As they traveled from his home to the building, Montana only had the company of Caliga as the change in his life. However, since the hellhound could freely follow him around without anyone noticing, he didn't think it would be much different for today.
However, just now, his normal misfortune came.
A bicycle rider ran over his foot, and he was being blamed for the rider's carelessness. Montana was already lucky he evaded the handlebars which would have bruised him some more.
The routine day quickly went down south when Caliga stood in between them. He didn't know how a hellhound would eat, but he knew he couldn't let Caliga feed under the sun.
"I'm sorry!" Montana quickly got to his feet and grabbed Caliga before taking off towards the building. He didn't even know how much adrenaline poured in him that he was able to lift such a very heavy hellhound.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." He placed the stunned Caliga down and apologized to him.
The hellhound suddenly found himself at a place hidden from the incoming and outgoing people from the building. The potted greenery reached up to Montana's shoulders so it was easy to hide behind them.
However, the hellhound saw the stressed state of his new master. Caliga then licked Montana's face repeatedly to calm him down. It's just that… his breath was enough to kill Montana several times over.
His master only petted him in return and decided to walk inside after cleaning his face with a handkerchief.
Entering the building, Montana had a quick trip up to his floor and only had Caliga sit under his desk like a service dog. The day would be just like as usual, only that Montana could reach down and scratch Caliga's chin whenever he felt so stressed.
…
"Mon!" A man called out while Montana was still finishing up his reports. "We're going to the club later. Wanna show up and have friends for once?"
"I… I can't go. Haha, I still have a lot to do for today." Montana feigned his apologies and excuses. He didn't want to mix with this crowd. They were the same as those who had shunned him before, and so he didn't want to have anything to do with them.
"Eh? Well, what can I say? Losers always stay home." He even reached out to pat Montana's shoulder like he pitied the guy. The man just didn't catch the glare Montana gave his computer.
Caliga moved underneath the tables and eyed the man like he was going to be dead meat soon. However, when Caliga turned to his master, Montana only smiled at him and then got back to work.
Once was enough for Caliga to let off. He was a hellhound of one of the biggest names in Hell, and he was not a pushover like his new master. Even if Belphegor tricked him into entering the mortal realm, he knew that his master wouldn't forgive him for holding back.
Maybe he needed to hold back… but not to a point of being inexistent!
A growl came from one table, and the unsuspecting coworker twitched at the noise. Just nice, the supervisor was going to check on Montana's progress, and so she was passing by next to the man when they both heard the growl. Before the man knew it, something grabbed the edge of his pants and pulled his leg back.
"Ah, shit!" He felt his right leg slide back so he steered his body to the left. It's just that when he lost balance, he inevitably crashed into their supervisor.
"Cali—!" Montana heard the growl as well. When he turned, he saw how his coworker swerved towards the supervisor and even took her down with him.
Buttons flew into the air as materials ripped at his action. Montana quickly turned away and hid behind his divider as a scream echoed in the floor. It was even followed by panicked apologies from the male coworker.
Slap! A loud sound made Montana shrink out of sight some more.
Caliga crawled back underneath Montana's desk and only stared at the man who looked at him with a wriggling smile. He didn't know if his new master was going to scold him or praise him. He only knew that Montana was holding back his laughter while reaching out to pet the black dog.
…
Deng! The vending machine sounded before dropping the cold can of coffee that Montana bought from it. He also got packed sweet donuts after. He sat on a bench at the park as if relaxing after a day's hard work.
Montana opened the packaging of the sweet donut and gave one to Caliga. It wasn't a human soul, but it was sweet and intriguing. Caliga received it nonetheless.
Montana snacked on the other piece and watched the people go about the end of their workday. The sun had gone down, and the night was fast approaching. The timid human would spend a few minutes sitting down in this place and watching people. Starting today, he had a loyal steed to accompany him.
Seeing Montana's demeanor saddened Caliga. Belphegor was known to be sadistic towards his clients. That shapeshifter would let them experience the joy of riches before plunging them to hit rock-bottom, making them choose procrastination and laziness over unrewarded hard work.
Montana's 'task' was feeding the hellhound once a week…
Caliga couldn't imagine how bad this could end.
"Caliga, how is Hell like?" Montana suddenly spoke, but Caliga only perked his head up as an answer. The human reached out and scratched underneath the dog's chin. "Do you want to go home?"
Caliga tilted his head to the side in curiosity. Montana seemed to be… not interested in feeding him. He then used a paw to tug on Montana's knee. He even whimpered. He had not seen much yet; couldn't he stay until a week was up?
Montana looked at the black dog which seemed to be more conscious than a normal dog. He smiled at him and petted him again and again. "It should be okay. A week will go by before you know it. Ah, maybe I should take you somewhere far for sightseeing just before that.
"Hmm… can you wait for two more days? I'll tour you around in the weekend."
The black dog got to his feet and wagged his thin yet long tail. Yes, a tour around the mortal realm!
"Hey, hey… isn't that Mills?"
A voice made Montana freeze. He then turned to the group of men coming up to him. Unlike Montana, the men looked like they were homeless. Well, most people who knew Montana wouldn't think he would be employed in a Fortune 500 company.
"David…" he murmured, unconsciously reaching out to hold back Caliga. Montana sighed inwardly as he feigned a smile at the man. "Fancy seeing you here…"
"Oh, I actually know you come here every evening…" David walked closer, with his five other friends encircling the bench. It was as if they were not letting Montana leave unscathed if he declined.
David then held his hand towards Montana. "Come on… hand it over…"
Montana stared at the hand and loathed it inwardly. He knew what was being asked of him, but he didn't want any kind of trouble. When he reached to his pocket to hand over his wallet, he stopped. He stared at Caliga who was waiting for his order.
He had to feed him once a week, right? Would it be too early to count if he did it today? Then again, if David and his friends died here… wouldn't it implicate him?
Before Montana could answer his question, the one standing behind the bench grabbed Montana in a choke hold and lined a butterfly knife against his neck. Blood then drew across his skin, the droplet brimming at the tip of the blade. "Don't resist!"
"Idiot shouldn't have taken his time!" David actually laughed out while his friends dove to grab Montana's arms and feel places like back pockets for his phone and wallet and his wrist where his silver watch was.
"I guess I can feed you this week." Montana suddenly tore his face apart in a maniacal smile.
"What?"
A howl echoed even before the men could clarify the reason why Montana was laughing like a lunatic. The cold wind blew on their backs before David felt something lunged at him. He screamed as he had a hard fall against the grassy ground of the park. Then…
The entire group froze. A huge black dog materialized right before their eyes, and it used his huge mouth to bite off half of David's face! Screams blared in the area, but Montana only closed his eyes as he listened to their agonizing screams. He didn't know why he loved the noises they made, but he didn't stop Caliga.
He knew it was wrong to leave people to die, and he hated that he was the one doing so. His morals and his satisfaction clashed inside him that it even made him tear up in fear of being judged. Then again, these men were going to get rid of him as well.
Was it really that bad to counterattack using a hellhound?
One blow from the hellhound was enough to kill each person. It didn't matter whether they got bitten or clawed; just the mere force of Caliga's attack was enough to break a part of their body. The smell of blood and piss rivaled the hellhound's breath as he finished.
Since Montana didn't move from the bench to escape, Caliga opened his bigger mouth to consume the bodies whole. The top part of his head wrecked open and revealed a set of teeth. The wider opening was enough to swallow the bodies one by one like a snake slowly fitting another snake in its long belly. The only difference was that Caliga could fit all six of them in his body.
Burr! Caliga shook off the blood on his fur before walking back to where Montana was. He then half-mounted the bench and licked the blood on Montana's neck.
"Good… no… sweet little evil boy… you've done well…" Montana chuckled as he used two hands to pet the black dog in front of him. Even if there were tears of hesitation on his eyes, he still praised the hellhound.
"What's the worst that could happen to me now that I have you…?"