Queen of the Damned Part 6

Finally.

It was finished.

The first day was done. Five o’clock. Quitting time. All the demons that work inside the walls of Inferno Tower punched out their time cards and left for home. Carmen couldn’t wait to go home. She was a tired wreck. Looked like one too. Eyes barely opened. Energy completely drained. She didn’t have the strength to remove herself from her chair, having resorted to Lilith helping stand her up, which the sucubbus secretary was all the more delighted to do. All day long Carmen had to sit in Lucifer’s office and listen to the gripes and pleas of her husband’s people, the demons. On top of all that, the endless piles of contracts she personally signed and approved for. Listen to this, sign that. Sign this, listen to that. Rinse. Repeat. Slowly die inside from the repetition. Albert Einstein once had a definition for insanity, but Carmen doubted that insanity was the correct word after her repetitive day.

All the while Lilith, cheery as ever, boasted her queen's first day. "Jolly good show today, wouldn't you say luv?" she led Carmen towards the Helevator, the very enchanted device that travels between her dimension and the hellish afterlife.

"Just think," Lilith added. "There might be more like this tomorrow. And maybe the day after too!" Carmen died much faster inside upon hearing that. A whiny groan was the only sound she had the strength to muster.

Once inside, Lilith pressed a button for 'Up' and waved her queen goodbye. Carmen was still too tired to do anything back. Not helped by the succubus' obliviousness to her state. The doors slammed hard and back to Carmen's mortal world. The best part of riding this demented box was it being stationed inside the Gravely house, convenient for any family member to use.

KLANK!

The second best part was that the trip home was just as fast as the trip down.

A fifteen second ride later the Helevator doors opened. Carmen forced her feet to move. At last she was home, and wished she could be more happier. Too tired to be happy right now. Rosemary and Regan were sitting on the couch, fighting about who had possession of the television remote, as usual. Their mother was no mood for it, not right now. If only not ever again. She snatched it out of their hands and chucked it away. The girls went dead silent when they witnessed the remote smash into the wall. Carmen gave them a simple task of ordering pizza for themselves and tuck themselves at bedtime later, dropping a crumpled twenty dollar bill between them. The girls fought over who was going to place the order once Carmen made her exhausted journey up the stairs towards her bedroom. Walking up these stairs felt like a infinite trek up a mountain. Luckily, there was an end to this mountain. And just one turn to the right she could rest.

The bed was clear. No sign of her husband, but the messy bedsheets was a definite sign of his presence. She didn't want to bother investigating where he went. Her drowsy eyes targeted her empty bed. A few more steps later and she was there, collapsing face first in her pillow.

Lu exited the bathroom. He looked worse for wear too, blowing into his snot-soaked tissue. “Heard you took over for me today,” Lu coughed, laying beside his wife. “How’d it go?”

Carmen could only groan. “Don't want to talk about it.”

“That well, huh?”

"You gotta go back."

"Can't. Not any feeling better. Besides, they got you."

“It's hell. Your job.”

“Tell me about it.”

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