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

her under some sort of spell. Was Chrissy in danger? Did Jamie’s plan to free the demon involve Chrissy somehow?

Akash began to dress in front of them. She pulled her panties on first, then her bra. Once fully dressed, Melissa handed over the two swords. She left quietly through the broken front door.

“I’ll pay to have that fixed,” Alex said quickly. “The window too, and… anything else we broke.”

It was at that moment did Karen climb into the kitchen via the broken window. “Where’s the green demon?”

“She… escaped,” Alex said. Melissa didn’t contradict him, and for that he was glad. Karen did not look happy. “Marvin get away?”

“Marvin’s dead. A demon bitch appeared out of nowhere and sliced his head off. It was disgusting.” Karen leaned against the kitchen counter and folded her arms across her chest. “Our only lead is dead. What a waste of time.”

“Actually, we know who's behind all of this,” Alex said. “It’s Jamie Azarath. He wants to free a demon from hell. They needed the body parts of humans for the spell.”

“How do you know this?” Karen asked.

Alex glanced at Melissa, who shrugged her shoulders as if to say, you’re a fucking idiot. That probably wasn’t what she was implying, but it’s how Alex felt. “Akash, the green demon, she told me. I let her go, okay,” he muttered.

Karen raised her hands, palms out. “Okay… no need to get hissy about it.”

Alex frowned. “I’m not getting-”

“Jamie” Karen interrupted. “The demon dating your childhood crush?”

“She’s not my childhood crush,” Alex said, sounding much sullener than he’d wanted to.

“Way to focus on the important stuff,” Karen said, rolling her eyes. “Which demon does he want to free?”

Alex folded his arms across his chest, a little annoyed at Karen. “Akash doesn’t know.”

Karen nodded thoughtfully. “I think I might be able to find out.”

* * *

Karen and Alex returned to the Red House of Satan. Melissa stayed back in her apartment. She’d made a few calls and managed to find a demon available to fix her front door. She was sweeping up the broken glass in the kitchen when they left.

Alex felt bad for her. She didn’t deserve to stay in a place like that. It was a dump. He made a mental note to himself to do something about that. As a Demon Hunter, he had tons of money in the bank. He could buy her a nicer apartment in a nicer area.

They climbed up the black steps and walked under the white columns holding up the white pediment. Not for the first time, Alex was taken by how surreal it felt. The Red House of Satan was a hundred floors tall and had an angry dark cloud swirling above it. He was tempted to pinch himself. Maybe it was a dream. All of it. Except, Alex knew it wasn’t. His chest still ached from having been kicked there by Akash.

They walked past the foyer. The Demon receptionist on the ground floor paid them no attention. Once in the elevator, Karen pressed the button for the fiftieth floor. The elevator began to rise, silent as always. It slowed as it reached its floor. The doors parted. Alex followed Karen out and walked down the hallway.

There was a single set of double doors before them. The walls were painted red. Flaming torches rested on black sconces. Karen pushed open the door. It was a library. The floor was made of dark wood. The shelves rose ten meters in height. They were stacked with books.

“It’s enormous,” Alex whispered, as he walked in.

To the left was a staircase with a wrought iron railing that disappeared into the ceiling. To his right was another that disappeared into the ground. Alex walked up to it and peered down. Below was another floor of the library. He could make out another set of stairs that led even further down to more shelves of books.

“Every book that’s ever been written is stored here,” Karen said.

Alex didn’t think Karen to be a liar. And it most certainly was the largest library he had ever seen. But every book ever written? “Fifty Shades of Grey?”

Karen frowned. “You want to read Fifty Shades of Grey?”

Alex shrugged his shoulders. “Might do. I need to put a bit of adult romance into my writing.”

Karen’s eyes narrowed. “Your writing?”

Alex realised he had never told her what he used to do for a living. Correction. What he’d dreamed of doing for a living. As of now, Alex was yet to publish a single book. One day though, he told himself. “Why are we here?” he asked.

“Jamie wants to release a demon from hell. He needs to create a powerful spell to do that. We know what most of the ingredients are. If we can find the spell, we’ll know who he wants to free. We take that information to Satani and she can put it a stop to it.”

It seemed a little optimistic to Alex, but with no better plan, or indeed, any other plan, he plucked a book from the shelf and opened. After staring at the writing for far too long, he managed to decipher the language as not being English.

“This could take a while,” he muttered, as he put the book back.

“For most, yes,” Karen said. “But I happen to know the librarian.”

* * *

Alex followed after Karen as she led him through the library. They walked between shelves for what seemed like forever. Alex began to appreciate how big the library really was. He also began to question if Karen knew her way around the place because he was certain they were lost.

But then they came to the end of another long aisle. She turned left, and there seated behind on a wooden chair behind a table with