The dark grey carpet and neutral colours of the room were a surprise. It was still a stylish and sophisticated suite; however, after the foyer Kaarl had expected something more palatial. While the twins were busy getting acquainted with the mini-bar and the overly high and pillow-covered bed, Karl began reading the hotel’s Welcome Guide.
‘It says here you can get the Internet via the television’ said Kaarl as he turned the page. ‘Smart TV indeed.’
‘Good, we’ll need that to track down our financiers,’ said Verin, devouring a snack-sized Toblerone. ‘It probably costs a fortune to use it; all hotels are like that. We’ve had two beers and a couple of those little bottles of the hard stuff so we’re already down another twenty-five bucks.’
‘Then it’s back to the streets with you two and your twins again tonight,’ Kaarl replied, barely dodging one of the large cream pillows that was hurled at him.
Remote in hand, he followed the instructions in the guide dutifully and soon had Google up on the TV and the wireless keyboard so thoughtfully provided by the hotel.
‘Thanking you,’ said Vetis as she took it from Kaarl and her sister joined them on the bed. The twins began scanning the social pages, LA Times and various other websites listing the Who’s Who of the city. An hour later they had a list of thirty billionaires and multi-millionaires in L.A. and the surrounding areas. All of the people they had found either owed the big man downstairs a few favours, or were so corrupt and immoral that it was prudent planning for their immortal futures to get in Lucifer’s good graces.
‘That should be enough to start off with,’ Verin said. ‘We can get more if we need to as we expand. There will definitely be enough green between these fat cats to get the ball rolling, though.’
‘We’re going to need an account to put the money in,’ said Vetis, ‘and proper IDs; the trick we used tonight is going to be no good in the long run, especially for what you’re planning.’
‘Time to earn my keep then,’ said Kaarl, taking the keyboard from the sisters.
Chapter Six: Show me the money
Kaarl had sent an email to Lucas Alhberg, a twenty-five-year-old native of Sweden he had developed a firm friendship with online. On paper, Lucas’s life was quite pathetic; he was overweight, unemployed and living in his parents’ basement. On the web, however Lucas was a legend. His hacker tag XXXPLC17 (or ‘Explicit’ to those unfamiliar with ‘leet speak’) was infamous and he and his clan of fellow miscreants, fLaW, were widely known for bringing out the best quality pirate movies not yet released in the cinemas. Beyond that they also had a vast list of other technologically brilliant and shady accomplishments to their collective names; ones that would land them all in prison for a very long time if they were common knowledge.
Lucas’s uncle by marriage had been a resident of Perdition for over a decade. While society and his victims had viewed him as a brutal monster, Lucas had loved and respected his uncle. Seeing some of his mischievous nature in the boy, the feeling had been reciprocated. Although his life had ended in a hail of police gunfire, and he was still known better as the Beast of Boras, Lucas had nothing but fond memories of the man. Kaarl had, on a whim, tracked him down a few years earlier for a chat about their mutual acquaintance on Earth.
As soon as he’d worked out the basics of his plan, Kaarl told Lucas about his true nature and asked for help if he was chosen to lead Perdition’s charge. Naturally, Lucas had been very sceptical at first and believed Kaarl had been experimenting with hard drugs. His one-line reply had said as much: “Cocaine and Keyboards do not mix”.
When Kaarl responded with details that no one but Lucas or his uncle would know the hacker was convinced and in many ways excited. Always an open-mined individual, he had very little concern at finding out his online friend was actually a young Demon who might be visiting soon and needed a little illegal help on arrival.
He had promised Kaarl assistance with getting valid identities and anything else required. The Demon in turn had promised him money and a place in his organization when it was established. Lucas had already created lives for the trio and attached a list of birth details, social security numbers and other information when Kaarl emailed him from the Omni. He had also included the addresses of businesses in the immediate area that would be able to take photos for their IDs and made arrangements for a temporary solution to their banking needs. With the twins suitably impressed, Kaarl stole a few hours’ sleep to overcome his realm-lag.
When Kaarl woke sunlight was streaming through the windows of the hotel room. He walked out to the balcony and let it touch his skin for the first time. Too bright to look at directly, he instead closed his eyes and basked in its warmth. The red that played across the back of his eyelids reminded him of Perdition’s Sky of Fire but the sunlight felt so much better.
‘He looks like one of those guys in the prison movies,’ Vetis said to her sister. ‘Fresh out after twenty.’
In some ways I feel that, thought Kaarl.
‘It must be breakfast time,’ said Verin, reaching for the phone. ‘I’ll call room service.’
‘Call a cab,’ Kaarl told her. ‘Breakfast can wait; we have a bank account to fill.’
‘It’s like you don’t trust us,’ said Vetis. ‘We told you the money won’t be a problem. You’ve wanted to come here for so long;, why rush straight into the work?’
‘Because I want to stay here,’ Kaarl told them, ‘and I know you do as well. That means we need to perform. Once things are up and running we’ll have time to do whatever we want but I don’t feel comfortable sightseeing just yet. If we let Lucifer down—’
‘Breakfast isn’t sightseeing,’ replied Verin, ‘but fine. We’ll make bank so you can avoid an aneurism, then we are getting something to eat or you’ll have a mutiny on your hands.’
As the taxi fought its way through Los Angeles’ traffic, Verin and Vetis sat fidgeting with their hair and suffering the driver’s unwanted attention. The sunlight and smog gave everything an unusual tint as Kaarl watched the Mortals going about their business. Jogging, shopping, and playing with their children. There were no children in Hell and Kaarl’s eyes lingered on them for a reason other than novelty value; their smiles were genuine.
In the more impoverished areas they passed Kaarl gained a true appreciation of the gap between the rich and poor on Earth. Aside from a select few of the Damned, who enjoyed larger residences for their contributions to evil, housing in Perdition was relatively uniform. The average stone house in Hell made many of the dwellings he saw look like hovels. There were even people in the streets, and not just because they were too drunk to find their way home. They were actually living there.
They were soon on the 101 and Kaarl was amazed by the sheer amount of vehicles streaming past. In the Mortal realm it seemed everyone had their own metallic beast to prowl around in and some were much nicer-looking than others. Vetis caught him staring at a red Ferrari passing their taxi.
‘Beautiful, isn’t it?’ she said.
‘It definitely makes an impression,’ replied Kaarl.
‘Cars like that were purposely designed and built so fat, balding men could get girls like us,’ said Verin when she saw what they were looking at. ‘And good luck to that peasant; his one is at least four years old. When we’re rich we’ll get something better, and black of course.’
Kaarl didn’t really care what colour it would be or how old; he just wanted one.
After leaving the 101 the scenery was markedly different from the city. Liquor stores had decreased in frequency, replaced by cafes and boutiques, and the people