I, Devil (a love story)

Chapter 44: Azazel

I drove out West. I wanted to be in real time, physical reality. I spent all the energy I had to manifest a car, a body, and my classic brown suit. I made sure to have details, like a buttoned down vest and shoelaces. I wanted to look as real as possible. As always, I had my pocket-watch with me to travel back and forth through time. I also added a little glitz, like giving myself the scent of men's cologne with a hint of orange spice.

I wanted to see the destruction I caused myself, first hand. I wanted to see it through a pair of human eyes. I wanted to see the Apocalypse. After all, who doesn't? It was always suspected that I-- the Devil-- would eventually mess things up and basically kill everyone on Earth. However, I never did any of it intentionally. All I wanted was for God to talk to me. The Great North American Earthquake certainly caused a lot of humans and other lifeforms to cross over the Rainbow Bridge or whatever, but it definitely wasn't everyone. Life... finds a way. So, was it really the Apocalypse we have all been waiting for?

And don't talk to me about Armageddon. First of all, Armageddon is supposedly a set of hills in Israel, not the name of the actual battle. Since neither me nor the rest of the Devil are physical, it is sort of irrelevant where the supposed Final Battle against good and evil takes place. Besides, you don't think I haven't read the Bible? You don't think I already know that I'm set to lose? So, why should I care? Why would I show up to fight? To be honest, I avoid that area of the globe entirely. That's why I've quit and have always just done what I want instead.

So, I decided to instead drive to California, out through the American West. I wasn't in a hurry. I could have instead made it easier and just instantly traveled through space and time to get there. But, I didn't. I didn't want to. I went the old fashioned way, which is much slower. I drove and enjoyed the scenery. Maybe I was just hesitant to actually witness what I had done. I knew I triggered the Earthquake. I knew it was me. I just had no idea that would happen.

Like always, being the Devil, I had no one to answer me but God. And since we weren't on speaking terms-- STILL-- I was left alone with no consequences. I know I've always been like a toddler with no mother telling me what to do or when to go to bed. All of existence for me is one big experiment. Everything is new and exciting. I never know what is going to happen on any timeline in any dimension or space, and yet I am standing on the event horizon all the time and everywhere.

Here I am, driving through the desert. I just destroyed several dimensions and half of North America in real time, and nobody was coming to get me. Nobody. Was it even I do did it? The threads holding the dimensions together was literally just that- threads. The Veil was thinning to the point where it was transparent cobwebs strung together. There were places on Earth where it was indistinguishable from Hell. I just sped it up. I just collapsed what was already falling apart. I didn't destroy anything that wasn't already set to fall. Was that my destiny? Was I still just a pawn in the Creator's chess game? Or was I meant to destroy something unexpected, something that wasn't already broke. Maybe I wasn't as original as I thought.

Then there was Meresin. I hadn't forgotten. Once he realized that nothing mattered and being 'Satan' was a joke, he decided to quit, too. The last guy you'd think would quit his job. The rules lawyer. He first tried killing himself and when that didn't work, he just decided to buckle-in and stick with just one human, obsessively, till the end of time. Look where that got him-- the stupid fool thinks he's in love.

As I entered Arizona, I began to see a haze in the sky. I drove past Albuquerque and so far, things seemed fine. While I had no desire to stop in a city, I did want the full experience of being human. I wanted to eat at a diner and maybe check out a road-side attraction. It wasn't often I spent the energy to transubstantiate. It was saved for special occasions. The last time I really made an effort... I wound up sleeping with Wendy.