I sigh happily at my newest art piece. It's been a few weeks since my last one, so it was high time to make another splash. I smile again at the blood on the screen. Crowley would fucking hate it. After all, it's him in the purest sense of the word. His symbol, in the book, in summonings, and…. On my contract. I knew it like the back of my hand. It was burned into my soul after all. Not only did I see it when I signed the contract all those years ago, but for hundreds of years it floated in and out of existence in that cell where Crowley kept his contracted souls.
I modified it of course, hid it a bit amidst other fake symbols, but it was there. And being put up by an artist who specialized in portraits, it was sure to be noticed. The man was 80, had years upon years of experience in 3d digital painting in VR suites and in oils. So a symbol, albeit a very realistic looking one, was sure to make as big a splash as his death. Not my fault… kinda. He'd had a heart attack when he saw the red smoke burst from Christo. I was planning on killing him, but… well he really was dead now. The body feels different, being dead. It feels cold around me, I don't like it.
As I upload this painting to his website, listing it for sale at a meager $400 next to his $50,000 3d portraits, I listen for my secretary. I'd have to get rid of him soon… Ok I Should get rid of him soon. The longer he stays the more he knows, the more chances he has to find out things, fuck up my own shit. Although he didn't seem inclined to, for fear of me killing his friends and family.
Christo is on the couch, on his phone as usual. I can hear the faint hum of energy from the projected hard light as he pushes the manifested buttons.
"So, any information on the last art piece?"
There's no hesitation, he had already looked it up. He was just waiting for me to ask, having thought better of interrupting me while I worked. Of course, this piece took only a few hours, what with presets and tools available.
"Yeah. It was bought near immediately for ….$10,000 and taken down. However images of it are already all over the web. What the fuck is it?"
"Do you want truth that will endanger you and tempt you? Or blissful ignorance?"
"You're gonna kill me anyway...so." I swivel in the chair to look at him, the smile of the old man far to kind for my thoughts.
"What makes you say that?"
"You've thought as much." I curse. I really need to learn how to hide my thoughts. "So, you might as well tell me."
"Yes but-" I freeze. I feel something I haven't felt before, a wholly unwelcome feeling. Another demon was nearby. I curse and burst out of the corpse and into Christo. "Time to go."
"What? Why? And I thought you didn't want to leave bodies"
I don't respond to his thoughts, I just snap and think of anywhere but here. The trees are oak and spread shade on the street and sidewalk of the houses. Many here are old, not rounded, from before the 'Wind Era" as it's called in the history books. All of them are inside plastic domes topped with curved solar panels and vents for cooling. A historic district.
"Hey, I thought you didn't want to leave bodies?" I snort as I take out his phone.
"That was such an obvious lie I didn't think you took it seriously. I suppose I should examine your soul more closely on occasion but I find I've been a bit busy. Too many, I don't want to leave Too Many bodies." I take a look at the phone and G-Earth Maps, and curse. This is the last place I want to be.
Jersey.
"Why n-" I push Christo away and try to put a wall around my mind, shut him out from my existence. I walk along the sidewalks of Haddonfield New Jersey, even more expensive property than back when I lived in Jersey. It was far closer to the beach than it had been back then after all. I sigh and shake my head, heading for one of the few places I know won't have cameras. Hopefully any that saw me appearing will count it as a glitch.
I walk through the main part of town; here the buildings Had changed. They were forced to. They were too close together to put bubbles around, so they had to be retrofitted or rebuilt with curved tops. It's bizarre, but not important. What's important is the myriad of demons I can feel around me. Crowley knew I had history here, he also knew I was too smart to come back. He wasn't taking chances however, and it had paid off.
I can feel eyes on my back and find myself in a very big dilemma. I can't go to the forest now, I'd be alone with no protection. I can't bamf away here, they'd know it's me if I did that with such callous disregard for subtlety. And then, they'd know this vessel's face, and then could track him with his DNA in the system. I'd grown partial to Christo, I wasn't ready to part with him quite yet. I also can't talk to them, I can't risk the fact that there might be some code or something, although codes weren't really Crowley's thing….however… If I could take one in a fight. No, I don't really feel like tussling around in someone's mind, if that's a thing that happens.
I might really be stuck. Perhaps I could go into a home and- Holy Shit the Happy Hippo is still here. I stand at the corner and stare. The building is completely different; but the logo, the sign, all still there. Hundreds of years and this place was still here. Holy fuck. I wait for the light to change and cross the street. The bell dings as the door opens and it's as if I'm in the past. Dolls, trains, cheap plastic toys… and legos. Of course legos were now hard light projections you could download into the base lego projector, to save and turn off when you're done. No more stepping on sharp edges in the middle of the night. Pfft, parent's today didn't know how good they had it.
"Can I help you?" I pause and look at the cashier. Thirty something, but hints of grey in her hair. Dealing with kids can be stressful. I smile and shake my head.
"No thank you. Just looking around." I pause as I hear Christo's heavy accent mixing with my voice from when I was alive, and smile. I walk around the shelves, feeling the currents of magic. No demons, in here, the lady was in the clear, and so was I… I think. I walk through the isles of toys and look at the ceiling. Whether or not there were cameras would determine if I could escape here. I take a sigh of relief when there are only two, pointed at the front door. I go back to the corner of the store, smiling at the barbies in different skin tones and the lego projectors toting some new kids show's school house. The more things change… I take a breath, raise my hand, and snap.
And off I don't go. I spit and curse. Of course there would be something preventing teleportation Out of the town. Fuck. Shit. FuckingcuntingballsfuckARGH.
"You… ok?" I take a deep breath and swallow.
"No. We're trapped, and if we're found, we will both suffer greatly. Do you have anything to pay for a cab with?"
"A what?"
"Uh… transportation. Uber. Train. Something."
"Yeah. I got a card for my stock portfolio. Use my app, Teletrans."
"You've been Very helpful. I'll try to make your death painless."
"How nice of you."
"Be happy I'm only keeping you here, and not placing you next to someone." Although that might slow his demise…
"Slow my, what?!"
"Ugh, I need to get better at making that voice silent. You have a choice Christo, ugh, just actively thinking it gives me a headache. Any way, you have a choice, be alone and fade from existence, or share your hell with another soul, knowing they will meet that fate instead of you. Do you Want that choice? No. I didn't think so. Besides, I have no patience for torture of…. Well I guess I haven't tried it, but I don't really feel like it. Now shush, I'm finding us a way out of-" I pause and curse as I feel a presence. A demon, but not Crowley. I'd be able to tell if it was Crowley…. Right. Pfft, like he'd hide it. That'd be ….easy… Of course, I am threatening to topple his anonymity in the mortal world, which would take a Very long time to fix. Maybe he would do easy, fuck. Man, hiding in a soul would sure come in fucking handy right now.
The door jingles and I curse. I can't teleport. I can't run. I can't hide. I can't fight. That leaves …. Talking. I pull up the phone and open the app and enter my location then enter… South Street in Philly as the destination. It didn't matter if I went there or not, it wasn't like the driver would come out of this alive. The request is accepted… five minutes. I have to stall for five minutes. I look at the phone and smile. Three, I had to stall for three. … Perhaps. I think. No. The phone is traceable. I look at the door. A big man, suit, brown, brown hair, sunglasses. No obvious weapons, not that a demon needed em. He looks muscular, shit. Traditional brute, they suspect something. Too many options of what to do. Decision paralysis. I head behind the end of some shelves to make some time.
"Welcome to Happy Hippo, can I help you?" The cashier asks once again. There is no reply, but there is a slight exhale of breath from the cashier, she is alive still, if upset at the rudeness of a nonverbal response. I take a breath and wait. I'll go with the plan I had, maybe it'd work. I need a burner phone… one without a GPS chip. I have a feeling just turning off GPS won't do shit.
The man rounds the corner and stands in front of me. I'm 5.6 ft, and I feel short. Can't hesitate.
"You got a traceable phone?" The demon raises an eyebrow at the question. "Look, it's a simple question. You look like you're on … you look like you're high on the ladder, so you probably have one." I just realized, if this guy was important, Crowley would know the dude's location, and calling him on that phone right now would be mucho stupido. Still, I had started this path. I look at my phone. Four minutes thirty seconds.
"Yes. But I'm not the one under scrutiny here. We weren't expecting any new recruits, so who are you?"
"Not a fucking recruit obviously. I got a fucking hunter on my tail for a murder I for once didn't commit!"
"So? Deal with it."
"He's insane! He has no regard for keeping things a secret and has a trace on my phone."
"Ditch the phone you idiot."
"I can't, it has info on it that in the wrong hands-"
"Then destroy it!"
"Fuck no! There's info on here that is important!"
"Upload it to the cloud."
"And risk it getting hacked or seen by somebody who isn't the king!" At this the demon narrows his eyes.
"Our cloud is secure, everyone knows that."
"Well excuse me for being paranoid! Look, I just don't want him in on my calls and...and, getting this info before I get it to the king!"
"And just what is this sensitive info?" He leans over me and I snarl. I have an idea, this could create a lot of misdirection if it succeeds.
"Info on turncoats. Persona non-grata numero uno is rallying people-"
"Who?" I freeze, then slowly smile.
"You have no idea why you're even here do you?" He frowns.
"Oh, that." I do a quick 180 and get back on topic.
"Great, then you know that if they are rallying people, it's BAD. I have names, locations, faces." I take a quick look at the phone. Still 4 minutes, shit. "So you see why I can't let anyone get their hands on this. A hunter could start to work with them, or worse…" I shudder for effect. "Kill them."
"And why would that be bad?" I widen my eyes and back away from the idiot.
"W-why? WHY? You idiot! If they're dead then the king can't get his revenge, he loses his fucking toy! Who do you think he'll be taking that out on? Hmm? The people who failed!" I throw up my hands in disbelief and begin to walk away grumbling about idiots.
"Hey, I ain't done talking with you." I sigh at the deep voice and turn around. I hadn't actually wanted to leave yet, but this had to seem realistic.
"Yeah, well, unless you're gonna give me your phone so I can call the king to report in with-"
"How bout I call him." I blurt out the first reason that comes to my head why it won't work.
"Do you have the codes?"
"Codes?"
"Yes! Passcodes, check codes, so he knows the information isn't compromised."
"King doesn't use codes, I'm getting a-"
"Exactly! He doesn't use them! So who would suspect an operative of using them!"
"Why you telling me all this, if it's so secret." I sigh and shake my head.
"Because you're going to die any way because you kept me here so long that the hunter has probably triangulated the location of my phone and is on his way." The other demon rolls his eyes. "What were you planning on doing with me anyway? Torturing me to find out if I'm the demon you're looking for?" The other demon chuckles.
"No. Any demon out of place gets sent back to Hell, to check in with the King, a personal little get together." That is not good.
"Great, I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be, gathering information-"
"Then you won't mind checking in with the King."
"I don't have time! There's a rally-"
"I ain't heard of no rally, or gathering offensive."
"Of course not, they're keeping it quiet! She's sneaky!"
"She….?" Shit. Gotta roll with it.
"Yes, she. Found that out too. She's sneaky and dangerous."
"Find that hard to believe. Everyone Knows she Just got turned into a demon. She's green as an emerald."
"Yeah, an emerald who sat next to a finely cut ruby for 500 years!"
"Just cus she knows what to do, don't mean she can do it." Gods that was so true. Still, it told me something. I smile again, slowly.
"You…. don't know what she is do you?" The demon looks at me quizzically. "You don't. Ok. That's, fine that the king hasn't told any one yet. Sure." I throw up my hands and pace nervously. Not hard with the pressure I'm under.
"Told us what?" I shake my head.
"No. King hasn't told anyone, so it's not my place to share it. I'm not dying because I disobeyed his fucking orders."
"Tell me or I'll-"
"What? Beat me? Take me to him? What?" I start to pace faster, widening my stride and the length of my trail. I look at my phone, 1 minute. Might as well be for fucking ever. I continue pacing. The demon snarls and takes out his phone. Or more accurately shakes his wrist to manifest it. He presses a single button and my stomach sinks. It all happens so quickly I can't even react or I might have actually attempted to possess his body and fight him that way.
"Ohhhh shit, he's calling the king isn't he."
"Most likely Chris, yes."
The demon holds his wrist up and his whole body straightens even though Crowley isn't there to see.
"Wait, Crowley is the king!?"
"Shut up. Yes." Christopher struggles a little bit, distracting me.
"You're fighting the king of hell! Lucifer!"
"Lucifer is dead. Fortunately."
"What? How? Why?"
"Later! Unless you want to meet the current king, shut up! Stop questioning me!" I slam down on Christo, sending pain through every fiber of his being and mine, a dizzying experience for someone unused to it.
"-says they're doin some type of recon. Being chased by a hunter who don't care about keepin stuff secret. Yeah, agree that's even more a reason to take em out, admit that might make it trick-. …. Pologies my king. Of course." The demon holds up his wrist and flicks it, and the holophone on my wrist comes to life with the call. Shit. This is not a thing I knew about. I stand in silence for about three seconds before bringing my wrist up.
"My-my liege."
"Chew Toy."
"No sir."
"Then who are you? Your lack of surprise at that name gives you away."
"No sir. I'm Rani's intelligence agent." There is silence.
"She has no reports on you, no money expenditures."
"Everything is off the books. I only work in paper when handing over information. Since I have not heard from her for a few days she dictated I should report to you with my most recent findings. I was gather-"
"No. Ranni didn't keep information on her agents private. She-" I look up at a sound and sigh in relief. A car had pulled up. I look back at the demon and nod holding up a finger and walking to the door. I'm barely, I'm not even listening to Crowley. I'm just thankful this demon was not as important as I thought he was.
Before the demon can react I've calmly left the store and then dashed into the waiting car. I hit mute on the phone, hanging up would cause suspicion and talk to the driver. Not a demon, thankfully.
"From out of town?"
"Yeah, Camden." I look at the driver, well dressed young man with olive skin and green eyes. I nod.
"Drive around, randomly. No stoplights, no highways. I'll pay you double. Hit a stoplight, and I-" shit I'm in the back seat. I slide over so I'm behind him, and place my hand in his shoulder, better than nothing. "Hit a stoplight and I'll kill you."
"You're gonna kill him anyway."
"He's seen our pretty face."
"You're hungry."
"That too."
"Chew Toy!" The yell from the phone and I unmute it quickly before replacing my hand on the young man's shoulder. I lean forward and whisper in his ear.
"Drive. Now." And squeeze my hand. I'm rewarded with a slight bit of crunching and a wince and I nod before raising the phone back up again.
"Hello Mark." I can practically hear the cringe on the other end. I'd never called him that before and am curious as to how he'll react.
"You. Ate. My. Tailor." His voice is quiet, and hot with anger. I chuckle.
"Oh good, you found the episode. How long did it take you?"
"More time than it will take to track this phone!"
"Time to go then." He keeps talking, and I decide to risk being on the phone a bit longer. I missed his voice. The driver has taken turn upon turn, not going anywhere, but hopefully making it just a bit harder to bamf into the car.
"Having fun are you? This little game of yours? Running around making sub par art?"
"What, you're not enjoying the game? You can't say you aren't enjoying the art. I thought my last piece was very flattering."
"It was fairly accurate, but I've grown since then."
"I know. Around the middle too I suppose?"
"Among other places."
"Good for you. Toodles."
"When I win this stupid game of chess I will end it by crushing you with the board Chew Toy! I-"
I end the call then and there, deciding risking any more time for tracing it would be a bad idea. I pull the sdx card with memory out of the bracelet and throw the phone bracelet out the window. I grin as moments later I hear cursing from around the corner. It's broad daylight, popping into random cars would not be rather conspicuous. But just in case that demon got a look at the car I was in...and the face I'm wearing. I should probably change it. I look at the driver, considering my options when Chris's thoughts loudly interrupt my own as he mentally speaks..
"The...King of Hell." I chuckle at his statement.
"Yes indeed."
"You're fighting, playing a game with-" I smile and shake my head at Chris's shock and sudden fear as he realizes who I've been painting, playing, and poking at. I pause and snap my art supplies once again into my arms, wanting them with me for the evening, intent on sketching something.
"Yes."
"WHY?"
"I owe it to him to fuck up some of his shit." Over 300 years of IOU's was quite a lot to pay back, but I was sure a sin gonna try.
"Won't he torture you!?"
"Hmmm. I don't know. Do I think THE KING OF HELL, will torture me for fucking with his shit?" I feel Chris shrink at my acerbic sarcasm. "Of course he fucking is, but I doubt anything I haven't experienced before. And if it is, well, that will be interesting."
"You're insane!"
"Quite. Now if-" I'm about to tell the driver to pull into an serendipitously empty parking lot when I feel a tug behind my gut, and I'm gone.
At least whoever is summoning me saved me cab fare.
(Hey all, sorry about the lack of updates. Between work and some yucky health issues I just haven't had the energy. I wanted to have this done by September but that may not happen. I'll Keep working on it when I can. Stay safe everyone.)
