"You know nothing about me," another more violent slap hit Egan's shoulder. "If you really knew what I'm capable of..." he stopped another woman who was passing by Egan. And the woman couldn't see the demon. She was in her thirties, with short bobbed hair. Suddenly the woman stopped and turned towards the human, then smiled at him and caressed his face with a hand.
"Order number three: screw the woman in public. And..." he continued before Egan could speak or push the woman away. "If you refuse, this time the penalty will be paid by her in your place. I'll bring in three more guys, any types but very willing to satisfy her libido that I've exacerbated to the stars."
"You're a bastard!" the woman was rubbing against Egan and was so dazed and overwhelmed by excitement that she didn't listen to him.
Noxfor raised a threatening finger. "Come on... don't act like a virgin, at your age it gets hard easily."
Egan embraced the woman and dragged her into the first alley after the intersection. "Hey! Hey! Wake up!" he shook her by the shoulders. She had clouded eyes, as if she were drunk. "Damn it!"
"If you don't screw her, it won't pass and it will end very badly for her," Noxfor reached him, with his mocking expression. "You're the first young human to back out of a free fuck. Maybe she's not to your liking? Do you prefer someone else?"
"I can't do it, demon! I don't want to risk causing her trauma when she recovers or getting her pregnant!"
"Do you really worry about that?" Noxfor was surprised by what he had just heard. "Look at that, I got the only boy scout in the city as a servant," he laughed louder. The woman was rubbing against Egan, her clothes were disheveled, her exposed breast escaping from her unbuttoned suit.
"Please, Noxfor, free her! Make her return to normal!"
"And why should I? Did I free the fish?" the invisible demon brushed Egan aside and grabbed the woman, who had her eyes closed, by the waist. Lost in a state of trance. The demon's large invisible fingers touched the breast that rose and fell rapidly, following the woman's labored breathing.
"Don't do it! I'll pay for her! Please!" Egan pleaded with him.
"Really?" Noxfor let go of the woman and pushed her out of the alley, waving a hand, her clothes returned to their place and the cloudiness that enveloped her mind disappeared. The woman touched her head, not understanding where she was for a moment, then resumed walking where she was supposed to go.
"Alright, here's your penalty," the demon smiled at him as he stepped aside a few steps. Egan heard the sound of footsteps approaching. He didn't have the chance to turn around when a punch hit him in the ribs. Three men surrounded him while Egan held his aching side. "These were the three who were supposed to satisfy the woman, but now she's no longer here," a kick to the back, and Egan fell. "They'll have to settle for taking it out on you."
They took turns beating him with kicks and punches. The young man lost consciousness after a knee hit his temple. Blood gushed out in streams. Ten seconds later, Egan reopened his eyes, and no longer felt pain, there was no sign of a fight around him. He got up and saw the demon looking at him, in his usual pose. And the three attackers were no longer there.
"Now that you're back to normal, let's find something for you to do. So far, you're proving to be very boring, nosy human," the demon started walking and the human followed him in silence.
"Sorry, I'm so sorry..." said Egan ironically.
The demon didn't take it well; he clasped his hands and in no time the passage to the Underground territory reappeared. The human was sucked in.
The sky was always gray. "My third order for you," he raised an arm and from afar, two female-shaped figures approached. "Your spirit came out at the right time."
Egan found himself in front of two creatures with milky, smooth, and hairless skin. Very similar to each other, one of the two had an oval face with fine features, small ears, cobalt-colored lips, a delicate nose, and turquoise hair with green streaks. And they were naked. If it weren't for a thin and green tail, not very long, which reminded him of the insect he had seen the previous time, they could almost appear human.
"I order you to pleasure the two fillian, and if you don't make them both come, you'll pay a penalty as a missed order."
Peeping bastard... thought Egan gritting his teeth, but he didn't dare to retort.
"Come on, nosy human, these are not women from your world, and they are happy to fulfill every desire of their master. They exist only to give pleasure. Show me you're not a wimp."
The two creatures curved their lips of that intense blue.
"Welcome back, Egan..." said the slightly taller fillian with the thinner face. She caressed her lips with her red tongue, her eyes sparkling like two molten pools of golden fire, glistening with hilarity and desire, as they looked at him. Egan felt the other fillian reach him from behind and wrap him in an embrace. They had no qualms about their nudity, moving with ease, it was as if he was the one in a disadvantaged position. A hand of the taller fillian touched the young man's erection protruding from his pants. "In the end, we're not indifferent to you..." she said with a sly smile. The young man's hands vibrated nervously, they rested on the fillian's breasts, while the other behind him continued to sneak under his clothes, caressing, rubbing, and scratching, which took away the rest of his self-control. A kiss, and the fillian in front moaned.
"Why do you do it?" he whispered, eyes closed, as he explored those lips, which were so different from his, soft but determined in maintaining control.
"For our master..." replied the fillian and resumed kissing him. Egan stopped abruptly, immediately detached from her. Then he grabbed the hands of the other who was caressing his chest and pulled them away from him. He moved away from both, as if awakened from an illusion.
"I can't do it instead. I will never do it with someone who only tries to obey someone else or is forced! Human or non-human!"
The two fillian looked at him amazed, one of the two was so surprised that she was shocked and could no longer linger in his presence. With a pleading look at Noxfor, who had observed everything from a distance, the two creatures transformed into the insects familiar to the young man and vanished on the horizon with impressive speed.
"You are a disaster on all fronts, young nosy human. A rare case of..." he remained thinking, raising his head to the gloomy sky. "I don't know how to define your inconsistency... your clumsy and intolerable chivalry makes you a sad specimen of a sentient being."
Egan put his hands in his pants pockets and didn't speak. Waiting for his punishment.
"You see, young human, these were the simplest tests for you – and you failed them. From now on, expect a completely different kind of order."
"What penalty, this time? Will you have me beaten again, or maybe killed and then brought back to life, to start over? What should I expect?"
"I'll let you know tomorrow. You'll stay stewing with your anxieties and fears for all the time that separates you from our next meeting," saying this, they reappeared in the solitary kitchen of Egan's apartment. The demon vanished.
That kitchen seemed so different to him now, as if he was seeing it for the first time and was only a guest. No longer a permanent tenant. It was as if his old life had disappeared the previous night. He no longer had a job, he no longer had control over his body, and was totally at the mercy of a depraved and unscrupulous demon. Egan went to sit on the couch, then looked at the clock: 1:56 PM. Francesco was about to come home. He always came home for lunch because he didn't like the university refectory. Egan didn't want to be seen, he felt like a stranger even towards his friends, but more than anything he didn't want to see them involved in that underground world that was imprisoning him.
He went to take a shower and then went out.
☼
Evening came while he was still wandering through the streets of the city. Every now and then he stopped in front of a shop to waste time. He looked at the shop's window but saw nothing but his shaken and tired reflection. His forehead constantly furrowed; he hadn't slept for so many hours yet he wasn't sleepy. The demon's magic, or was he dreaming? A hidden hope wanted to make him imagine waking up at any moment from that endless nightmare, in his bed and starting his day again. Never having saved the ferret, much less met that degenerate demon.
His legs led him in front of his bar. Egan made to enter but suddenly remembered the embarrassment Noxfor had caused him. He stopped in front of the entrance, turned back, then moved to the side, observing through the windows that overlooked one of the illuminated rooms. At least they no longer remembered him as an employee, a small consolation. Noxfor hadn't been very clear on the subject: whether they had completely forgotten that a certain Egan Vellinar had ever worked there, or they had a vague reminiscence of his presence but were no longer able to associate his name with his face. It didn't matter anymore, that bar was no longer his workplace.
An old colleague of his came out to smoke, looked at him in the eyes, and then turned away without giving any hint of knowing who Egan was. And that man, who had been a bartender for over twenty years, had never been a great liar, much less a good actor. It was rumored that he hadn't even been able to lie to his wife when he had an affair with a young student who had served at the tables for a short period.
"Do you have a light?" Egan wanted to try, to see if he had really been erased from the bar staff's memories.
The man threw him his plastic lighter.
"How's the service?" Egan lit a cigarette; he smoked rarely but always had a pack with him.
"Good," the man shrugged and looked up at the slightly darkened sky, the fresh air was pleasant. "Come in and order something. You can even find a decent dinner," he suggested nonchalantly. "But I'd rather invite you to my place."
Egan raised his eyebrows. His ex-colleague turned to look at him and the smile that appeared on his lips made him shiver, as did the glow of his eyes, which quickly changed color, from black to orange.
"Still hesitating with your disbelief, huh?" Noxfor's harsh and annoying voice made the cigarette fall from Egan's lips. The demon separated, emerging from the body of his ex-colleague, who remained impassive, continuing to smoke, as if he no longer saw anyone else but himself. Noxfor drew the lighter into his hand, from Egan's paralyzed one, and threw it into the bartender's jacket pocket. "Follow me, your penalty is postponed. Tonight, you're invited to dinner."
Before Egan could speak, a dark chasm opened beneath him and swallowed him.