Life After: The Complete Series

by Julie Hall

  Things were different now. I had changed in that dark basement. And I wasn’t sure if I’d ever be the same person again.

  Author Commentary: Chapter 10

  JulieHallAuthor.com/logan-10

  Chapter 11

  “You’re joking, right?” The look I shot Shannon was ice cold. Because of the extensive damage that was done to my body, a week later I was still in a room at the healing center, our realm’s version of a hospital.

  All I wanted to do was go home and sleep in my own bed—just one night—and then get back to training. But I’d been temporarily benched.

  Didn’t they realize I needed to get back to a normal routine?

  “I’m afraid not, Logan. Considering what you went through, it’s absolutely mandatory for you to talk with someone before we reactivate your status as a hunter.” She delivered her short speech with the same tone she did everything, but there was a glimmer in her eye I didn’t like. It looked an awful lot like pity.

  “This is ridiculous.” I crossed my arms over my chest and refused to make eye contact. Instead, I stared at the white wall in front of me. Whoever thought white was soothing was an idiot. The urge to punch my fist through the wall hit me hard and fast. I wiped a hand down my face instead.

  “Logan.” The softening of her voice startled me into looking at her. Her face remained stoic, but I had never heard compassion like this in Shannon’s voice before. “You’ve been through an ordeal that very few people have ever experienced. Thank the Lord for that. You’d need therapy even if only half of the things you listed in your report happened. But I would still insist you seek counseling for the wounds we can’t see.”

  I pressed my lips together tightly, knowing exactly what she was referring to. They were basically expecting me to go crazy at any moment. And they didn’t even know about my new ability. I’d left that out of all my reports, written and verbal.

  “With everything you’ve gone through, it’s a miracle you’re healing as well as you are.” She gestured to my body, which at this point was devoid of all the visible scars that had been inflicted on me during my captivity.

  My friends knew nothing about the three long, angry wounds running across my back that hadn’t healed. I’d spotted them in the mirror the night before. So, no matter how well I looked on the outside, until those disfigurements healed, it meant that I still carried the mental scars of my torture as well.

  That’s just the way things worked around here. Our physical scars were a manifestation of emotions or experiences we hadn’t fully recovered from.

  There was no way for me to hide those marks from the healers who came into treat me. Shannon, being part of the hierarchy of hunters, most likely had been informed of them as well. Thus, I was being sent to the realm’s equivalent of a shrink to talk about my . . . feelings.

  My lip curled at the thought of sitting down and openly talking about the conflicting emotions churning around inside me. I’d much rather work my issues out on a punching bag, practice dummy, or sparring partner.

  “Physically speaking, you could be ready to go back to training with a few days’ more rest.”

  Correction, I was ready to go back two days ago.

  “But your mental state is just as important to us.”

  I refused to engage her in conversation anymore.

  “Logan,” there was that softened voice again. I hated it, “you were held captive and tortured for six weeks straight.”

  Keep your expression neutral. Don’t show any emotion.

  “You haven’t spoken a word about Morgan since we retrieved you from Earth. We only know what happened to him from your written reports. What happened was awful. The reality of the situation is that you need to heal more than just your body. I’m sorry you don’t like the idea, but if you want to remain a hunter, this is the only way to do it. Otherwise we’ll be forced to find a different position for you.”

  At that last comment, I jerked my gaze to her.

  They were considering reassigning me to a different job? She read the question and fury in my eyes.

  “Don’t let that happen. Keep fighting.”

  Without any fanfare, she turned on her heel and walked from the room.

  Squeezing my eyes shut, I pinched the bridge of my nose. Would this nightmare ever end? I guess this meant that I was going to get my head shrunk.

  I felt like a voyeur as I watched through the doorway as the couple embraced. The man and woman looked to be somewhere in their forties, but honestly, I wasn’t that good at judging age. He leaned down and whispered something in her ear, and she giggled.

  It was strange to watch a grown woman giggle. She nodded at whatever he’d said to her and then went on her toes to place a chaste kiss on his lips. They finally broke apart and I stepped back from the doorway, pretending to find something on the opposite wall really interesting.

  “I’ll see you for dinner, sweetheart,” the man called back over his shoulder before leaving the room and continuing down the hallway. He passed in front of me and offered a smile and small nod of his head.

  “You can come in now, Mr. London.”

  Totally busted.

  I schooled my features into the hardened mask I’d been perfecting ever since being captured by Satan and his demons, and strode into the room. The woman was now seated behind her desk, so I picked a chair and sat—waiting for her to speak.

  I didn’t have anything to say.

  Those scars on your back tell a different story, my mind whispered to me.

  “Hello, I’m Deborah. May I call you Logan?”

  I nodded.

  “Wonderful,” she smiled, and it lit up her whole face. It was still hard to make out her age. Her silver hair was pulled back in a twisty thing, but rather than looking grey from age, it shone with vitality. Her face had some fine lines, but it added interest to her appearance.

  Why was I bothering to even try to nail down her age in a realm where appearances meant very little? Oh right, because it distracted me from why I was here to begin with.

  When I didn’t respond, she pushed on undeterred.

  “So, Logan, tell me about yourself.”

  On her desk, I spied a folder with my name written clearly across it. I looked at it pointedly and then up at her.

  “Don’t you already know everything about me?”

  “Do you really think you can get to know someone by reading a small list of facts about their life and afterlife?”

  Touché.

  I sighed. If this is what I had to do to get back to being an active hunter, I guess I was going to have to grin and bear it.

  Leaning back in the chair, I folded my arms across my chest. “Fine. Where would you like me to start?”

  “How about your earliest memory? And we’ll go from there.”

  An abrupt laugh burst out of me, “Are you serious? You want to hear my whole life story?”

  She leaned forward in her chair with a gleam in her eye, “Oh no, Logan, I want to know so much more than that.”

  “You’re messing with me right now, aren’t you? She actually drove a tent peg through his head?”

  Lapidoth laughed at the look of shock on my face, “I promise, I’m telling the truth. And as you can imagine, it was a big deal back then to be taken out by a woman. Barak had won the day, but the glory went to another. And to think it was all because he wouldn’t go into battle without her. Ha! Served him right. My Deborah is always right.”

  “What are you two talking about out there?” Deborah called from within her office.

  Lapidoth poked his head around the corner, “Just some of the highlights from the glory days, dear. All good things.”

  “Well, don’t scare the poor boy, LD. Times were different then.”

  “Should I be more offended that she referred to me as a boy, or that she suggested your story would scare me?”

  Lapidoth chuckled and moved out of the way so I could enter Deborah’s office. “My advice is to ignore her
comment altogether.”

  “I heard that,” Deborah yelled back to her other half from behind her desk. I took my usual chair just as he shouted, “I know,” from what was probably the end of the hall.

  Deborah smiled showing the playfulness of their relationship, “What am I going to do with that man?”

  “For as many years as you’ve had together, I’m pretty sure you have it figured out. You’re putting on a show for my sake. And speaking of, I think we should reserve these little meetings to talk about your life instead of mine. You’ve obviously led a more interesting existence than I have, so I don’t understand why we’re wasting our time discussing me.”

  She rolled her eyes.

  Deborah rarely talked about herself during our sessions. But Lapidoth—LD for short—was usually here before my appointment and we’d fallen into a somewhat friendly acquaintance. He was always ready to brag about his wife and I’d learned quickly he had every right to do so. At one time, the woman had actually been the leader of Israel. Way back in ancient times before they even had official rulers. We’re talking many millennia ago.

  When I’d joked about her having been a queen she corrected me and said that she was a Judge during that time. And then, with a soft smile on her face, she’d rolled her eyes at me.

  They were a hard pair not to like.

  After three months, I was finally not dreading these sessions. Although my scars still hadn’t disappeared. The one time I brought it up, Deborah waved it off, telling me some things just took time, and other things were all about the right timing.

  “So, today will be our last session.”

  My eyebrows shot up so far they hid behind hair I’d let grow too long.

  I’d gone back to training a couple of months ago, but it was under the strict understanding that I still wasn’t cleared for active missions.

  “Does this mean . . . ?” It was almost too much to hope for. If I was done with my counseling, that meant they’d made a decision about my status as a hunter.

  I’d leaned forward in my chair without realizing it—my hands white-knuckling her desk.

  Her smile widened and she nodded. “Yes, Logan. You’ve been cleared to get back into active duty as a hunter,” she reached across the desk to pat the fingers that were probably leaving indents in her wooden desk, “I know the scars are still there, but—”

  Deborah’s words cut off abruptly the moment her hand touched mine. Her eyes widened and she sucked in a sharp breath of air.

  “Deborah?” Her eyes stared right through me and a pained look pinched her features before smoothing out again. “Deborah?” I asked again, forcefully removing my hand from beneath hers.

  Her strange spaced-out look was as disturbing as her touch. Skin-to-skin contact meant the empathy link sprang to life. Sharing emotions when we touched is a part of this new existence that I have always been uncomfortable with. Now I hated it because it instantly brought back memories of my captivity, and thoughts of the time spent in that dank basement were coupled with dark emotions I didn’t want to share with anyone else.

  When Deborah’s hand had landed on mine, her happiness had pushed into me, but that emotion was quickly swept away by a strong feeling of shock.

  “What just happened?” I demanded.

  “You’ll figure it out.” Her voice had taken on a monotone quality that frankly, was just plain freaky.

  “Figure what out?” I demanded.

  She continued as if I hadn’t spoken. No longer staring through me, her eyes seared into my own, “This existence isn’t going to be what you expected. Your time here is only part of the journey. It may take a while to get there, and there are times ahead that are going to be harder than you’ve ever experienced, but in the end, you’ll make the right decisions and figure it out. Don’t run from your purpose. Embrace everything you’ll learn, and use it to continue your journey. It will be worth it. She will be worth it.”

  “What the heck are you talking about?” I slammed back into the chair so fast it rocked on two legs before settling to the ground with a thud.

  The noise made her jump, and then she blinked a few times. The intensity left her gaze, but a frown still marred her face.

  “What’s going on right now?” I demanded. Nothing like this had ever happened in our sessions before.

  “Calm down, Logan.” Deborah held both hands up in front of her in an attempt to pacify me. At least she seemed to be back to herself at this point.

  “Are you done speaking to me in Chinese proverbs?”

  Deborah’s lips pressed together and her nostrils flared. She took a deep breath.

  “I’m sorry about that. Let’s wrap up this last session. What I said a moment ago . . .” she paused and I leaned even further away from her, “Well, we can discuss that another time. Right now, you just need to figure out who it is you want to be, and what it’s going to take to get there.”

  “Is that what you meant when you told me I’d figure it out?”

  She stared at me in silence for an uncomfortably long time before answering, “In part. But for now, let’s see you get back into your normal routine, and go from there. I’m always here if you want to talk.”

  That wasn’t likely to happen. Especially after what had just gone down.

  She went on as if knowing my thoughts, “You don’t think that day will come, but it may.” She lifted her hand and gestured to the door.

  I sat in stunned silence until it dawned on me that I was being dismissed. Deborah had never acted this way before. And to do so during our last session was even more bizarre.

  “Okay. I guess I’ll just get going now.”

  She nodded and a small smile appeared on her face, “This won’t be the last I see of you, Logan.”

  I simply waved as I walked out the door. What else was I supposed to say to someone I respected, but who I hoped I never had a reason to meet again? Especially after the wacky sendoff she’d just given me.

  Not paying attention to where I was going, I almost ran into LD a few doors down from Deborah’s office.

  “Oh, sorry man,” I said and started to step around him. He mirrored my movements. I looked up at him with a question in my eyes.

  “She wasn’t only a Judge,” LD’s face was as serious as I’d ever seen it, “She’s a prophetess too.”

  At my blank look, he continued. It’s obvious he’d caught the last few minutes of our conversation, although why he was creeping in the hallway was a mystery to me.

  “She sometimes still has visions, and is never wrong. What she said to you might not make sense now, but I believe someday it will. And know that her words were meant to encourage and strengthen you for your journey.”

  This was, by far, the strangest day I’d experienced in the afterlife. And that was saying something.

  LD clapped me on the shoulder, gave it a gentle squeeze followed by an encouraging smile, and slipped into his wife’s office.

  “Hi sweetheart! I forgot to leave this with you. I know you wanted . . .” His voice faded as I walked down the hall, each step taking me further from them.

  If Deborah was right, and what lay ahead was worse than what I’d already gone through, I’m not sure this was a journey I wanted to take.

  Author Commentary: Chapter 11

  JulieHallAuthor.com/logan-11

  Chapter 12

  Three months had passed since I walked out of Deborah’s office. I’d gotten back into the routine of being a hunter. I’d had several dozen successful missions to Earth. The afterlife was just beginning to settle back into place. And now this.

  I had tried my best over the months to push Deborah’s words—her prophecy—from my mind. But after doing some digging and finding out that the prophetess stuff was legit . . . well . . . that will mess with any guy’s head.

  Staring down at the sleeping beauty at my feet, I couldn’t stop the last part of her cryptic message from floating to me. She will be worth it.

  I shoved a hand
in my hair and fisted the strands. What could the Creator be thinking? I didn’t need this added complication.

  I released my hair and with a frustrated growl stomped closer to the figure lying crumpled on the dirty mat. I crouched down to get a closer look at her.

  Her mass of hair was everywhere, blocking my view of her face. Gingerly reaching out, I pulled some of it back to get a better look at her.

  She’d fallen on her side, her head tilted toward the ceiling. With her hair out of the way, I had a perfect view of her face.

  Man, I was starting to feel like a creeper. I should probably wake her up or something.

  As if it had a mind of its own, my hand moved towards her cheek. The moment my fingers brushed her soft flesh, sparks of electricity—the same power I’d used on Earth to escape from captivity—encased my hand and I jerked it away.

  Amazingly, she appeared unharmed. Still passed out, but no charred holes in her—which was good.

  I stared down at my hand as if it wasn’t my own. The last vestiges of light were blinking out.

  What just happened?

  My heart pounded in my chest. It had been six months since I’d escaped Satan. When the new power to shoot lightning or electricity from my hands hadn’t reappeared, I’d thought it was gone for good.

  Maybe heightened emotions brought it on?

  It’s the one thing about my captivity I’d never told anyone. I’d let people believe I had escaped when Morgan’s guard had been down. I hadn’t brought it up to Deborah, or even any of my friends. I was ashamed that I’d somehow given in to the darkness and I just hoped that it hadn’t damned my soul.

  I had no idea what this meant, but it couldn’t be good. I didn’t want anything to do with this girl, but I didn’t really have a choice in the matter. We were stuck together, whether we wanted to be or not. The sparks had to be a fluke.

  I was truly a different person than the one who’d foolishly rushed into battle with Morgan that day. I had more control than this. I’d make sure I never used that power again.