Death has a Daughter (DHAD Series) (11 page)

“
Then I’m breaking our agreement,” he said through gritted teeth as his eyes narrowed to challenge me and he took a step towards me.  A fight was going to break out any second.

“
Whoa,” Lacie said as she stepped between us.  “We’ve reached agreements before; we can do it again.”  She turned toward Trevor.  “Since we are the most vulnerable at night, why don’t we just go with her?”

The ICU is pro
bably the most inconvenient place to obtain a soul, as they’re always packed.  In between the scurrying doctors and nurses, there are hundreds of mini battles going on in a tightly knit area.  It was the place where one-tenths of a second held the key to life or death.  We’d learned in class that the ICU was the easiest place to win a battle.  This was because our side was automatically at an advantage, because people in the ICU were always near death.  They were not healthy, and generally had been in some sort of serious accident. 

Because it was the easiest,
if you messed up, it became a miracle story.  We, Reapers, referred to those miracles as major ‘upsets,’ like when a guy gets shot three times in the head and somehow lives.  These miracles humans and Guardians boasted and bragged about.  They’re the most shameful and the last thing a Reaper wants.  Every Reaper will lose a soul now and then, but to lose one that’s in the ICU was a major red checkmark on your scroll, because it’s so obvious that these people should be dead.  I’d vowed in training to not be a casualty of one of these upsets, and I wasn’t going to break that vow today.  The soul I’d come for occupied the ICU’s highest level.  The bright glow of my scythe told me it was their time.

“
I hate hospitals,” Lacie said beside me.

“
Just stay here in the waiting room.” I’d ported us here because it was just down the hall from where my soul was located.  No one was ever in this thing anyway, probably because they were either always in the room of their loved one, or waiting outside in the hallway to be let in again.  This floor wasn’t the nursery, where family and friends were happy and celebrating.  No, this was the floor of the hospital that, being a second away, could mean not being there in your loved one’s final moments.  The only time the family wasn’t in the room was when they were kicked out for the doctors to make their rounds.

“
But it’s creepy and smelly here,” Lacie begged.

“
It’s not that bad.  Great reading material,” I said with a smile as I picked up one of the over-read, faded magazines.  They had stacks of them on the center table that was surrounded by wooden chairs with indented cushions.  The cushions were so worn that you’d better hold onto the arm rests if you took a seat so that you wouldn’t fall through.

Trevor nodded in response and told Lacie
, “She shouldn’t be long. There’s a bench over there with a blanket, if you want to nap.”

“
I think that’s where the smell is coming from.”  Lacie rolled her eyes at the blanket as I started to walk away.  I had work to do. As I walked out of the lobby and turned the corner, I entered a hallway that was full of people who couldn’t see me; it still didn’t make sense that Lacie could.  It made me wonder if other humans could see us too, but just chose to ignore it so they wouldn’t be in danger like Lacie. 

It was that time of day
when they didn’t allow visitors in the ICU: 12-2 pm, when doctors and nurses did their rounds and checkups on the patients. As I continued down the hall, I couldn’t help but look at the faces of visitors that were standing along the wall. They were eagerly waiting for the time that they could console their loves ones once again. The strain and despair on some of their faces was worse than the faces of the lost souls outside the castle walls back home.  Many of the visitors here were so pale, and I doubt they’d eaten in days. Blank stares and dark-purple discoloration filled the area under their eyes, like they’d been crying.  Today I was going to end the suffering and anticipation of one of these poor souls. Who’s, I wasn’t sure, and didn’t really care to know.  If they could see me and knew what I was there to do, I’d be ambushed, in hopes that by killing me it could save their loved one and provide relief to their agony. 

F
inally, I made it to the ICU entrance doors where a girl with bright-red hair, similar to mine, caught my eyes.  She was sitting on the ledge at the end of the hallway, next to the doors. She was curled up on the wide ledge, and her arms and legs were shaking as her blank, blue eyes stared out at nothing. She had pale, white skin, and I could tell by the black circles under her eyes that she hadn’t eaten or slept in at least a week.  On her left hand, that was gripping her shaking knees, was a small, gold ring, with a small diamond in its center. As I watched her in awe, she began muttering something to herself while staring at her cell phone that was in her other hand.  “Two more minutes, two more minutes, two more minutes.”  I finally understood what she muttered and looked at her cell phone.  She was right: it was two minutes until they let visitors in, so I had to work fast. I took my final steps to the doors and let myself in.

It was always easier to obtain a soul
when the family wasn’t around. Our trainers suggested we do it this way so that we stayed objective. Scanning the octagon-shaped room, I took a deep breath, and the scent of my soul came to me.

He was
in the first room to the left.  My arms pulled the curtain open and lying on the bed was a young man. The whole right-side of his face was swollen. I edged closer, waiting for a Guardian to come out of hiding.  I reached his nightstand that held his uneaten tray of cold chicken, soggy green beans, and red jello, with no Guardian around. I pulled out my scythe, but the light in the center went dim. My body skirted up to the young man and I pointed my scythe to his heart, but the light went completely out, only to come back as I began to bring it back towards me. This couldn’t be right.

There was o
nly one way to know what was going on.  I placed my hand on his face and found out why my scythe had gone out when I touched him.  I appreciated that Reapers were given this power of sight, because, with just a touch, his life flashed before my eyes. This man was nowhere near one-hundred percent healthy, but his battle had already been fought, with my side not being the victors. This man had been involved in a severe car accident that left his truck looking like a rubix cube.

My eyes looked down again to stare at the rest of his body and all the wires that were connected to it
.  He had no major broken bones that I could sense; he had all internal injuries: two severe hemorrhages in the brain, a cracked liver, a collapsed lung, and a facial fracture. At the rate that I could feel his body healing, it wouldn’t be much longer until he was well. His brain had already stopped bleeding and was beginning to clot.  His memory and sanity would be back soon. He’d be out of here by the end of the week, and would be expecting a full recovery in the near future.

He was one of those miracles
that the Guardians would boost about: A man who wasn’t breathing on his own a few days ago, who would be out of the hospital in a week, and would suffer no long-term side-effects.  Whichever Reaper lost this wasn’t going to be able to let it go, and wouldn’t get this man off his scroll until this man became old and grey. 

My
scythe moved towards the right and began to glow. I must have had the wrong room after all.  Before I left, to double check, I looked down at the man’s tightly-bound hands and read his wrist band. Why would they bind him so tightly at his hands and feet?  Probably so that when he awoke, he wouldn’t start pulling at things. His wrist band read ‘Kris,’ but not the Kris I was looking for.

As I went to slide into the next room
, I noticed a picture that was taped on the wall directly across from him.  It was probably placed there so that when the man awoke, he would see something familiar. It was a picture of the man and a young red-head on what appeared to be their wedding day. It was the girl from outside the ICU that had been sitting on the ledge.  The dark circles and blank stare on the girl I’d seen, were absent in this picture, along with the swelling and wires that were on the man in the bed.  The picture looked only about a year old.

My lips tried to fight
it, but a smile crept through; they’d be back to that bliss soon. The smile on my lips confused me. Was I growing empathy for humans?  It was in this girl’s favor that her husband hadn’t been on my list, and, hell, perhaps mine too.  Her husband’s healing abilities, and whatever Guardians he had looking over his shoulder, had saved his life. No, sir, this miracle and major upset wouldn’t be on my list; hopefully he’d been on Drake’s. I let out a chuckle as I entered the next room to the right. 

My s
cythe warmed and shined brighter the closer I got to my soul, lying on the gurney.  Finally in the right place, I scanned the room.  There wasn’t a Guardian, or any pictures for that matter, just a girl named Kris lying on the hospital bed.  She was twitching from, what I assumed to be, her latest overdose, as she had more tracks than a railroad station all over her body. Her legs were broken and her face was blue.  Why? One could guess, but, ultimately, it was time to take her pain away.  My scythe entered her heart and she came quite easily. As I walked out of the room, the nurses were rushing in to the alarms signaling the girl was gone.

As I
exited the ICU doors, many of the visitors looked pissed.  Because I’d just taken a life, the ICU would be closed for at least another half-hour or so.  I looked to my left and watched the girl with the bright-red hair.  Her head was now between her knees, and her whole body was shaking.  Her nervousness and unease made my stomach twist, as I walked past her. Her feelings would pass as soon as they let her in to visit her husband. The two hours that she had to wait each day, while the doctors did their rounds, were probably the most nerve-wrecking and stressful she would ever have to experience in her life.  Her husband, whose outcome was unknown to her, was left alone, and she could do nothing but wait outside.

“
All done,” I said as I approached the waiting room.  Lacie and Trevor were sitting there, watching a talk show that had people in the audience yelling “Jerry, Jerry.” My butt was about to take a seat along with them in the worn, pink chairs, when I heard the ‘ping’ of the nearby elevator.  Chills ran up and down my arms as the people took their first steps out of the elevator.

“
Don’t move. Stay seated and staring at the screen,” I whispered to them.

Out of the corner of my eye
, I watched two EMTs step out of the elevator. The two men were dressed all in white and they were restraining, what I could sense was, a Demon. The small boy was thrashing and crying out in agony as he tried to twist from the two men’s grip.  I watched, hoping he would pass without noticing us. Suddenly the child came to a sudden stop. He sniffed the air, like he’d just caught a whiff of cookies coming out of his mother’s oven.  The EMTs attempted to move him, but he stayed locked in place. Without warning, the young boy threw the EMTs across the hall, with a strength that was not human.  The EMTs hit the wall hard, and crashed to the ground, unconscious.  The boy turned to face us with an eerie smile on his face.

“
I believe you have something that belongs to my master,” the boy said in a deep, unearthly voice as he pointed to Lacie.

“
GET THIS OUT OF ME!” the boy shouted in a different, more childlike voice.  I watched his whole body twitch for a moment.

“
You’ll have to excuse him,” said the Demon, the eerie smile back again.  “Poor soul is still learning his place.  Give me the girl now and I’ll allow you to live, Reaper.”  At the word ‘Reaper’ I cringed a bit as I didn’t want the Demon World knowing that a Reaper had stopped whatever they had planned for Lacie. 

“
You seem taken aback.  What did you think—I wouldn’t recognize one from my own realm?  I know my master sure will be pleased once I advise him that it was, in fact, a Reaper that had helped our little prophecy escape.  You see, he’s confused at how, all of a sudden, this girl and her Guardian disappeared out of thin air.  He was certain he’d stripped the Guardian of his powers.  He will be pleased that the mystery is solved.  We thought the challenge might become more difficult if the girl had already developed some type of powers we were not aware of.  He, though, will not be pleased with you, little Reaper.  Now, hand me the girl and there will be no trouble,” he said.

“
How do I know there will be no trouble?” I asked, even though I knew my question was mute. The Demon muttered under his breath and I knew, as soon as his hand flew up, that we were in trouble.  Green light spilled from his hand and rushed towards me. All the air was forced from my lungs as I was thrown out of the way and sent crashing into the chairs to my right.  Trevor had shoved me out of the line of fire, and I watched in horror as he took the spell that had been intended for me, squarely in the chest. The force of the hit sent him flying back into the wall, cracking picture frames and plaster where he landed. The hit caused the TV to fall from its hinges, and they both crashed to the ground in a heap. I looked to the Demon as I dragged myself to my feet and pulled out my scythe. 

“There is no need to fight here,” he said as he put his hand palms up so I could see them.  “It was just a little spell to make sure you wouldn’t transport the girl out of here. No need for this to get out of hand,” the Demon said with an untrusting smile.

“
Out of hand?  You just tried to strip her of her powers,” Trevor said as he got up, and I let go of my breath, happy he wasn’t injured.

“
This must be the Guardian that ported along with the girl.  I see...still without any powers and working with a Reaper; hmm....”  I could see his smile widen. Shit.

“
Okay, I see you meant no harm. I’ve been selfish,” I said and brought the Demon’s attention back to me.  “You see, I thought if I took the girl’s soul and the Guardian to the under-realm myself, I would be awarded,” I lied.

“
Why would you want to be rewarded?”

“
I don’t intend on being a Reaper forever, you know, and being the only female, it’s hard to get anyone to take me seriously. I figured that, seeing your master wanted her so much, he’d allow me to join him if I delivered her to him myself. I’d planned on befriending her and then taking her to your master, as soon as the next vulnerable moment arrived.  I’m sorry, I can see now that was a mistake.  I know I can’t defeat you, as you are a Demon and I’m a mere Reaper.  Take the girl, and I will kill the Guardian myself. She’s all yours. I just hope your master has pity on me for my misguided attempt at glory, seeing how it was I that handed her over.”

He
smiled as if he understood, and I watched as the boy opened his mouth and the Demon poured out of it.  The human boy immediately fell to the ground and we got to see what the Demon really looked like.  He was a little hefty, but only in width, as he was short.  He had red, torn, tight flesh.  He looked like plastic surgery gone wrong, like he’d gotten too much Botox and his skin couldn’t take it any longer, so it started ripping and busting open.  Instead of peeling off the hanging skin, he left it hanging on to rot and fall off on its own.  It was as tall as me, and his arms and muscles were similar as well.  The tears on his skin made him appear fragile and weak, just like I’d assumed when the real boy was able to speak. 

Higher-level Demons
, when possessing the human body, use the body only as a shell and take over the human’s mind and soul.  A Demon frees itself to possess another human or because the human dies.  Usually the latter, as the human body isn’t meant to withstand the strain from a Demon possessing it.  So the fact that this boy was still speaking meant either: the Demon inside was a lower-level Demon, or the boy was some type of high spiritual being that could withstand a Demon’s possession.  The cases of the second one happening were rare, so I went with the first one, and luckily I’d been correct.

“
I’m glad you’ve come to your senses.  I will ask the master to be easy on you,” he said, but I didn’t believe him.  He’d probably torture me himself.  He walked towards Lacie. Trevor gave me a quick look and I winked, hoping he had caught on.  I waited until the Demon walked past me and was a step away, to throw my scythe at it.  I’d hit the indent, making it spread out to its full, three-foot form.  When I hit him in the back, the scythe also came out the other side of his chest.  The Demon screamed and tried to pull my scythe from his chest, as Trevor pulled his sword from his belt and slashed off the Demon’s head.  A black tar that smelled like sewage, splashed all over Lacie and Trevor.

“
Gross.”  We needed to get out of there ASAP.  My fingers intertwined with their sticky, black ones and I ported us to a familiar cabin for them to shower.