Forfeit Souls (The Ennead Book 1) (13 page)

“Ok. So, Haphaestus is Jack the Ripper, and he’s started up his spree again. Why aren’t you going out after him?”

“It’s not that simple,” he sighed. “Gallu doesn’t know about you or me, about the existence of hybrids. If she did, she’d be looking for a way to build up an army of her own half-breeds.”

I was annoyed by this. “So Father expects us to cower here when we could be of use out on the streets of London? Saving people from fates like ours – or ones that are worse?”

“It’s slightly more complicated than that,” he said in a whisper. “I think I need to tell you about how I came to be here.” He looked at me with a strange sorrow in his eyes and swallowed loudly before he whispered, “follow me,” and disappeared as if blown away again.

I closed my eyes and felt myself sink through the bed.

“My tragic story starts here,” he said quietly.

I opened my eyes and looked around me. It was the same room we had been in for those brief seconds when we had gone on our ten minute world tour. We were in the boarded up house. The furniture still covered by their white cloth shrouds, all mourning the death of the house that sheltered them.

-Paul-

Gallu sent for me shortly after Carlo and I returned from my unsanctioned visit to my parent’s house and our joy ride. I wasn’t sure what to take from this visit. I hadn’t seen Gallu since my first few hours here. She didn’t tend to condescend to socialize with us. Well, me at least.

The gold room was illuminated once more when I entered; Gallu and Jack were standing atop the high throne platform. They seemed to be deep in discussion, perhaps he was telling her of my questions about Ellie.  I no longer had any reason to place any faith in those that surrounded me. From what I could tell they were murderers and thieves. But I would have to blend in with them long enough to discover which one of them it was that took her life. I could hope to stay alive long enough to take their flame, after that I had no qualms about my fate. If I was destroyed, so be it. I had died once already and frankly this seemed like Hell.

Jack stiffened slightly when he finally observed my presence in the room, but Gallu turned to me as fluidly as ever.  “Paul,” she said with a bright smile as she waved Jack away. He walked behind Gallu’s throne and I heard a click. We were alone before she continued, “come here Paul. Let me get a better look at you.”

I was suddenly reminded of my great grandmother, but Gallu didn’t have the half-moon glasses – that would have been suspended around Gran’s neck by a beaded gold chain – and so she didn’t bring them to her eyes to inspect me.

I felt like a dog, but I had no choice but to obey.
Blend in
, I thought. I needed to act the part. Be an Asakku to the very depth of my being though my nonexistent heart wasn’t in it. I had to do all of this for Ellie, and I knew that that would be the one thing that would allow me to get through this.

I ascended the stairs slowly, deliberately taking each step one foot at a time. Everything I would do from now on would be in an attempt to remain calm and focused. I wouldn’t give any hint to my misgivings, or my seditious thoughts. But those seditious thoughts were extinguished for a moment, as they gave way to the memories of that first day, the day that Gallu had been so interested in my love life, and my anger flared.

I hadn’t made the connection until now, and I suddenly wondered if I had somehow been the proverbial final nail in her coffin. Had I told her Ellie’s name? No I hadn’t, but her involvement would mean that her death was definitely tied to my being here, and for now, I was willing to assume that she had called for Ellie’s death. It only made sense if she was, as she claimed, charged with the collection of souls. She knew my name before I had told her, why wouldn’t she have been able to discern Ellie’s just by her connection to me?

“You look so pensive Paul,” she said in quiet condescension. “I haven’t called you here to be punished.”

I slipped back into a relaxed pose, doing my best to maintain my cool. All that I could see in front of me was a conspirator in the death of my friend.

“It is time for your first collection,” she continued, and the fire in her eyes flashed at the word collection. “Come, take my hand.” She held her pale hand with its long slender fingers out to me, palm up.

I had not noticed before, but her skin was covered in marks. They were similar to those that were slowly darkening to charcoal grey on mine, but hers were gold and the swirled around her limbs in a much more delicate pattern.

I covered the last three steps in a moment, placed my hand in hers, and I suddenly saw a girl’s face. I pulled my hand away and shook my head, trying to figure out what had just happened. Gallu was still waiting, her palm still upturned, with a patient look on her face.

“It can be a little disorienting the first time,” she said with an apologetic expression.

I replaced my hand in hers and the girl’s face returned. It showed me exactly where she would be, where I could collect her soul, the only unknown was the time.

I removed my hand slowly and opened my eyes. Gallu’s face held a malevolent leer, she was pleased with the way I handled myself.

“When?” I asked, not wishing to tarry here much longer.

“I will call you when it’s time,” she said, her smile widening.

I searched through what I had seen and felt in the vision that Gallu had shown me. “It will be done.” I clenched my teeth, I had severe misgivings.

“Very good,” her voice held a patronizing tone. “You may go. You’ll know when it is time for you to leave.” She waived me away and I returned down the steps.

As I approached the door, it did not open as it once had. I thought of my room and felt myself combust, but I did not go anywhere. When my flame doused I was still in the room.

“It’s the walls.” Gallu said from her throne. “They are… enchanted, for lack of a better word.”

“You have dismissed me, but you won’t let me leave?” I asked, trying to sound as bored as possible.

“I’ve changed my mind,” she said pensively. “Jack tells me you were asking about a girl.”

I turned and looked up at her, feeling very much like I was on trial. “I was.” I sighed internally, “My friend Ellie was taken the night that I became an Asakku.”

Her jaw set as she looked down at me. “I’m going to give you a piece of advice that I’ve given to all of the others who have come before you and that I will give to those who come after.” She sighed and closed her eyes, causing the room to return to the bronze look for a moment. “The best thing that you can do is forget about those you knew while you were living. You cannot do them any good by dwelling on their mundane lives now.”

It was like a broken record.
Forget about the living, it’s for your own good.
Unlike her other beasts I was unable to so carelessly abandon those I loved. But she would not open the doors unless I agreed. So I nodded to her once.

“It really is for the best,” she said as she opened the door for me. “Ryan is still unable to move past the loss of his family; you have seen how useless it has made him.”

I left the room with her words following me; I was a little less sanguine than I had been. If she could keep me in that room against my will, I sure as hell wasn’t going to find myself in it again unless it was completely necessary.

I stalked off down the corridor, ready to duck into the nearest alley way if necessary. I doubted it would be a good day to socialize with the others. I wasn’t in the mood to play nice today. I felt like lashing out at anything and everything.

Everything here was beginning to look like a smoke and mirrors act. Like I had been watching the flashy show that the magician had been putting on while his assistant had quietly slipped the wallet out of my pocket. I was certain now that Ellie’s death had not been an accident. There was little in my new existence that didn’t seem to be a part of Gallu’s work.

I wound my way back through the corridors to my quarters and flopped down on my sleeping shelf. I heard the rock crack as my head hit it, but I didn’t feel it. I just stared up at my reflection in the dark mirror of the ceiling

I couldn’t tell you what happened for the next several hours. If I didn’t know that I was unable to sleep, I might have guessed that I had fallen into a dreamless slumber. But knowing that sleep, even when dreamless was impossible, I knew that my lost time was not spent in sleep.

The only reason I knew that time had passed at all was the rapid drip of water to the basin that served as a sink. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I had counted. Fifty four thousand, one hundred and twenty six drops had dripped into that basin when I felt time’s effects again.

“Lazarus...” I heard Jack say from the end of the corridor as he approached me. “It’s time to go get your first human soul.” His tone was the mocking one I had become used too. Just like an older brother teasing me.

“I am not so dead as to need to be risen by you old man,” I said, feeling a bit grumpy.  “I am no zombie.”

“Aren’t we though?” he said with a laugh. “We are the living dead, those who walk about the earth though our hearts no longer beat.”

“But do we feast on the flesh of the actual living?” I said skeptically.

“We could. I personally don’t find the flesh all that appetizing…”

The way Jack said it was a bit too thoughtful, as though the memory left a bad taste in his mouth. I had to laugh at my thought’s unintended pun.

I just stared at him for a moment. I knew my face was distorted by disgust.

“All you have to remember tonight, kid, is to make sure you bite her at least twice.” He smiled at me apologetically, “And this is a solo run, there won’t be anyone around to hold your hand.”

“I’m a big boy,” I said, derisively. “I won’t need your help, or anyone else’s for that matter.” He cast a strange glance at me as I burst into flames, almost as though he was proud of my response.

The streets were still covered in snow. Somehow I had thought that I might have allowed winter to slip past me in my stupor. It had not.

Leaning against the side of the chemist’s, I waited for the girl I was told I would kill. I watched my breath as it curled out from my mouth in steamy tendrils.

I guess morality shouldn’t play a part anymore; it was the plight of the living. I had no fear of going to Hell, I was practically already there. A small voice in the back of my head whispered,
“Thou shall not kill.”

But was that up to me anymore? I was now a servant of darker powers. We were perhaps, as Gallu said, a lesser evil than the devil, but I could not see it as being much less. Though, if I were to believe what my new employer said, I would have to assume that the souls we “collected” were sent to their rightful place in the afterlife. But I no longer believed that I could trust her.

Feeling rather flustered by my lack of faith in my existence and in my “employer,” I could have allowed the girl to walk right by me without my notice.

And then the delicious, metallic scent filled the air around me and I felt the desire to kill as it rippled through me. Every muscle tensed and I wanted to find her, to take her soul. It was the only thing I could think of. My thoughts would allow for nothing else to enter my mind.

Then, as though it had never existed, the electricity of the smell disappeared, but the lingering aroma still hung faintly in the air, like a trail for me to follow. I closed my eyes as I inhaled deeply and when I opened them again, the scent was literally visible. I stalked off, following the smoky line through the streets of London until I caught up with her.

She was the same girl I had seen in Gallu’s throne room. Her long, strawberry blonde hair was pulled up in a messy bun, her cheeks were red from the cold and she was tightly wrapped in a winter coat and heavy boots. She seemed cheerful, whistling a jaunty Christmas tune. I suddenly felt my desire to kill her weakening.

I fell into line behind her, maintaining a careful distance behind her. There was no need to scare her. I was not a sadistic demon – like Carlo or Sasha – I had no desire to force the people I stalked to die in fear. I would do what I could to make their deaths as quick and as painless as possible.

The girl stopped for a moment, to look in a shop window, I was far enough behind her that I didn’t have to stop. It was lucky, I didn’t want her to think I was following her. She continued on, but I was much closer to her now and could hear as she continued to hum the carol in a low tone. I could smell her; she was the metallic smell and I couldn’t help but allow my mouth to water.

There was a low buzzing noise and she dug through her coat pockets until she found a pastel pink phone, which she quickly answered. “Hello?” She said, and I heard her American accent. She was a foreigner. “Oh hey Mary, yeah, I’ll be home in about fifteen minutes. Don’t worry about Lucky; I’ll take him out when I get home.”

She was speaking with her flat mate, probably about a dog. I ignored the rest of the conversation and just followed her, not allowing her chatter to break through my resolve. I had to blend in. I had to keep any of the Asakku from suspecting something was up. I had to do this, for Ellie. But was this girl any different than Ellie?

She probably had a family that was waiting for her to return. She might even have a friend like me, who loves her, but didn’t have the chance to tell her yet.

“I’ll see you soon.” the girl in front of me said and I could hear the smile in her voice, and then the tonal beep as she hung up the phone and put it back in her pocket.

I needed to just get this over with; there wasn’t any point to waiting. Just take care of the girl and return to the basement. I allowed my face to change from the human form that I normally wore to my animalistic demon form. I felt the hair that sprouted from my face, neck and back and I could see my nose as my face elongated to a snout. My fingers elongated to claws and hastened toward the girl.

The girl didn’t hear me as I approached her. Human ears wouldn’t have been able to pick up the quick, soft movements of my advance. I stopped when I was mere inches behind her and I was suddenly hit by a fistful of that smell again. The sheer deliciousness of it made me stagger backwards, and I quickly pivoted into an adjoining alley.

As I tried to gather myself again I saw the girl turn and peer into the darkness behind her. She had heard the choking noise that had escaped my throat when the full force of the scent had hit me. Now that it was gone and I was able to think a little more clearly, I approached the situation from a bit more objective of a viewpoint.