Warm. That was Eli's first thought as consciousness gently pulled him from sleep. His eyes fluttered open, squinting against the dim light of the room. Slowly, he sat up, a blanket sliding off his shoulders and pooling onto his lap.
"Well, at least my family cared enough to search for me." he muttered dryly, running a hand through his messy hair. He rubbed at his eyes, groaning softly. Despite the circumstances, he couldn't deny that was the best sleep he'd had in a while.
But as his eyes adjusted to his surroundings, a creeping sense of unease began to settle in. This wasn't his room—or any room he recognized.
The blanket draped over him was unfamiliar, dark red with a peach-colored diamond design in the middle. His "bed" was actually a plush red couch surrounded by an assortment of pillows, clearly arranged for his comfort. There was an odd coziness to the room, but something about it felt... wrong.
Eli stood cautiously, his movements slow and deliberate. He glanced around, taking in the strange, cluttered apartment. The décor was mismatched and chaotic: weapons hung on the walls alongside bizarre, crude drawings, and the table was littered with empty bottles and papers.
His sharp eyes caught sight of a window, and he moved toward it on instinct. Years of dealing with siblings had honed his ability to sneak around, and his steps were nearly silent against the wooden floor.
He reached the window and pulled back the curtain. What he saw made his breath catch in his throat.
The sky outside was an ominous red, swirling with dark clouds. A massive glowing pentagram hovered ominously in the air like a celestial marker. The streets below were alive with activity, but not from people—at least, not the kind he was used to. Creatures roamed the dystopian cityscape, some humanoid, others animalistic, all clearly unnatural. Neon signs blinked in and out of view, advertising things Eli couldn't even begin to understand.
"What in the world..." he whispered, his voice barely audible.
"Oh, crumbs, you're awake!"
Eli spun around, his heart pounding. Standing in the doorway was a short, red-skinned man—or rather, a demon. He had white freckles on his cheeks, slicked-back white hair, and black-and-white-striped horns curving from his head. In his hands was a steaming mug that read #1 Imp.
The demon offered a nervous smile. "Uh, hey there, kid. You okay?"
Eli didn't respond, his stoic expression masking the whirlwind of thoughts racing through his mind.
"Well, this is awkward." the demon muttered, scratching the back of his head. "The name's Moxxie. And, uh, before you freak out or anything—no, we didn't kidnap you. Not... exactly."
That earned him a raised eyebrow from Eli, whose silence prompted Moxxie to continue rambling. "Okay, maybe technically we did, but it's not what it looks like! My wife, Millie—she's got a big heart, you see—and she didn't want you to freeze out there, so—"
"Moxxie! Is our guest awake?" a cheerful voice called from somewhere deeper in the apartment.
A short, energetic woman entered the room, balancing a tray of cookies shaped like decapitated heads. She wore an apron that read Kiss the Cook (or Else) and had a sunny smile that seemed completely at odds with her surroundings.
"Hey there, sugar!" she greeted warmly. "I'm Millie. You feelin' better?"
Eli nodded slowly, his gaze shifting between the two demons. He wasn't sure whether to be terrified or impressed by their surreal hospitality. The cookies, disturbingly enough, smelled amazing.
Millie set the tray on the table and plopped onto the couch. Moxxie hesitated before sitting down as well, leaving Eli to awkwardly stand in the middle of the room. Millie patted the seat between them with an inviting smile.
"Come on, hon, sit down. We don't bite—well, not usually." she joked.
Eli carefully took the offered seat, his posture stiff. He accepted the glass of milk Millie handed him, sipping it silently as his sharp mind pieced together his situation.
"So, sugar." Millie began, leaning forward slightly. "What do you wanna know first?"
"Who are you people?" Eli asked, his voice calm despite the strangeness of the situation.
"Oh, that's an easy one!" Millie chirped. "We're Hellborns. Me and Moxxie here are imps."
Eli tilted his head. "Hellborns... as in demons born in Hell?"
"Exactly!" Moxxie said, his tone bordering on proud.
"And I'm... not dead, right?" Eli asked hesitantly, glancing at the window again.
Millie placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "No, darlin'. You're alive. But if I hadn't brought you here, you might not be."
The weight of her words sank in slowly. Eli stared at his hands, his mind racing as he tried to process everything.
Millie broke the silence with a question of her own. "So, sugar, why were you sleepin' on that bench? Did someone abandon you?"
"Abandon me?" Eli repeated, tilting his head in genuine confusion. "No. I just... needed some space. My sister blamed me for spilling her milkshake, and my parents took her side again. I guess I wanted to clear my head."
As Eli explained, he unconsciously slipped into his usual habit of being overly detailed. He recounted the events leading up to his late-night walk, casually mentioning his family's negligence, the favoritism toward his sisters, and even the time they accidentally left him behind during a camping trip.
By the time he finished, Millie's sweet smile had twisted into something far more dangerous. Her grip on the couch cushions tightened, and her eyes burned with barely contained rage.
"Moxxie." she said through clenched teeth, her voice deceptively calm, "We're paying his family a visit."
"What?!" Moxxie yelped, already dreading where this was going.
Before Eli could react, Millie scooped him up with surprising strength and grabbed Moxxie by the arm.
"Wait—are you taking me home?" Eli asked, his voice laced with confusion.
"Oh, no, sugar," Millie said, her smile returning in full force. "I'M PAYIN YER FOLKS A FUCKING VISIT!" She roared.
With that, Millie stormed out of the apartment, dragging a bewildered Moxxie and a very confused Eli along with her.
A/N: Second chapter tooked longer than I anticipated. But than again trying to recreate your pass story while improving it is not easy.
I'm pretty sure you noticed that I that I writen their appearance again, but that's because... I wanted to make sure that I've writen atleast 1K words...