Devil's Advocate

It wasn’t long after they woke up the next morning that they started off on their road trip. If Kenneth had any thoughts about Angelique being ‘asleep’ when he woke up, he didn’t say anything about it. Instead he opted to get quick drive thru breakfast so that they could get started faster. She waited patiently for him to get his breakfast and get going before she broke the silence.

“Did you sleep well?” The question was spoken with an awkward infliction, like she wasn’t sure she should be asking it but was going to anyway. She almost cringed at the level of uncomfortable the small talk was making her feel. She watched Kenneth raise his eyebrows.

“Fine. I slept fine.” He answered slowly, a clear unspoken ‘why are you asking’ at the end of his sentence. Angelique ignored it and nodded her head, deciding to try to shut this down before it progressed further. She also mentally ignored the fact that she had started this slew of awkward to begin with.

“Good.” She said, hopeful her matter of fact tone would prevent Kenneth from asking more questions. It did not.

“Why do you ask?” he tried. She shrugged. He sighed.

“Ok, do you wanna talk about it?” He tried again. She shrugged again.

“What’s there to talk about?” Her tone was a bit too defensive in that answer. There was no way Kenneth didn’t pick up on it.

“Easy.” He started. Angelique stiffened in annoyance. Yeah, he picked up on it. She crossed her arms in frustration, but it was internally directed rather than externally. Kenneth, of course, picked up on that too. “Ok, so I don’t know what’s going on with you, but if you wanna talk about it I don’t mind. We do have a bit of a long drive ahead of us.”

She appreciated his attempt at humor, his attempt to put her more at ease. She didn’t like that it made her want to talk about it, though. It was easier to not face her insecurities than it was to deal with them. She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. His eyes were fixed on the road but they periodically darted her way, and his face was relaxed and open. He genuinely meant that she could talk to him should she desire. She grumbled like he was pulling her teeth, but she decided she would allow him a brief peek inside her head.

“Just coming to grips with the fact that I’m not human anymore.”

“Who said you’re not?” he asked. She blinked slowly.

“The devil did.”

“Hmm.” Kenneth made a non-committal noise. Angelique glared.

“Hmm?” She glared harder when he nodded.

“Yeah. Just thinking. Waiting for you to continue.”

“Who said I was going to?” she grumbled, her annoyance spiking when he began to laugh.

“No one did.” He said when the chuckles died down. “I just figured since you so obviously want to talk.”

“Well, I don’t want to talk about it. Or anything else.” She said, turning to face the window. Kenneth chuckled again, confirming that she was acting childishly about the whole thing. She honestly didn’t know what was wrong with her. Even when she was alive she wasn’t this contradictory. She wanted connection. She didn’t want to connect. She wanted to talk. She didn’t want to talk. It was confusing to her. But at least Kenneth was seemingly amused by her antics; the grin didn’t leave his face until long after the conversation was over.

Three stops for gas and one stop for food later, Angelique found herself behind the wheel of the truck, heading in to Illinois. She wondered briefly if this would turn out, or if Scott would elude her once again. She kept checking his file every time they stopped for gas, but it was still just as useless. He wasn’t making any major decisions. After going back and checking the file again, she realized that farther back she could have seen when he captured Victoria. Which was almost immediately after he was released from the hospital. The file didn’t state where she was held, however, outside of the city. Which was in Illinois. Instead, the file stated he was moving between locations, which was why she didn’t pay much attention. She skimmed it, and in doing so she had missed the fact that he had even taken her.

“You’re speeding.” Kenneth’s hushed voice startled her, and she jumped before taking her foot off the gas. She glanced down and winced. He wasn’t wrong. She was going about 15 miles per hour too fast.

“Sorry I woke you.” She said, her voice just as soft despite the fact that they were the only two in the car and they were very much awake. He sat himself up and looked over at her.

“It’s ok. Do you want to talk about it now?” Angelique bit her lip at his question, but nodded.

“I can talk about this.”

“Oh so it’s a different hang up then?” He was teasing, and the gentle ribbing made her roll her eyes. But she still cracked a smile.

“I was thinking about Victoria.” She answered. He raised his eyebrows, an action she barely saw in the dark.

“The girl you keep visiting in hell?” he asked. She visibly flinched.

“She’s not in hell, she’s in purgatory.” Angelique corrected him. He nodded in acknowledgement.

“Sounded a lot like hell when you described it.” He murmured. She laughed.

“It was very hellish.” She agreed. “But I have been informed it is nothing like actual hell.”

“Let me guess. The devil told you that?”

“He was the one who stopped me in the office before I went straight down.” She tried to defend Lucifer, but even she could tell it was a weak defense. He confirmed that with the laugh that followed.

“I still can’t believe hell has an office.” He said with a grin. Ah, that’s what he found funny. She laughed with him.

“It’s a very fancy office.” She said. He laughed again.

“You know,” he said once he had calmed himself. “There was absolutely nothing you could have done for Victoria.” Angelique clenched the wheel. Back to business.

“I could have found him.” She answered firmly. Kenneth shook his head.

“No. He was still very much in the wind. Because he was refusing to nail down a location to himself. And by doing that he remained hidden from us.” She nodded.

“Yes I know that. But I still could have done something.”

“There was nothing that could have been done.” He insisted.

“I could have not missed when I had the chance to shoot him!” she exclaimed, her body shaking. There it was. The truth of it. She could have prevented all of this. She had the opportunity to save her life, and she screwed it up. Who knows who else was going to die now because of her stupidity, her inability to shoot. Kenneth reached over and rested his hand on her shoulder.

“It’s alright.” He told her softly. Angelique didn’t make him take his hand off her shoulder. She let him offer her comfort while tears streamed silently down her face, her wide and wild eyes hidden by the dark cover of night.

Kenneth fell asleep with his hand on her shoulder and that’s how he woke up, startled by the vehicle stopping. Outside, dawn was breaking. Angelique stretched after she threw the car in park, turning to face him.

“We’re there?” he asked softly. She nodded.

“Yeah, we’re there. We need gas though.”

“I’ll get it.” Kenneth stretched himself out and held out his hand. She handed him the credit card. “I need to stretch my legs anyway.”

“Are you sure?” she asked, unbuckling her seatbelt. He nodded.

“Yeah. I can take care of it.” Angelique nodded and let him go. But she still got out of the truck. She needed to stretch herself. She walked inside, walked back out. Circled the gas station. She felt a little better, not guilt ridden anymore. She was still anxious, though. Anxious to find Scott, to end this. To get this over with. She took a deep breath, wrinkling her nose at the smell of diesel fuel. Maybe she should check the file while she waited. She headed back to the truck. Kenneth was already back to it, and about halfway through with filling up. Angelique was relieved that he was already back to the truck. She walked over to him and leaned against the truck. He glanced at her and grinned.

“Stretching out your legs?” he asked. Angelique nodded.

“I don’t know why I need to stretch them at all.” She grumbled. “I am in fact not alive.”

“Ah, but you’re using your muscles like you are. So therefore, you need to stretch.” He said with a teasing grin. She rolled her eyes and stomped her feet like a toddler.

“Ugh. Logic.” She sassed him. He laughed at her antics and then turned to face her, eyes still laughing but face serious.

“So. Now that we’re here now what?” he asked.

“Now what is the question, isn’t it?” She sighed. “My only plan was to search that farmhouse that’s for sale and check the file.”

“Well. Why don’t you check the file while I drive us to the farmhouse? Then we can get a hotel and plan the next move.” He suggested. Angelique nodded. That was a good plan. They finished filling up and climbed in the truck. Stretching one more time she buckled her seatbelt and pulled out the file as Kenneth put the truck in gear. She flipped it open as he began to drive away. As she reached the end, she felt her breath catch. There were words appearing. He was making a decision!

“Kenneth. Something’s happening.” She whispered, watching the words appear slowly on the page.

“What? What’s going on?” he asked frantically, but Angelique didn’t answer. She was busy watching excitedly. The words flowed onto the page almost as though the paper was stuck in an invisible typewriter. Angelique could almost hear the click of the keys as the letters appeared.

Well aware of the danger he faces, Scott now moved to settle down in Illinois. After establishing his residence, he traveled to the next city over, preparing to abduct the young woman he had been chatting with online. Angelique felt her breath catch, her eyes roaming the page almost frantically. No. There was no way he could be that sick. That evil.

“Angelique! What the hell is going on?” She jumped at Kenneth’s voice. She cleared her throat, having to try three times before she could speak clearly without a wobble in her tone.

“He has decided to stay put here in Illinois.” Her voice was almost a whisper. She was surprised Kenneth could hear her. He smiled and visibly relaxed.

“That’s good, right? We can get him. We have it narrowed down to a city, we think. Let’s head out to the farmhouse and we can catch him!”

“He won’t be there.” Her voice was hollow. Kenneth about swerved off the road he turned his head to look at her with a look of shock.

“Wait, what? Why? We’re not at square one again, are we?”

“Worse.” She took a deep breath. “He’s heading off to abduct another girl.” Kenneth did pull off the road now, throwing the truck in park before she could blink. She jumped as he snatched the page off her lap, skimming it fast. His hands were shaking, and his breath was ragged.

“Who?”

“I don’t know.”

“Where is he now?”

“I don’t know.”

“Damn it, Angelique, we can’t let him torture another girl!” he shouted, slamming his hand on the steering wheel. Angelique jumped again, then took a deep breath herself. She reached out and softly set her hand on his arm. She felt the muscles tense beneath her fingers.

“I know. I don’t want to let him hurt anyone else either. But I don’t think we have a choice. He has to at least take her.”

“Please tell me we can do something.” He was pleading with her as though she was God himself. She steadied her resolve. She needed to be the strong one. She had let herself be shocked and horrified, now she needed to be the leader. She tightened her grip reassuringly.

“Let’s check out the house while we know he’s gone, and then go get a hotel.” She said firmly. “Then once we have confirmed his location, I vote we call in one more favor.”

“Are you going to break your glass?” he asked. Angelique shook her head.

“No. I’m going to make one more trip to purgatory. And after I get back, we’re gonna get him. Trust me Kenneth, this is going to end without anyone else getting hurt.” Kenneth waited only a moment before he nodded, putting the car in drive and heading back off down the road. He had faith in her. Now she just needed to have more faith in herself.