Chapter Five: Padfoot's Inferno
Sirius pushed Doriel behind him while the huge winged demon and his vicious hellhounds stared them down. "Are you Satan?" the wizard asked.
The demon laughed at the two new arrivals. "A simple-minded angel and her human paramour hardly rate a welcome from the King of Hell himself. I am Astaroth, a Duke of the Infernal Host."
"Hello Astaroth," said Doriel, peeking out from behind Sirius. "I think I remember you from before the Fall."
Astaroth winced. "We don't mention the 'F' word around here. Lucifer is still a bit sensitive about that."
"Sorry," Doriel replied sheepishly.
"Speaking of Lucifer, he has asked me to find a place for you in my household until you acclimate to Hell," Astaroth explained. "Your wings will grow back when you allow the Darkness to enter your heart."
"But I don't want that to happen!" Doriel said with alarm. "I'd rather have no wings at all!"
Astaroth rolled his eyes. "Come now, no dramatics. The quicker you except your fate the easier your existence will be."
"What about Sirius?" she asked. "Isn't there somewhere we can go to be together?"
"He is not one of us," Astaroth said as the two hellhounds on either side of him started to growl. "His fate is as one of the damned." With a grin, Astaroth released the hounds.
Sirius immediately transformed into Padfoot and lunged at the two dogs with his fangs bared. Doriel screamed and tried to get in the middle of the dogfight, but Astaroth grabbed her arm and disappeared with her, leaving Padfoot to fend for himself.
Even though he was outnumbered he fought as hard as he could until one hellhound sunk his teeth into Padfoot's right shoulder, bringing him down to the ground. Then suddenly both hounds started to whine and whimper, then ran away. Padfoot then became his wizard self again. Before him floated two Dementors and a demon with the head of a pig and the body of a man, except that his feet were cloven hooves. What little happiness that was left inside of Sirius was siphoned away by the presence of the Dementors.
"There you are, Black! I am Puziel." the demon said triumphantly, apparently unaffected by the Dementors' power. "Thought you could use that Animagus trick down here to escape, didn't you? Never again my son!"
The demon grabbed the injured Sirius roughly by the collar, then murmured a few words in ancient Hebrew that Sirius didn't understand. Suddenly the bank of the burning lake became a corridor in Azkaban Prison. They were standing in front of a cell door that looked eerily familiar. Sirius looked down at himself and realized he was wearing his tattered prison stripes.
"Are we still in Hell?" Sirius asked, incredulous.
"Oh yes," said Puziel. "You see Hell is personalized for each one of the damned. What could be more hellish for you than a eternity in Azkaban with nothing but Dementors to keep you company?"
"Even though I've done nothing to deserve it?"
Puziel snorted derisively. "You had Paradise in your grasp and you gave it up for what? Sex?"
"No!" Sirius turned on him angrily. "Doriel was accused of something she was incapable of doing, as I once was. It's true I care for her, but more than that, I couldn't abandon her as I was abandoned when I was thrown into Azkaban."
Puziel gazed at him in bewilderment. "You did it out of compassion?"
Sirius nodded. "Yes! Why is that so hard to believe?"
"'Cause it's Hell. Duh." Puziel opened the cell door and pushed Sirius inside. "Too bad for you there's no points for that." The demon slammed the door then let out a gleeful cackle before he disappeared.
Even though the Dementors were not in the cell with him, he could feel his very soul plunging into the darkest pit of despair. Recklessness was Sirius's biggest flaw and now he was paying the ultimate price for not heeding James's silent warning. What made him feel even worse was the thought that sweet Doriel would soon be no different from the demons he had the displeasure of meeting.
Doriel stared at the items on the table in front of her, then past that at the pitiful soul on his knees begging for mercy. Astaroth had given her a dozen implements of torture with which to torment the man in her charge.
"This is Charlie Strom. He murdered his wife and embezzled funds from his accounting firm before accidently wrapping his motorcar around a telephone pole," the demon Duke had explained to her. Astaroth picked up the thumbscrew and handed it to her. "Start with this and move your way up the table. You get points for creativity so don't be afraid to think outside the box," Astaroth added before leaving her to it.
Doriel assumed the man deserved to be punished, but she was hardly the fallen angel for the job. Michael had warned her that her true nature would be revealed once she reached Hell, but all she could think about was Sirius.
"Please, please don't torture me," Charlie Strom pleaded.
Doriel sighed. She turned her attention from her own problems to the man before her. "Have you ever been in love, Charlie?"
The sniveling wretch briefly stopped sniveling. "W-what?"
Doriel put the thumbscrew down and got a sad wistful look on her face. "You must have loved your wife a little before you murdered her."
Charlie shrugged. "Sure, in the beginning, before she started nagging me about not making enough money. Is this some kind of new torture I never heard of?"
"Oh, Charlie, I don't want to torture you." Tears started streaming down her face. "I just want to be with Sirius."
"You just want to be serious?" Charlie asked, confused. "Because this feels pretty freakin' serious to me, lady."
"No, no, Sirius is my young man's name. I love him." She felt a strange pressure on the stumps on her back, then felt them growing outward. "Oh no, I think my bat wings are coming in!"
"Lady, I feel for you, I really do," Charlie said insincerely. "But if we could get this over with I'd really appreciate it."
Doriel decided in that moment that she would not let Hell creep into her soul one inch further. She ran to Charlie and hugged him tightly, the conjured a glass of clear, cold water. Charlie reached out for it tentatively, then breathed a sigh of relief when he took a sip. "I never knew water could taste so good."
"Find a place to hide and I'll tell Astaroth that I tortured you really well," Doriel said with a smile.
Charlie watched Doriel fly away then asked himself since when did demons have white feathers on their wings?
To be concluded…