A black triangle, sound waves, blankness, void, obsidian, floating—Harvey opened his eyes.
The color of his eyes was the same as the waters of the Timor Sea in summer—a mix of blue and green that blended into a cyan so light it almost looked white, faded... His eyelashes were also golden, very pale, so much so that in the sunlight it would seem as if he had none at all.
The ghosts of the astralplane are so annoying... He rubbed his temples, lit a cigarette, and then took a sip from a glass filled with amber liquid beside him—cigarettes, whiskey... Ah, if only he had some chocolate, but it seemed he had already finished his stash.
Smoke drifted into the air, carried away by the fan. With no rain today, it had become hot again, though the open window occasionally let in a cool breeze. He pulled a pen from the pen holder and started to fiddle with it.
In the middle of the room stood a desk, with filing cabinets behind him, and two sofas arranged in front of the door. He couldn't remember when he had moved all the books from home into the office. Hmm... perhaps because there was no space left at home. The textbooks from Rome were piled so high—let alone selling them, even trying to recycle them as scrap paper would be flagged by the association.
Ah... America... He hoped PAR hadn't discovered that he had sneaked onto their territory. But even if they did, it would be fine; they would only find out he was taking money to perform abortions for vampires and not discover the rituals he was doing for the Resonances. Those stupid ghosts... Couldn't they just stay away from him? Why were they only targeting him!
The desk phone rang. Harvey put down the pen and picked up the receiver, switching it to speaker.
"Harvey, the kid's here."
The time had come. He checked his watch—it was almost noon.
"Alright, Donna, let him in."
Shortly after, the doorknob was pressed down. A young man walked into the office, still wearing the same clothes from the morning. His hair was messy; he probably hadn't even brushed his teeth before coming over. Ha, the first time he had seen the underbelly of the veil he was so much better... when he was a child, he had the Resonance whispering in his ears, so maybe it wasn't much of a comparison.
"Sir, you don't look like someone here for an interview with that get-up."
Ethan ignored him and sat down in the chair in front of him.
"Who exactly are you people?"
"Oh, so you're not here for a job, huh?"
The boy slapped a business card onto the table. On the ivory card, his name was written: Mr. Harvey Speck, Speck Detective Agency, 15 Garland Street.
"Let me guess... Khovansky didn't pay you?"
"No, they paid me."
"Then, are you here because of that ghoul?"
"I want to know what happened last night."
"Alright, what do you want to know?"
"Everything."
"Ah, fine, I'm sure the Association has the complete explanation, but I can't remember it. So, let's start from the beginning..."
Harvey stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray while Ethan watched him silently.
"In the beginning, there was the astralplane. Then Elohim said, 'Let there be light,' and thus, Heaven and Earth came into being. His sister, the Demiurge, created Hell. The two of them did not interfere with each other, and it remained so until Elohim grew tired of being alone. So, he created a garden, Eden, grabbed a handful of dust, and shaped Lilith in the likeness of the Artisan creator."
"What is this? A myth?"
"It's the full story you asked for."
"Alright, go on."
"Then He created Adam in His own image, taught them how to mate, and gave them the authority to name all newborn creatures. But Lilith was dissatisfied with the commanding tone Adam used with her, so she left, going alone to the land of Nod. The Demiurge saw Lilith and became enraged. She took on the form of a serpent to tempt the woman made from Adam's rib and the child of dawn on top of the Seven Hills. This was the first sin."
Harvey paused, observing the boy, whose face remained expressionless.
"Adonai presented Adam to His angels, proclaiming him as His child and demanding that they bow down. The Morning star, God's firstborn, refused, believing himself to be the favored one. He led a third of his brothers, alongside the Red Dragon, in rebellion against the Father. They failed, falling from the sky for nine days and nine nights, becoming the first demons of Eden's serpent."
"After Cain, Adam's exiled son, killed his brother, he fled, wandering the land of Nod until he met Lilith. From her, he learned how to survive alone. But the angels soon learned of the first murder in the world, so Michael, Raphael, and Uriel cursed him. His descendants became vampires, werewolves, and ghouls."
Upon hearing this, Ethan finally showed a hint of emotion, though he tried hard to conceal it. Harvey still noticed.
"After Abel's death, his soul returned to the astralplane. Yahweh and Eden's serpent argued over who should have this soul, so they decided based on the soul's deeds during life. Demiurge favored suicides, for they, like her, despised Yahweh's creation, so suicides went to Hell. Lilith fell in love with Cain, but he fled. Fed up, Lilith sought revenge against Adam's children and, with Eden's serpent's help, transformed into the first succubus, dwelling in Hell—thus began the first succubus and ghost."
"Alright, so what are you people?"
"My goodness, there's no need to rush. Elohim grew tired of His creation, so He decided to flood the world, destroying all of humanity. The angels secretly warned Noah. After the Deluge washed over the earth, He fell into a deep sleep. Eden's serpent, seeing this, calmed down and also went to sleep. Yet, a part of Him still couldn't let go of His creation, so that part, with the angels' help, was reborn as a mortal—Immanuel. But the mortals killed Him."
"He, by the Sea of Galilee, taught people how to exorcise demons. These early Christians were the first exorcists, and over 2,000 years, these exorcists formed the Galilee Exorcism Society, which now manages all entities and hypostasis worldwide to not breach the veil—except in Americas, where it's under PAR's jurisdiction."
"That still doesn't explain your friends or my mask."
"No one knows when or who established a formation or, rather, a contract that encompasses the entire world. If you complete a ritual with a willing hypostasis, you can share their power, and those who complete this contract are hunters. You are a hunter—you drank that ghoul's blood, and it didn't refuse. Of course, most hunters drink the blood of a Cainite they have killed for various reasons."
"..."
"I'm done. Do you have anything else you want to know?"
Ethan was stunned. This all sounded like just a story, but the guy in front of him wouldn't just be telling a story. If he took what he said as true...
"It seems the veil has been lifted, hasn't it?"