【Lord of the Flies】

It was late and the man gave a soft smile, perhaps indicating to the lone woman that she had nothing to fear. Ava hadn't crossed the street, her arms were bunched up under her jacket like she was cold. She gave him a small smile back, then once they were close she 'fell into him' and he felt a sharp knife pierce its way through his portly gut. Ava pulled it free and as the man dropped to his knees she grabbed him by his ivy cap and slit his throat ear-to-ear.

She laughed and he fell forward, spilling a ruby puddle that ran through the sidewalk cracks and into the grass. Ava searched his pockets and pulled out his wallet. The cash was barely enough for a nice lunch.

"Dammit." she tossed the brown leather square by his body.

"Why are you killing people in our town?" A pair of handsome men strolled out from under the darkness of overhanging branches. They were brown-haired and blonde, both younger than Ava. Both staring with muted expressions.

She looked at them and then at the body. Tried hiding the knife behind her leg.

"Oops."

"Why are you here?" The blonde asked.

Ava wondered if she should run but doubted she'd get away. So instead she sauntered slowly towards them.

"I have a message for Beelzebub. I was sent by a demon, Azazil." Ava started wiping the blood from her steak knife against someone's flower bush. The boys looked at each other then back to her.

"Azazel?"

"That's the one."

"Fine. Drop the knife and follow us."

Ava tossed it into the garden and followed as the men turned. The sky was almost black, like an indigo canvas. The streetlights were lit, the odd truck or tractor making its way down the streets. A local pub on the corner was the center of the town's nightlife. There were a few white-picket fences, but the houses were all one-story with stretched properties. Rural town distances with boastful gardens and that country ranch feel. They led Ava away from the populated bar, where the sounds of chatter and clinking glasses carried over the wind.

"Nice little town you got here. It doesn't seem particularly evil, and that motel is chic." Ava chatted.

"We're very protective of our town." Maybe the brown-haired one said back.

They weren't ones for small-talk. Ava's nerves kept her blabbing but their responses were short, eventually becoming nothing more than affirmative grunts. She was scanning the ground, looking for a rock she could hold to defend herself if needed. By the side of a building one of them knocked and a slot opened, someone peeking out before unbolting the metal door. Her guides stepped back for her and Ava sighed. Knowing she was at their mercy, she went in.

It was dark and concrete. There were candles lit in the space, keeping it dim. What was that smell? Cloying and musky… it smelt like sex. Then past a concrete pillar she saw a wooden throne. It was polished, and on either side knelt another two young men in loincloths. Their firm chests and slim bodies were visible under the candlelight. Another brown-haired and a redhead. Sitting on the fine chair was a dark-haired man in a black suit. Mid-thirties with blue eyes and a lightly unshaven face.

Ava stopped and gaped at the man "...you're Beelzebub?"

He blinked and his eyes were fully white. Then his irises rolled down into place again "I am." His voice was smooth, akin to distant thunder. Absently he ran his fingers through the redhead's hair and his back arced, a low groan escaped and Beelzebub quietly shushed him.

"You're, uh, not what I was expecting. No offense."

"Is it my company that surprises you? ...It's often that those men who are rejected by the churches for their forbidden desires instead seek acceptance from us. The occult and the demonic." He stroked the other one's head and his eyes clenched, fighting not to moan. "Being gay won't send you to hell, but there's more gay demons than people, for these reasons."

"So…" Ava flashed back to her conversations with Meg. "Were you a gay man once?"

"I was the first homosexual man. And I'm responsible for all the others, their lusts are mine."

"And here I thought you were just Lord of the Flies..."

"I bring destruction through tyrants, I make demons worshipped among men, I excite priests into lust, cause jealousies in cities and murder. I bring on war. Just check my wikipedia article. King Solomon wasn't right at the time but he gave me some great ideas."

"That's some, fascinating history. I'm Ava. I was sent by Azazel. He, sorta wants your help with the war."

Beelzebub watched her, his hand ceased its petting.

Ava fidgeted, unable to remain still. She kept looking around "what's with all these guys?"

"They are the witches of Zebut. My beloved whores." A devilish grin. "I give them occult knowledge and eternal youth. And sometimes I pull them up with me into the sky and we all fuck under the clouds. I've laid low in my town for centuries, but I knew one as crafty as Azazel would sniff me out eventually. So the upcoming war, huh?" He waved a finger and one of Ava's guides went to a cabinet to pour his master a scotch.

"I think it's about freeing Lucifer and the apocalypse or something…"

"Yes. And no. Lucifer will kill us all the moment he's finished with the humans. Azazel and his followers are misguided."

"Well… okey-dokey then. Guess I better go back to good ol' Cold Oak, so uh, have a nice life." Ava was walking backwards but when Beelzebub flicked his finger she was suddenly rooted to the spot.

"Wait." Beelzebub took the glass his slave offered with head bowed. "I don't like hell. I was too strong to be tortured, but even when there were legions upon legions of demons who feared and worshipped me, there was no loyalty. But here…" Beelzebub put his free hand before a kneeling slave who closed his eyes, kissing it slowly with reverence.

"Um. Can you please let me go?" Ava was terrified. This being was beyond anything she'd ever felt. She'd never be able to control him, the attempt would shatter her.

"In exchange for your freedom I want you to fetch something for me. A powerful cursed artefact. A sunken head with jewel eyes. It was stolen from my black witches by Samuel Colt two-hundred years ago. He was unable to destroy it, now it sits in the storage basement of a hunter called Barnaby Crooks. He lives a few hours away in a town called Russell."

"Why don't you just have one of your… bitches get it for you?"

"I value their lives higher than yours." The smug demon grinned, his hand still being kissed by his slave.

"Okay. You got yourself a deal."

"And don't think of running. It won't go well for you." Beelzebub promised.

Ava felt her legs unlock and she stumbled. He waved and the young man unbolted the door again. Beelzebub swigged the rest of his drink. Then with a finger he raised his slave's chin. He pulled the other against his body and the two began kissing him. A third wordlessly retrieved the glass to pour his master another scotch. Ava walked out into the night. She frowned to herself, heels clicking fast on her way back to the motel.

。

Jo had to go with her 'eye of the hurricane' theory. She was at Zebut's local pub, leaning against an outside trellis and gnawing at her thumb. She'd arrived in the quaint town that evening and it seemed a little too perfect. She'd had one beer and drank it with exceptional slowness. It was just to blend in - she needed to stay sharp. But none of the locals had any horror stories or gossip for her. Zebut was suspiciously peaceful.

This was reckless, even she thought so. But she didn't have a choice - she had to stay the night. The survival, reptilian part of her brain was static at the thought of staying. In her gut she knew something was wrong with this place, and sleeping in town lines could be her worst mistake. But what else could she do? Pack it in and give up, drive back to her apartment in Duluth? No way. Her Daddy wouldn't have given up and neither would Jo. She had half a mind to message her mother. Just one word: Zebut. That way if anything happened Ellen Harvelle could call in half-a-dozen hunters and storm this polite hellhole with salt-loaded shotguns.

She couldn't be left alone to think. Of course a middle-aged dude came up to shoot his shot and she shot him down. He was gratious about it cause he had to be. Jo slipped her phone away and went back inside through the smokers' door, dodging people and their smiles. She pushed out the doors and got in her rental, drove up the road to get a room at the motel before it shut. There were potted plants everywhere, some dead leaves on the front desk. The manager was a short guy, his bifocals magnified his eyes.

"Strange."

"Something strange, Mr?" Jo asked him.

"Well, we don't usually see young women coming through to spend the night alone. And you're the second one today." He pinged the register and put Jo's cash in. Then he went to the wall hooks and fetched her key.

Jo took it and thought for a second. She smiled then made for the stairs. Room four...

She climbed the steps, turned the corner and almost walked into a brown-haired woman with blue eyes. She was maybe a year or two older with a round face.

"Sorry. Silly me. Should watch where I'm going."

"No problem." Jo assessed her. "You must be the other girl. I'm a visitor too. Name's Jo."

"Cool, cool. I'm Ava. Between you and me I'm not sure the snack fridge is worth it. I saw a vending machine on the corner and I am craving a Snickers. Love chocolate. Whatever chance I get to eat it, you know?"

"Okay." Jo didn't know what to say so just nodded.

"Well see you around." The smiling Ava walked by and Jo turned around. On the sleeve of the crazy girl's jacket - was that blood?

Jo stood alone in the biege corridor. Ding ding. The first and only weird thing in Zebut was that girl Ava.

。

AN: On Pinterest I found a model called David Gandy and he's my inspiration for Beelzebub's meat suit.