Of course the news shocked me, but also I had a parcel coming today so when the doorbell rang I quickly stood up and went to the door, Adrian sighing and putting his head in his hands the second he heard it ring as though he knew something I didn't.
"Thank you" I said, signing it and then kicking my door shut with my foot.
I put my box on the table and opened it as the three men walked over to me. I almost felt intimidated, but my unwillingness to care stopped me from actually feeling it as I unpacked my package, slowly realising it wasn't mine as it was filled with groceries I already had, but also some I needed.
"Ooh! Eggs!" I quickly put them in the fridge as I heard Irwin scoffed slightly lifting up the cardboard. Who were they to judge? One's Satan and the others are Satan's besties. They're like 'Mean Girls'.
"So, Adrian!" Gerry said, not so subtly trying to hide something. "What could be the side effects of being pregnant with a paranormal being in a mortal human body?" Oh, was I supposed to know these thing?
"Why thank you for asking!" Adrain said struggling to keep his voice level, like Gerry. "Well, Dabria, emotions aren't respondent to you and situations around you. You'll also-" (He struggled not calling me Thallia) I interrupted him by putting a finger up when I felt a kick, logically I shouldn't even be pregnant yet. I assume demons are different to humans, this will probably all come together sooner or later. I felt like I was going to be sick, but my feet kept me in my position, it almost like I felt a need for them to watch me to help me. But it wasn't me who wants them to, I want to leave, lock myself in the bathroom. So why am I not moving?
I started coughing, my throat felt like it was closing up as something pushed it's way up. Tears welled up in my eyes. I began to start throwing up, shutting my eyes tight shut. My hair was quickly moved out of my face and I felt a hand on my back rubbing softly as I took deep breaths, slowly raising my self back up, coughing slightly back into my elbow.
"You alright?" Irwin asked, the blue bowl from under my face, where I had been leaning. I felt Adrian's hand slowly stop moving as it found its way to my shoulder and it rested there, almost like a parrot.
"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine, thank you." I answered, making a move to grab the bowl Irwin was holding.
"I've got it!" Gerry declared, jumping around Irwin, grabbing the bowl quickly rinsing it out. We all stared at him, Irwin chuckling and Adrian had a grin plastered all over his face. "What?" He mumbled. "'when she gets her memories back, I wouldn't mind a little favouritism for me." Gerry winked, causing my head to tilt.
"My memories? From my past lives? I can get them back?" I attempted to confirm.
"Yes. It will be painful, and we could do it when we get back-"
"No." I quickly cut in.
"No?" Adrian questioned, "Why not? You'll know us better."
"I want to know you in this life. Not the ones before. I'm biased, otherwise. I want to know nothing, about any of you. I want to love you like I did in my first life, apparently. When will this pregnancy be over?"
"He's a prince, most likely 6-7 months. Everything progresses faster for you, including when the pregnancy starts, for you the baby has already started forming. It's longer than the normal 4 months, but demons don't get pregnant unless they were born like that. They're heartless."
"You guys don't seem heartless."
"He's not." Irwin chimed in. "Kings or Queens are allowed emotions, in order to want to keep things in balance with the upper worlds."
"But you and Irwin-"
"Do everything for our own gain." Gerry claimed, too proudly. I noticed he was sitting on my countertop, my bowl (although cleaned) was shoved into my oven and I could tell he was praying for us to leave before I even blinked in that direction. I smiled, almost proud. "I suck up to you in order to be given a second chance when I mess up, because I will push my luck."
"And I interrupt every time with better facts, or at least I describe in better detail to seem like they're better so you could give me a better position than second in command. I don't enjoy it, and it isn't beneficiary to my career or the best option for me to quickly become king if anything were to fail with Adrian."
"How does that work?" I interrogated.
"It makes it seem less likely I killed him if I abandoned my second in command position to something lower. If Adrian were to die after I changed positions, I'd be first likely to be named king if your son is not of age."
"I wouldn't say heartless, it's strategy." I commented and heard Adrian chuckle.
"Of course. Can't talk about lack of heart with someone attempting to climb the job ladder to CEO."
"I'm too tired to be offended."
"That will be because of the pregnancy. It numbs your emotions so he can get his own. It's a difficult and can threaten your life since you won't notice danger or creepy behaviours. The child should attempt to protect you, and we will have body guards around you twenty four- seven. Like right now." My eyebrows furrowed and I looked questionably at Adrian. I'm more than positive that no one else is in the apartment, but I have been occupied.
Irwin pointed behind me, and I turned just in time to see some of my room become wavy as though it spiked in temperature in only that section and in a weird body form.
I felt like I was back in Comprehensive School, snorting cocaine that I stole from some Primary kids, as those weird forms slowly turned into red people, wearing a suit and underneath clearly a bullet proof vest. Both had dark black hair, I didn't even think there was a shade that dark. Their eyes were yellow like a leaf without photosynthesis in it. Their skin was a lighter shade of red than Adrian, Irwin and Gerry. I wonder if it means something, or if it's like humans.
"The darker the shade, the worse the sin." Adrian told me. Oh that's a nice way to know who to avoid. "In our human form, though, we do turn into our race we used to be before we died."
I looked over at Gerry and saw his red skin, was extremely dark, if searing hot was a colour. It would be Gerwyn. Irwin, was lighter by at least two shades, but I'd bet if you put him in a dark room you wouldn't know he's there, unless you were looking. Adrian, as king of hell had the darkest skin, as though if you'd touch him you'd burn.
"What have you all done?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.
"Bad things." Gerry said, but he didn't seem like he regretted it.
"We're demons. We'll never regret what we did." Irwin said, looking at his hand. "We're proud, and if given the chance not a single one of us would go back to what we were doing before." He turned to Gerry and frowned slightly at his dark complexion. Irwin was disappointed in his brother, clearly. I wonder if they did anything together. Wouldn't that mean Irwin would have darker skin?
"I can change my skin colour, I have never personally done a thing wrong. I don't control who goes to hell, I don't personally burn people and I'm way too busy to reck people's lives. Since my mortal mother was black though I tend to be that."
"If you don't do any of that, why are you busy?"
"Normally watching Dabria." Gerry said, then muttered something about him never being that creepy.
"I actually am normally in business meeting, and I have hired people to do that for me. Every day they work is an hour off their eternity in hell-"
"Boss." One of my body guards beside me said. "We should go now. Sir Gerwyn and sir Irwin should not stay here much longer, things are getting out of control at their stations." Gerwyn grinned madly.
"Let's go!" Gerry exclaimed.
"He really loves his job." Irwin explained as he flicked his hand up and an indigo oval portal appeared in front of us, it reminded me of a mirror but without the frame
"See you later, Thallia!" Gerry said, jumping headfirst into the portal. I watched his body fall like it weighed a thousand pounds.
Irwin kissed my hand, "Come visit my station, Dabria." These name changes confuse me. He ran backwards before spreading his arms out wide like he was receiving a hug and fell his laugh echoing as he was also pulled into the void.
I looked at Adrian, his skin still red as he looked at my body guards whom seem to never be more than 3 feet away from me.
"I want you to make an offer with God, get me a shapeshifter to be Thallia when we have her. Nothing too dramatic, ok? Maybe let him get 30 odd demons and turn good, must be lonely up there."
"Yes sir." Only one opened up a white portal, on the other side of the room and walked over stepping through as he was shot up faster than lightening, the portal closing behind him. The other turned invisible.
"Take my hand, Dabria."
"Oh, back to my real name."
"You'll want to be Thallia again when the pregnancy is over."
I placed my hand in his, and he smiled. We began running forward until we ran straight into the portal.
I felt a force pull me down, the air in my lungs leaving me and it began to burn. I screamed in pain, I felt like I was on fire, a thousand curse words left my mouth in Welsh some I barely understood. My hand, still in Adrian's, was pulled and I was forced into his chest as his arms wrapped around me. I'm sure the wind would've been knocked out of me if I hadn't already stopped breathing.
Everything slowed down and I felt my body heat up even more, I felt Adrian lift his chin off my curly red hair as we were lowered onto the floor.
I heard screams around me and Adrian let me go.
"Welcome." He said, watching more guards push back demon trying to get into the portal. Adrian turned around and shut it. He then grabbed my hand again, like it was painful to be away from me and we walked through the crowds on either side of us. Some screamed to be released from hell, the other side seemed to love Adrian and I.
"One side is born here." He gestured to the side loving us. "Others deserved to be here." He pointed to the side closets to me. I frowned at them, they were bruised all over, their eyes red from crying. The other side was filled with glee from seeing me, now that I know they don't feel anything but selfishness, I wonder what they want from me. Is there something I can give them?
We continued to walk, it was a long way to the castle and Adrian didn't talk anymore. I decided to take in the sights.
I didn't realise there could be so many shades of red before. It was beautiful. It wasn't like what I ever imagined, the sky was a dark purple. I've never seen that shade of purple before. It cast warmth into me.
Adrian pulled my closer, and began to talk, barely moving his mouth. "The sky is like that because it's the only thing people see when they first come here. They willingly give themselves to us then, and we can torture them all we like." I hummed in response, and went back to looking at everything.
I noticed everything had a large black wall in between different tortures.
The first one, at the very start had a lipstick mark on the glass in front. They were sat behind kissing booths, people came a kissed them as they cried and begged for forgiveness. They didn't stop kissing until they passed out from exhaustion where their bodies were picked up and thrown on to a body pile. The pile was then set on fire, but they continued to live. I felt a voice in my head say 'sexual assaulters'. I didn't know how I knew that.
Next over, the heat seemed more intense. There were people being forced to eat, a kitchen as their background. Some of them seemed to have food coming out of their stomachs, a burning fire in front of them where they reached in, screaming in pain as they then put the food on fire into their mouth, and then shoved their hand back into the fire for more. They couldn't stop. Every time they seemed to die, they were slapped back away and ate even more. On the glass it had a pot, steam coming off of it. Gluttony.
Next one was a bag of money. It had a background of a street. The demons looking after them were dressed rich. The humans were poor, baggy clothes and some kind of animal. They begged for money as the demons beat them or laughed at them. 'They're being treated as how they treated the poor.' I watched one get set on fire, another shot and some more have pictures taken of, but those seemed to be being treated nicer then the others I saw. Greed.
One over had 'Zzz' on the glass, inside it had rocks with people pushing them, going up a hill that seemed to never end. They were wearing ripped clothes, barely covering them from the sweltering heat, and no shoes despite the hill having many tiny stones. The hill was covered in blood. I watched someone trip suddenly as the boulder crushed their legs, bones poking out but they were told to get back to work. Sloth.
The glass on the next one had a burning heart. I watched as the humans inside were treated differently, like Greed. Shots were being fired, others were getting beaten up very badly, more were having things thrown at them. Some took the appearance of different ages as the demons formed into an older man or woman and the demon beat the human. The child wasn't really a child but instead a man or woman, taking the form of someone they abused in the past. They were being treated how they treated children, or their own children. A couple were being raped, so I quickly moved onto the next one away from Wrath.
It was similar to Greed. Demons humiliated the humans who seemed poor, they cursed them out and bragged about how much greater they were. At least I assumed that was the case, these buildings were around 10 miles away, they were just massive. Those who were poor seemed in great physically pain, some dying of starvation, the others of different diseases. Demons laughed as the pain got worse. Pride.
The Six Deadly sins hide more buildings behind them, all full of different things accustomed to their sin. Like a Spotify Playlist.
"Can we see where Irwin and Gerwyn work?" I asked, trying not to move my mouth. Adrian shook his head and whispered that we could later, as we continued to walk. After half an hour we made it to the pitch black castle, if it weren't for the fact everything was so red I doubt you'd know it's there. It stood proud over Hell, like it knew what it was.
I walked a little faster and saw maids and butlers everywhere, a ball and chain dragging behind them.
"If they're not evil enough to live in those buildings then they do smaller jobs that they can't escape like cleaning. ." I nodded. It seemed fair. Everyone here has done the unforgivable, even me. Or else I wouldn't be here.
"Why wouldn't you talk outside?" I asked, as we walked further into the castle that was decked to head to toe in different shades of red inside outlined with red. It was breathtaking. When you first walk in there are hallways on either side of me which probably lead to dungeons, then there's a massive open space with a dining table horizontal to us, and a door behind it which lead into a kitchen that was boarded up with six guards on either side of the door.
"We can't have people knowing anything about us, including our voice. They could mimic us, or know when we're coming and how to kill us." Adrian explained. "Now follow me." I did.
We walked up the stairs that were at the end of the dining table. They were an unusual dark shade of black with a red carpet going down them. We walked up the six steps and turned left, as we walked up I looked back, seeing guards block each flight we go up. We walked up a bit longer in confusing directions before we made it to a massive door.
It had three planks and sixteen locks on it. Adrian used his 'magic' or whatever it was he was using to lift them whilst simultaneously unlocking the locks.
"Welcome to your room."