Page 30 of Hellfire & Bowties
“Luc isn’t boring!” Oren found himself immediately defensive.
“Oh yeah, we saw.” Zorun snorted, and the twins tittered.
“Exactly,” Oren said with a sure nod, not in the least bit embarrassed. Who had inhibitions when they were dead and in Hell? “But we’re not concentrating on that right now. We need to get to cleaning up. Let’s go look at this storage room and see the damage.”
As they walked out, they were met by Kassel and Jek.
“Luc said to meet here?” Kassel blinked all his eyes at them in confusion. “He also said I was to keep a fifty-foot distance fromyou at all times, and Jek had to enforce it, otherwise he’d hang us by our entrails.”
Oren giggled. “He was joking.”
“He didn’t sssound like he wasss joking,” Jek muttered, shuddering.
Oren waved it off. “Let’s get cracking. Many hands make light work. We’ll be finished in no time. Follow me.”
“Zorun, we’re tiiired,” Tarik complained.
“Zorun, can you carry us again?” Azoth whined.
“You haven’t even started walking, brats,” Zorun said, but to Oren’s surprise, he picked the twins up again and carried them the few steps it took to reach the storage room before setting them back down.
Oren tested the handle and couldn’t get it to budge, though it didn’t seem locked. He had to get Kassel to force the door open in the end, and the whole thing busted off its hinges, an avalanche spilling out into the hallway in its wake.
They all looked at the mess for a few moments.
“It’s not so bad,” Oren said optimistically, hands on his hips.
“Can’t we just throw it all down the abyss?” Zorun asked.
“No!” Oren gasped. “What if there are important documents or artifacts or something in here?”
“How important can they be if they were locked in there?” Jek asked, slithering over and nudging a few piles.
More things collapsed as a result, and it released a massive cloud of dust into the air that made everyone cough.
“Tragic,” Tarik drawled, sharing a disgusted look with his twin.
“Come on, guys,” Oren said, despite the strain in his throat. His eyes were watering from holding back the coughs. “It’s not so bad.”
“No. You’re right,” Zorun deadpanned. “It’s worse.”
Azoth poked a folder with his toe, flipping it open. “Ooh, this one is about Babul.”
“Ooh, gossip!” Tarik cheered.
The twins descended like vultures, scooping up documents to peruse the contents.
Oren opened his mouth to stop them, but Kassel placed a hand on his shoulder. “That’s the best you’re going to get out of them. At least they’re occupied.”
Jek shouldered between them, spreading his arms out. “Fifty-foot rule!”
Zorun rolled his eyes and trudged by all of them, stepping onto the ruined door, which cracked under the pressure, and into the chaotic room. “Let’s get this over with.”
Oren scrambled after his trailing wings, skating on all the loose paper, before stopping to assess the damage.
It was… bad.
It was like they’d spent decades opening the door, throwing stuff in, then slamming it quickly before it could fall out again, and this was the result. There wasn’t an inch of space that wasn’t covered in paper or boxes or strange-looking items. There was even a statue that appeared to be a poor rendition of Luc poking out of the paper pile like it was drowning.
