“Euphemia already has all the books.” Walter didn’t sound happy as he led Kate and Malice into Prudence’s house.

“Good. Euphemia told me that Prudence gave her a list. I will be unhappy if anything is missing.” Kate didn’t enjoy this trip either.

“Everything is there. I don’t care about all that paper, just glad I don’t have to deal with tossing it.”

“I suppose we are all quite glad you didn’t have to make that decision.”

Walter simply scoffed and nodded towards the bedroom door. “She kept her jewellery in her nightstand. The locket she promised you will be in there. And don’t take anything else.”

Malice sighed. “I won’t.”

The grumpy man shoved pretty much everything on the nightstand aside. The lamp, a plush bear, an old packet of tablets, it didn’t matter what it was, it got shoved aside to reach the dusty box in the back. He grabbed the box and dug around in it until he found the locket. Putting the box aside he took a closer look. “What a waste.”

Malice didn’t say anything.

“Here, take it.”

“Thank you.” The older demon quickly teleported it to her home in Hell before Walter could even think about doing something stupid.

And yet, turning away from the nightstand to shoo the demons out of the house, he did. He knocked over the bear sending it flying towards the floor. In frustration he proceeded to kick it aside.

Malice and Kate stared in horror. The reaper took a deep breath, preparing to berate Walter, but Kate was faster.

“You DARE?! You absolute disgusting disrespectful roach!” Kate reached to pick up the bear, but Walter stepped forward to stop her.

“I don’t care what you are, but you don’t get to shout at me like that, woman! You should know your betters.”

“I know my betters, you are not one of them. Now, give me the bear.”

“No. Get out.”

“I will only ask one more time. Give me the bear.”

“Fuck off.”

Kate tugged at her shirt to compose herself and put on a wonderfully fake smile. With the proper expression on her face now, she decided to be a little more commanding. “Pick up and hand me the bear, would you?” That wasn’t a request anymore. That was a direct telepathic command.

Walter was unable to resist. He didn’t say anything as he performed his task dutifully.

Kate accepted the bear with smile. “Thank you very much. We shall take our leave now. I suggest you don’t mistreat anything else like this again.”

“What did you do…” He was just staring at the two disguised demons.

“I made you do the right thing for once. We’re leaving now. Goodbye.” Kate didn’t care for more conversation and teleported away. Malice took a moment to glare before doing the same, returning to her home where the young Nightmare was waiting.

“Kate. Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For saying something before I could. I was about to tear him to shreds.”

“He would have deserved that, but causing another funeral wouldn’t have been that great.”

Malice forced a smile. “It would be too much of a hassle. Do you intend to keep the bear?”

“Oh no, I intend to give you the bear. Here.” Kate handed it to Malice.

“I appreciate it, thank you. Hm… I think he will get to wear the locket.”

“Sounds good.”

“Want to come inside and have a little snack or something?”

Kate shook her head. “I will have to decline, sorry. I had hoped to see more of Prudence’s home, sadly that didn’t happen, but I need to return to the library. Polly will worry and I have university work to finish. Why don’t you come by for dinner there later?”

“I will. I guess I’ll see you then.”

“Yes, see you later.” Kate pulled in Malice for a surprise hug before teleporting away. The old reaper didn’t want to admit it, but she had needed that.

 

It was a calm week that followed. The usual duties took up some time, but Kate finally had the chance to relax. Sitting at the reception desk and nipping away at some tea, the last thing Kate expected was Evelyn returning from the door to Hell.

“Oh, hi.”

Kate put her tea aside and turned around. “Haven’t seen you in a while. I assume the date with Apaosha took longer than the expected three days?”

“Yea… I sort of spent an entire week with her.”

“Damn. I thought lasting an entire day was long, never tried for a week.”

Evelyn went bright red. “Oh no, we didn’t. Well, we did and it was fun, but we mostly just hung out.”

“Sounds like a good time overall. Before you tell me all the fun things you saw in the abyss, I need a review. How was sex?”

“Fun, definitely, but not something I will chase. Didn’t make me not ace anymore, I don’t think I will ask anyone for sex ever, still don’t feel attracted to anyone that way, sorry, but now that I know what it’s all about I might just say yes every so often if someone asks me. It’s fun, but not that much of a big deal honestly.”

Kate nodded understandingly. “That’s absolutely fair.”

“You know, I don’t think I would have been comfortable joining a culture that views sex as a friendship thing if I didn’t know how it felt and if I liked it.”

“And you’re comfortable now?”

“Absolutely. I’m okay with it now. And if it makes my friends happy,” She shrugged. “Why not?”

“Good. Well, that leaves three things on the bucket list, right?”

“Yes. I have ideas for the hike, but as it stands I likely won’t be able to travel properly anywhere. I just don’t have the money.”

“I’ll talk to Polly about that, you’re one of us and especially if it’s something you want to do before becoming a demon, I am sure we can fund that trip.”

“That would be amazing, thank you so much.”

“Not a problem. Now, where do you want to go hiking?”

“I want it to be a full weekend trip. There is a castle with a great restaurant and pub west of here that’s a good twelve hours on foot away, and a few towns in between where I can spend the night. I think that might be fun.”

“We can spend the night there. Polly and the others want to join you, and I do too.”

“Even better! But no magical cheating, okay? This is hiking like humans do.”

“Of course! That’s going to be so much fun.”

“No doubt. What have you been up to since I’ve left for Hell?”

“Just the usual, library work, opening that door to Hell you used, a funeral, losing my shit at dumb relatives, nothing special.”

“Fair enough. I heard that you are now also taking care of the Hell library. That one’s so huge!”

“I have wandered its shelves a bit over the past days. It’s quite the thing. I’m glad to have eternity to look at everything. Oh, and joining with them also got us a new librarian. Amaterasu should be here later.”

“Nice! I look forward to meeting her. Anything else new?”

Kate nodded. “That door you used, you’re free to enter Hell any time now. You don’t need to ask anyone of us anymore. Since my current little cottage is just a walk up Dis from the Archive and I am moving in maybe a week at most, do you want that house until you get something permanent?”

“Wait, really?”

“Yea. Either someone uses it once I move out or Joro removes it. I won’t lie, it is a solid twenty minutes up the cliff side to get there from the door, but it is a home in Hell for you.”

“Wow. Really, just wow. Thank you, yes, I would love to move there. I might need to keep a bike at the library here to get to work, but that’s not a problem, is it?”

“Not at all. We plan to comply with the city council’s request to install bike racks anyway, now that we have proper visitor rest rooms and an elevator in compliance already.”

“Perfect. I suppose I should get to packing then.”

“I should too. All my stuff is strewn across three homes now, it’s horrible.”

“I can imagine. I’ll have to head to my dad’s house to pick up some of my old stuff as well.”

“Speaking of your dad, you said something about needing to have a talk with your parents. Care to elaborate?”

Evelyn paused. “Not quite yet. Suffice to say for now that there was a lot of fighting in my childhood and the divorce was messy. I might want one of you there. Your Nightmare powers might come in handy.”

“Just tell me when and where, and I will be there.”

“Thank you. You said you’ll be moving in a week or so? Is your house that far done already?”

“Just waiting on some of the outdoor furniture now. I received notice from Joro this morning that everything else is done. I had planned to have started moving things by now, but I just felt like relaxing a little. Polly and Sariel have offered their help and I think I will start moving stuff tomorrow or so, depending on if they have time. I’ll throw a little party once the patio is done, show off my home to friends and family.”

“Good plan. Sounds like I get to meet your family too, right? And they get to see Hell?”

“Yea, my parents and my former babysitter, now their live-in maid, will be there. Of course our favourite demons are coming too.”

“That will be a good time. I almost want to cheat and ask for a quick look, but I think I’ll wait for the big day.”

Kate chuckled. “It’s not that big of a deal.”

“I think it is. It’s your fancy real long-term home! I should get going anyway, I need to get changed, didn’t have enough clothes with me for a week. I’ll come back later though, to tell you about my week and meet Amaterasu.”

“And for dinner I hope.”

“Of course!”