“What do you need me to do for you?” Selene asked Jennifer.
Selene was a woman who looked like she was in her late fifties. She was African-American and had a luscious head of grey dreadlocks. She was wearing a dress made of African-inspired prints and had a head tie on. She also had a scar on her left eye and just four fingers on her right hand. Overall, she was a strange-looking lady and anyone would be weary of her and her voodoo, but not Jennifer.
Jennifer liked the woman’s looks because it made her feel convinced that she was a legit shaman and would be able to help her accomplish her goal to get Josh for herself.
“I want to speak to someone and I need your help to summon them,” Jennifer said to the Shaman.
“Who do you wish to speak to? A dead relative, a ghost from a past life, a…”
“A demon,” Jennifer cut in, “I want you to help summon a demon,” she said again.
The shaman looked at her with shock and awe in her one good eye. This was a strange request, the strangest she had ever had and she wondered why this girl would want to converse with a demon.
“This is not a joke, Young One. What I do is very serious and summoning demons from the Underworld is dangerous. I’m not even going to ask why you want to do it. All I’m going to say is no,” Selene refused.
“What do you mean no? I’m a paying customer,” Jennifer complained.
“And I’m a private business owner and I have the right to refuse you any service. Please leave,” Selene showed her the door.
Jennifer became angry and desperate. She took her purse and dug through it to bring out the wad of money she had withdrawn from the ATM on her way there. She placed it on the table to tempt the shaman into doing what she was asking for.
“That’s ten thousand dollars and it could all be yours if you summon the demon. I just want to talk to her and…”
“And make a deal? That’s the only reason people summon demons; to sell their souls or services in exchange for something materialistic and let me tell you something, little one,” The shaman leaned in, “It never ends well.”
“But, why don’t you want to help me? If the money’s too small, I can get you more,” Jennifer insisted.
“It’s not about the money,” The shaman raised her voice, “This is dangerous territory and you should not venture into it. I did once when I was young and foolish and I paid the price,”
The shaman said and pointed at her bad eye using her bad hand, suggesting to Jennifer that she lost her parts because she had summoned a demon in the past.
“Leave my store and if you value your life, you will abandon this idea of yours.”
Jennifer took her money and got up to leave. She made for the door and just as she was about to go outside, Selene said one last thing to her.
“Little one!” She called out and Jennifer turned around, “The veil that separates the physical world from the spiritual world is there for a reason. I simply move the veil aside and glance at what lies in the beyond. Summoning a demon isn’t glancing; it’s tearing the veil down and mixing both worlds. Whatever you want this demon to do for you, forget about it or the consequences will be extremely dire. I hope you do as I have said, for your own good.”
Jennifer walked out of the shop and went down the street. What the Shaman had said was at the back of her mind but the rest of her mind was already made up. If she couldn’t find a shaman to help her, then she would find another way to speak to the demon.
******
That night, Hannah and Garin slept in Josh’s guest bedroom while he and Isabelle were in his bedroom. He couldn’t sleep because he was so deep in thought about the entire situation. His eyes were stuck to the ceiling and his mind wandered.
Isabelle rolled around on the bed and faced his side. Her eyes flickered open and she saw that Josh was wide awake. She put a hand on his chest and rubbed the chest hair that sprung up from them in a clockwise manner.
“Are you alright, Josh?” She asked.
“Yes, I’m fine, just thinking is all,” he responded and kissed her cheek.
“What are you thinking about?” She asked.
“Sometimes, I wish we never found the truth about what’s going on. Sometimes I wish we could have just remained in the dark and not known about all this Celestial stuff. Just think about how much calmer, safer, normal our lives could have been, how happy we could have been,” he said.
“We are happy…”
“You know what I mean, Iz. Happy enough to worry about things like if we would get married, travel overseas together, or think about moving in together. Those kinds of things, Iz, not worrying if a demon or angel is going to attack us or if we could be casualties in a war between God and Lucifer,” Josh said with a scoff.
“I do think about that…all the time,” she snuggled him and took a deep breath of him, taking his fragrance in, “We may not be able to do all of that right now but there is one we can do. The last one,” she said.
“You’d want us to live together?” Josh asked her with surprise in his tone.
“Of course, I would. Only if you think we are ready,” she said.
“We’ve been ready since the day we first met.”
Josh joked and pulled her in closer and they both went to sleep, leaving the idea of living together dangling in the night. It wasn’t as big as the other things happening in their lives but it was big for them because it was about them and them only.
Just outside his house, Gentel was standing on the street in her human form and was listening to their conversation. She was smoking a cigarette and she had that wicked smirk on her face that she got whenever she was scheming and she surely was.
“Give a man the one thing he can’t have, and he’ll give you all he has in exchange,” Gentel said and threw the smoke on the floor.
She turned around and walked away before disappearing into the night.
.
.
.
Josh was having a busy week and as much as he wanted to be at home with Isabelle and the celestials, he had to be at work. Tonight, the deadline Fawn and Norae gave Hannah and Garin would run out and they would have to leave. The angel was already a lot better now so they would stand a better chance at putting up a fight against the other Celestials that wanted to kill them.
Josh had a couple of important meetings at work and after he was done with them, he went back to his office to fill out some important paperwork. While he did that, Jennifer was at her desk using her computer to find more Shamans but the ones she found were surely scams. She didn’t give up though and kept looking and that was when a woman walked up to her desk and cleared her throat.
“Ahem,” the woman made her presence felt for Jennifer who didn’t notice her.
“Good morning, Miss. What can I do for you?” Jennifer asked the well-dressed woman who looked like she came from money judging by her glamorous looks.
“Hi, I’m here to speak with the boss, Mr Josh Clinton. It’s about business,” The woman said.
“I’m sorry, Miss, but you can’t just see Mr Clinton whenever you want. You have to schedule a meeting,” Jennifer told her.
“I do have a meeting, scheduled for 10 am this morning,” The woman answered.
Jennifer found what she said odd because she was the one who schedules Josh’s appointments with clients and she didn’t remember preparing a meeting for him today. She began to click on her keyboard to find the appointment.
“Can I have your name, Miss?” Jennifer asked.
“Genevieve Herriot,” She said.
Jennifer checked her system and there indeed was an appointment for a Miss Genevieve Herriot at 10 am today. She didn’t remember writing that down and yet, there it was.
“Is there a problem?” Miss Genevieve asked the assistant.
“No, there isn’t. Um, follow right this way, miss,” Jennifer stood up and took the woman to Josh’s office.
She opened his door and told him that his 10 am meeting was here.
“What meeting?” Josh asked.
“A Miss Genevieve Herriot. She said it’s about business and she did book an appointment,” Jennifer still wasn’t quite sure about that last part.
“Alright, let her in,” Josh told her.
“Right this way, Miss,” Jennifer leaned outside the office and said to the client who walked into the office. “Excuse me, Sir,” Jennifer left them alone.
The woman walked over to Josh’s desk and took a seat without being asked to first. She crossed her legs and looked at him with a smile around the corner of her lips.
“So, um, Miss Genevieve, you’d have to forgive me because I’m not quite sure who you are— ”
“Oh Josh,” she cut in and her eyes became red, “I think we’ve become well acquainted for you to be able to tell it’s me,” she said.
Josh’s expression changed when he realized that it was the demon Gentel sitting in his office.
Josh slowly opened the drawer in his desk and tried to reach for the bottle of salt that he had stashed in there when Garin told him about it being a weakness of demons. As he grabbed the bottle, the drawer quickly closed on its own and almost crushed his fingers. He had let go of the bottle and slipped his hand out just before it slammed shut.
"I don't know why you and your woman think a little bottle of salt is all you need against a demon. I mean, it's really disrespectful if you ask me," Gentel said with a look of offence on her face.
"Instead of trying to ward me off, why don't you ask why I've come to see you," She said.
"What do you want? Why have you come here?" Josh asked, trying his best to keep his cool.
"There! Isn't that better? I've come to make you an offer. I went to your lady just yesterday but she chased me away before I could make her my offer so I thought; why not come to the man in the relationship and make him the offer instead?" Gentel said.
"I'm not interested in any offers you may have," Josh said and tried to get up but she forced him back down with a flick of her wrist.
"Trust me, Human! You're going to be interested in this one," the demon said.
Just outside, Jennifer was paying close attention to the 'meeting' that was being held in Josh's office. She was too far away to hear what they were saying but thanks to the transparent glass walls, she could see what was happening. Her boss didn't look too comfortable from her perspective and she wondered why that was.
She went through the system again and she checked the timestamp of when she had made the appointment for Miss Genevieve Herriot. Looking at the time, she noticed that the appointment was made at three minutes past ten in the morning two days ago and because she had a good memory, she remembered that she was in the cafeteria from ten to ten-twelve getting coffee for herself. Karen was there and they talked for a while before she had to go back to her desk, which meant it couldn't have been her that made the appointment.
"If it wasn't me, then who was it? It couldn't have been anyone else," Jennifer whispered to herself.
It just wasn't making any sense to her because now, she was sure she didn't make the appointment. But, Josh was still speaking to the woman which meant that he must be acquainted with her but how did she put her name into the system? That was the million-dollar question.
Jennifer's mind began to dance around with different reasons to explain how the woman's name was on her computer and the one reason she couldn't shake was that it was done magically. The person in there had to be either an angel or...a demon. She had to know! She had to find out if she was right and if she was, she had to know what they were talking about in there.
She remembered that the connection between the office phone on Josh's desk and hers could synch them together and there was a way of turning on the receiver on his phone which would enable her to hear what was being said in his office. The only problem was that after she activated it, there would be a blinking red light on Josh's phone which could arouse suspicion but she couldn't worry about that now. She had to hear what they were saying and confirm her suspicions.
She pushed a series of buttons and placed the phone on her ear and could now hear what they were saying inside.
"And that's my offer! I know you wish you and your lady could go back to a time when all of this was just a fairytale and I can make that happen with just the snap of a finger. You and she would forget everything and your lives will go back to normal," Gentel said.
"You want me to betray Hannah and Garin for that?" Josh asked in disgust.
"Oh, don't give me that look! They mean nothing to you so why should you sacrifice your happiness, your lives, and your well-being for them when they have had multiple generations of what you're trying to have with Isabelle? Do you have any idea how long Hannah and Garin have been together? They've had centuries to be in love while you've had what? A few months with your lover?
"You think you're their friend? You're sacrificing your happiness for them but what are they sacrificing for you?" Gentel tried to convince him to take her offer.
"Even if I wanted to take your offer, Isabelle would never go for it. She loves Hannah way too much to sell her out to demons," Josh said.
"And that's the beauty of the deal! She never has to know about it," Gentel said.
For a moment, Josh looked like he was considering taking her offer and Gentel felt that she had him in the palm of her hand.
"No," Josh said with a firm decisive pitch.
"No?" The demon asked, not expecting that answer.
"My answer is no, Gentel. I don't want your offer. I know about the bet and I know what will happen to the world if you or your demon siblings kill Hannah and Garin. If I had to sell them out, I'd rather do it for the angels instead of you," Josh said.
"You idiot! This is the best offer you could ever get," Gentel slammed her palms on his desk, "God doesn't give a fuck about the world no less than Lucifer does and if you think protecting them won't eventually result in your death and the death of your lady, then you're sadly mistaken. The both of you are insignificant insects and when the gods get tired of you obstructing their bet, they'll end up giving us the green light to take care of you... permanently!"
Gentel stood up and stared at him.
"...and I for one, will enjoy ripping you apart."
She walked out of the door and when she walked past Jennifer, the assistant pretended like she was on a phone call. The demon walked past her and Jennifer couldn't believe her luck. The one person she wanted to speak to was right there and she finally had her chance but, how was she to approach a demon?
Gentel walked up to the elevator door and pushed the button. While she waited for the elevator to arrive, Jennifer stared at her and contemplated her options. Should she do as the Shaman had advised and stay away from this evil OR should she grab this opportunity and hope it pays her?
The elevator bell dinged and Jennifer needed to make a choice. She chose the second option.
She got out of her desk and ran into the elevator with Gentel just as it was about to close. She was very scared and nervous after she got in and the door closed, trapping her in a tight space with an actual demon. She wasn't sure how to begin a conversation with the demon and she could feel her legs trembling beneath her.
"Were you able to--, ahem, do your business with the boss?" Jennifer asked the woman without making any real eye contact.
"Yes, I was," Gentel gawked at her and replied.
Jennifer glanced at the demon from there corner of her eye and although she was physically indistinguishable from a regular human person, Jennifer could feel the dark aura around her and it filled her soul with dread and emptiness. She felt like her life force was being drained out of her and it was suffocating. She was getting too uncomfortable and she needed to make a move because the elevator was almost at the bottom floor. It was now or never!
"You know," Jennifer stammered, "I could um, help you get what you-- you want if you help-p me get w-what I, I want."
Gentel knew right after Jennifer spoke that she was aware that she was a demon. She didn't like it very much!
The demon swiftly grabbed Jennifer's neck, lifted her and slammed her to the side of the elevator wall. The camera in the elevator immediately exploded and the elevator itself stopped moving. Gentel wrapped her fist tighter around Jennifer's neck and she found it difficult to breathe.
"How do you know what I am? You'd better not lie because I'll be able to tell," Gentel told her.
"I, I, I," Jennifer was trying to speak but she couldn't get a single word out because she was being choked.
Gentel eased up a little and made her grip less tight. Jennifer gasped for air and was breathing heavily. Now that she could speak, she said all she needed to.
"I know your name is Gentel and I know you're a demon. I know what you're after and I can help you get it. I can help you get Hannah and Garin. All I want is for you to help me get Josh," Jennifer said.
Gentel knew about Jennifer's obsession with Josh but she had no idea it was this serious. She decided that maybe this wasn't so bad. Maybe she could use this to her advantage after all. She let go of Jennifer's neck and put her down.
"Go on. Keep talking," Gentel said to her.