Alexander woke up on the dusty side of some abandoned road. The sun was burning mercilessly, the air was shaking from the heat. There was a desert with rare bushes and rocks around.
- Fuck, - he cursed, getting up and shaking off the dust from his dark coat. - Some kind of ass of the world again.
The sword was still hanging on his belt, hidden under his coat. At least there is something left of the last mission.
In the distance you could see an inconspicuous building with a neon sign. It looks like a roadside snack bar - the only sign of civilization for many miles around.
"Well," Alexander thought, heading to the building. - "Let's start with reconnaissance. I need to understand what kind of movie I was put into this time."
The snack bar was called "Paradise Falls Diner". A typical American restaurant with large windows and a shabby view. Several visitors could be seen at the tables through the glass.
Alexander pushed the door and went inside. Immediately several goals turned in his direction.
His appearance really attracted attention. Shortly trimmed black hair lay neatly, framing an angular face with expressive cheekbones. Behind the round glasses were hidden eyes, in which deep fatigue was read. A dark coat with a high collar hid most of his figure, but he looked... unusual. Even beautiful, despite the gloom of the image.
"Welcome to Paradise Falls," said the girl, approaching him with the menu in her hands.
Alexander appreciated her with his eyes. Young, pretty, pregnant. Jeans, a simple T-shirt, a waitress's apron. There is fatigue on my face, but a kind smile.
- Sit down wherever you want, - she continued. - I'm Charlie.
"Charlie," Alexander said to himself, but his name didn't mean anything to him. - "An ordinary waitress in an ordinary snack bar. For now."
- Thank you, - he nodded and walked to the table by the window.
The snack bar was half full. An elderly couple was sitting at the same table - a man in a cowboy hat and a woman with a handbag. Behind the other is a young guy in an army uniform with a backpack. A middle-aged man in work clothes got a job at the counter.
"A typical set of characters for horror," Alexander analyzed. - "A snack bar in the middle of nowhere, a motley company. Classics of the genre".
Charlie approached his table:
- What will you order?
- Coffee, - said Alexander. - And a sandwich with something meat.
- Of course. Twelve dollars from you.
Alexander mechanically reached into his pockets to look for money. I've scumbled everything - nothing. Not a cent.
"Bitch devil," he cursed mentally. - "Last time he gave, and then he was greedy. I could give you at least a little, you're a greedy ass."
- Um... - he hesitated. - I have a problem. The money was stolen on the way here. Can I pay later?
Charlie hesitated. Alexander turned on the charm:
- I understand how it sounds. But I swear, I'm an honest person. I just got into an unpleasant situation.
- Okay, - the girl agreed. - But only because you look... decent.
- Thank you. Very nice of you.
Charlie left for the order, and Alexander began to carefully examine the situation.
The snack bar looked quite ordinary. Caged tablecloths, old jukebox, photos of local attractions on the walls. But something was wrong in the atmosphere. It's too tense. People talked in a low voice, constantly looking at the road through the windows.
"They're waiting for something," Alexander understood. - "Or they're afraid. Or maybe both."
He tried to remember movies that take place in roadside eateries. There were a lot of them, but specifically this interior didn't tell him anything.
- Hey, sword, - he mentally turned to the weapon. - Can you tell me where we are?
There was no answer. The Space Breaker was silent like a fish.
- All right, - Alexander muttered. - I can do without you.
Charlie brought coffee and a sandwich. He thanked and started eating, continuing to observe.
A man in a cowboy hat was quietly talking to his companion about something serious. The soldier nervously rubbed the strap of the backpack. The worker at the counter ordered the third glass of whiskey, although the day was just beginning.
"There's definitely something wrong," Alexander thought. - "It's all too stretched. As if..."
The door of the snack bar opened, and an elderly woman came in.
She looked to be seventy years old, no less. Gray hair is gathered in a bun, a simple dress, a handbag in the hands. The most ordinary grandmother, except for a strange facial expression.
She slowly looked around the snack bar, holding her eyes on each visitor. When her eyes met Alexander's eyes, he felt goosebumps.
"Something is wrong with her," he thought. "Something is very wrong."
The old woman went to the free table next to the couple in cowboy hats and sat down without taking off her coat.
- Welcome, - Charlie came up to her. - What will you order?
- Nothing, dear, - Grandma replied in a voice that heard a strange note. - I just want to talk.
She turned to Charlie and suddenly smiled. But the smile was kind of wrong. Too wide. Too predatory.
- You're Charlie, right? - the old woman asked.
- Yes, - the girl answered cautiously.
- And the baby is inside you... - grandma poked her finger into Charlie's stomach. - He's special, isn't he?
- Excuse me? - Charlie didn't understand.
- Your child, dear, - the old woman continued, and her voice became harder. - It will burn. Burn in hell with everyone else.
Dead silence reigned. All the visitors stared at the grandmother.
Alexander froze with a sandwich in his hands. Something in this scene seemed familiar to him. A pregnant waitress, a strange old woman, talking about burning children...
"I've already seen it somewhere," he thought feverishly. "But where the fuck, where are you?"
- What did you say? - Charlie paled.
- I said that your freak would burn, - the grandmother repeated, and now there was nothing human in her voice. - Like everyone else. Except for the chosen ones.
A man in a cowboy hat got up from his seat:
- Listen, ma'am, I don't know what's wrong with your head, but you can't talk to a pregnant woman like that.
- And you shut up, old asshole, - grandma snapped. - No one asked you.
She looked around the snack bar and added:
- You're all bastards and sinners here. Especially you," she poked her finger at Alexander. "You smell like sulfur, boy. Demons and death.
And then it came to Alexander.
"LEGION!" - it dawned on him. - "Fuck, it's the movie "Legion"! Angels descend to Earth to destroy humanity. And this grandmother is one of them!"
He got up from the table and grinned:
- It's ironic that an angel captured the old woman's body and behaves worse than a demon.
Grandma turned sharply to him. An inhuman fire flashed in her eyes:
- What did you say?
- You heard me perfectly, - Alexander answered calmly. - Angel. In the body of a defenseless old woman. How low you fell.
The rest of the visitors looked at each other in complete bewilderment. Charlie retreated to the rack, pressing her hands to her stomach.
- You... - Grandma hissed. - Do you know who I am?
- I know, - Alexander nodded, taking out his sword from under his coat. - And I know what to do with you.
The Blade of the Space Breaker shone in the light of the lamps. A strange gray-black pattern on the metal began to flicker.
- Impossible! - Grandma screamed. - This weapon shouldn't exist!
"But fuck you," Alexander replied.
The angel in the old woman's body made an inhuman scream and rushed at him. But he moved too slowly.
Alexander made one precise swing of his sword. The blade passed through grandma's neck so easily, as if it was not metal, but air.
The head flew to the side and sled on the floor. Not blood flowed from the decapitated body, but some kind of glowing substance.
The body collapsed on the floor and began to smoke.
There was dead silence in the snack bar. Everyone looked at Alexander with their mouths open.
- What... what just happened? - Charlie whispered.
Alexander wiped his sword on a napkin and hid it back under his coat:
- The fun has begun.