Capítulo 3: Chapter 3: Madam
Madam, the most powerful woman in the Melody Hotel sitting in front of Ethan, was too dark to really see her face but he knew how scary she was just from how she felt and acted. Ethan saw her smoking from a Chinese pipe, she exhaled the smoke and said coldly:
"What are you waiting for? Come in."
Suddenly Ethan entered the room on his own without even thinking about it, like his muscles were moving on their own. Madam continued:
"Tommy, room 5-18 has a broken table, room 4-8 has a broken TV, go fix it."
Tommy saluted and replied:
"Yes Madam, good luck Ethan."
Tommy went down to the first floor, he thought to himself:
"He, Madam will like him."
Returning to Madam and Ethan, she continued:
"Have a seat and we'll talk about you."
Madam got up and walked over to the nearby tea table, and Ethan slowly approached her as well. Madam sat down and Ethan made it too and sat across from her. Madam said calmly:
"Sorry to have to move in the dark like this, let me light the candles."
Ethan swallowed and said nothing. Madam took her pipe and touched a nearby candle and it ignited a blue flame. Now Ethan could see Madam's face clearly. She looked about thirty-five years old or younger, white hair with a few golden strands, her left eye was golden and her right eye was black, she had red lips and a perfect body. She wore her hair with a brown brooch, wore a white Victorian dress but she cut the flounce and skirt like the Chinese Cheongsam and wore a long scarf over her shoulders. She wore high heels and five gold rings on her right hand, each white, black, red, purple, and blue from left to right. Madam exuded the aura of a powerful, wise, noble and cold lady just from her gaze and pipe. That alone made sense why she could be the Guardian of Heaven descended to the human world. Ethan also got a better look at Madam's room, a classic Victorian-style room decorated with bookshelves and paintings on the walls. Each painting depicted Madam in each period of history, proving that she had existed for a long time. Her desk was a very large desk, a lot of paperwork for her work and an antique lamp from the late nineteenth century on the left of the table. Madam's tea table was a Chinese wooden tea table, on the table was a tea set and an opium container for her pipe. Madam put the tea leaves in the tea pot and poured boiling water into it. She turned the teapot three times and poured two cups for them. Madam pushed the tea cup closer to Ethan and said calmly:
"Enjoy, drink it while it's hot."
Ethan gently replied:
"Thank you."
Ethan took the cup of tea and lifted it, when he was about to bring it to his lips when he noticed Madam staring at him. So Ethan slowly put down his tea and politely said:
"I'm sorry, I was a little nervous."
Madam replied:
"It's alright, I understand."
Ethan said:
"You already know who I am, don't you? My name and my abilities, Tommy must have told you all."
Madam replied:
"Yes, he did. And I was a bit surprised by the story he told about you. So, tell me, since when have you been able to see ghosts and Evil Spirits?"
Ethan said"
"Since I was very young, when I was able to perceive the world, I was able to see ghosts. As I grew older, I could clearly see Evil Spirits."
Madam replied:
"What's your life like? Have you ever come into direct contact with a ghost?"
Ethan said:
"I'm homeless, I have about five hundred dollars left in my coat. I have some part-time jobs to earn money to take care of my grandmother at the hospital. And I've never talked to ghosts."
Madam replied:
"Then who are your parents? Did you inherit that from them?"
Ethan shook his head, he said:
"My parents left me when I was young, I don't even know if they can. But my grandmother certainly didn't, when she wasn't sick, she always joked that every time I said I saw ghosts it was like child's play."
Madam continued, she kept asking Ethan:
"So besides your grandmother, who else knows that?"
Ethan replied:
"No one, I have hidden this ability when I was nine years old, when I understood that no one would believe me."
Madam said:
"What about your grandmother? If you still have a family, why don't you stay to take care of her."
Ethan held out his grandmother's urn and replied:
"She's passed away, so no one knows about my abilities anymore."
Madam smoked the pipe and said:
"Put it down on the table and answer me, does anyone know your identity?"
Ethan put the urn on the table and replied:
"There's a bakery owner and some colleagues at McDonald's. Only they know me."
Madam said:
"Good, then I won't worry about someone having a relationship with you. But you already know, if you tell anyone about this place, I'll make sure your soul is in the Path of Punishment. "
Madam showed a warning of danger to Ethan through her eyes, he shivered and replied:
"Ye... Yes, I swear I'll never tell anyone about this place. But what is the Path of Punishment?"
Madam said calm down again:
"Path of Punishment, where the souls of sinners are cast, they will have to endure walking a path of eternal fire, eternal pain at every step. That is the punishment of they. That place is ruled by the Demon King Zen, the Death Eater of Sins. And the opposite of It, is the Path of Eternal, which is only for the purest souls. They will be on a path leading to the warmest light, where they will be reborn in another world, a different identity, a new person. That place is ruled by The Oracles, The Lords of Pure. And I, Madam, am one of the Guardians descended to bring the purest souls to the Path of Eternal. And those who hunt Evil Spirils, you are their Grim Reapers, their tools of violence. You understand it?"
Ethan gulped at Madam's words, he nodded in worry and fear. Madam continued:
"I can believe you, but I'm not sure yet. That is, you still don't have any experience in hunting Evil Spirits. Apart from the exceptionality of your abilities, you are nothing in this world of the living and the dead."
Ethan replied with determination:
"I know, I'm nobody, I can't do many things, I can't even take care of my grandmother. But if there's an opportunity to help someone, even just one person, it makes me happy and tries harder to do more."
Madam looked at Ethan and understood his determination, she blew smoke in his face and said:
"It's good to have determination, but mentally and physically it's too weak. Tommy, Cleran and Leo can help you with that. But just to be sure, I'll test you on this one."
Madam took a nearby landline phone and called the first floor, she said:
"Cleran, tell Tommy to bring me the Colt 1872 SAA, I want to test him."
Ethan heard that, so he wondered in anxiety and confusion:
"Gun? What does she need a gun for? Kill me?"
Moments later, Tommy, Leo, and Cleran went up to Madam's floor with a Colt 1872 SAA. Tommy and Leo had changed clothes, Tommy dressed as a white chef and Leo dressed as a butler. Tommy took a pillow and put the gun on it and stepped forward to give it to Madam, while Leo and Cleran sang the Star Wars Imperial March like a death song. Tommy knelt before Madam and said:
"It's yours, Madam, it's been a while since you touched it."
Madam picked up the gun and said:
"Thank you, now go away or I'll cut this month's pay for that ridiculous joke."
Before they could say anything, they rushed down to the first floor. Madam raised the gun, she opened the cylinder to check the ammo, then took out five bullets and closed it again. Then Madam gave it to Ethan and said:
"Take it."
Ethan was very worried and took the gun. Then Madam took out the Golden Key attached to her gold necklace and waved it. It opened a black gate and an Evil Spirit dog jumped up. It roared at them and charged, but Madam swung the Golden Key again and tied it with magic chains. Madam quickly closed the gate and said to Ethan:
"Now Ethan, shoot it."
Ethan was very confused, he replied worriedly:
"What... What? Why?"
Madam said:
"You have to accept killing Evil Spirits when you take this job, kill it and I'll take that as your acceptance."
Ethan replied:
"But... What did it do?"
Madam said coldly:
"I don't know and I don't care, if it's Evil Spirits, it's definitely the most sinful and evil creatures. And remember, they kill ghosts out of selfishness. So kill it, now."
Ethan shivered, he didn't know what to say but worry and fear. Ethan looked at that Evil Spirit dog, it looked fierce and fierce despite being chained, its eyes as black as any worst nightmare. Madam urged Ethan:
"Shoot it, time is running."
Ethan slowly raised the gun and pointed it at the dog, it growled even more furiously. Ethan didn't have the courage to shoot it, Madam knew it from the way he looked at it, she smiled evilly. Madam said:
"Fire is easy, you just need to..."
Madam pushed the hammer part of the gun to the back, the was bullet was moved into the barrel. Madam continued:
"Now you're done, shoot it."
Ethan hesitated even more between whether to shoot or not, he thought:
"What should I do? I know it's evil but I can't shoot, I can't do that."
Ethan just stood there and pointed the gun at the dog, it didn't stop barking furiously at him. But in the end, Ethan made a decision, he said:
"I'm sorry, I can't. Although I know Evil Spirits is a wicked creature, I don't feel sorry for it, but I want to know what it did to make it like this."
Madam sighed and said:
"Fine, I can't hide from you for long."
Madam drew a magic circle pointed at the dog with the Golden Key and they saw the Evil Spirit's true past. What Ethan saw inside was a mess of the ten villains that made up Evil Spirit: a drug addict who died from a drug overdose, a fat and lazy guy who died from falling down the stairs, a greedy rich man died of a bust leading to suicide, an online brawler was electrocuted to death, a fast driver was killed in an accident, a drunken worker died because of too heavy work, stress and lack of concentration, an employee committed suicide due to being fired, a student committed suicide because of academic pressure. But the most unexpected thing is, a boy is accidentally shot dead during a gang violence. Ethan looked at Madam and said with fear:
"It's a boy, why is that boy here too?"
Madam replied:
"The boy died with too much pain and injustice, so he became a part of Evil Spirit."
Ethan said with concern:
"But there is also a worker because of work pressure and a student who commits suicide because of the burden of studying."
Madam replied calmly:
"Suicide is also a worst sin, it only brings bad things to the living."
Ethan said with some hope:
"But they died so badly, can't we do anything to save them?"
Madam said:
"Sorry Ethan, but it's Demon King Zen's final decision and judgment. We can't change anything."
The Evil Spirit dog was dragged back to the Path of Punishment to prepare for its punishment and judgment. Ethan put the gun on the table and said:
"Sorry Madam, I can't take this job, I don't want to have to kill innocent people."
Ethan bowed to Madam and said:
"But I keep my promise, I will never reveal the location of this place to anyone. Goodbye Madam."
Ethan takes his grandmother's urn and prepares to leave. Madam smoked a little opium, she looked at Ethan as if she saw something from him. When Ethan was about to push the elevator button, Madam spoke:
"Tommy, Cleran and Leo are willing to kill Evil Spirits in their test because they also only see them as evil creatures. But you're so different, Ethan, you can't just see Evil Spirits but you can also see the grim truth within them, that they're not really sinful, that ghosts aren't really pure either."
Ethan looked at Madam and said:
"Wait, what does that mean? I've already turned down the job."
Madam pointed her finger at Ethan and said with power:
"Congratulations on becoming an employee of Hotel Melody, Ethan Vend. And my first and forever command to you is, Rescue those in pain that accidentally become Evil Spirits, Bring them back here and Take them to the Path of Eternal!"
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