Upon entering into Frank’s humble demon abode, I was greeted with the most repulsive of sights. On the table in front of me was the charred body of a impaled Imp. A spear had been shoved in from the back of its neck, pinning it on its knees to the table. The mouth was agape, tongue flopped out and the senses still somewhat kicking. 

The body would twitch and breathe erratically while the demons peeled off skin and flesh and devoured them whole. The smell was the worse part of it. Imagine  a black cauldron that has been sitting in the heat for a week, full of spoiled milk and rotten meat. But then multiply it by about a thousand. 

“You made it alright? Good. We started without you, but there is a open spot over there. Right next to Nybbas.” Frank pointed off to the right side of the table, back in the corner of the room.

The demon, Nybbas he called him, gave me such an odd feeling upon first site. Glued to his face was the most forced and un-genuine smile I had ever seen. It was if his face was permanently stuck in a sinister snicker. His hair was matted together and puffed out in sporadic angles. clumped together and his clothes were somewhat of a joke. He wore what looked like a lime green button up suit, that was two sizes too small. His pants were the made of the flayed faces of those he had tortured, ranging from Asians to Africans to Europeans. It was a multicolored horror. 

As I went to take a seat, the Demon rather quickly became aware of my presence. Turning to me, moving only his head, the demon looked over his shoulder.

“Mmmmm, what do we have here? whoo ho! A human soul! Why, Frank you should have told us we had a special guest tonight. I would have made some special arrangements.” 

Too petrified to answer the question that really wasn’t directed at me in the first place, I continued to watch the writhing Imp on the table. By this time, the Demons had eaten the majority of its flesh, but larges chunks of muscle and tendons clung to the rancid carcass. 

Since I showed up later, the game had already started. Not knowing how to actually play Poker myself, I opted to observe and learn how each demon handled himself. 

After being at Franks for a little over a hour, the conversations around the table really began to loosen up. I’m sure the Demons were just as nervous about having me around as I was being around them. 

Nybbas had started an argument with the demon named Decarabia.

“Hehe, silly Legion master. You think just because you have commanded the damned troops that gives you any more say over me? Hehe whooo ho!”

“Why, you filthy worm! How dare you insult me in such a manner. My thirty deep ranks will merely laugh in your face. You are more a fool and a simpleton, no more a demon then this puny human we have here us.”

“Is that a challenge I hear? Oh hoo, we do love ourselves a challenge.”

The grin got wider, then voice rose an octave. This demon was surely planning something sadistic, I thought. No other way he could have survived this long without having some nasty tricks held deep within his sleeves. 

“What do you suppose we challenge?” Asked Nybbas

By this time, Decarabia was starting to fume with rage. The whites of his eyes had turned into a misty red. He had started to rise up from the table, fist grounding down into the chiseled stone. 

“THIS IS WHAT I SAY WE DO! PROVE TO ME YOU ARE STRONGER THEN THIS HUMAN. SHOW US YOUR POWERS ON SOMEONE YOUR LESSER!”

Quickly, Nybbas rose form his seat and disappeared from the room. By this time, I was had quickly gained back that knotted feeling in my stomach I tried so hard to suppress when I had first shown up. 

But it was at this moment, the party was over. 

One moment I was still sitting at the table, the next I was standing on a floating formation of ancient earth; surrounded by a vast frontier of nothingness.

No lights, no sounds, nothing. 

In front of me, the ground began to stretch out and gained speed rather quickly. It seemed as if it went on for forever. The new path way extended so much into the nothingness, it literally disappeared from my eyes. 

Out of the darkness, the rattling sounds of wooden wheels rolling could be heard. The thundering stomps of multiple beings could be heard as well. The best picture I could muster into my head of what was headed my way was a cage of some sort being dragged by creatures I had never seen.

What my eyes confirmed was the creatures I had never seen. What they brought with them, I was not expecting. 

In front of me, on a cart was a constructed crucifix. The base was attached to the cart, but the arms had been lowered. Making it a sign of blasphemy, But I am not sure who would be offended while down here in hell. 

The cart pushers approached me, in one of the things had a large coiled rope could be seen. My anxiety rose higher and higher, but looking back I am not even sure why I was scared. I’m in hell. I get killed multiple times a day, what the fuck would this matter? 

They picked me up and carried me towards the cart, one of the things that stayed next to the Traveling Cross had done something which lowered down the angle. One thing grabbed my feet while the other mainted control over my top half. 

They brought me in bearing over the cross and forced me down onto it. Hanging there upside down, I felt them tightly wrap the ropes around my legs and my arms. 

“WHAT IS THIS! WHAT IS HAPPENING TO ME! WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS!?” I panicked and released a torrent of worry and fear. 

The next thing I remembered happening was I was back in Frank’s dining room, and the gathered Demons were on the floor dying with laughter. I was hovering upside down in the air, tiny strands of thread were tied around my legs and arms; but I was not actually attached to anything. 

Behind me, I heard the insane giggle of the demon Nybbas. 

“Who has the power now, Decarabia?”

“Alright, Nybbas. I will give you that one. You made us all quite entertained tonight. I still want to see something happen. Let us desecrate this hulking meat bag we have here” Indicating the mostly eaten Imp that was no longer clinging to its tiny thread of life. 

Swiftly, Decarabia snatched up the body and beckoned everyone follow him outside. There the body was placed against a rock. From out of his sheath, the demon pulled out a primordial blade that had slain thousands before and still had many more to come. 

In one motion, Decarabia wound up and released his swing. Decapitated, the head went flying off into a distant direction. 

“Well, that’s the end of that.” Said Frank.