Queen of the Damned Part 5

First day as queen.

Technically, not as queen, but as acting devil. Carmen exited from the Helevator. She was allowed to wear her regular work attire, as advised by Lilith—as long as it was red. Red was viewed as an intimidating color to the demons. Perhaps that’s why Lu always wore red, Carmen thought. Too bad red wasn’t really her color.

Walking through the Dealing Room, she tried desperately to hide her anxiety, but it looked like the demons she walked by were more anxious about her. They focused on their work, not making eye contact with their queen. Their chatter was more hushed as Carmen kept walking. Perhaps they were whispering through their deceptive tongues about how strange it was going to be having a human rule them. Or maybe they were chatting about their soul dealings, but did not want Carmen hearing too much. One thing was for sure, they were very nervous around the sole, living human in walking among them in Hell. These demons, each dressed very formal like they were walking into a business meeting or a law firm, were sweating like mad as Carmen continued to walk to her temporary office. Some of the demons made way for her, quickly stepping away to avoid all contact. Was this how they showed respect, Carmen wondered, or were they really afraid of her?

Carmen tried to ease the tension. “Good morning, everyone,” she politely greeted each demon. They all replied with a good mornings to her. But their responses sounded rushed and anxious. Maybe wearing red did have some effect after all, Carmen thought. Or Maybe Legion and Lilith warned all the demons in the Tower to treat her like a proper queen or else. Probably best not to think about it.

But at last there was someone who was thrilled to see her. Carmen at last came across a friendlier face. Lilith stood in the middle of the large, extensive room. “Good morning, my queen,” Lilith greeted, full of smiles as usual.

Carmen groaned. “Just Carmen, please.”

“If you say so,” the succubus secretary replied, pouring some hot coffee into a mug for Carmen. “Let me be the first to say welcome aboard our wonderful team. Even though you technically are a part of this team back when you said ‘I do’ to Lord Lucifer. Although, you don’t necessarily call him Lord Lucifer, it’s just Lu. But he’s got a whole collaboration of names too.” her speech then started to speed up. “Ooh, we should do the same for you too. I’ll gather up a list of nicknames and we’ll which ones work best. Sorry if I sound sporatic right now. I’m just excited that we’ll be working together, is all. That, and I drank a crap ton of coffee. I feel like running a marathon right now, don’t you? If you wantmetorunamarathonjustgivetheorder. You’rethequeenafterall.” Carmen groaned again. She had a feeling that this was going to be a long day. The two ladies finally reached Lu’s office.

Carmen was about to reach for the handle, but Lilith grabbed it first and the door for her. “As queen, you never have to open any doors again.” she said rapidly. “But as queen, you can also give the ordertoremovedoors. Wouldthatlikethat? Wecandothatifyouwant. InfactwhyIdon’tIgogatherupsome-”

A wooden staff smacked the succubus on her head, finally silencing her energetic tongue. “Thank you. That will be all, Lilith.” it was Legion, waiting for them on the inside.

“Right, sorry.” Lilith’s tone now slowed down to normal. “I’ll just be outside, at my desk if you need anything. Just give me a shout, or call me through the intercom. Or, if makes you feel empowered, shout through the intercom.”

Carmen then entered her husband’s large office as Lilith closed the door behind her.

“Take a seat,” Legion commanded. His six-fingered hand directed Carmen to Lu’s chair.

Carmen sighed but obeyed. She walked over to the giant chair and sat down. Once seated, she felt her muscles relax into the soft cushions. “Wow, this is very comfy.” she exclaimed. It was like sitting on a cloud made from the suffering of others. “Alright, what exactly do I need to do?” she asked her adviser.

“Just listen to what the demons have to say, approve or disapprove some contracts, and sentence a few souls to their proper damnation.”

“I think I can do all that. Except for that last one. I don’t want to deal with any of that during my time here. And I don’t want to make any sort of deals with other people for their souls, just to make that perfectly clear.”

“As you wish.” Legion bowed his head. “Let us begin the day with our first clients: meeting with the people. They wish to express their concerns to you and give their requests.”

Carmen smiled. “Okay. Sounds easy enough.” she then activated the intercom. “Lilith, send our first clients in now.”

“You got it, Carmen!” they heard Lilith’s voice radioing through the intercom.

Things started off smooth at first. Carmen sat and listened to the demands of her husband’s people.

One of the clients was a Kahpra demon. “Our village has suffered from some flood damage by the River Styx, and we need repairs done to fix our dam. Can the Tower help with that, my queen?”

“Of course we can help,” Carmen answered proudly, much to the please to both the Kahpra and Legion. The first client of the day left the office satisfied.

After succeeding with her first meeting, Carmen met and listened to the next dozen of patient demons. She tried making sure that she ensured each demon that the Tower and its members could help out whenever possible, much thanks to Legion’s guidance of how to respond to each inquiry.

It was on the thirteenth client of the day. “Hey, queenie,” he spoke while a lit cigar balanced in his mouth. “There’s a human that’s made a deal with me, and has been buying too much time in coughing up their soul—probably doing some charity work for a little salvation, if you know what I mean. Deadline’s in two days. Whatcha recommend we’s should do?”

Carmen hesitated with a response. “Um, I’d speak with the head of management?”

“You are the head of management.”

Legion leaned into Carmen’s ear, whispering his discrete advice through his ragged scarf. “Or,” Carmen repeated her adviser’s words. “we can give your client a twelve hour notice to remind him of his deal. That way he can show up at the precise place and time of your initial deal.”

Their meeting was cut short when Scrugs flew in, carrying a bundle of paper in his clawed feet. “Got a few contracts that need to be approved by you, Carmen.” he said, dropping the large stack onto the desk, which made a loud thud.

“Sign all of these?” Carmen said to herself. “I think I can manage that. How many are we looking at?”

“Only two hundred.” Scrugs answered.

At first Carmen gulped. Two hundred papers to sign? Legion explained to her that, being the acting devil, she had to sign each with her own hand signature. The contracts could not be solidified without her signature.

Grapping a pen, she complied. Paper after paper, Carmen signed off on each one. Each signature faded within the prints like she penned them all with invisible ink, thus activating the contract’s spell. She wasn’t required to read any of the deals made—once again, advised by Legion—nor was she required to know the devious contents hidden behind the fine prints of each contract. Some of them she couldn’t help but read into and disliked what she read. More so, she dislike that she had to sign off on those agreements. Regardless, she focused on her duty and continued to sign each one until she finally came to the two hundreth contract. Carmen sighed in relief. “Okay, that was pretty productive. We managed to get all that done in-” she glanced at the old grandfather clock. ”It’s only 8:30?” she gasped in shock. It was only eight in the morning when they started. “We’ve been only doing this for half an hour?!”

“Ah, but we are making good progress,” Legion said. “Usually these take longer.”

#sinsofthefather #fiction #fantasy #comedy #horror #demons #hell