I peered through the glass and saw a sign that read: $1.99 Lunch Special. The front facade of the Boxcar restaurant looked worn from decades of neglect. It was totally abandoned.

Azazel stood by my left shoulder with his bow and arrow at the ready. Captain Douglas remained asleep in the car.

“Careful Hannah,” Azazel whispered, “these places can be haunted by angry spirits. Those who are lost in limbo can become quite tormented by their circumstances.”

The restaurant was situated just off the desert highway. The windows were grimy and nearly impossible to see through; especially with the rainy overcast sky overhead. The storm continued to bear down on us, but we were protected by a large overhanging roof.

Behind the building was a derelict railway line. Strangely, it ended at the restaurant and held a single boxcar. I could see where the roadside diner got its name.

I pushed the door open and entered.

The inside of the restaurant had about a dozen booths. There was also a long service counter with stools in front. Dust covered everything from disuse, but otherwise the place was in good shape. There was a large open portal to the kitchen behind the food counter. On the side was a set of double doors which led to the back. Behind the counter I could see an empty coffee machine, a scattering of plates, and a rotten chocolate cake under a glass dome.

We quickly searched the joint, but found no signs of life.

We discovered a couple of emergency candles and lit them to illuminate the restaurant.

There was a set of small lockers at the back of the kitchen. Inside one of them I noticed a pair of gray jeans and a black t-shirt. There was also a black jacket and a pair of leather boots. I grabbed the clothes and changed inside the ladies washroom.

The clothes fit me perfectly. It felt great to finally get out of those my ruined work uniform.

While I was changing Azazel brought Captain Douglas inside the restaurant and placed him onto the floor. He was still fast asleep.

Azazel also pilfered the kitchen and managed to find a large can of Meaty-O’s. A type of canned prepared pasta. I remembered eating the stuff when I was a kid. For myself I wasn’t hungry and hadn’t been so since arriving in Limbo.

Did I even get hungry in the afterlife?

I sat down on a stool. My angel-demon companion stood on the other side of the food counter.

“Azazel, what were the names of your parents?”

He looked at me as he tried to open the can of noodles. His eyes peered at me with a level of trust that I didn’t deserve.

“My sire was a demon known as Xaphan. I didn’t know him well, but he adored my bearer; my mother as you would call her.”

“You said that they were killed?”

“Yes, that is what I was told. They disappeared after I was born.”

“So, how do you know that they’re dead?”

“I’ve been told that the demon Lucifer punished them for bearing an illegitimate offspring. You see, I was never supposed to exist. I’m considered an abomination by both angels and demons alike.”

He seemed disheartened by his last remark. It must have been difficult to be an outcast - even if it was in the afterlife.

“Why are you shunned in such a way?” I asked.

“Demons and angels are not capable of mating. It is a cosmic accident that I was conceived at all. Naturally, demons can only mate with their own kind, but even that is rare.”

Azazel opened the can of noodles and started eating it with his hands. I handed him a fork from the counter to use instead.

“What about your mother?”

“She was an angel named Eloa. She raised me and did her best to shelter me - it wasn’t easy.”

“So you had a normal childhood?”

“My rearing in the kingdom of heaven was unlike anything you would understand as a human. Eloa cared for me and taught me everything I needed to know. Other angels eventually discovered her blasphemy and we were banished from heaven. We escaped into Limbo and existed in exile. It wasn’t long after that both Eloa and Xaphan disappeared.”

Azazel continued eating the cold Meaty-O’s. He seemed unaccustomed to eating. I wondered how often he ate.

“What about your parents Hannah?” Azazel asked.

“I was an orphan and lived with foster parents. My foster dad bought me my Plymouth Satellite, the car that we drove in. He was a great guy and treated me like his daughter, but I never knew my real parents.”

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

“What is a foster parent?”

I smiled, as I realized that this must be a meaningless term in Limbo.

“They are human adults that watch over a child until they are old enough to be on their own.”

“So you had no knowledge of your parents?”

“No, I was found by a police officer abandoned in a park as a baby.”

The storm outside continued to rage. The rain came down in sheets. The sky got darker as night set in. The only source of light was the candles that illuminated our corner of the restaurant.

“So we are both rejects of our own society,” Azazel said.

I laughed, “I guess you can say that.”

Azazel sat down on a stool beside me. I was still anxious around him, but I had an uneasy familiarity with him. I felt like we had been companions for a long time, even though we hadn’t. I knew he had served the previous Potentate as an acolyte, so maybe I remembered him that way somehow. Perhaps my knowledge of the Potentate was still buried deep down inside me.

“Azazel, do you think I’ll ever be able to go home again; to the earthly plane I mean?”

“You are the Potentate and are thus able to walk in any plane of existence.”

I bowed my head in frustration and put my hands on my face.

“I’m so sick of being called the Potentate! I just wish I remembered what it all meant.”

“It will come back to you Hannah,” Azazel said quietly.

“Maybe. Maybe it’s time that we do this mind thing.”

Azazel nodded.

We sat down at a booth in the restaurant. I cleared the dust from the table. The seat was comfortable, but it felt strange sitting across from a blue-skinned demon. Captain Douglas continued to sleep on the floor beside me. I crossed my legs and faced my acolyte like we were performing some kind of weird seance.

“What are we doing exactly?” I asked

“I will attempt to commune with your mind. If I succeed you will remember some of what it means to be the Potentate. These are memories of you.”

“So these will be your memories of me?”

“Yes, but you will see the memories through a lens. It will be like a waking dream.”

I was apprehensive, but for some reason I trusted Azazel.

“Will this hurt?”

“No, but you will have some strange sensations.”

“Of what kind?”

“You might have a feeling of falling, or the perception of being in a vacuum. The sensations will pass, so you just need to fight through it. If it becomes too much for you I will stop.”

“Ok, what do I need to do?”

“Hold my hands to begin. Clear your mind of all thoughts.”

I reached out my hands to hold onto Azazel’s. His skin was rough and calloused from ages of use. His blue hands looked relatively normal, except he had dark blue fingernails. I squeezed his fingers in apprehension of what was to come.

He nodded at me and I closed my eyes.

I tried to empty the jumble in my mind, but it was easier said than done. My mind was a constant flood of emotions. I kept having feelings of sadness and fear. With these emotions came images of what I had experienced in Limbo. I thought of Adathan the angel and the monsters that had been hunting me. I had thoughts of the other Potentate, Solomé and wondered if she had ever communed with her acolyte.

I tried to think of nothing at all, but it just made it harder.

Empty your mind Hannah!

Hard as I tried I couldn’t stop thinking of things. So, I decided if I couldn’t empty my mind completely, then I would focus on a single thing. The first item that came to mind was a tree. I first thought of a generic tree, but the image changed in my head. I soon saw a beautiful tree colored white like the snow. It was extremely large and its limbs numbered in the hundreds.

I knew this was no ordinary tree; this was the Tree of Life.

The grandness of it was beautiful, perfect in every way! There was a glow that surrounded the entirety of that vast tree. On the ends of the limbs I could see peach shaped fruit and there was a humming sound that emanated from the fruit.

I tried to clear thoughts my mind, but it was futile. My mind fixated on the tree and I could not veer away from it. I was drawn to it, fully and completely.

I tried to speak to Azazel, but I couldn’t get any words out.

In my mind the Tree of Life got closer. Its limbs reached for me and encircled my torso. The humming grew louder. I started to panic, but remembered what Azazel had said about the weird sensations.

The tree got closer and I started to feel an energy well up inside me. Pain shot through my mind as waves of energy flowed over me coming from the tree. The force of power came on so quickly.

I tried to open my eyes, but I couldn’t.

I wanted to scream, but wasn’t able to.

My mind felt like it was going to explode as the energy flooded over me. I was lifeless to resist the power that held me.

Had I been wrong to trust Azazel?

Was he trying to kill me? Was he trying to steal something from my mind?

That’s when I realized it wasn’t a tree holding me, but an enormous hand. The hand had no face, no other parts.

The hand squeezed me and crushed my meager body.

“You will suffer Hannah Jones!” said a female voice.

Through the waves of energy and torment I could barely understand what was happening to me. I was lost in my mind fighting against an unknown assailant.

“You will never be Potentate; never again!” said the voice.

I yelled in pain. The torment was unbearable.

“You will die!”

I felt my life slipping away.

I had to act!

Reaching down into my mind I pulled at the energy. I reshaped it and made it my own.

Instinctively I pushed back on my captor and felt it yield. I sent the wave of power back into the hand. The energy pounded into the entity holding me.

It was weakening and my defense was working.

I concentrated with all the power of thought I had and pushed hard against the energy.

“I won't die today!” I yelled in my mind.

With one last thrust I was free.

I opened my eyes.

When I came to, I felt the splash of rain on my face. I was still being held by an enormous hand. When I looked up I saw the face of a giant creature with three eyes. It was gruesome and had a long forked tongue with sharp teeth.

The beast stood over twenty-five feet high and towered over the restaurant. The roof of the building had been smashed away and I saw both Azazel and Captain Douglas below.

Azazel was shooting arrows at the beast while Captain Douglas was biting his leg.

“Oh damn!” I said.