Page 17 of The Good Char (Soul Taker)

MR. DZIK

She’s smearing snot on my apron. I needed to remove her from me. I had never been hugged by a human before except for when they wanted to jump and attack me in the underworld, thinking it would stop the tortures.

This little human was visibly upset. She held me firmly in her deathly grasp with a strength I didn’t know she could possess. I did the only thing I could to pacify the situation so she would release her grip on me—I mimicked her and patted her with as little contact as I could.

She still wouldn’t let go. In fact, she gripped me tighter.

I was getting human all over me. If the master heard about this, my sentence in the human realm might be extended.

“There, there,” I tried, audibly swallowing bile before letting out the next set of words. “It’s going to be okay, just let it all out.”

I should give her the rest of the day off. I was tired of her leaky face. I didn’t need any more of her minions coming by the counter with any other bad news.

I opened my mouth to tell her just that when she let out another sad sniffle. Something inside of my chest twinged. I didn’t like what I was feeling. I didn’t like any of this at all. It needed to stop and it needed to stop now.

“If you’re done leaking from your face, I need you to close shop,” I tried to tell her in a softer tone, one that wouldn’t cause any more of these disgusting sounds.

I patted my fingers on her back for emphasis and handed her a towel, anxious to disinfect the place once more to rid myself of her strange tumultuous emotions. For all I knew, it was contagious.

“Thank you, Mr. Dzik.”

Why did this female insist on calling me with that title? I was a demon! I am Dzik! If she saw me in my true form she would cower in fear. The imagery made me feel much better.

“Dzik,” I told her yet again, clearing my throat. Sadly, she didn’t know I was a demon. To her, I was just her superior here on the human realm in this wretched corndog vendor. “Get back to work.”

She unhooked me from her latch and wiped her eyes. It looked like she wanted to say something further but I purposely ignored her, pulling out the mop to clean up the mess near her chair.

She quietly worked beside me and I let out a sigh of relief. I expected her tomorrow without the snot and crying.

Something inside of my chest pulled at my internal organs as I watched her dejectedly walk out of the mall to her bicycle.

I cursed myself and grumbled as I followed behind her to make sure there were no other surprises waiting.

That would just be my luck. I needed her employment to remain sound.

I didn’t need any other accidents that would cause me to have to hire anyone new.

No one would compare after working with Kimmy. It was a horrible fact I was now stuck with.

I watched as her hands shook, reaching for her helmet and I bared my teeth in aggravation. Humans were frail. Weak. It was no wonder so many ended up in the underworld.

I quickly grabbed her helmet and placed it on her head, fiddling with the straps the way I had seen her do. What the blasted hell was this sorcery? Why were the clasps this tiny?

She stared at me with her large innocent eyes. My skin itched and I forced myself to work my fingers faster to get away from her. When the stupid latch finally clicked I wanted to roar in triumph. When her eyes began to mist, I inwardly groaned.

Not again.

Quickly lifting her onto her bicycle, I nudged her along. She needed to keep on task and get herself home safely so that she would be able to come back to work bright and early tomorrow.

I quickly left her, unwilling to allow her disgusting emotions to cloud my own. I also needed to disinfect everything once more. Who knows what kind of weird human diseases she or that other snotting girl left behind.

I didn’t need the health department to threaten to shut me down again.

I was still paying that fucker off when he found the human finger that didn’t get grinded down.

I couldn’t wait for his demise. Hopefully by the time they came back around, my sentence should be over and I would be able to torture him back in the underworld.

I snickered aloud. Karma was very much a real thing, especially for him.

Thoughts of that blasted health department employee and Justin in the torture chambers lightened my mood enough for me to take off my apron, throw it with the dirty towels and change into new one.

I diligently cleaned the counters and sprayed disinfectant in the air before I started on my new germ free batter. I swear these humans were a plague on the earth. I didn’t know how Obsideo dealt with it.

Thoughts of Kimmy’s face melting made me grimace in both disgust and a tinge of something else I couldn’t put my finger on. I scowled, concentrating. Trying to figure it out.

“Got crying employees now, huh. Why am I not surprised? And why are you closing so early, it’s not even sundown yet,” came the last voice I wanted to hear. I slowly raised my head up to find Justin with a smirk in front of my counter.

I pointed my gloved hand with the spray bottle right at his face and sprayed. The television said it worked for pesky felines, and it seemed to work with pesky humans as well. He sputtered comically and waved his hand in front of his face.

I cackled and sprayed again and again until he let out a bunch of expletives and finally left my sight back to his sickly sweet cave he passed off as sustenance.

After my laughter died down, I sighed. The entertainment was short lived. Another day in this fucking fairytale that I have been cursed to live in. A deep, low growl sounded off in the distance. I turned my gaze to the front of the mall, through the glass doors and up to the sky.

Ah, we were blessed to see the wondrous sight of dark clouds moving in. The day was turning for the better. Finally some darkness. Now this is what I'm talking about!

My spirits were fully uplifted at last. I bobbed my head to the low music in the mall, a heavier, electric guitar filled tune coming over the speakers.

When my sentence was over, I was going to introduce some of the other demons to it so that it could be played along to the sounds of screams of agony.

Flashes of lighting brightened the room and I smiled as I finished sanitizing The Good Char. It was the perfect background to go along with everything that had happened.

My happiness was interrupted by the sun peeking its eyes through the clouds, cutting through the beloved darkness like a hot knife through butter.

Just a little darkness, that’s all I ask for.

But, no. The sun had to shine. This punishment was becoming more than I could bear.

Was it too much to get a small plague? Hell, I was sure Obsideo could give me some pointers when I returned home.

A swarm of locusts, maybe a tsunami wave? Instead we got sunshine and happiness.

Groaning, I slammed my disinfectant down and sat myself on the same chair Kimmy was in earlier during her breakdown. Running a hand over my face, I titled my head back, staring at the ceiling. Someone wake me up from this fairytale ending!

I wanted to roar out in frustration when a group of kids came up to the closed counter after seeing me there.

“Hey, mister. We want some snow cones.”

I snapped my head in their direction and my nostrils flared with agitation. It was him again. The kid with the red hair and freckles, and he had his flunkies with him this time.

When was this blasted sentence going to end? Everyday these brats come to my stand asking for snow cones and everyday I tell them, I didn’t sell snow cones. Okay, I got something for the little bastards.

A menacing grin slowly stretched across my face.

“Okay, little boys,” I purred before getting to my feet and making my way toward them. “What flavors would you like?”

“Um, we like red and blue mostly,” the redhead leader said.

I leaned in and grinned wider. “That will be a dollar a piece. So, three dollars in total.”

Each of them pulled a dollar from their fanny packs and handed it to me. I put the money into my cash register, made my way to the back of my kitchen, filled up three cups of ice and squirted some blue and red food coloring onto some pink lemonade and handed them the cups.

One of them frowned. “Hey! These aren’t snow cones!” His tone was filled with indignation as he looked into his cup. The other boys looked as confused as he was.

“I know,” I chuckled. “I don't sell snow cones but since you wanted some, I always stick to the moniker of the customer’s always right. You three make sure to come back tomorrow now.” I hope you all wake up with boils.

“And we’re closed for the day, so enjoy your snow cones.

” I cackled before leaving them standing there and making my way into the back room once again.

Little brats got what they deserved.

When I heard the sound of ice and liquid hitting some of the equipment, I barreled out of the room to find the little shits laughing and running away, the cups left on the floor.

Growling and shaking my fists at their retreating form, I memorized their faces for future reference when I was back in the underworld.

Nasty little ingrates. Quickly cleaning up the place once again, I throw my apron down and leave the area, walking out of the Hellscape Mall. I was done with human-ing. Done with them all.

Once outside, I let out a frustrated sigh and stretched my arms up. What else could happen today?

A man wearing a dark suit and carrying a thick, black book decided that he wanted to test his mortality around me, walking right in my direction with a smile on his face, bent on harassing me.

Why did I have to ask? I set myself up, didn’t I? Or was this part of the master’s punishment?

The stranger opened his mouth before I could tell him to go away. “Do you have a minute to talk about Revelations? The end of the world is coming, are you prepared? If you aren’t, I have some pamphlets right here to help you be prepared for the end of days.”

The fires lit within me. I was at my wits end. I looked at him with a menacing grin. “I hope it comes tomorrow. There’s nothing like watching the flames of the underworld consume everything—including you!”

I let out a hysterical laugh, the madness creeping in. It didn’t matter anymore. None of it did.

His eyes grew as large as those sickly sweet rolls before he hurried away in the opposite direction from me, tripping on his own feet and scattering his pamphlets all over the parking lot.

I bit the air in threat but it wasn’t like he could see me do it. That wasn’t the point. The point was, I was done.

Why couldn’t these humans just leave me be?