Chapter 35 Chapter 35
“Shut the fuck up, leech,” Maxwell snapped, smirking when the vampire hissed in pain and clutched his stomach. “You have sinned, and sinners go to hell,” he proclaimed. The demon sounded elated at the idea of sending him there himself.
“I know who of us has committed more sins, and it isn’t me,” the vampire forced out, narrowing his red eyes at Maxwell.
“Could be true. I’ve lost count by now,” Maxwell smiled proudly, and Valerie cringed. “I’m giving you a special offer because I feel generous today. Would you like me to send you to hell in person? I know an exceptionally warm place in purgatory. It’s rather popular.” He spoke with a sickeningly sweet tone, yet his eyes were as cold as ice. A tinge of sadism was hidden in his words, revealing his demonic nature.
“Fuck you,” the vampire growled, his red eyes focusing on Valerie. “Human, you will die. Even if I’m not the one to do it, someone else.”
He received another harsh kick to the ribs, and one of them cracked. “Did I allow you to speak to her? I don’t think so,” Maxwell spat. He grabbed the front of the vampire’s jacket and lifted him like he weighed nothing. “I decided what I’ll do with you. Purgatory sounds nice.”
Valerie’s eyes widened when Maxwell made a weird movement with his left arm, a strange reddish light radiating from his open palm. He threw her a look over his shoulder. “Stay here and wait for me; I’ll be back in a few minutes. This won’t take long.”
Right in front of her eyes, the demon opened a portal. It looked like a tear in space—she couldn’t explain how it was possible, but it seemed to lead straight to hell. She stared into it and was filled with morbid fascination at what she saw.
The scenery was black as night, except for an ocean of blazing flames and hazy smoke rising toward the midnight sky.
Maxwell stepped through the tear in space, dragging the vampire along before the portal disappeared into thin air. Valerie stumbled back and held on to the pavilion's railing, her knees weakening. Had she just… gotten a glimpse of hell itself?
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“You’re really scary, you know that?”
“Sure, I get that all the time,” he smirked, brushing white strands of hair out of his eyes. Then, he flicked some ash from his clothes. He hadn’t lied when he said he would return within a few minutes. Just now, he had opened another strange portal and nonchalantly jumped out.
She rolled her eyes at his answer and sighed deeply. “Why am I not surprised?”
They left the pavilion and took the gravel path leading them out of the park. Maxwell was nice enough to light up the surrounding area so they could at least see where they were going.
The few streetlamps in the park weren’t bright enough to illuminate the entire path. Thus, Valerie found his ability rather useful…
“Where is he now?” she asked, keeping her eyes on the path in front of them, pointedly ignoring the weird demon that hovered under a tree.
“In a warm and cozy part of purgatory, where the flames are particularly scorching,” he grinned gleefully.
Valerie grimaced. “Ugh, seriously, why are you like this?”
“I’m just doing my job.”
“Yeah, great,” she replied sarcastically before she turned serious, furrowing her brow. “What should we do now? We found the location of the bodies, but since the murderer is out of the picture… what should we tell the police?”
“If you tell them he was sent to hell by a demon, they will surely believe you,” he mocked. “You should give them an anonymous tip about the warehouse with the bodies… and concerning the vampire, well… he got what he deserved. They won’t ever be able to link him to the murders, but at least he’s taken care of.”
He had a point, of course, but it still irked her that she couldn’t tell the police what had ensued. The poor families of the victims would never know what happened to their loved ones, either. This was what hurt Valerie the most. They would have to overcome their grief without discovering the truth.
“I feel sorry for the families,” she said as he studied her from the corner of his eye.
“Try to see it this way: It wouldn't be any better if they found out about vampires and other supernatural beings. It would be worse,” he said calmly. “You’d be naïve to expect every story to end happily.”
“That’s true,” she frowned as they reached the end of the park. Valerie vowed to never return to this place—it would haunt her in her nightmares.
\---
The remainder of the week passed in a blur. Valerie reported the incident to Thorne, and he forwarded the information she had gathered to the police, not mentioning the vampire.
She didn’t know how the victims' relatives reacted to the bad news, but she could imagine they were shattered. Her mood was gloomy for a while, so she attempted to distract herself with work.
She was glad when Thorne gave her various tasks, like interviewing a young CEO who had made a name for herself and writing about a popular street food festival.
Maxwell tagged along when she visited the festival, and to her surprise, he seemed to enjoy the food he ate. She kept teasing him about it since he’d always emphasized he wouldn’t like it.
On Friday evening, she planned to meet Esther and Vaughn, who planned to visit their favorite Chinese restaurant with her and Maxwell. Since the demon was developing an interest in human food after he had refused to try it for so long, Valerie didn’t have to convince him to join them.
The young woman stood in front of the bathroom mirror, making an elaborate braid and adding a cute butterfly clip. Since Esther had told her the restaurant was on the fancy side, Valerie put on a black cocktail dress for the evening.