Hell's Actor

"What's your name, dear?"

The girl looked around.

Satan nodded. "Yeah, you. Who else is here? You don't think I'll call this half-naked man dear, do you?"

"Shut it."

"He can't even take a joke. Say your name, before I pull out your teeth, girl."

"Kara," the girl uttered.

"That's a nice name for someone having fun in a car."

The girl swallowed, her throat parched.

"You look a little uncomfortable," said Satan. "You need something?"

"No—no…"

"Say it before I carve my name on your tongue."

"Water! I need water!"

Satan looked around, but there were no water bottles in the car.

"Where's the water at?"

"I—We didn't bring any."

Satan turned to have a better look at her.

"You don't look so stupid." He turned to Lucifer. "It's become hard to tell who's stupid and who's not, eh?"

"It's not like the old days." Lucifer propped up his elbow against the door, whistling while one hand steered the wheel. "Every time I think I've gotten a smart one, it turns out to be extremely stupid."

"They don't breed them like before."

"Tell me about it. Before, smarts mattered. These days, they only care about the looks and the figure."

"It's nice that they are learning to be sinful, but still, it makes our work harder."

Lucifer turned on the car radio. Changing through channels, he found nothing but white noise.

"This stuff is just as bad as it used to be."

Satan, meanwhile, was busy studying the woman. "You came here without any water? Are you stupid?"

"I'm—"

"Don't answer that." He spared her a pitiful glance. "That was a rhetorical question. What were you planning to drink after your strenuous activity?"

"I don't…"

"Piss? Were you planning on drinking each other's piss?"

Satan burst into laughter.

Lucifer, on the other hand, looked disgusted. "And you call yourself cultured."

"Yeah, whatever. Stop the car at a gas station or something."

"We are not in the US. Don't call it 'gas station.' You'll give us away."

"Right, right." Satan turned solemn, rubbing his chin. "What do they call that here? Petrol pump? Piss and pump? Eat and shit? Gloryhole in the back? Die Wurst Gloryhole? Dine—"

"Enough." Lucifer turned on the car's GPS. "It will take some time for us to reach the nearest fueling station, girl. How about slapping yourself in the face until we are there?"

The girl nodded, stuttering affirmations.

While Lucifer was tranquil, Satan couldn't help but entertain himself by questioning the girl.

"Where do you think we are going, Kara?"

The girl didn't answer. She tried to look into her kidnapper's eyes, only to lower her head immediately. Just the attempt made her feel like her soul was being burned.

Instinctively, she knew there was something wrong with her kidnappers. Their behavior was too casual, as if they were bigger than the world.

"Come on, Kara," Satan uttered. "Answer me!"

It felt like she was talking to a mental patient.

"I—I don't know. Please, don't… don't hurt me."

"That's not the answer, Kara." He sighed and pinched her cheek. "Look into my eyes."

She couldn't. It felt like something was chipping away at her sanity.

"I'll ask you another question. And—" He flicked her lips "—if you answer correctly, I'll tell you who we are. No lies, I promise! Okay?"

A drop of sweat apprehensively rolled down her temple. "Okay..."

"Tell me. Who do you think we are?"

"I—I don't—" Kara broke into sobs. "I don't know…"

"No, no. No!" Satan clenched her cheeks and gazed deeper into her eyes. "What's the first word that's coming to your mind? That's the answer."

Those red eyes seemed to be providing her with a very obvious answer.

"You're right. Say it."

Only one word sprang into her mind.

"Devils."

Satan's locked jaw opened; his lips quivered. And with a face of ecstasy, he fell into a psychotic fit of laughter.

"Correct," he screamed, sticking his head out the window. "She's correct!"

The wind on his face was so fresh, so lovely. He wanted to stop it, turn it vile, make it revolting.

"Drive the car, Lucifer! We must lead Kara to water! Water, Kara! Water!"

While Satan screamed into the wind, Lucifer danced his shoulders to the white noise blasting out of the radio.

Watching the scene, Kara swallowed her rising anxiety.

It felt like a dream, an awful nightmare.

'They are deranged,' she thought. 'If I want to survive, I will have to do something…'

The thought was interrupted by Satan, leaning out of the car and staring at her through her window.

"No funny ideas, girl," he said, holding half his body precariously outside the window. "Don't do something unnecessary."

Kara's thoughts froze. The situation looked grimmer than before.

"What—pardon?"

"Don't think about drinking your piss. It's disgusting."

"Oh… yes, thank you."

He returned his head inside the car.

"That was fun. You should try it sometime." He fixed his hair in the side-view mirror. "Anyway, I need to answer my first question, right?"

"No, it's fine."

The less she knew, the safer she felt. But Satan would have none of it.

"No," he said like an old man handing his grandchildren paltry cash. "You deserve it; you answered correctly."

He cleared his throat and straightened his suit.

"We are going to Berlin."

She swallowed audibly. "Berlin, sir?"

"You must know why, right?"

There was no answer. Kara had no idea.

"You don't know? You are German, and you don't know why?"

Kara was afraid that something awful was about to happen in Berlin.

"You see, in Berlin, a friend of ours is waiting. Something big is going on there."

Satan's face turned solemn as apprehension took hold of Kara.

"Berling is hosting Serenes Film Festival." A tear streaked down Satan's face. "We love films."

Lucifer nodded.

Kara felt light as all the tension faded into the air.

'I'm going to die.'

She fell unconscious for the third time that night.

It was an hour later that Satan slapped her back to consciousness.

"Wake up."

Rustic orange lights filled her sight.

"We are at the petrol station," Satan said. "It's an old one. But it's working."

She looked out the window.

The place had only two petrol pumps, dusty and worn out. Lucifer was fiddling with one of them, trying to get it to start.

"You need to put money in it first," yelled Satan at him.

"How?"

"Just ask it to open up. Works with prostitutes every time."

It was a terrible joke, but Satan laughed nonetheless.

"Here's your water." He handed Kara a room-temperature bottle of water. "Just bought it but—"

Her gaze wandered past the man, towards a little store in the back. On the counter, with eyes wide open, a decapitated head was staring right at them.

"It has some dust on it. Don't know how long they kept it in the back. That clerk couldn't show proper service. Terrible, I tell you."

Kara lowered her gaze. "Thank you."

She twisted the cap open, leaving deep marks on her palm. Her heart was racing as she took a large gulp. She needed to get out of there.

"And here," added Satan. "Some chips and whatever this is. Snacks. Snacky snacks. Snack on it."

He threw a bunch of packed food at her.

"Thank you."

Unimpressed, he waved a hand. "Yeah, yeah."

Kara glanced at the light emanating from the little station, apprehensive thoughts running rampant through her throbbing head.

The pair had already killed two men since they met—her boyfriend was one of them. And she couldn't hope to estimate how many they would kill in front of her if she were to stick around.

She raised her head, her long eyelashes shaking. "May I… use the facilities?"

"Huh?" Satan twisted his neck sharply at her. "What now?"

"Facilities—er, washroom."

He sighed. "Can't you hold it in?"

Kara bit her lower lip. "The seat might get dirty."

"Eww." Satan made a few retching motions. "Act like a proper lady!"

"It could—might stink."

"Go, go!" He clutched his throat, his eyes tearing just imagining the possibility. "It's there, go!"

The girl had to climb into the front passenger seat, as the back doors wouldn't open.

Blurting out her thanks, she hurried out of the car and towards the washroom behind the station.

Satan licked his lips. "Let's see what she does."

"How does this machine work?" yelled Lucifer, kicking at the petrol pump. "Dumb thinks. Where's the valet?"

He looked up at the starry sky.

"Where's the valet!"

***

Averie was in his room, Miss Meow sitting beside him on the sofa.

"How long are you going to pretend to be just a cat?" he asked, his legs and arms crossed.

The cat, now far too large to be considered a kitten, tilted her head.

"Meow?"

"I know who you are. Lucifer told me."

"Meow, meow."

"Yes, your secrets are no more secret."

"Meow."

"Can't you speak? Is it too difficult to imitate human speech with feline vocal cords?"

"Meow."

The conversation was going nowhere.

"Damn, you are a tough nut."