Reclaiming Souls (14 page)

I laid in bed wide awake for the last few hours before morning. I tried sleeping but I just tossed and turned. I couldn’t get him off my mind and I couldn’t stop the flipping of my stomach. I finally got up and got dressed. I made my way to the judgment hall before anyone else was even awake. The door squeaked open when I pulled on it and slammed shut behind me. I walked over to the front row and sat down, waiting. My body was shaking despite the fact I wasn’t cold.

The door at the front where the Creator walks in opened and Kellin walked in, shackled, with Michael behind him. His magnificent wings left me speechless. Kellin looked up and saw me and mouthed, I didn’t do it.

I know, I mouthed back to him. He sat on the chair that was by itself in the middle of the large room and hung his head. Michael chained his shackles to the bottom of the chair then went and stood like a statue next to the Creators’ chair, unmoving.

“You’re here early,” a voice next to me whispered; startling me and making jump into the seat on the other side of me.

“Hey, Kale. I see I’m not the only one who’s early.”

“Crazy isn’t it,” he laughed, “Never took him for a cold-blooded killer.” He sat back and crossed his arms.

“You’re an ass. How do you know he did it!?” I snarled.

He sat up and leaned into my ear, “Because I’m the one who saw him do it.”

My eyes went wide with horror. “You’re lying. He didn’t do it.”

“I would never lie about something like that! That hurts, Dev, really it does,” he smirked.

“How could you do this to him?” I stared at him with disbelief.

“We’ll talk after the trial is over.” He stood and casually walked over to Michael.

How did someone like him turn into something so...so evil? Even more importantly, how was he allowed to stay as a Collector? The doors opened and throngs of Collectors flocked to the seats around me. Silently they shuffled their feet, looking at the ground and not at Kellin.

After everyone was inside and no more were filtering in, the Creator walked in through his own set of doors and took a seat. “Kellin, you are accused of murdering one of your own, Likkne. How do you plead?” His face was very solemn and sad but his voice was dangerous and cutting.

“Not guilty. I was set up, framed. I didn’t do this!”

Creator held up a hand to silence him, “Now what a lot of Collectors in here are wondering is how did I not see it and how could I not know who did it so here it is. With the help of dark spirits, a cloak was put over the murder so I couldn’t see what was happening. You will be judged by a jury of your peers but I will have the ultimate sentencing.”

“I swear to you, I am innocent,” Kellin pleaded.

“Where’s the witness?” He looked down at Michael who ushered Kale to the front.

I shook my head as anger boiled through my body. I clenched my fists and bit the inside of my cheek to stop from saying something out of line and possibly ruining any chances for Kellin.

“Do you hereby swear that what you are telling the court is your true statement and that you are a witness to a heinous crime?” Michael’s voice boomed out.

“I do.” His smirk was gone and replaced with a stern look and an emotionless expression. Michael went back to the side of the Creator.

“What did you see, Kale?”

“I was finishing up my list and walked by an alley. I stopped and watched what was happening. Kellin was in front of Likkne and shoved a device into his chest. There were black figures all around him...like shadows, really.”

“Is this the device you saw in Likkne?” The Creator motioned for Michael to hold it up. It looked like a silver stake with gold vines wrapped around it and on the top was a rose emblem. When he held it up, it began to glow a bright red.

Kale nodded, “Yes, that’s it.”

I shook my head and dipped it down into my hands, wanting to cry my eyes out but instead I got the burning sensation like I had been crying for hours.

“There is a witness. There is the weapon we found in your home. How do you still deny you didn’t do it?” Creator leaned over onto his desk, resting his elbows.

“I was set up. I hardly ever go down to earth. I’m always here. I deny it because it wasn’t me.” His voice sounded desperate.

“Since you rarely go down there, why were you there to begin with if your job is to hand out the lists?”

Kellin glanced up and turned to look at me then back up front. My heart...my dead heart, felt crushed. “I needed to get away from here for a little while but I did not kill Likkne.”

“Can anyone validate your story?”

“No,” he said, hanging his head low. His hair fell to the sides of his face and covered his eyes from me.

“Then I’m afraid that without anyone to support your statements, I have no choice.” He looked over to the jury of his peers who were sitting behind a curtain where none of us could see them. He nodded then turned his attention back to Kellin. “It’s agreed. You have been found guilty. I will not crush your eternal soul. That would be too forgiving. You will be locked away in solitary confinement for the rest of eternity. For the rest of your afterlife, you will be completely alone with no one.”

Michael walked over and unshackled Kellin. Everyone watched in horror as he was led out of the hall.

The Creator looked us all over. “This has been a very trying few days but it’s back to work today. I’m tired of the violence and the hurt we are inflicting on each other and ourselves. I am about this close,” he pinched his fingers almost together, “to shutting down the program all together and letting you all go to your respective afterlives, wherever that is.” Everyone looked nervously back and forth at each other. “Go to work.” He waved us off.

Kale walked out next to me. “Sorry about that, Dev.”

“Yeah, I’m soooo sure you’re really sorry,” I retorted.

“I really am. So why don’t you and me get together after work today and talk about it?”

I shrugged, “No thanks. I don’t like to be around liars and asshats like you.”

“You’ll warm up to me, I promise that.” He walked off in the opposite direction.

I went to the office that had become my workplace to get back to the reformation of the laws. Once inside, I sat at the desk and didn’t move, just stared off into space.

There was a knocking at the door, “Can I come in?”

“Sure,” I grumbled.

“Dev, I know you’re hurting as much as I am. I want to show you something.” Jackson crossed the room and took my hand, pulling me from my seat.

“Where are we going?”

“You’ll see.” He pulled me outside and back towards the portal. We stood silently in line until it was our turn.

When we landed, we were on a small deserted island in the middle of the ocean. “What are we doing here?” I asked him, confused.

“Let it out,” he replied, taking my hands in his.

A lump formed in my throat and I forced it back down. “Let what out?”

“Your anger, your frustration, your hurt, your love...and your tears that couldn’t come out up there.” His voice was soft and encouraging.

He was right. I felt them well up and fill my eyes. Before I knew what was happening, my lips were trembling and the tears were rolling down my face like a waterfall over a cliff. I couldn’t stop them. He held me close and tight. I fell to my knees, wailing. He went down to his with me and never let go.

“Why, Jackson? Why is there so much hurt and pain here? If I weren’t already dead, this would have surely killed me. He was my everything,” I cried into his shoulder.

“Shhh, it’s okay. It may not feel like it right now, but it will be.”

“Thank you for taking me here. I really needed to let it all out. This is complete bullshit. Kellin didn’t kill that guy. I know he didn’t but I don’t know how to prove it.”

“We’ll have to come up with some kind of game plan to figure it out and find the real killer.”

“I know who it is,” I looked him dead in the eyes.

“Who?”

“It was Kale. He set Kellin up but I don’t know how to disprove him.”

“Like I said, we’ll figure something out. Are you feeling better now now that you got to really cry it out?”

I smiled as best as I could, which wasn’t much, “Yeah, it’s like the closure I didn’t get to have. The next time I feel like I need to, I’ll be coming here. For some reason it completely didn’t occur to me that I could come down to let out my real feelings. Why can’t we cry up there but we can here?”

He shrugged, “I’m not sure. It’s some phenomenon that even the Creator has never been able to figure out. It’s nothing he did on his own, just kind of happened.”

“That’s so weird.” I stood from the sand took a deep breath as I inhaled the smell of the sea. I missed being alive. I wanted so badly to remember my life but I knew I never would. The one thing I wanted to remember was Kellin but no one was telling me anything.

“Are you ready to go back?” Jackson put his hand on my shoulder.

I nodded a little, “Sure but I wish I could just stay down here. What were to happen to me if I didn’t go back?”

“He would send Michael after you and give you that judgment you don’t want. You’d end up like...” His voice trailed off.

“I get it, you don’t have to continue.” The portal appeared and zapped us back to the In-Between. I refused to call it home because it wasn’t home. It was a prison and we were its slaves.

We landed back where we came from. “If you need anything, you know where to find me. I’m always around to talk.”

“Thanks, Jackson. I’ll see you around,” I waved goodbye to him and walked slowly to the office. There had to be something I could do to help Kellin.

Instead of going to work, I changed my mind and went on the hunt for Kale. It was his fault. He had to have done it. I walked down all the streets looking for him but couldn't find him so I waited across from his house until he got home. I didn't care how long of a wait it would be because it would be worth it to get justice for Kellin. Kale walked up his steps and went inside. I shot across the pavement and invited myself in.

I knocked three times as I walked in, “Hey, I know you are in here, Kale!” Silence. “Kale! Come here and talk to me now.” I looked around the room but I didn't hear or see any signs that someone was there.

“What are you doing here?” He came out from his room, hair soaking wet.

“Oh crap! You just got out of the shower! I'm so sorry!” I covered my eyes and refused to look.

He laughed, “You use to like looking.”

“Can you just hurry and put some clothes on? It's a little hard to focus with you being naked in front of me.” I sat on the couch and covered my eyes again.

“You sure that's what you want?”

“Absolutely,” I responded.

“If you insist.” I heard the door close and peeked out between my fingers. He was in his bedroom, hopefully getting dressed.

A few minutes later he walked out completely covered. “What do we need to talk about?”

“I know Kellin didn't kill that Collector and you know he didn't kill him either, don't you?”

He ran a hand through his hair and sighed heavily, “Dev, this is a bit over your pay grade, isn't it?”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“You don't know what's going on and you're not going to.”

I jumped up and grabbed his arm when he turned to walk away. “Did you set him up?”

“Dev, stop before it's too late for you too.”

“So I take that as a yes,” I responded, backing away from him and moving closer to the door. “You just got here. How can you already be involved in some plot to ruin someone’s afterlife like that!?” I yelled at him

“You need to go home and forget this all happened. Forget Kellin, forget your conspiracy theory shit and just go.”

“You'll pay for this. I'm not going to let Kellin sit there all alone and frozen for eternity. You'll take his place, soon, you bastard.

“Oh I highly doubt that,” he laughed.

I bolted through his door and ran towards Jackson's house. “Jackson, I need to talk to you!” I yelled as I banged on it.

There was some shuffling around inside before he opened the door, his eyes barely staying open. “What's going on?” he asked, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

“It was more than Kale that set him up. I don't know what I'm supposed do. He won't tell me any more than that and it leaves so much open to interpretation.”

“So who all do you think are involved?”

“I don't know yet but I will find out. What if Lexie was setup to be killed?  What if she knew too much and she was setup so she could never talk about it to anyone?”

“Don't bring her into your messed up crap, Devalynn, I'm not warning you again.” His voice was stern and straight to the point.

I was hurt that he didn't believe me. “I can't believe you. You won't even look into different options and theories on how she could have really died. I thought she meant more to you than that.” I turned and stormed away from his house.

“You don't know what you're getting yourself into. Stop while you're ahead before they come after you!” he hollered after me. I ignored him and he slammed his door shut, making me jump.