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2 Episodes Live Now
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The sound of knocking at the door. Why Is there knocking at the door? I just went to bed an hour earlier. I threw on my robe and went to the door. Throwing the door open, I said, "The afterlife better be coming to an end, or I am ending you."
I heard a chuckle. I looked up, standing in front of me, one of the higher demons, Kel. He handed me a cup of coffee and said, "Abigail, I am sorry to wake you. I know you just went home, but the Prince of Hell requires you now."
Yawning, I said, "Seriously. I just left the Price an hour ago. What has to be so important that I cannot get another few hours of sleep?"
"Abigail, I am sorry. I know you are tired. But he needs your assistance, and I am to escort you." He said, "I tried to give you more time, hence the coffee."
"Kel, I appreciate it, but can you give me ten minutes so I can wake up?" I asked.
Kel smiled, sat on the couch, and said, "Sure thing."
I headed to the bathroom and said, "There are cookies in the pantry. I am going to shower real fast."
Kel looked at me and said, "You know you wouldn't be so tired if you took the Prince's offer and got turned into a Demon."
Laughing, I said, "Kel, you know that would impede me from doing my job. The only reason I am here and not topside is because the damn humans are hunting me."
"Well, whose fault is that Abigail?" He said.
"You know I was set up by the church. You were part of the rescue team," I said.
He frowned and said, "I know Abigail. Trust me when I say we have the best looking into why they are hunting you and how to fix it."
After a shower, I put on fresh clothes and drank my coffee. I started to feel more awake, and I put on my jacket and said, "Let's not keep the Prince waiting. Also, as there are so many Princes, why is he referred to as The Prince?"
"Abigail, sometimes you surprise me. You know as well as I do that if he didn't do what he did, there would be no underworld," Kel laughed and said, "Besides, with all the different gods, deities, and religions. It takes a lot of work to manage everything that is going on in the afterlife, purgatory, and versions of hell."
"Thanks for the reminder, Kel," I said as we headed to the train that took us to the main palace. As we walked past the various food stalls, I stopped at the Underworld Deli and grabbed a sandwich and soda. Since I am working when I should be sleeping, I need my energy. Kel watched as I stopped at a few stalls and grabbed various foods and another coffee for both of us. He looked at his watch and said, "Do not worry, Kel, I will take the blame. I want food with me if it is a long day."
He sighed and said, "You are the only human Levi tolerates Abigail. Do you want to push it?"
"I am not the only human he tolerates, and you know that," I said. "Besides, I got him some snacks from Mama Grim's stall."
We got to the palace and started to head to Levi's office when Michim, a low-level demon, ran up to us and said, "Kel, where have you been? The Prince is livid."
"Michim, I am here, and the Prince is fully aware I was asleep when Kel came to get me," I said. "I will calm him down if he is throwing a fit."
As we neared the Prince's office, I heard him yell, "Where is she?"
I screamed at him, "Hold your horses. I am almost to your office."
Looking at Kel, I said, "Stay out here. I will deal with him first."
Walking into Levi's office, I saw he was pacing on the balcony, and I said, "Levi, it is four in the morning. I just left this very office after midnight. Then I had to get to my apartment and was asleep when Kel came to get me. Will you please calm down?"
He stalked in, looked at me, and saw my bags, "You stopped for food?"
"Yes," I said. "I am hungry. I stopped at Mama Grim's and got your favorite snack box for you."
I handed him the box, sat in a chair, and said, "What is the emergency that dragged me out of bed after almost an hour of sleep."
He looked at the door and asked, "Where is Kel?"
"You were in a mood, so I had him wait outside so you wouldn't bitch him out," I said. "When you are in a mood, you like to yell and fight, and it wasn't his fault I took my time. To his defense, he did try to rush me along."
Levi chuckled and called, "Kel, can you join us?"
Kel walked in and sat in the chair next to me. Levi sat down and said, "I am sorry I seemed panicked, but you know how we are set up, Good and bad in the same realm, bad in the lower levels, and good and other faiths in their areas. But there has been an invasion of the living."
"As in cosmic projection?" I asked.
"No, like someone on level nine trying to get Hitler out of kind of invasion," He said. "Lucifer was walking the chambers and found the human trying to bust the lock."
I raised an eyebrow, "Levi, the last I knew, you had to have an amulet or a charm to get through the barrier."
I lifted the bracelet that held the charms that allowed me to come back and forth and said, "It took you and Lucifer a while to get this for me, and that's why I had to wait in that jail cell. How did he get here?"
"My dear Abigail, he is in Lucifer's office now," Levi said. "We want you to use your abilities to find out how he got here and why he is here?"
"How far do you want me to go?" I asked, "I am also not dressed for the part, Levi."
Levi winked, gave me a wicked smile, and said, "Oh darling Abigail, we have a full wardrobe room for our punishers or anyone who might need an outfit for anything. I am sure you could find something. Kel, take Abigail to the fitting room and see Sheila, and she will find something suitable."
After being dismissed by Levi, we stood up to leave. Kel led me down to the lobby and said, "In here."
We went through a door that said, Theatrics. When we walked in, a tall demon in a hippy dress walked over and said, "You must be Abigail. Levi called ahead to let me know you were coming to see me. My name is Sheila. What kind of costume would you like."
"Sheila, I need an outfit that will portray calm and innocence. I was thinking of a flowy white dress," I said. "But, I also need a backup. I need tight black pants, a half-tank top, and a leather jacket."
"Oh, Abigail, I get it," Sheila said, "Start with the angel, end with the devil. I love how you think. I have just your size in the back. Just give me a minute, and I will help you prepare for your part as the angel."
Kel looked at me and said, "You sure about this, Abigail?"
"Relax, Kel," I said, "I will start with calm and nice. If he doesn't want to share, I will flip switches, then he will see mean and nasty."
"Okay, dear," Sheila said, walking into the room and handing me a sundress. "Let's get you into this, and then we will get your hair and makeup done."
I changed and started to laugh at myself when I saw myself in the mirror. From outside the room, Shelia asked, "What's so funny, dear?"
Stepping out, I said, "My mother would have sold her soul to see me in a dress like this just once."
Shelia chuckled along and said, "Well, my darling, you do look like a sacrificial virgin in that."
I sat down, and Shelia did my makeup and said, "What if you have to change to the devil's side?"
Looking at her, I said, "That is easy. With a snap of my fingers, I can switch to the devil outfit and look like I normally do."
When Sheila was satisfied with her work, Kel looked at me and said, "Well, let's head to Lucifer's office, shall we?"
Standing up, I grabbed my bag and the extra outfit. Shelia said, "Oh, dear, you can keep the clothes."
"Thank you, Sheila. I will see you soon, I am sure," I said as we headed to Lucifer's office.
When we arrived at Lucifer's office, we found him standing outside. Greeting me with a hug, he said, "Abigail, I hope you can get some information from him. We searched him, and he had no charms or amulets on him. We did find his wallet on him. The name on his ID is James Markers from Tampa, Florida."
As I went to go in, Lucifer grabbed my hand and said, "We need to know how he got in here and why he wanted Hitler. Please be careful."
Nodding, I opened the door and walked in. Sitting chained to a chair was the person who caused all this drama and broke into hell. I stopped before him and said, "James Markers, I presume. I am here to have a chat with you."
He looked at me as I continued and said, "Now I am going to remove your gag, and I am going to ask that you answer my questions truthfully because I have had a long morning so far, and you are the reason, I have had 1 hour of sleep. Are we clear?"
He nodded, and I removed the gag. He looked at me and said, "You are not a demon. You're a human, and you have to help me."
**************************EDITED****************************************
"Well, James Markers, that depends on the information you're going to provide me," I said. "As you said, Yes, I am human. But I do work for the afterlife."
"How can you work for the underworld? It's hell," He asked.
"Yes and no," I said. "Yes, levels one through nine of hell are here. But so is every other realm of belief. You snuck in here and didn't notice the lobby or the different bridges and gates everywhere else?"
"You're lying," He said.
"Nope, sorry, I do not lie," I said. "Did you come in on one of the levels of hell?"
He sighed, "If I tell you how I got here, can I leave?"
Sighing, I said, "I cannot give you a yes or a no, but how about you tell me why you are here first and not just I am here to bust out Hitler."
"I am a contract agent, and my job was not to get Hitler out. My job was to find Hitler and get information from him," James said.
"What information?" I asked
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"I can't go home until I tell you everything can I?" He asked.
"We cannot move forward till we know everything. I need to know why and how to start," I said.
"The why is easy." He started. "Maybe you should have Lucifer come in and hear this as well, so you don't have to play telephone. Besides I am sure you do not like the clothes you are wearing. You are acting like my wife when we have to go out."
I laughed and said, "I will be back in a minute."
Walking into the hall, Lucifer looked up from his book. "Are you done already?"
"No," I said. "But he is willing to talk and asked for you to come in so I do not have to repeat it all."
He looked at me and said, "What's your feeling about it?"
"I believe he was sent here, and he realizes now that he is fucked." I stopped for a minute and said, "However, he noticed my movements in the dress and said I was acting like his wife when I was wearing something I did not like. I think he was coerced into coming here. I want to run a safe check on his wife and see if we can get answers."
Lucifer looked up, "You think he was forced here and his wife may have been taken?"
I nodded as he yelled, "Shrebe!"
His assistant, Shrebe came running and said, "Yes my lord?"
"You know the guy I have in my office? Do a check on his wife and see what information you can get on her." He said. "Is she alive, dead, in danger? Get me what you can and rush it."
"Yes my lord," Shrebe said as he ran back to his office.
I snapped my fingers and the black outfit appeared on me and I said, "Shall we go in?"
Lucifer nodded and said, "You continue to question him."
We walked back into the room and Lucifer said, "James, I will release you from the ropes as long as you cooperate with us. Do we have a deal?"
He nidded and I snapped my fingers. As the ropes disappeared I sat on the chair next to him and turned to him and asked, "You said you were hired to get information. Tell us your story."
He nodded and said, "I am a researcher by trade. I guess you could say I have a thirst for knowledge. Researching the right subjects can be very lucrative. One day I was out getting dinner and I was approached by a gentleman. He said he was an assistant and that his employer wanted me to research something quite old. I was intrigued and met with his boss a few days later. His boss sat behind a screen and used a voice muffler like you see on those cop shows. He told me the story of Hitler's hidden treasure. He said this treasure would contain all the secret riches the Third Reich found during WWI and WW2. He went on about the historical items that date back to the time of Christ. As a huge fan of history, I offered to take the case."
Lucifer sighed and said, "We had heard of this treasure, but never saw any proof of it. The supposed secret died with him. It was supposed to hold some of the greatest treasures in the world. When Hitler finally died of old age and came down I escorted him down to level nine, he had never mentioned anything of a treasure. Even while he received his punishment."
"James," I said, "What happened next?"
"He promised me a huge payout if I could find the information he needed and for a year I dove into the research while taking on small jobs to pay my way," James said. "One morning, I woke up, and the assistant was in my kitchen drinking coffee. He said maybe I should go to the source. I said I was not keen on dying and did not think I could get to where Hitler was in hell. His assistant said we can arrange for you to get to hell and back. I thought he was joking until a few days later when he gave me two vials of purple liquid. He told me to go to a spot in the mountains and slam the vial down it would show me a door only I could go through. When I was to return I would slam the vial again and the door would appear to get out."
Lucifer looked up and said, "You did not have a vial on you when you were found."
James looked up and said, "That's because I stashed it when I came in. When I got to level nine, there was a statue of a hell hound, and I tucked it behind the statue in a small black tube."
"James," I said. "This guy, what did he promise you?"
He looked down and said, "My wife."
**********************************************************************************
Lucifer looked up and said, "James we had people looking into you. Did they kidnap your wife?"
"No Sir," He said. "My wife died of cancer three years ago. He promised he would bring her back good as new."
"Oh James," I said. "I am a powerful witch and I can assure you only god can raise the dead. There is no spell that can bring someone back to life without them being dark and twisted."
James looked down and said, "I did all this for nothing?"'
I looked at Lucifer and he said, "No. I need to see that vial will you show us where it is?"
Nodding he said, "Of course."
Lucifer opened a passage to level 9 and I walked past the Grand Inquisitors Chambers. I stopped and Lucifer said, "Later Abigail."
I followed along and said, "I need stress relief. I need five minutes with him."
He chuckled and said, "He is on the rack now so you have to wait my dear."
When we got to the statue James bent down and picked up a small tube from behind the statue. Lucifer opened the tube and looked at the vial. As he looked at the vial he said, "James you will be a guest here for a few days I will however do something that your employer could not do. I will arrange for you to see your wife if she agrees to it and you will be able to spend some time together. If your employer had offered to bring her back she would not be the woman that you loved. Abigail will you be so kind as to escort James to the visitors hall and arrange a suite for him and I will have Shrebe reach out to his wife to see if she will visit. James just understand it is up to her."
"Thank you sir," James said and I led the way to the elevator.
As we waited for the elevator James laughed and said, "We hear highway to hell but I never thought of the elevator."
Chuckling I said, "That is 900 steps that we do not want to do. We would be seeing people heading to their punishment. Sometimes being dragged down by the guards."
"They are quite intimidating," He said.
"They can be for their jobs," I said. "But they are very kind and sweet. I like the demons more than the humans sometimes."
When we got up to the visitors floor I arranged a suite courtesy of lucifer and James asked, "I know this is going to sound weird but what about food?"
"Do you have your human cards in your wallet?" I asked.
"Yes I do," He said. "Why?"
"Well then you can use those, Its Visa or Mastercard right?" I said.
"Yes," He said.
"You will see the charges you make here listed as LLEH. LLC." I said.
"So Abigail I take it you pop back and forth between the living and the dead?" He asked. "May I ask why?"
I chuckled and said, "I am a cursed 1000 year old witch. I have lived in the human world and helped the realm of the dead since I astral projected the first time into Levi's office as a child by mistake. We became friends and when I was hunted by the Grand Inquisitor descendants he sent a way to escape after I was captured. I have traveled between both realms since then."
"Wow," He said. "So you have to hide if you go top side?"
"Yeah," I said. "We are trying to figure out a way to stop them from hunting me and every other witch as well. So for now your going to chill here and I am going to check with Lucifers guy to see if he located your wife and I will check back in with you."
He nodded and said, "If she doesn't want to see me. Please tell her I miss her and love her."
I opened the door and said, "I will."
***************************************************************
After I got James settled I found Kel waiting for me. Looking at him I asked, "Am I being summoned?"
Chuckling he said, "Nope I was told to escort you home after you grabbed something to eat and make sure you get to bed."
"Kel," I said. "Have I ever told you how much I adore you?"
Laughing he said, "When your ready to pass out, yes."
We headed to the shops and I picked up a pile of food to bring home for Kel and I. When we were almost to the train I stop by the Gyro shop and grabbed a wrap to eat while I was on the train. When we got off at the apartments I was ready to fall asleep. I handed the bag to Kel and said, "Help yourself you know where everything is. Just put the leftovers in the fridge."
I laid down in bed and fell into a deep sleep. When I woke up I walked into the kitchen and made some coffee. I looked at Kel sleeping on the couch and I heated up some of the food I had picked up and started to eat. Sitting there eating I wondered what we would do with James. I hoped his wife wanted to see him but I started to think I may have to go to the human world with James and figure out how his boss had figured out a way to get people breaking into hell.
Kel woke up and asked, "What time is it?"
"Its around two in the afternoon," I said. "I was so tired. I just heat up some food and made coffee."
Kel grabbed a cup of coffee and sat down across from me. After taking a few sips of coffee Kel asked, "What are you thinking about? When I woke up I watched you and you had your thinking face."
Sighing I said, "Kel i am bothered by the fact that James boss had the ability to get into Hell with a vial full of liquid. We need to get information on what is in the vial. I have a feeling we may have to go top side."
Kel looked at me and said, "That worries you?"
"Yes it does," I said. "I do not want to worry about being thrown in a prison cell again."
He chuckled and said, "Well if you have to go I will go with you and we can really start some trouble."
"Yeah Kel," I said. "Two of us in the mortal world does not sound like something Levi or Lucifer would sign off on. I have been around a long time and I never heard of a liquid that could create a portal down here."
He looked at me and said, "Abigail I know you used your magic and talents to help people and not be the evil person the hunters claimed you to be. But in all your time on earth did you ever hear of any dark magic that could do it?"
"Is this coming from you or Levi?" I asked.
"Ouch," He said. "This is one hundred percent me."
"Never," I said. "Could you imagine if all the dark magic followers had a way to get here? Lucifer would never be left alone."
He chuckled and said, "Could this be a form of science. Maybe the liquid opening up a worm hole?"
I stood up and said, "Well shit Kel you may be onto something. We need to go back to Levi and Lucifer."
Kel stood up and said, "What about?"
"What you said made sense," I said. "This could be a form of science. What if they broke the wall."
Kel's eyes went wide eyed as he said, "If they broke the wall and can now use science to get all over that means people can go to any realm and possibly die."
"Exactly," I said.
He rubbed his hands over his face and said, "Give me a few minutes to wash up and wake up."
Nodding I handed him a cup of coffee and said, "Go I will call them and tell them we need to meet."
While Kel was washing up I called Levi and when he answered I said, "We need to meet with you and lucifer."
"What about?" He asked.
"We have a theory on what got James down here," I said. "I need you to find someone down here who may know about worm holes and portals. When do you want to meet?"
"Be at the offices in a hour or two," He said.
Putting on my boots Kel walked out of the bathroom and I said, "Well lets get some food and snacks on the way in. I was told to be at the offices in an hour or two."
His stomach started growling and said, "That is a great idea. I have a feeling we will need to keep food on us today if they have us running everywhere."
Abigail- Main Kel- Higher level demon
Levi- Main prince of hell/ lucifer in charge of level 9
Shrebe- Lucifers assistant
Michim low lvl demon, Sheila-head of theatrics
James Markers-broke in
Mammon — Envy; Asmodeus — Lust; Beelzebub — Gluttony; Sathanas/Satan — Wrath; Belphegor — Sloth;
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