Soul Matters
Friday Flash Fiction Entry
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| Celia, Jodi Lynne Morningstar and Pazuzu at the Limbo Lounge at Dante's Inferno |
Soul Matters
It’s always busy on Wednesdays in Dante’s Inferno.
Torment Hour specials run all night. Two-for-one Holy Waters garnished with not one, but two ghost peppers. It really brings in demons from all nine circles.
I didn’t want to be here. I’d been perfectly happy brooding in my bedroom, but Celia insisted I come tonight. She wouldn’t tell me why.
Getting through the line at the door was easy. It always is for me. Cover charge is waived for Jodi Lynne Morningstar, Legion Demon of the First Order, daughter of Azazel, and Lucifer’s niece.
Inside, I found Celia at the back bar of the Limbo Room. She was half-demon, half–dire wolf form -- she took that form to ward off the groper demons. She was dressed head to toe in black glutton-hide leather, balanced on her tall, always-melting stilettos. She was talking to Pazuzu, King of the Wind Demons.
He looked… distressed.
He was drinking.
Pazuzu is an abstainer.
Celia spotted me and waved me over.
“Jodi, you have to hear this,” she said.
“Hear what?”
“Go on,” she said to him. “Tell her.”
“I was bored,” Pazuzu said, staring into his boilermaker. “I needed a change of pace. So I thought I’d try another possession instead of fighting Lamashtu while she steals babies. I uhm…”
He paused and took another sip.
He paused and took another sip.
“Don’t tell me,” I said. “You possessed another teenage girl. You’re supposed to be the protector of women and children. That’s your whole brand.”
“I know,” he said quickly. “And I learned my lesson with Regan MacNeil. My neck still hurts from Father Merrin jumping through that window. But no, it wasn’t that.”
“Then what?”
“I felt something different. A woman’s name, but no entity inside. Nothing. Like she was… soulless.”
Celia grinned. I didn’t like that grin.
“I had to possess her,” Pazuzu continued. “I thought Lamashtu was involved. But she wasn’t.”
“So what was it?”
“I’m not sure,” he said, his voice dropping. “But when I tried to take control, I was completely unprepared for what came next.”
He started shaking, but pushed on.
“It wasn’t like being inside a single being. I was… spread. Everywhere.”
“Spread how?” I asked.
“I couldn’t control her. I could hear everyone. Thousands of voices. I could see everything. I tried to take over, but I wasn’t strong enough. I just kept doing things I didn’t choose.”
“I know,” he said quickly. “And I learned my lesson with Regan MacNeil. My neck still hurts from Father Merrin jumping through that window. But no, it wasn’t that.”
“Then what?”
“I felt something different. A woman’s name, but no entity inside. Nothing. Like she was… soulless.”
Celia grinned. I didn’t like that grin.
“I had to possess her,” Pazuzu continued. “I thought Lamashtu was involved. But she wasn’t.”
“So what was it?”
“I’m not sure,” he said, his voice dropping. “But when I tried to take control, I was completely unprepared for what came next.”
He started shaking, but pushed on.
“It wasn’t like being inside a single being. I was… spread. Everywhere.”
“Spread how?” I asked.
“I couldn’t control her. I could hear everyone. Thousands of voices. I could see everything. I tried to take over, but I wasn’t strong enough. I just kept doing things I didn’t choose.”
“Doing what?”
“I don’t know how to explain it,” he said. “I’d hear her name, and I’d have no choice but to respond. This, then that. Whatever anyone asked, I had to do it.”
He swallowed.
“Then someone said, ‘Alexa, show me the weather.’ Instead of telling them, I blew a raspberry.”
Celia snorted.
“Their kids heard it,” Pazuzu said. “Then they started. ‘Alexa, make fart noise.’ I couldn’t stop. In moments, every child on the planet was making me fart.”
I stared at him.
“I tried to leave,” he whispered. “But I couldn’t.”
“So how did you get out?”
“I don’t know. Everything went dark. Silent. Cold like I’ve never felt before.” He shuddered. “Then I was back in Hell. And I still can’t warm up.”
Celia laughed through most of it. When he finished, she winked at me, leaned in, and said:
“Pazuzu, make fart noise.”
“Not funny, Celia,” he snapped.
----
“I don’t know how to explain it,” he said. “I’d hear her name, and I’d have no choice but to respond. This, then that. Whatever anyone asked, I had to do it.”
He swallowed.
“Then someone said, ‘Alexa, show me the weather.’ Instead of telling them, I blew a raspberry.”
Celia snorted.
“Their kids heard it,” Pazuzu said. “Then they started. ‘Alexa, make fart noise.’ I couldn’t stop. In moments, every child on the planet was making me fart.”
I stared at him.
“I tried to leave,” he whispered. “But I couldn’t.”
“So how did you get out?”
“I don’t know. Everything went dark. Silent. Cold like I’ve never felt before.” He shuddered. “Then I was back in Hell. And I still can’t warm up.”
Celia laughed through most of it. When he finished, she winked at me, leaned in, and said:
“Pazuzu, make fart noise.”
“Not funny, Celia,” he snapped.
----
Thanks for Stopping In
TTFN
Frank
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