The Devil Inside Me

“Izzy, wake up.” I groan at the soft voice that tries to coax me awake. Whoever it is can fuck off.

“Little one.” Something warm and feather light touches my cheek, I push it away. Rolling over I cover my head with my comforter and snuggle into my blankets, bringing my hand up to underneath my chin.

My bedroom door slams opened followed by hooves clicking against the stone flooring.

“The brat still isn’t awake?” An annoyed voice rings throughout my bedroom. My eyebrows pull inward. How fucking annoying.

“Azazel please. She had a long night.”

“You baby her too much Belphegor.”

Something crawls under my silk bed sheets and wraps itself around my ankle, it’s scaly and warm. Nope, I’m ignoring it. I’m asleep, they can go awa– I’m ripped out of bed and suspended into the air.

My eyes jolt open and I glare at, who I know is Azazel, the Deadly Sin of Wrath. Others may know him as Satan, Azazel being a separate demon but that’s only in those man made holy texts. To me? He's my—oh so fucking wonderful—demon that I’ve been stuck with my entire life.

His lips are curled with disgust. Using his tail he’s holding me upside down above him, my shirt has ridden up to my breasts. One of my pierced nipples poking out.

Azazel stands at 12 feet with black horns that come from his temples and is curved like a goats, his feet and hands are similar to that of a human. He holds me high above him with his tail. By his side is a goat with two bloody human heads.

“What the fuck, Azazel!?” I spit at him and it lands on his horn. His tail tightens around my ankle.

“What the fuck, Azazel?” he mocks in a high-pitched voice that rings in my ears.

“I’m trying to get my goddamn beauty sleep! You can’t just rip me out of bed!” I cross my arms.

“Beauty sleep?” Azazel scoffs. “If you want to achieve any sort of beauty you need more than a night’s worth of rest.”

“Asshole.” I mutter.

“Brat.” he retorts.

A drawn out sigh comes from our left. “Put her down Azazel.”

I turn my head and see that it’s my father figure, Belphegor, the Deadly Sin of Sloth. Standing at 13 feet he too has human-like hands and feet. They’re both elongated and have long nails, he has a white beard that goes to his chest and white hair that reaches the middle of his back. His ears point at the tip, similar to elves in story books, his bottom half is covered in fur.

Hanging low is his tail that resembles a lion’s, the end lightly swishing back and forth. From his temples two medium length horns twist outwards. Eyebags are held underneath his yellow eyes, exhaustion evident on his features.

Zae scoffs and gives me a little shake, my shirt now pooling around my neck. It feels suffocating so I take it off and let it drop to the floor, leaving me fully bare chested. Thankfully I’m in Hell and not above in the land of the living, there’s no weird societal rules here about wearing clothes so there’s no shame followed.

Hell 1, Living Land 0.

“Put her down?” he repeats, annoyance clear in his raspy deep tone.

“Yes.” My dad gestures towards me, Azazel’s eyes jerk to mine and he frowns before giving his attention back to Belphegor.

“What about her?” he snaps.

“She’s becoming a tomato.” Belphy sighs. Okay, rude? Excuse me for being human. Azazel tightens his tail, that resembles a snake, around my ankle before uncoiling it, allowing me to fall to my fucking bedroom floor. He turns and storms out, followed by his goat hybrid, not bothering to look back. Belphegor catches me, before I land.

“Little one…”

“Why’d you have to wake me up?” I glare at him and he shakes his head.

“Today’s an important day. You know this.”

“What’s important is me getting my goddamn sleep.” A slight smile appears on his face, his tail comes up and brushes some hair out of my face. The fur at the end tickles and goosebumps run down my arms.

“That’s very true, and any other day I’d allow you to sleep for as long as your single heart desired. However, my little princess, Asmo–”

“Yeah yeah I get it. The King of demons is returning home today and blah blah blah.” I cut him off. “Can you put me down?”

A deep chuckle vibrates throughout his chest and into mine, he sets me down carefully, not letting go until he’s certain that my feet are flat on the cold stone floor. I turn and look up at him, he crouches down so he’s at my level.

“I don’t want to remind you but you have to be on your best behavior today. Asmodeus may be the Deadly Sin of Lust but he’s our King and I expect for you to grant him the proper respect.” I roll my eyes, Belphegor has been telling me this for months now, like I get it. He’s acting like I’m just as bad as Azazel. It’s annoying.

“I know Belphy. I get it okay? I’ll be on my best behavior.” His eyes soften at the nickname and he pats my head.

“I know, but I worry. You and Asmodeus haven’t met yet and your first impressions are…” He trails off as he tries to think of the proper word. I raise an eyebrow.

“They’re what?”

“Not the best.” I open my mouth to argue and he gives me a stern look. Huffing, I place my hands on my hips.

“Fine. I’ll try.”

“Good girl.” He smiles and stands up, his hand resting on my shoulder. “You have until the second moon rises. Dress nice and make sure to eat the heart I gave you the other day.”

I scrunch my nose, I hate eating X’alivent hearts. They’re a type of demon that lives deep within the Volonkree forest. They have the body of a horse, the horns of an ox, intelligence of a chimpanzee and the unpredictability of a human and fangs like a lion. They’re a deep vermillion and have a sweetly distressed voice that they speak in to lure in their victims.

They’re a pain in the ass and fucking Azazel has dropped me off in their domain more than once because I annoyed him. He’s been doing that since I was fucking 5. If it wasn’t for Belphagor’s scent I’d be dead by now. The X’alivent’s typically stay in their forest without bothering anyone, thankfully, and they’re fun to ride…when you get on their good side.

Their hearts though? The worst tasting thing ever. It’s like a mix of gasoline and a chili pepper, its ridiculously chewy and smells of rotting flesh; which apparently I’m not fucking used to despite living in goddamn Hell for my whole life.

“Do I really gotta?” I whine.

“Yes, little one.” Belphagor chuckles. “It’ll help you not get too deeply affected by Asmodeus.”

I scoff and place my hands on my hips. “You make me sound like I’m some kind of sex fiend.”

Belph’s tail taps the floor and he raises an eyebrow. Patting my head, he disappears in a puff of forest green smoke, leaving me alone in my bedroom.