The demon watches Marvin. No smile. His face is all serious now, like he's trying to figure Marvin out. But it's just an act; he knows exactly who Marvin is. The other demons stay put, motionless. Watching their partner do his job. And they wait. Amused. Like they're about to watch another episode of their favorite show.
Marvin feels lost. And he is. The demon speaks to him in that good cop tone. Soft voice, almost paternal. The voice of a teacher trying to make a naughty kid confess:
"Marvin, kid, it's not that I don't want to have fun with you. Believe me, I'm dying to. But rules are rules. I have to give you the chance to skip a minor suffering before the real suffering begins."
"I swear I didn't do anything wrong."
"I get it, Marvin. I know you'd like that to be true. But it's not. I know you think you don't deserve this because you're not really a bad person. You think you made a mistake. Just one mistake. And that you deserve to be forgiven. Because, come on, out there on Earth, there are people doing way worse things, right? And you hadn't really hurt anyone until now. And you think what you did was just a slip-up. Something that deserves a scolding and then another chance. Is that what you believe, Marvin?"
Marvin hesitates. Trembles. Nods. He knows he's admitting what he did. He'd like to erase that act—the one that sent him to Hell. But he can't. Still, like any human falling through the void but not yet hitting the ground, he clings to hope. Maybe this is just a warning. Something like: "You see what happens when you do bad things, Marvin? Don't do them. Don't do them again. I know you understand. You're a smart kid. Come on, I know you won't do any more stupid things. You can go now. Grab a slice of cake from the table and head out to the garden."
The demon says:
"No second chances, Marvin. What you want to happen isn't going to happen. You did something very wrong in the eyes of that good Lord up there in Heaven. And now he doesn't protect you anymore. You belong here. Like everyone else who signs their eternal sentence. Doesn't matter if you fuck up once, twice, or three times. Once is enough. And when you die, you end up here. And you confess. It's not some minor mistake you made. When God turns his back on you, he does it completely. And when he hands your soul over to us, it's because you really fucked up. That bastard up there wanted you in his ranks. He wants everyone in his ranks. But the requirements to get into his little club are absurd. They have nothing to do with human nature. It's like he's mocking you all. I haven't met him, but of course I'd love to have a chat with Him. He's a prankster. I love his jokes. And the best one? Humanity. He gives them a nature that pushes them to do certain things, then tells them they shouldn't do those things. Brilliant. Like giving you a ball and forbidding you to bounce it. Or giving you a video game console and telling you not to turn it on. Or giving you food and telling you not to eat it. Fuck, it's like having the urge to shit and being told not to shit because shitting is a sin and you'll end up in Hell. Makes no sense. You know how many humans are in Heaven, Marvin?"
Marvin doesn't know what to say. Marvin doesn't understand a thing. The demon says:
"Zero. No one. There are no humans in Heaven, Marvin. Just God and his angels. And that's how it'll always be. Jesus? The Virgin Mary? Fiction. They never existed. God and angels. Nothing else. It's all set up to be that way. No one meets the requirements. It's like a fucking bureaucratic dictatorship. You need a passport, and they tell you to fill out Form A. You go to the Form A window, and they tell you that first, you need a permit. To get that permit, you need to fill out Form B. And you go like a moron to the Form B window, and they tell you that you can't fill it out without having completed Form A. And you're screwed. You leave the giant bureaucratic building with nothing. Defeated. You walk down the street. And finally, you realize you're just a worm. But then, time passes, and you convince yourself you're not. And you start having hopes again. That's human nature. That's how God made you. He lets you live your shitty little lives. Die. Go to purgatory. Get whipped around for a while. And then get reborn. And so on, over and over again. That's all a human gets. Unless, of course, they do something really fucked up. Something The One Upstairs considers an atrocity. Not us. Him. Because all that atrocity bullshit is his invention. Another one of that bastard's inventions—a bastard who, honestly, couldn't care less about the fate of the humanity he created."
Marvin, desperate to buy some time and also out of curiosity, asks:
"And who created you?"
The demon lets out a laugh. Points a finger at Marvin.
"Look at him. A clever one. But no, Marvin. You're not getting an answer because class is over. Now, confess."
"I can't."
"Really?"
"I didn't want to do it. I'm not bad. I tried to stop it in the end."
"That's not the answer I want to hear. And since it looks like you're going to keep going down that road, I'm going to have to make you suffer. I've exhausted every way not to use violence. Now I can do whatever I want with you. And I like that. This is going to be fun for me and my friends. But obviously, not for you, Marvin."
Marvin's knees come unstuck from the ground. The demon grabs him by the neck. Drives a sharp, claw-like nail into Marvin's stomach. First, just a little. He smiles. Then he pushes it deeper, dragging it downward, tearing Marvin's skin like it's a canvas.