A half-eaten chicken sandwich languished in front of Swag as he sat silently watching Kallie, who sat across from him in the booth, her own sandwich untouched in the middle of the table. She was reading from a book opened atop the table in front of her. It was the third time she read the passage, though this time she did so out loud, but softly. “The demons were continually drawn to her and ultimately their own demise. With unrelenting power, the goddess destroyed one after the other, crushing some with her bare hands, stomping many with her feet, and gnashing countless others with her teeth.” She finished the passage and looked up at Swag; but she was unsure of what she should say or even think about the passage. Reading it three times had brought her no new revelations. Surely, Reverend Swag wasn't suggesting that she could crush, stomp, and gnash those creatures she'd seen fall from the sky. She wasn't a goddess. She was Kallie Hunt, college student, albeit one with a unique remembering ability. But unique ability notwithstanding, she was still only a college student and not yet qualified to land a job paying a decent living wage.
Swag stared deeply into her eyes. “You are she.”
Kallie's eyebrows furrowed. “I'm who?”
“You are the reincarnation of the Goddess Kali (he pronounced it Kah Lee) and Eve, the first woman.”
Kallie shook her head slowly. Okay, now he was truly mad. An insane man sat across from her. “I'm Kallie Hunt, college student. Just plain ole Kal…”
“The spelling and pronunciation of the name are a bit different. But the Goddess Kali and the college student Kallie Hunt are one and the same. Her spirit lives in you.”
“I don't feel like a goddess. I feel like a college student. I can remember things, sure. But I'm not special otherwise. I'm just Kallie.”
“All God's creatures are special,” Swag said in a dead tone. “But your role here is different. You are who you are.”
Her mind flooded with questions and she rushed them all at him. “But how would you know this? Why wouldn't I feel it? Why can't I remember it? What does…?”
He held up a hand, silencing her. “I know it's confusing. And I can't say I have all the answers. Why in this time-cycle I know and you don't is something I can't answer. All I can say is God moves in mysterious ways. Maybe he has a plan. Maybe there's just madness,” his voice trailed off as he momentarily broke eye contact with her. When he faced her again, his expression was stoic, determined. “You saw the demons.”
He was right. She had seen the demons. And he'd known that she would. And he'd known about her remembering ability. It seemed he knew more about her than she knew about herself. It seemed pointless debating him on whether or not she was a goddess. Still, she didn't feel like a goddess. She certainly didn't feel powerful enough to kill demons. She was no Buffy. In her mind's eye, she could still see them. Strange misshapen creatures that looked like variegated innards draped over jigsaw puzzle pieces. No, on this point, he had to be mistaken. Before that stance could fully plant itself, she asked herself, What if he isn't mistaken? She decided to play devil's advocate. “What if I was this Kali person? How could I defeat them? I don't even know where they are?”
He looked around at the other tables and spotted something on one of them. He went to retrieve it and then brought it back to their booth. It was a newspaper. He moved the book she was reading to the side and then unfolded the newspaper, spreading its front page before her. He pointed to a story beneath the fold. Its headline read: Violent Crimes Surge in Weeks Following Attack. Without giving her a chance to read the accompanying article, he opened the metro section on top of the front page. He indicated two articles: Teacher charged with taking indecent liberties with 11 year old girl. Several Women Report Being Groped on Public Buses. “Demons are spirits, evil, unclean spirits,” he said.
“You're saying that the demons that fell out of the sky landed in the bodies of these people?”
“They didn't just land in people,” Swag said. “Demons only need a body. Some may have landed in animals—dogs, cats, snakes, or any other living thing.”
Kallie slumped back in her chair. “So, they could be anywhere.”
“They can be and are,” Swag said. He moved the book back in front of her and indicated the first sentence of the passage she'd already read three times.
She read the sentence out loud. “The demons were continually drawn to her and ultimately, to their own demise.”
“They can sense your presence. They know that you can defeat them. They won't rest until you're destroyed. They'll come to you.”
A lump formed in her throat. “They'll come to me?”
“Yes, they will eventually; but there is a way to speed up the process.”
“I'm not sure I'd want to,” she said absently.
Swag ignored the comment. “But we must hurry or they'll scatter away from this region.”
“So, we get them to come to me. And then what?”
He picked up the remains of his sandwich and chomped off a huge piece of it. “You'll kill them all,” he said chewing. He smiled roguishly, wiping a spot of ketchup from the right corner of his lips.