They say that it isn't the fall that kills you, but the sudden stop at the end. While the former is true, in Thorne's case the later was also false. That isn't to say that it didn't hurt, the fall should have left him as a greasy smear on the sidewalk, given how long he was falling for, but the blow to his body as he landed just winded him.
Rolling over and rising slowly to his feet, Thorne took a second to see what the damage was. He was surprised to see instead of skin, snow-white fur all the way to his four fingers. Lifting his gaze, Thorne observed a pentagramed moon hanging in the red-mauve sky.
A klaxon sounded. The almost deafening wail, shaking the buildings around him.
"Oi, fuck-face" A female voice cried out. "You got a death wish or something?"
Turning sharply, Thorne saw an anxious looking wolf in women's clothing, snarling at him, as the klaxon continued to sound.
"Get in here before I leave your furry ass out there to die." The woman shouted.
Taking the hint, Thorne bolted to the door and ducked inside as the girl pulled on what appeared to be a fire alarm, causing a partitioned metallic barrier to fall and block the door.
"What was that about?" Thorne asked, looking at her both surprised by his deep voice and current events.
Slowly leaning forward the wolfish woman sniffed and snorted, "A dropper, fan-fuckin-tastic!", she took off up the stairs muttering obscenities.
"Pardon?" Thorne inquired, taking after her as the wailing continued to ring outside.
"You smell of sulphur, don't know what the warning is about, and you're bollock naked. So you must have only dropped." The woman said without turning about, throwing him a pair of shorts, hitting him squarely in the face. Thorne would have died from embarrassment, if not already being dead.
"Put those on before you meet the rest."
The rest, turned out to be five more denizens of Hell. Thorne had worked it out, the red motif, the pentagram, sulphur, where else would he end up after his accident? Four of the creatures were small in stature, with red skin, with another taller pink-skinned goat demon in a cross patterned blouse. The room they were sheltering in had been overturned. The large meeting desk in the centre of the room had been turned over with everyone hiding behind it away from the view of the windows.
"Loona, get you and your boyfriend down here now." The slightly taller hairless 'man' demanded, wincing as he propped himself up.
"Ain't my boyfriend, Dad. Shift yourself Mayberry!" Loona snarled, air-quoting the Dad as she pulled Thorne to the floor. The pink-skinned demoness shuffling over.
Thorne crawled, hands and knees over to the slightly taller red-skinned creature and extended a hand.
"Are you hurt?" Thorne asked, putting a hand on the imp's shoulder. Eliciting a whimper and a wince.
"Only from embarrassment. Moxxie!" The imp grunted, glaring at the white-haired imp behind Thorne.
"You told me to twist it Blitz." Moxxie said exasperated.
"Not onto my fucking arm you baby dicked prick." Blitz gasped, as Thorne grappled with the imp's shoulder.
"Feels like a dislocation, I'm a doctor, I can fix it, on 3?" Thorne queried, getting a sharp nod in response.
"Right, 1… 2…" Thorne quickly snapped the arm back into place with an audible click. Blitz stifling a yelp. "Sorry, you would have flinched on 3."
Feeling Blitz's eyes burn holes into his back as he crawled all the way back to sheltering with the pink-skinned demoness and the small rag covered white-haired imp girl, who promptly clung to Thorne's arm and started quaking like a leaf. A small pendant dancing round her neck.
"Don't you want to be with your parents?" Thorne asked, giving a small nod to Moxxie and the black-haired woman sitting next to him.
"Oh, you're a sweet thing." The black-haired imp whispered. "But that poor girl came in with Mayberry." Indicating the goat demon. "She isn't ours."
"She has nowhere to hide so I'm looking after her." Mayberry muttered, looking down at the small child.
"No parents?" asked Thorne
"Nah, she's defective." Loona quipped, getting a snarl from Mayberry in response.
"She's deaf." Mayberry continued, "her parents abandoned her."
"Not even a name?" Thorne asked concerned. Being answered with a small shake of the head from the pink goat.
"Would the two of you shut the fuck up!?" Loona barked. "They're almost here!"
This plunged the room into silence. With the siren outside dying down and quickly firing out 5 short sharp bursts of noise.
The death-silence outside soon gave way to the occasional wail and scream of terror. Thorne sensing the apprehension in the room, didn't move and just let the small girl cling to him. An eternity seemed to pass in complete silence with the screaming dying back down into the eerie silence of before. Then there was a series of explosions outside.
"Are those fireworks?" Thorne asked.
"This extermination is over." Mayberry muttered, standing and offering her hand to Thorne.
"This extermination?! You mean that this happens repeatedly?" Thorne gasped. Rising to a standing position and meeting Mayberry's gaze. Still holding the young girl's hand.
"Oh, every year. Same time." Mayberry replied nonchalantly, quickly walking out of the room, the imps rearranging the room as Thorne chased after her, still with the rag covered child holding on for dear life. As the three of them made their way out of the building, the metallic barrier now raised. Thorne could see the carnage that was left behind from the extermination. Body parts and blood painted the roads and walls to match the sky. A small pull on his hand made Thorne look down.
"Are you alright?" Thorne asked concerned, kneeling down to meet the young girl's eyes.
In one movement, the girl lifted her locket and placed it around Thorne's head, giving a small smile. The new demon smiled back, feeling the cool metal within his soft white fur.
"Come with me, and I'll help with your first day." Mayberry said, flagging down a taxi and opening the door. The three of them pilled in. The driver, another imp, without turning around asked "Where to?"
"Pentagram City" Mayberry sighed. "Got myself a newbie, and I'm feeling generous".
With that the cab departed, the unfortunate remains of those caught outside being stuck to the wheels as the vehicle carried its dammed passengers away.
In the cab, everyone was quiet, there would have been silence were it not for the radio. A sinister staticky voice filled the car, describing in detail what the Exterminators had done, and about the latest power plays between the overlords. Thorne felt his left-hand start shaking. It wasn't the girl; she was holding his right. He closed his eyes. "Fuck" he thought, that's followed me down here to.