The day after, fifteen minutes past eight pm.
''How could you do this to family, huh? You left Joel all alone to spend the night in the cell just after you broke his nose! Are you mad? How could you be so cruel to your elder brother? He only asked for you to pay the money he borrowed from that crazy lender of his, and you fucking broke his nose at the station! Are you insane, Era? Is that how you treat family?
You know how scary the cells could be at times and Joel is the only family you have apart from me.''
Sighs.
''At this point, I think it is safe to assume you enjoy watching your family suffer. You like one of those little demons you get yourself involved with every single day. You even made yourself comfortable sleeping above them. Not only that, but you are such a psycho, and it is messing with your head if you don't know that! Likewise, you are becoming a demon yourself, and it is scary knowing no one would be able to perform an exorcism on you because you've basically shut yourself up completely from the world.
Even your boyfriend had to break up with you. You lost to him to that award thing. I am worried about you in case you think we don't care, and it is you against the world and your family. You have five days to free dad from Hell's paradise! I am done watching my father get demonically tortured by one of his daughters. If you are crazy enough to feel it's right, well, the rest of the world is talking, and I hate being mentioned and associated with bad things. Call me, immediately after you receive this voice note. We need to talk.''
The phone lying beside the numerous scented candles on the counter top turned off after being asked to play all her recent messages. At the center of the enormous modern bathroom, the girl sat quietly inside her bathtub, covered with soap from neck downwards. Her arms resting on the edge as she leaned on it, gazing dreamily at the beautiful sight before her. The view of the world laid bare before her through the top to bottom windows. The sight of the gentle rain pouring down and wetting the glass made her bath much more ethereal. It was the best yet.
She sank deeper with a soft sigh, closing her eyes at the relaxing feel of the soft music playing in the background. It feels better when the demons caged beneath her are also charmed by the calm feel of the night rain. There were no scratches on the wall, no shrill screams or brutal sounds.
There were no ominous knockings…
She sighed again peacefully.
Everything was just perfect.
Until the screen of her ipad lying on a small golden platform beside her bathtub notified her that she had just received a message. She collected it, leaned back to see what it was this time.
It was a forwarded message by Steph from the very headquarters of the DPB (Demonic possession burreu busters.) You could also call them the DPBB or the archangels.
For meeting the monthly required numbers of clean souls (those who have been tested and monitored under strict supervision after hours of deliverance and given the sigil of protection from further demonic attacks), the government has decided to increase her pay by an impressive percent of fifty.
Era smiled at the good news.
She was also invited to join a very educative conference that would be coming up in the following weeks about what they do. Date and time plus the location would be communicated first thing tomorrow morning. They were also happy to have her on the great team of exorcist.
She smirked.
At least these bastards know her worth than the dumb award ceremony session that happened yesterday. What were they thinking? That she would crawl up in a dark corner because she was chosen over her ex. Really?
Well, technically, that was what she has been doing. It's been more than fifteen hours, she had been hibernating in her bathroom in the name of wanting to clear her head. Leaving Stephanie in charge of all the chaos that happened the rest of the floors beneath her feet.
But now…
She rose from the bathtub, water dripping down her curves as she stepped out naked. She gave command to the AI to turn off the calming sound that had been playing non-stop in the background since she woke up in the bathtub. Walked pass a floor length-mirror but turned back to admire her body. If there was one thing she loved the most was the type of body she came with. All natural and something her sister and everyone would always hate her for.
She put on her bathrobe.
The DPB has done it again! Coming in with good news just when she is close to being suicidal by the terrible things she had to endure in her life. They had always been an angel in disguise. A significant figure in her life. She appreciated them more than family, and they had done many wonders to her than any god would have done.
They supported and funded her dream of being a powerful exorcist in the face of demons. Even though she was the only female in the thriving industry. They believed in her before she started to believe more in herself.
She would forever be grateful to them.
Era smiled as she drowned the cup of wine she brought in with her when she came in here. The girl walked up to where her phone was placed beside her favorite scented candles. She picked it up to start replying to all text she'd ignored close to a day. Opening emails and other direct messages.
Era just kept smiling as she scrolled through the messages that flooded her Dms. They were all business related. Stephanie told her the DPB had just brought fresh new condemned citizens (those detected with little to high demonic essence or possessed directly by the demon) to be taken care of by her. She nodded and replied to the text with a happy thumbs up.
More condemned citizens equals more money flooding her multiple accounts. Plus, it was something she loved doing apart from being gloomy and feeling like the world would end soon like they've always cried about.
She reopened the final message. It was close to a minute and a half-long, and replied with a haunting smiley-face emoji before deleting the message. Leaving her bathroom to get to work.