“My name is Hinn, by the way.”
“Okay Hinn. Why are they sending Hellhounds topside? They run out of souls for you to drag off? Or is this punishment for something you did?” I said.
“I like to think of it as a promotion.”
“You actually want to be here?”
“You don’t?”
“Humans are overrated.”
“Why not go back home?”
“That requires effort.”
“Does telling me your demon name require effort?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll call you Duchess then?”
“Ugh, fine. Haura. Are we gonna share our food and clean out each other’s ears now?”
“Um…no? Is that a cat thing?”
“You’ve never spent time on Earth before, have you?”
“Oh, I come here all the time to do…Earth stuff. I know lots of Earth dogs.”
“How many have tried to mount you?”
“Mount like demons riding on Hellbats? Earth dogs can fly?”
“Good one.” He looks confused. “Wait, you’re serious?”
“Look I can’t fly so people are gonna notice that I’m not a real dog. If I’m caught, they’ll terminate this project and I’ll lose my job.”
“Dogs don’t fly. You misunderstood what I meant. I have to explain the mortal world to you. That must be what Ligur meant by show you the ropes.”
“Have you ever lived with a dog before?”
“No. What kind of dog are you anyway.”
“I’m what’s called a Black Lab. I’m told humans think my floppy, bouncy ears are cute. Is cute a good thing?”
“Not to me. What’s this project you were talking about?”
“The plan is to have Hellhounds on Earth to make soul collection more efficient. More souls at a time, less travel time, that sort of thing. I’m the first one so if I fail, the whole project fails.”
“They team up the Hellhounds and Hellcats and then what?”
“Oh, this is just for training. If all goes well, I’ll train the next hellhound. The bosses were reluctant for us to team up. They really want to keep the hounds and cats separate.”
“I wish they had.”
“Look, the sooner you teach me about life on Earth, the sooner we can go our separate ways. Let’s just get through this. Deal?”
“Whatever. Fine.”
Part 5 coming October 30.
