The Department of Hate - A Love Story (11 page)

Chapter 11 – The Department of Lust

Jarrod had had a brief interview with Ronove. He had learnt nothing more. Ronove was sullen and resentful but still cautious. His execution could be drawn out indefinitely if he wasn’t careful. Jarrod had no sympathy for him and left him to whatever punishment he had coming. He was keen to pay a visit to Asmodeous. He was very interested in what Asmodeous might have to say about getting out and the hint that he’d dropped. He left Abaddon in the main control room and escorted Cassandra back to their apartment. She wanted to stay there, having no desire to go anywhere near Asmodeous or his Department of Lust. They were sure she would be safe – it was very clear that no one down here was going to defy him. Except Lucifer, possibly, but he was nowhere to be found. It was already late in the afternoon. Jarrod wanted to get there before it got dark. They kissed briefly and then he left.

Jarrod felt very uneasy as he approached the Department of Lust. It wasn’t too far, being the next building around from his own department, heading in the direction of the Great Hall. He was extremely suspicious of Asmodeous but the demon had claimed to have some vital clue. As he approached Jarrod made the mistake of looking out over the pit - seeing yet again the stream of lost souls pouring down into it, screaming and screeching, flailing about as they fell - but all with the same end result. He shuddered. Abandon all hope, indeed!  He couldn’t help thinking that when lost in the Valley of Death it was far, far better to be one of the demons. Then he immediately felt guilty for thinking it.  As he came to the front of the building the main door opened and Asmodeous emerged. The large demon came up to Jarrod, put his arm around him and guided him to the door. He seemed to be in an enthusiastic mood.

"Beelzebub, my old comrade, I knew you'd come. Come in. Come in."
Jarrod followed, repulsed by the contact, but ignoring it. He disliked Asmodeous intensely and clearly always had, but if he could be useful he had to be tolerated, for now. It was quite obvious that Asmodeous's affections were completely feigned. Jarrod wondered what his agenda was. He would need to be extremely careful.

They went through a small foyer which then opened onto a very large and lavishly decorated room. There were dozens of young women lying about on sofas, a few completely nude, the others not wearing much. They were all extraordinarily beautiful. Jarrod caught his breathe.  Asmodeous looked on smugly.

"I only pick the very best."
Jarrod looked at him blankly. Asmodoeus continued unperturbed

"These are just a few. I have a whole mansion full of them."  Jarrod noticed on the far side of the room two demons each attended by several of the women. The demons were stretched out comfortably while they were being kissed and caressed by
their devoted female acolytes - each of them in turn seemingly oblivious to anything but the need to please. Asmodeous was still gloating

"I train them well. Of course if they don’t p
erform, there's always the pit." He laughed quietly and darkly. Jarrod felt distinctly ill at ease.

As they watched both of the demons rose to their feet. Each of them grabbed two of the girls, throwing one over each shoulder.  They then headed off towards the stairs. The two girls left behind seem disappointed - or perhaps fearful.  Asmodeous watched on with approval.

"I do insist that they consummate their activities in one of the rooms above - I have certain standards. Demons rutting – not a pretty sight."
He looked at the girls who'd been abandoned. He caught their attention and motioned them to come forward.

"You might know these two - Adrienne and
Michiko - friends of Cassandra I believe." He seemed amused - and to be making a point. It occurred to Jarrod that this was a setup of some kind. What were the odds otherwise! Jarrod looked at the girls as they approached.  He didn’t recognise either of them - how could he. They seemed very submissive and subdued - once beautiful and alive but now somehow vacant and empty. They were both wearing brief pink panties and nothing else.  He could see that they were, or had been, superbly fit - lean and toned. They still moved gracefully, but with eyes sad and downcast and hope extinguished.  They knelt at his feet, legs slightly apart, hands to their sides, heads down, both speaking together very quietly

"How may we please you Master?"
Jarrod didn’t know how to respond. He shook his head

"Um no, thanks
." Asmodeous smirked and then waved his hand dismissively. The two girls scampered off.

Jarrod stared at Asmodeous with something in between amazement and disapproval.

"You're running a brothel!"
Asmodeous shrugged

"In a manner of speaking - I do expect a little quid pro quo from my guests from time to time. Mostly though, this is just the end game for my activities on Earth. And to encourage their slavish capitulation to the depredations of lust is just too fucking easy especially these days. Cable TV, lap dancing,
internet porn - I’ve got the suckers whipped up into a permanent state of unrelenting frenzy." He paused for a moment but then looked puzzled

"But you should know all this!"
Jarrod shook his head

"As I keep telling everyone, I don’t remember anything
." Asmodeous looked back at him - now with a calculating expression

"I find that very hard to believe. You're up to something."
Jarrod was annoyed but before he could say anything Asmodeous started speaking again, quickly and brutally

"And I find your disapproving attitude baffling. I used to send you two girls every six months or so."
Jarrod blinked

"What?"
Asmodeous sneered, continued to glare at him, almost manically.

"Yes, it's true. Always dressed in those long red low cut gowns you seem to be so fixated on. Always a certain type ... dark blonde hair, green eyes ...."
He was amused and waiting for Jarrod to make the obvious connection. But Jarrod was momentarily lost in some kind of memory - vague and dreamlike. He was dancing with an unknown girl in a long red gown - trying to remember who she was and feeling immensely sad. They were in some kind of ball room - awash in the rich deep cadences of a slow waltz - moving with the music. They were pressed against each other but he couldn’t see her face clearly. He didn't know where they were or who she was. He yearned to see her face, just once.  Asmodeous broke into his reverie, he spoke harshly

"Of course after a few months with you they come back to me broken and useless. I just have them thrown in the pit."
Jarrod tried to take this in - asserting with no great confidence

"You're lying
." Amsodeous sneered at him again, challenging him

"Am I?

Jarrod was shaken by this revelation. Happy in having gained an advantage Asmodeous spread his arms out demanding Jarrod's full attention.

"Come, let me show you the rest of my domain." Asmodeous led him through several more rooms - each of them like the first, lavishly furnished and full of incredibly beautiful young women.  There were all types, all shapes and sizes: short, tall, thin, athletic, plump - blondes, brunettes, redheads. There was a range of attitudes and reactions: slow, quick, sharp, placid, languorous - but a range clearly bounded. There was no defiance or dissent. All of them were well broken in and clearly traumatized. Whatever ambitions, aspirations and achievements they had in life now uniformly reduced to simply being a part of a beguiling assemblage of pretty smiles and soft curves, flesh available on request.  Each one of them, eager, pleading - 'please let me please you'. Each one of them terrified of being found wanting in any way and ending up in the Pit. Jarrod was appalled but couldn’t remain as completely indifferent to it all as he might have wished.  It was like being suddenly inserted into some kind of extreme pornographic fantasy - immediate, demanding and all consuming.   Nonetheless he made an effort to focus - attempting to assert some distance from it he queried Asmodeous

“What about female demons? I haven’t seen any
yet. Do they exist?” Asmodeus stared back at him clearly astonished.

“You must be joking. None of us can stand them. Never could. You hated them more than any of us. They’re all at the bottom of the Pit. They were the first ones thrown in. We bound them so they could never fight their way to the top.”
Jarrod somehow wasn’t too surprised to hear this. He looked again at the girls around him. He made the remark

"They're all so young. Do you have any older women?"
Asmodeous seemed puzzled by this

"Why would I?"
Jarrod tried to formulate a reason

"Well, you could ..."
But Asmodeous ignored him stating simply

"I rarely keep anyone
over thirty - too fucking ugly. When these ones hit thirty - off they go too - into the Pit." Jarrod was shocked - and could only reply

"Seems unduly harsh
." Asmodeous turned on him, cynically, furiously

"You seem to forget where we are?"
Jarrod looked back at him, replying slowly

"Yes, there is that."

They went through several more rooms. There were some male slaves in some of the rooms - though not many. Jarrod enquired about them. Asmodeous replied casually

"As I told you earlier some of the demons prefer boys, though I have no idea why. Lucy himself is gay, always has been." It took Jarrod a few moments to make the connection

"What, Lucifer!  The Lucifer!  Satan!
” Asmodeous was still quite casual

"Yes, Lucy. He's as gay as the ace of spades. No one cares down here of course. But it does raise an interesting question."  He stared at Jarrod carefully. "How is he going to sire the anti-Christ?"  He looked at Jarrod suspiciously "Maybe that's where you and green-eyes come into it?" He waited for an answer - though hardly expecting one. Jarrod could sense the danger of this line of questioning and replied carefully

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Asmodeous stared back at him suspiciously

"Really?  Well, we'll see."

Asmodeous continued to guide him through a seemingly endless maze of rooms and corridors. There were pretty girls everywhere, most of them nude. But Jarrod noticed that Asmodeous didn’t really seem to be taking much direct interest in the girls.  He commented on this

"You don’t seem too interested in your own merchandise?" Asmodeous for once seemed world-weary and bored - and not just simply depraved. He replied

“A hundred
thousand years of tits and ass. Hump, hump, hump - squirt, squirt, squirt - big fucking deal." He paused and sighed. "No. These days it takes a lot more than that to get me excited." Jarrod didn’t want to know what that was and didn’t ask, but he had a feeling Asmodeous was going to show him – sooner or later. Asmodeous seemed to be thinking about something – reminiscing. Jarrod waited patiently - he was still puzzled and curious as to how all of this fitted together, not just this department, the whole thing.  It all seemed so monstrously insane. Finally Asmodeous spoke up

"There was one female I kept much longer than all the rest
." Jarrod asked simply

"Who was that?"
Asmodeous had a gleam in his eye

"Cleopatra
." Jarrod was surprised, he asked

"What, you mean, the Cleopatra
." Asmodeous actually smiled – the first time Jarrod had seen this. It was unsettling.  Asmodeous paused then replied

"Yes, Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt - the most beautiful of all women,
ever. I had her for nearly ten years, fucked her senseless, all the time, couldn’t get enough of her. She was so unbelievably cute." He didn’t offer any more. Jarrod had to prod

"So, what happened to her?"
Asmododeous replied almost viciously

"Well, what do you think, even her, age does wither and custom does stale. I threw her into the pit personally. Little vixen, fought me tooth and nail. Some of them just don’t get it."
Jarrod asked

"Don't get what?"
Asmodeous growled back at him

"If you're here, you've already lost - everything. You're really, well and truly,
totally fucked. No use fighting it." Jarrod thought about this. He asked

"Does this apply to us as well?"
Asmodeous replied wearily and cynically

"What do you think?"

Jarrod had no reply to that
– it really was too hard to think about right now.  He found himself focusing on something else Asmodeous had just said. Genuinely puzzled he asked

"That's the second time you've quoted Shakespeare. You read down here?"
Asmodeous replied blankly

"Of course. For ever is a long time."
He was going to elaborate but Jarrod cut in on him with a burning question of his own.

"So what happened to him? Shakespeare?"
Asmodeous shrugged, looked around