Satan, of course, has no answer for Joe. Wherever he may be, it's sure as hell not here, wherever "here" is. Why they want us to think we're going around this hellscape in circles, I'd sure like to find out sooner rather than later.

The first thing I do, of course, is cross over to the door. I'm not at all surprised, actually, that it refuses to open. I tug on the knob frantically until I'm sure it's going to fall off in my hands. Hell, I'm surprised it doesn't actually fall off. Though it's well-maintained enough, it's probably a fake anyway. Not unlike the cabin where I found myself when I was first stuck in this hellhole of an underworld.

"Fugazi," Joe says.

I swear he just read my mind. "Think you can try this door?" I ask him. "Nikki, come with me. I got another idea."

"What's that?" Nikki asks with trepidation.

I look up the chimney, knowing full well I won't be able to see anything up there. "Think we can make this climb?"

Nikki looks at her hands sadly. "I hope so. But I bet my hands will be too soft."

"What, are you worried you'll break a nail?"

Nikki and I both swivel our heads at Joe and glare at him until he shrinks away. "No," she says when we're done with this stink-eye double-barrel. "No, I'm worried I won't be able to get a grip."

"Then you go ahead of me and I'll catch you if you fall. Deal?"

She extends her fingers as she clambers clumsily into the hearth and finds purchase in a crack between bricks. "Deal." Two seconds later, though, she slips and almost falls after her first attempt at the climb. As promised, I catch her, but it's tough doing. She almost slips through my hands too, forcing me to wrap my arms around her waist mere seconds before her feet could hit the floor and break.

I hear a whistling noise, and turn around to send a glare at Joe. "I know I didn't just hear what I-"

"I swear, it wasn't me!" Joe points to the nearest window, which is closed, but on closer inspection I see a small hole in the glass. I approach the hole, unsure if I should peer through it, but potentially cat-killing curiosity overtakes me. A flash appears way off in the distance, then a second hole appears only a centimeter or so above my head.

"DOWN!" I grab Nikki and pull her to the ground alongside me while Joe takes cover as well. The gun, or whatever it is - but I'm about 95% sure it's a gun, anyway - keeps on firing for about ten whole seconds before stopping.

"They out of bullets?" Nikki asks.

"Either that or their gun's on the point of melting," I say. "But that's assuming this gun plays by Earth rules, and I'm sure we all know this one doesn't!"

There's a long pause. No bullets come through the window for almost a whole minute. Then Joe raises his head and almost gets it blown off in the next salvo. How he doesn't Wendigo out, I'm not at all sure.

Then someone steps into the space between the cabin and the gunner's position on the edge of the woods. "Stop bloody firing!" cries a familiar voice.

"Oh, hell no," I whisper.

"What? Who is it?" asks Nikki.

The figure of Lucifer, or that guy who claimed to be him earlier, looks dark and almost invisible at first. Then a pair of massive white wings sprout out of his back. "Shit!" he cries. "I thought I put these things away!"

I lean back against the wall, pounding my head lightly against the wooden surface. "Do we really have to give this guy the time of day? Again?"