In that moment, Agent Bradford dreaded going home. Home to the wife he didn’t really like anymore after all these years. Home to the kids he didn’t understand. Here in Brettville he knew what his life was supposed to be like. He had a well-defined purpose here and he could see it through. At home he felt lost and alone. It was the worst feeling to be alone in a group of people that you were obligated to love.
The waitress looked down at the table with a genuine, warm smile. Her eyes grew slightly when she saw the girl’s red eyes looking back at her.
“Sweetheart, are you alright? You look like you might be sick.”
Agent Bradford watched as Jane Elring formed one of those smiles she was always practicing. It was supposed to be a gentle one, warm and with just that small hint of gratitude. Thank you for your concern.
Caleb said, “She’s feeling a little under the weather. Has a sore throat too.”
Jane nodded.
“Oh dear! A nice cup of tea for you, then, with some honey in it. It will clear that throat right up.”
Agent Bradford wondered what honey mixed with blood tasted like. Surely Jane still carried the aftertaste of her attack in her mouth. Maybe she was even still bleeding a little bit.
The waitress asked, looking at Caleb, “What can I get you?”
“Just a cup of coffee, please.”
The waitress left their table and Agent Bradford redirected his attention to Caleb. The man did not avoid his stare. He couldn’t, Agent Bradford knew. Their conflict in Dr. Stewart’s office was still fresh and looking away would be an expression of weakness now.
“She has shown you what she really is?” he asked.
Caleb nodded.
“How much do you know?”
“I know enough.”
Agent Bradford shook his head. There was no such thing as knowing enough about Jane Elring. Knowing enough meant that you felt safe with her. You were never safe with her.
“There are certain rules to play by,” Agent Bradford told Caleb. “The things you know, you can’t tell anybody. Nobody would believe you anyway, but doing so is a capital offense all the same.”
Caleb said nothing.
“So you see what she has done? She has made you her partner in crime. And you can’t say shit about it, or we might fuck you for betraying your country. Nice of her, isn’t it?”
Again Caleb didn’t reply.
“Yeah, she’s great that way. Not at all manipulative or selfish. Is she talking to you yet? You know, inside your head?”
Jane’s tired head sank back into her hands.
Agent Bradford knew that she couldn’t speak to defend herself and that she didn’t have to speak in order to get her message across. But what could she really say in her defense? They both knew she wasn’t a good person.
Caleb cleared his throat and then he spoke. “You stink of fear, Agent Bradford. I know the scent, and I can smell it on you.”
It was Agent Bradford’s turn to stay quiet.
“Fear makes you do stupid shit. It makes you misread situations and needlessly stresses your body. Like right now,” Caleb said.
“Right now?”
“Yeah, with that tense arm going all the way down to your pocket. What are you holding, Agent Bradford? What do you think will save you? Why do you think you need to be saved?”
Agent Bradford shook his head. This big dumb nigger was trying to tell him what to think? What to feel? Who was he to talk? He fucking knew shit!
“Think about what her existence means, Caleb. She can read minds. She hears everything. Do you know the risks that poses to national security? Somebody that knows everything can destroy anything. When she’s inside your head, she can fucking kill you with the right word said at exactly the right time.”
Caleb’s smile was dry and cynical.
“You don’t believe me? Just wait. The moment will come when she asks something from you. Something you may not want to give her. Watch what happens. Watch what she will do to you when you finally tell her no.”
Caleb answered, “You’re worried about national security? Fuck man, you know why they made her a girl, right? If they had given this power to a man… if they had given it to me or you, this country would have burned years ago.”
Jane lifted her tired hand and forced her voice to break through her bruised throat.
“You should… stop talking about it…. We’re in a diner….”
The young woman was the voice of reason then. She guarded the public interest better than the special agent officially tasked with it, and immediately cooled down the argument between the two men.
It was no coincidence that she’d said it when she did because not a minute later the friendly waitress returned with their drinks.
“Hope you feel better soon, sweetheart,” she said, gently patting Jane on her shoulder.
Caleb sat with Jane in the privacy of her hotel room. He had taken a seat on a chair in the corner of the room and watched how she threw herself on the bed.
“I need an hour or two,” she said as she curled up into a ball. Jane’s voice was rusty but functional again.
Caleb hesitated. Agent Bradford’s words had somehow entered his mind and refused to leave him alone. Plagued by doubts and confusion, he wondered if he had the right to interrupt his client’s much-needed rest.
Even though her voice had somewhat returned, Jane still looked deathly pale. As if she suffered from extreme blood loss and could pass out any minute now. Still, she unfolded her body and sat up straight.
Caleb analyzed her smile and realized it was polite, yet very tired. Her dark gaze looked at him with a vague anticipation.
“If you have things you need to ask me, you should do it now,” she said.
“I’m sorry, Jane. I don’t mean to interrupt your rest. Maybe I should leave.”
“No. Stay and ask your questions.”
Again Caleb hesitated, finding himself torn between his duty as a bodyguard and the obligation he felt toward himself. She needed to rest, but he needed to know.
“You said yesterday that you’d tell me about what you found at that tree. You said you figured out what’s attacking these people.”
Jane nodded carefully and a strand of her blonde hair fell in front of her tired eyes. She didn’t bother removing it.
“Would you believe me if I told you it was a demon that’s hunting in Brettville?”
Caleb thought no, said yes, realized that he had lied, and then realized that Jane knew that he had lied to her. This was exhausting.
Jane’s tired lips drew into a wide grin, almost reaching from ear to ear.
“Well, it’s true all the same. It’s a demon, its name is Baal, and it wants only to consume.”
“Baal? That sounds like it’s from the Bible or something.”
“Well… you know… the Bible is a fairly new document in the grand scheme of things. The name Baal is much older than that. You find it in almost every religion starting in the ancient Middle East. It means—”
Caleb raised his hand. He wasn’t interested in a history lesson, or any kind of lesson for that matter. He wanted things as simple as possible, and a great many things were bothering him.
“That’s alright. Whatever it is, or what it’s called, that doesn’t matter to me. I just want to know what happens next. Do we kill it somehow?”
Jane shook her head, almost violently. “That’s an arrogant thought, don’t you agree? To think that two tiny human beings could somehow kill an entity this ancient?”
Caleb shrugged. This stuff was beginning to annoy him. “So then what? Do nothing? Evacuate the town because a psychic detective says a demon is hunting people?”