Renato grabbed the handle, opened the door, and jumped out of the Camaro. Clara, her body covered in blood, with hair and clothes stuck to her skin, was a terrifying and dazzling sight. The two girls, clinging to each other near her, looked truly terrified.
Renato rubbed the back of his neck and frowned. His hands were trembling.
Around them, the curious crowd kept growing. Almost everyone was filming with their phones. They whispered and pointed at them.
The boy noticed that the rain wasn't as heavy as it had seemed before.
He looked at the road. Traffic had stopped. The frightened and curious people kept gathering.
About 50 meters away, a body lay in a pool of blood. Further ahead, a police car was burning in a pillar of fire and smoke.
"Let's get back in the car," Clara said, her voice calm but firm.
"Hey, are you with them?" said a woman, grabbing Renato before he got into the Camaro. She was pointing her phone's camera at his face, which made him nervous. He didn't answer, only furrowed his brow.
"It's just that I'm a journalism student! Could you talk to me for a moment?"
"Come on, Renato!" the succubus's voice came impatiently from the car.
"Excuse me!" He pulled free from the woman's arm.
"Call me so we can talk!" She slipped a small piece of paper into his hand.
He took the note and got into the car. Clara slammed the accelerator.
Renato unfolded the paper. As he suspected, it had a phone number written on it. He put it in his pocket.
"So then… are you two also…" Renato looked at the backseat, where the two girls sat. The older one looked about sixteen, he guessed, with light brown eyes and long black hair that reached down to her hips. The younger, maybe fourteen, had red hair, also long but a little shorter than the other's, and her face shone with two bright green eyes.
Beautiful! But they were terrified. He could see how hard they were trying to hold their tears back. Renato thought if he tried to make small talk, they'd burst into tears. He decided to speak to the succubus instead.
"Are they also… you know… vampires like you?" he whispered, trying not to be heard by the two.
"If you call me a vampire one more time, I'll make your dick explode like a water balloon."
He swallowed hard and fell silent. Clara burst out laughing.
"Relax! I'm kidding! I won't do that… not unless you deserve it."
Renato forced a nervous smile. He felt his parts were in danger.
"Hey, is your house far from here?"
"Actually, no. About four kilometers that way, more or less."
"Show me the way. We need to rest and, to be honest, my house isn't very safe lately."
Renato nodded. He thought about protesting since no one had asked if his house was available, but again he felt his parts were in danger, so he stayed quiet.
"We're not the same as her." Jessica's voice broke the silence.
Seeing that the boy was listening, she continued.
"She is something strange… something dark. We can feel it. My sister and I are girls of God."
Mical nodded in agreement.
These thoughts crossed Renato's mind: "A succubus, two girls of God, and me, inside a Camaro, heading to my house. This sounds like the synopsis of a porn movie!"
"Thanks for the strange and dark. I'm flattered."
"Sorry," Jessica lowered her eyes. "I shouldn't talk like that about the one who saved us. But… it's just… it's hard to understand. Why? Why did you help us?"
"I don't know. I guess I was bored."
"I see. Bored." Jessica nodded.
Against her will, a timid smile appeared on Mical's lips.
"At the next corner, turn left," Renato said, trying to take part in the conversation.
The car stopped in front of a white, slightly rusty gate. The walls weren't plastered. The street was lit, but the lamp on the post right in front of Renato's house had burned out, leaving a patch of darkness.
As soon as they got out, loud, shrill barking filled the night.
"Sorry. Those are the neighbor's Pinschers. They bark at everything that moves, and she has eleven of them! Sometimes I think if those little things had the chance, they'd devour me without hesitation!"
"And they really would!" Clara smiled. "Hades messed up choosing Cerberus to guard his gate. Pinschers are way more sinister!"
"Wait!" Renato said, unlocking the gate. "Hades exists?"
"Of course! The dead Greeks had to go somewhere, didn't they?"
The padlock clicked open, and the gate swung wide. The boy turned to the succubus.
"You're telling me the Greek gods exist?"
"I'm telling you Hades exists. As for the others, I don't know because I haven't seen them."
"There is only one God," Jessica replied. "The rest are all demons in disguise!"
Clara sighed.
"I just remembered why I hate Christians!"
"But… what about God?" Renato raised a brow. "Does God exist?"
"Which one are you talking about?"
"God with a capital G. The God of the Bible, you know? Jehovah, Emmanuel, the one who parted the Red Sea."
"Seriously?" Clara huffed. "You just found out succubi and Hades exist, and you're worried about the guy of the 'thou shalt not kill, blah blah blah, thou shalt not eat pork, blah blah blah, thou shalt not fuck'? You know what? I won't tell you! Stay in doubt!"
Jessica stepped closer to Renato, placed a hand on his shoulder, and said:
"God exists. God is love. We cannot let ourselves be deceived by lies."
Clara huffed again.
"Looks like living together is going to be hard!"
Once inside, Renato flipped the switch on the wall, and the light lit up the place. It was a typical neighborhood house, with a living room separated from the kitchen by a marble counter, two bedrooms, and a bathroom. The floor was greenish polished cement. The PVC ceiling was damaged in places, and now and then there were patches of peeling paint on the white walls. It wasn't a big or luxurious house, yet Jessica and Mical couldn't hide how impressed they were, as if they had stepped into a palace.
Mical's eyes widened, and she pressed her lips together.
"This… this is a television?!" she said, running to the stand.
"Yes, it is," Renato said, scratching his cheek with one finger.
"Incredible! It looks like the ones I saw in magazines, Jessica! And this thing underneath? What is it?"
"Oh, that… that's a video game."
"Video game? What's a video game?"
"It's a game. Or rather, a device that runs games."
"Games like checkers or chess?"
"That's possible, but not just those." Renato approached, turned on the console, then the TV. "Wanna see?"
Mical nodded eagerly. Her green eyes had lost their earlier fear. Now they sparkled with curiosity and even a little joy.
Renato picked a game that was easy to understand and explain. Then he handed her the controller.
"Here, if you press this button, that little guy jumps. See?"
"Incredible!"
"And these buttons here make him walk."
The girl began moving the character across the screen, completely amazed.
"Careful! Don't let those creatures hit you! Or you die! Yes! Jump!"
The warning came too late. The girl laughed.
"I think I lost."
"You still have two lives. You can try again."
"Cool!"
She smiled her most sincere smile and turned back to the controller and screen. When she wanted to move the character, instead of just pressing the buttons, she also tilted the controller, an instinctive beginner's habit.
"I want to try too," Jessica said timidly.
"Of course," Renato replied. "As soon as she loses, it's your turn."
"I won't lose!" Mical shot back defiantly, without taking her eyes off the screen.
"You will," Jessica replied. "You always lose, my little sister."
"This is amazing! It's like magic!" Mical said, ignoring her sister's words completely.
"It's not magic," Renato said. "It's technology. Technology made through science."
At that moment, Mical's eyes went wide, and she dropped the controller, letting it fall to the floor. Then she looked at Renato as if she'd seen a ghost.
"Science?" she said, almost crying.
Jessica frowned and lowered her head.
"Yes," Renato replied. "Scientists developed technologies and…"
"My teacher said science is the weapon evil uses to deceive good people!"
Renato frowned.
"Little one," Clara said, "evil has more important things to do than invent video games."
"He said evil whispered science into men's ears. That Darwin, Einstein, Newton, were all Satanists!"
"Your teacher needs a psychiatrist," the succubus retorted, then burst out laughing. "Did he also tell you the Earth is flat and only six thousand years old? Or that vaccines are bad? Or that there's a giant invisible dragon in his garage?"
Mical blushed and lowered her face.
"He did say the part about vaccines."
"Oh, Great Profane, give me patience, because if you give me strength, I'll kill someone!" Clara exclaimed.
Renato sat on the couch and sighed. He felt worn out and angry at the same time.
Jessica went to her sister, caressed her face, looked into her eyes, and said:
"My sister, why did we run away?"
"Because we wanted to see the world! And… and because we felt they no longer cared for God's love."
"Yes. And if someone says they speak in God's name, but in fact don't follow what God said, what does that mean?"
"H-Heresy."
"We don't need to take into account what heretics told us. Maybe what they told us was a lie."
"But how will I know what's true and what's a lie?! How, Jessica? I'm not as smart as you! Or as brave! How can I recognize the truth if I don't even know what I… what I think?"
A tear rolled down Mical's emerald eyes. Jessica held her hand.
"We'll figure it out. Together! Without the tyranny of the Priory. It's okay to discover new things. It's okay to play video games. It's okay to understand physics and how species evolve. Remember who we are. If there were evil in this machine, we would know."
Mical raised her eyes. Her cheeks were flushed. She looked at her sister and nodded.
"Yes. If there were evil, we would know. So… it's okay?"
"It is. And if it weren't, we'd face the hardships together! Just like we have before."
They hugged.
That night, while the girls bathed, Renato prepared dinner. He roasted sausages with potatoes in the oven, cooked white rice, and made a tomato and lettuce salad. Finally, he used cashew pulp to make a chilled juice. They ate happily.
Then the four of them played video games. To the boy's surprise, Clara wasn't very good either and, whenever she lost, which happened frequently, she became very irritated. At one point, she almost broke the controller, but Renato managed to intervene just in time and prevent such a tragedy.
"Brigadores from the magazines," Jessica said absently while holding the joystick.
"What?" Renato raised a brow.
The girl, who had already grasped the basics of the equipment, paused the game.
"At the Priory, we had no contact with the outside world. No television, radio, electricity. Nothing. We also couldn't go out. The only exception were the Crusaders, the warriors who went on missions outside. You met some of them, succubus. Kézar is the general of the Crusaders. My father was a Crusader too. And he brought magazines back to the Priory in secret. Cooking magazines, TV, video games, jokes, everything. He kept them as his treasure. After our father died, we found them. It was like a new world opening for us. There was more than what we knew! The cooking ones were my favorite. One day, I read about brigadores. Little chocolate sweets shaped like balls. I've dreamed of tasting them ever since."
"Brigadeiros!" Renato said.
"Yes! Brigadeiros! I got the name wrong," she smiled shyly.
The boy smiled.
"The day after tomorrow, there will be a June Festival at my school. Every year, my eighth-grade teacher sets up a booth to sell her sweets. Her brigadeiros are the best I've ever had in my life. We'll all get to taste them. What do you think?"
"I've got nothing better to do," Clara shrugged. "Let's go. A June Festival could be fun. It's been a while since I had a mulled wine."
"I don't know what a June Festival is," Mical said, "but I'd like to see. Let's go."
"Good. I'm glad. I can't wait for tomorrow to come," Jessica said. Her brown eyes shone with joy.
"Speaking of Kézar," Clara Lilithu cleared her throat, "what exactly are his abilities? When I got into the limousine, I think I saw him, but then he disappeared. What could have happened?"
"Kézar was blessed by an angel," Jessica said. "He received from this angel the ability to open portals to a sort of parallel dimension. I never really understood how it works, but I know it's in that dimension where he keeps the Archangel's Jewel. And sometimes he can step into that dimension and vanish."
Clara considered for a moment.
"Typical. Angels screwing up in the human world again, huh? That could be a problem. Do you know the name of the angel who blessed him?"
"Sorry. I don't know."
Later, Renato showed them the guest room his family used when they had visitors, but which was empty at the moment. It had a double bed and a single one, used by his little sister. Renato said his guests could sleep there. Clara thanked him but said she wouldn't need it. She was going out to do who-knows-what during the night. Jessica and Mical accepted.
Fresh from their baths, the two sisters decided to talk a bit before lying down. They sat on the bed.
"What do you think will happen from now on, Jes?"
"I don't know. But it doesn't matter. If we're together, we can handle anything."
"I know, but something worries me. That demon. I don't know if we should stay so close to her!"
"God's ways are mysterious, Mical. You know that. Let's accept the help we're getting. If it gets weird, we'll leave."
"Yes." After a pause, Mical added, "Another thing. What do you feel about that boy? I can clearly sense Clara's sinister aura, but nothing from him."
"I don't feel anything either. It's like he's a void. No evil, no good. It's like he doesn't have an aura, almost like a corpse."
"I had the same impression," Mical replied, a shiver running down her skin. "No… I don't think it's like a corpse. It's more like his presence is a hole in existence."
"Let's sleep, my sister. I think the world is much bigger than we thought, and there are many more things to discover. We need to be rested for what's coming."
"Yes."
Jessica undressed to sleep, revealing the whip scars etched into her back, splitting her skin. A reminder of the Priory's cruel punishments.