At a pub somewhere in the United Kingdom.
"There are plenty of uncertainties in this word. But I'm not talking about uncertainties aren't I? I'm talking about certainties. Day, Night, Lightness, Darkness, Life, Death, Angels, Demons, Satan, God. Yes.. All real, and.. and inevitable I must say. What says you, if I told you I am an angel, Give me 3 more shots of whiskey bobby boy" the old man lifting his three old crooked fingers. Bob, the bartender looked at the old patron and shook his head. "You've had enough pops, talking about these supernatural things again". "You may be wondering why an all-powerful angel is here in the pub with you, hoarding drinks? It's because I'm a mediator" To whom are you mediating to?" "Shhhh... Silence..!. My job is of none of your concern, you're just a sack of meat that will perish in no time at all". "Alright, relax pops, or you'll get yourself a heart attack". "Nah, Nah, My job is to look for descendants, and aid them to make amends for their blood lineage's mistakes. I'm a professional, listen carefully," said the drunken old man almost gibberishly.
"Gadreel, Chief of the angels of the Book of life had one simple job. This cool angel had it all and was tasked to scribble down all the good people that would enter God's heaven. But, what did he do? He let Lucifer, or Satan as you know him to mess with his brittle mind". "Isn't Gadreel one of the Watchers?" asked one of the men pretending to hear the drunk man's story, smiling with amusement."Who cares? the only thing that matters is that he failed. He's one of the fallen ones. I'll give it to Luci, being the most favourite and expected highest form of an angel, and would still manage to f@#£ it up! Excuse my language, this frail body is pretty hard to control, and all the vices that go with it. Ah yes, Where did we stop? Gadreel was tempted by Luci with a beautiful woman. The poor angel had no chance to decline such beauty. And with Luci's persistence, Gadreel was surely doomed. Fast forward, God found out, banished Gadreel from his role, along with the other hundreds of thousands of other angels that Luci duped. So, here I am, assigned by God to give these messed up eagles one more chance for redemption. Every once a billion years we mediators will be sent here on Earth to fix this tangled mixed up, these fallen ones created". "Charming story pops, What name do you go by then? Your angel name?" asked the men, laughing amongst each other. "Call me Mr Barnes" The bell rang signals the last call for drinks. "Yes, Mr. Barnes, last call. It's 5 am. Go home you old bugger" teased the bartender impressed with the endurance of the old man. "Just keep 'em coming, you big baby!" said the old man. "I am part of a very elite group of angels, chosen by God himself, to redeem his lost angels". Mr Barnes paused and released a wheezing cough. The other men next to him at the bar gave a disgusted look, avoiding the drunk old man. "What? You never heard an old man's cough before?". Mr Barnes pulled out a piece of a long paper, receipts that were taped together to form a long scroll. It had names on them. "The first day of the job commenced today, a billion years have passed. I need to go through the names, Let's start on top of the list then. Mr Barnes took out his thick eyeglasses, rubbed his handkerchief on the lenses and put it on smugly on his old face. "Uno Juez". A troubled youth. Grew up with his grandparents in Girona. Both parents were criminals. Typical. Now both are in jail, probably dead. Isn't that a wonderful surprise! School, not the habitat for this type of creature, not the average kid. Of Course, he isn't. He's a descendent of the fallen angels. A hustler. He got himself into a world of trouble, landing him to juvenile prison" he read silently. Mr. Barnes takes out pieces of crumpled paper from his pockets and opens them up. Pieces of drawings of cartoon characters, but well-drawn and real lifelike. "The kid has talent. Yeah, his talent will cost him his stupidity and ignorance". "Closing time!" said the barkeep, as he began to fix the glasses. The old man immediately walks out of the pub, into the damp and wet street from the drizzle."Ugly weather, always" he scoffs. "Where are you headed to pops?" asked one of the men in the pub as he was headed out. "Las Ramblas" he answered, still sounding drunk. "Alright,.. That's in Spain, right pops?" said the man laughing at the old drunk. When he looked back to where Mr. Barnes was standing. The old man disappeared into thin air.
Las Ramblas, Barcelona. 6am
Shops and diners were opening. A group of people, locals and tourists alike were drawn to the ambience of this beautiful spot. Soon, the stores would be filled with haggling tourists. Mr. Barnes was sitting comfortably on the park's metal bench, waiting for Uno Juez and his gang of pickpockets to perform their daily routine. Victimizing tourists around the world, stealing any valuables they can get hold on to. Mr Barnes took another piece of paper out from his pocket, it read;
Weakness: Money, Vices, Women
"Typical," he thought as he slipped the paper back into his coat's pocket. The old man lifted his finger and with a wave of his hand, by the corner came out the most beautiful woman. Men gave a second look,admiring her curvaceous body in her tight gym suit, showing off her large bosom. "Cupsize D would suffice for these wankers," Mr Barnes thought. He then eyes his target, Uno Juez standing next to a metal lamp post. The con man waiting for his gang of pickpockets to bring him snatched valuables from poor victims. They would discreetly hand him wallets, watches, pieces of jewellery, cash and all sorts of stolen goods. The old man reviews the long receipt and reads Uno's profile. Mr Barnes read this lineage of Gadreel have built himself a reputation of conning people, and usually, his forte is hustling people verbally of their money but also supervises young thieves to steal. Uno signals to one of his pickpockets, Erene to approach the oncoming super attractive jogger. He signals for her to get the beautiful joggers wallet in which Erene nods and confirms. She easily slips her tiny hands into the pocket and takes out her wallet as the beautiful jogger passes by. "She smells good, just your type. Surprised yet?" She hands the leader the wallet, smiling to his face. Uno grabs the wallet and shoos her away to go on with her job. Looking over the wallet, he pulls out her identification and reads the address immediately. Uno being an attractive man as he is, also has a way with the ladies, a known lady's man. This trait goes as second nature to his con-man personality. Mr Barnes watches nearby and perceives that Uno will pay a visit to his apparition in a form of a beautiful lady while a smirk on his face indicates he has baited the big fish. The old man stood up from the bench and walked away unnoticed from the swarm of people.
Uno ordered members of his gang to meet him back at their abandoned warehouse apartment. After a few sessions of pickpocketing, the leader of the small group of thieves knew they had raked in quite a profit. The large wooden table was empty at first but would eventually overflowed with stolen goods. The twins entered the empty warehouse first, Daniel and Denver, pouring in their contributions, 3 purses and 4 wallets. Uno nodded in confirmation. "Next". Erene threw 4 wallets and 4 phones on the table. "5 wallets total actually, you already have the other 1 I took for your social welfare". Uno nodded and shook his head. He looked at the final person to lay out his catch. A young man took out 7 gold necklaces, 5 silver bracelets, and a diamond earring. "Jared!" the group wailed with excitement. "Well done" Uno grabbed a bundle of cash and threw them their payments. "1700 Euros". They caught them and looked at the bundle that was all in hundreds. "See you tomorrow" Uno ordered, as the group left him alone in the warehouse. "5 pm, need to freshen up" climbing the metal spiral staircase leading to his single sized room. He took a bath and included trimming his body hairs. Preparing the night for his other vice, women. After finishing up, he set to pick out his best suit, "This should set the mood" he thought. Uno looked at his phone and searched the address written on the identification card. 'Ms. Serenity Grant, well will you look at that, you're practically neighbour". Uno didn't take the car as the address was 5 minutes away from his place. He finally reached a dark and damped street and the exact building. "4A" he pressed on the buzzer doorbell. A voice from the intercom was heard. "¿Quién es?" said the voice with a non-Spanish accent. "A foreigner" Uno thought. "Hi, Is this Ms Serenity Grant?". "Yes, this is she. How may I help you?" asked the voice. "I'm Max, I found your wallet near Ciutadella Park. Did you happen to visit the park earlier this morning?" he asked, lying. "Oh yes, I didn't go to the park though, but I jogged through Las Ramblas. Glad you've found it! I'll be right down. Thank you so much!" said the voice. Within a few seconds, the feminine voice bore a beautiful face that was opening the door. Her curvaceous body approached Uno who was pretty excited. He approached the attractive woman wearing a smile on his face, but when he noticed an old man staring awkwardly at him, his smile disappeared. He appeared out of nowhere. The old man shook his head and entered the building through the door, he was holding a long piece of paper, receipts that were taped together to form a very long scroll. "¡Que extraño," thought Uno. The old man scoffs at him, and Uno swore that the diss was directly for him. "Bring him up" shouted the old man, with his croaky husky voice. Uno looked at the attractive woman in the eyes and she was smiling bearing her white teeth through her plump pink lips. Uno began to get confused, realizing that the order was for the woman to ask him up. "Is that your grandpapa?" he asked finally. The attractive woman answered instantly, "No, Come on up" she said. Uno handed her the wallet silently and she simply took it and thanked him. He followed her going up the stairs going to her room. "This is weird and interesting at the same time," he thought. The woman led him into a decent sized room where he saw the old man sitting on the couch with his back to the door and facing the television, already watching a game show, Pasapalabra. "Close the door on your way in". Uno heard the old man who seemed to have a foreign accent "Maybe Russian" he thought. "Excuse me, I was here to give the wallet that I found in the park to Ms Grant, I think I'll be on my way" disappointed with his plans spoilt by the old man. "Quit the Bullshit!, We all know what you needed" said the old man while still watching television. "Take a f@#£ing seat" ordered the old man. "Listen, you old fool! Do you want to get beaten up in your own home? I suggest you get to know who you're talking to first". "Yes, I do know. I'm speaking to a f@#£ing twat, Max "Uno" Juez" replied the old man. Uno was dumbfounded for a second but realized Ms. Grant must have told him his name. "Born on the 7th of July, 1984, from Veronika and Jorge Juez. Your "abuelos" took care of you, raised you, but you ended up like your parents somehow. Well, almost, because you're not locked up yet. You don't have tattoos because you're afraid of needles, but you love to draw, pretending your drawings are tattoos. You've been a thief since the age of 6 and gradually excelled yourself, blossoming into a full-blown con-man, sparing no crime". Uno paused and examined the old man, doubtful with everything he knew about him. "Bien, but even little kids in the streets know who I am, ask around". The old man grabbed the remote controller of the television to turn it off. He then took out crumpled pieces of papers from his pockets. He proceeded to uncrumple them on the wooden table, flattening them out. Uno leaned over the table to a look at the content of the wrinkled papers when the old man signaled for Uno to stop. The old man took out a cigarette, lit it and puffed, blowing smoke in the air, filling up the room. "Now, you can look". Uno gave a scornful look and looked at the papers. He saw his old drawings. Characters he had created during his time in juvenile prison, about 10 years ago. "I made maybe hundred of thousands of these. Are you a collector of drawings?" joked Uno. "I know, the other department had to fight hard to contain these abominations you've created. No thanks to you," said the old man still puffing his cigarette. Uno distraught and deeply confused, gave the old man a frustrated look. "What the hell are you talking about?". The old man scoffed and rolled his eyes. "I hate explaining these things," he sighed. "Explain what," Uno thought. The old man took another piece of paper and a pencil from his pocket. He handed them to Uno who was still clogged with questions. The old man placed the paper and pencil on the table, "See this cigarette? Draw something and make this cigarette a living creature". Uno looked at him like he was a crazy person. "What?" "Draw and write, like what you did with your drawings, make this cigarette a living creature". Uno looked at his drawings laying across the wooden short table. It was a very long time ever since he drew something. He remembers the characters he created in his prison cell, every time he felt lonely, angry, frustrated, he would create characters on pieces of paper. 3 years in juvenile gave him all the time to draw everything he thought of. He proceeded to create the cigarette into a living creature as per the old man's instructions. "This is stupid," he thought. He began to sketch a cartoon-like image of the cigarette. Uno placed the pencil down, stating that he had finished the drawing.
The old man lifted the paper to his face and looked at the cigarette placed on the ashtray. Uno followed his gaze with some hesitation. To his shock, Uno saw the cigarette turning, morphing exactly like his drawing on the piece of paper. The cigarette stick began to blow flames from its mouth, like a dragon breathing out flames. Uno terrified, tried to stomp out the cigarette, but it gritted out its sharp teeth, exactly like the drawing he drew. It was about to attack, when suddenly the old man immediately burnt the paper drawing of the cigarette. The cigarette then burnt instantly as it evaporated in the air to ashes. Uno was mortified of what he saw. The cigarette came to life and tried to attack him. "You made the cigarette a monster, and a monster it became". Uno was still in a state of disbelief, he sat down on the sofa with a loud thump.
"How many times do I need to tell you this! I want you to listen. You are the descendent of Gadreel, the Masterlister of the book of life". God has given your useless lineage a chance per a billion years to redeem it and have the power to create beings because Gadreel was given the task to write on the book of life itself, in short you inherited this annoying power". "All the previous descendants have failed, and it's now your turn, so don't fail. If you redeem your lineage's right, God will draw out your ancestral lineage to His council. I don't do the whole process of explanations, that's a different department. I'm just a mediator" the old man irritated. Uno was still at daze and was still trying to contemplate what had happened in front of him. "Was he going crazy? Possessed by a demon?". When suddenly he felt a sharp pain on his left cheek. It was a slap from the old man. "Wake up! This is real. Gather yourself, I don't have the exact numbers of creations you've made but you need to stop them before they destroy everything". Uno got up from the sofa and ran outside horrified. His mind was racing and he couldn't think straight. When suddenly he felt a buzz on his phone. A message.
"Uno, the 2nd and 3rd lineages descendants have found out you exist, that's how I found out. They are out to get you. At this moment you are not safe. Find a place to hide, or better yet, wait for Mr Barnes. He will find you. You'll know it's him because he's a handful of a character. You might say he's a bit of a codger, but he's here to help us. I will get in contact with you as soon as I can. I'm sorry I only found you now. ~ Five".