5. Harlowe
The train ticket Dr. Faustus gave me was actually for Sunday. He intended for me to be in class on Monday. It wasn’t much time to decide at all, but I ended up not needing it. All signs pointed towards going, being the best thing for me.
I would have preferred spending Halloween night partying, but I had to be responsible. JaToya was off since it was the weekend. She went with me to visit Mom in the hospital so I could tell her what was going on and prepare her for being moved.
Most weekends, I either slept at JaToya’s house or she slept at mine, so our parents knew us pretty well.
Mom knew how much I wanted to play music and had always gone the extra mile to make it happen.
She also knew I was waiting tables because I didn’t want to leave her.
Mom also knew damned well I had a hard head and wouldn’t unless she was taken care of.
She also knew JaToya was going to dig into everything for the people she cared about. Even Mom was on board when JaToya said she couldn’t find anything that would come back to bite me in the butt. So, I was going and getting excited about it.
I wasn’t going to blow that massive tip.
I paid the hospital, bought JaToya a train ticket to help me get settled in, and then she helped me invest it where I’d get good dividends.
We spent the rest of the weekend packing things up.
I was taking my clothes and violin and arranging for a company to pick up my furniture and move it to storage.
It was all cheap or second hand, but I didn’t want to have to buy it again if I had to.
It was finally time, and we took our seats on the train.
It wasn’t packed and there were plenty of free seats, but someone sat across from us.
Yeah, I had a stalker because this was the guy who kicked the garbage can over when I was paying attention to someone else and filmed me.
JaToya saw me tense, and that was all she needed.
“Are you lost? Because you aren’t her type and I don’t date white boys.”
“That’s the guy from the subway,” I hissed.
“So, I can prepare, the hot one who might be making your dreams come true or the batshit one who thinks demons are real?”
This guy was massive. JaToya and I took self-defense classes and carried mace on our keychains, but if this man got his hands on us, he could snap our necks in seconds. We couldn’t exactly run away on a train.
“Um, maybe don’t call him batshit when he’s sitting across from us?”
“Sorry, I assumed he was the hot one. The other man was prettier than this?”
The crazy one took a big sigh as if we were annoying him, but he was the one who filmed me, put me online, and was now on the train with me.
“I’m an angel. We’re all physical perfection. And I’m not crazy or here to hurt you. This was much easier hundreds of years ago.”
Psychosis and an ego. Awesome. We shouldn’t have to entertain this nonsense, so we didn’t get murdered. Maybe I could just pinky swear that if I met a demon, I wouldn’t sell them my soul. I could probably sell this better if I were dressed more like JaToya and less like Morticia Addams.
Fuck this guy. I loved my look.
“None of you believe anymore, and it’s a serious problem. You caught my brother’s attention on the subway platform. He’s going to want to make a deal with you, but you can’t accept. He’s a liar and a cheat, so the deal won’t be fair. Your soul will be tortured for all of eternity.”
He looked nothing like my golden man, except in size. It was rare to meet someone that tall and muscular unless it ran in the family. JaToya was tall with the body of a swimsuit model, but her brothers also towered over me. Her dad was at least six foot four, and her mom was six feet tall in heels.
“Your brother was the one who was staring at me when you kicked the garbage can over, right?”
“Yes! He’s the devil! Lucifer rebelled against our Father and started a war in Heaven. He’s trapped in Hell as punishment, but his demons are free to walk the earth and tempt mortals into selling their souls. Lucifer came personally for you.”
I was familiar with manic episodes. Mom took her medication religiously and went to therapy, but she’d have to change it because of health issues.
She was fine on a newer antipsychotic at first, but then she was diagnosed with diabetes, and it made managing her blood sugar difficult. Lithium nearly killed her.
The Haldol wasn’t great for her blood sugar, but it was better than what she had tried before. Lamotrigine would have been better, but she got a rash when they started titrating up and she couldn’t take it anymore.
This wasn’t a manic episode. This was full-blown psychosis. His brother had the power and money to find out that much information about me and leave that much money in my account, and couldn’t get him help? He found out about my mother and was trying to help her. What about his brother?
JaToya slipped her hand in mine and squeezed it because she knew what I was thinking now that he was sitting in front of us.
Mania wasn’t like psychosis. Mom was restless and bouncing off the walls, and sometimes she did things she regretted, like blowing our rent on new furniture because she hated the old stuff.
She’d get agitated over little things and had really bad ideas, but she wasn’t convinced fairy tales were real.
I knew how to handle a manic episode, but this was out of my wheelhouse. This man was also a complete stranger to me. His clothes were designer, and he was well-groomed. He seemed as if he urgently wanted me to hear this, but he wasn’t agitated.
Gadreel showed no signs of psychosis except for the delusions. JaToya wasn’t saying a thing, and she usually would. I had a lot more experience with this in some ways.
“I don’t even know his name and I haven’t spoken to him. He hasn’t tried to contact me, but you’ve tried really hard to get my attention.”
Because I didn’t know for sure my golden man was my new patron.
Gadreel knew him and managed to figure out I’d be on this particular train.
There were only a few people who could tell me it was raining lizards, and the sky was red that I’d believe, and JaToya was one of them.
I was also friends with her grandmother on social media.
I adored that woman, but if Gadreel was worse at the internet than she was, he shouldn’t know I’d be on this train.
“Lucifer has limited time on this plane, but he has demons and emissaries to do his bidding. He sent one after he was called back to his prison to offer you a place at his school.”
Well, that answered it. The golden man was my patron, and his brother thought he was the devil. This was way more drama than I signed up for, but surely Blackvale had security.
“I very specifically asked if there were strings attached to my tuition and was told no. If anyone asks for my soul, I’ll just tell them to get fucked. Does that satisfy you?”
“Your problem is that you have no faith. If my brother offered you your darkest desire, you’d sign away your soul in blood because you think there are no consequences.”
“Buddy, if anyone asks to buy my soul, I’m getting out of there and calling for a welfare check. The only reason I’m not doing that right now is because you chose to corner us on a train.”
Gadreel’s whole face lit up as if I’d just given him a present. I’d wanted to meet my mysterious patron to thank them, but now the only thing I wanted was to tell him to get his brother some help and get far away from that family drama.
“Yes! I can work with that. Call them and tell them I’m crazy, but do the same if my brother or any of his minions try to bargain for your soul. It’s all real, Harlowe Lopez. Don’t forget that.”
And then he got up and left. JaToya and I just stared at his empty seat.
“Did that just happen?” I asked.
“Apparently. I couldn’t find your benefactor’s actual name, but I swear, I didn’t find anything about them being related when I was digging into Gadreel. Think he’s lying?”
“Not your fault. And how could he have known to be on this train unless someone told him? I haven’t had time to tell anyone but Mom and you that I was going to Blackvale. All my landlord knows is that I paid my rent through the end of my lease and then I’m not renewing.”
“Want to call it off? You’ve got a decent nest egg now. He’s weird, but that video helped you. You could monetize your account and someone would notice. Do you need Blackvale, babe?”
“Ugh, yeah. I still have loads to learn, and the faculty there is world-class. Some of them are tenured because they do research, are retired, or they are working artists after class lets out and enjoy teaching. A lot are rotating. Someone is burnt out and wants to remember why they love it, so they teach for a semester or a year. It would be stupid to say I don’t need Blackvale. ”
“Yeah, but no one needs whatever that was.”
“No, they don’t. Which is why I’m not going to make up my mind until I get there and see what kind of security they have.”
“Good. And if you decide to stay and then change your mind later, just call me. We can burn them to the ground together for not protecting you.”
“You know I’m going to miss the shit out of you, right?”
“We did this before in undergrad and we can do it again. But you’ll have to remember to check in with my Mom because if I tell her you’re fine and she thinks I’m lying, she’s going to drive up here.”
She would. Violet Frost had the strongest bullshit meter on anyone I’d ever met.
JaToya and her brothers couldn’t get away with anything.
Violet was fiercely protective of me because of Mom, but I had a little more leeway with saying I was fine than JaToya did saying I was fine. Plus, I loved her family.
“Violet Frost could probably terrify that giant man who just left.”
“Just remember, you lit all those candles, and we pinky swore once that white lies were okay with our parents, but never each other. If that guy bothers you again, I want to know.”
That was a given. We looked out for each other. I didn’t know what kind of security Blackvale Academy had, but I knew my best friend could handle a lot from her living room in her pajamas.