22. The bullet train.
22
The bullet train.
“The United States of America train exorcists following strict standards and regulations. Only the best make it out of training with a job offer. But demon hunting is a profitable business, especially in the world of demonic traders. You will meet what we call ‘rogue exorcists’ on the job. Do not make contact with any of them. They are unpredictable and untrustworthy. Please, report any such individual to your superiors. Rogue exorcists often work alone or with a gang, and their life expectancy is extremely low. By reporting them, you might save their life […]”
-Extract from the State Exorcist’s Manual , edition of 2047.
NEW YORK CITY/ CALIFORNIA, 2043 - 2047
Over the span of five years, I became the best exorcist in New York. The demonic traders of the city knew to call me to deal with a demon on a rampage, no matter the class.
Botched rituals, poorly contained creatures from Hell, and lost possessed were my bread-and-butter.
Lucifer took over more often, since my body could take it for longer periods of time, and led us on our quest to find the gate. We became an unstoppable duo, sharing the same flesh. To the outside world, I appeared to be a lunatic. But it didn’t matter, as long as I did the job.
I never stayed long enough in one place to give time for my enemies to find me. I sold all of my father’s properties and moved from hotel rooms to short-term rentals all over New York, keeping out of the State Exorcists’ way, so that Robb had no reason to come after me with his junky friends.
And yet, my reputation grew, and the demons themselves started calling me the White Exorcist. I stuck out like a sore thumb wherever I went. The young indie exorcist, with his faded complexion and strange behaviors.
Quickly, my hunt brought me to the Californian coast, where the demonic trade flourished from San Diego, to San Francisco, and Los Angeles.
The first time we landed at the Los Angeles National Airport, Lucifer called a taxi that took us straight to the sea.
We arrived at Paradise Cove Beach around eleven pm on an early Fall night. Lucifer took my shoes off to walk on the warm sand, carrying a bag over my shoulder. We shared a body, and I could feel his delight as he breathed in the salty air and my toes dipped into the sand.
He walked us far enough to escape the rare people on a late walk or the couples making out on the beach, before dropping the bag near the cliff side. He took our clothes off and folded them neatly.
“ Are we really doing this? ” I asked him.
Lucifer hummed deeply. “Yes. It’s been a while since I swam in the North Pacific Ocean.”
I laughed. “ You and your obsession with water .”
He walked us, stark naked, to the sea. “You would be obsessed, too, if you were born in Hell like I was. Water is scarce in my world, and our rain is like acid.”
“ What about sharks? ” I asked anxiously.
“There are no sharks in Hell, stupid human,” he joked.
I’d come to learn that he wasn’t as serious as I first expected him to be. Lucifer’s humor was as discreet as a hidden blade, but sharp nonetheless.
“I meant here. In the ocean .”
He dove into the dark water and resurfaced seconds later. The sea was invigoratingly cold. “I am the Light Bearer, Traveler of Worlds and the Great Adversary. Do you really think a shark is a threat to us?”
I snorted. “ I doubt the sharks will know about all your fancy titles. They’ll just see a tasty snack with a smoky aftertaste .”
He ignored me and swam farther away before floating on his back. Los Angeles was renowned for its dust storms coming from inland, but that night the sky was clear and the moon hung low on the horizon. The world seemed peaceful, as if Hell wasn’t knocking on our door.
“ Do you sometimes miss it? ” I asked. “ Hell .”
Lucifer took his time answering. “I wish I did. It would make my ineluctable return easier.”
The cold water lapped at my naked skin, and even though I wasn’t the one in control, I could still feel the goosebumps rising on my arms. Lucifer had always felt what I felt. Every flush, shiver, pain, and heartache. Through me, he’d experienced my first times as if they were his own. Like when I lost a tooth when I was eight after tripping on a tree’s root. Or that time I fell in love with a boy from middle-school, long before I even knew what love was. Lonely Christmases and hard-won victories. The small and big things of a human life. How refreshing it must be to feel so deeply again for a centuries-old creature?
“ You really like it here, don’t you? ” I said.
Lucifer dove again, delaying his answer. The little waves crashing on the beach were surprisingly loud underwater.
“Yes,” he said when he came back up, shaking the water out of my hair. “Enough to make me wonder if my mortal flesh could use the gate to cross to your world. But I would be seen as a god here, and it is not something I wish to happen.”
The Devil, surprisingly, had no desire for conquest and power. At least, not anymore. He reveled in the simple things of life. Petty revenges, the taste of good food, and rain pelting his skin. He wanted to enjoy a few more centuries of these simple things and witness the continuous rise and fall of human civilizations, inventions, and art revolutions.
We spent the night at the beach, talking about the differences between our two worlds, and it’s one of the happiest memories I have of Lucifer.
I was twenty-two on the day that I died.
During that time, I was often called to the different cities along the West Coast for jobs, and used the Californian High-Speed Rail to travel between them.
It was a Tuesday in May 2047, and I was coming back from San Francisco on a bullet train. The rain drops blurred the view outside of my window; it was a boon for the surviving crops of the valley. I snoozed on a seat in first-class, exhausted after a tough job. I’d been called to hunt down a group of demons, but the police got involved and it got messy.
Lucifer was dormant.
We’d been following fruitless tracks for years, and getting no closer to finding the gate of Hell, but we enjoyed a kind of normalcy through the paranormal nature of my day-to-day life. Lucifer no longer talked about devouring my soul. He didn’t seem in a hurry for it to happen. Or maybe he’d come to care enough for me to spare me the anxiety of bringing it up.
I relaxed on the train seat and closed my eyes. I could use a nap before arriving in Los Angeles.
But then the smell of sulfur wafted in the car, and I jolted awake.
I eyed the other travelers. There was a mother with her two kids, immersed in a card game, a young couple watching a movie, and a man working on a laptop. Nothing seemed amiss. But appearances could deceive. I was the perfect example. One of them might have been recently possessed.
I looked behind me, to the end of the car, and froze.
A man was standing beyond the glass door, a blood-chilling smile on his twisted features. I recognized him as the demon I’d been hunting down before the police got in my way. He waved slowly before giving me the middle-finger.
Before I could get to my feet, an explosion rocked the bullet train.
“ Jon! ” Lucifer said before everything suddenly surged into violent chaos and I lost myself in the darkness.