Before he realised it, Nick had already made his way across the street and hid himself behind a nearby street lamp, his urge of curiosity completely overwhelming his common sense to leave the scene. As he watched the owner of the limo step out onto the street and stretch her back out, the Sinner suddenly couldn't help but feel both a surge of awe and a wave of unease as he looked upon her entire visage.
Appearance-wise he would have guessed she may have been in her late twenties, maybe even her early thirties, but there was certainly no denying the Wolf Demon's beauty. A slim figure covered head to toe with dark silver fur and a flow of dark hair flowing down her back, along with a pair of polished blood-red horns and a pair of crimson wings folded up behind her back. Attire-wise, she appeared to be wearing a simple red blouse and a black leather skirt that did next to nothing to hide her long, bushy tail.
Despite her common-looking clothes, the way this Demon carried herself as she walked, along with her car and the strong smell of expensive perfume that drifted in the air around her was a dead giveaway to what kind of standing this woman had. If Mick had to assume anything, she must have been one of the luckier Sinners who somehow managed to die as wealthy as she had lived and has continued to be so thereafter.
"What the hell's one of the rich-ass fucks doing on THIS side of town?" Nick couldn't help but wonder as she continued to watch the Demon from where he was hiding, almost feeling jealous of the Demon and her fancy car.
Did this make him look like some crazy stalker? Maybe. But Voyeurs were practically a dime a dozen in Hell so it wasn't as if he was going to get in trouble over what he was doing. And besides, it's not as if he was watching the Wolf Demon for some perverted kink or anything. He may not have known who this Demon was, but there was just something about her that he couldn't help but feel curious about what she was up to. Eventually, he saw her approaching one of the doors of the nearby apartment building and gave it a good knock.
KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!
A mere moment later, the door was slightly pulled open from the inside, allowing another Demon with sickly grey skin, a single black dot on his forehead and a jaw filled completely with bronze-coloured bullets instead of teeth to poke his head out. Upon seeing the Demon standing outside, his sour expression instantly shifted into a look of surprise.
"Oh… y-your ladyship!" he yelled, fumbling to pull the chain of his door and open it completely. "You're early."
At those words, the Wolf Demon let out a sigh and crossed her arms.
"I'm in a rush, Walt," she said bluntly, her voice as soft and smooth as velvet. "Do you have the chemicals I asked for?"
"Y-yes ma'am!" the Bullet-toothed Demon replied, frantically nodding his head as he reached over behind the door and pulled out a large cardboard box. "I had just finished packing them up before you arrived.
Hearing the exchange from his hiding spot, Nick's curiosity grew a great deal, so much so that he just had to take a closer look. Quickly and silently as his feline feet could carry him, he then dove out from behind the street lamp, now hiding behind the trunk of the Wolf Demon's limo. There, Nick was able to catch Walt handing over the large cardboard box to the She-Wolf.
"Here you go," he said almost proudly. "2 dozen vials as promised."
Taking a quick peek into the box to make sure all was as the Sinner said, the Wolf Demon soon smiled and out a small leather bag from her skirt pocket.
"Your fee," she said, casually tossing the bag into Walt's open hands.
Upon seeing Walt inspect the contents of the bag, Nick suddenly found himself gasping in surprise when the Bullet-toothed Demon pulled out what appeared to be a small golden nugget and bit down on it to check its authenticity. Satisfied, he put the nugget back in the bag and gave the Wolf Demon a shit-eating grin.
"Pleasure doing business with you, your ladyship," he said, pocketing the bag. "QUITE the pleasure,"
"I'm sure it was," the Wolf Demon replied with a nod before turning to leave. "Good day to you."
KALICK!
"Hold it,"
Letting out an exasperated sigh, the Wolf Demon didn't even so much as turn her head upon feeling Walt suddenly pull out a small pistol and poke it right between her shoulder blades. Even if she felt an ounce of fear at that moment, she certainly didn't show it on her face. In fact, she almost looked… bored.
"Seriously, Walt?" she uttered, not even giving the Bullet-toothed Demon so much as a sideways glance. "You're actually trying to double-cross me?"
"I bet you honestly think I'm that stupid, don't you?" he growled, a small sneer etching across his face.
"I'm sure I have no idea what you mean," the Wolf Demon retorted, continuing to look completely indifferent to her situation.
"Don't play coy with me, Countess!" Walt snapped in response. "I know exactly what your family is known for… these gold pieces didn't just appear out of thin air, after all."
Hearing that, the Wolf Demon let out yet another sigh and placed the cardboard box at her feet. Watching the entire exchange from his hiding spot, Nick immediately tensed up as soon as he saw the gun in Walt's hand. And yet… he couldn't help but feel in awe at the winged canine's bravado. Not many people, Demon or otherwise would be so calm and collected even if they had a weapon pointing at their back. That said, the Cat Demon also couldn't help but take an interest in the words that were being exchanged. Just what was Walt referring to when he brought up the Wolf Demon's family?
"My family is known for their mastery over the arts and sciences, good sir," the Wolf Demon pointed out as she stretched her back out, continuing her refusal to turn around. "We're NOT the owners of goldmines."
This, of course, earned her a scoff from the Bullet-toothed Sinner.
"I beg to differ," he retorted. "You say you have mastery over the arts and science? Well, I'm pretty sure that includes the art and science of alchemy!"
Once again the Wolf Demon sighed with exasperation.
"So what? You think that I simply turn lead into gold whenever I feel like it?" she pointed out. "I'm not in the business of just printing my own money."
Quickly losing his patience, Walt forced his pistol further into the Wolf Demon's back, giving her cause to finally show some emotion in the form of annoyance.
"Alright, this has gone far enough, Walt," she said firmly. "You've gotten your payment as we agreed, just put the gun down, and let this be the end of it."
Alas, Walt wasn't going to budge.
"Oh no, missy!" he snapped "It's over when we come up with some new business terms…. You really think I'm going to give you those chemicals in exchange for chump change when I know you're sitting on a self-made treasure hoard?"
For what felt like the longest time… neither Walt nor the Wolf Demon moved or even spoke, creating an uncomfortable silence. From his hiding spot, Nick could practically cut the tension with a knife, so much so that he almost bit his claws in anxiety. Eventually, however, the Wolf Demon spoke in a soft, cold voice that sent an instant shiver down the Cat Demon's spine.
"It's funny…" she uttered. "You seemed to have forgotten the THIRD thing my family is best known for…"
"Huh?" Walt blurted out, not even realising that it would be the last thing he would ever say.
…
"…Bloodshed,"
SNAP!
FWOOSH!
"GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!"
With a mere snap of the Wolf Demon's fingers, Walt spontaneously exploded in a pillar of sapphire blue flames! Screaming in agony as the inferno consumed him in seconds, all he could do was thrash as his shoes melted to the floor, his gun reduced to molten slag in his hand, and his eyes boiled in his sockets. But despite all that, even as the hot air blew through her hair, the Wolf Demon didn't so much as flinch. In fact, she was so unconcerned about the blaze behind her, she even ran a hand through her hair like a model about to walk down the runway.
Nick, on the other hand, had a completely different reaction. Falling back with terror in his eyes, his jaw dropped with a fearful gasp as he pushed down the urge to scream at the scene before him. He had thought he had gotten used to the carnage that Hell was known for by this point, especially after seeing the many corpses that were left in the wake of the Extermination, but this… this had suddenly forced him to see the bitter, agonizing reality that there are more dangerous Demons in Hell than he realised. Frozen in fear, almost in a death-like trance as the flames and the screams eventually died down, all Nick could do was wait and see what happened next before he could find the urge to move again.
Soon enough Walt was reduced to nothing more than a pile of ashes and a set of Bullet teeth scattered on the floor, allowing the Wolf Demon to once again let out a heavy sigh.
"Sinners," she uttered. "They just never seem to learn."
Picking the cardboard box back up, the Wolf Demon started making her way back to the limo. With his fear immediately skyrocketing, Nick's survival instinct quickly kicked in and he tried to scramble away before the other Demon could see him… however fortunate wasn't on his side at that moment. Before he could even get back to his feet, he felt a strong burning sensation at the end of his tail.
"YAHOW!"
With a loud yelp, he turned to see that a small chunk of burning cloth that was once a piece of Walt's shirt had floated down and scorched the exposed skin of his tail. Unfortunately, as he instinctively tried to blow on it to cool the burning sensation, Nick was distracted long enough for the culprit to finally reach her car.
"What do you think you're doing?" he heard, instantly causing him to freeze in terror.
Stiffly turning his head to look upon the Wolf Demon glaring down at him, Nick immediately felt like this was genuinely the end for him. After all, how else was he going to react when he just saw the very same Demon incinerate the guy who tried to double-cross her? From her point of view, Nick was more than likely some degenerate here to steal her hubcaps or something. With a gulp and a suddenly damp feeling in his shorts, all Nick could do was close his eyes and sit there completely paralysed and wait for the inevitable… However, the fire never came.
Daring to peak open one of his eyes, much to his shock, he saw that the Wolf Demon had leaned in close, her burning red eyes staring intently at his face as if she were… analysing him or something.
"Hmmm… The transformation from Human to Sinner can be so bizarre and cruel," she said her voice somehow sounding more velvety the closer she was. "Freshly deceased?"
"L-last year," Nick managed to force out, daring not to antagonise this Demon by remaining silent.
"Thought so," the Wolf Demon replied, straightening back up and opening up the trunk of her limousine. "You can always tell the recent ones from the old… the newer ones haven't rotted quite that much from the inside."
If Nick had to guess, the Wolf Demon must have been referring to Sinners in general. Though why she was suddenly saying such a random thing to a stranger she found near her car, he couldn't tell.
"Take my advice, little one," she continued, closing up her trunk and giving Nick a soft gaze. "Don't let this place get to you… find yourself somewhere comfortable and don't let the rest of these scumbags wear you down. You may actually be able to have a decent afterlife that way."
Needless to say, Nick had no idea how to respond to such a statement… though he will admit it was nice to hear someone say such a thing. At first, every part of Nick's soul was telling him to run his furry ass away from this dangerous lunatic… and yet her sweet and somewhat soothing voice simply made him want to listen to her more. His whole body trembling as he got back to his feet, Nick's gaze never left those of the horned Wolf Demon as she made her way back into her limo and rolled down one of her windows.
"Good luck to you, little kitten," she said. "I hope you heed my advice."
This, of course, merely earned the Wolf Demon a small nod from the Sinner. Satisfied, she then turned her attention to her driver.
"Drive on, Thomas."
With that final word, the limo's window rolled back up before the whole vehicle started driving away, turning a corner and disappearing from sight, leaving Nick somewhat frozen in the middle of the road. He didn't know when his feet started moving, but before Nick realised it, he was then suddenly rushing back across the street. Diving into another alley, he clutched his chest and let out a few heavy breaths as his heart began to beat faster than he ever thought possible and his mind riddled with anxiety.
"Sweet Jesus fuck, that was terrifying!" he eventually blurted out between pants. "Who the hell WAS that!?"
Later that day, Nick eventually calmed down long enough for his heart rate to return to normal. At that point, he found himself sitting in one of the booths of what appeared to be an American-style diner, which was appropriately named the Devil's Diner. It wasn't all that fancy, but it was certainly cleaner than most establishments the Cat Demon had visited this past year. What's more, the decor of the place almost made Nick feel like he was back among the Living. From the tiled floors to the fancy jukebox, it was as if he took a trip to the past. If it wasn't for the fact that both the customers and the employees were Demons, he could have almost pretended that he was alive again.
"Anything else, kid?"
After being lost in thought for some time, suddenly, the voice of the waitress standing over him snapped Nick back to reality. As expected of such an establishment, the waitress wore a bright blue uniform with a white skirt apron. Appearance-wise however, she had pale purple skin, a single red eye and hair made up entirely out of eyeless snakes, all of which were somehow tied back into an odd-looking ponytail.
"Uh… just a coffee please?" Nick replied, not giving the order that much thought.
The Waitress, however, only gave the young Sinner a frown at that as soon as she saw him fumble around in his pockets for cash.
"You got enough to BUY that coffee, hun?" she asked.
It may have been an assumption, but the waitress was certainly on the money when she made it. After the rough night of sleeping in the garbage again, along with the most recent trauma, Nick had thought getting a little food from here would be good for him… unfortunately, that plate of spam and eggs had just cost him what little money he had left save for a few small coins, something that the Waitress immediately took notice of as soon as he fished them out of his pocket.
"Guess you're sticking with water then," she uttered, rolling her eye before gliding away from Nick's table via her roller skates.
Water. The only thing in Hell that was actually FREE. Of course, none of it was cold, barely even tepid, a third of the time it wasn't even CLEAN. Hell, in one other place Nick visited a few months ago, he was almost certain they were just scooping their water out of the toilet bowl! Thankfully, this was one of the few diners in town that actually had something drinkable. That being said, he wasn't going to last long on just water alone. He may have already been dead, but Nick learned the hard way that a Demon can still starve.
As he tried to mull over what he was going to do, however, he just couldn't stop thinking about what he had witnessed with that Wolf Demon earlier. From her vehicle alone, she was clearly wealthy so of course, the Sinner's first assumption was that she was going to be an Overlord. That being said, he had never seen any Overlord who could incinerate someone with a mere snap of their fingers. True, there were incredibly powerful ones like the Radio Demon wandering around… but for some reason, Nick felt that even he wouldn't be on par with the Wolf he met earlier.
But if she wasn't an Overlord, then what could she have been? Nick HAD heard talk amongst the inhabitants of the streets about certain Hellborn Demons who were second only to the Head honcho himself in terms of power… could she have possibly been one of THEM? … GAH! Why was he still thinking about it!? It wasn't as if he was going to see her again! So why mull over it at all?
What was important right now was to figure out a way to get more money and get it fast. If he could find another job then he might be able to scrounge up something… but even if he managed to get a job that very day, most of the stingy bastards in Hell wouldn't even consider paying the entire minimum wage at the end of the month much less an advance before he even started his first day. In other words… he was screwed.
Letting out a small groan, Nick eventually found himself laying his face on the table, a severe migraine threatening to burst out of his skull. No matter what solution he tried to think of, his situation seemed completely hopeless, giving him reason to think that this day couldn't possibly get any worse… and then it did.
"Low on cash, are we, buddy boy?"
Hearing such a slimy-sounding voice speaking in his direction, Nick reluctantly lifted his head for a moment to see another Demon speaking to him from the booth behind him, an irritating-looking grin of sharp sea-green teeth spread across his face as he stepped out and leaned up against the back of Nick's seat.
Taking a good look at the stranger, Nick saw that he was a lanky Shark Demon around the same age as he was, with grey-toned skin that had a light underbelly, short, evergreen hair that stuck upwards in a tacky-looking pompadour that matched his dark horns and a small cross-shaped scar next to his right eye. Needless to say, the instant this new Demon met his gaze, Nick was almost instantly filled with a surge of unease. After all, if he was asking about his money problems, that could only mean one of two things for this situation in Hell… He is either planning to scam him or thinks that he can pay him to be his gigolo for the night. Either way, there were only two words Nick had to say in response to this guy's question.
"Fuck. Off."
Alas, the Shark Demon didn't seem to be able to take a hint.
"Hey now, no need to be like that," he said, his slithery voice sending shivers of disgust down the Cat Sinner's spine. "Just making friendly chit-chat is all,"
"Well congratulations, you had your chat," Nick retorted bluntly. "So again, fuck off."
However, much to his further annoyance, the Shark Demon responded by ignoring his threat and taking a seat across from him at his booth.
"Look, buddy, chum, my main man, just gimme a moment of your time," he instigated. "I can make it worth your while."
Seeing that the Shark Demon wasn't going to go away, Nick eventually let out a frustrated groan.
"Alright, fine!" he snapped. "You have 2 minutes. And if you don't go away by then, I will personally put you through the meat grinder!"
To emphasise his point, Nick quickly pointed to the Diner's fry cook peering through the connecting window as he chopped up something in the kitchen, giving the Shark Demon cause to gulp, but nonetheless, he kept up his greasy grin.
"Fair enough!" he said, offering up his hand to shake. "Chazwick Thurman, but my buddies call me Chaz."
Of course, Nick only gave the Shark Demon a deadpan glare at that introduction.
"Nick," he replied bluntly, blatantly refusing to even touch this stranger's dirty hand. "So… CHAZ, what do you want?"
Retracting his hand, Chaz gave Nick yet another grin and leaned in close.
"First a quick question…" he said. "How good are you at squeezing into tight spaces?"
SHING!
THUNK!
"YIPE"
Before Chaz even realised it, his question suddenly had him jumping back from the table just before Nick grabbed the knife he was eating with and stabbed the table with it.
"Strike: 1, perv!" he snapped, ready to defend himself if needed.
Unsurprisingly, Chaz was more than quick to frantically wave his arms about defensively.
"Whoa whoa! Not what I meant, for real!" he protested, a small bead of sweat running down his fishy brow. "Let's just all chill, okay?"
Was Nick's display of violence a little much? Maybe. But the Cat Demon learned the hard way that one couldn't act soft here in Hell without putting a target on his back. So even though he had never actually been in a real fight up until this point, he at the very least made the effort to learn how to LOOK threatening enough to scare the small fry wanting to take advantage of him. Judging from Chaz's reaction, his method seems to still work… at least on this loser.
"Alright," the Cat Demon let out with a small huff. "I'll ask again… What. Do. You. Want?"
Seeing that Nick meant business, Chaz gulped and decided to quickly get to business.
"Why, to offer you a deal… uh… a partnership of sorts," he said, once again putting on his shit-eating grin.
"I'm not interested in selling my soul," Nick replied, his cold tone making it perfectly clear how serious he was.
"Oh please, it's nothing like that," Chaz insisted, casually cracking his fingers. "You see, I have this job opportunity down in the Greed Ring, but unfortunately the group I'm trying to get in with has this sort of… membership policy. And wouldn't you know it, there's an entrance fee you gotta pay before they even consider taking ya on!"
So… this guy was a HELLBORN Demon, like the Imps and the Hellhounds. Over the last few months, Nick had come across a great many of these guys as well as Sinners wandering the streets. What's more, he had come to learn a great deal about the other Rings through their idol chatter despite never once seeing them himself.
From what he gathered, each Ring was named after one of the Seven Deadly Sins and ruled over by one especially powerful Demon, all of them stacked on top of the other, with Pride, the Ring Nick found himself in now, sitting at the very top. Below that, was the Wrath Ring, a place with an orange sky and the main source of food that feeds the rest of Hell. Below that there was Gluttony, the Golden Haven of the Hellhounds… and then there was Greed… a cesspool of corruption, embezzlement and more Demons who'd sooner try to rip you off than be your friend. By the sound of it, it was the one Ring that was SOMEHOW even worse Pride. If Chaz really had a job opportunity in THAT particular Ring, Nick now had even less reason to trust what he had to say.
"So what do YOUR money troubles have to do with me?" the Cat Demon asked, quickly losing even more patience than before.
"I'm getting to that," Chaz quickly answered. "You see, I got a pal uptown who runs this awesome pawnshop. And he's willing to buy a few… special items for a fair price."
"I hope by 'special items', you don't mean my organs," Nick replied with a growl. "Because I can tell you right now, that'll be Strike: 2 if you do… besides no one's gonna want them at this point."
To his surprise, Chaz wasn't that phased by the threat this time around.
"Relaaaaaaaaax," he said coolly. "It ain't anything like that. You see, I'm in the business of… collecting certain items from people's homes. And it just so happens that I'm looking for a… business partner to help lighten the load."
So… this guy was a thief then? Makes sense. If he WAS from Greed that would certainly fit the character profile. That being said, it wasn't exactly in the nature of a thief to share their profits if they didn't get something in return.
"Riiight…" Nick uttered suspiciously. "And WHY would you be so kind as to share your spoils with some rando in a diner?"
"Well, my usual partner has recently moved on to… a better place shall we say?" Chaz replied with an awkward scratch on his neck. "But the place I'm hitting tonight ain't exactly a one-man job and I don't have time to look for anyone else… Besides, any other candidate wouldn't be so desperate… the cocky ones get sloppy."
At that point, the two minutes were up and Nick decided that he had enough indulgence of this idiot's rambling and rose from the table. He could have followed through with his earlier threat, but he just didn't have the energy. So if Chaz wasn't going to leave then HE was going to.
"Well, this has been pleasant," he replied sarcastically as he turned to leave. "Good to meet you, thanks for the bullshit."
"Whoa, wait!" Chaz blurted out frantically. "Where're you going!? You're missing a great opportunity here!"
"I may be desperate… but I'm not stupid," Nick retorted. "Good luck finding some other sucker."
Just as Nick was reaching for the door, however, Chaz frantically stood up from the table, grabbed him by the shoulders and looked him square in the eye.
"Look, buddy, chumbo, my main man!" he said, his grin looking a little more desperate than before. "We're talking high-class goods here. Silverware, jewels, all kinds of properties of a valuable nature."
"Fascinating," Nick replied, rolling his eyes as he once again tried to reach for the door."
However, Chaz wasn't done yet.
"Look, I wouldn't be asking if this weren't legit, alright?" he insisted. "I may be able to hack the alarm, but I NEED someone who can get inside and get the goods. Come on, what do I have to do? Beg!?"
Needless to say, Chaz was beginning to get on Nick's last nerve. So much so that he quickly got into Chaz's face and snarled.
"I'M. NOT. DOING. IT!"
"I can't BELIEVE I'm doing this,"
Those were the words Nick would continue to mutter to himself as he sat in the front seat of Chaz's car later that evening. He couldn't fully remember how it happened, in fact, all he could recap was a mind-numbing blur of irritating comments and begging, but SOMEHOW Chaz was able to wear him down enough to make him actually AGREE to this insanity. Now here he was, dressed in a black sweater and beanie about to rob someone's house for a quick payday!
Of course, as Chaz continued to drive his crappy-looking excuse of a vehicle, Nick kept his hand firmly on the door handle, ready to jump out should the need occur. He might have been conned into actually going along with this stupid plan, but he was more than happy to ditch it by any means necessary. However, if it wasn't, Nick also felt the need to lay out some ground rules.
"Alright, let's just make this perfectly clear," he said firmly. "This will be the first and ONLY time I do this shit. You will immediately drive to that friend of yours as soon as we get the goods, and no matter what we steal tonight, I'm getting HALF of all profits!"
Chaz of course, being the slimy piece of shit he was, immediately found a problem with that last part.
"What!?" he blurted out. "Fuck that! 30% tops!"
"Do you want my help or not!?" Nick retorted, squeezing his grip on the door. "Because I'm more than happy to jump out of this shit heap right now."
Thankfully, Chaz revealed himself to be the type to quickly falter in an argument.
"Alright, fine, you can have half," he replied with a deflated groan. "But you better get out with a LOT of the best shit… and don't diss the ride, man, I love this baby."
Judging from the stench, Nick didn't even WANT to know how much Chaz loved his car. That being said, it wasn't that long until the Shark Demon pulled up to a large wall in a nice-looking neighbourhood, one that looked surprisingly a lot better than the rest of town… and smelled a lot better to boot!
"Must be nice living somewhere that DOESN'T reek of piss and blood," Nick commented, stepping out of the car and feeling a little bitter against the Demons lucky enough to live in such an area.
"Yeah, well that's the rich for ya," Chaz replied with a shrug as he too stepped out and pointed at the wall he parked in front of. "Luckily for us, the broad who lives in THIS particular house just happens to be out right now."
"Any ideas on how long it'll be before she gets back?" Nick asked with genuine concern, not wanting to be in the line of fire of the Demon who lives here.
"Not for a while," Chaz answered with an unconcerned grin. "She goes out around the same time like once a month. All dressed up for some show or something."
"That sounds an awful lot like the words of a stalker," Nick commented, giving the Shark Demon a deadpan glare.
"Not stalking, I was scouting," Chaz quickly denied, though his sweaty brow and shifty eyes quickly betrayed his facade. "Now come on, help me over this wall."
After a tricky climb and a short fall off the outer wall, both Nick and Chaz skulked their way through the garden before crawling up a small, but steep hill. Eventually, they found themselves crouched under one of the back windows of a large mansion that rested on top of the hill. Lifting his head just a little, Chaz peered inside, smirking in delight upon seeing nothing but darkness.
"Alright, phase: 2," he uttered, crawling away before reaching what appeared to be a thick, metallic box built into the wall, a large steel padlock with a combination dial latched into the handle of its lid. "Child's play."
Pulling out a large pair of bolt cutters from the small bag he brought, Chaz quickly worked the padlock and pried the broken pieces off the box before opening it up. Soon enough, he was fiddling around with some wiring, a few sparks flying in different directions until he finally ripped out the right wire, cutting off all power inside the box.
"Alright," he uttered, making his way back to the window. "Moment of truth."
Grabbing a small pry bar from the small bag, he then proceeded to rip apart the window's latch and slowly slide it up… only for it so suddenly stop by a bracket the instant it was opened only by a foot, giving Nick cause to give Chaz a deadpan glare.
"Christ, no wonder you needed someone else to go in," looking over the pathetically narrow gap. "I don't suppose just smashing the window is an option?"
Surprisingly enough, Chaz quickly shook his head at that.
"Nah man, we gotta be subtle here," he said, acting all smug as if he believed he was being a genius scolding his dumb lackey. "We can't let the bitch know we were here until it's too late. Why do you think we're going for the SMALL window?"
"Because you're an idiot?" Nick quickly retorted, the query as to why neither of them was going through any of the larger windows being a legitimate concern. "How the hell am I supposed to fit any goods through THAT tiny gap!?"
"I don't know! Look for the back door or something!" Chaz argued, surprisingly starting to lose patience. "Just get in there!"
At the risk of potentially being manhandled and being forced through the gap, Nick quickly raised his hands in defence and did what he was asked. As it turned out, being a Cat Demon did come with certain advantages that other Sinners didn't have, one such being the ability to squeeze through narrow spaces like this small gap… albeit with some minor difficulty.
"Oof!"
The moment he managed to pull himself through, Nick quickly found himself falling face-first into a carpeted floor. Quickly getting back to his feet, he soon found himself in awe upon seeing where in the house he landed. From the looks of it, he appeared to have crawled through the window that stood at the very end of a long hallway… one decorated with some IMPRESSIVE pieces of decor. China vases with bright portraits done in blue paint, a tribal mask seemingly made out of solid, and several oil paintings just to name a few examples… and all of it was ripe for the taking.
"Psst!" Chaz whispered from the window, pushing a large black sack through to window gap for Nick to take. "Better make this quick, no telling how long we have left."
As much as he hated to admit it, Chaz was correct. Regardless of how long he believed the house's occupant was going to be gone, he couldn't afford to waste any time. With a heavy sigh, the Sinner began making with way down the hallway and started placing expensive-looking items in the bag… How he was going to get anything outside, he'll have to figure out later.
As he worked his way through each item, however, Nick suddenly couldn't help but feel a small surge of guilt. Given the fact that he had never stolen a thing in this life or even the last, obviously, this whole scenario wasn't exactly comfortable for him. Still… judging from the quality of some of the stuff this individual had just lying around, that guilt quickly began to become overwhelmed by his financial desperation and curiosity. For example, the knight's sword currently hanging on the nearby wall, even if he were to only pluck a single one of the decorative jewels embedded in its hilt, Nick suspected that would be good for cash for the next few MONTHS! If the Demon who owned the house was able to afford something like that, then they could surely afford to lose a couple of Souls to those who actually need it… besides they probably obtained their wealth through some horrible means anyway, so getting robbed was practically karma.
With that in mind, Nick quickly grabbed the sword off the wall, specifically admiring the hilt just a little longer before he put it in the sack… maybe he should pocket a couple of those gemstones just in case Chaz DID try to rip him off later.
"Hey!" the Demon in question blurted out in a hushed tone as he looked in on Nick's progress through the window. "See if you can find any electronics in the other rooms. I could use a DVD player for my apartment."
Needless to say, Nick was immediately annoyed by that request.
"Oh sure," he retorted in a sarcastic tone. "In fact why don't I see if they have a golden toilet while I'm at it!?"
Thankfully, Chaz knew better than to give a snarky retort at that particular comment, choosing to simply keep his mouth shut and let Nick continue. Although… the Shark Demon did provide a good point. True the stuff in the hallway is of good quality, but the items hidden away in some of the other rooms had to be much more valuable. If he could grab some of those, Nick was sure he would increase his pay exponentially. However, just as he was opening the door to the nearest room…
BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNGGGGG!
Before Nick even realised what was going on, a loud alarm bell suddenly started ringing through the entire house, forcing him to drop the sack of goods and slam his palms to his ears around the same time the window he came through suddenly slammed shut, followed by a set of iron bars dropping from the frame and blocking Nick's only way out.
"The FUCK!?" the Cat Demon exclaimed, quickly rushing over to the window and grabbing the bars, frantically shaking them to no avail. "The Hell's going on!?"
"Aw, shit, that must have been a dummy box!" Chaz exclaimed, thinking back to the series of wires he cut to 'disable' the alarm. "Looks like the job's a bust, dude!"
"Get me out of here!" Nick shouted, his heart racing a thousand times faster than normal due to pure fear.
But, unsurprisingly, yet still painfully, Chaz gave Nick the one response he just KNEW he was going to get.
"Yeah… no," the Shark Demon replied, both awkwardly and guiltlessly. "SEE YA!"
With a final wave and a grin, he then turned and ran, leaving his supposed partner in crime to his inevitable fate.
"CHAZ!" Nick called out, watching in horror and disgust as he saw the idiot who brought him here flee like a scared little girl all the way back down the hill. "OH, YOU MOTHERFUCKER!"
As Nick let out his frustration in a series of screams and kicks against the bars, he remained completely unaware that karma was already set in motion against Chaz for his actions. Just as the Shark Demon was halfway down the hill, he caught his foot on a small, uplifted root, causing him to trip and fall, sending him rolling the rest of the way down and hitting every solid object he came across, be it gnome or shrubbery.
"Woaoaoaoaoaoaoao!"
CLUNK!
"OW!"
CRUNCH!
"Oof!"
CLANG!
"Fucker!"
BAM!
By the time Chaz was at the very bottom of the hill, his face was practically splattered against the solid stone of the wall he and Nick climbed over to get in. Prying himself from the fresh dent he created from the impact, the disoriented Shark Demon staggered back to his feet, a sudden surge of shock sent a chill through his spine as he spat out a little blood… along with one of his teeth.
"Fuck!" he blurted out, now sporting a gap on the right side of his mouth.
Not even bothering to waste time trying to recover his missing tooth, the cowardly Demon quickly returned to his escape attempt. One desperately fast climb and a second fall later, Chaz quickly rushed back into his car, stamped on the gas pedal and sped off down the street, never to be seen again.
Meanwhile, his supposed partner in crime was currently in the middle of a panic attack and continuing to try pulling against the bars. Once he quickly realised his efforts were in vain, however, it wasn't long before he started rushing through the rest of the house, not caring in the slightest where he ended up so long as it led to an exit. However, just as he was running through one of the hallways, something suddenly caught his attention, specifically a certain portrait of three individuals that hung on the wall.
Slowly turning around to look at the picture properly, the Cat Demon saw an image displaying a trio of Wolf Demons with horns, all dressed in regal attire, a husband and wife, and a young daughter around 5 or 6 years of age. Taking a closer look, Nick's jaw dropped in horror upon realising that this had to have been the owners of the house he was in… and the one younger Demon sitting in the middle of the older two looked hauntingly familiar!
"Oh… fuck!"
Those were the last words Nick would say before the alarm suddenly stopped ringing, leaving the house quiet enough for Nick to hear a car pulling into the driveway outside before the sound of its doors slamming shut followed.
"DOUBLE fuck!"
Quickly reacting, Nick once more desperately tried to find any form of escape. However, seeing that while the alarms may have stopped, the bars on all the windows he managed to find remained in place in every single one. Soon enough, he decided that all he could do was dive into the nearest room and hide behind the largest object he could find, that being a grand piano in what appeared to be a large music room. With any luck, he could hide himself just long enough for the owner of the house to pass him over and then make a run for it the first chance he gets. A stupid, desperate plan, that much is true… but Nick didn't exactly have a lot of other options left to him.
Hearing the front door open, the frightened Car Demon had to hold his breath in order to remain as silent as he could possibly make himself. The owner of the house was who he thought it was, then getting caught now was guaranteed to result in an instant second death. And despite how much he hated living in Hell, he wasn't exactly looking forward to dying a second time!
At first, all the Cat Demon could hear was a nerve-freezing silence along with his own rapid heartbeat, the lack of an alarm somehow making everything even more terrifying than when it was practically shaking the whole house. But then… he heard the five words coming from outside the room that almost made him scream for his very soul.
"Who… is in my house!?"