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

“Listen, voice in my head, you heard what she said? You better not get me killed.” 

There was a soft chuckle. “I don’t plan on getting you killed, Alex. But my memory is coming back somewhat. I think I’ve battled Satan many times before, and... I think I lost every time.”

Alex swallowed nervously.  “How many times exactly?” 

“Dozens, possibly hundreds… My memory is still a little fuzzy on specifics.” 

“So… this is a suicide mission?” 

The voice didn’t get a chance to respond. The ground around the rubble that had been gently vibrating, it suddenly shook violently. Alex stepped back just as the rubble erupted. His sword came up quick. Flaming red, he slashed at the large pieces of stone, brick and cement that came flying at him. When he was done, he found Karen standing behind him.

“The way you did that… freaking amazing!” she gushed.

“Look,” the voice said. 

From where the ground had erupted, there was now a large circle in its place. The circle of blood and gore from the second floor had somehow not only survived, but managed to plant itself onto the ground floor. It was throbbing and splattering. The earth within it collapsed as flames suddenly burst out.

It really did look like a hole had opened up into hell. Satan was probably climbing out this very moment. Karen stepped out from behind him, her blades in hand, she nervously stepped towards the red circle. Alex followed her. His sword didn’t flame red, nor did he feel the energy flowing through him.

 “Are you still here?” Alex wondered. 

“Of course,” the voice replied. It sounded calm. “Have faith, ye.” 

Alex cracked a grin. “Never been a religious man,” he said. “But I suppose I should eh?” 

“Oh no, don’t have that kind of faith…” the voice said. 

This wasn’t the time to get into that conversation, but everything was true, wasn’t it? Hell, heaven, god, the devil, all of it was true. Somehow, he’d ended up on the devil’s side. Well, on Satani’s side, not the original devil. Wait, was he on Satani’s side? Whose side had the voice picked? It didn’t seem to like God or Satan.

Speaking of Satan, the devil really was climbing out. The space within the circle of blood had completely caved in. Red fiery light shot out from the depression, as did the occasional spurt of lava. Ominously, the night sky above was completely black. Not a single star in sight. The moon had disappeared too. The only light came from the circle.

And that light began to cast the shadow of the creature that climbed out.

It was tall and large.

But there appeared no devilish horns, nor were there any wings.

It was oddly human in shape.

“Here he comes,” Karen muttered. Her breathing heavy, she spun both blades in her hands in preparation.

“Come on!” Alex roared, wanting to feel the energy flow through him, trying to will it on. “Let’s do this!”

“Wait…” 

“Wait?” Alex muttered. “Wait for what?”

“Talking to the voice?” Karen asked.

Alex nodded. “He’s telling me to wait.

“For what?!”

Alex shrugged. “Sometimes he talks too much… other times, he’s all silent and mysterious.”

“Okay… Well, it’s not going to be a long wait,” Karen said.

She was right. The shadow of the creature climbing out was becoming more defined. It decreased in size too as it now fell on the northside of the circle. And then, a hand shot out.

It was a human hand. Perfectly normal. The flesh wasn’t rough and red, or burnt. Sure, it was a little tanned. But who wouldn’t be having just climbed out of a fiery hell hole? The nails were perfectly trimmed. That’s right. Nails. Not even claws.

But those nails dug into the hard ground like it were made of soft mud. Another human hand followed. And then, a man stepped out.

He was of similar height to Alex, six and a half feet. He appeared to be in his early twenties. He had black hair, tanned skin and black eyes. He wore skinny black jeans that bulged. He definitely did not skip leg day. Or any other day at the gym. His chest was bare. The muscles were large and defined. The guy was ripped.

“He’s… kind hot,” Karen whispered. Her hands still remained firmly around the handles of the blades.

The guy stood on the ground outside the circle of flaming blood. He glanced around at his surroundings, then stared up at the sky.

“About fucking time,” he growled.

“Uh,” Karen held up a blade of hers, much like a student would hold up a hand in class to ask a question. “Are you… are you Satan?”

Alex raised an eyebrow. “He just climbed out of a hole of fire,” he hissed. “Who else could he be?”

Karen shrugged defensively. “There’s so much out there that we don’t know. He doesn’t look at all like Satan. He doesn’t have any horns, or black wings or… he’s got human skin!”

It was true. The man standing before them did not look at all like the image of Satan carved into the pediment at the front of the Red House of Satan. He looked more like a Demon Hunter than he did the devil.

The man no longer stared up at the sky. His black eyes were focused on Alex and Karen. “That’s my name,” he said. “And who might you be?”

“We’re Demon Hunters,” Alex said.

Satan raised an eyebrow.  “You guys wanna catch me up on current affairs? Have humans started to fight back again?”

“Not quite,” Karen said.

There had been uncertainty in her voice. Alex felt the same. This wasn’t going exactly going to plan. For starters, he didn’t imagine Satan to look so human. Nor was he expecting to have a conversation with the devil. He was glad they were talking though, because the voice that gave him all his energy