Technically not my first story on here, but this is the first one I'm serious about. Anyways, I'm hoping for a weekly/bi-weekly update, but that could change especially considering I'm heading off to college next year. But I hope you all can bear with that and enjoy the ride!


The blaring sound of my digital alarm clock awoke me from my deep slumber. As I groaned, face down in my well worn pillow, I reached my arm out and, maybe a little too forcefully, turned off the clock. As I took a second to adjust to the brightness of the light flitting through my bedroom window, I gathered my thoughts for the day. Today was Monday, the start of my work week, which meant I was managing the 9-5 shift. The last time I did the 9-5 was shortly after I became shift manager, so coming back to it after three months would definitely be an interesting experience. Slowly, I got out of bed, yawning as I did so. Afterwards, I went through my morning routine. It was a simple one: shower, clean teeth, eat breakfast.

Before I got dressed I looked at myself in the mirror, for some reason I felt like I should, despite not having done so in an extraordinarily long time. I wasn't very fond of my overall physique, to put it mildly, I wasn't in the best of shape. But I knew there was no point in complaining as I never have and never will do anything about it. I was an indoor person, my paleness immediately giving that away. I didn't mind my lifestyle, I was, for all intents and purposes, content. But deep down, I wished for more, I wished I could be well and truly happy. Yet everyday that passes it seems less and less likely.

Sighing, I put on my work clothes. The pants were basic gray dress pants while the long sleeved shirt was a dark green with the store's logo on the upper right. After I tucked in my shirt and put on my belt, I walked out of the bedroom and into my apartment's living area. There wasn't much to see in all honesty, to my left there was a sliding glass door that led to a balcony overseeing some of Rochester's skyline. It was one of the bigger cities in New York State, and it was where I would hopefully eventually go to college. I turned to the TV area, which had my gaming consoles attached to it and eventually, my eyes landed on a framed photo on one of the corner tables where the furniture was.

I walked over to it and picked it up, I saw my mom and dad smiling at me, but I didn't reciprocate as a feeling washed over me that was hard to pinpoint. It was the same feeling I'd had for years now whenever I looked at that photo. Eventually, I put the photo down next to my laptop and grabbed my phone, wallet and keys. After making sure all the lights were off, I picked up my nametag that was lying on the kitchen counter next to the exit, and left the apartment. The trip to my workplace was about a thirty minute drive, depending on city traffic, but I always went early. It looked good to my employers. The drive was starting off uneventfully, as usual, so I decided to turn on the radio to see what was up in the world.

"...Today's weather is going to be a little sour as we get some early January snowfall. But that will most likely taper off by Wednesday as a surprising warm front moves in. In other news, billionaires Lyle Lipton and Loopty Goopty announce one of their new projects, a De-Age-ifier. I could use one of those myself to be honest, I'm starting to get some bald spots…"

I rolled my eyes and flipped the station to see if there was any music playing, but before I could settle on a station, my workplace came into view so I decided to just turn off the radio. Once I reached the store and parked in my usual spot, I got out of my car and walked towards the employee entrance to start what would most likely be another boring ass day. As I entered, I noticed that another shift manager, Luke, was already here and sitting in the employee lounge, most likely waiting for the store to open. Confused, I walked up to him.

"Hey," I started and he looked up at me, his long black hair flopping around as he did so. "I thought I was the shift manager this morning?"

"I dunno," he said, he seemed like he was still high, which wouldn't surprise me, considering he smoked weed like a madman. "They told me to come in for the morning yesterday, so here I am."

"Is Rachel here?" I asked him for the whereabouts of my boss. He nodded and pointed to the office area. As I walked over, Luke spoke up.

"I think Horace is here too," he said. "It's kind of odd, the store manager and the district manager? Wack if you ask me."

Once he said that the district manager, Horace, was here, my heart sank as I put the pieces together. Part of me just wanted to leave right then and there, but another part hoped that I was just overthinking it. Taking a deep breath I walked past the lunch table in the lounge and towards the office. Once there, Horace and Rachel, who were previously talking to each other, looked at me. Horace had his usual stoic expression, which with his square shaped jaw made it look like he was grumpy all the time, accompanied by his thin reading glasses and dark brown business suit that in all fairness, complimented his short light brown hair and green eyes. But Rachel, who was only a couple years older than me, yet looked more mature in her black business suit, looked somewhat sympathetic, which only sank the point home further.

"Have a seat, Paul," Rachel said motioning for me to sit across from them. I chose to stand. Rachel sighed and as she looked down, sunlight from the office window glinted off her smooth black hair, but Horace decided to continue.

"Paul, look," he said, pinching his nose. "For the past four years you've been a great asset, from the beginning when you were just nineteen to now. But my higher ups are making me let go of someone from this store. I'm sorry."

I wanted to ask 'why me', but part of me already knew the answer. Everyone else had been here longer than me, except for Luke, but he was the CEO's son so I knew there was bias there. I was angry, not just because I was getting let go, but because I needed to have a stable income before I started college. In fact, I was supposed to get an acceptance or denial letter from RIT soon. After the realization finally set in, I glared at Rachel and Horace.

"Fine," I said bluntly, which not only surprised them, but myself. I was never one to be assertive, but here I was giving my former boss's attitude.

"We'll be sure to put in a good word for you when you apply to other places," Rachel said softly. But I wasn't having it, I knew I shouldn't really be mad at them, but for some reason I just didn't care.

"You do that," I replied curtly and left the office, past Luke, and out of the store. I needed to go home and gather my thoughts.


It was about 2 PM when the mail came. As I started putting the mail on the kitchen table, I saw a letter from RIT. I set it on my kitchen table shakily, nervous to open it. I was hoping beyond belief that I got accepted, I needed some good news. I hadn't even told my mom about the whole job thing, and it's not like I had anyone else to confide in. I had no girlfriend, and besides the people I talked to online, I had no friends. I was a true loner. It was hard to even think about going to find friends manually. But, college could be my saving grace. I would be forced to meet people there and, while the thought was scary, maybe I'd be able to make some good friends. So, with a deep breath, I opened the letter and read aloud.

"Dear Paul Gerald Jones, it is our sincerest regret that we must inform you that your application to enter the Rochester Institute of Technology has been rejected…"

I trailed off as sadness overcame me, today was quite possibly the worst day I've ever had since my dad's death. As I calmly sat the rejection letter down onto the table, I looked at my phone, sitting on the counter. I walked over to it and turned it on. There was a picture of my childhood pet, an iguana named Alpha, as my screensaver. Then I threw my phone across the room, at this point I didn't care. It hit the far wall, causing the wall to chip slightly, and fell to the wooden floor. My eyes turned to the fridge and I opened it, I had a six pack of beer in there. I wasn't much for drinking, but I did it whenever there was something to celebrate. But now I decided to drink for the opposite reason. I knew it was a bad idea, but my mind was too jumbled and upset to even care. I started drinking a little too heavily, until I heard a knock on the door, I went to answer but my legs started to feel like jelly and I fell to the ground as everything went dark.


I awoke on what felt like concrete, which was strange considering my bed usually felt like Heaven. Then I also heard the sounds of cars and people chattering as they passed by. Realizing something was wrong, I rapidly opened my eyes. The sky was an extreme maroon color with…

"What the Hell…?"

I muttered as I saw what looked to be a giant red Pentagram in the sky. I sat up to find myself in what seemed to be a city, but the atmosphere was completely different than what I was used to. And then I noticed that the people passing by weren't people at all, every single one looked wildly different from the next, there were some with wings, some with scarily long legs and some with only one eye. I tried pinching myself, hoping that this was a dream. But then I felt what definitely did not feel like my skin. It was something…rougher. I looked down at my hands to see that they were scaly and red, with sharp nails attached to the ends of the fingers. As I started hyperventilating, I garnered some weird looks from the 'things' passing by, until my eyes rested on my reflection in a building window. Somehow, I was no longer human. I still had my rustled dark brown hair and blue eyes, but my head was almost completely circular with two short horns coming from the top, and I had almost razor sharp teeth. My entire body was red and scaly but I at least had a striped blue and green short sleeved shirt on as well as light brown cargo shorts and some blue sneakers. Backing away from my reflection, I bumped into a passerby.

"Watch where you're going, bub!" he exclaimed.

"I'm sorry…" I said shakily. I was expecting retaliation, but then he looked at me weird and muttered something that, at first, didn't register with me as he walked away.

"Must be new to Hell, what a dumbass."

I stood there for a second, wondering what that was about, until his words finally registered.

"I'm…I'm in Hell?"

It finally hit me as I remembered what happened before I awoke. I must've drank myself to death. Now, here I was, a demon, in the place where I'd spend the rest of my existence, Hell.