"And where did you see a demon here?" I turned back to the stranger. Of course, I knew perfectly well she was talking about me. After all, you don't meet an unknown, fucking handsome guy (if you don't praise yourself, no one will, except for my beautiful valkyrie) stepping out of a genuine rift in space (I was in the mouth of a volcano at the time—admiring the lava, so the ambiance was… hellish) on the street every day. And if you also consider that this kind of shit is usually the domain of incubi and succubi trying to corrupt innocent souls… Wait, hold on. How would an ordinary person even have that kind of knowledge?! Interesting…
"..." The girl… fainted… Welp. It seems I overestimated the young lady's nervous system. Severely overestimated…
"You're something else…" Sighing, I carefully scooped her up in my arms and walked out of the dirty, stinking alley. So, my brilliant plan had just gone to a very well-known place. What plan? Well, first, I wanted to fly over the city for a bit, since my previous flights had caused not only panic among certain, particularly impressionable individuals who immediately started shouting "THE END IS NIGH!!!", but also an unexpected religious ecstasy in the local church. The Pope himself, who for some unknown reason had been keeping a low profile here, started streaming on YouTube almost daily, telling his flock that God does exist and that he is merciful…
Sounds strange, I agree. When one of my exorcists in charge of the drones—Jaina (NOT Proudmoore)—showed me the video and summarized its main points, I was pretty surprised and even deployed another ten drones with Darkness-detection capabilities to Earth. A very unpleasant thought had occurred to me: it was quite possible that Asmodeus wasn't the only one working for Eve. But so far, unfortunately (or fortunately, considering Hell didn't have as much of it as I thought), it hadn't yielded any results.
After my "third coming," I had planned to fly around different cities and just watch people. Because in this universe, as it turned out, it was entirely possible to find a "secret organization for catching demons" in the very first back alley you stumbled into (proven by Loona and her gang). And I wanted to browse the local internet a bit, since I eventually have to change these people somehow, and without understanding what exactly needs changing, it was hard to even map out the scope of the work, let alone a complete plan of action.
But this brilliant plan (for relaxation) had to be scrapped. Because any demon, in my place, would have just laughed at the silly human girl and fucked off to do their dark deeds—corrupting, killing, and depraving. But I, not just as an angel, but as a full-fledged Archangel, the first of them at that, simply couldn't just up and leave this cute girl in a dirty, piss-stained alley. So, I'd have to take her to a hotel or something. Let her sleep, and when she comes to, I'll ask her a few questions and then bounce. Her shout about a "demon" had seemed very strange to me. I just don't believe it was a simple coincidence, I don't!
The street greeted me with the scorching, merciless sun. Here in Los Angeles, summer was already in full swing, so thirty-plus degrees Celsius (over 86°F) in the shade was the norm. In my past life, I would have been dying from this, but now, with such a "leveled-up" archangel body, such trifles didn't bother me much. On the contrary, this bright, warm sun gave me a huge mood buff! How so? Well, the local customs, multiplied by this heat, forced the local girls to wear the most revealing, light clothing, which left absolutely, fucking, nothing to the imagination! And no, I'm not some kind of perverted womanizer. I'm simply enjoying aesthetic beauty. No base feelings! Angel's honor!
And people, of course, were glancing at me. Though, while the women looked with open interest, the men, for the most part, looked with poorly concealed envy when their eyes fell on my unconscious cargo. Yep. But not a single, goddamn, soul came up and asked, "What the actual hell, sir, are you doing carrying an unconscious young woman in your arms? You're not a kidnapper, by any chance?"… Fucking shameful. That's my attitude towards this universal apathy in a nutshell.
Nevertheless, I found a "hotel" in just a couple of minutes: a huge, faded sign reading "Hotel Macgee" adorned one of the buildings. The building itself was a small, three-story house built in a semicircle, with a couple of dozen rooms and a large parking lot in the middle filled with old cars. It was immediately obvious that the place was quite old and therefore, most likely, inexpensive.
At that very moment, a very unpleasant thought occurred to me… What was I supposed to pay with? Create gold out of thin air? No problem, especially after I learned to create real, tangible objects by combining Darkness and Light. But what would the hotel owner think? An unknown, tough-looking guy with a knocked-out girl in his arms and no documents comes in and pays with pure, fucking, gold… In short, my recent mental rewiring to that of a Heaven resident, where money was unnecessary, had played a cruel joke on me. Hmm… I glanced at my cargo again… What if I borrowed a few bucks from her and left a simple but expensive ring in return as compensation? If she needs to, she can sell it. That way, we both come out ahead, and I don't have to tempt fate by wandering around the city looking for a pawn shop. No, I could, of course, sneak into someone's house while invisible and "borrow" some cash or just stay there for a couple of hours until the lady comes to, but why, when I can do everything legally and above board, without worrying about some hidden camera catching my angelic ass? Exactly. There was no point. So, we enter another dark alley, kick out a group of some stoned junkies, give the most audacious one a swift kick in the ass, and start groping… I mean, searching this beauty…
So, the results of my search were: one wallet. One set of documents. One old, worn-out notebook. And one can of pepper spray and a magnifying glass. Well, not much, not much at all. I even started to feel sorry for this girl. I wonder why the hell she went into that alley in the first place?
"Well, this should be enough…" I skeptically eye the only bill found in her wallet—twenty, fucking, bucks. Who the hell knows what the prices are here now. In my past life, I wasn't particularly interested in prices in America in the two-thousand-and-tens (that is, I wasn't interested at all, not a fucking bit). And as for Adam… well, in short, who the hell knows if this will be enough money. But I really hope so.
After my session of looting… thievin… searching? Anyway, the girl suspended in mid-air returned to my arms, and her few belongings went back into her pockets. And I headed straight for the hotel, internally praying to all the gods that the price for a room wouldn't be too high. Since I was too damn lazy to drag myself somewhere to sell gold, I had already decided I didn't care how suspicious it all looked and would just shove a gold ingot at the receptionist anyway. And if he doesn't agree, I'll shove it deeper. It's decided!
The hotel, which actually turned out to be a regular motel, looked so-so—the building was made entirely of wood and, judging by its appearance, quite shabby. Inside, fortunately, the air conditioning was working, and behind the reception desk sat an elderly man, about fifty or sixty, with a gray, well-groomed beard and surprisingly intelligent, clear eyes, which was a great rarity in this human world. Because of one certain bitch, yes.
"Good afternoon, can I get a room for one day?" I approached the man and asked, simultaneously pretending that my "cargo" was completely normal and none of his business.
"Good afternoon, young man. Of course, we have vacant rooms…" after which he gave a very expressive look at the girl in my arms. "And this is…"
"This is my girlfriend," well, what was I supposed to say? "A friend"? "An acquaintance"? That would sound suspicious as hell! "We're just passing through, and we had a bit too much to drink last night…"
"Well then, that'll be 19.90. Your room is number thirteen, it's on the third floor, entrance from the outside," the old man pretended to believe me and handed me a key, as well as a ten-cent coin in change.
"Thanks," I nodded to the receptionist and went outside. Ah, there's that rusty, creaky staircase leading to the third floor.
I held the stranger with one hand and with the other, I struggled to open the old, shabby door and entered the room. Not as bad as I thought. It was clear the place was extremely old, but the bedding was clean, as was the room itself. The appliances in the room were also outdated, but at least they were there and, it seemed, even working.
"Just lie here for a bit…" I carefully placed the girl on the bed, then left the room myself and locked the door. So she wouldn't run away, or so no one else could get in. I know all about your modern morals…
Why did I even leave? Well, I felt sorry for her, that's all. I doubt that rich girls don't carry even a phone or house keys with them, and this one didn't! Given the meager amount of money in her wallet, I could only assume she was some poor student. And I, I'll remind you, was a poor student myself in my past life. So I think she'll be happy with a couple of thousand bucks. And it wouldn't be much trouble for me to create a small gold ingot and hawk it for half price at some local pawn shop.
I found a pawn shop just by using the local maps on my helmet, which I simply put on while sitting on a park bench. So what? People here generally couldn't give a damn about each other, so it wasn't a big problem. But I really do need to think about a replacement for this helmet. I've said it before, the exorcist masks, while incredibly versatile and convenient, aren't always appropriate to use everywhere.
At the pawn shop, I got a whole thirty-two thousand dollars for my small but heavy one-kilogram gold ingot. I'm afraid I got majorly ripped off, but even that price was beyond my wildest expectations. In my past life, I wasn't really interested in the price of gold, and living in Heaven, where even the cutlery is made of gold… In short, it was much more than I thought. So, on the way back, I stopped by a store and bought some food. Yes, a hungry student is not a myth, it's a cruel, fucking, reality! And I, as a kind, responsive uncle from Heaven, had to help this poor student not to die of hunger! With these thoughts, I opened the door to the room…
"Well then…" The scene that greeted me was as follows: the redhead stranger was currently shoving a makeshift ladder out the window. Or whatever that thing is called. In short, tied-together pillowcases and a blanket, fastened to the leg of a rather well-made dark wood bed.
"Hey there…" the girl nodded to me with a somewhat dazed look, continuing to shove the "rope" out the window.
"Hey yourself," I put the bag with food and money on the floor. "And what, exactly, are you doing?"
"Escaping," she answered importantly, not stopping her task. Then she lifted the window sash higher and began to climb out…
"Not the best idea," appearing right in front of her, I say, grabbing her by the arm. "Look, there's a door, why climb out the window? And make such a mess in the room?"
"..." The girl's face showed panic and even a certain resignation. But zero surprise. Even though people, as we know, are clearly not capable of reaching the kind of speed I just demonstrated. Something was definitely not right with her.
"Climb back in, let's talk. Maybe I can help you with something?"
"Hm," the girl finally ceased her desperate escape attempt, obediently climbing back into the room while I used the Light to lift and untie all the bedding, tossing it back onto the bed.
"So?" I sat on a chair, directly opposite the girl.
"What exactly do you want from me? Are you an incubus? Want me to sell you my soul? Not gonna happen!" the girl began with accusations. Yep, she definitely knew something about demons. But asking her about her knowledge right off the bat wasn't very wise.
"My name is Adam. I'm the first man, not some demon," I correct her.
"Adam?" she raises an eyebrow in surprise. "The Adam, progenitor of mankind?"
"Yes," I nod importantly. It's nice to be recognized, damn it.
"Pfft, whatever you say, demon."
"Um…" Apparently, she thinks I'm bullshitting a little. Well, you can understand her. "And what's your name?"
"Nancy. My name is Nancy, 'Adam.' Aren't you going to tell me what you want from me?" Nancy replied, still distrustful, emphasizing my name.
"Nancy, I want absolutely nothing from you. But I'm very interested in how you even know about demons. It's clear that this sort of thing doesn't really surprise you. And that, no matter how you slice it, is rather strange for an ordinary person."
"I'm a detective!" the girl declared importantly, raising her index finger. "I'm currently investigating you demons, and a recent spike in deaths among members of a very strange department sponsored by various global corporations."
Ah, now that was interesting. A girl with no money, no phone, working as a detective. And if at first I didn't really believe her, now, after hearing the rest and comparing it with the facts I already had, I can only say that it all sounds quite plausible.
"I already told you, I'm not a demon," I correct her again. "Nancy, your 'investigation' is quite dangerous, don't you think? Digging into some 'organization sponsored by global corporations' sounds extremely unsafe." Unsafe even for government agencies, like the FBI or whoever they have here. But here we have a girl, clearly without any government support, doing this. Otherwise, she wouldn't be as poor as a church mouse. She could definitely afford a basic phone, at least for work. But no—an old notebook, a magnifying glass, and pepper spray. Those are all her "tools." Yet she just unequivocally described that very organization, which immediately puts her on the level of genuinely smart people. Because idiots can't find classified data on demons. Let alone investigate such a thing without getting caught by internal security systems or whatever else such organizations have.
"Whatever you say, 'not a demon'," Nancy eyes me suspiciously. "Whether it's dangerous or not shouldn't concern you. What do you want from me? You keep ignoring that question. Just so you know, I will resist!"
"..." I sighed heavily, anticipating a very long and difficult conversation.
POV Nancy Drew
The strangeness of this case just kept growing. At first, I took on what seemed like a simple case about the disappearance of a friend's acquaintance, but as soon as I started digging into it, I immediately noticed some oddities: the firm where my friend's acquaintance worked was some kind of non-profit organization sponsored by a multitude of different global corporations, which, in return for their huge financial injections, received absolutely no profit and were in no way connected to each other: "Samsung," "Google," "Nike," "Adidas," "Nvidia," and many, many others, completely unrelated companies, were investing tens of millions of dollars into god-knows-what, and on a monthly basis!
My first hypothesis was the simple guess that this was just how the heads of all these companies were moving money offshore. That is—ordinary, banal theft. However, I managed to get access to some publicly available data, from which I could conclude that after the funds landed in the accounts of this mysterious organization, they either stayed there or were spent at various stores involved in the construction of various secure facilities, like prisons and certain "asylums for the mentally ill." Very suspicious!
The city where the main branch of this organization was located was Los Angeles, in a not-so-wealthy district. And that acquaintance lived right there. Arriving in the city, I checked into a hotel where I just dropped off all my things and immediately set out to investigate. Which is how I learned that demons exist! On the phone of one of this organization's employees was a whole video with three small, red creatures, two to three times shorter than a person, who were cutting up some people in sharp suits, armed with… katanas, nunchucks, and kusarigama? There was also a tall, white-furred she-wolf with an axe and clothes, who walked on two legs…
At first, I didn't even believe this nonsense, simply assuming it was some kind of video edit or just footage from a movie shoot. However, a text conversation found on the same phone indicated that this incident had really happened at that organization. I needed more information to draw any conclusions. And for that, I needed to find the residences of other employees.
The next day, thanks to some of my manipulations and a tiiiny little violation of the law, I was able to get access to the surveillance cameras of a cafe located near the headquarters of this organization, right at the entrance to their building. I decided to watch the recording, hoping to recognize one of the passersby as an employee of this suspicious firm, and then follow them to find out more. However, my eyes caught on a very strange detail: three unknown people came out of a dark alley: two girls and one guy. They all looked like ordinary, unremarkable people, but here's the catch—I recognized one of them by her clothes! The girl with white hair was wearing clothes exactly like that demonic she-wolf! That means they're hiding among us, taking human form!
After reviewing the recording again, I realized that no one had entered that alley before them. That means they got into it some other way, possibly even a supernatural one. I'll have to go there and inspect everything to understand exactly how the demons got in, and where they came from in the first place.
And so, at the very moment I had just approached that exact spot, something… unusual appeared a few meters away from me. A huge, shining golden circle, which a moment later glowed even brighter and began to spin rapidly, expanding and forming a hole inside, behind which was no longer an alley, but… a real portal to Hell: fiery rivers of lava, cracked, dark stone and… a demon? A man in his late twenties or early thirties, with light stubble, who, judging by his gaze, was clearly deep in thought about something. So deep, in fact, that he didn't even notice me. A second later, he's already stepping out of the portal, snapping out of his thoughts and finally noticing me…
Demons are cruel. Remembering that video, I realize what he could do to me right now. And the speed of those demons sometimes allowed them to dodge actual crossbow bolts! What kind of idiot uses such a weapon in the twenty-first century is a question, of course, and they probably couldn't dodge bullets, but even a crossbow is a really fast and formidable weapon, so if I try to run now, my chances of survival will be very slim.
"Demon!" I shout, pointing at the stranger, after which I pretend to lose consciousness. After something like that, any demon, in my estimation, should just laugh at the "stupid, weak human" and fuck off to do their dark deeds.
"And where did you see a demon here?" the demon says, smirking. After which he walks up to me and… just stands there and does nothing. "You're something else…" the demon draws out the words and… picks me up in his arms. I can't help but blush, forcing myself with sheer willpower not to break character. There's still a chance to escape, the main thing is to wait for the right moment.
For a while, this demon carried me around the city. A couple of times I even heard some girls trying to hit on him… Damn it, why didn't he just drop me for them? Why is he taking me somewhere? To his lair? What is he going to do with me? Sacrifice me in the name of Satan? Or… My cheeks turned pink again, and my breathing involuntarily quickened. Luckily, because of a passing car, the demon didn't notice.
"Oh!" he said cheerfully, then took a few steps and stopped… And what's this "Oh!" about? What did he find? Or what did he come up with? "Fuck, right…" the demon continued, letting go with one hand and doing a classic facepalm… For a moment I was scared I was going to fall, but I continued to hang in the air as if his hand had never moved…
The demon, meanwhile, took me to some deserted place and started groping… He put one hand into my shorts… Thank all the Gods, he just started taking out my property. A demon robber? Why would he need human money? And why didn't he look right away? I noticed more and more strange things about him. And the fact that this evil demon didn't even touch me first caused me some unfounded resentment, for which I have no explanation, and then—primal terror. If this demon didn't take me for that, then… a sacrifice… Damn it, why am I so unlucky?
Meanwhile, the demon rummaged through my wallet, and then a new wave of fear shot through me—my notebook! The one where I write down all the important information about my cases! He could look in it and find out… a lot! But my fear immediately vanished when I literally felt his gaze on me, filled with… pity? Hey, I'm not poor! I just don't carry a lot of money with me! I only took this much to grab a bite for lunch!
After that, this jerk just sighed sadly, put all my things back where they were, and started carrying me somewhere again! The nerve! Next, he went into a motel, as I gathered from the conversation, and got a room… number thirteen! And he even called me his girlfriend!
Finally, he laid me on the bed, and then… locked the door and… left. Yes! I have a chance to escape! I open my eyes and start thinking about how to get out of a locked room on the third floor…