Raymond unlocked the front door to his house, and opened it. Daniel still stood in the driveway, watching nervously.

Raymond said to Daniel, “Don’t worry.”

Daniel inhaled sharply, and entered the two of them went inside.

They entered the living room, and Raymond closed the door behind them. The house was sweltering hot. Daniel felt like he was in a sauna.

“Sorry about the heat. Patrick is still adjusting to our climate.” Raymond said. “Let me take your jacket.” Raymond said. Daniel gave him his. “Feel free to undress as much as you want.”

“What?” Daniel asked.

“It’s sweltering in here,” Raymond took off his shirt, and began to undo his belt. “And it’s nothing worse than what you’d see at the beach.”

Daniel watched as Raymond removed his trousers. His mentor stood there, covered in sweat, in nothing but a pair of boxers.

“No, I’m okay.” Daniel said.

“You sure?” Raymond asked.

“We can turn down the heat,” A gruff, raspy voice said. Daniel turned, and saw it.

It stood only a few feet away, by the entrance to the kitchen. It held two glasses of ice cold water.

“I’m okay being a little cold if it makes you feel better.” Patrick said.

It walked toward them. His three-toed, clawed crow’s feet clicked on the wooden floor of the living room as he approached. “I won’t complain.”

The demon stopped, and held out a glass to Raymond, who took it eagerly.

“Nonsense Patrick,” Raymond said. “You are our guest here. And thanks for the water.”

“You’re welcome,” Patrick said. He held out the other glass to Daniel. The young priest’s eyes strayed to the green skinny fingers wrapped the cold glass. Drops of water flowed over the long, dirty fingernails.

“You can take it, its fine.” Raymond said.

“It’s okay Father,” Patrick said to Raymond. “I understand.”

“No, no, I’ll take it.” Daniel took the glass of water.

“Splendid,” Raymond said. “Please take a seat.”

The three of them sat down around the coffee table in the living room. Patrick and Raymond sat on the love seat, while Daniel sat in the armchair on the other side. None of them said anything at first. They just sat there, their eyes shifting around the room. Daniel felt sweat creeping down his neck, and into his collar. His throat felt itchy, and he quickly gulped down the glass of water. When he finished, he let out a wet sigh, and set the glass on the table.

“I’m sorry I scared you the other day,” Patrick said to Daniel.

Raymond spoke up. “I’ve been telling Patrick that he shouldn’t be so hard on himself. Accidents happen after all.”

“Of course.” Daniel nodded.

“Tell him about what we’ve been doing Patrick.”

“Well, um, I’ve been doing a lot of reading. The bible in particular. It’s such a great book.” The demon sounded in awe. “It’s really changed my whole point of view. Did you know that Lucifer used to be an angel of God?”

“Yes I did.” Daniel said.

“Extraordinary,” The demon sounded breathless.

“I’m happy to hear you liked it.” Daniel said. His eyes couldn’t stay away from the demon’s clawed hands, as they rested on it knees.

Patrick turned. “But I really have to thank Father Raymond. He was the one who taught me how to read in the first place.”

“Patrick, you’re such a sweet young man.” Raymond put a hand on the demon’s scrawny shoulder. “But you have to give yourself some credit. You wouldn’t have been able to learn as much as you did, had you not been such an attentive, hard-working student.”

The demon’s cheeks turned red.

“Thank you father Raymond.” Patrick said, trying to hide his smile.

Raymond looked over at Daniel. “Are you okay?”

Daniel felt an incoherent wail of supernatural terror welling up within him, but all that came was, “I’m good. Just a little hot.”

“I’ll go get you some more water.” Raymond took Daniel’s empty glass, stood up, and headed for the kitchen. He’d left the room before Daniel could beg him to stay.

“He’s such a wonderful man.” The demon said.

“Yeah.” Daniel nodded. “You’re English is very good.”

“We speak every language in Hell. You can pick up a lot when dealing with the souls of the damned.” Patrick tried a weak smile, but it wouldn’t last.

Daniel slowly nodded.

Raymond entered the room, holding a new glass of water. He gave it to Daniel. Daniel downed it in one gulp, and immediately felt thirty again, but he was too nervous to ask for another glass.

“Daniel, take your shirt off,” Raymond said. “Sit back, relax.”

“No really I’m fine.” Daniel said. “Don’t worry.”

“If you say so,” Raymond turned to Patrick. “By the way, part of the reason I brought Daniel down here, was because I thought it’d be nice if you two got to know each other.”

“Oh that sounds wonderful.” Patrick said. “I love making new friends. Daniel, is there anything in particular you’d like to talk about?”

“Uh, well,” Daniel wiped the sweat from his forehead. He looked down at the coffee table, and saw the two glasses. “Uh…Patrick, you don’t drink anything?”

“No.” Patrick shook his head. “Demons don’t need any nourishment. We’re not mortal.”

“How old are you?”

“I’m not sure exactly. At least a thousand years. Maybe more. It’s hard to keep track of time in a place with no day or night.”

“Oh that’s interesting,” Daniel thought about his next question very carefully. “What did you do in Hell?”

The friendly smile left Patrick’s face. His body went stiff, and he turned to Father Raymond.

Raymond didn’t smile. He said, “You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.”

Patrick nodded, and turned back to Daniel. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.” Daniel said. “Um…did you have any friends in Hell?”

“I was never by myself,” Patrick said. “Hell is a very crowded place. I did have one friend. At least I think he was my friend. We spent a lot of time together.”

“What was his name?” Daniel asked.

“We don’t really have names in hell. You recognize others by how they look, or sound, or smell.”

“How did your friend smell?”

“Like burnt rubber.”

“Sounds like a good enough name to me.” Raymond said. “Burnt Rubber it is.”

Patrick laughed and clapped his hands.

“What did you and Burnt Rubber do together?” Daniel asked.

Patrick paused again. “I…I don’t want to talk about him.”

Daniel loosened his clerical collar. It was getting hard to breathe. He wanted another glass of water, and he had to go to the bathroom.

“Why don’t you want to talk about Hell?” Daniel asked, letting some of his frustration come through.

“Daniel, please. This is a very difficult subject for Patrick.”

“I understand,” Daniel nodded. He could see the demon’s hands shaking.

Daniel was getting a headache. His bladder was about to burst, and his breathing was getting faster.

Raymond leaned forward. “Daniel, you sure you’re okay?”

“Do you want more water?” Patrick said, also leaning forward. His hideous, bulbous head hovered right next to Raymond’s, mere inches away from it. He saw the two of them framed in his vision, the sweat on their bodies giving them a kind of glow. He suddenly felt sick, and stood up.

“I need some fresh air.” Daniel said as he opened the front door. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.”