by Amy Starr
“Hud, Hud wake up.”
That voice. It wasn’t his mother, but he knew who it belonged to. Hudson shot up and stared at Emma-Lee. He blinked a few times, gazing at his sister. Was he still dreaming? It took him several moments before his frozen body was able to react to this.
“E-Emma-Lee?”
She tilted her head and her smile grew. “It’s me Hud, I’m back.”
He threw his arms around her and hugged her tightly. Emma-Lee let out a soft laugh and embraced her brother back.
“I missed you.” She murmured, resting her head on Hud’s shoulder. “And mom and dad too.”
Hud suppressed a small sob and pulled her in tighter. He glanced up and saw Poppy glancing down at him, a small apologetic smile on her face.
“I really hate to break this reunion up Hud, but we need to get moving.”
Holding her brother’s hand, Emma-Lee helped Hudson up. Pulling his eyes off his sister, Hudson glanced around the room. He felt his heart fall when he realized that once again, they were inside one of those blank rooms.
“Oh no, what are we doing back here?” He groaned.
“We were in the Purgatorium, but Harkness brought us back. This is where we ended up.”
Poppy gave Hudson back the Demotome. It was glowing brighter than ever and he held it tightly in his hands.
“There’s really a demon here?”
Poppy gave Hudson an irritated look and for a split second he felt a sense of confusion. Then he remembered what happened. Morgana had been working in conjunction with the disguised demons. She was the one who threw them into the Purgatorium. He let out an exhausted sigh and rubbed the back of his neck.
“I’m sorry Poppy, I should have realized she was a demon from the start. It was all too good to be true.”
Poppy shrugged her shoulders. “Don’t worry, we’re here now with Emma-Lee, and we’re all alive. We just need to take this demon down before this place falls apart.”
Hud glanced from Emma-Lee to Poppy, giving them both a playful smirk. “I’ve done it before, I can sure as hell do it again.”
He glanced around the room, biting the inside of his mouth as he realized the predicament, they were in.
“How are we going to get out of here.”
“Don’t worry Hud!”
Emma-Lee lifted up one of the reaper cloaks from the floor and gave him an excited smile. “Poppy and I were testing this out. If one of us wears this and we walk through the wall while holding hands, we’ll both go through together.”
Emma-Lee put on the cloak and, holding hands with both Hudson and Poppy, the three of them passed through the wall. They found themselves at the back of the reaper’s court where Hudson had assassinated the high reaper. Below the stairs, they could see a hunched over creature talking to a group of demons. Several reapers lay on the floor, jittering about as if they were having seizures.
The three of them hid behind one of the pews as Hud glared at the group of demons. He took out the dagger from his small bag and cut open his palm. Emma-Lee covered her mouth to suppress a gasp.
“Hud-”
“It’s how I make it work.” Hudson muttered to his sister. He placed his bloody hand on top of the tome, causing it to glow brighter. The book began to open, and a triumphant grin grew on his face.
“Hud!”
“Emma-Lee, it’s gonna be-”
Before he could say anything else, he felt someone lift him up by the back of his hoodie. Trying to pry away, he felt a strong fist smash into his stomach. Hud gasped for air and dropped the tome, curling up into a ball. Turning his head, he saw that he was being held tightly by a large demon covered in scales. Another monstrous creature was holding onto Poppy and Emma-Lee by their arms.
A dry chuckle echoed in his ear and Hudson whipped his head around. He was face-to-face with an ancient demon with a drooping face and long, chipped horns. The maroon creature stroked its greying goatee with long clawed fingers.
“Well, well, well…it’s so nice to finally meet you in person, Hudson.”
Hudson struggled against the demon who was holding him, but he could not tear out of its grasp. The demon in front of him let out another round of soft laughter and petted him on the face.
“Oh Hud, Hud. There is no way you can escape this. Do you want to know why?”
Belphegor tapped the side of his wrinkled crimson temple and winked in a playful manner.
“I can see plans before they happen. I know everything that you are about to do, and guess what?”
The demon pressed its hand against Hudson’s forehead as his eyes began to glow a deep crimson. “I’m going to make you do them whether you like it or not.”
Hud’s vision went blurry and his brain was filled with static. Suddenly, everything went red. He was blind. As he began to panic, a thought began to form in his mind. It wrapped around him, engulfing him like a blanket. It was not just a thought; it was the greatest idea that had ever occurred to him. It was such a great idea that he began to calm down. His body relaxed. The thought constricted his brain tightly until it was the only thing that mattered to him. He forgot about everything else. His loved ones, his powers and the demon in front of him.
His vision restored itself, and he found himself facing a confused Poppy and Emma-Lee. They began to talk, but he could not hear them. All he could hear was the blood rushing in his ears. In one quick movement, he pulled his dagger out of his bag and began running at them.
Chapter Ten
Poppy knew something bad was going to happen the moment that the withered demon placed his hand on Hud’s head. Her anxiety only rose as the other demons holding herself and Emma-Lee let go of her and pushed them out into the open behind the pews. After a few moments, Belphegor released Hudson from his grip. Dazed, Hud staggered towards them, and Emma-Lee began to approach him.
“Hud? Hud, are you alright?”
Poppy saw Hudson pull something glinting out of the bag at his side and she raced towards Emma-Lee. Grabbing the teenager by her arm, she threw her onto the ground behind her as Hudson brought the knife down into Poppy’s shoulder. The psychic let out a pained shout and, on instinct, punched Hud in the face. He stumbled back, holding his bloodied nose as she wobbled away from him.
Emma-Lee looked up, her eyes wide with horror. Poppy reached her hand to her shoulder and felt the blade’s hilt against her skin. Suppressing a gag, she left it the way it was and gazed up at the furious man in front of her. Hudson glared back, his eyes narrowing with rage.
“Hud, wake the fuck up!” Poppy shouted.
In response, Hudson began to sprint towards her like a rabid zombie. She reached into her bag and grabbed a salt bomb. With one powerful throw, Poppy lobbed the salt ball into Hud’s face. It exploded on impact and he let out an enraged cry, snapping his eyelids shut as the salt obscured his vision.
She darted her eyes up and saw Belphegor watching on, a pleased smirk on his face and it made her blood boil. Of course, he would target the one person who could defeat him. He was going to make Hud kill her and Emma-Lee before presumably killing Hud himself.
Poppy thought of how the Demotome was only a few feet away from her. She quickly glanced at her hand and cursed under her breath. If only she had demon hunter blood, then she would be able to use it. A sudden thought crossed her mind and her heart skipped a beat. Staggering backwards quickly, she collapsed behind the pew where Emma-Lee was curled up, tears running down her face.
“What’s wrong with Hud?” She murmured, letting out a tiny whimper. “Why did he hurt-”
Poppy went to open her mouth, but she felt a pair of eyes burning into her. Turning her head, she saw Belphegor glaring at her. She bit her lip. Did he somehow know what she was planning?
“Get her and bring me the book.” He hissed.
Poppy shook her head in frustration. Somehow, he did. The two demons by his side began sprinting towards them. Quickly, Poppy shoved the Demotome into Emma-Lee’s hands.
“
Crawl under there now.” She hissed, pointing to the pews.
Terrified, Emma-Lee nodded and began moving under the long chairs. Poppy stood up and began running at the demons. Reaching into her bag, she began lobbing salt bombs at them. The demons hissed as their skins sizzled and they crumpled to the floor. The psychic stopped in front of them, panting hard as she watched them writhe in pain.
A loud scream came from behind her. Darting her head around, Poppy saw that Belphegor pulling Emma-Lee out from under one of the pews. She wanted to come up with an idea, but she knew that the withered creature would figure out the plan, even if she didn’t say it out loud.
The demon pulled the teenager up and glared into her eyes. Emma-Lee let out a small whimper and held the book close to her chest.
“Stupid little mortal.” He growled, his eyes glowing red. “Let’s see what you were both planning.”
Before Poppy could react, she felt someone grab her from behind. Even without turning around, she knew it was Hud. He turned her around and wrapped his hand around the knife that was deep in her shoulder. Glancing down, she whispered a quiet apology before slamming her knee into Hudson’s crotch as hard as she could.
Hud let out a low moan and fell to the floor, curling up. Snapping her head up, Poppy pulled the dagger out of her bag and shouted at Emma-Lee.
“Emma-Lee, catch! You can use this to slice the demon’s neck open!”
Belphegor and Emma-Lee glanced over at Poppy as she threw the dagger at them. It began spinning as they both reached for it. The demon caught it by the hilt and Emma-Lee went to grab it out of instinct, only to cut her palm on the blade. She let out a cry and brought her hand to her chest.
Belphegor let out a chilling laugh and threw the knife away.
“Your plan failed, mortal!”
Poppy grinned and the demon’s face fell. Suddenly, the space between Emma-Lee and the demon exploded in burst of light. Belphegor let out a hissing growl and released Emma-Lee, shielding his eyes. She stumbled back, staring down at the glowing book in her shaking bloody hands.
“Open the book and read it!” Poppy shrieked as she ran towards the demon and began hitting him.
Poppy heard the teenager fumbling to open the book as Belphegor grabbed her by the neck. The psychic gasped for air as he began to crush her windpipe.
“B-Belphegor, Seduc'r of Minds, Prince of Gluttony, Inventor of Finds.”
Poppy could see lights dancing in her eyes and darkness began to creep into her vision. She couldn’t understand why Emma-Lee had stopped reading. Was she scared? Had a demon gotten to her, or worse, Hudson? As she began to fade away, she heard a male voice begin to shout at the top of his lungs.
“My blood I spilleth, mine curse I giveth, I shalt fight f'r as long as I liveth. By blood of the pact I doth proclaim, go backeth from wh're thee wrongfully came!”
Poppy felt herself drop to the ground as Belphegor let out an almighty scream. Her vision went black and she lost consciousness.
Her mind was swimming with thoughts and emotions. One minute she was floating in darkness and the next, she was in her little black room. She approached the door that was always there, but something about it seemed odd. The door’s design was split in half. One side depicted an archway like those she had seen in the Pact’s fortress, and the other side was a flaking white doorway that seemed so familiar to her.
Wordlessly, she opened the door and entered. What she saw baffled her. She was in two different places at the exact same time. Somehow, she was witnessing the deaths of two people at once. She had never experienced anything like this before.
In one of the visions, she saw that she was in a pale room. She appeared to be sitting in an armchair of some sort next to an open window. She could see a pair of wrinkled hands in her lap. From the difficulty she was having breathing when she focused on this vision, she could tell that this was someone on the verge of dying, most likely an elderly woman.
When she turned herself to the second vision, her blood went cold. She was lying in a hospital bed, hooked up to IVs and a heartbeat monitor. That was not what caught her attention though. What made her entire being shake was the person who was holding her hand and staring deep into her eyes.
It was a young woman with pale skin, blue eyes, and a purple bob-cut. She was gazing at a younger version of herself. Poppy fell into a shock she was not able to escape from. Her second vision was inside the body of her dying Granny.
She watched from afar as the two people died almost simultaneously. Then, there was nothing but darkness, but this did not last long. After a while, Poppy found herself in the shoes of both deceased people as they were judged before the court of reapers. She had no idea how this was happening. She had never seen a judgement before.
Her stomach dropped as she watched both the stranger and her Granny getting sentenced to the Infernal Region by the high reapers. She did not understand. Her Granny had been a kind and loving soul who had helped to care for her. Why was she being sent to the hellish inferno?
Poppy could do nothing but observe from behind the eyes of these two people as they were forced to walk along red cracked earth. She watched in despair as they were sent into boiling pits of bubbling acid and felt the agony they experienced physically and mentally. Tears formed in her mind’s eyes. Why was this happening? Why was there so much suffering?
It seemed to go on for weeks. Poppy monitored the afterlives of someone she had never known, and her dear Granny. She saw every horrific torture they experienced and felt the pain they suffered in each one. After a while, she became numb to it. It was the same thing, day in and day out. She did not know if she even existed anymore.
Then one day, she watched as these damned souls were both simultaneously sent to separate dark rooms. In both visions, she saw a reaper approach the deceased and speak at the same time.
“How would you like to redeem yourself?”
Both the women that Poppy was following agreed vehemently. She could hear her granny breaking down into tears and it broke Poppy’s heart. Meanwhile, the other elderly woman said nothing. She could tell from her unflinching gaze that she was staring furiously at the reaper before her.
In both visions, the reaper waved its scythe. All at once, the image of two women came into Poppy’s mind. On one side, she saw a slender young woman with bright blue eyes and long blonde hair that reached her waist. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying. On the other, she saw a muscly woman with shining golden eyes and shoulder length cinnamon brown hair. They both stared at each other with the same shock that Poppy was feeling.
“Amelie?”
“Nanette?”
The women ran towards each other and embraced tightly, their sobs echoing through the dark room in all directions. Poppy could only watch on as this youthful version of Hudson’s grandmother comforted a younger version of her own granny. Her mind swarmed with thoughts. All those visions she had experienced of Amelie – the bloody fight, the flight in the sky. The entire time she had been inhabiting her grandmother’s body and seeing scenes of the past.
They knew each other, Poppy thought to herself in a daze. They fought demons together. They were friends.
The women both turned to face the reaper, who floated over to them.
“Your redemption starts now. From this day onwards, you shall dedicate yourself to judging the lives of mortals. You will sacrifice your humanity and become a new being.”
The vision began to rumble, and Poppy felt both visions collapse in on one another. Blinking her eyes, Poppy glanced down at the hands of the single body she was residing in. They were grey and bony, like the remains of a long-dead corpse. The reaper threw something at her, and she caught it tightly in her new hands. Poppy held the material in her hands and inspected it along with whoever she was observing. It was a thick black cloak that she knew all too well.
“Welcome to reaping, Reapling Harkness.”
Chapter Eleven
As Hudson shouted the final words of
the Demotome, Belphegor released Poppy and held his head, screaming. Holding the Demotome in her shaking hands, Emma-Lee raced over to her brother’s side and they watched in horror as the hunched over demon began to melt. His legs gave way and the creature collapsed in a pile of steaming goo. Hud ran over and began pulling Poppy away from the remains of the demonic entity.
As Belphegor evaporated from existence, Hud crouched down at Poppy’s side. He was horrified to see that she had a knife sticking out of her shoulder.
“C’mon Poppy, wake up.” He muttered, giving her cheek a gentle slap.
“What’s wrong with her?” Emma-Lee whimpered, darting her eyes down to her brother.
“I don’t know, I don’t know-”
“She is okay mortals. I can still feel her soul here.”
Hud turned to see Harkness floating over towards them.
“Please, let me.”
Hudson got up and let Harkness crouch beside Poppy. The reaper lowered its hood. Emma-Lee let out a small gasp as she saw the separate skull halves that had been messily stitched together. Harkness took the psychic’s hand and placed it on its skull. Hud watched as Poppy’s eyelids twitched as if she was in the midst of a bad dream.
A few seconds later, Poppy let out a loud gasp and sat up. She gazed up at Harkness’s skeletal face and tears began to run down her cheeks.
“G-Granny…”
Hudson and Poppy stared in shock as the psychic threw her arms around the reaper and sobbed into its shoulder. Harkness held the girl and comforted her with a gentle pat on the back.
“I…I’m sorry I could never find you. I was so scared of the darkness.”
“Do not apologize, child. Nanette was just a lost as you were. It was foolish of her to expect you to find her.”
The reaper glanced over at Hudson and Emma-Lee.
“Amelie misses both of you, but she is proud of the plight you have taken.”
Emma-Lee covered her mouth with her hand and Hudson took a step forward, his body stiff.
