Kate was lying on a couch in the breakroom just beyond the door to Hell. For the past several hours she had been doing something that she had nearly stopped doing entirely over the st year: reading a book for fun. This wasn’t some scientific journal to learn about Hell or important paperwork, this was just a little fantasy novel.

  Just as Kate thought about getting up to stretch her legs, there was a knock on the border world door. This was unusual, so she went to open it.

  “I hope I am not interrupting anything.” This te-night visitor was someone quite unusual too. The avatar of finality stood before Kate.

  “No, you’re not. Uhm, you can leave the border world, right?”

  “I can.”

  “Then please, come in.”

  “Thank you.” The avatar followed Kate to one of the couches and got comfortable as the Nightmare gestured her to.

  “I take it Brian delivered my message?”

  “He did. I appreciate that you showed care for him. Why did you want to talk to me? Normally the living don’t appreciate my presence.”

  “I have questions and I, well, I wanted to get to know you. The other cosmic horror in my life turned out to be quite lovely and caring and I think you are too, but I am too curious to simply assume.”

  The avatar smiled. “I try to be kind and nice and I am honoured that you think of me that way. So many cultures don’t. As for your questions, I will answer what I can but there is much you, as a living being, cannot know yet.”

  “That’s fair. I guess the biggest thing I really want to ask is if it’s true that once the border world fades, we’ll be able to visit the underworld.”

  “You specifically? I don’t know. What happened to you demons is unprecedented. I don’t know if demons will be able visit, but everyone else should be able to. At the very least, you will be able to communicate.”

  Kate closed her eyes and sighed. “Thank you. Thank you… Ever since I had time to gather my thoughts after killing someone for the first time, I couldn’t help but think about my mortal friends and family passing beyond my reach forever. I fear their memories fading from my mind as aeons pass… Knowing that I will at least be able to send a letter or something helps so much. Thank you.”

  “It feels good to be able to help you even in this small way.”

  “Okay?”

  “Apologies, helping the living is just so exciting. I have more in common with some of my sisters than I want to admit at times.”

  “Hold on. Your sisters? You’re a manifestation of the very concept of things ending. Are you implying there are other manifestations of concepts?”

  “I am implying that, yes. There is one who exists, not sure if I can call our existence living, among your kind undetected. The avatar of empathy. She was quite confused when I approached her knowing who she was. Of course, there are more than just us two, but I haven’t taken the time to meet them all.”

  Kate let out an amused chuckle and responded in English and not her usual Demonic. “The quirks of the demonic nguage… sister and sibling are the same word, but brother is something different. You aren’t female, are you? But I see you as a woman.”

  “No, gender is irrelevant to me. You see me as female because that’s what you expect.”

  “That’s something that will never cease to amaze me. Speaking of things I expect, do you have a name. The avatar of finality is a bit clunky.”

  “I have been called many things, but I don’t have a name in the way you do.”

  “What’s your favourite thing you’ve been called? Maybe that is your name.”

  “The things that walk between the stars don’t communicate with sound, but if you were to transcribe what they call me into a word, it would be Ara. It’s simir to an acronym of their full name for me, a long and complex description of what they believe the underworld is made from. I cannot put their thoughts into words, they communicate with light and radiation and that makes their ideas so vastly different from yours. Very simplified, they believe me to be a good thing, a necessary thing, not merely comforting but essential to new things being created. I like that. I like being called Ara.”

  “Then you are Ara to me. You are a good thing. A good person. Do you like being called a person? I don’t like seeing you as a thing.”

  “Being called a person is nice. I don’t know how much I am one, but it is nice. I have a question for you.”

  “Go ahead! It would be unfair if only I got to ask them.”

  “Why do you think positively of me?”

  Kate was taken aback by that. “Uhm… I guess ‘because you’re nice’ isn’t what you’re looking for. When I got hit by a car as a child, I was so scared of dying. I had lost some of my grandparents already, I knew about death and what it did to the rest of the family. The uncertainty and the thought of not being able to be with the ones I loved got to me. It still does. I never dealt with losing anyone, anything or just breaking something well. Even small damage to an object I liked hurt so much. There is a pen on my desk at home that became worn and damaged as I kept using it. I was so scared of repcing it or getting it repaired that I only had it done recently. I eagerly repced it once I met Polly. That was a step into a new life and a way to protect that pen from even more damage.”

  “I don’t think I’m following.”

  “I always needed someone to tell me things would be alright again, to fix what was broken, to nudge me to move on, to catch me when I fell.”

  Ara tilted her head slightly. “I am that someone for the moments of loss. The knowledge that I await those that pass is catching you as you are about to fall to grief.”

  “Exactly. That I can talk to you and that you are so very nice and kind helps me not stumble as easily in the first pce.”

  “Would it be alright if I came by more often?”

  “Yea, sure, I don’t see why not. But aren’t you busy?”

  “I can be in many pces at once. I think it would be worthwhile to learn more about demons. The few I have met have been remarkable beings, and that includes you.”

  “I almost feel bad that I slipped from your embrace now.”

  “Oh, please don’t. I love all my children, no matter if they fall into my embrace or not. For it’s worth, you have sought me out voluntarily. That is worth more than if you had just met me by dying.”

  “Hm… there are others beside us demons who have met you voluntarily.”

  “Cats. Well, and dogs but I don’t think you care much for them.”

  “Yes, cats.”

  Ara looked thoughtful. “I do not know more about them than you do. I thoroughly enjoy their company though.”

  “How long do you intend to stay and talk with me?”

  “How ever long we have something to talk about.”

  Kate smiled. “I have two, maybe three, more questions, then I would ask you to indulge me.”

  “Alright.”

  “I know you can’t tell me anything about the underworld and how things work there, but what does the personification of a fundamental concept do all day?”

  “Besides guiding people and offering my insights when approached? I observe. I take in art, music, scientific discoveries, literature, everything made by my children. I have the chance to broaden that horizon with your library. The demons of Hell may not be my children, but friends aren’t usually part of your family anyway.”

  “I hope you enjoy what you find.”

  “I am quite certain I will. One question for you: you seem to be making a habit of befriending powerful entities, are you doing that on purpose?”

  Kate shook her head. “Not at all! I didn’t expect you to be so approachable. Knowing and experiencing the fact that I truly cannot be harmed in any way that physically matters has made me, well, open to powerful beings. There is no point in being afraid of you or Jolene or whatever walks between the stars. So, why not talk to you? My curiosity, as far as I know, is boundless and this is a wonderful treat for the knowledge hungry Kate.”

  “Does that hunger bother you?”

  “What? My hunger for knowledge and lust for imagination? No, not at all. It might be the very thing that makes me able to be immortal. It’s not a nagging intrusive thing or an addiction, it is motivation and desire. I love it.”

  “You are fascinating. Let me feed that hunger then. Your mother’s inherited edition of Marny’s Many Munchies, the fourteenth recipe on the list of contents. I am sure you will enjoy what you find.”

  “Marny’s Many… oh, the recipe book from Grandma Leonora? Okay, noted, thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  “Let me thank you for that properly. You said you like cats.”

  “I very much do.”

  “There is a herd of migrating cats in a town near the Hell exit of this pce. Let me take you there.”

  Ara raised an eyebrow and smiled. “That does sound good.”