“The Hawthorne sisters?” asked a dull voice.

“Yes, sir,” nodded Max and Beatrice.

They were all in a dimly lit office, with the only illumination being low-light candles. It was the only room in the entire building like this, darkness sticking to the walls like it was slathered on the place. Behind a desk sat a man with long black hair that covered one eye, leaving them to have one red eye to make contact with. Not many people got summoned to his office, and usually when they did, they didn’t come back.

“Not by blood, I assume?” he asked, inspecting a paper.

“No, sir,” said Max. “I married in.”

“Figured,” he sighed. “I was told you two, along with Aven, broke the rules of the afterlife and went to Hell without authorization.”

The sisters-in-law stood silently, not wanting to speak up and admit they did something wrong. They didn’t know how he would react.

“Well?” he pushed.

“Y-yes, sir,” stuttered Beatrice.

“Mhm, and I was told you were invited to the residence of Lisha and Iris in Hell for a night?”

“Yes.”

“Good, good,” he smiled, reminding the two women of some kind of boogie man or monster under the bed. “You both have an assignment then.”

“What kind of assignment, sir?” Max asked.

“You two are to get close with the sisters,” he ordered. “Get as personal as you can; I don’t care. Keep them under your thumb and unaware.”

Max and Beatrice looked at each other, uncertain about the orders they were given.

“What for, sir, if I can ask?” asked Beatrice, stiffening up.

“Just for a later plan. Nothing to worry about yet. But you have your assignment, so you’re dismissed.”

“Sir, may I ask a question?” spoke up Max. Beatrice shot her a glare that showed she clearly didn’t approve of risking their positions because she was too curious.

“Go ahead,” he nodded.

“Is this related to why you’ve been upping our quotas for reps?”

All three of them fell into silence; every breath seemed to stand out. Beatrice was wondering if Max finally asked a wrong question, and Max could feel her fingertips tingle and heart pound in anticipation.

“You’ll know when the time comes,” he said, waving for them to go away. “Like I said, you’re both dismissed.”