[ It's more comfortable than the floor at least. This is mostly cause he's winded as it is. He chuckles ruefully and shakes his head. ]

People like me, few as there are, are the only counter I've ever known about. The rest is some kind of cosmic joke with only a handful of dedicated players on either side trying to keep this world from pitching itself headfirst into the void.

[ Oh, they exist. Good, bad, and somewhere in between. Some working against their creator for power. Some that are simply trying to escape an eternity in hell. John can relate to the idea. He zones out a little as the hot coffee is poured into mugs. The scent does nothing for him in the moment, caught up as he is in memory. ]

Worse. [ You can't have her! You can't save her. He reaches up to rub at the burn scar on his left shoulder and chest, still prominent after all this time. ] An old mate of mine---his daughter Astra was possessed.

So me and mine, we went to Newcastle to help. Didn't know that her father had used her in darker things. Rituals and the like. Exorcisms are tricky, especially with children. Things---things go wrong and I thought I had it all sorted.

I was an arrogant little shite then. [ Still is, but now he knows some things a little better. He's learned the hard way. ] I called on a more powerful demon to drag the lesser one away.

I couldn't control it. It killed her and her soul was delivered to the pit. Along with everyone else involved in the ritual when we die.