highlander_ii

cheyinka

"So, purgatory isn't hell?" I asked. We'd been talking about this for the last thirty minutes and I still didn't get it.

Michael shook his head. "No. It's the place between life and Heaven."

"Think of it as a sort of airlock or decon chamber. And in the decon chamber, you're waiting for it to clean your soul so you go to heaven," Carlos added for his attempt at clarification.

That made a little more sense. Though I suspect a lot of my lack of true understanding had more to do with my lack of religious faith. "What if you don't get 'decon'd'?"

Ramirez shrugged. "Some think you can end up in purgatory for a very long time."

"And it has fire?"

"Some believe it does. It's a cleansing - a purging - fire. It's not meant as a punishment." Michael explained.

"I think I'm good to stay away from fire for a bit." After the one that half-melted my hand, I wasn't a fan.

Ramirez and Michael both blinked incredulously at me, then glanced to the campfire between us. I sighed. "Fire I can't control." I'd been the one to start the campfire - with magic. Fire magic.

Look, I use fire magic a lot. It's the element I'm strongest and most adept with. But I control it. And it doesn't consume me. I don't set myself on fire.

They didn't seem convinced. I sighed. "Can we just eat now? Maybe tell ghost stories?"

Ramirez nodded and dug hotdogs out of a nearby cooler. Michael passed around sticks he'd been sharpening with a pocket knife. "We can eat," he agreed.

Hotdogs poised over the crackling fire, cold beer on hand, and good company - this was a pretty damned good camping trip. Forgive me for checking over my shoulder and around the perimeter for something coming to eat my face. I was pretty sure I'd seen Michael and Ramirez do the same a couple times since we'd gotten here.

It wasn't that I was paranoid. More that I know my luck. Or life. Or whatever. In my time as a wizard and a P.I., I'd rounded up my share of enemies. Then there's just your garden variety demons who don't give a shit and just do their thing. I made a habit of keeping my eyes open.

It's why I knew something was coming out of the woods before my friends did. I remained still and calm while Ramirez leapt to his feet wielding his spoked hotdog like a weapon. I really tried not to laugh at him. And I held it in, until River Shoulders let out a deep chuckle.

"Your friends have odd weapons," he said.

I smiled. "Please, sit. We have plenty if you'd like to join us."

He raised a large hand. "Thank you, but I am only passing through. I wanted to be sure the fire I saw was well tended."

I nodded to the big guy. Michael did the same. Ramirez stared in wide-eyed shock.

"Safe travels, friend," I said and he melted back into the woods.

Ramirez lowered his hotdog and glared at me. "Bigfoot, man?"

I shrugged. "We're on his turf. Just be glad he likes me."

"No kidding," Ramirez said as he sat back down.

"Did you know he was coming?" Michael asked.

"Nope. I just know how to spot his approach," I answered. "At least him I can see. Damned Grim Reaper literally melts out of nowhere."

I got a double set of skeptical eyebrows raised at me. "Let's eat. Then I'll tell the story of how I met the Grim Reaper."