Wednesday 4th November 1992- Ash

"Sire, wake up."

Ash groaned at the sound of Gammick's voice, for that was all he was capable of.

"Ashmadalak, get off the floor this instant! Have you no sense of decorum?"

Ash opened one eye, which struggled to focus. As his vision became less blurred, he recognised Lucifer and groaned again. He watched as Lucifer took a seat in the armchair next to the fireplace and crossed one lean leg over the over. As ever, he was overdressed, top to toe in Gucci, looking like a 1930s movie star who holidayed on yachts on the French Riviera. Of the Seven and pretty much every demon Ash had ever encountered, Lucifer was the most human-looking of them all, a quality which Lucifer put to good use allowing him to travel among the humans without the need for disguise or possession. He was in fact, better looking and better at looking human than most humans, so much so, men longed to be him, and women longed to be with him. Oh, and didn't he know it too; Lucifer took his role as the demon of pride very seriously indeed.

"Sometime today would be good."

Ash moved slowly and placed his hands down on the floor. His hands. Not her hands. He swung his head around and found the body of the girl sprawled in a heap near the door. The memories came flooding back. How Strickeon had dragged him down the hallway, how he'd started to carry him up the stairs, how he'd dropped him.... Strickeon had bloody dropped him, and down most of the stairway too. He would rip out the innards of that demon, the first chance he had.

Struggling to his feet, he swayed a little and hoped Lucifer hadn't noticed, which of course he had.

"Goodness, Ashmadalak, rarely have I seen a sorrier-looking demon than you. And here I was thinking that you would be able to help me in a little project. But from the state of you, I think I'll leave your services for the likes of Belthegor. I'll go and find someone more suitable, while you go and join him. I'm sure he'd love your company, especially if you donned a pair of sweatpants, heated up some pop-tarts and spent the day watching Star Wars trilogy with him." Lucifer chuckled, clearly proud of his little attempt at a joke.

'My Lord, I am, as ever, at your service. This..." he said pointing to his own naked form "is but a slight aberration."

Lucifer picked at an invisible piece of dirt beneath a manicured nail.

"Very well, I will give you the job, but to be very clear, you are not to tell the others about it."

"Of course, my Lord. You may count on my discretion in all things, as you have in the past."

Lucifer winced ever so slightly.

Ash smiled inwardly, remembering the incident, several years ago in Amsterdam with the attractive female stripper, who once stripped off, wasn't quite as female as Lucifer had supposed.

Lucifer shook his head as if he was trying to dislodge the mental image. "A rumour has come to my attention that members of The Custos Protectorate have made a reappearance on English soil, their first in many years and I want to know why that is. As you are all too well aware, while they may be an irritation of the utmost annoyance, their presence could suggest a Fragili has been discovered. If that is the case, I... want... that... Fragili.

Ashmadalak swallowed, his eyes flitted nervously towards Gammick, who stood near the window.

"You have three days before I seek alternative representation."

"Yes, my Lord."

Lucifer stood up, took one last look at the state of Ash, wrinkled his nose up and then flounced out of the room, into his very shiny, specially designed portal.

Ashmadalak paced back and forth as Gammick stood in the corner of the room, wisely keeping his mouth shut. She was special, he'd sensed it almost immediately, but a Fragili? Surely not. Hadn't fate had enough fun at his expense the last time? And if she was a Fragili, why hadn't he detected it sooner? After all, he was deemed as somewhat of an expert. He kicked out at the coffee table and one of the legs gave way. The ceramic-tiled top shattered as it hit the floor.

Ash could feel Gammick wanting to say something.

"Say another word and so help me..."

Gammick shook his head and looked away.

Ash looked down at the girl, Lauren. She was alive but spent. He growled at her useless form. So, on top of Lucifer's request, he now had to find himself another bloody host; he hadn't the energy in him for illusion. He covered his face with his hands and rubbed at his eyes. In all his time, never had he ever possessed someone and then drunk alcohol. Possessing a drunk person was easy and par for the course, the alcohol rending the person malleable and suggestible. Once inside, he would normally have complete and instant control. But possessing someone, and then drinking? The more alcohol he had consumed, the harder she'd fought him, till he was lacking in spirit, yet filled to the brim with spirits. And the worst thing was, he then found he couldn't escape her form once she was drunk. He'd been marooned in her staggering, slurring shell and for what exactly? As Becca had drunk and lied, he'd had to watch the Splinters rush out of her, been too incapacitated to catch the damn things. Never again, he promised himself. Never again.

"Get me someone."

Gammick nodded and fled the room.

Ash walked over to the girl and checked her over. He needed her alive and kicking, for if she wasn't, it would be very inconvenient indeed. Her face was badly bruised, most likely from the fall down the stairs and she would be out cold for the next few days, but at least the whole episode would now be erased from her memory- amnesia being the human body's last line of defence against possession.

The front door flung open and Gammick appeared, dragging a body behind him.

"What on earth..."

"You asked for someone, Sire, and I found someone."

"It will have to do, for now, but try to find me someone a little less noticeable, next time.

"Yes, Sire." Gammick lifted the limp body and flung it onto the sofa.

Ash approached the body and sized it up. Upon closer inspection, Gammick hadn't picked so badly. It was roomy enough.

"Find Strickeon. I want him to go to the girl's house and do a thorough search of every room."

"What shall I tell him to be on the lookout for?"

"Anything unusual: documents, photos, anything that shouldn't be in the home of a vicar. Also, get him to find out the location of the vicar and get someone to follow him. I want to know where he is every minute of the day."

"And what of myself, Sire?"

"I want you quietly, and I mean quietly, to find out what these Custos rumours are all about. But stay away from Belthegor's sources. He's suspicious enough and the last thing I need is a turf war between him and the pretty prince, especially if there is a Fragili about."

"Could the girl be the Fragili, Sire?"

"Only one way to find out."

Ash reached over and slipped his hand into the body. The feeling was as uncomfortable as ever; what he imagined putting on a wetsuit to be like- restrictive and unyielding. As he settled in, a crackling static noise came from his lapel area.

"Zero-Oscar-One to Sierra-Zulu-Two. Your location please. Over"

Ash raised his eyes upwards and cursed. Had he not suffered enough?

He pressed the button on the side of the walkie-talkie.

"Sierra, Zulu-Two to Zero-Oscar-One. I'm at 12 Oak Drive, dealing with a complaint about noise. Over.

"Sierra-Zulu-Two, we've had a call about suspicious activity of an IC1 Male, acting suspiciously on Cowan Road, not far from your current location. Number 22. Could you check it out? Over."

Gammick fled from the room.

"Zero-Oscar-One. Will do. Over."

The last thing he needed was an array of flashing blue lights and sirens drawing attention to the area. He resigned himself to answering the call, hoping it would only take a couple of minutes, which then meant he could go and do something more useful. In fact, his new host's body might not have been such a mistake after all. He would be able to access a lot more information about the girl than he would from his usual underworld network.

Ash picked up the officer's hat from the floor and placed it on his head. If Becca really was the Fragili, he was going to wring out every last drop of energy from her soul, storing them up in a warehouse full of Soul Spheres, and then consume them in one sitting, so as to finally take his place at the top of that damn demon pecking order. And never, ever again would he have to do something as ridiculous as this. He would also mince up the remains of Gammick and Strickeon and feed them to the hellhounds he would acquire in his new lofty position. With a sigh, he left the room.

Ash knocked on the door and waited. He heard a slow shuffling sound coming from inside. The letterbox opened outwards and aged, wrinkly fingers poked through.

"Good morning, I am responding to a call you've made today."

"Where's your proof of identify?"

Clearly the uniform wasn't enough. Ash felt about his person and located a thick square packet on the inside of his jacket. He reached inside and pulled it out. Flicking through the wallet, he found a police-issued warrant card and passed it through the letterbox.

"Okay, can't be too careful these days."

The card came shooting back out at Ash and the letterbox lid slapped shut. Several locks and chains were slowly removed, and finally the door opened to reveal a small, elderly man peering up at Ash.

"Come in then."

Ash followed the man down the corridor towards the back of the house, at a pace even a snail would scoff at. Smelling of cat food and old flesh, the house was in a terrible state. When it came to sloth, this old man would give Belthegor a run for his money.

Finally, they entered a small sitting room and the heat almost took Ash's possessed body's breath away. The fires in Hell weren't nearly as hot as the two-bar electric heater positioned in the centre of the room.

"Oh, it's cold out. I'm cold. Are you cold? You know, I'll pop that third bar on to warm us up. Don't want you to be cold. It's very cold out, you know."

"Not on my account, please, sir." Ash dabbed at his forehead with the end of his sleeve.

"Nonsense, don't want you getting cold, now do we?"

"Now, sir, I believe you saw something suspicious, could you describe to me what you saw?"

The old man looked Ash up and down. "Well, I thought I did. I thought I saw someone dragging your body past my gate. A big bloke it was. Ugly fella. Troll-like. Head the shape of a cashew. I have some cashews; would you like some? Could pop the kettle on if you like? A nice, warm cup of tea. You know, it's very cold out."

"One moment, sir," Ash interrupted. He pressed the button on the walkie-talkie. "Sierra-Zulu-Two, to Zero-Oscar-One. Over.'

"Go ahead, Sierra-Zulu-Two?"

"Nothing to report here, just a misunderstanding. Over."

"Roger, Sierra-Zulu-Two. Over."

"Now, wait a minute, sonny, I'd not finished ..."

With one fluid motion, imperceptible to the human eye, Ash lashed out his real hand, straight into the old man's chest, navigating through the gaps in his ribs till he reached the heart, which he squeezed until it burst. It all happened so soon that the old man was still trying to finish his sentence as his life ended with a pop.

Ash pulled out his hand, wiped it down his jacket and took a step back. With his usual fascination, he watched as the soul left the body. No amount of coercion at this stage could take a soul that had already been chosen. He waited to see which way it would go. Not up or down as shown in the movies, but more of a change in colour as it faded out into nothingness. If the soul got brighter it was off there, but if it took on a dark purple hue then it would be in Ash's own realm, very shortly. Sure enough, the remains of the soul began to shine, making Ash shield his eyes. Then it was gone. Ash breathed in deeply trying to catch any remaining fragments of soul energy around him, but all he inhaled was dust and, once again, the aroma of cat food.

Leaving the body of the old man crumpled on the floor, no wounds visible to the naked eye, he walked back through the house and out through the front door. Pausing for a moment at the garden gate, he planned out the rest of the day--a trip to the police station first to access their databases, and then he would go and find the girl.