Brimstone Canyon

She stood by the grave site under the Willow wondering exactly how all of this happened.  Amber set the clay figurine in front of the section of grass where the new turf began – where her boyfriend has been buried – and chanted the Latin exactly as she had been told to by the Witch.  As she finished the last word, her watch beeped twice.

It was right on midnight.

Just as it was supposed to happen.

All she had to do was wait.

Gregory looked up from Brimstone Canyon where he had been held captive by Lucifer himself – personally – to do some pretty horrible work.  Atomic waste ballooned into the wavering hot, red air as he worked at welcoming damned souls into Hell and then doing what he did best:  C & D.  That was to Captivate and Deceit.  Gregory had to be taught how to do these two things within seconds of greeting a damned soul; and he was getting good at it… really good!  Lucifer was proud of him. 
What he did with the damned souls once they arrived was to stop them from panicking that they arrived in the wrong place.  He captivated them; making them think they were in the right place, putting them at ease.  Then, he deceived them by sending them to their own private Hell… where they’d live what they did over and over until they realised that he had double-crossed them.  But by the time they did, they couldn’t find him, didn’t know who he was and couldn’t get close enough to him because Lucifer would protect him.  
At first, he hated what he did to these people – as a lot of them didn’t mean what they did – but after a while, he didn’t care and just did the job as it seemed to come naturally to him.  And besides, Lucifer wasn’t about to move him from the top job of this.

Then, he heard those twelve syllables of Latin and his boss rushed to his side – his hand on his shoulder protectively – knowing what was happening, “You’re my best man, Gregory.” He whispered in his ear, “Besides, you’ve been here too long.”

He turned and looked fearfully at the blood-red, long fingernailed hand on his left shoulder, “But I’ve only been here a short length of time.”

“You’ve been here thirty years.”

“It’s not that long topside.” He whispered, “Amber …”

“Would have moved on by now.” The voice lied to him, “Found somebody else in her grief.”

“Not my girl.” He shook his head, “Not so soon after my funeral.”

“And like I said… it’s been over two decades.” The voice began to lose its patience and the hand squeezed his bare shoulder hard, burning his skin.

Gregory hissed pain between his teeth as he smelled his own burning flesh for a moment, “Okay!  I understand.”  The hand left his shoulder and he felt the presence of Lucifer leave his side.  But those few words of Latin still rang through his mind as the doors to Hell opened again and – instead of a damned human soul standing there – a shining, beautiful entity did instead, “Wow…”

“Gregory Parker I have searched all of Hell to find you; and knew I’d find you here in Brimstone Canyon – right where Lucifer lives.” The man in a suit reached his hand in, “Take my hand, Amber’s waiting for you.”

“But I was disfigured in the accident.” He said, “I was sent here because I sinned.”

“You were sent to the wrong place.” The man said, “We must go now as time is short and Lucifer will notice you’re gone.”

Gregory grabbed the man’s hand.  As he did, a bright – almost blinding light – filled his world and he woke inside his casket.  But he wasn’t there for long as he heard the sounds of two people digging him up.  One of them was Amber, repeating over and over, “I know it worked, I’m sure it did.”