crates full of mutilated human bodies… A week had passed since Alex came across the wooden crate with the bodies piled into it. Bodies of all ages. Bodies with parts missing. Some had eyes missing, others had noses missing, more were gutted through the chest, their insides, hearts, lungs and kidneys stolen.

After leaving the hundredth floor of the Red House of Satan, they’d taken the elevator down to the dungeons. Alex didn’t recall ever seeing any buttons on the elevator for the dungeons, but it was there.

The dark narrow tunnels were made of rough stone. Water dripped from the walls. Puddles formed on the ground. The doors were made of thick iron bars. Some of the cells were empty. Others had demons inside. You could tell how long each demon had been there just by looking at them. Most were skinny gaunt demons that lay on the slab of wood that passed as a bed, barely raising their heads as Alex and Karen had walked by. A few of the demons did look like what you would imagine to be locked in the dungeons of the Red House of Satan. Big and muscly, they had horns coming out from various parts of their bodies and bright eyes glowing against the darkness. They leaned against the metal bars, looking bored and somehow ready to kill too at the same time.

They eventually came to a stop in front of an ordinary cell. Marvin, the demon that had given them the intel that led to the warehouse with the Krumier, he was supposed to be in this cell.

But he wasn’t.

It was an empty cell.

Someone had released Marvin.

Karen had stood there dumbfounded. A long time passed before her lips began to move. She was thinking out loud, wondering why the cell was empty. Has he escaped? No, he couldn’t escape. No one escaped the dungeons in the Red House of Satan. The bars of metal may look ordinary, but they were forged in the fires of hell. Impenetrable, unbreakable. Marvin didn’t escape. At least, not without help. Did someone help him? Who would help a demon escape? Someone must have let him out by mistake. Yes, that’s what happened. There could be no other reasonable explanation.

Alex could tell Karen was trying to convince herself that this wasn’t the result of a sinister plot. He didn’t bother to intervene. He felt deflated. Defeated. Upstairs, on the hundredth floor, Scarlett had told them to leave the matter to the Fidura. Down here, in the dungeons, their one lead had escaped. Alex was pretty sure that was what had happened. Something sinister was definitely going on here.

It was the sound of the doorbell that brought him back. Alex stepped off the balcony and into the living room. He paused midway in the corridor and glanced at his bedroom through the open door. His longsword lay on the floor by his bed. Did he need it?

He didn’t get many visitors. There was Jessica, his flatmate who had keys to the apartment. He hadn’t seen much of her since murdering her boyfriend… There was Karen, who didn’t have a key, but still somehow walked in as if the front door was perennially unlocked. And then there were the delivery people. They used the doorbell. But Alex wasn’t expecting any deliveries.

In the end, Alex proceeded to the front door unarmed. He couldn’t be bothered to grab his sword. If a demon stood on the other side, intent on killing him, then he would do his best to defend himself with his own arms. And possibly the help of the voice in his head. The voice that had been surprisingly quiet of late.

There was a demon on the other side of the door.

But she hadn’t come to kill him.

Wearing a floral top with a matching short skirt, the demon had on display a lot of her blue skin. It was Melissa and she stared up at him with her yellow eyes.

“She’s cute,” the voice said. 

Alex sighed. “You’re back.” 

Melissa’s eyes faltered. “Is this a bad time?”

“Yes,” Alex grumbled. “But come in anyway…”

He turned and walked back down the corridor and into the kitchen where he opened the fridge and pulled out two bottles of cider. He gave one to Melissa, then walked back out onto the balcony to continue his brooding.

Melissa followed him out, though she stood a good few feet away. With the bottle of opened cider in her hand, she watched him carefully.

“Are you going to fuck her?”

“What?” 

“Are you going to fuck her?” the voice repeated. “Because it’s been awhile. Also, she’s cute and you’re an ugly fuck so, if you can pull that-”

“I’m not ugly anymore,” Alex interrupted. “Wait… I wasn’t ugly before!” 

“Alex?” Melissa placed a hand on his shoulder, causing him to shudder involuntarily. “Are you okay?” She laughed nervously. “Because it looks like you’re arguing with yourself.”

Alex stared at her, a little alarmed. Demons had powers. Was that one of Melissa’s powers? Was she able to read minds? Was his secret out?

“Relax, fucker. She’s not here to read your mind.” 

“How can you tell?” 

“Look at her. She’s here because she likes you. Why? I have no fucking