Demon Card Enforcer 1, Chapter 33 (Patreon)

Chapter Thirty-Three: Meandering Thoughts of Redemption on the Side of the Road

“The Great Game, Rule #70: Minion cards shall cost 1 leveling pip to add one slot to the deck for the current and each previous pick. They must be in a deck to take effect, and each shall be a null card for the active portion of the Great Game. They will create a magical construct in the world with a permanent presence and a permanent effect.”

Wolfe crossed the street and entered the gas station mart through a sliding glass door where only one half opened. A huge woman, close to six feet tall and probably nearly three hundred pounds, was working the front counter. She gave him the eye as he entered, but he ignored her and headed to the back, pushing into the bathroom.

The inside was trashed, and the mirror shattered, but the faucet poured cold water. Wolfe ran it over his face and hands, mostly trying to clear the smear of blood across his face. His results were somewhat mixed, and his shirt was a total loss, but he could pass for ‘not a chainsaw murderer,’ he was fairly sure. For a moment or two, at least.

He walked back out of the bathroom and grabbed a six-pack of Yuengling Lager and took it up to the lady running the place. The clock above her head declared it was nearly two in the morning, and Wolfe grimaced.

He put the beer on the counter. “Give me a pack of Marlboro Reds too. And a lighter, please.”

The lady complied, and Wolfe fished the mangled bills from his pants to pay before heading outside.

Shel was waiting on the sidewalk when he came out.

Wolfe stared at her for a moment. “I think you should get out of here, for your own safety. Now, I mean. I’ll let you know what happens with Nico and Jason, but I’m supposed to be putting an end to both of them tomorrow evening. I think it’s getting—no, it has gotten—far too dangerous for you. We should get you out of town tonight.”

Shel’s happiness collapsed, and she raised a hand, nervously fiddling with her ponytail. “Do I… have to?”

Wolfe took another drag of his cigarette as he contemplated this development. “What?”

“Do I have to go? What if I wanted to stay and help you?” Shel asked, her green eyes now boring into his.

“Shel…” Wolfe hesitated before continuing, gathering his thoughts. “This life isn’t for you. I’ll avenge your brother, but even that… it isn’t you. If Sorenia were out of the deck right now, she’d be encouraging you to get out of here. You’ve got an angel deck, you’re smart, and you’re pretty. But you’re also soft. This life is the kind of thing a good man would protect you from, not involve you in.”

“Because I’m a woman?” Shel asked.

Wolfe frowned at her. “No, because you’re you. I don’t try to save the drugged-out whores, or the girls obviously looking for a walk on the wild side, or the people like good ol’ Julia—”

“Juliet,” Shel interjected.

“—the crazy orthodontic surgeon lady with the rats, who got involved to make some extra money. I believe in Big Man Grimm’s rule, deeply. The ones who got involved for selfish reasons, or because they’re too stupid to stay away, well… they were all adults and they can save themselves.”

Shel was listening, rapt, as he talked.

“But you… well, you got involved to make sure that whomever hurt your brother can’t do it again. But I’ve run through most of the Cobra street gang, and I’m gonna kill everyone else that matters tomorrow, most likely. ‘Cept maybe Marko. No idea where that jackass ended up.”

Wolfe paused. “He’s probably trying to hunt me down. I’d bet money on it. Damn.”

“One more thing?” Shel asked with a smile.

“You’re speaking my language. But that’s not the point. The point is, you’ve got no reason to stay. So get the fuck out while you can.”

Shel was silent a bit longer.

“Will you come with me?” she asked.

Wolfe was so surprised, he half-sucked his cigarette in and then choked and spit it out onto the concrete parking lot they were standing in. After a few moments of hacking, he stared at her from watery eyes like she’d grown another head. “What? Go with you where?”

“Away from here,” Shel said, waving her arms around the nighttime city street like that explained a damn thing.

“You don’t have anywhere,” Wolfe said. “That’s why I was giving you the extra cash the first time we met. You’re trying to pay me in monopoly money.”

“I just meant… out of this life,” Shel said.

She walked a step closer and threw her arms around Wolfe, her head pressed up against him, her red-hair-ponytail pressed up under his chin. “Whatever happened when you were a kid, you’ve paid enough, Wolfe. You don’t belong here. You can leave now.”

Wolfe sighed and stroked her hair. He was tempted, he truly was. But he had just had almost this same talk with Big Man Grimm, and he couldn’t leave yet.

He tried to explain everything. “Look, Shel… I haven’t been feeling this damn life lately. I can remember when I did feel it. I was younger once, fresh from my sentence in juvie, and I was keen to fight the street wars.”

“Why?” Shel asked.

“Because I was clearly tainted, but I was also bringing down other people who were evil. I thought that in a weird way, I was still doing good, kinda. But the whole time I was also working for Big Man Grimm, a man I deeply respect.”

Shel’s voice was muffled against his chest, but Wolfe could still understand her as he stared over her head at the nighttime streets around them. “Because he helped you?” she asked.

“Partially. But that’s not all. Big Man Grimm is evil, I know that—I’m not a fool. But he’s a genteel and honorable evil, one that keeps the evil confined to the shadows and to people who have decided to play in our world.” Wolfe laughed. “He is a devil who only comes when summoned. Sure, if you call him, you’re liable to get burnt. But I honestly believe, even now, that he made the streets less dangerous than they would have been if he hadn’t been there.”

“By selling drugs?” Shel asked, pulling back a little and staring up at Wolfe.

“By selling them with, until recently, almost no violence. Someone is gonna do it. He does it… less horribly,” Wolfe finished.

“Even if that’s true, why can’t you leave?” Shel asked. “I mean, most of that speech makes it sound like you want to go now, anyway.”

Wolfe gave a tired chuckle. “Yeah, I guess I wasn’t selling ‘staying.’ But the point is, I’m still tainted, Shel. I’ve killed a dozen guys in the last couple of days. Dozens, plural. I know you laughed at me the first time I said it, but I’m heading toward cancer levels here. Like they’re just mooks in a B action movie and I’ve got a minigun.”

“They were bad people,” Shel said.

Wolfe sighed. “The gods themselves let me know, Shel. The Infernal chose me to receive a deck. Everything I touch turns to crap or dies—I belong in this world. Whether I want to or not, I serve the Infernal. I tried to fight for justice, to defend the weak and helpless. It all turned to crap. Only thing good I do is keep other bad people in line.”

Shel pulled back again and reached up and touched the side of Wolfe’s stubble-roughened cheek with one delicate hand. “Wolfe… you’re not evil. You’re just an antihero.”

Wolfe laughed again so abruptly, he was glad he hadn’t relit a cigarette—a cigarette going down his windpipe would probably remove the last tiny shreds of his health. “What?”

“The Infernal didn’t pick you, Cerberus did,” Shel said. “I’ve seen pretty much your entire deck at this point, right?”

Wolfe nodded.

Shel spoke with intensity. “Well, Cerberus keeps people out of hell… but he also keeps the demons in. Your companion, your mantle… they’re all made to fight other Infernals. I looked up the Infernal lords, Wolfe. Beelzebub gives decks to corrupters, those who use the desires of others against them. Aeshma gives decks to the violent. Asmodeus to rapists and those who use women’s sexuality for their own gain. Every infernal lord, nearly, gives decks to evil people. But whom does Cerberus give decks to?”

Wolfe didn’t know, but he could guess. “Bad people who hunt down worse people?”

Shel shrugged while still touching the side of Wolfe’s face. He took her hand and pressed it down slowly, not to reject her but because he felt that her holding her hand up to his face was starting to look awkward to any passersby.

“I don’t know, actually,” Shel said. “There are almost no Cerberus cards out there. But it stands to reason. Also, each of the crime organizations got one of the cards, Wolfe. But so did you—the wildcard, so to speak. Each of five Infernal lords chose their champion, and Cerberus chose you—and only one can complete the set. You once joked that the gods are sadistic, and make it so deckbearers fight each other. Well, you’ve been pitted against the other Infernal, to bring them down.”

Wolfe thought about it for a moment, but ultimately, there was still one core truth about him that stood in the way. “I won’t kill Big Man Grimm’s son, so killing all the other set deckbearers is moot anyway.”

“Doesn’t mean you aren’t still on the side of good, even if not the angels.”

Wolfe reached out and ruffled her hair. “Shel, once all of this war is done, I’m actually probably going to retire. Big Man Grimm wants out—and he wants me to follow him. His retirement sounds a little boring to me, but I think I’ll leave the Grimm family. But only when the war is done. I owe Big Man Grimm that much, and he’s counting on me.”

Shel smiled wide. “You’re going to leave the family? Really? Why didn’t you start with that?”

Wolfe laughed. “Sorry, I’m tired and beat to shit. However, I talked about all that stuff to explain why I started and stayed in this life. I can go now… but not till we win this fight, so the Big Man can pass his business on to his son without shit hanging over it.”

“That’s wonderful!” Shel said. “Truly.”

“Okay, but until then, I need to know you’re okay. I need this one thing to go right.”

“Why is me leaving such a big deal?” Shel asked. “I’ve been helpful, kinda, in some of your fights. I mean… you’d probably be blind now without me. I’m a deckbearer. Why are you pushing me away so hard?”

Wolfe hesitated. “Look… I told you about my mother and sister, right? What happened with my dad?”

Shel nodded. “Yeah. This evening, I think. Or maybe this morning. It’s all a big blur at this point, a blur of odd schedules and terror.”

Wolfe laughed. “It has been pretty fucking wretched, hasn’t it?”

Shel nodded, smiling. “It’s had its moments though.”

Wolfe sobered again. “Look… the story with Dad ended terribly across the board. After I killed that abusive molester, well… Mom and Mel hated me for it.”

“What?” Shel asked, her eyes widening. “Why?”

“They were so programmed, or used to it, that they didn’t even see the horror. That’s the best I can guess, anyway, but I never found out for sure. Them hating me was the one outcome I never expected. The first night I was in juvie, they came and told me that I’d ruined their lives and killed the one man who’d taken care of them.” Wolfe’s face twisted. “That I’d killed the one man who’d lovedthem. He had programmed them so well that they didn’t even want to be rescued…”

“They never forgave you? Or tried to reconcile?” Shel asked.

Wolfe exhaled through his nose. “Maybe they would have, I don’t know. But they died in a car accident less than two months later, before I was released. That conversation, in juvie, was the last I ever heard of them. But my mom had hated me so much, she’d even changed the will, so I got nothing… so I think they still hated me when they died, at least.”

“I’m so, so sorry,” Shel said quietly.

An old, red Volkswagen pulled up to the curb and honked.

“Our Uber?” Wolfe asked.

Shel nodded.

“Well, there you go,” Wolfe said, staring at the car but not moving. “The last tiny bit of Wolfe’s story. No more secrets, no more crazy events in my life. You know it all, Shel. Something only Big Man Grimm has ever heard before in its entirety. But that’s why I need you to go once you can. I must save someone and have it go right for real. Just once. Please.”

Shel’s brow was narrowed, and her nose scrunched. It took a moment, but she sighed and her face relaxed. “Wolfe… If you tell me that this is the most important thing to you, I’ll leave. But I’m asking you not to send me.”

Wolfe opened his mouth, but Shel held her hand up. “Not only for your sake, but for mine too. I also need to see something go right, to save someone. My brother died—I tried to keep him around, but I failed. He left and died. Now you’re about to leave, or make me leave. I’m not as strong as you, Wolfe, or as good at killing. But I can heal, and Sorenia can fight. You might need us.”

“I’m just going to assassinate the head of the Cobras… I don’t think I’ll even be in a fight.”

“Then there’s no risk to me.”

Wolfe hesitated, torn. “Alright. You’re mental, wanting to stay and help me, like committed-to-an-asylum level mental, but sure. We’ll finish this together.”

Shel smiled. “Thank you.”

The red Volkswagen honked, and Wolfe turned to it with narrowed eyes. It was that kind of day.

“Play nice,” Shel said.

“I’m already regretting not asking you to fly out,” Wolfe said with a half-laugh.