"This is so hard!"
"That's what she said."
Angie groaned at Jasper's joke and laid ack on the grass with arms stretched above her head. "For a hundred plus year old demon, you sure know this centuries jokes."
"Hey, I get around," Jasper said. "Anyway, it's hard because you're not focusing. You're just pointing out people and hoping you're correct."
"I was really trying in the beginning," Angie whine, turning over on to her stomach and kicking her legs up and down like a child. "But now this is just boring since I'm not getting anything right."
"This is an essential part of your training. If you can't do this, then you won't be a reliable partner," Jasper sighed with a shake of his head, then sat up straight again and cleared his throat. "Try again, Angie."
Angie sat up on her knees with a huff and closed her eyes. Her hands balled up into fists as she tried to focus, but Jasper brushed his fingers over her knuckles lightly telling her to relax. She took a deep breath in and exhaled out trying to look for the snatchers in the area. There was too much to focus on. They were in the park under a tree near the playground where parents blabbed to each and their kids screamed with joy as they played. Joggers went past with their heavy breathing and dog walkers passed by with their dogs yapping at the kids. It was too much for Angie right now.
"Angie, you're trying too hard."
"Ugh! Jasper!" Angie cried and bonked her head on the ground gently. "I'm hopeless!"
"This is your first day doing this. It's okay if you don't get it."
Angie popped back up on to her knees and glared at Jasper who innocently cocked his head to the side with a smile. "You just said that I would be a useless partner if I don't get this right and now, you're saying it's okay if I don't get it today?! Make up your mind!"
Jasper sighed again. "Angie, can you please stop screaming? You're almost as loud as those children." Jasper looked at her with concern when he could hear sniffles and the start of small sobs coming from the woman. He quickly scooted towards her and brought her in for a tight hug. "I'm sorry. I keep forgetting how hard it is for new ones to locate snatchers." He pulled away and draped a stray hair behind her ear. "I'm sorry for confusing you. You're doing great. Let's keep trying."
Angie nodded and wiped some stray tears from her face. Before she could get back into her meditative-like state, there was a tap-tap-tap on her shoulder. She looked over and up to see a man smiling down at her. He had a small beer belly, a well-trimmed beard, dimples, bright white teeth and fluffy, curly black hair. She smiled back politely.
"I just wanted to make sure that your boyfriend wasn't the one to make you cry," The man said, motioning his head at Jasper who frowned at him.
"Oh," Angie looked to Jasper then back at the man and shook her head. "No, no. He's not making me cry. I'm just frustrated with myself."
Jasper's hand grabbed Angie's and squeezed tightly. "Angie."
Just as Angie looked at Jasper, her face scrunched up and she could feel a tight feel in her chest. When she looked back at the man, she could feel something pulling her towards him. She was getting angry for no reason too. Was this how it felt to locate a snatcher?
It must have been because suddenly, the world turned gray. The parents and children at the playground vanished. The dog walkers and joggers did as well. She could feel that this was a different plan of existence. She wasn't sure which one, but it was not the mortal plane. Jasper pulled her to her feet and dragged her away quickly from where they had been sitting. Looking back, the man himself was not there but his shadow was. Opening its golden eyes, it growled at the two demons and flashed a toothy grin at them.
"That's a snatcher," Jasper whispered, calling out his weapon. From the bright light of his chest came forth a falchion. "Get ready for a fight.��
"You'll need me." Cordelia came forth from her chest and found its place within Angie's hand.
"Wait, you haven't taught me how to fight!" Angie screamed and dodged out of the way of the snatchers fist as it came down between the two demons.
"What you have to do will come to you as you progress in the fight," Cordelia said.
"What are you a fucking video game character?!" Angie exclaimed and screamed again when the snatcher tried to grab her.
"Trust your instincts," Cordelia told her. "Watch the snatchers moves. Instead of dodging out of the way when he tries to grab you, what else could you do?"
The snatcher roared out of pain and twisted itself to look at his back. Jasper had plunged his weapon into the shadow's back and the wound was spurting out globs of black that disappeared once it hit the ground. Before the snatcher could do anything, Jasper pulled his falchion out and jumped back from the beast. It turned its full attention to the other demon, putting Angie's presence in the way back of its mind.
"Now is your chance," Cordelia whispered. "What can you do now that its back is turned and attention is on your partner?"
Angie took Cordelia in both hands and steeled herself. Jasper nor Cordelia would let her die by the hands of her first snatcher. She inhaled sharply and ran at the shadow. It brought its arm back to strike at Jasper. Angie used that moment to hop onto the arm, giving herself enough leverage to push off and bring the hammer part of her weapon down on to the beast's head. Angie slid down its back while it roared out in agony. The snatcher grabbed at its head and dropped to its knees.
Jasper pointed his weapon at the beast and nodded to Angie. "Would you like to do the honors?"
"Uh… what?" Angie asked, looking at the still roaring shadow. "What am I supposed to do?"
"Finish it," Cordelia hissed and started to glow a dark red color. "Thrust me into the snatcher's chest area where you would normally find a heart. That'll pierce its core and destroy the snatcher."
"Right…," Angie mumbled not truly understanding what was going to happen, but she did as she was told. She stood in front of the howling monster, gripping the still glowing Cordelia tightly in her hand. Her brows furrowed and her nose scrunched as though she was smelling something nasty. Then, she brought her arm back and in went Cordelia right through the shadow's chest. It stopped howling and went still. Angie could feel it's inside fighting the weapons presence within the snatcher. She could hear it whine then the thing shattered into what looked like shards of glass. Once the shards hit the ground, they disappeared just like the black goop that had spouted from its back.
"Congratulations!" Jasper beamed and gripped Angie's shoulder tightly. "You have destroyed your first snatcher!"
Cordelia's glowing subsided and she disappeared back into Angie's chest. "I need a break. I haven't been used in a fight in centuries."
Angie looked around the area that they had been in and saw that it was still gray-looking. "So, is this what happens when we fight these things?"
Jasper nodded as he took his hand off her shoulder. "Yes. We have the power to still time. Stilling time makes everything go gray. Even I am not sure why, but it's really nothing to worry about."
"So, how do we get out of this stillness of time?"
"You were the one to activate it," Jasper said. "Only you can deactivate it."
"I don't…," Angie steeled herself again and nodded confidently. "Okay, I can do this." She closed her eyes and thought about the flowing of time. The children playing on the playground. The birds chirping and flying from tree to tree. The joggers and dog-walkers going by. As she thought about it, it became reality and time was flowing once again.
Jasper beamed a smile and offered her his arm. "Come. We are going to celebrate. I'm sure you're starving because I sure am! My treat!"
Angie smiled back, intertwined her arm with his and let him guide her to a small outdoor café just near the entrance to the park. She heard her stomach growl, but if she was being honest with herself, she was more tired than hungry. However, she wasn't about to let a free meal with good company go to waste. Well, she didn't exactly need the free meal since she was wealthy, but the poor artist in her said otherwise.
"This is my favorite café to come to whenever I'm done with a mission," Jasper said, sitting down at a table far away from others. "Meaning that I come here a little too often and now even the owners know me by name."
Angie giggled as she sat down opposite of him. "Don't we all have one of those places?"
"Jasper!" The waiter exclaimed as he came with silverware and plates for the both of them. "Haven't seen you in a few days! What have you been up to?"
Jasper shrugged. "I've been here and I've been there. You know, same old."
The waiter nodded then turned to Angie. "You're usually alone, but today you have a lady friend with you?"
"This is Angie," Jasper said as Angie smiled at the waiter. "She's an artist that lives here in the town. Just down the road actually."
The waiter's eyes went big as he realized who exactly she was. "You're married to that big shot, huh?"
Angie scoffed with an eye roll. "Not anymore, but that's history."
"Right, right," The waiter said. "Well, what can I get you for drinks?"
"Lemonade please," Angie said.
"And I'll have a coffee. Black please," Jasper said. "And could we have an order of fried mozzarella balls too?"
"Of course!" The waiter nodded and sped off into the café.
"So, what do you tell people that you do for a living?" Angie asked.
"Freelance writing," Jasper said. "I have to make sure that there's no way that people can try to look me up since… well, they won't find anything."
Angie smirked at the demon. "So, they haven't tried to look up your articles or anything?"
Jasper shook his head. "Nope or if they have and ask me about it, I just say that they're articles for really small companies that you won't find online. Humans are dumb, so they just accept it."
"Hey," Angie huffed with a pout. "We're not that dumb."
"Yeah, you guys are."
"Here's your lemonade," The waiter scurried over to their table and put the glass in front of Angie ho immediately downed half of it. "Here's your coffee and-," He put a basket in the middle of the table. "Here's the friend mozzarella balls."
"Thank you, Peter," Jasper said, popping a fried ball into his mouth. "Mmm- delicious as always."
"Thank you!" Peter beamed with a smile. "Ready to order?"
"Ohhh! Yes!" Jasper sang with a little sway in his seat. "I'll have the jalapeno popper grilled cheese."
"Uhm…," Angie looked at the specials menu that was on the blackboard outside. She pursed her lips and hummed in thought, then looked back at the waiter. "I'll just have the mac and cheese with a side of fries."
"Sure thing," Peter said, writing down their orders and bounding back into the café.
Jasper popped another ball into his mouth and practically purred out of delight. "So," he gulped down the rest of the food in his mouth. "I think I understand why Mother wanted you in our cult."
"Oh?" Angie quirked an eyebrow before popping a friend mozzarella ball into her mouth. "Do tell."
"You attract snatchers."
Angie stopped chewing and frowned. "What makes ya' say that?"
"Do you really think that it's a coincidence that you married a snatcher?" Jasper asked. "Do you think it was a coincidence that a snatcher came up to us and not one of those kids that were playing or a parent?"
"Y-yes?"
Jasper sighed, shaking his head as he sat back in his chair. "Oh, Angie. Things like that are not just coincidences."
Her chest got tight just then. She squeezed her hand over her chest and scrunched her face into one of annoyance and anger. This was how she felt with the man that had come up to them in the park. She snarled quietly and looked back over her shoulder. There was a woman who was just sitting down just one table behind them. As she took her seat, the woman glared up at Angie for a moment than buried her face into a menu.
"See what I mean?" Jasper whispered. "They're attracted to you for some reason."
"I'm too tired to deal with her," Angie breathed, looking down at the fried mozzarella balls.
Jasper waved her off and ate another mozzarella ball. "Someone else will handle it. I don't want to exhaust you on your official first day. Besides, tomorrow we'll get to know what abilities hell decided to give you."
"We are in a video game," Angie groaned and dropped her head into her hands.
"I mean, what did you expect? Demons have all sorts of magic and abilities they can use to fight against these soul snatchers."
"Your mac and cheese with a side of fries," Peter put her food down in front of Angie and put Jasper's food in front of him. The waiter nodded his head and smiled. "Just holler if you need anything." Then scurried away.
"You know, I didn't think demons needed to eat," Angie said as she watched Jasper practically have an orgasm taking a bite of his grilled cheese. "Let alone actually enjoy eating human food."
Jasper held his finger up and swallowed his food, then answered her, "Hey, I was once a human. I miss some aspects of it and it's more of a pleasurable desire to eat than a need. Well, at least to me. You'll meet plenty of demons that don't eat anything."
"I'm okay with just meeting one for now, thanks," Angie mumbled and Jasper howled in laughter.
"You'll get used to it. Well, it's not like you have a choice. We'll have others join in on missions every once in a while. Not now, since you're still learning, but at some point."
Suddenly, Angie's head started to spin slightly and her vision blurred a little. She dropped her fork into her half-eaten mac and cheese and gripped her forehead with a groan. "I'm so tired. I don't think I can sit up straight for much longer."
Jasper finished his grilled cheese and frowned. "I can get your food to go if you want."
Angie nodded and Jasper immediately got the waiter's attention. He asked for a box and the check. Angie glanced back at the woman who had been sitting by them. She was back to glaring at her while she sipped a cup of what looked like tea. The tightness in her chest worsened. The woman's eyes seemed to turn full on black, then went back to her original color. Angie could feel herself being tugged toward the beast attached to the woman. Angie shook her head lightly and turned her attention back to Jasper who was handling the check.
He looked up a bit then fully. "Everything okay?"
Angie motioned her head to the woman. "Can these things suck energy from you?"
Jasper shook his head. "No. You're exhausted because you were the only that stopped time and did the final blow. Your weapon is tired so that doubles down on how you feel as well. Remember, Cordelia and you are one. If she is exhausted, you're double exhausted."
Angie shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "If you're sure."
Jasper leaned over and gripped her shoulder. "You'll get used to it. From what I saw today, Mother made a good decision."