Devil City

by Gestalt Publishing

  Maximillian J Rudwin. Devil Stories.

  Never mind. Got Ava's to find. Back out into the cafes and upmarket haberdashers. There it is. Glamour broken, it's simple work. Upscale apartments again. A doorman, in a uniform. Drop the hoodoo on him and press a random button, with the sigil guiding the finger.

  'We play this polite. She's not the kind of problem you can hit.'

  Bettina sighs. 'We need more of those.'

  Yeah. Could use some teeth to take some frustrations out on.

  Elevator opens. Right into the loft. I was a rich man, I'd have something like that.

  It's about what you'd expect. Wide space, sunken lounge area. Two huge Turkmen rugs, vibrating colours, subtle patterns. White leather couches, tasteful, boring art on the walls. One side of it all glass with a view over Midtown. Television the size of a car. Clock tower in the nearby town hall rings out the hour.

  Ava, down in the sunken lounge. She's putting it on. Long white gown. Drinking champagne. She's listening to fucking opera. The very image of the upper class, the spoiled debutante or the trophy wife. Long ways from the shabby chic icon.

  'Hello Ava.'

  We wander down, Bettina remaining behind. Slump in her couch.

  'Wait, you'll stai... stain the leather...' Fades it out for maximum disapproval.

  Blood everywhere. Rub along the cut on my face. Dried blood falls into my lap.

  'Sorry about that.' Wipe the back of my hand on her leather. Sweat stains resolidify and mar it.

  'We don't need the queen of Sheba. We have an idea. Could help us all out.'

  'Way I understand it, he hasn't finished you off yet. I've got my lines on him. Soon I'll find him. I rather expect you'll end up being a fine stalking horse,' says Ava

  'Yeah. He's not going in for the kill. I think he's made you. Which means you can't just peg me out, hope the tiger smells me.'

  Ava wants the Devil, Devil wants me. Not a stupid play for her to hold me hostage. So give her something sweet.

  'Hmm'. Twists her lips.

  'Do you want a drink?' she asks. Gestures to the sparkling in front of her. None of us take it. That stuff is poison for amateurs. Only grannies and the vulgar take it.

  'So what's your proposal, Lark? Given that all I have to do is leave you out there for a while longer to get what I want, I expect it will have to be interesting.'

  Light up. She just rolls her eyes at me. Ash into a champagne flute. I like doing it.

  Lean back. This is a good couch.

  'Sure you'll be interested in this.'

  She waits. I wait longer. It's better when they ask first.

  'Well! What do you have?'

  Breath out smoke, take a drag, breathe that out, too.

  'You got married, right?'

  'Yes, we were married, consummated too. I'm the legal Queen of Hell in front of God and everyone.'

  'But he took off the next day, right? Your freedom, you wanting it that bad... soon as he got his end away, he felt that... freedom radiation. Then took off?'

  'Yes yes.'

  'So. You come from the old days, right? So what was missing? Five hundred years between engagement, marriage. One thing you never said got paid out.'

  'The honeymoon? I have no idea. Please if you have a point, come to it or go out on the streets until you die usefully.'

  Bettina doesn't say or do a damn thing but I can feel the chill from her. Katanya lets her head rock back a little, surprised by the bold. She's only been on the job a few months but... get used to that.

  So I take a long time with the next drag. Petty? Nah. Need to show her she's not getting at me.

  'Brideprice.'

  'What?'

  'Did you arrange on a brideprice? Good medieval girl like you, even though you ran away, you know you can't get married without your father or mother getting a good bit of bank for you. So tell me, you ever collect on that?'

  'My mother's been dead for a million years.'

  'Sure. But she's still a character in a story, right? Same as you.'

  'What story?'

  Put my hand up and Bettina throws me the book.

  Give her half a smile and thumb through it, find the story I want.

  'See, here's the thing Ava. I knew I'd heard your story before. I used to be close to a girl, she came out of a little town too. Place thick with legends, so she made her magical practice similar to all that. I knew I'd heard your story before.'

  Commence to reading.

  iii

  Holofernes, her mother. Bad blood between Ava and her from the start. The courtship. Figuring out who the handsome groomsman was. Trapping him as he passed through the locked keyhole.

  You wonder why I asked you to read that?

  That's why. Old story. Recorded in the 18whatevers but much older than that.

  Ava, trapped in time. Her and the Devil. Words on a page. Not trapped in time. Trapped in paper. Forever suspended in each other in opposition.

  It must be a poor thing to be a story.

  iv

  'See? A story. Do I call you Panfila now?'

  'That wasn't me. I mean, it's close but it wasn't like that. '

  'Stories change. So does the Devil. So do you. Your story is about getting away from what everyone told you to do. This one is about, shit, I dunno. Put the moral in yourself. That's what stories are for, right? '

  Ava's a bit spooked. Figure an ontological shake up like that, I'd be the same way. Ease the pressure down. Pour her a glass of the hateful wine she likes. She takes it, drinks a while. Katanya looks over a question at me but, well, I'm not a teacher, so I ignore it.

  'I want to take elements of that story, bring it to this one.'

  'What do you mean?'

  'I want to talk to Holofernes. She's still a part of your story. Can be, at least. Way I figure it, she's gonna be useful to us. This is a woman who cowed the Devil. Trapped him.'

  'So what, you figure-'

  'Figure she did it once, she can do it again. And now she's got more reason. See... motherfucker owes her money.'

  'May I have one of your cigarettes please, Lark?'

  Pull the pack out, zippo, send it across the table. She lights up, sends the whole thing back. Looks at the cigarette like it's rude to her.

  'Alright.'

  Nod. Katanya breathes. It's not much but I can hear it. Might as well have just said oh thank Christ we were desperate. Ava's not even paying attention but I flick my gaze over to Katanya anyways. She gets it straight away, nods a tiny apology.

  Fucking apologies. Nothing I hate worse.

  'What do you need to me to do?'

  'I'll call back in a few hours. I don't have a phone. When you've got a hold of dear old mum, I'll hit you up the next part of the plan. Cool?'

  'Yes.'

  She's sad and distant or playing at something. Sympathy waves radiating off Katanya.

  Huh. Figure it out.

  Katanya isn't great at the job because she cares about people. She wants them to be innocent. She wants them to have made honest mistakes. She believes in people.

  Hell. Next part of my plan will probably save her life one day then. You live in the world and you don't see it for what it is? Comes a time when you're just blind on purpose.

  'Got a question, don't have a way to pay for the answer though.'

  Queen of hell turns, blows smoke out of one nostril.

  'You may ask.'

  'Hollow and the Devil. They have static. You know what that's about?'

  'Yes.'

  Her turn to play me out on the reel. Too important to fence on this one.

  'Would you tell me, please?'

  'The Hollow was created as a tool of revenge that decided the whole world need to pay up. The Devil is, as you might think of it, in all his incarnations, a jailer and torturer. No matter what else he is. He might want to lure souls down to the basement because he likes it, he might just be doing a job but it's a legitimate job. It's authorised. He's always an outsider b
ut only because he's been sent outside. The Hollow thinks the Devil is an underachieving amateur and sell-out. Devil think the Hollow is tilting at windmills and a poor artist.'

  Makes sense. Even Sutehk had a night job, working for the Gods he hated. Battling the primal annihilating serpent God, Apophis.

  Something goes cold in me at that last name... world like a meteor

  Get up, turn. 'Thanks.'

  Bettina is watching Ava. Close.

  Touch Bettina light, real light, on her arm. Head snaps up to me. I keep her gaze, that one eye staring at mine, then she eases back. Raise up eyebrows but she's not talking yet. Turn back to Her Majesty.

  'Expect the call. Don't leave.'

  Ava ignores me.

  'Ava.'

  Looks over, slow. Imperious. 'I'm not sure I should do this, Lark.'

  'Lady, your ex is a mean son-of-a-bitch and yesterday, he took me on a walk through hell. But you stuck the bastard on my trail in the first place. So I might want to fix his works but I want to fix yours too and no fucking mistake. So if you leave me out in the cold, I'll fall. But I'll fix it so you get got before the end. This way, it just ends, and I get to live, which is better than payback.'

  Take the last of the smoke from between my lips. Drop it to the carpet. Grind it out.

  'But only a little better.'

  She watches me. Cold.

  'Get it done.' Then we're gone.

  v

  Katanya looks at her watch.

  'Lark.'

  'Yeah.'

  'I have to go.'

  Yeah.

  'I mean. It's nine o'clock now.'

  Alright.

  'It's happening in three hours.'

  I know.

  Finally she plays it smart and gives it some silence. We're in a tradesman's bar, open 24/7. Old guys stammering, shaking. Some young woman, get the meth-head mummification, staring at us. Three guys just come off a shift, hitting a ball around the felt, taking it in turns, proudly talking about how their wives are driving ‘em crazy. A lady down the end, too classy for a joint like this, secret drinker, getting an eye-opener in before brunch with, I dunno, someone called Duanne. Cheap stereo playing pop hits that are like a heated wire-cleaner through the ear drum.

  Look at Katanya over my drink. 'You haven't thought this through, lady'.

  'What?'

  Katanya looks between me and Bettina but Bettina just shrugs at her. She either knows and won't tell or knows and doesn't care. But the girl has had a rough night and there's no point letting her swing in the wind.

  'Foulstone, he decided your best use was bait. Same as that dame did to me, looking to draw out Jon. He probably figures you for in the wind. He sets you up and you just turn up to the ceremony? He's gonna figure you're really, really stupid or you're way more resourceful than he thought so he's gonna play it like you're challenging him. What's his next play?'

  She gives it a moment. Her heart might be soft but she's not stupid and she's getting the hang of how things work real quick.

  'Get rid of me?'

  'Yeah. But you need to be there, right? Otherwise it looks bad in front of the rest of the Library and whoever else, dignitaries, are there. And you don't go, accuse Foulstone later, he's gonna vanish you in the night. Which means you either get gone now. Hit the road and don't come back. Not for your woman, not for birthdays. Nothing. Or you go. To the wedding.'

  She's really thinking it over.

  'Lark my whole life is in the City. I still... look, it's got problems but I still believe in the Library.'

  Yeah. Who doesn't?

  'Then you go to the ceremony. Bettina?'

  Lay out my palm. Subtle, she passes hers across it and there's a knife in my hand.

  'But we're gonna give Foulstone bigger bait than you. You're gonna give him -' I cut my forearm when no one is looking. Not the palm or finger. That shit hurts and takes forever to heal.

  'You're gonna give him this.'

  Napkin soaks up the blood. Bettina looks at me careful.

  'This that... Contagion stuff?'

  'Sympathy.'

  She's heard me talk about Sympathy. She likes it when I talk shop to her. Dropped a bit of alchemy on her before. You probably know how this goes. Like effects like. Fat fucker gets my blood, he can hex me. Find me. It's like a channel. Bettina knows I'm making myself vulnerable to Foulstone.

  'Give it to him how?'

  'Just say, I got this off Lark. I give it to you, I'm buying myself consideration. He'll figure you sold me out, you're not gonna make waves for him. And that, Katanya is how you stay alive.'

  My way of thanking her. My way of putting her in my debt.

  'What if he doesn't?'

  'Then you're in trouble. But even if he does, wedding is in a park, right? What's he gonna do?'

  Scarlet always said she wanted a church wedding. High ritual. Eastern orthodox she could swing it. Shock the occult underground of the City. Used to make us laugh, getting married like a straight citizen. Drop five tabs of acid, do some crazed sex magic tantra bonding rites, that's as married as we thought we needed.

  After this I got to get my mind right and stop thinking stupid weak thoughts like that one.

  Come a time, brooding over lost love just gets to be a boring habit you can't quit.

  Back to work.

  'Besides... You want to live a life without trouble, lady?'

  Katanya shakes her head.

  'You're handing Foulstone a weapon.'

  'I know.' Hand her a bill. 'Get a round in, please.'

  She gets up to go. Just me and Bettina.

  'Before we left Ava's, you blanked. What was that?'

  'Hard to - Not sure how to say. You say she's a story?'

  'She's a lot of them, I think.'

  'Yeah, that plays. I saw her, she was this peasant girl, all cartoon princess. She was this Latin chick, on some dirt farm. Sometimes she was just this poor chick with bad teeth, all stained from the fields. What's all that about? Why do I get to see that?'

  'You're dead, Bettina. It's pretty hard to lie to the dead. Reckon what you was seeing was all the stories that went in to making up Ava. Fairytale version. Spanish version. The version Ava remembers herself.'

  Shrug. Now to get to the next piece.

  'You're going with her, Bettina.'

  'What?'

  'You're going with her. To the wedding. You're on her. She's not ready. Foulstone can have her any time he likes.'

  'You're risking her. All casual-like.'

  Like I did with your eye. But just like then, I need to know how this ends.

  'Yeah. Throwing up chaos, seeing what comes out in the mix. But I was really throwing her in with the sharks, am I sending you?'

  'No. But who’s watching you?'

  'Only person I can't hide from, nothing any of us can do to stop him. Hollow is still out there too and we already know he's stalking us. Go watch a wedding with her.'

  'Man, they'll recognise me.'

  'Maybe. Let ‘em. They might have some long distance surveillance of you but Scarlet only met you once, right after the Archon business. Mr. Blossom might know you. Rosengarten, Connor, the ones that would have definitely made you, they're dead. Foulstone sees you, knows I'm fucking with him.'

  She frowns at me, not liking me working alone. I'll die not knowing why.

  'Alright.' She eases back.

  'How'm I getting in?'

  'Date.'

  She growls a bit at that.

  Look, I want to tell you Bettina is as cool as anyone else but, fact is, she's street and street doesn't always have the high-minded ideals you want. All her life, Bettina hears from Catholic family about hell that waits. Now, Bettina, she's cool. Told you before, she's seen too much to give a damn who you hit it with. But pretending to be a gay woman? Ah, that's a different story.

  'You'll cope.' I tell her. Annoyed at her own feelings, she nods shortly.

  'Besides, you'll shock some rich people. Monocles
will drop. '

  'Thass cool.'

  'Foulstone. You can do it, you rile the cunt up. Better he comes at me quick. We gave him something nice and tasty. Way I read him, he'll be itching to move on me. Nervous. He'll know that a bloodcurse, he does it face-to-face, I'm not gonna have wards enough outside my house to protect myself.'

  Not the only time in the next day or two I'll be making myself vulnerable, hoping to outrun the razor. She doesn't need to know that plan.

  'Katanya buys her life with something really juicy and I provoke him to move too quick. He thinks he's got a gun at my head. We hit him while he's gloating, thinking it's a done deal. Stay on him and we get him after the wedding, while he's vulnerable and overconfident.'

  'I feel you.'

  'Good.'

  'Stupid dangerous though. Risky.'

  Nothing to say to that. I took your eye. She meat on a hook to Foulstone and I don't to see her blood tread into a carpet like Pizzalgo's.

  'What about the ghosts?'

  'All the handlers are dead.'

  'Yeah, okay.'

  'Still got your phone on you?' She does. I hand her a few hundred from that roll that seems pretty depleted.

  'You'll hear from me. You'll have to meet me somewhere. Expect to hear from me by about...' look around but there's no clock in a joint like this, 'I dunno, three.'

  'Where you gonna be?'

  'Bettina, baby, I'm gonna be as far the fuck away from that wedding as curses and my bashed in hip can take me.'

  That makes her grin. Katanya comes over, whisky for me, tequila for Bettina, water for her.

  Bettina stands, puts her arm around Katanya's shoulder. 'Come on lover, we got to get me some wedding clothes. We got a date, then I gotta go get you in a fight with your girlfriend.'

  Katanya blinks confusion.

  Bettina smacks her on the arse, pretty hard. 'Get moving, boo.'

  Make a start on the tequila. They hustle out and Katanya looks over her shoulder at me, not sure what's going on but not exactly displeased with the thick arm around her waist.

  Get to cogitation.