Quick As A Mongoose - 4. The Soul Exchange - January 2016

“My name is Belial, archdevil and master soul trader.” Belial surveyed the small classroom with fiendish contempt, watching the eyes of the other students and expecting their faces to be filled with sadistic satisfaction at his presence. Nearly all of them were rather awestruck at his celebrity appearance, and were watching him with adoration. This unexpected reaction made Belial smile as he turned back to the instructor to continue his introduction. “I have over two thousand years of experience in the soul exchange, and tonight I’m here to observe.”

A derisive snort drew his attention to the woman sitting at his side. This woman wasn’t watching him with adoration, and instead he found himself staring into a reflection of his own contempt. She was familiar somehow, though he couldn’t quite place her. “Do you have a problem, devil?” Belial growled, his eyes smoldering as they met those of the woman.

“As if you’d come to night school just to observe how we’re being taught,” the woman replied, smirking as she crossed her arms over her chest beneath her breasts, propping them up slightly and giving Belial a prominent view of her cleavage. Belial realized whom she reminded him of; this must be one of Lilith’s bastard offspring, a child born from unholy lust.

Belial snorted before turning back to the instructor and asking, “Do you normally allow such insolence from your students? You made your students aware of my attendance, did you not?”

“Lilith shares her mother’s pride,” the instructor replied with a grin. Belial found the instructor insignificant, even though he was of the lineage of Mammon, the devil of wealth and profit, and one of the most respected of Belial’s peers. The teacher’s grin insulting to a devil of Belial’s rank, but not nearly as insulting as the next words the instructor said. “But shouldn’t the great Belial be able to handle her?” He asked, his grin transforming to a wide smirk. “I mean, you are an archdevil, aren’t you?”

Belial’s face contorted in rage as he growled, “I’ll have you before the board of directors for that remark, boy.” He took a step toward the teacher, eyes burning with a ruby fire. “Do you really think to challenge my authority? Do you think your father would save you from the consequences of showing such disrespect to one of his peers?”

Sufficiently cowed, the instructor bowed his head and sat rigidly in his seat, staring at Belial’s feet. “Of course not, Archdevil. My apologies.”

“Your apology will not save you from judgment,” Belial said quietly, then turned back to Lilith who continued to watch him with a defiant glare. “However, I will show you how an archdevil handles his conflicts. Lilith . . .” he paused briefly, considering his approach to the situation, then decided to work from his familiarity with his subject. “You share your mother’s name?” He asked, taking a calm step toward her with a subtle smile, creating the image of control to the students watching them.

“That’s what he called me, isn’t it?” Lilith answered, rolling her eyes. “I won’t be as easily intimidated by your position as others are. My mother has told me much about you in the past.”

Belial raised a questioning eyebrow and asked, “Has she? Your mother is not to be trusted; she’s a whore.”

“True,” Lilith conceded with a small smile, “but that’s a matter of public record. You’re going to have to do much better than that if you expect to rattle me.”

Belial snorted and then scanned the room, meeting the eyes of the students and capturing their attention with his devilish charisma. “Why do you think I’m here? You don’t believe I’m here to observe, you’ve made that clear, but why wouldn’t I? We at the Soul Exchange support anyone furthering their education, especially when their intent is to help grow the soul economy. We need more young devils to enter the workforce equipped with the knowledge to harvest human souls properly, and to evaluate which souls are prime for harvest and which ones aren’t.” He smiled a diplomatic smile as he paused on each face watching him, making them feel as if he were addressing them personally before continuing. “The fact that you and the others in this room are seeking additional knowledge by attending night school on your own time is of particular interest to us. The initiative you show just by being here is enough to warrant my visit.”

“Ever the politician, I see,” Lilith said, rolling her eyes. “I suppose stroking the egos of those around you is one way to get ahead in the world. Too bad you don’t have the skill to back it up anymore.”

One of the other devils, a young male, stood up and moved between Lilith and Belial, attempting to stare Lilith down. “How dare you speak to an archdevil in that manner!?” He shouted.

“Yeah, what do you have to show for your pitiful life?” Another young devil joined in, and Belial couldn’t help but smile as the new speaker continued. “Belial has accomplished great things for all devils, and all you’ve ever done is inherit your mother’s name.”

Lilith kept her defiant eyes on Belial as she pushed the male student out of her way. “Your adoring fans are defending you, but what do you have to say to defend yourself? Are you here to play politician, or are you really here to observe?” She shook her head and looked at the other devils, her eyes filled with contempt. “You’ve done a lot more than observe already. Why are you really here?”

“I told you,” Belial said, “we’re interested in—”

Lilith dismissed his words with a wave of her hand. “Your machinations don’t interest me. If you were really interested in students, you’d simply attend the normal classes, regardless of what you’re saying about night classes. Night is the most effective time for working the Soul Exchange, so if you were really interested in the futures of human souls, you’d be out there harvesting them like the rest of your peers.”

Belial gritted his teeth and then met her accusation with a sneer. “An interesting conclusion,” he growled, “but one drawn by a petulant child who knows nothing about how the world works. This is hell, and unlike the disorder up in heaven, there is logic in our system.” He let the sneer transition to the same diplomatic smile he’d worn before and again surveyed the room. “What if I told you I was here to choose someone to fill a position in our company?” He asked, watching the eyes of the students light up with hope.

“I’d wonder if you’re offering me a bribe to stop talking,” Lilith replied dryly.

Belial’s head snapped toward her as he scoffed, “Why would I need to bribe you? You really think you’re the one I’d choose?” He gestured around the room and said, “Any of your peers would be better than you.”

But Lilith remained undeterred as she crossed her arms over her chest. “You’d want to bribe me to stop me from exposing you for the fraud you are.”

Murmurs rumbled through the room at Lilith’s candor. “Fraud?” Belial repeated in a dangerous tone. He locked eyes with Lilith and continued coldly. “I should have you removed from the program for such an accusation.”

Lilith smirked at his attempt to intimidate her and replied immediately, “What happened with the Church of the Master God?”

“What do you know about that?” Belial asked, feeling every eye in the room on him again. Gone was the adoration from before, and it had been replaced with suspicion.

The Church of the Master God had been a cult masquerading as Christians over the last decade. They’d started small in upstate New York, but had grown to stretch across North America in record time, their membership reaching to the millions. Each of those members had secretly pledged their lives to Lucifer, and it was only a matter of time before they’d lose themselves completely and The Devil, leader of all devils, would have an army at his command.

Belial had been in charge of the account. He’d been tasked to watch the data closely, ensuring those souls, the currency of Hell, were invested properly, but he’d neglected to plan for all variables. The leader of the church wasn’t as committed to Lucifer as had been originally determined, and overnight the Church of the Master God fell apart, destroying the investments of thousands of devils. It was all his fault, but only archdevils had access to that knowledge. There’d been a massive cover-up to hide his responsibility, and he’d been quietly demoted to overseeing the Department of Education.

“I said before, my mother has told me a lot about you,” Lilith said after a moment, drawing Belial out of his thoughts.

“Your mother should learn to keep her mouth shut,” Belial snarled, taking a step toward her. He would end this before further damage had been done to his reputation. He summoned infernal flames to him, engulfing his hand in ruby fire as he prepared to unleash it.

The instructor stepped between them, putting his hand on Belial’s chest and shoving him backward. He shook his head as he met Belial’s eyes. “Do you really think I’m going to let you kill one of my students?” He asked. “This isn’t the Soul Exchange where you can do whatever you want, Archdevil. This is school, and I won’t have you destroying one of my students simply because she challenged you.”

“And who are you to stop me?” Belial roared.

“One of many interested to know what the daughter of Lilith has to say,” The instructor said, unintimidated. He gestured to the other students who were cautiously watching Belial. “Do you think you can kill all of us and still talk your way out of it? My father won’t forgive you for that. He may not care for me as a son, but he would take my death as a sign you were coming after his position. If you think Lilith would stand by and let you get away with murdering her daughter . . .”

“Fine,” Belial said after a moment, letting the flames fade from his arm as he turned on his heel. “I don’t have to listen to any of this.”

“Yes, you do,” Lilith called after him. “I’ll make sure your superiors know exactly what you did here if you walk away now.”

Belial spun back to face her and growled, “You’re testing my patience, whore.”

“No, that would be my mother who’s the whore,” Lilith replied with a dry chuckle. “I’ve not followed in those footsteps, yet. I want to work on the Soul Exchange, remember?” Her smile made Belial quiver with rage as she said, “You want to walk away before I tell everyone you’ve been demoted.”

“You little—” Belial began, but he didn’t make it one step before the other students stood and blocked his access to Lilith.

“By Lucifer,” the instructor said, eyes wide with shock at the sudden realization he’d had, “you’re the one who lost the Church of the Master God!”

“Glad you caught up,” Lilith said, rolling her eyes. “Belial had the church in his pocket, or so he thought. He was holding onto them, ready to cash in on their souls and catapult himself into permanent fame as the greatest Soul Trader in the history of Hell, and then—”

The instructor finished the thought for her. “And then their religious leader had an epiphany, a bright light overtook him like Saul of old, and Saul became Paul, an Apostle of Christ . . .” He shook his head in amazement then continued, “Yes, I heard the story in the news. The Church of the Master God changed overnight, and the souls in Belial’s custody were worthless to us. They belonged to God. It was one of the biggest blunders in the history of the Soul Exchange. Ten million souls attended that church, eager to eat up the words of their hate-mongering pastor. Belial . . .” He met the archdevil’s eyes with a look of pure contempt and said, “I can’t believe that was you.”

Belial felt the accusatory glares of the students but couldn’t refute what had happened. The damage had already been done to his reputation. “It wasn’t my fault. You can’t account for conversion. It’s the most unpredictable factor in the Soul Exchange. It can break anyone.”

“Wasn’t your fault?” Lilith said, laughing incredulously. “You’re an archdevil, aren’t you? We’re all responsible for our own actions, no matter how damaging they may be. You think to pass blame when you’re at the top? Those few above you knew what you’d done, and you’re lucky they relegated you to watching over us at night school instead of executing you for damaging the economy. You’re a disgrace to speculators altogether.”

Belial’s anger surged again, and he once again called his flames, thinking to destroy everyone in his path to get to Lilith. Then the instructor stepped forward and placed himself protectively in front of his students. “Stand down, Belial,” he warned, “you don’t want to make things even worse for yourself.”

Remembering the instructor’s earlier admonition about killing him, Belial took the wiser course and let the flames go. “How could they get worse?” He asked, gesturing to the group. “I’m stuck here with you.”

“Not anymore,” the instructor said, snorting. “You asked if you could attend this class, and I gave you my permission, but I am now withdrawing that permission. I won’t have you threatening my students, archdevil or no, if you even deserve that title.” He shook his head as Belial’s eyes widened in outrage, but he continued in a solemn tone. “Night school is for those who go out of their way to learn, and not for simple fools like you who can’t. Take what’s left of your reputation and go. You have no business here.”

Belial trembled with rage, his eyes darting from one face to another, looking for any sign of support, but he quickly realized how badly he was outnumbered. With a snort of contempt, he stepped back and turned around, leaving the room and his reputation behind. As he stepped into the hallway, he looked at his cart of janitorial supplies he’d abandoned beside the door and sighed. At least they didn’t know how far he’d really fallen.