Before his eyesight had even begun to clear, the first thing Kaarl noticed was the smell. Damp concrete and trash were new to the demon’s senses, yet underlying that was something else entirely. It was neither pleasant nor stomach-churning, but the Mortal realm had its own distinct odour. The noises of a human city surrounded him, cars mainly, and, thanks to the Internet, that much was at least semi-familiar. Two blurry shapes walked towards him.
‘Up you get,’ said Vetis, grabbing Kaarl by one arm, her sister by the other.
‘It feels like I’m surrounded by tar,’ he told the twins. Kaarl’s voice sounded distant in his head and he found standing to be quite difficult, even with the twins’ help.
‘You get used to it,’ Verin promised as she steadied him. ‘Things move a lot more slowly here than back home.’
Kaarl’s most immediate feeling was one of loss. He had not tried to fly, he hadn’t even thought about it, but somehow he knew he couldn’t. Strength had never been his greatest asset but he could feel that was significantly diminished as well. After a few minutes his eyesight was almost fully restored and he could see the twins in detail. They had the same striking green eyes, facial structure and slim figures but with flawlessly tanned skin, blonde hair and their breasts had grown quite considerably.
‘I hate wearing clothes,’ said Vetis as she tugged at her revealing little black dress. It was more like a piece of material just wrapped around her. It hugged every curve and left very little to the imagination.
‘Those outfits barely qualify,’ said Kaarl, still drowsy from the transfer.
He looked at his own clothes. On instinct he had shifted into something very similar to his father’s favourite black suit and shirt combination. Kaarl had studied images of male models, actors and body sculptors and taken their most striking features and physiques to craft himself a form for his work on Earth. He had given himself deep blue eyes, black hair and a face and body that would render any female numb with desire. Attracting the opposite sex was not the vessel’s purpose, though; it was just a fact that everything was a little easier on Earth for the remarkably attractive.
‘These dresses are just for now,’ said Verin, tugging at hers. ‘We can go shopping for other clothes later; I love shopping.’
‘What’s the point?’ asked Kaarl. ‘We can shift into whatever outfit we want and you hate wearing clothes. Why bother with shopping?’
‘Because we can’t do it in Perdition,’ replied Vetis. ‘Everything is free down there and that’s so boring. Up here money separates the haves from the have nots and fashion is a religion. Women know when you’re wearing a pair of shoes that cost more than their car and you can see the jealousy on their faces. It’s shallow and elitist and I absolutely love it.’
‘We also have to wear clothes up here,’ said Verin. ‘You go to prison if you don’t. Seeing as that’s the case, our outfits need to be as fabulous as what they’re covering up.’
‘Or what they’re almost covering up,’ said Kaarl.
He decided not to press the matter further; the sisters had always had their quirks. Their skills would more than make up for them and he did owe them for getting him online in Perdition. A trip to Earth, even though it was a working holiday, was the least he could have done for them and it was nice to have his friends with him. He turned his attention to their newly enhanced assets; the dresses made it hard not to.
‘Why have you done that to your chests?’ asked Kaarl. ‘Those things look heavy.’
‘This,’ said Vetis with a grin and a quick shake, ‘is how we get our walking around money.’
‘How? Will you be selling milk?’
‘You’ll see,’ chimed the twins.
Kaarl took in his surroundings once he was over the disorientation caused by the realm change. The trio were in a dark alley between two buildings. Metal stairs and ladders ran up the buildings either side of them and nothing but random litter, a worse for wear cat and a dumpster inhabited the immediate area. He and the twins began to walk towards the light at the mouth of the alley. People streamed past the gap and their chatter grew louder as the trio approached. When they stepped out of the gloom on to the street the sights and sounds of the Mortal city took Kaarl’s breath.
‘Welcome to Los Angeles,’ the girls said.
The decision had not been an easy one for the Demon; London, Beijing, Moscow or New York would also have been ideal starting locations. All of Kaarl’s research, however, had led him to believe their greatest chance of success lay, ironically, in the City of Angels. It was 11 p.m. Friday night in Downtown L.A. and the bars were just starting to fill up as the budget-conscious patrons began drifting in from their pre drinks at home. Kaarl stood watching the night time revellers stream past, alternating between them and the myriad of bars, restaurants and other buildings. Even though he considered himself something of an expert on Earth he had no idea as to the purpose of many of them.
‘Don’t do that,’ said Verin, grabbing his arm. ‘You look like some hillbilly that’s never seen a city before.’
‘Or like you’re tripping on acid,’ her sister added.
‘I haven’t seen a Mortal city before,’ replied Kaarl. ‘I mean of course I’ve seen Mortals before and their cities on the Net but this is different. They’re in their natural environment now and I’m here too. It’s…amazing.’
‘We’re supposed to be taking them to the Gates of Perdition,’ Verin told him, ‘not making a wildlife documentary.’
The twins led Kaarl through the throngs on the streets of L.A. and he soon began to differentiate certain smells. The realm didn’t really have its own one; it was the amalgamation of previously unknown ones that caused the effect. An untold number of them mingled in the streets and on occasion he had to stop. Although Kaarl had discovered they were separate he had a hard time working out exactly where each one was coming from.
‘We’d better keep moving,’ said Verin. ‘The first thing you need to know about a Mortal existence is that it sucks without money.’
I’m actually here Kaarl repeated to himself as he followed the twins. What had started as a pipe dream and evolved into a dubious proposition was finally a reality. He tried to catalogue each individual experience but was soon swept away in sensory overload. Stars instead of the burning sky, the crisp night air instead of Perdition’s constant humidity and there were Mortals bustling in every direction. The Damned generally just drank themselves into a stupor and stumbled around aimlessly. It was better than Kaarl could have imagined. He knew his view of the realm from his computer had been limited. Having all five senses engaged at once instead of merely seeing and hearing hammered the point home. He wasn’t in Perdition any more.
Perfume and deodorant, stale sweat and halitosis; the new aromas kept on coming and Kaarl took them all in, even the ones that made him gag a little. A few of the mortals had the music on their phones blaring so loud they seemed to be sharing it with everyone they passed. Judging by the looks they received and some of the comments, their generosity was not always appreciated.
The sights were familiar in many respects, as were most of the sounds. Movies and TV shows had acclimatised him to an extent. Seeing them in person, however, added a new dimension. The cars, the buildings, the heavy-set Latino gangsters; they weren’t scenery or extras in the background: he could touch them. Not that he would touch them; Kaarl was new to their realm, not a complete moron.
Kaarl knew the glow would wane eventually but that always happened when one became accustomed to something. Even once the shimmer had gone there was a quality of the Mortal life and realm, an aspect they seemed to take for granted, that would never diminish in its appeal. They were free.
Until they died, they had no Lucifer, no God unless they chose to. It made them different; the way they thought and felt, the way they acted, the way they lived. It made everything about them and their world exciting and opened up possibilities unheard of in Perdition. They had no omnipotent overseer unless they believed in one. They still had societal pressures, of course, but it was not nearly as unusual for a Mortal to stray from them. The Internet was loaded with pariahs who had banded together to bask in their individuality. Admittedly, groups of non-conformists were somewhat contradictory but that just highlighted the “anything goes” nature of their realm.
Perdition obviously had something going for it as well. Every other demon and Damned Mortal seemed to enjoy being there; it just wasn’t right for Kaarl. He had always been a square peg in a round hole there but on Earth he had the chance to be more. He had been given the opportunity to live as he pleased as well as serve Lucifer. Perdition might not have been an ideal place for him to grow up but it was his realm and he did have a duty towards it. There was also the danger of Lucifer’s wrath. The Master of Perdition had been nothing but cordial when Kaarl had met him but failure was still not an option.
Kaarl began focusing on the Mortals as the trio worked their way through the pedestrians. They weren’t exactly ecstatic about their freedom.
‘They’re miserable,’ he said after a few minutes.
Aside from those who were obviously drunk or high, the expressions generally ranged from aggressive to mildly content to downright forlorn.
‘What?’ asked Vetis.
‘They’re miserable,’ Kaarl repeated as he glanced around. ‘They avoid eye contact, their smiles and laughs are lies for the most part. Has something happened here?’
‘Life has happened,’ replied Verin. ‘Do you think Facebook is a window into their souls? It’s a front; something to make their friends jealous and their lives seem special.’
‘Save the cynicism, sis,’ said Vetis. ‘They aren’t all like this. We’ve caught them at a bad time is all. They are out hunting for sex and fights. That’s not recreation like in Perdition; it’s serious business. You’ll see more of what you expected during daylight, Kaarl. Up here the night, particularly during the weekends, belongs to the false and desperate.’
Despite Vetis’s reassurance, it was still a shock to Kaarl. He knew everything on the Internet needed to be taken with a grain of salt but the people were disconnected, even the ones in groups. They were all missing something and he doubted a change in natural lighting levels would fix it. Whether it was true purpose, a sense of belonging or something else entirely he didn’t know, but it was significant. Although Perdition’s hierarchy did not really care about the Damned, they were far more content than the people he saw that night in L.A.
Debt, financial stability and looks were apparently some of their biggest worries but couldn’t be the only cause of their misery. The Mortals’ primary concern would always be death and for many fear of the afterlife that came with it added to the pressure. That made more sense to Kaarl. Death was so final if you didn’t know the truth; life did in fact go on once the mortal coil was shuffled off. He wished he could just tell them that if they played their cards right they could go to Hell and be a lot happier. Knowing without a doubt there was light at the end of the tunnel might have made their lives seem more bearable. Kaarl didn’t like living in Perdition very much but their fellow Mortals gave it rave reviews.
Information on Paradise was as unreliable as that on Perdition. It seemed the Mortals had grasped the “how to get there” well enough for both realms but “what to expect on arrival” was nothing but conjecture. Logic dictated that they would be polar opposites and if that was the case then Hell did seem the better option for their eternal souls — Mortals in Paradise would be heavily monitored, have their harmony strictly regulated and be unable to indulge in alcoholic beverages or sweaty orgies. He wondered why so many of them would deny themselves so many things just to be stuck somewhere like that for eternity.
The more he thought about it, the more the Light Bearer’s words made sense. Their fears were unfounded and they adhered to stupid rules in the hopes of gaining entry to a place that was in all likelihood sterile and bland. What good was freedom if the Hated One’s strict moral code hung over them at every turn? In Perdition all options were open and nothing was denied them. Kaarl’s mission would not be easy, but the challenge was part of the fun. No one on Earth would thank him for his efforts; for it all to work they could never know what his true objective was. In the long run, though, they would be grateful; Kaarl would help them find their way to Perdition and a better afterlife.
His train of thought was abruptly derailed when the twins began to gravitate towards one of the busier-looking bars. O’Malley’s was an Irish themed establishment with wooden panelling decorating its facade and the compulsory shamrocks painted on its windows.
‘No more drinking,’ he told the twins when he realised where they were heading. ‘Not yet, anyway. It seems like we barely left Faithless.’
‘We are getting some money, relax,’ replied Vetis. ‘We won’t be in here long.’
‘We must have passed at least twenty bars,’ said Kaarl. ‘Why this one?’
‘The clientele, the availability of escape routes, minimal security. I could go on for ages,’ Verin told him. ‘The main reason, though, is that there is no door charge here and we are penniless, in case you had forgotten.’
The girls discreetly showed him how to create the illusion of a valid ID before they got to the door. It was a strange custom, restricting alcohol to certain ages, but one Kaarl was familiar with, thanks again to the Internet. There were very few minors in Perdition and if you were old enough to sin you were old enough for gin.
