The fog lifts and the imp's eyelids slowly open, restricting themselves once again as the eyes are exposed to the bright fluorescent lighting of the office. Blitzo's head throbbed with pain, and he clutched his forehead, squeezing his eyes shut and gritting his teeth. "Errgh…" The blanket on top of him, a nice fleecy one with cartoon horses sewn on it, was tossed aside without regard, exposing himself to the cold. He sat up, wearing nothing but a pair of boxer briefs and a tank top. There was a full disposable water bottle on the table next to him. He uncapped it, put it to his lips, and sucked in as much as he could. The bottle crumpled in his hands and he tossed it aside.

The hellhound opened the door, glancing her red eyes at the imp, another water bottle in hand. She silently placed it in front of him, Blitzo accepting it and twisting the cap off. The imp started speaking, the first words of the day. "…what time is it, Loona?"
"Three in the afternoon."

"Errghhh… shit, and you're the only one in the office…?"
"You fired the others."
Blitzo squeezed the bridge of where his nose would be. "…I did?"
"Yeah." Loona was looking down at her phone.

He rubbed his eyes. "Shhhhit… ah fuck it, I'll deal with it later…"
"You should probably deal with it now."

"Hhhhh…" He stood up, sipping at the water bottle in his hand. "Did I just… say that I fired them or…?"
"No, you gave 'em the slips, it was pretty official."

"…fuck." He spat out, groaning from his pounding headache. "Right, right… okay… I'll have my coffee and then call them. Hope they're not… mad or anything."

Loona was scrolling through her feed. "Yeah, I'm sure they're just peachy with you firing them and all."
"Hey!" He pointed his finger at the hellhound. "Didn't I tell ya to tone down the sarcasm?"
"Didn't I tell you to stop drinking?"
"…" The imp lowered his finger, looking down and laughing nervously. "…yeah." He resigned himself to drinking his water and collecting his slacks off the ground, sloppily slipping them on.

"Had to put your old ones in the wash."
"Oh… thanks." He let out a smile. "I… don't know what I'd do without ya."

She scoffed. "Maybe if I stopped babying you, you'd stop hitting the bottle."

Blitzo let out a few laughs. "No… no, that's not how that works!"

The hellhound sighed out, walking near the front door. "Your boots are fucked too, so…" She picked up a pair of black Chelsea boots, walking towards her stepdad, and tossing them carelessly on the floor next to him.

"What are those?"

She let out a frustrated groan, rolling her eyes and tapping away.

The imp grabbed one of the boots, opening them up, bending it around the ankle. "Oh, come on, Loona, these don't even have any support!" No response. "Fuckin' ridiculous." He slipped the boot onto his foot, moving it around. "At least they fit… I guess." On with the other foot. The hem on his pants was exposed for all to see. This felt… wrong. The bald imp stood up, looking down at them. "Are these seriously the only option?"
"Yeah."

"…fuck."

Loona's ear twitched for a moment and she lifted her eyes off the phone, looking towards the front door. "…hey, you hear that?" She put her phone away, stepping closer to the door. Whatever sound was outside grew louder. An ominous vibration, growing louder and louder. Not patterned like footsteps, but a constant drone. "…shit. Shit, we got a problem."
Blitzo's head flicked to the door, staring it down. His eyes widened. "Oh fuck…" He glanced over to the grimoire on the floor. "Oh fuck!"

A loud, booming voice echoed out from the other end of the door. "We are the Vigiles Goetia. Surrender immediately." Despite the words vibrating the room, bassy and commanding, the man on the other end did not stray from a monotone. "You are surrounded. Surrender immediately. Surrender immediately. We are the Vigiles Goetia."

Blitzo flew down to the ground, grabbing the grimoire, and scurrying back to his feet. "RUN!"

The door blew open. Simultaneously, several windows and a wall crumpled to the ground like paper. "Surrender immediately. Surrender immediately. You are surrounded." Humanoid shapes floated into the destroyed office. They were without discernible characteristics. No colour. No detail. No face or eyes. Loona was knocked back, smashing into a table and settling against a fridge, which was now ajar and covered in soot. The forms hovered, unmoving. "Surrender immediately. We are the Vigiles Goetia-" As if it were a recording, the sound from the form stopped, only followed by raspy breathing. "Where is the grimoire?" There was no sound. The words didn't come out of anyone's mouth. They were all in Loona's mind.

"What… the… fuck…?"
"Where is the grimoire?" Again, louder this time. Loona covered her ears. "Where is the grimoire?" It didn't help. Her ears weren't hearing anything. "Where is the grimoire?" The forms floated closer, the words now incessant in her mind. "Give us the grimoire. Give us the grimoire. Give us the grimoire."
Loona grit her teeth, clenching her eyes closed, her hands firmly clasped on her ears. The communication grew louder and louder, until she screamed out. "STOP! STOP! STOPPP!"

"Loona!" The imp screamed from a back room. A form turned to the source of the noise, the commands ceasing in the hellhound's mind. It floated towards one of the walls and blew it open without moving, the concrete buckling and shattering in front of it. The rest of the forms followed, blowing hole after hole in the building, in the walls, in the windows, in the ceiling. "Surrender immediately. We are the Vigiles Goetia. You are surrounded. Surrender immediately-"

Another cut off. Almost as if a switch had been flicked, the forms turned back. They slowly meandered, ghostly pitch-black apparitions, through the holes in the door and windows. Loona opened her eyes, uncovering her head, laid down on the ruined floor. The Vigiles Goetia floated down, then up, seemingly without any concern for gravity, forming a flock as they left. They flew through the sky, past the moon. It was still red.

The hellhound stood herself up, slowly looking around. "…Blitz?" She called out, walking through the crumbling ruins. "Hey… hey, they're gone… Blitz?" She looked through every corner, every crevice, every hiding spot that Loona knew Blitzo would use. "Hey, this ain't funny anymore, come out!"

Blitzo was nowhere to be found. And neither was the grimoire.