Chapter 7

From the Offices of Art Space: A Space by Artists for Artists,

Dearest Angela Tally,

Thank you for your submission of your newest piece "Inner Discovery". We have not seen a piece from you in a few years and we were excited to see this new one of yours. Unfortunately, it is not up to our standards to be presented in the master room. We can display it in one of our smaller rooms if you would like, or if that is not something that you would like, you can have your painting back and send in a new submission. Please contact us with your decision.

Thank you again.

Kingsley Centra

Angie banged her head on her kitchen island and screamed out of frustration. That was her first piece that she had been proud of in a while and it wasn't enough? There is no way that it just wasn't up to their standards! She worked at that goddamn place when she was in her teens! She knew the shit that they put up in their master room and it was no where near as good as that painting! She slammed her fist on the table, crumpling the letter in her hand as she did so. After this long, frustrating and tearful week of training with Jasper and fighting these soul stealing shadows', she had to deal with this now?

"What's up buttercup?"

Angie screamed again as she jumped back away from the kitchen island only to snarl at Jasper who was grinning from ear to ear.

"I will never get over that," He snorted out a laugh.

"Well, at least someone is happy and has nothing wrong with their life," Angie growled, throwing the crumpled leather on the island.

"I wouldn't say nothing is wrong since I am dead, technically," He said, snatching the letter from the table and un-crumpling it to read. "But it's a complicated situation since yes nothing is wrong but-."

"Okay, okay. I don't need a philosophy course," Angie sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose in frustration.

"Woah! Your art got accepted into an art gallery! That's awesome!" Jasper exclaimed.

Angie snorted and waved at a hand at him. "It's going to be put in one of those small rooms that people stroll through just to be nice. The master room is the room to have your art in."

"Angie," Jasper said in a more serious tone. "You have to be kidding me! I realize that you're already a well-made artist with tons of art displayed and bought around the world, but you've been in a rut for years. You have to see this as an accomplishment. If you don't, you'll always be in a rut."

Angie sighed and laid herself on the kitchen island and breathed out a long sigh again. "That's easier said than done. Anyone who creates something is going to be hard on themselves. You should know, freelance writer."

Jasper rolled his eyes and furrowed his brows. "Is this really a time to make jokes? I'm trying to give you some advice."

"I know, I know," Angie mumbled, standing straight and wiping herself off. "I'm sorry. It's just a defense mechanism."

Jasper nodded in acknowledgment and gave back the letter. "So, are you going to have them send back the painting?"

"No," Angie said, shaking her head. "I'm going to tell them to put it up. You're right. I should see this as a little victory… Besides, if I asked for it back, there isn't really anything I could do with it other than try to sell it myself on like, etsy or something."

Jasper cocked his head in curiosity. "What is etsy?"

Angie's eyes went wide. "I shouldn't be shocked at your question, but since you said that you 'get around' I'm astonished that you don't know what etsy is."

Jasper pouted, crossing his arms over his chest and pursed his lips. "Can you just tell me what it is instead of making fun of me?"

"Oh Jasper. You are really missing out," Angie said and motioned for him to follow her. "Come. Let me show you what heaven looks like and before you say anything about heaven and demons, it is just a figure of speech."

Jasper grumbled something inaudible to Angie as she led him to her ex-husband's old office which she made into her own office. Well, an office fit for an artist since there really wasn't much in it. Just a desk, her laptop and a filing cabinet with stacks of papers on top instead of inside. She sat down in her chair, pressing the space bar to get her laptop out of sleep mode and went to the Chrome to type in the URL.

"You know the papers are supposed to go in the filing cabinet, right?" Jasper prodded, flipping through them.

"Meh," Angie murmured, waving him off with a hand. "More importantly, this is etsy."

Jasper scooted her off the chair and squinted at the home page. "So, it's just shopping?"

"No, no, no, no! Not just shopping!" Angie squeaked and puffed out her cheeks. "This is where anyone can make stuff and sell the things they make! I get most of my bath and body soaps and what not from here. All my little homey stuff I get from here too!"

Jasper scrolled through some of the items in her "suggested" section and his eyes grew big and one could almost see them sparkle. "Shower steamers," Was all he said and proceeded to type shower steamers into the search bar and pressed enter like it was his job.

"Shower steamers? I didn't realize that demons took showers," Angie said, sitting down on the floor with a little thump.

Jasper snorted. "Maybe not the others but I certainly do. I can't just go out into human society smelling like sulfur and burning flesh."

"True," Angie agreed with a nod. "You certainly do like humans."

"I mean, I joined a cult of demons that choose to help the human race rather than go on there merry way and eat away at the good souls until they disappear from this plane to which we would eventually starve and disappear from all planes as well," Jasper explained, giving a shrug then typed in 'organic shampoo' into the search bar. "And I think I was very caring of humans at one point in my actual human life but I can't quite remember."

Angie pursed her lips and thought for a moment. If he had been caring in his human life, why the hell was he a demon now? Was he nice then with old age came the evilness hiding within him? Angie could have smacked herself. She was starting to sound more and more like a video game.

"Wondering why I became a demon if I cared about humans during my lifetime?" Jasper asked which made Angie jump and squeak out of surprise. "I'll take that as a yes." Jasper leaned back in the chair as he scrolled through a page of 'Garden Gnomes'. "There are a lot of different ways that I could have become a demon; not just by going against God's laws. You became a demon without going against the laws you know." Jasper scratched at his neck then turned his attention away from the computer screen towards Angie. "Truth is, I don't know what I did to become a demon."

"Do you want to know?"

Jasper shook his head. "Maybe in the beginning I did, but I've accepted my afterlife and I kind of like it. I'm not stuck doing Lucifer's dirty work like the demons back in actual hell. I get to live among humans again and experience their evolution."

"Sounds to me like you haven't accepted your afterlife," Angie hummed, placing her head in her hands and staring up at him. "When we were descending into the depths of the church and you plopped me on the ground, you said that demons weren't nice."

"Your point?" Jasper scoffed at her then went back to browsing the website.

"My point is… you don't seem to like that you became a demon. You're nice, Jasper. You're friendly and helpful. You're not like a demon at all."

Jasper smirked then barked out a laugh. "Maybe to you I'm all those things, but when I have to mingle with my fellow demons… well, you'll be able to tell that I truly am a demon through and through. There is no denying it."

Angie frowned and sat up straight with a slight pout. "Why are you nice and kind to me? You don't think I can handle your demon side?"

Jasper turned his head slightly towards her and snickered. "Perhaps that's part of the reason."

"Hey!"

"Although," He interrupted with not a mocking smile but one of kindness. "Perhaps the full reason as to why I'm nice and kind to you is because I'm very fond of you, Angie. People who are fond of one another aren't usually mean to each other, correct?"

Angie's face burned up to the tips of her ears. She looked down at the floor, but gave a nod to his question. "Yes, I suppose so."

Jasper smiled wide and went back to scrolling. "Besides, you're my partner. Demons are usually friendly and considerate towards their partner." Jasper leaned back and stretched his arms up over his head giving a yawn. "Alright, I guess it's time to train you rather than sit here and scroll all day."

Angie gave a heavy sigh. "More training? Can't we just hang out for one day? You know, take a break?"

"Do you think snatchers take breaks?" Jasper asked then held up his hand and spoke again. "Wait a minute. They're in hibernation for most of their host's lives so yes, they do take breaks. So, what did you have in mind for today?"

"Oh, uh," Angie hugged her knees to her chest and thought for a moment. "I didn't actually think you would agree so I don't really have a plan." She licked her lips in thought then jumped up from her spot on the floor. "We're going to start my garden!"

Jasper blinked in confusion then beamed a smile. "Oh? You're taking my advice and taking up gardening as a hobby? Alright, I can help you start. I do have to warn you though, we haven't figured out all your abilities just yet and you may have one that will affect your gardening."

Angie waved her hand at him with a scoff. "Yeah, yeah. It'll still be fun! There's this cute nursery just outside the downtown that I've been dying to go to!"

She grabbed Jasper's hand, and her purse, and dragged him to her car where she basically threw him into the passenger seat. She flung herself over the front of her car and got herself situated in the driver's seat before putting the car into reverse and backing out of her driveway.

"Do you know what you want to plant?" Jasper asked, not liking the silence that was starting to settle between them.

Angie hummed in thought for a moment before answering. "I want it all; flowers, vegetables, and fruit. Specifically, I want to plant berries, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, and flowers that will spring up every year instead of just dying on me once the next season hits."

"You mean perennials?"

"Uh, yeah those."

Jasper cocked an eyebrow. "Have you never gardened before?"

Angie shook her head. "Never had time. For as long as I could remember, I was always practicing to perfect my art. Nothing else mattered to me."

"Do you regret it?"

Angie pursed her lips at the question. "Do I regret focusing on art and not wanting to do anything else?" She mulled it over a bit. She found herself grinding her teeth as she thought and sucked in a breath to stop herself. "I don't know. All artists get stuck in a rut once in a while, right? I don't think my being in a rut constitutes regret for focusing on art."

"I didn't mean it like that," Jasper said. "I meant do you regret not experiencing anything else other than art?"

"Oh, absolutely," She was quick to answer while she pulled into the garden center. "I wish I did kid things and had a rebellion stage like every teenager, but I can't change that now."

"Did your parents ever try to make you give up art?"

Angie un-clicked her seat belt and kicked her door open. "Yes and no, but I don't want to talk about that."

Jasper nodded in acknowledgment and got out of her car. Looking at the garden center he initially felt overwhelmed by the immense amount of colors surrounding the entrance. Jasper sneered at the shop and rubbed his eyes gently with the back of his hands. He looked back up at the shop and sighed in relief.

"That's better."

"Hm?" Angie turned around and cocked an eyebrow. "What's better?"

"The bright colors were too much for me," Jasper said with a frown. "So, I adjusted my eyes so that they were duller… I guess you can say my eyes function just like television settings."

Angie grimaced and opened her mouth to say something but Jasper cut her off quickly.

"I know what you're going to say and no, we are not in a video game."

Angie huffed and turned her attention to the plants displayed in front of her. "My favorite colors are pink, purple and blue so gather every flower of those colors; two of each please."

"All of them?" Jasper asked with furrowed brows as he looked around. "You do realize that's a lot of flowers, correct?"

"I've got the money and the time," Angie responded, getting a low wagon for each of them. "Let's get started and then we can look at the veggies."

"What vegetables are you looking for?"

"Flowers first!"

"Alright, alright," Jasper grumbled, but he was on high alert the next minute when Angie screamed bloody murder.

"Why are you screaming? It is just me."

Angie scrunched her face in a pout and huffed. "Oh, you know, most people aren't used to having a black figure pop up in front of them out of nowhere!"

"Mother! I didn't know you would be visiting us today!" Jasper said, letting his guard down.

There was a crash from inside the shop and the shopkeeper came whizzing out to see what was all the ruckus. "What's wrong?!"

"Oh, nothing! She just saw a spider and she's afraid of them!" Jasper explained quickly, waving his hand at the keep. "Nothing to worry about!"

"Y-yeah, spider…," Angie gave a nervous laugh.

The shopkeeper nodded and headed back inside to clean up the thing that he had broken.

Angie's attention snapped back to Mother and she made a sour face. "So? Are you going to apologize and explain why you decided to scare me like that?"

Mother cocked her black-hooded head, puzzled by Angie. "Apologize? Why would I apologize?"

"Angie," Jasper sighed, shaking his head.

"Because you scared me!"

"I'm a demon. I don't necessarily care if I scared you," Mother said. "And you are also a demon. You should be used to it by now since Jasper does it to you all the time."

"What kind of business do you have with us, Mother?" Jasper asked, trying to redirect the two from their conversation.

Mother looked to Jasper, then returned to Angie who still had a sour expression on her face. "I have your first assignment."

"You couldn't just walk up to us from somewhere else for that? You literally had to scare me almost to death?" Angie huffed and turned her head away in annoyance. "What a pain."

"Acting like a true demon now," Mother said with a hint of a grin in her voice. "As always, the senior hunter will take the lead of this mission, Jasper."

"Of course," Jasper said, bowing his head to her.

"The mission is in Seattle, Washington. I have already procured you a hotel room with unlimited room service if you so desire," Mother explained. "There is a quite an outbreak of snatchers coming out of hibernation. You are to destroy them and find out why this outbreak happened. You will leave tomorrow."

Angie groaned and slumped forward. Her head hanging low. "Seattle? That's like four hours away."

"I'll meet you at your home and we can go together. All demons have the ability to teleport and you aren't an exception," Jasper assured her. "It just hasn't come up where I needed to teach you how to do it until now."

Angie turned back to Mother to ask a question, but as soon as she opened her mouth, Mother vanished. Angie snarled low and started with the flowers again. "Come on. These plants need a home."