Radicle (Terminal trilogy #2, can stand alone)

5: Reminder/Remainder

When I awoke there was already food at my bedside. My back was sore from the comfort of the bed, and the lack of windows in my room threw my internal clock off.

I sat on the carpeted floor to eat, as it was improper to eat in the same spot I slept. Afterwards I took ten minutes for my prayers to Michael, and then worked on my morning exercises. Though I was willing to let myself relax while I stayed here, it would do me no good to lose my physique entirely.

I heard a creak on the floor. How could a carpet creak? Was there good wood under this atrocious layer of fluff?

Tecie looked coldly at me, in the disconnected meaning, not literal. She handed me a card. "This was left at the door. Who knows you're here?"

I opened the card. Inside it read- 'Star Bridge Tea lounge- noon.' It was signed SB in an intricate script.

Tecie was looking over my shoulder. "You seem lost in thought. Who sent this? Moll? Did she track my address somehow?"

"I'm a slow reader." Was all I offered her. "I'm much more used to my own language."

"What, Enochian? That is what it is, right?"

"I guess so." I didn't know. It was the only language we spoke and read and lived in, so it didn't need a name.

"Well." Said Tecie, standing up and looking impassive. "I don't know where this 'Star Bridge' is. In addition, it's ten thirty right now and we still have to pretend-escort you out of Hell and set you up with a new identity. I'm not sure you're going to be able to meet this 'SB'."

We had that little time? "We better go right now then."

"Don't you want to, I don't know, Shower, or something?"

"We need to hurry. I can't miss this meeting." I wasn't even sure if it was going to be the Cancer or Moll that I met at this lounge. But either ways, it currently seemed a lot more important than everything else in the world.

Tecie seemed oddly fussed about letting me leave, but finally she obliged. She tried asking me some fairly personal questions at first regarding my night's sleep, any dreams I might have had, and how my breakfast was. It took a couple times of reminding her before she caught on how impolite she was being. I grew uneasy as well as her seemingly innocuous questioning persisted- surely, as Michael's contact in Hell, she could not mean me harm by them? But then why was she so curious about my sleep? Did she know about my nightmares?

I was anxious. This feeling was magnified as we weaved through the crowds. I was starting to feel like I could smell these demons, and all their demon-ness stung my nostrils and made my eyes water. By the time we reached the elevator and passed through a number of security checks, I almost wanted to actually head back home.

Right in front of the elevator, Tecie paused. "Here's where we break off."

"Just like that? Won't someone notice?"

"It's been arranged." We continued walking down the hall. "Hell has notoriously terrible security, among things. I'm just going to drop you off here- it's an informational group for new demons. You just follow along with it, and they'll hook you up with everything you need. ID cards, a temp job, legal documentation. You don't have any registration files, of course, but we're calling that 'administrative failure'. You're going to need a new name, by the way. Including a last name."

I did not enter the room. "New name? That is entirely terrible. Angels only change their names when they've fallen. I still hold my Grace."

"Well, looks like you're going to adapt. Hurry up and get in there. A quick hot tip if you're stuck on a last name- colors work well. That, or jobs."