Drummer Boy - Bac Into Hell

Drummer Boy: Bat Out of Hell II: Back Into Hell

Welcome back, folks!

We've finally reached the end, and thanks for sticking with me for so long!

I started this at the beginning of 2018, with the intention of creating a novel-length journey through Tarterus.

Kind of like the old "Road Movies" with Bing Crosby and Bob Hope, only with demons, some body horror, and a lot more sex.

So, yeah ... nailed it.

I looked at the initial 55-page splat (a "splat" is what I call the first run-through; basically more a playlist of scenes than a narrative) just a few days ago, and boy howdy, a lot has changed.

The basic story is the same, but some characters were added, some excised for later use, scenes were completely rewritten, and two entire chapters were invented whole cloth.

What I'm saying is that writing is a process.

Some people nail it out of the gate, first draft.

Me, I keep asking "why?" until I'm satisfied with the answer.

I hope you enjoy the results.

That said, I'm taking a break.

This is the second book of a trilogy, and I need to work on some other stuff before I dip back into this.

In the interim, I might post a "Dramatis Personae", 'cause it can be hard to keep all the names and concepts straight.

Or, if there's interest in that first splat, I could put that up.

Might be good for a laugh, or to gain some insight into a creative process.

That's enough rambling.

Happy 2020, y'all!

Keep it weird, and I'll see you soon.

-Lady D.

* * *

"After that, everything was kind of a blur," Jason said. "I don't even remember coming here."

"Yeah," Leanne said, "we kinda had to fly."

"You

flew

us?" Jason said. "Like, you sprouted wings?"

Leanne smiled. "Lillian's got a minivan," she said. "And a shocking lack of respect for traffic laws."

Jason shook his head. "I don't know what's literal and what's a figure of speech anymore," he said. "How'd you even know to come here?"

Leanne tapped her temple. "My spidey-sense was tinglin'," she said. "Whatever you guys were up to last night made a lot of noise in the ether."

"Last night?!" Jason said. "We were gone for days!"

"Time signatures, remember?" Leanne said. "Seven-to-one ratio?"

"Right, right," Jason said. "So, wait... it's like, Saturday?"

"Sunday," Leanne said. "You were out for a while. But it was yesterday morning when I decided I couldn't ignore it any longer... "

* * *

"Amor?" Arnie said, his voice drowsy with sleep. "Where you going?"

Leanne had gotten out of bed and dressed as quietly as she could, but Arnie knew her too well.

"Not sure yet," Leanne said. She began buttoning up the bottom of her shirt. "Something came up."

"I felt you twisting in your sleep," Arnie said. "Bad dreams. It must be a very big something."

"Oh, it's definitely big," Leanne said.

"Is it bad?" Arnie said, concern in his voice.

"Won't know til I get there," Leanne said.

"Can I help?" Arnie said.

"I'd rather have you here for backup," Leanne said. "Just in case."

"What I mean is," Arnie said, "can I help you ... prepare?"

Leanne looked at Arnie. There was a lascivious glint in his eyes, and a big tent in the sheets covering him.

Leanne considered. "It might be nothing," she said.

"Or it might be something," Arnie said. "You know what they say. Hope for the best, prepare for the worst."

Leanne smiled, and began unbuttoning her shirt. "You sure this doesn't have something to do with the fact that you're a perpetual horndog?" she said.

"Perhaps," Arnie said, his eyes locked on Leanne's prodigious bosom, now covered only by the blue and silver cups of her brassiere. "I just want you to be at your best."

"Yer real thoughtful," Leanne said, a knowing smirk on her lips. She reached behind her back with both hands to undo the bra clasp.

"Leave it on, amor," Arnie said.

Leanne hesitated, hands still behind her back, thrusting her massive breasts up and forward for Arnie's benefit.

"Are you sure, dear?" Leanne said. "It's a tight squeeze..."

Arnie flung the sheet aside, revealing eight inches of fat cock, pulsing and hungry at the prospect of being squeezed between Leanne's huge, pillowy breasts.

"You tease, amor," Arnie said. "I like it."

Leanne took his cock in her much smaller hand. "I know you do," she said. "Especially when I do this..."

Leanne grabbed the base of Arnie's dick, and beat it against her cleavage, sending ripples across her vast exposed breast flesh. Arnie's eyes went wide with amazement.

"Amor..." Arnie said. "You are doing it so right..."

As much as Leanne enjoyed feeling Arnie's pole, throbbing in her hand, and the sensation of it smacking heavily against her soft titflesh, she couldn't hold herself back any longer. She let go of his dick.

"How bad do you want it?" Leanne said, mashing her bra-clad boobs together, plumping them up and showing off her deep, inviting cleavage, ready for a good plundering.

"Let me show you!" Arnie said.

Arnie suddenly grabbed Leanne's tits in his big, meaty hands. Leanne caught her breath. She loved it when he was rough with her boobs. Then he thrust his rock hard prick straight up, penetrating her cleavage from underneath her bra.

"Oh, corazon..." Arnie moaned.

"That's it, honey," Leanne sighed. "Too tight...?"

"Ay no, mami..." Arnie said. He thrust his hips, while roughly manhandling Leanne's boobs, jerking them up and down along the length of his throbbing member.

"Then squeeze 'em, baby," Leanne said. "Squeeze 'em good and hard...."

"Ay mi corazon..." Arnie said, frenetically jiggling Leanne's sumptuous titflesh around his cock. "Tus pechos ... tan caliente ...tan suave ..."

Leanne's eyes glowed with fiery sparks, as she shared her thoughts with Arnie, mixing his with hers. They drowned in each other's shared sensations, their intermingled pleasure.

"Feels good, amor," Leanne said. "tan duro ... tu polla ... da me leche ... da me tu leche caliente ..."

* * *

"Okay, okay, I get it," Jason said. "Geez."

"What's the matter?" Leanne said with a smirk. "I've been listenin' to 'The Comical Cock Misadventures of Jason Sturmer' for hours. You think you're the only one getting it on?"

"No, but..." Jason said. "It's just different. Like hearing your parents having sex, y'know?"

"No, actually," Leanne said, "but I take your point."

"Although, I gotta say," Jason said, "it's reassuring that you guys manage to keep it spicy after you've been married for so long."

"Oh, we ain't married," Leanne said. "Been together twenty years, but never tied the knot."

"Oh," Jason said. "Is there some demon rule or something?"

Leanne laughed. "Not

every

thing is a supernatural thing," she said. "I did ask Arnie once if he wanted to make it official, and you know what he said? 'An expensive diamond on your finger could never compare to the lovely pearls I place around your throat.'"

"That's..." Jason tried to think of the appropriate response, "...sweet?"

Leanne shrugged. "I guess it sounds better in Spanish," she admitted.

"Speaking' of other languages," Jason said, "am I gonna keep relapsing into demon babble?"

"That'll fade in a day or two," Leanne said. "After closing that portal, I only had enough juice to do some cosmetic work on y'all. So you and Kristin are back to bein' human again, and Pearl and 'Netta look human."

"And I really appreciate that," Jason said. "Even so, I still don't feel completely ... right."

"The senses, the urges, some of the deeper physical alterations, they'll be gone before you know it," Leanne said. "As for the brain stuff, well, that's gonna take a little longer."

"What 'brain stuff'?" Jason echoed. "Do I have tumors or something?"

"Not like that," Leanne said. "It's just that human brains aren't built for telepathy, and even cambions can only take so much. S'why I had you tell me what happened, instead o' just pickin' through your brain. Yer grooves are pretty worn out, and even one more needle drop might scratch the record."

Jason threw his hands up. "Swear to god, I've had enough mind-melding to last a lifetime," he said, then paused.

"So, be honest with me," Jason said. "How's Kristin doing?"

"Not gonna lie, it's pretty bad," Leanne said, frowning. "A bunch of broken bones, but that's only part of it. It was holding in all that power really messed her up. She wouldn'a lasted much longer, even if they'd won."

"Fuck," Jason said.

"Hey, buck up," Leanne said. "If nothing else, you goin' to goddamn Tarterus saved her life."

"So she's gonna be okay?" Jason said.

Leanne held his hand. "She still has a lot of damage on her," she said. "Cambions are tough, and y'all heal fast, but..."

"She's gonna be in the hospital for a while," Jason said sadly. "I should go see her. She didn't really need to be in this."

"No shit, sherlock," Leanne said. "But let her rest, let her heal."

Jason nodded resignedly. "And Granny," Jason said. "She's like, broken and angry. I can still feel her, a little bit, in my mind."

Leanne nodded. "Cognitive dissonance," she said. "It can take a while to sink in, but when it does, it's a real bitch."

"I get that," Jason said. "She just found out her gods are evil."

"The Three ain't gods, Jason," Leanne said. "Just more powerful than you can imagine."

"But still," Jason said, "she can't ever go home again."

"Getting used to living on Earth is gonna take her awhile," Leanne said. "But she's gonna get some help in that department."

"Oh...um..." Jason said, "I don't think I'm really up for-"

"Not you, dummy," Leanne said. "Thumper's her man."

"Oh...yeah," Jason said, feeling a surprising sting of jealousy, and more than a bit more surprise at the fact that he was feeling that feeling. They'd spent so much time together, he felt like they were ... something.

"And what about those demons?" Jason said. "What were their names again...?"

"Emmy and Roxy," Leanne said. "They're kind of an item. I made some calls, and some wise old biddies are on their way right now ta show 'em the ropes."

"

More

demons?" Jason said.

"Good ones," Leanne said. "They're all about the pax humana. And they're sure as shit gonna wanna hear the rap you laid on me."

"Okay, but I gotta check on Telly," Jason said. "He's playing it cool but I know he's freaking out..."

"Oh no he is not," Leanne said. "He and Lillian are two of the coolest cats in the litterbox. N'fact, I even taught Telly some magic."

"What?!" Jason said.

"Just a little one," Lillian said. "Turns out, he's one o' those rare humans with magical affinity. In the olden days he woulda been trained as a wizard."

"But not a demon?" Jason said.

"Not even a lick," Leanne said. "I just needed a homing spell, for when I went to rescue you guys."

"How'd that go?" Jason said.

"Uh-uh," Leanne said, shaking her head. "Storytime's over. You need to go see her."

Suddenly, Jason felt all the weariness of the previous days land on his shoulders.

"She keeps," Jason began, "...she keeps doing that ... thing ..."

"I know, honey," Leanne said, "and we'll do our best to fix it."

"I wanna see her," Jason said, "but I don't wanna."

"But you're gonna," Leanne said. "Ain'tcha?"

Jason nodded.

"Then that's a start," Leanne said. "Look, we're all gonna have some difficult conversations in the immediate future. And it's not gonna be easy, but you gotta take the first step, 'kay?"

Jason nodded again.

"Come on," Leanne said. "She needs you."

Leanne led Jason out of the dressing room and back onto the main floor of Petticoat Faire, which Leanne had closed for the day. From there, it wasn't too far to one of the other dressing rooms.

They entered, to find that someone had wheeled a privacy curtain into the room, which stood between them and the couch.

A buxom twenty-something gal was sitting on a chair at the foot of the couch. She put away her phone and stood up. She was wearing a black jacket over an elaborate corset sporting a crazy number of straps and buckles. She had jet black hair, tattoos all over the place, and very red lips.

"How's she doing, hon?" Leanne said.

"Same as before," the woman said. "Hasn't moved an inch, except for that flickering thing. Who's this?"

"This is Jason," Leanne said, "He's here to check up on Pearl. Jason, this is my daughter, Cherokee."

Daughter?

Jason thought, surprised. He'd had no idea Leanne had any kids.

"Oh, okay," Jason said. "Hi, Cherokee."

"It's Cherry," she said, "and

step

-daughter." She eyed Leanne. "Or is

that

bullshit, too?"

"Cherry-" Leanne began, but Cherry cut her off.

"You know what?" Cherry said. "I gotta get back to the shop." She hoisted what looked like an uncomfortably large black and gold handbag over one shoulder and stood up. "Inking tribals on idiot fratboys'll be the highlight of my day after this."

"I know this is a lot to take in..." Leanne said.

"Oh, you think?" Cherry said. She walked up to Leanne, towering over her by more than a foot. "You call me at work, out of the blue, so I can play dress-up and nursemaid to some ... naked hooker or something. Then she starts flickering like a broken TV and you tell me it's because she's a demon. But it's okay because I'm a demon, you're a demon, and my freakin'

dad

is a demon!" She turned to Jason. "Let me guess, you too, huh?"

Jason was momentarily taken aback, unsure how to answer. "Yeah, but not really," he said. "I mean, I was, but then I wasn't. Then I was again, but I'm not anymore. But, I still kinda am..." He shook his head, and turned to Leanne. "She's right, you know. I was there, and I don't even understand it all."

"See? It's always like this with her," Cherry said. "You want my advice? Just walk away."

Jason grimaced. "It's a little late for that," he said.

"Your funeral," Cherry said. She looked at Jason more closely. "Nice arms. Ever thought about getting some ink?"

"Tattoos?" Jason said. "No."

Cherry opened her bag and flicked out a business card. "Come down to my shop," she said. "Maybe find something you like."

Jason looked at the card. It was glossy red, with gothic black lettering that read "Dark Forces Tattoos", along with the address and phone number, plus website and Insta accounts. Their logo was an eyeless woman with flowing snakes for hair.

Jason took the card from Cherry's hand. When their fingers touched there was a feeling. Like an electric spark, but not painful.

Jason met Cherry's brown eyes, and she too, seemed to be experiencing something. Jason quickly palmed the card.

"You should check it out," Cherry said. "I'd love to get my hands on you."

"You would?" Jason said.

Cherry started to smile. Then she shook her head, and the frown was back. She aimed it Leanne.

"Bye,

mom

," she said, ladling sarcasm onto the word.

"We'll talk later, hon," Leanne said, but Cherry had already bustled out of the room.

"I take it there's some history there," Jason said.

"Cherokee's a peach," Leanne said, "but she's always been daddy's girl, and, well..."

"You're the new mommy," Jason said.

"Only for the last twenty years," Leanne grumbled. "Like I said: lotta difficult conversations. But one drama at a time." She gestured at the curtain.

Now Jason frowned. "Should I ... do anything?" he said.

"Just be with her," Leanne said. "Right now, that's enough."

Leanne reached up to clap a comforting hand on his shoulder. Then she exited the room, leaving Jason alone with...

Pearl. He pulled the curtain aside.

She was laid out on the couch. Mostly face up, but due to her boobs, she was kind of on her side. Leanne had done her un-demonizing trick, so she had her familiar olive skin tone, and no demon parts, not even her wings. She looked, for all the world, like an ordinary woman.

Someone, Cherry, he supposed, had wrangled her in what looked like a hospital smock. It was made of thin blue fabric, fastened in the back, and it didn't look like she was wearing anything underneath. Her feet were bare.

Jason smirked at this. "You never did like shoes," he said.

Pearl didn't hear him. Didn't move, and the blank, slack expression on her face didn't change. Nothing changed, except for the sounds of her slow, shallow breathing.

Jason chuckled mirthlessly. "Hell of a day, huh?" he said.

Nothing from Pearl, but after a few seconds, she flickered. Her whole body just kind of distorted for a fraction of a second, a blink-and-you'll-miss-it kinda thing, and then was back to normal.

The first time Jason had seen it happen he'd freaked out, but Leanne reassured him that it was temporary, and they could fix it. This coma thing on the other hand, she didn't have an answer for.

Jason moved over to the couch. He made a spot for himself by lifting up her legs, and then draping them over his lap, doing his best not to jostle her too much.

"Oh, Pearl," Jason said. He rested a hand on her thigh. She was warm, but human temperature. Her body no longer radiated that familiar demon heat that he'd become accustomed to.

"So, update," Jason said. "Things are kind of a mess. Granny's lost her mind. Kristin's in the hospital. Leanne says they're gonna be okay, but I have my doubts. There's two rando demons that just ... showed up, and I don't know what the plan is to deal with that. And I sure as fuck have no clue what we're gonna do about the Three, if anything."

Jason stroked Pearl's hair, his fingers getting lost in her sand-encrusted, unkempt black locks.

"But check it out," Jason said, "you're gonna get better, okay? I don't know how I can help, but I'll do whatever I can."

Pearl flickered again. Just for an instant, the parts of her that Jason was touching went unsolid, and then back again. Jason decided to take it in stride.

"And look," he said, "you promised to fuck me to death, right? So I'm just gonna have to wait. Think about that, huh? Me babbling my bullshit at you for decades. I bet you'll come around just to tell me shut the fuck up."

Pearl made no response. Jason hadn't expected one, but that's just the way it was gonna have to be. For now.

"So..." Jason began, "Did'ya hear Telly's a wizard? His gamer buddies are gonna be so jealous..."

[End of Book 2]