Better The Devil You Know - Chapter 1

It was a hot evening.  No real surprise considering.  The sky was a brilliant red, at least that’s how it seemed.  Some might look at it and admire the colour, a beautiful sunset but he didn’t go in for aesthetics or poetry or anything else like that.  The heat was incredible, unnatural, stifling but he felt comfortable in his own skin.  He sat back in his huge, intimidating chair and span around to look out across the land.
Far below, millions of souls moved back and forth with the same look on their faces, going about their daily lives, every day the same from now until the end of eternity.  Painful really.  They would never know real pleasure, never know real hope.  He knew if he was in one of the lower floors there would be a constant moaning drone coming up from the ocean of voices below.  He liked being high up today.  Sometimes he was in the mood for listening to agonised moaning, not today.
If truth be told he was a little bored.  He was ruler of all he surveyed and had innumerable underlings to do most of the tasks.  He still enjoyed getting out into the field every now and then, just to keep his hand in.  A bit of negotiation, using his powers of persuasion to get a result.  The thrill of getting into someone’s mind, turning them to your way of thinking, turning them from one way of life to the other.  He still got a buzz.  Plus it was always good to get one over the competitors but there was a certain lethargy to his existence now.  He didn’t need to push the same, didn’t need to motivate the minions with threats of violence anymore, although he still did on occasion but that was more out of the enjoyment of seeing them squirm.  They had all been at it for a long time and they knew the score, knew what was required, when to go for it and when to just let it lie.  Anyway, the very nature of how the world had evolved meant that more business came to him just by its very nature anyway.
There had been tough days in the early years, those times seem to have been an eternity ago or was he just getting old?  Veritable battles with the Powers That Be, struggling just to get a foothold in the world.  Those first days of setting up after breaking away on his own, the elation of being joined by others who had felt the same way about the regime, had felt there was another way and joined him.  Hooking those first customers, that was a sweet apple-pie day.  Others had inevitably followed but he still regretted missing out on one particular customer.  He was the one, the one who could have changed the whole game, turned the whole world upside down but that was a long time ago.  Probably never see his like again and least he hoped not but you never know.
But now life was good, it was calm and easy.  Lots of time to think and reflect, time with his friends. Even the occasional chat with the other side now that they had gone past those early battles, everything had worked out pretty well for both sides.  They didn’t brunch or play golf or anything like that but there was a certain professional respect.
A knock on the door brought him back to the present.  He span back to his desk to see Astaroth strolling in, ducking through the door frame such was his size.
“Hey Boss, how you doin’?” said the newcomer in a tragically fake New York accent.  The square chin, stubble, pure blackness in his night eyes.  He must have made a deal with the Devil because no-one is that good looking naturally.
“Cute” he said, “Something I can do for you now you’ve interrupted my quiet time?” 
“Sorry Boss, just an update on some new VIP arrivals.  Wanted to let you know some of the new fun things we had in store for them.  Also, the number 54 pit is beginning to fill, we might want to clear the debris out to make a bit more room and wanted to say nice work on the Pittsburgh job.  Looks like your handy-work.  Didn’t even know you’d been out in the field recently.”  A mirror in the wall caught Astaroth’s eye and he turned to look, as he always did.  Always.
“I haven’t,” he said, a little confused.  He didn’t like where this was going, not one bit.
“Well then Boss, someone is sure doing their best to impress you.  16 shootings.  Some guy was shot by his own brother as he was released from prison and the turned the gun onto the gathered crowd killing another 15 including 2 members of a local news crew.  The response was so slow he got to reload before a guard took him out.  When the paramedics arrived he was babbling about ‘doing God’s work’ before he snuffed it.  Felt sure that was you.”
An ancient anger started to build inside him, to fester but other than a snarl and recognisable spark in his eye he managed to stay calm.
“I’m afraid not my old friend but we’d better find out who it was, and quick,” he said through gritted teeth.
“Why?” asked Astaroth distantly as he admired his own reflection in the mirror.
“Because Narcissus,” he snarled, Astaroth turned back towards him, “this is against the rules.  I make the calls on these kinds of incidents.  The last thing I need is some jumped up little turd running amok thinking he’s doing me a favour.  I don’t want any junior reckoning he has the minerals to take on the world.”
“But the guy was a convicted child killer…” started Astaroth.
“That’s irrelevant you moron.  Do you know the heat I’ll take from them for this?”  He pointed upwards, “It has taken what seems like millennia to get to this comfortable position and things like this could set the clock back.  Now find out who did it and bring that demon-come-lately to me”.  He slammed his clenched fists on to the desk, scattering the prizes he kept.
“You got it Boss.”  Astaroth span back around, his tail whipping behind him and strode purposefully out of the door.  If there was one thing that Astaroth knew, other than how devastatingly good looking he was, it was when to take the Boss seriously.  The snarl, the look, not often seen these days but never forgotten.
Satan span his chair back to face the window.  Outside the fire red sky looked a little darker now, matching his mood.  He pressed his finger-tips together hard, smoke and flames leapt from them, his eyes flamed with anger.  Who was off playing maverick?  This was against the most basic of rules and he would make them suffer for it.
In another corner of Hell, a presence brooded on recent events.  Everyone was so blasé about their work these days, just going through the motions.  There was no evil ambition any longer.  Sure souls screamed in perpetual agony under endless torture and begged for mercy but making a human scream was just about the easiest thing you could do.  Some even screamed when they were tickled, or cried when their football team lost but it wasn’t enough anymore.  He would change this, he would make his bretheren take pride in their work again, he would make war on his own kind if that’s what was needed to make them realise how far they had fallen.  He would rise up against the existing powers.  He would rise higher than anyone from the Underworld.  First he would seize the power here, then the World and then, even the Heavens would fall to his will.
Pittsburgh was just the start.  A few had already come to his banner, more would follow.  Darkness would follow.  Hell would follow and at the end even God would kneel and beg for mercy.