I slit the envelope open with a swift motion of the pocket knife and read the letter tucked inside. "Aw, shit," I said, leaning back. "I was planning on having a nap after lunch." The kid on the other side of the table leaned forward. "Is everything in order, Mr. Preacher?" "Yes. Just more work. And don't call me Mr. Preacher." "They didn't tell me your name, sir," the kid said. "That's because I don't like my name," I said. I got up and went around him. I put a golden coin on his lap. "Tell your boss I said thanks for the tip." "Actually," the kid said, getting up, "I.. uh… I was fired from Mr. Gabriel's office." I turned back. "Kid, stop calling people 'mister'. Especially angels. Angels aren't misters. Or mistresses. For the most part." "This is my last assignment with him," the kid said, depressed. "I was hoping I could tag along with you. Wouldn't be looking for an assistant, right?" "No, thanks," I said, by the door. "You worked with Gabriel, I'm sure you'll do all right. Great references." The kid's official job in Heaven I never knew. I only knew him from the visits he paid my office every now and then. I had him on a retainer as an informant. A demon was terrorizing a small town in Kentucky, Gabriel's office was the first place the news get to. And the kid worked at Gabriel's office. So, whenever he heard something he'd come to me with the info and I'd give him some beer change. These haunted places are great if you're a bounty hunter like me. The kid caught up to me by the elevator. "I know the story behind this," he said, pointing at the letter in my hand. "It's a house at the end of the street," I replied. "There's no story. Probably some asshole tortured soul fucking up an old lady's life." "Nothing like that," the kid said. "You let me come with you and I'll give you all the info. Make your job easier." I looked down at the envelope. Then up at him. The elevator beeped. "What do you got?"

"It's not Pazuzu," the kid said, as we left my car and headed up the street. "But this guy works close with him. What happened is some fallen archangel sold a defensive blanket to this person –" "Fallen archangel?" I interrupted. "Yeah, you know those – the kind who sneak into the living world illegally and work as psychics or selling New Age crap." The kid talked fast, like he was high on speed. "For all we know this guy was just trying to make a living. But the blanket doesn't really work right. It attracted demons, instead of repelling." We reached the old house. Vine covered the infiltration stained white walls. I looked down at the kid. "This could get messy, if Pazuzu is really involved. Are you sure you want in on this business?" The kid smiled. Cause he didn't know better.

The door was unlocked and it didn't look like there was no one inside the house until we made it to the bedroom. An old lady was lying there, blanket covering her whole body except her wrinkled face, white like frozen milk. "Hello there," I said, stepping in. "Heard there's some paranormal stuff going on here." The kid walked in after me, looking around. The room was filled with all kinds of religious apparatus. This lady was a Jesus groupie, all right. Pictures on the wall, crucifixes, candles… "Hey!" I said, stopping in front of the bed. I waved my hand in front of her eyes. "Are you alive?" "Mr. Preacher…" the kid's voice rang behind me. "Not now, kid," I said. "And my name's not Preacher." "Mr. Shepherd?" "Wrong again." "Ok, whatever your name is… I really think you should look behind you." I frowned. The lady's eyes were open and at me in a second – then the next her pupils went up and her eyes turned white. I looked behind me. The kid was staring at the far wall with eyes wide the size of deadly sins. Clinging to the wall like a spider, an old lady just like the one in bed had eyes at us, her hair spiked like she just been electrocuted. She was holding a crucifix that looked to have been sharpened with a knife. "Now, you see," I said, ignoring the fact that my heart had just decided to beat double tempo. "The trouble here is figuring out which is the real old lady." The kid looked back at me. "Probably the one in bed, right? As opposed to the one glued to the wall." "You'd think so, but more often than not you get surprised," I said. I walked over to the old lady hanging from the wall and stared at her eyes. I said, "What do you want?" The lady blinked fast. "Help me…" she said. "You see?" I turned to the lady in bed. Her eyes were red now. I snatched the pointy-knife-like crucifix from the old lady glued to the wall (there's a weird sentence) and walked over to the demon-old-lady by the bed. "All right, what's your deal?" I asked. "Pazuzu will rule the Earth!" the lady whispered, and her voice sounded like a chorus of kids. "Yeah, sure he will," I said. I pulled the blanket away and raised the knife crucifix. "Pazuzu will rule the Earth and you can't stop me!" "Sure I can!" "You can't do anything!" I was about to plunge the knife when I stopped. "Wait… that's too easy." "What?" "You keep saying I can't do anything, despite the fact that you can see I have a crucifix shaped knife – or a knife shaped crucifix…" I paused. "Whatever. The point is – it's almost like you want me to kill you." The old lady moved her head a bit, uncomfortable. "Which can only mean…" "Mr. Preacher!" I turned back fast and threw the crucifix. The old lady that had been glued to the wall a second before was mid-jump, her legs stretched against the wall, her arms reaching for the kid. The crucifix got her straight in the right eye and went up all the way to her brain, because I'm that good. She fell to the floor, dead. I turned back. The old lady in bed had her eyes back to normal again. She looked at me like she had just seen me for the first time. "Are you with the power company?" she asked. "I called yesterday about a problem with my kitchen outlet." The kid approached me and looked up, pale. "That was hardcore." I grabbed the defective blanket from the floor. I looked down at the old lady. "Stop going to psychics," I said. Behind me, the other old lady's body had vanished already, replaced by a small pile of dust and a silver badge. I grabbed the badge. "This is gotta be worth something." The kid looked up at me, still pale. I gave him the blanket. "Go outside and burn this," I said. "Then call your ex-boss and tell him I got a Pazuzu follower's soul and I want my reward." I thought about this for a second, then added: "Also tell him Pazuzu is planning to take over the mortal world and that might concern his boss." The kid nodded. The old lady fell asleep.