13) A Blue Café

Artemis meets a strange girl... again.

13) A Blue Café

Saying the walk to the light is long and tedious, would be an understatement. I stand, more than two kilometers from where I started, and still, the light seems no closer. Nothing seems any closer, the only thing that seems to have changed, is how far away the bus is, so I know I am moving. But every time I look up from the ground to check on the light, it's no closer. Several times, I have wondered if it's a light at all, maybe im just seeing s**t. I have also explored the possibility that the light is a Shadow Person, but all seven are stood beside me, and, why the f**k would A Shadow Person be that far from me? They are never more than fifty meters away, and for that to change now, would be beyond spectacular, and worrying.

To say the landscape around me is invigorating would be a joke. There is no landscape, no hills, no sheep, no cows, literally nothing of interest. Just flat land. Honestly, my visit to America has been the worst holiday ever. And I say that having had had a holiday where my best friend killed herself. I let out a laugh, a cold, heartless laugh. It echoes through the night. I look up at the sky. Or do I look down? I smile. I look at the moon; it sits there, in the sky, on its throne, watching me. Why do I say it's sat on a throne? Cause it f*****g looks like it alright?
"Who the f**k am I talking to?" I shout to the sky. I half expect the sky to shout back telling me to 'Shut the f**k up', but it doesn't, instead it remains exactly how it was. Boring, empty, infinite space. Quite wonderful when you think about it.

I glance up from the floor, and to my astonishment, the light has moved. It seems closer now, barely noticeable, but when it's the only thing to look at, you notice.
"You see that God? I'm f*****g winning!" I yell this to the moon. Ha. Lunatic derives from a belief that the moon installed insanity. Look at me now, yelling about God to the moon. A bloody lunatic.

As Artemis walks through the dry landscape having the time of their life, Dante is not having the time of his life.

Since climbing the fire escape to watch the door, however many hours ago that was, nothing interesting has happened. A couple of drunks have gotten into a fight, but that had ended quickly. Dante keeps one eye on the door, whilst keeping the other peeled for something, anything, interesting. So far, he has counted ninety-six cars that had passed; the same one more than three times. Forty-six people walking around, twelve drunks, and a group of sixteen teenagers, the eldest he had guessed to be sixteen and the youngest twelve.

However, in ninety-thirty-two, Ben, is actually having the time of his life. Since coming here, fourteen weeks ago, a lot has happened. He has become part of the family of Balatrise, he is now known as son of Stephanie and Olivia Balatrise, whenever such formalities were required. He’s become friends with the local boys and girls, quickly fitting in, he adjusted to life, quite easily. Most nights though, he lies awake, thinking about Artemis and James, have they noticed he disappeared? Were they alive? And sometimes, 'How has my life here impacted the world I came from?' Did he inadvertently stop Morgan Freeman from staring in Bruce Almighty? Is his name honored on some wall somewhere for some heroic deed? The thought he least liked, 'Will they try to rescue me?’ Each night is the same, come in, eat, play with Camille, go to bed, and stay up for hours thinking. Each day is the same; wake, wash, eat, school, homework, play, come in, eat, play with Camille, go to bed. It isn’t repetitive though, if anything Ben prefers this life to the one he had had with mobile phones, and internet, and video games. The weekends are tough though, working around the house, helping in the farm. Work he would never have even thought about doing fifteen weeks ago.

I look at the sky. Watching the stars overhead. The moon has slipped behind a hill. The sun has its hat on. I don't know how far I’ve walked, or for how long. My legs are numb, I think my foot started bleeding a while back, but now it's stopped. I can't feel my legs or my feet anymore, and yet they keep going. One after another. With each step, I get closer to the light. I can see my progress now. Every time I look up, the light is closer. Ever so closer. I wonder what it is?
"What do you think it is?" I ask The Shadow Person closest to my left. They don't answer, they keep walking. "I think it's some sort of strip-club that allows teenagers without an ID in, and I can get all the free drinks and food I want. And hookers." The Shadow Person doesn't even smile. "Tough crowd." I say to the sky. God. I've been alone, what, three hours? And I’m already going mad. If The Shadow People start talking, then I really do have a problem. I look at them as I walk. Something about them is different. I can feel the difference, but I can’t put my tongue on it. I look at the light, and my eyes leap out of their sockets. The light’s no more than two-thousand meters away. I look at The Shadow Person, "Race you." I say, and I start running. "Last one there's a rotten egg." I yell into the inky blackness.

The light drifts into vision; it illuminates a building. A lone building, no Santa Monica, but a building at least. There's one person inside. I stumble through the door. Before I can say anything, a familiar voice speaks,
"Took your time. I expected you here half an hour ago." The voice says. I turn to face the voice, dreading what it’ll see. I pray I’m wrong, but alas, I’m not. A girl sits, with black hair and blue tips; a beanie sits atop the hair.
"You gotta be f*****g shitting me." I say.
"Watch your language." The blue haired girl says.
"Watch my language?" I gasp, "Last time we were in a room together you killed a guy! And I was arrested for it!"
"Shhhh. Do you want to get arrested for that again?" She says, I don't even need to say anything. "Now sit. We got some talking."
"Nah. You got talking to do. And paying." I collapse into the seat opposite. And before The Blue Haired Girl can open her mouth, a waitress is besides us, ready to take my order.
"I'll take the biggest stack of pancakes I can have, with bacon, a coke, and some water. Please." I order.
"I'll have a coffee." The Blue Haired Girl says. Once the waiter is out of earshot, she speaks. "I expect you have some questions."
"Of course I have questions." I basically shout.
"Shut up. Keep your voice down, we don't know who's listening."
"Who could be listening!" I whisper furiously.
"Satuska Industries. God. Shadow. Just to name a few."
"Yeah on that. Who the f**k or what the f**k is Satuska Industries? I was just f*****g attacked by them."
"We know."
"Who?"
"The Children of Eden." The Blue Haired Girl says, as if it's meant to mean anything to me. "Don't worry, it'll make sense eventually." She says after seeing my blank stare.
"Nah. I want sense now."
"Well. You don't get a choice." Sparks crackle along her hands. "Now." She says as the waitress returns with a coke a jug of water, and a coffee. "Satuska Industries is a mega-corporation based in Shanghai, they recently launched a task force to hunt and kill monsters." She notices the blank look, "That's as much as I can say. Next."
"Who are you?"
"Can't say."
"Fine." I sip my coke; it feels great. "What is going on."
"What day is it?"
"March, uh, f**k. March 27th, I think."
"Alright." She sips her coffee. "Basically. Twenty-one months ago, you were caught in a terrorist attack, inducing a coma. Whilst in that coma you visited a plane of existence called The Other World, there you met Dagda and presumably The Seer. The Seer saw something in you that shook the universe, shaking spider-webs off the universes most deadly. One of those visited a deity that goes by the name of Shadow." She sips her coffee, looking at me. "Following?"
"Yeah."
"Good. This deity, Shadow, attacked you in The Palace of The Gods, you were returned to Earth. You woke up blind. Met up with Dante. A café. Another café. Shadow frees you from jail. You board a magical bus driven by The Driver, an ex-ferryman of the dead. There you meet Ben Cevolt; you learn his father was abusing him, so you kill Alex Cevolt. Satuska Industries attack the bus. Dante and Ben leave through a side door, ending up in Santa Monica, you leave through the front door, ending up here." She coughs as the waitress returns with a huge stack of pancakes and bacon. "And now we're here."
"Where is here?"
"The f**k should I know?"
"Cause you're here."
"So are you." She says smirking. "Anything else?" I glance at her wrist, and where, last time there was a tattoo, this time there isn't.
"Yeah. What am I? I'm told I’m not human, so what am I?" This seems to stun the girl; she pauses.
"Be right back." She says standing and rushing to the toilet. Ten seconds later, she's back "Yeah. I can't tell you that." I glance at her wrist again, and there, the tattoo.
"What are The Shadow People?"
"The what?" She sounds surprised.
"Yeah, The Shadow People. Can you not see them?"
"No. I can't. Anything else."
"How do you know so much?”
"Yeah. I definitely can't tell you that."
"One last thing. Are Max and James and Ellie alive?"
"Yes. All three of them. Chloe is currently in Heaven."
"Heavens real?"
"Yes. And Hell, and Purgatory, and the Afterlife."
"The Afterlife?"
"Yeah, if you make it into Heaven, you get a choice between Heaven and the Afterlife. The Afterlife is basically, you choose where you're born and you are born into a world full of other people who chose the Afterlife, you get to choose your age, but you can't choose what you look like." She looks at me. "Chloe chose that. She said it was because." She pauses "she hopes that one day she'll meet you there."