I was laying on my side when I awoke on the bed. My eyes scanned the apartment slowly. From left to right I saw the television, still dark since the night before, the chair, the scattered bottles of booze the previous tenant left behind, the kitchen, and the front door. Nothing had changed. With a groan I sat up on the bed, placing my legs over the side onto the floor. Rubbing my eyes I thought to myself about the dream I woke up from. Was it real? Nothing in the apartment seemed different, no signs anyone had broken in and began whispering to me in my sleep. Yet that presence was all too real. I remember that feeling, that overwhelming loneliness, and that darkness like it actually happened. Even now it feels like...
A soft clang resounded on the floor, causing me to jump a little. Looking down, I noticed a bottle rolling slowly along the ground, knocked over by my foot. Rolling my eyes, I muttered, "Jumping at shadows…". I shook my head. I'm acting ridiculous, all over a weird dream. Why should I be scared of the dark anyways? I know what lives in the dark, and he swings from rooftops and dresses like a rabies-infected rat with a cape. Besides, I have more pressing matters to attend to. Like killing an overlord at the behest of a possessed television.
"Speaking of which," I said aloud, turning my attention back to the television, still switched off. Standing up, I walked over to the tv and stopped right in front of it, then bent down until my face was right in front of the screen. I waved my hand over it. Nothing happened. "Hellooooo? Mind telling me where Vox is? You left that part out," I asked. Still no response.
Smacking the side of the tv in slight annoyance I said, "Typical. A television tells you to kill someone, and it won't tell you where they are. I suppose it's back to the street. Maybe someone out there will be more helpful than you." I squinted at the tv for a small moment, then stood back up and gave it a hard kick that caused it to fall to the floor and crack.
Pivoting around 180 degrees I pointed myself at the door, ready to leave. Just before I took my first step I looked around the room once more. Putting up a finger, as if to motion "wait", I said, "But before I go, there's one thing I really need to take care of."
About thirty minutes later, I had all the visible bottles and boxes packed tightly in a trash bag; I didn't have the care nor the time to see what horrors lie in any of the cabinets or the refrigerator. I dragged the heavy bag beside me up to the nearby window, opening it, then I rolled the bag up the wall onto the windowsill, then pushed it out to let it fall to the ground below. A couple seconds later I heard a loud crash and the sound of screaming. I looked out the window to the ground far below, and saw a very distressed snake demon looking at the pile of garbage, which now had a pool of blood accompanying it. Cupping my hands over my mouth I shouted, "Sorry about that! Spring cleaning!" I ducked back inside before they could see who had shouted at them.
Satisfied that they at least heard my apology, I returned my attention back to the front door, which I then proceeded to walk towards and out of into the hallway. A couple minutes later I had descended back to the ground floor. Passing through the main lobby I waved a friendly hello at the bee woman who was still sitting inside the receptionist cage, reading what I assumed was today's paper. She responded by holding the paper up higher to cover her face and hide herself. Feeling slightly annoyed I dropped my hand, and my smile, and walked out of the apartment complex. Following the sidewalk out and to the left I ran into the snake demon again, who was now digging through the trash to check on whoever my garbage landed on. Side-stepping them onto the grass, I looked over and said, "I hope you plan on cleaning all this up," I gestured to the body and the trash that covered it.
They looked up at me with tears in their eyes, quietly saying, "W-what?"
Putting on a smile, I explained, "This is a nice neighborhood, I just moved in and I don't think it deserves vagrants like yourself digging through trash and dirtying the place. It's only polite if you clean up after yourself."
They continued to look up at me, eyes filled with tears and confusion, while I returned their look with one of false kindness. Clapping my hands together I said, "Well, take care anyways!" I walked back onto the sidewalk and continued forward, hearing the sounds of bottles being thrown aside as I walked away. So far, I thought to myself, this has been a good start to my morning. Peering up at the sky I noted it was still red. Well… if it is morning. I put aside my thoughts on how time works in this world, focusing instead on making my way back into the city.
The skyscrapers and lights in the distance grew closer with every block I passed, until I eventually began to hear the sounds of the city once more. Cars haphazardly driving by, people pushing each other as they passed on the sidewalk, animals screeching at each other in sounds that could only come from Hell. Welcome back, I thought to myself. Now that I was back, time to figure out where Vox hides himself. If I'm lucky I can find out before the day is through, but with how large this place is it could take far longer. Considering I have eternity however, I don't mind the wait.
Contrary to my thoughts, I would find answers sooner than expected, my ears picking up on one voice in particular in the crowd.
"Stars Tours! Want to meet your favorite hell-ebrities? Buy a Stars Tours pass now! Take a pamphlet and see how the big shots live!"
Turning my head I noticed a small impish demon shouting across the intersection. He was standing by a placard that had "Stars Tours" in large bright colorful lettering, followed by a list of words too small to read from this distance. He was holding several small pieces of paper in one hand, and waving another in his other hand above his head. The imp wore a black flat cap, that covered any hair he may have had, and sported a white goatee. He also wore a black suit jacket and white dress shirt underneath, along with black shorts and black dress shoes with white socks. All in all the most mismatched pairing of clothing I've ever seen, all in a singular color scheme.
The small imp continued to shout and wave his papers, but not a single person paid attention to him; the crowds in the city walked around him and avoided his line of sight, which considering his height wasn't very hard. Chuckling slightly at my luck, I walked across the street, keeping in mind to avoid the careless traffic. As I got closer to the imp, he began to look around him, his shouting growing lower in volume until he eventually stopped, noticing the people's lack of interest in what he was selling.
Placing his hands on his hips, he shook his head and said in a lower voice, "Damn. Why the hell did I go so far outside Hellywood? Oh I know why, cause every motherfucker sellin' these stupid things took up all the good spots. Then I thought stupidly, maybe people in the city would give a shit to buy this crap," he paused, looking around. Throwing his hands up he returned to his normal volume of shouting, "But of course, everyone's got places to be, can't help a guy out! I know this shit ain't cheap but neither is my rent! STARS TOURS! OVER HERE!"
It was at this point I finally reached the small imp, who noticed my presence and stopped his shouting once more. Slowly he looked up at me, until his head was fully craned up to look at my face. Before I could say anything he said, "Jeeeeeezus, you look fuckin' ghastly. I've seen some fucked up characters down here but man… you should drop that smile. If you're trying to look friendly," he chuckled slightly at this, "it ain't workin', you're creepin' me the fuck out."
My smile dropped once more, although it wasn't out of compliance; I crossed my arms and responded, "Y'know you'd sell a lot more of those if you weren't so rude." I gestured to his pamphlets.
"What, these?" He pointed to the papers. "These aren't the tickets man, these are just info pamphlets. You take this to the ticket office and you pay for one there, then I get a cut of the money cause you gave them one of my pamphlets," he explained. "You uhhh, interested or somethin'?"
"Yeah, or something…" I responded, emphasizing the "g" sound. I squatted down until I was on the same eye-level as the imp, "I was actually hoping you could give me an answer to a particular question. Do you know who Vox is?"
At this, I saw the imp's eyes widen, then he bent over himself laughing. I stared at the imp, not finding the humor in what I said. After a few seconds he slowed his laughter so he could reply, "Ho-ho-holy shit man. Is that a serious question? I just told you I hand out info pamphlets for Stars Tours. Y'know, the place that's only available in Hellywood?"
I continued to squat, still unamused by the imp's laughter at my own expense. "No, I don't know," I responded through gritted teeth.
The imp laughed a bit more at my response, not recognizing the glare I was giving him. He then continued his mistake of deriding me. "Well buddy, you're either really stupid, or very new. Either way, I guess I could help you out, not like anyone else is stopping for these. And I have a feeling you're a bit slow so," he sticks out a hand holding a pamphlet, offering it to me.
Reaching out, I snatched it away from him, making sure he stumbled from the force of the pull. Opening it, I read what was inside. Most of it was covered by images of various wealthy-looking homes with accompanying addresses; it seems even in Hell celebrities exist, and they get stalked relentlessly. Besides that there were names of landmarks and studios that certain tour buses went to, nothing that was helpful. Closing it I flipped to the back, and found what I was looking for. The VVIP tour, Vox's Very Important Person tour. It toured this "Hellywood" in its entirety, and at the end a special visit to Vox Tower to "meet the face of Hell's entertainment", for anyone who could afford the price. Which was pretty steep, as my eyes bugged out just looking at it.
The imp must have noticed my expression as I heard him say, "Oh yeah, if you think the normal price of admission is bad, there ain't a single person I know who's been able to buy that. Makes you think he did it on purpose."
I didn't acknowledge his words, shaking my head to search the back for more clues. Vox had to be at Vox Tower, but where was Vox Tower? Every other stupid house in this thing had an address, but not this place for some reason. Against my better judgement, I opened my mouth to ask the imp about it, but he cut me off before I could say anything, anticipating my question.
"Vox Tower right? If you don't know where that is you must be blind AND stupid. Shit must be the tallest thing in Hell, just look for yourself," he gestured behind me.
Becoming more irritated with the imp as he spoke, I stood back up and turned to where he was pointing. Behind me, in the distance, I saw the shape of a large cylindrical building that was solid black in color. And at the very top, I could see the shape of a giant neon blue V. It was so tall it stood nearly the same height as the buildings surrounding me even with all the distance between us. If Vox was in there, it wouldn't be easy getting to him.
"Now if that's all that you needed, I have to get back to trying to hand off this crap. So beat it, you're scarin' away anyone who could be interested," I heard the imp say behind me, trying to shoo me away.
That was the last straw for me. Standing still, I bit the inside of my lip for a moment, looking around and thinking about how to deal with this problem. It was then that I spotted an open manhole on the sidewalk to my right, closed off by orange tape surrounding it. It looked like construction was being done on or inside wherever it went, but whoever was working on it wasn't around; whatever the reason was didn't matter to me however, only the opportunity did.
"Fuckin' hell you deaf too? I said-"
This time it was my turn to cut him off, "Oh I know what you said." I turned to face him again, and he looked up at me with annoyance. Continuing, "I just thought I should properly thank you for the help. I was raised to practice good manners and all that."
He looked me up and down and sneered, "Eh, sure buddy, no problem."
"Nonono, not like that," I said, "help like yours deserves something more than a thank you." Quickly I reached down behind the imp and pulled him up by the back of his suit collar. Immediately he dropped all his pamphlets, sending them scattering to the ground, and he began thrashing in the air.
"What the hell are you doing man?! Put me the fuck down!" He shouted, swinging his fists wildly, but I kept him just far away enough that nothing connected.
"Like I said," I continued talking, walking towards the manhole and ignoring his struggles, "I was raised with good manners, and you… oh you." I wagged a finger at him with my free hand, "You clearly were not. Why if I behaved like you did my mother would have taken a ruler to my backside!" I swung my hand in the air, as if to imitate the swinging of said ruler. "But lacking a ruler, I'll have to opt for the nearest convenient thing."
I stopped beside the manhole and held the imp over it. Feeling that we had come to a stop, the imp ceased his wild punching and looked to see why. Once he looked down and spotted the black abyss below him, I could see his eyes widen, and his head snapped back up to look at me. I gave him one of my "creepy" smiles, and as he shook his head softly, I dropped him. His screams echoed as he fell, his form disappearing immediately as he entered the darkness. After a couple more seconds of screaming, I heard the crunch of bones breaking, and the screaming stopped, to be replaced by the echoes of groaning and whimpering. Whistling to myself I looked around to see if anyone was watching, and to my surprise no one was. The crowds of people continued to mill around, paying no attention to the events that just transpired. I crippled a man in broad daylight and nobody gave a damn, which honestly I don't know how to feel about. So far the only murders I've caused that have brought attention are these "smile killings", and even then nobody knew I did them! Then again, even in Gotham nobody cared about deaths unless they were outlandish or important, so it seems some things never change.
Still hearing the imp's groans I continued my whistling and looked around for the manhole cover. Spotting it a couple feet away, I walked over and shifted it along the ground with my foot, causing it to scrape loudly against the gravel. This noise actually drew some annoyed glances my way, but they stopped staring once I slid the cover neatly onto the hole, covering it. Dusting my hands off, I exhaled loudly, waving at the people passing by who turned an eye my way. Then I exited the small construction area and walked back across the road in the direction of Vox Tower. Leaving behind the now-absent Stars Tours stand, and the pamphlets that the crowd started to trample as they took up the empty space.