Soon as Bronwyn got to work, something seemed off. There were customers wandering around confusedly. A few that looked utterly annoyed with each other. And one that was somehow behind the counter helping others. Despite definitely not working there. Which also seemed to be confusing them as well. And as soon as she got close to them, Des, she asked,"Des, hon. What in the world are you doing at a register?"

"You don't work here.",she added. Crossing her arms as she looked around for her manager. Who wasn't on the work floor. Despite always being around for any situation. Bronwyn raised a brow as Des answered,"I tried to tell that a new manager that. But he wouldn't listen to me or anyone else."

New manager? There wasn't a new manager as far as she knew. So who in the world was Des speaking of? Looking around, Bronwyn tried to spot this so called new manager. Trying to figure out if maybe Des was confused. In a calm voice, she stated,"Well, stop what you're doing and call over the supervisor."

"I'm going to find this supposed new manager.",she added. Walking away from the registers to look for a new manager. As well as the current boss for some help. Seeing as this new person didn't seem to tell the difference between a customer and worker. Which was really weirding her out. How couldn't he tell the difference? After all, Des didn't dress like an employee. Des was wearing clothes that made them like an alien. Holographic boots, black tights, silver-overall dress, and a black t-shirt. Along with a ton of silvery make-up and lime green contacts.

None of her co-workers or herself ever got to wear that type of thing. Mostly because it wasn't the colors of the store. Which was purple and black.

Heading towards where she felt the boss was, she raised an eyebrow. There was an odd person standing next to the boss. Wearing clothes that looked like it hadn't been washed in years. Along with the person who was wearing it. This man was super pale, wore the most ill-fitting wig that she'd ever seen, and smelled. Super bad. Like she could smell him from where she was standing bad. Which was around twelve to ten feet away from either of them. Soon as her boss saw her, her boss brightened up a little bit. Standing back away from the weird 'new manager' as Bronwyn neared the pair. Soon as Bronwyn was within earshot, the boss said,"Here she is. Our best employee, Bronwyn Davies."

"Bronwyn, this is Mr. Hastur.",her boss stated. Bronwyn raised an eyebrow as she looked the man over. Wondering if maybe her boss was friends with this guy or something. So she crossed her arms behind her back as she smiled at him. Being polite as she normally was with new folks. In a sweet voice, she said,"Hello, sir. It's lovely to meet you."

"Mhm. You as well.",the man muttered. His voice sounded really grating like he'd been screaming at top volume all night. This would've been strange. But this was retail. Things like this weren't entirely outside of the realm of what was 'normal'. So she ignored this as she asked,"So. Any specific reason why you made a customer go behind the register?"

"You did what?",her boss asked. His eyebrows drew together as he stared at this Hastur fellow. Surprised that the 'new manager' made a customer do something. Almost as if he hadn't noticed the chaos that had been ensuing around them or something. Causing Bronwyn to settle her palms on her hips. Looking at her boss, Lloyd Jones, Bronwyn answered,"Hastur here made a customer, Des, go behind the register."

"So. Any specific reason, sir?",she questioned. Turning her gaze back on the weird-looking man. Who didn't look the slightest bit perturbed by her expression. In fact, he seemed mildly annoyed by her anger for some strange reason. Crossing his arms, he informed her,"I did no such thing. I just suggested they go behind the register if they wanted help."

"Not my fault that they did it.",he added. Grinning slightly, as if it were the funniest thing in the world. Bronwyn felt a little bit confused about that. Des didn't generally do things like that. So that would be something that she'd have to look into after her shift. Ignoring this, she said,"It is if you're acting as the new manager."

"Directing customers to do things like that is surely against the ruled.",Bronwyn added. Tapping her foot in annoyance as she stared him in the eye. The man didn't even flinch. Instead, he just shrugged his shoulders as he answered,"I never said I was a new manager, Bronwyn. I just made a suggestion and they followed me up on it."

"Maybe your friend shouldn't take others so literally.",Hastur snickered. Of course, Des shouldn't have. But it still didn't need to be said to them. Bronwyn ignored this as it hit her that he wasn't a new manager. So if he wasn't a new manager. Then why was Lloyd bending over backwards for this man? Telling him about her? Turning to Lloyd, she noticed that he was looking a bit fidgety. In a low voice, Lloyd whimpered,"Mr. Hastur has a different position here, Miss. Davies."

"What? The Heck does that mean?",Bronwyn questioned. Feeling something close to dread pooling in her stomach. Squeezing it like it where no more than a plastic bag. Her hands kept their tight grip on her hips. Keeping that same annoyed look on her face. Not wanting to betray how she actually felt at the moment. Which was a combination of fear and curiosity. Mostly curiosity. Just who was this Hastur to her boss? Why did he seem to hold so much power over Lloyd? The actual answer that Hastur gave, a cold chill went up her spine. Hastur answered,"It means that I'm the one in charge here, Miss."

"And for the good of your boss, you'll come with us to his office.",he continued. Grinning a sickly grin that made her stomach feel oily and icy at the same time. It nearly made the mask on her face crack. But she kept her cool as she stared into Hastur's gross eyes. Frowning slightly, she asked,"And just what will you do if I don't?"

That made both men look confused. Primarily Lloyd who was pleading with her with his eyes. She gave him a gentle look as she smiled slightly. Then glanced over at Hastur, who was opening and closing his mouth. Almost looking like a fish out of water. In a soft voice, he squeaked,"Excuse me?"

"What in the world will you do if I don't go with you? We're in public after all.",she chuckled. So many eyes and so many normal human beings. Even if Lloyd was under his thumb, she doubted that Hastur would want eyes on him. In this way at the very least. It probably would get the strange man in trouble with anyone with power over him. Whomever that was. Bronwyn tilted her head to the side as she added,"I highly doubt that whomever is in charge of you would like you drawing attention to yourself."

"I know that I wouldn't.",Bronwyn jabbed. Moving herself in front of her boss as she stared at Hastur. A grin growing on her face as she glared him in the eye. Hastur glaring back at her as he frowned deeply. In a low voice, Hastur snapped,"I can do anything I'd like to that man without drawing attention to us."

"Just come with me and-""No I won't. Now, either get out or I'll make sure that the authorities get involved.",Bronwyn stated. Not intending to get them involved in the slightest bit. But she knew for most people, the suggestion of police would make people antsy. Few times it got them to just leave. Smiling a bit wider, she noticed that Hastur didn't like the idea of bringing police in. So he hissed something about getting back to her later. That this wasn't the last time that she'd seen him. Among other cliche things that she'd heard a million times before. Lifting her hand up to make the blabby hand at him while making faces. Mocking what he said as he stormed out of the store. Setting her hand down, Bronwyn turned to her boss. Who was so pale that he probably would've blended in with the walls. Hell, he made her look tan in comparison he was so pale.

For the briefest moment, she worried that Lloyd was going to pass out. Right until he let loose a giant amount of air and took several breaths in. Looking puzzled that he was having to breathe so much. Her eyebrows raised at this as she realized he hadn't intentionally held his breath. Vaguely reminding her of protagonists who did this in books. Releasing breath that they hadn't intentionally held in. Bronwyn wasn't entirely sure of how it would look in real life. But this wasn't exactly how she pictured it would look like. It nearly made her laugh as she watched him calm himself down. Lloyd took one final deep breath as he stared into her eyes. Then he asked,"Just what in the world were you thinking?"

"He could've killed either of us. Don't you understand how much danger we were in?",he continued. Voice breaking on the word 'danger'. Of course the nephalem knew how much danger he was in. It was the very reason she bluffed as hard as she had. Hoping that the whatever Hastur was, wouldn't try to make a scene in public. More so than he seemingly had already. Pushing this to the side, Bronwyn answered,"I was taking a risk. It was better than just letting him walk all over us."

"After all, we don't let customers do that. So why let him for?",she questioned. Wondering just what exactly this guy has over her boss. And why he was getting so upset over this. Lloyd rung his hands together as he stared down at the ground. Looking super uncomfortable as he kicked at the floor. For a hot minute, he muttered,"...I kind of sold my umm...soul to the guy."

That made her stare at him in shock as the words ran through her head. 'Sold my soul to the guy'. 'SOLD MY SOUL TO THE GUY'. Had she heard him right? Her boss had sold his soul to some random demon. Which is what Hastur understood him to be. After all, who else could you sell your soul to? Bronwyn grabbed her boss's shoulders as she asked,"What in the world do you mean that you sold your soul to this guy?"

"Why did you do that?",she added, then ignoring that. It didn't matter the why Lloyd sold his soul. Even though she was horrified that this was happening. It was the least of their worries. Though Bronwyn couldn't help but wonder if this maybe was what this Hastur fellow was using that to manipulate Lloyd or not. Then figuring it definitely had to be. And that's why Lloyd was allowing this sort of thing to happen in the store and allowing himself to be treated this way. Frowning when her fears were confirmed. As Lloyd explained that he showed up five minutes before Bronwyn came in. Lloyd sighed,"He said that he'd take it if I didn't do as he asked of me. Which was to take you upstairs and allow him to talk to you alone."

"I don't know what for, but he was adamant about it.",Lloyd finished. Looking every bit of disappointed with himself for allowing himself to be used like this. Bronwyn gently patted his shoulders as she let go of him. Sighing softly as she thought of why he'd want to talk to her. Or how safe she would've been alone in the office with him. Putting this to the side, Bronwyn stated,"Well, we'll deal with this after work. For now, I'm going to punch in and help everyone with this mess that jerk made."

"And you might want to go help Des. They're in way over their head.",she added. Smiling as she watched her boss scurry to the front to do so. Hoping that Des wasn't up to their eyeballs in trouble. Then hurrying herself towards the back room to punch in. This situation wasn't going to be easily resolved. Not without help from her heart and soul. Though she wasn't too sure how to tell either Adora or Charmeine about this. As she wasn't entirely sure what they could do in this situation. Force the demon to give her boss's soul back? That could work.

But how could they make him give it back?

Summoning him probably would be their best bet. Not at Bronwyn's place. As she didn't want him to know where she lived. Or even leave his stink in it. So, she figured they'd go to some random spot in Tadfield and summon him there. After dark. When she was absolutely sure that no nosy human could get in the crossfire. For now, she was going to just go about her day like nothing was wrong.

As soon as her shift was over, she explained to her boss that she'd take care of things. That this Hastur guy wasn't going to have power over him for much longer. Lloyd wasn't entirely sure that she could do it. As he'd tried various ways of getting it back himself. On one occasion he tried to go to a woman called "Madame Tracy" for advice. And what she hadn't worked all that well. So he had zero hopes that his employee could do what others couldn't.

Especially someone as powerful as Madame Tracy had been.

But, he didn't want to dash her hopes. Or his own. As the young woman managed to make Hastur, Duke of Hell, back down with just a few words. Not even breaking a sweat as she glared him in the eye. And how she acted like a human shield for him was just so...so awe inducing. Wonderous.It made Lloyd grateful that he'd never been on his employee's bad side ever. This also made him hope that he'd never be on her bad side either. As he set the alarm, he thanked Bronwyn profusely. Telling her that he'd give her a few more days off for this. Which she immediately declined in the most polite manner possible. Smiling, she stated,"You don't need to do that. Anyone with knowledge of the supernatural would do this for you."

"Besides, it's a little favoritism to be giving me that.",she added. Unlocking the side door and opening it for him. Bronwyn never took a day off unless it was scheduled. Otherwise she'd just continually work. Lloyd somewhat liked that about her. But somewhat didn't. As he felt she deserved it for putting up with a demon. And last time he checked, demon dealing was always draining. So he insisted. Even telling her,"I'll put it down on the schedule for tomorrow. That way everyone knows not to bother you."

"You're doing me such a huge favor, it's the least I could do for you.",he added. Unwilling to take another 'no' from her as he crossed his arms. With an odd sigh, Bronwyn agreed to it. Giving him a small smile as she shut the door after him. Heading towards a pastel pink car that hadn't been there a minute ago. At least as far as he was concerned it hadn't been there a minute ago. Quickly locking up, Lloyd watched as Bronwyn slipped into the passenger-side seat. Next to a woman that looked fairly identical to his employee. Aside from the fact she had amazingly white hair in two space buns, white clothes, and wore huge heart-shaped sunglasses. Which made him wonder how in the world she easily drove in them.

When Bronwyn waved at him, he waved back with a puzzled look on his face. Continuing to watch as they pulled out of the parking lot towards his employee's home. Leaving him there to wonder just who in God's green Earth that was. And just why she drove such a tacky car for.

In the car, Bronwyn was speaking to her demonic maker. Telling her about the fact another demon had come into her place of work. How he had taken her employer's soul for whatever reason. And seemed to be using this as a tool to get to Bronwyn. In a quiet voice, Bronwyn stated,"I don't understand why this, Hastur would want me. But he used Mr. Jones's soul against me."

"...Hastur? You're sure his name was Hastur?",Adora questioned. Looking quite terrified as they drove back home. Hands gripping the wheel so tight that Bronwyn was sure her knuckles were just as white as her gloves. The amount of fear in her maker's voice sent cold shivers down her spine. Obviously Adora knew who this was. Being a demon in all. Just the sheer amount of fear in her voice at the name drop was the most worrying. Bronwyn answered,"Yeah. The dude's name was Hastur."

"Why? Who in the world is he?",Bronwyn questioned. Watching Adora's expression as they pulled over to the side of the road. It was a combination of fright and anger. One that Bronwyn hadn't seen in years. Around a thousand or so. Causing that anxious feeling from before to come back ten fold. Stomach twisting as Adora glanced at her. Parking the car as she answered,"Heartbreaker, he's the Duke of Hell. Someone that for quite a few years, I answered to."

"Used to. I dropped off his radar right around the time that the Anti-Christ was born.",Adora explained. Or at least she hoped that she had. As the last time that she saw Hastur, it was around the eighties. That's if she could trust her memories. Adora felt her chest tighten at the memory of his angry gaze on her. How disgusted with her the Duke had been. Telling her that if her numbers didn't go up, she'd be facing consequences. Ones that the world hadn't seen yet. Then a little while later, the Anti-Christ came to be. That child was Hell's top priority and her low numbers became a nonissue. Possibly still was a nonissue. But that wasn't the thing that worried Adora the most. What worried Adora was the fact that Hastur wanted her creation all alone.

There was also the fact that he spoke to her creation as well. That he knew she existed made it hard for Adora to breathe. She did her best to take deep breaths as she turned from Bronwyn. Right until she calmed down enough to continue,"He and I never have gotten on. Hastur is one of the scariest people I know."

"...but fuck his ugly warty face if he thinks he can have you.",Adora hissed. Gripping her steering wheel tighter and pulling away from the curb. Turning the car around and driving towards Charmeine's home. Gritting her teeth as they rode along. Bronwyn had never seen her maker this way before. It was both terrifying and somehow comforting. Mostly comforting in an odd sense. One that Bronwyn wasn't entirely sure that she could verbalize properly enough. At least, not now. She figured she could better understand it when her life wasn't in complete danger. Right now, they needed to think of how to keep Hastur off her back.

As well as getting her boss's soul back.

Which was something that she prioritized over her own safety. Seeing is it probably would take more to kill her than a human. Well, as far as Bronwyn knew it was. Not that she had ever wanted to test that out. Nor would she probably ever.

A few seconds later, they were in front of Charmeine's home. Adora beeped the horn three times in quick succession. Charmeine came out of the house in less than two minutes. Heading to the car and immediately slipping into the backseat. Soon as the angel was safely inside, Adora pulled away from the curb again. Heading towards a spot that she went to think. While they drove, Charmeine asked,"Wiggleworm, what's going on?"

"Little dove, I've asked you to come up with a better nickname for our heartbeaker than that.",Adora griped. Hating the gross nickname that her friend picked for their creation. It always sounded so distasteful and rude. In her mind it did. To Bronwyn it was kind of funny and adorable. Especially compared to Adora's nickname for her. Subtly rolling her eyes as she turned to look at her angel maker. Smiling nervously as she mumbled,"We've run into a bit of a problem and well..."

"It has to do with the Duke of Hell knowing that I exist.",Bronwyn finished. Toying with one of her braids as she watched Charmeine's expression. Seeing it go nearly blank as she sat up straight in her demon maker's car. Buckling her seat belt in an almost robotic manner. Then taking a deep breath as she closed her eyelids briefly. In a flat tone, she asked,"The whoknows that you exist?"

"Duke of Hell, Hastur.",Adora answered. Voice barely going above a whisper as they rode along. Where exactly. Only the little owl demon knew for sure. And apparently wasn't up for saying where exactly that was. Not that it mattered. All that mattered was getting Charmeine up to speed. So Bronwyn explained,"I walked into work today and he was there. Stirring up a bit of mischief and scaring my boss witless."

"Apparently using his buying of Lloyd's soul against him to get to me. And I kind of bluffed my way out of the situation.",she added. Causing her angel maker to look more worried than she did a second ago. Charmeine toyed with her seat belt as she took this in. It'd been a while since the angel had seen the Duke of Hell.

Not up close and personal. Just from the limited view that under the bed had given her. So essentially his socks and shoes. Which were enough to make the former gardener of Eden a fright. Especially with the rank stench coming off the terrible demon. Nearly gagging as he stood close to her hiding spot. Hissing insults to Adora and threatening her if she didn't do better. Telling her how much of a waste she was. That nearly made the angel climb out from under the bed to strangle him. But kept her temper in check as she sneered at the Duke's shoes. Then an idea hit her.

A terrible, stupid, but hilarious idea. And without much thought, Charmeine quickly untied and retied the Duke's shoes. Figuring that he wouldn't notice until he got back to Hell in his normal manner. And indeed Hastur hadn't noticed until he had transported himself back to Hell. Going to take a step and falling face first on the floor in front of others. Ligur had laughed at him for a few minutes as he got himself upright.

Charmeine was surprised that the Duke of Hell knew that Bronwyn existed. Seeing is she did her best to keep her powers under control. What had brought their creation to his attention? Especially after all this time. Why in the great scheme of things did he have to come to them now? The idea that the Duke of Hell was near their creation made Charmeine's stomach twist. Twisting the seat belt, she said,"This is by far the worst thing that could happen."

"We can't allow him to have you.",Charmeine continued. Something that Adora, obviously, agreed with. Their creation was theirs and no one else's. The angel flatly stated,"We'll summon in him the woods. Threaten him with holy water and make him promise to never come near you again."

"Or we'll do something nasty.",she ended. Which wouldn't be from heaven of course. Goodness knows how they'd react to her showing back up there. Possibly getting caught getting the water and all that jazz. No, they'd have to get it from a church. Any church that was nearby and put it in something. The something was going to be a bit tricky. As she wasn't sure what would work the best. And as they drove on, she realized that a regular spray bottle would be the best idea. Charmeine asked,"Peaches, do you have a spray bottle?"

"Yeah, in the glove compartment. Why?",Adora asked. Unsure of where her angel was going with her line of thought. Just what was a spray bottle going to do? Leaning forward, Charmeine answered,"We need to put holy water in it. Use it to threaten everyone's least favorite demon into submission."

"Keep him away from me and free my boss. Awesome idea, Charmeine.",Bronwyn stated. Grinning ear to ear at the very idea. It would work perfectly. She was so engrossed with her thoughts that she hadn't seen the look on Charmeine's face. And thanks to the fact that her demon maker was watching the road, neither did she. Charmeine hadn't given the human's soul much of a thought. As he wasn't her top priority. But supposed it wouldn't be wise to let him go to Hell when he did die. As he'd been very sweet to their creation ever since she got a job there. Nodding her head, Charmeine,"Of course it is. I'm full of them."

"You two just barely listen to them.",she added in a prideful tone. The demon rolled her eyes at this but said nothing as they pulled up to the church. Having their creation get the spray bottle out. Handing it to Charmeine, Adora said,"Alright. Go get the good stuff. We'll wait here."

"Why me?",Charmeine squeeked. Hating that she did instantly as her demon turned to her. Raising an eyebrow, the demon answered,"Because holy ground and we don't know if Bronwyn can stand it any better than I can."

"Also because it was your idea. You go get the deadly junk.",she added as she shoved the spray bottle into the angel's hands. Charmeine sighed as she took the bottle. Knowing full well that it was only fair. Seeing is she was the only who could withstand walking on holy ground. Still didn't mean that she liked it. So the angel still grumbled as she unbuckled herself then hurried into the church. Unlocking the door with her powers, getting the water, and hurriedly getting out. Re-locking the doors as she sprinted into the car. Adora telling her to be careful as she buckled up. And to not get a single drop on the upholstery.

Not that she really needed to be told that. As Charmeine made sure the lid was on as tight as it could be. While she buckled herself in, Charmeine asked,"How are we going to summon him anyway? Is it like some form of circle or something?"

"Something like that. But it won't be us doing that. It'll be Bronwyn.",Adora answered. Not looking at her creation as they drove along. Bronwyn nodded her head in agreement. In a quiet voice, she stated,"Yeah. That seems like a good idea. I'll summon the Duke of-wait, WHAT?! WHY ME?!"

Nearly shouting the last few words as she turned to stare at her demon maker. Who gave a sheepish smile as she kept her eyes on the road. Adora informed her,"He'll recognize my magic if I summon him. And Hastur doesn't like it when angels summon him."

"So, heartbreaker, it's going to have to be you.",the demon added hastily. Not once looking at her as they drove towards their destination. Which didn't take long but felt a little short of an eternity. When they parked where they were supposed to go, Bronwyn grumbled,"Great. This is going to be fun."

"Summoning the Duke of Hell on a Saturday night.",she added. Feeling even more scared than she had first seeing him. But she put aside those feelings as they all got out of the car. Headed deep into the woods as they possibly could. Hoping that no human would notice them setting this up. And as soon as they were done, her makers hid somewhere that Hastur couldn't see.

Then waited.

It didn't take long after Bronwyn said what she was supposed to. Hastur dragged himself out of the flaming Earth. Cracking his neck after he stood up straight. Limbs cracking as well. Looking utterly confused until he noticed Bronwyn standing near the circle. A sneer came to his face as he asked,"Just what in Satan's name do you think you're doing summoning me, child?!"

"Well, I wanted to know why you wanted to speak to me. And to get my boss's soul back.",Bronwyn answered. Settling her hands on her hips as she raised her chin up defiantly. Giving her best 'I'm bored with you' look as she stared at him. Inwardly hoping that her makers could move fast enough to protect her. Otherwise this confrontation was going to go to Hell in a hand-basket real quick. Possibly literally.