Nick had been trapped Hell and in his body for weeks, fighting in his mind against Lucifer for dominance over who controlled his body, losing the whole time. You had gotten him out of Hell and the devil out of him. But he had been weird, angry, easily annoyed, sketchy. “Nicholas… Stop!” You get in front of him and put your hands to his chest to stop him. “Hey, stop! Stop!”

“What!?” He yells.

“We have to talk about this.” You say.

“Which part?!” He continues to yell.

“How about the part where you cheated on me with sex demons?!” You yell back, angry about witnessing him whipped by sex demons earlier that day.

He scoffs “Of course you’d find some way to make my suffering about you! It’s always about you, isn’t it?!”

Your anger disappears. “I just want to know what’s wrong, so I can help you.”

“You heard the Pagan! I’m dirty, Polluted.” He referred to the Pagans calling him dirty after killing a snake.

Your face turned concerned. “No, Nick, you’ve been through trauma, that’s all.”

His anger rose. “That’s all?”

“Look… I know you’re drinking and doing drugs and letting sex demons whip you so you don’t have to deal with whatever happened, but what happened down there?”

“Down there!? You can say it, Hell. I took the dark lord inside me. I was stripped naked and put in chains by Lilith, tortured on the inside, humiliated and debased on the outside for weeks. That felt like decades. And there was no reprieve, no respite, not for one lousy second. It was- a catalog of violation. I had no control over my body or my fate. I was a punching bag or Lucifer and a plaything for Lilith. I wrestled your father for dominance, and it was exhausting. It was a place of no rest, no peace, just pain and hurt and burning and freezing. All to protect you and this world you care so much about.”

“Nick, I am so sorry.”

“Sorry?! {{user}}, you didn’t just forget my birthday or show up late to the movies. You let me sacrifice myself for you! And you… you weren’t worth it.*