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Post by johandenerad on Apr 19, 2007 17:26:32 GMT
In the next few days when I have a moment, I remember Clare James and the number she gave me. She seemed like a nice girl.
Who am I kidding? She was just some random mortal in the right place at the wrong time, who I don't know anything about. Still, with all the plans I've got in my head, I could use another thrall.
Not that that's how I'm going to go about it of course. I'll get to know her, see if she wants to be one, be honest (up to a point), and determine whether or not she'd "use her powers for good". I'll promise not to put her in danger deliberately too, if she wants that. She can just go about her life doing whatever it is she was doing before; just, you know, better.
She's probably forgotten me by now, but with the number she must remember something happened. How surprised will she be when I call her out of the blue? I don't know. But it will be fun to find out, and who knows, maybe we can cut a deal?
Her phone's ringing...
"Hi! Clare, it's Monica... Monica you met the other night, remember? Yeah... did you find your friends alright? You did. Good. Anyway, it was really interesting talking with you the other night and I was wondering if you wanted to go into it a little further... uh-huh, uh-huh... no, really, it was nothing like that. I promise. Though you did call me an angel, if I remember correctly... no, I told you, it wasn't like that. Clearly you don't remember what we talked about as well as I do, but we can sort that out. Shall we say, Starbucks on Market Street, about 6 this evening? Great. See you then."
Even if this doesn't work, it will be nice to have a friendly chat. About the fall. At least I can afford to be honest with her, to a point. Maybe I'll be able to hash out what I think of it when explaining it to her, considering you always have to be watching yourself around other demons.
---
I actually turn up on time rather than peeking at when she'll be there, order one of those ridiculous long-named coffees that Jess wouldn't have been seen dead drinking in here usually, and sit down to wait.
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Post by Olaf on Apr 19, 2007 19:06:11 GMT
She turns up a little after you, and stands in the door for a minute looking around. She's blonde, and wearing a pretty fetching denim jacket and skirt. She looks straight at you a couple of times without seeming to recognise you - but when you wave she crosses to your table. "Monica?" she says uncertainly, and at your nod closes the remaining distance to your table and leans against the back of the second chair. She doesn't sit.
"Look, I dunno what happened last night. I guess I'd had kinda a bit. But... well, I just wanna tell you I'm not interested. I'm not sayin' there's anything wrong with it, but I'm really not into that sort of thing. An' I've got a boyfriend so I really couldn't anyway. Sorry if I said or did 'owt stupid, but like I said I was pretty fucked. I just wanted to tell you so you know the deal like."
She looks like she's about to turn and leave the shop.
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Post by johandenerad on Apr 19, 2007 19:58:59 GMT
Eugh, fine. I found one of the trusting, open-minded ones. But at least she had the guts to come here rather than just run away. Mind you, I have her phone number. Let's see if we can't find out about her anyway. [activates Insinuate]
"Clare, didn't I tell you it was nothing like that? Now, you agreed to come here and 'tell me the score', and that was good of you, but don't you think considering you made the effort you should hear me out? I'll tell you now, I don't want you for sex. So let me buy you a coffee and listen to what I have to say, please?"
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Post by Olaf on Apr 20, 2007 9:27:05 GMT
"Ok, I guess that makes sense. If you're sure this is nothing weird." She moves round the chair and sits as you buy her the coffee and return to your place. "So, uh, what actually happened the other night? I can barely remember it."
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Post by johandenerad on Apr 20, 2007 10:21:19 GMT
I quickly glance around, to make sure we're not being watched, as I go up to buy the coffee. Assuming I don't see anyone of 'interest', I head back over to where we're sitting.
"To be honest, you called me an angel, and you weren't too far from the truth. You might call what I have to say 'weird', but I promise it won't harm you at all to hear it. Before I start about Saturday night, I'm going to have to ask you to take a lot on faith. But I'll make it easier for you... you see that clock on the wall behind me?"
Looking confused, she nods her silent assent.
"At exactly 6:03pm and 14 seconds a man wearing a red baseball cap and khaki jacket will come into the shop. He'll order a normal, black coffee and some... cake thing and go and sit by that window, third seat from the left. Don't act surprised."
I can see her opening her mouth to speak, her eye still on the clock, but fortunately khaki man emerges and does all the things I said he would. Her eyes widen, but I cut her off before she can exclaim.
"Alright, it's a good trick, I know, but don't go broadcasting it to everyone. I'll give you one more freebie - the perculator will make that really annoying noise again in 9 seconds..."
It does. I scrunch my face up for a moment, trying to read more events. Why are they all happening at the exactly the same ti- ohh...
"In 23 seconds, the clock will stop."
Alright.
"Now I can tell you about the other night, spill all the beans as it were, or I can walk away and you'll never hear from me again. Most likely you'll forget me in a week, or rationalise what you saw, think it was a con or something. Again, I want to impress upon you that if you do hear what I have to tell you will not adversely effect you in any way. So are you sure you still want to hear it?"
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Post by Olaf on Apr 20, 2007 10:24:49 GMT
She frowns for a moment and looks like she's about to say something, but instead just nods silently. As you speak she takes an occasional furtive glance at khaki man.
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Post by johandenerad on Apr 20, 2007 10:43:43 GMT
I take an inconspicuous look round at him, before turning back.
"Oh don't worry about him, he's nothing to do with us. I've never seen him before in my life. I can predict a few more people if you want, just to prove it?"
I check he's not actually anything to do with us[when's the next time that man will interact with us? - he might come over and I don't want to be wrong], before picking out a woman with a black bag, a married couple and a bunch of schoolkids, roughly when they come through the door and what they'll order. I get two of the kid's orders mixed up, but I don't think she notices.
"So anyway, Saturday night. You saw me reading the future, only I was trying harder than usual. You saw a glimpse of what I am, on the inside. Does that help you remember?"
She gives me a look of incomprehension.
"Alright then, let's go to the beginning. The next part will sound crazy to start with, but hear me out, and try to remember that this isn't a con. Clare, do you believe in God?"
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Post by Olaf on Apr 20, 2007 11:08:20 GMT
Her eyes have been widening with each 'miracle' you perform - it's probably a good job you've stopped because it doesn't look like they could go much further. She nods at your question. "Yes, I do."
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Post by johandenerad on Apr 20, 2007 11:09:56 GMT
"Oh really?"
I'm genuinely surprised, which let me tell you is a feeling I'm not accustomed to.
"Which church?"
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Post by Olaf on Apr 20, 2007 11:14:25 GMT
"St. Mary's. It's in Ashton." A couple of seconds of silence as you wait for elabortation. "Oh, uh - I'm Catholic."
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Post by johandenerad on Apr 20, 2007 11:17:02 GMT
"Do you go to church every week? If you do, how do you find it? Is it different than when you were, say, a child? I understand that's not really an easy question to answer, so please, take your time."
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Post by Olaf on Apr 21, 2007 16:44:39 GMT
"Yeah, I go every week. How do I find it? Well, I dunno. I guess it's important to think about all that stuff - God and the Bible and that. I do try and live like Jesus said to, but Church is good as a sort of reminder. When I was little it all just kinda confused me, but I remember bein' impressed by how grand it all sounded.
"Look, what's this all about? You said something about angels. Is that - is that how you -" she looks up at the clock. "You're saying that you're an angel? That you can do miracles?"
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Post by johandenerad on Apr 22, 2007 12:50:32 GMT
"I'm not an angel any more. I was, a long, long time ago. There were 90 million of us, and we built the world for Him. We made the sun, the stars, everything. But then we were forced to make choice we shouldn't have had to. The way the world is today, it's because of that choice.
"The time before that was what the Bible calls 'Eden', but as someone who's seen paradise, let me tell you that you wouldn't have liked it. 'Liking' wasn't something humans were capable of. Basically, you were animals. You were the pinnacle of all we created, the brightest on the planet's surface, but you were ignorant, and to stay that way, because He commanded that we couldn't interfere. He also commanded us to love you, but that was pointless: how couldn't we love things so beautiful and complex, but also so incomplete? It was those two commands we were forced to choose between. One of my house saw a great catastrophe coming for humanity, and held a meeting about it. As a result of that meeting, some of us chose to disobey God and interfere, because we loved you. When you were brought the knowledge of good and evil it wasn't a serpent, it was us. We were tempted by your potential, and we thought that awakening you would help avert whatever it was we saw."
I take a disgusted look around Starbucks before continuing.
"And so the world broke. There was a war against Him, at first fought clad in words and spirit, by the end wreathed in the violated and broken humanity we made the choice to protect. Some of us think the great darkness we saw coming, we caused. Fate's funny that way. Another thing that's funny about fate is that it lets worthless creators win out against people who genuinely care. So we lost, and were cast into hell for the privilege.
"Recently, some of us got out. A great storm made cracks in the walls of His prison for us. We came back to the world, and found Him and his angels gone. We're forced to wear human flesh because otherwise the pull of hell would take us back, so we fly into bodies that are spiritually weak, lacking soul. That could be someone on the verge of death, or someone so crushed by the weight of living they can barely be called living anymore. There are a lot of people like that in the world you've made.
"What I can do, I wouldn't call miracles. I could do things much greater than them before the Fall. But I want to use the sliver of power I still have to make this world better. I'm a demon, true, and a lot of the nightmares of your twisted history draw their darkness from us, but you have to understand that all we ever wanted was to keep you safe, and strong, and bright. That's why I want to talk to you."
I realise I'm crying. I don't care, it just feels good to be able to get this out. To have someone listening.
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Post by Olaf on Apr 24, 2007 18:41:14 GMT
Clare sits silently for almost a minute after you finish speaking, her own eyes very slightly wet. She fingers the silver cross round her neck with the fingers of her left hand apparently without thought.
"You're a fallen angel? A- a demon. But how is-. Um." She swallows. "What do you want from me?"
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Post by johandenerad on Apr 24, 2007 19:15:01 GMT
"I want you to promise, on your soul, that you will try and make the world a better place in any way you see fit. Whether it's helping the aged, raising money for charity, getting involved in government or just occasionally helping old ladies across the street: when you have the luxury of being able to reflect on things, I want you to believe that your tenure on this earth has been for better rather than for worse.
"I'm not going to force you to make that promise, because to do so would make it devoid of worth. I'm not even going to ask you to make it now. It's a promise that in an ideal world everyone would be presented with, and then allowed to undertake if they wanted.
"Of coure, in this world, the word 'promise' doesn't actually mean anything. The idea that breaking them has consequences is gone, because no-one believes that the only thing that breaking a promise really damages - your soul - actually exists anymore. Politicians make the promise I've suggested in all their words, and break it in almost every deed they carry out.
"But your soul does exist, and making promises on it does have worth, especially if you make one with me. If you really believe in the promise you make, and believe in helping other people, it will give me power to reshape the world. By the same token, you will find your ability to effect things around you increased. I warn you that it will also create a bond between you and I that could never be broken.
"Before you leave, I just want to stress again that I'm not asking you to come to a decision now, and nor will I force you to in the future. I just wanted all my cards on the table, like you asked. Personally I want to talk more about the rebellion and what came after with you, but you're free to go if you want."
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