Devil's Advocate

Kenneth insisted on eating nothing but a granola bar for breakfast, saying he could eat more after he helped Angelique reach purgatory. Which was still startling and odd to her to think about. Despite her not wanting to, she couldn’t help but wonder what purgatory was like. Or whether or not everything she had ever known in religion was a lie. She knew logically it didn’t matter anymore anyway, that even if she was wrong, and she figured it all out, by the time her time was up nothing would change. Her soul was still forfeit. She pushed any feelings of pessimism aside. It wasn’t going to do either her or Kenneth any good. Instead, she focused on her current mission. Which was not going well.

“You just need to fall asleep.” Kenneth said, his tone reassuring. Angelique sighed.

“Yes, you’ve said so three times.” She answered, sitting up. “But it’s really hard to fall asleep with you staring at me.”

“If I don’t sit here and watch, how am I supposed to know when it’s been an hour?”

“I don’t know.” Angelique shrugged exasperatedly, covering her face with her hands. She was overthinking it. And she definitely couldn’t sleep while she was overthinking it. She just needed to clear her mind. She startled when Kenneth rested his hand on her shoulder.

“Hey. Just relax. It’ll be ok.” He was quick to assure her. Angelique gently removed his hand from her shoulder and sat it on the bed, rolling over to face away from him.

“No. Just no.” She told him, closing her eyes. He might have responded, but she didn’t hear him. To be fair, she was focused on not hearing him. She needed to put up more of a wall between the two of them was her last thought as she finally drifted off to sleep.

She awoke to darkness, just as the devil said. But instead of just closing her eyes and existing in that darkness, she picked a direction and started walking. Alone in the dark, even the dark just inside her mind, sent nervous jitters up and down her spine. If her heart was still beating she had no doubt it would be pounding in her ears right now. She held her breath, shoving the growing anxiety back down as she kept going, remembering what she was doing this for. She needed this information, this lead to Scott. She needed any sort of help she could get.

Sure enough, just like Lucifer said, the edge of the blackness began to blur. It was like watching someone blending watercolors, but underwater. The soft focus almost hurt her eyes, but she kept moving towards it. She began moving faster as that tugging sensation that she felt when she died began pulling behind her navel. A bright light cut off her vision and she closed her eyes as all sensation faded from her for a brief moment.

The sensations returned to her a moment later with a jolt as the light died down and the pulling sensation ceased. She opened her eyes and looked around at what appeared to be an older prison, with the color sucked out of it. If it wasn’t the sheets or the pillows in the cell-which were white-it was all grey. The floor, the walls, the ceiling. All of it. Angelique felt her stomach turn.

The creep factor only increase as she walked along the corridor, looking in the different cells. In one a heavy set blonde woman with a pretty face was sitting on her bed, knees tucked up to her chest. Tears trailed down her face as she stared blankly at a wall. In the next cell, a fit man with dark hair was punching a wall repeatedly, blood trailing down his hand. It was like he couldn’t feel the pain anymore. She heard something crack with a loud smack as she walked quickly passed. The third cell there was a woman just standing in the middle of the cell, her blanket, pillow, and mattress overturned. She stared at Angelique through a curtain of red hair as she rushed even faster by her cell. She startled as a soft voice called her name.

“Angelique? You’re Angelique right?” She followed the voice to the cell simply labeled ‘14’. A young woman stood directly behind the bars staring at her, her hands wrapped around the bars. Angelique stepped closer.

“You’re Angelique, right?” she asked again, the hope in her eyes thick behind the sheen of tears.

“I am. You’re Victoria? Did Lucifer tell you I was coming?”

“I am.” The girl sniffled, tears finally beginning to fall as her face expressed nothing but relief. “And he did. He seems really nice.”

“Don’t believe it. He’s not ever what he seems.” She mused. Victoria looked confused. Angelique shook her head. “Never mind. I’m here about Scott. You saw where he lived. Before you…died.” The girl looked so lost.

“Yes. I think…it’s all a bit fuzzy.” Victoria answered, her body shaking. “But I do remember. It was cold. His house was drafty, the electricity was off. There was no heat. He was talking crazy about an experiment, about trying to find another person who could heal damage like her. He never said who she was.” Angelique felt her stomach drop.

“I think I was her.” She said slowly. “I think I was the her he was talking about.”

“You?” Her face paled. “Stay away from him, Angelique. He has a horrible fascination with you. I don’t know what all he was talking about but he wants to do horrid things to you.” Angelique held up her hand. She didn’t want to know about any of that. Her mind was buzzing and her stomach was turning with the idea of him wanting to experiment on her because she could heal any damage he was able to dish out. Angelique took a deep breath.

“Listen Victoria. I’m dead. Just like you. There’s nothing more he can do to me.” She lied. Victoria looked immediately relieved. Angelique continued, “However, I need to know where he is. So I can kill him.” Now she looked confused.

“But wait. How can you kill him if you’re not alive? Aren’t you an angel?” Victoria asked. Angelique shifted her weight from foot too foot, immediately uncomfortable.

“Not exactly.” She answered. Victoria stepped back, a little wary now.

“So you’re from the other side? Hell?”

“No.” Angelique was quick to answer. She took a deep breath. “It’s a long story, and I don’t have time. My timing is limited here.” Victoria looked like she was deep in thought.

“If I see you again, will you tell me?” she eventually asked. Angelique nodded, fairly certain she wasn’t going to come back again.

“Yes. Of course I will. But I need you to hurry please and tell me. Where does Scott live?” Angelique was close to begging, and she could feel her time running out. Her body was beginning to feel heavy. Victoria’s eyes widened.

“You need to go.” She insisted.

“Not yet. Tell me!” Angelique grasped the bars to Victoria’s cell, desperate to stay. She felt a jolt run through her body. Kenneth was trying to wake her up. Her time was up.

“Please Victoria, if you know something tell me please.” She rushed out the words, digging her fingernails into her palms she was holding the bars so tight. Victoria nodded, her eyes wide.

“Farmhouse. Farmhouse on 570 road.”

“570 road? What’s the house number? What’s the city?” Angelique felt another jolt. Damn it Kenneth not yet!

“I don’t know. I don’t…I’m sorry, Angelique. I’m sorry.” Victoria was backing away from her, panicking. Angelique felt another jolt, this one stronger. It jerked her away from the bars with a rough tug, like an invisible hand had shoved her back. Victoria reached out but made no move to get closer. Angelique felt a sudden need to comfort her.

“It’s ok, Victoria. It’s ok. Don’t be afraid. Do whatever you have to do here and you’ll go to heaven one day, alright?” Angelique felt another shove. He was trying harder to wake her now.

“Wait! Angelique!” Victoria rushed the bars, reaching through them. Angelique reached back for her.

“Don’t be afraid.” She said again. “It’s going to be ok.” Victoria called out her name again but after that, Angelique didn’t hear anything else but a rushing sound. There was a blinding flash, a pulling sensation, and with a rush she found herself jolting awake, back in Kenneth’s spare bedroom. Angelique sat up with a start, gasping for air like she had just run a marathon. Kenneth reached for her as he called out her name, but she reared back, her eyes wide in panic. Kenneth stepped back with his hands raised.

“Ok. Ok, I won’t touch you. You’re ok. You’re home.” Angelique took a deep breath. Home. She was home. No. She was in Kenneth’s home. She could not afford to get attached to Kenneth, or his things. Not even to be friends. She was dead, and was going to either heaven or hell in the end. There was no scenario where this ended well if she formed an attachment to him. Thankfully, he seemed to be getting the point. As she calmed down, she scooted away from the edge of the bed, giving him room to take a seat. He sat down, but didn’t touch her again. Good.

“What happened down there? Or up there I guess? I am not sure where purgatory is.” He asked. Angelique shrugged, she didn’t know where it was either.

“It was terrifying. Lonely. Bland. Devoid of color and feeling. And cold.” She shivered. Kenneth lifted himself up and pulled off the blanket at the foot of the bed, covering Angelique with it. Angelique curled up in the blanket, ignoring the fact that she didn’t really need to keep warm anymore, and violently ignoring her desire for distance. She allowed herself this one little bit of comfort. Angelique took a beat before she continued.

“I found her.”

“Veronika?”

“Victoria.” She corrected, leaning forward. “But yes, I found her. And she told me where Scott is. Well, sort of.” Kenneth tilted his head.

“Sort of? I thought she knew!” he was growing exasperated. Angelique shrugged again.

“I think she does. But being dead…it’s jarring, Kenneth. Scary. Startling. And she’s just a kid. She’s trying to accept her current situation, and it’s difficult to do. I had help. She doesn’t.” Angelique had to reign it back in. She was giving too much emotional energy to a girl she didn’t even know in life. She cleared her throat and took a deep breath, despite it being useless. The act itself was calming, though. So she determined that despite not needing it, she was going to continue to do it. She was going to be a selfish dead woman in that regard. The thought made her grin, and calmed her down.

“So what info did she have?” Kenneth didn’t acknowledge any of her speech about death, which Angelique chalked up to him needing to cope with his own feelings about the matter. Death was terrifying. She knew that. When she was alive she was afraid of it. Now, knowing what she did, she was less afraid of dying. But she was more afraid of hell. She kept that information to herself, not needing to assist Kenneth in his own issues. She had enough of her own as it was.

“She said he lived on 570 road in an old farmhouse.” Angelique answered. Kenneth frowned in thought.

“570 road? Where is that?” he asked. For the third time, Angelique shrugged.

“I have zero clue. She didn’t say where it was, just said it was a farmhouse on 570 road.” She answered. Kenneth thought about it and nodded.

“Alright. A quick google search should tell us a bit more information, right?” he asked. Angelique nodded.

“I’m sure it will. I hope it will.” She took another deep breath and pushed the blanket off of her shoulders, moving to her feet. He stood quickly and tried to stop her.

“Whoa, whoa. Take it easy and rest.” He tried to insist. Angelique shook her head and stepped forward.

“I am not human.” She answered. “And I need to stop acting like I am. I need to help do this. Do you have another computer?”

“I don’t. But I know someone I can borrow a laptop from.” He answered slowly. Angelique nodded.

“Call him then.”

“Her.” He corrected, sounding almost guilty. Angelique waved her hand like she was trying to shoo the conversation away.

“Whatever. I don’t care if your friend is a purple alien. Get her on the line and ask if you can borrow that laptop. Or get me a phone book or something. I need to be helping more.” She took off down the hall, towards the living room where she remembered seeing a phone book somewhere. She was going to look through it while she waited on Kenneth to call his female friend. He followed her down the hall at a quick walk.

“Alright, take it easy.” He teased her, grabbing another granola bar from the kitchen before he joined her in the living room. He was not surprised to see her sitting in the living room, already pouring over the phone book. Kenneth made the call. After his friend agreed to swing by in a few minutes to loan him the laptop, he pulled out his own and did a quick search. He frowned.

“Ok so bad news. There’s like a million 570 roads in the continental US. So we’re back to square one.”

“No. Now we have a lead.” Angelique stated firmly. “We just have to keep following it and see where it goes.” Kenneth nodded and went back to the laptop. Angelique went back to the phone book. Honestly, she wasn’t sure how confident she was in this lead, and whether it would even pan out. But she had to hold onto hope, to something. After all, this was a step forward she didn’t have before. She had to make it count. And if she couldn’t, she would just plan to visit Victoria again. Even if she really, really didn’t want to go back.