Chapter 5

We stepped into a small foyer. Trefual pointed up to a cupboard. "There, you'll find some robes. Be sure to change into one every time you come in to do some work. It'll keep you from messing up your street clothes. We won't bother with that now because we're just taking a look see." He opened the door at the other end of the foyer "Through here."

"Oh My God!" I just stood and gaped. The room was enormous. White columns went from dark marble tiles etched with intricate gold patterns to the ceiling which had to be 30 feet high.

"Amazing, isn't it kid?"

I just nodded and looked around. About six feet in front of me was an oval pool filled with a shimmering liquid.

Overshadowing the pool was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. It was a snow white statue at least fifteen feet tall of a young androgynous nude male in all of his glory. Glowing softly with an inner light, the figure was the most achingly wonderful sight I had ever seen.

"Is that..."

"Whoa, kid Whoa!" Trefual said, waving his hands frantically, " Never say HIS name! When speaking about HIM say HIM or His Infernal Majesty. If you ever meet HIM say "Your Highness". But never, ever say his name. He doesn't like it when others use his name and gets real pissy about it."

"Ok" I had to tear my eyes away when I realized TreFual was still talking.

"The pool there is functional, not just decoration. Are you listening, kid?"

"Yeah, I hear you."

"Ok, as I was saying, The pool is your hospital. If you're ever injured wash the injury in the pool and it will heal. Now, come this way."

We walked around the statute. Looking down the hall, I could see that between each set of columns there was a dark wooden door. " How big is this place?"

"Being a starter unit its about 20,000 square feet."

"That's ten times bigger than my house!"

"Well, Kid we don't do anything half assed. Now come on, we got a lot to see."

Over the next half hour I learned that I had a library, an empty vault that was bigger than the one at my family's bank, and several bed rooms that a sheik would love. There was a pantry and liquor bar that was full. A dungeon slash interrogation room. To be honest, the interrogation room freaked me out. It was more like a torture chamber, some of the equipment gave me the creeps.

Trefual showed me one door that had massive locks on it."Kid, never open this door without me being here. This is a direct gate to Hell and you have to be a lot further along than you are before you go traipsing in there. Ok? Got it?"

I looked at him,"Why?"

"Kid, there are customs and shit that you don't understand. It is extremely easy to piss those people off and you are not a big enough fish to start making enemies."

"Yeah, I can see that."

"Okay then, just remember what I said. Let's move on."

When we finally finished the tour Trefual asked "What do you think?"

"It's awesome."

"This is just one of the perks I was telling you about. It only gets better from here." He glanced at his watch "Ok, its about lights out, go ahead and hit the sack. We'll talk more tomorrow.

I woke up feeling absolutely wonderful. I didn't want to move. As I lay there, I thought about the crazy dream that I had. Selling my soul to the devil, an eight inch tall loudmouth. Laughing softly to myself, I rolled over and opened my eyes. Shocked, I stared at my perfectly clean and organized room. I closed my eyes, shook my head and looked again. Nothing had changed. I pulled my trembling hand from under the covers and there "big as day" was the heavy gold ring. I frantically tried pulling it off. It seemed welded to my finger.

"Oh God! What have I done?" I had to struggle to breathe. Finally, I started to catch my breath. I set up and cradled my head in my hands."Shit, shit, shit," I said over and over again.

I looked up as I heard the door knob rattling and then a pounding on the door.

My mom's muffled voice came through the door. "Hey, sleepyhead time to get up!"

I scanned the room to make sure it was ok. Getting up, I went and unlocked and opened the door.

"I'm awake, I was just getting dressed." I had to look down at my mom. She's only about 5'4.

My mom looked up, concerned "Why was the door locked?"

"I just wanted some privacy."

"Oh, is that what they're calling it now?" She smiled, mischievously. "Well, hurry up with your "privacy" and be sure to wash your hands. Breakfast is almost done."

"MMMOOOMMMMM!"

She started laughing as she turned and walked toward the stairs. She paused at the top of the stairs and looked over at me "Be sure you're not asking Larry for help."

"That's cold lady, absolutely cold."

She giggled and started down the stairs.