THE MOMENT
"It worked...," Bennett chuckled to himself in faint surprise. He stood around the corner in a glowing white hallway. The red door with a '14' in white numbers was unguarded now. It'd taken some planning to coordinate half a dozen distractions around the office building. Bennett felt like he'd had an eternity to plan and it was currently being perfectly executed.
Hell wasn't the brimstone and sulfur he'd expected. It was honestly a lot like Earth with occasionally strange weather. He worked in the Sharp Development building that managed his region of Hell; but, this was the first time he'd ever come up to the 14th floor. Humans, demons, fae and more all worked side by side in Hell. Part of him wanted to admit it wasn't a bad life. He wasn't any more tortured than a 40-hour work week on Earth; but, it was the principal of the matter. Hell was supposed to be inescapable. During his life on Earth, Bennett made a significant name for himself in the underworld. He was determined, ruthless, and cold if the occasion called for it. Now that he had an eternity to waste, the boredom was killing him. Escaping was the only entertainment. But, he also had faint hopes that he could somehow impress upper management. He was no ordinary human and he was going to prove it.
He waited an extra moment to make sure the guards weren't going to return, then he crossed the hall and twisted the white knob on the door. It opened effortlessly and he rushed in. He closed the door quietly once he was in; then, he turned around to get to work.
"Sorry kitty," he said. He spotted the book right away; but, it was guarded. A large, dictionary-sized white book with blood-red pages sat on a frosted glass desk in the center of the room. There was no other furniture in the room. A black cat with a red patch of fur on its head was asleep on the book when Bennett walked in. It picked its head up to look at him. From his angle, the patch of fur looked like a skull on top of the cat's head.
"Sorry for what?" the cat asked. Bennett froze. She had a pleasant female voice. He wasn't surprised that the cat spoke as much as he was now on guard. Talking animals weren't unusual; and, he was in Hell after all. But, the fact that the cat was there meant that IT was guarding the book of death.
"For waking you up, and for moving you....," Bennett answered without moving forward. He didn't want to risk alarming the cat in any way. "..that was the plan anyway."
"Oh," the cat answered as it stood up on all fours. It arched its back for a moment, then it leaned forward to stretch out its front paws. Then, it walked off the book and onto the desk. "Go ahead," she said.
"You're not guarding it?" Bennett asked. He needed more information before he made a move.
"No," the cat answered with a sigh. "I'm overseeing it," she said. "More like, I'm grounded...," she added.
"Grounded?" Bennett asked as he took a step forward. It was mostly a test to see how the cat reacted. She didn't.
"I can't leave this room," the cat replied. Then, she gave a slight bow with her head. "My name is Janet, what's yours?" she asked.
"Bennett," he said. "So... you're not going to stop me from erasing my name?" he asked with another step forward. She shook her head.
"Ms. Sharp says that anyone that makes it into this room has permission to edit their name from the book," she answered.
"It's that easy?" Bennett asked. He took a final step forward and was no in front of the book. Janet nodded at him.
"The guards are the hard part; if you get past them you deserve something," she answered.
"They were supposed to be challenging?" Bennett asked. The truth was they did provide him with a challenge; but, now that he was in the room, it was easy to claim otherwise. "Maybe for ordinary people; but, I'm not like them," he added with a chuckle.
"You're not?" Janet asked. She stared at him with glowing yellow cat eyes. "What's your favorite number?" she asked. Bennett grinned and shook his head as he reached down to open the book.
"I don't have one, they're all useful," he answered. Bennett had spent countless years in Hell and on Earth before that. He'd seen his share of the odd and unexpected. But, that moment was the first time he'd ever seen a cat smile; it was unsettling.
"You're just as ordinary as everyone out there," she flicked her tail towards the window. "You wouldn't be here if you were different," she added.
"Is that so?" Bennett chuckled with a broad smile. The comment didn't sting as much as it normally would. He hated the idea that he was just like everyone else; but, the fact was, he achieved his goal. "Then, I guess I shouldn't be here," he said as he found his name in the book. "I'll just take my leave," he ran his finger across his name and it disappeared.
"It was a nice visit, thank you," Janet replied. "It is a shame I'll never see you again," she added.
"That's the plan," Bennett nodded. "I'm avoiding this place entirely on my next time around."
"Next time?" Janet asked. "There is no next time, you erased your name," she said.
"What?" Bennett's gut fluttered with panic. "Erasing my name from the book of Death means I escaped!" he said. The moment he said it was the moment he realized he had nothing else but rumors to go on.
"Sure, in a sense," Janet nodded. "In a few moments, your soul won't exist anymore. You erased your name from the book of life; you'll never have existed. That's kind of like escaping," she said.
"That's not the book of Death!??" his head swiveled left and right to search the small office room. He had been so focused on the book he hadn't noticed that it wasn't much bigger than a janitor's closet. There were no other books visible. "You're just as ordinary as the rest of them," Janet smirked. "It's the same book; you can't die without having lived first. The book of Life, the book of Death, the book of Existence, whatever you want to call it, it's all the same."
"No! Put my name back! Please!" Bennett's words were urged out by panic. He felt a sudden burning, itching sensation in his feet and he was too terrified to look down. The sensation was climbing and he felt numb below it.
"Sorry, I can't do that," Janet shook her head. "Well, I could. But, there's a reason Ms. Sharp lets whoever reaches the book edit it. It's only meant to be a rumor; no one is supposed to know it really exists," she explained. Unfortunately, Bennett only heard half of her reason before he disintegrated completely into white dust. Janet padded back onto the thick tome and curled up again.
"Thankfully, no one does."