Get out of the car. Get out. Now.
Just as Thema twisted in her seat and grabbed the handle, the car spluttered to life. Carson panicked. His eyes were wild as he stepped on the gas, ignoring the fact that the train was too close for them to drive away without being hit. But he did manage to make it so neither Thema nor Adanna could get out of the car.
The squealing of the train's brakes filled her ears as well as her own shrieks of panic and despair, but it was too late. The train got closer and closer as the world slowed down.
She watched her own death draw near.
Mom, Dad, I'm so sorry. I couldn't protect Thema. I tried. I did.
She frowned and examined Thema.
Ghostly tears ran down Thema's face as she cried, “I'm sorry.”
There was a moment of silence when she thought everything was going to be okay. They weren't going to get hit. They would walk out of this and laugh, and Thema would learn her lesson.
There was a screech, a bang, and then nothing.
Eden was ripped from the memories and brought to someplace new. No giant slide this time. Everything was dark around her again, and she felt as though she swam through the blackness. Then there was a giant white orb of light.
The light called out her name. Eden was propelled upward like a bullet, so fast that she hadn't expected it.
Chapter Twelve
When Eden opened her eyes, the first thing she realized was it was day. The second thing that she realized was she was in purgatory again. She heard the sound of a familiar voice to her left.
"I don't get what happened," Thema said. "Souls don't pass out."
"I've never seen this behavior in a dead person before," an unknown man said. "It's almost like she's in a spirit coma, but she can't be. We can't go unconscious."
"Well something happened to her, so you'd better figure it out," Thema said, sounding angry. "She scared away the Raiders, too. I've never seen anything like it."
Eden sat up and gripped her head, and she blinked and saw that Adanna sat next to her. Adanna. When she gazed at her, she was filled with guilt. She had been in Adanna's memories, but were they real? And did Adanna know that she had been there?
Somebody gasped to her right and rushed over. She blinked and then saw Thema. Thema took a step forward as if to touch her, but then she stopped and grimaced.
"Finally, you idiot," Thema said, shaking her head. "What happened?"
"I don't know," Eden said. "One second I was here, and the next, I wasn't."
Thema frowned. "But you were here. We carried you here."
The memories came rushing back. She'd tackled Adanna to the ground, and then she woke up in this strange new place. She peered around in confusion. A church. She appeared to be in some sort of church.
"What happened?" Eden asked. "How did you get away from those white ghosts?"
"We're ghosts," Thema said, sounding concerned. "They're Raiders. Evil Demon offspring. Satan Spawn, remember?"
She nodded. Yeah, she did remember.
"And what happened?" she asked.
Thema shook her head and then glanced down, not saying anything more. The stranger she had been speaking to, a bearded individual with dark brown skin, walked over to Eden. He leaned down and touched her face, and she flinched away from him, half fearing she was going to get a tour of his memories too.
"Take some of this," the man said. "It'll help."
He handed her a metal gourd with glistening water in it. With a raised eyebrow, she peered at him. Souls could drink? She wasn't so sure they could. She prodded her stomach, wondering whether it would go straight through her. Or knowing her luck, it would probably have some ill effect.
"You can drink it," the man said. "My task is to help other spirits replenish energy with holy water. Holy water does that. It'll make you feel better and will purify your energy.”
Moaning, she stared at the gourd. Yet another person who had a task when she didn't.
"You can drink it," Thema said. "Gordon's telling the truth. He is a healer. It'll help you. We've all already had some."
She hesitantly sipped from the gourd and was shocked to discover that she felt better. It was as if she had drunk an entire pack of high caffeine sodas that had just hit her system. She chugged all the water and sighed in relief.
"Feel better?" Gordon asked.
Eden nodded. At least, outwardly I do. I still want to know what just happened to me.
"So do you remember anything after you… you…" Gordon frowned. "There isn't even a word for it. A spirit can't go unconscious."
Whirling around, Thema scowled at her. "Yes, tell us what happened."
The memories swirled in her head, and she was filled with guilt and fear. Maybe she was going crazy.
"I… I…" She gazed down at her hands. "I'm sorry. I can't say what happened. It was just so fast."
"So it wasn't blackness?" Gordon asked.
"Well, there was a lot of that," Eden admitted. "Mostly it was just…"
Scary and sad.
"Odd," Gordon said.
"You think that's odd?" Thema asked. "Saint Peter didn't give Eden any tasks."
"No tasks?" Gordon stood up suddenly and grabbed Thema's arm. "She has no tasks?"
"No." Thema shook her head. "At first I didn't believe her, but ever since she went all crazy on us, I think she was telling the truth."
Anger filled her. Of course she was telling the truth. Just as she was about to say this, though, Gordon handed her a vial of water. She stared at it and then at him.
"Holy water," Gordon said.
"Is not having tasks such a big deal?" Eden asked, grabbing the holy water and holding it tight.
"Purgatory has been the same since the beginning of man," Gordon said. "I know. I used to be an evil person and kept reincarnating over and over again. Nothing changes here. Never. Then you come along. No tasks? This is not good news."
"Oh, for heaven's sake," Thema said. "Maybe Saint Peter just had too much on his mind."
Turning, Gordon gave her a stony look. "Saint Peter never has too much on his mind. Put it together. No tasks means no getting to Heaven. May God have mercy on us all."
No Heaven? I don't even get a chance? Eden felt as though she had been kicked in the stomach. She got up and silently left the church, trying to sort through her feelings.
When she stepped outside, she saw the blood red sky appeared darker than normal. Or maybe it was her imagination. Am I going to be trapped here forever? She gripped the cross on her neck and felt anguish blister through her. And what is happening to me? Isn't just dying enough? Why do I have to be the one with no tasks, the one who doesn't even get a chance to move on?
The worst part about all of these emotions was that she wanted to cry. She wanted to fall to her knees or vomit or a thousand other things, but she couldn't. She could only feel the pain searing through her heart.
You're special, a voice said in her mind, echoing. It was unlike what she had heard before. This voice belonged to a male.
"Stop talking to me in my head," she yelled. She didn't care who heard her anymore. "My mind is not a passageway. If you want to speak to me, show yourself."
I am here, he said.
Horror filled her, then fear. She stepped through the grass and kicked a blood worm out of the way. That was when she stumbled upon a large statue of an archangel with his hand reaching toward the sky. It was a statue of Michael.
I am here, he repeated.
No way. This isn't happening to me. She stepped toward the statue and peered into his face, and she swore she saw the corners of his mouth turn up. She spun around and went inside the church before she heard more horrifying voices. Archangel or not, she had never before imagined how vulnerable having someone in her mind could make her feel.
****
On the way to Jophiel, Eden was silent. She felt angry, vulnerable, and sad. How could this have happened to her? Well, it doesn't matter whether I have tasks or not, I'
m going to find my mom and that's that. She gritted her teeth and tried to chase out the uncontrollable ache in her heart at the thought that she was stuck in this world. The sky was blood red. What kind of place had a blood red sky?
Adanna leaned over and placed a hand on her shoulder as they walked, and Eden glanced her way and sighed. "You don't think I'm a bad person, do you?"
Adanna shook her head.
"Then why am I the only one singled out?" Eden asked. "Why don't I get to go to heaven when everybody else does?"
Thema, who walked in front of her, stopped short. Eden almost ran into her but stopped just in time.
"Listen to me," Thema said. "You shouldn't listen to that crackpot healer. You'll get to heaven eventually. What were Saint Peter's exact words?"
It was hard to recall. At the time, there had been so much to digest, the new world, the geyser-esque ocean, the worms. Then it all came rushing back to her.
"Wait," Eden said, "please. What about my tasks?"
"You don't need to worry about ordinary tasks. Your role is much bigger than that."
"But what about getting into Heaven?" she asked.
"Dark times are coming."
It was just like what Gordon had said. "Saint Peter never has too much on his mind. Put it together. No tasks means no getting to heaven. May God have mercy on us all." She clenched her fists and felt like she couldn't breathe. Suddenly, she began to understand. Dark times are coming. Maybe what Saint Peter meant was the gates of Heaven weren't just going to close for her, but for everyone.
But that couldn't happen, could it? God had control over all of that. It appeared to her He knew exactly what He was doing in this world. Saint Peter did too.
"Eden?" Thema's loud, shrill voice chased her from those awful thoughts. "Eden, come out of it."
Adanna patted her shoulder and then squeezed.
"What's wrong?" Thema asked. "You aren't worrying, are you? You're being absolutely ridiculous."
She glanced up and fought down the urge to tell Thema her thoughts. They were probably just nothing. Probably.
But a nagging worry in her head told her that not only was she not wrong, but her task in purgatory was to find a way to stop it.
Chapter Thirteen
The city of Jophiel was smaller than Eden expected. It had many stone houses and a pair of large wrought iron gates she assumed were to keep Raiders out at night. There were also strange, glowing lamps that surrounded the fence. A curvy cobblestone road led up to the front gates.
"Small, isn't it?" Eden asked. "I expected something grander."
Thema rolled her eyes. "Of course there isn't anything grander. There is no technology here."
"Why isn't there, anyway?" Eden asked. "It appears to me that we are pretty close to being the same as we were when we were alive, only we can't eat or go to the bathroom or breathe."
"Like I said, the higher-ups have their rules for this place." Thema shrugged. "The Demons tried to build guns, and all the buildings blew up without reason. Same with anything else people have tried. We have to conquer this place without the help of technology or anything else."
Maybe that's a good thing. She pictured evil soldiers with guns in their hands and grimaced.
"We can have swords, though," Thema said as an afterthought.
"Why?" Eden raised an eyebrow. "You'd expect that to be in the rulebooks too. At least, I would."
"To fight against the Satan Spawn," Thema said.
She imagined the white figures and shivered.
"Are there more like those Raiders out there?" she asked.
"Worse. Much worse." Thema shrugged. "Of course, those Satan Spawn only live underground, closer to their domain. But let's stop talking out here. I want to get inside those gates, and night is going to fall any minute now."
Nodding, Eden stepped forward with Thema into the city.
The city was even punier inside than outside. There were no high buildings, no street lamps, and no cars. All the houses appeared so badly built they were inches away from being torn down. Instead it was a crowded city filled with people walking quickly and not bothering to talk. She noted a man wearing a white uniform with an insignia of two swords crossed in front of a pair of angel wings.
"Is that an Angel soldier?" Eden asked.
Thema examined him. "Yes, but like I said, don't talk to him."
Then Thema waved her forward and Adanna grabbed her hand and beamed. Eden grinned back but tried to fight down the questions bubbling in her head. Why did Saint Peter want me to come here?
She stared at the swiftly darkening sky as if expecting an answer, but none came. Only lonely, cold silence. I hate Zemiothstai. I hate it more than I can even say. Then she continued forward before Thema could yell at her again.
****
That night, they sat by a building and waited. Eden had her knees drawn up to her chin as she peered out the wrought iron gates and watched the horizon. Everything outside of the city was covered in a white mist she now knew brought the Raiders with it. For the first time, Eden also realized how much the air smelled like rotten eggs.
Thank Heaven for those lights. She laid eyes on the lamps, which appeared to be the only things keeping the Raiders away.
"I wish we could sleep," Thema whined, drawing out all of the syllables. "City nights are so boring."
As if in response to her pronouncement, somebody screamed. A girl. Eden leapt to her feet and peered around. This is what Saint Peter wanted me to see. To her right there was movement, so she ran down the alley and headed toward it.
Behind her, Thema yelled, "Eden, where are you going? Come back. When somebody yells here, you ignore it. Eden."
At the end of the alley, a man wearing all black wrestled with the same plump Angel soldier that she had seen earlier. A Demon. It was a Demon soldier. Her eyes widened, and her heart crowded with fear. This Demon was a skilled fighter, and the Angel was losing badly. Even though she was so scared that her thoughts were fuzzy, she moved to help the Angel, only the same girl cried out again. This time the voice came from behind her.
When she threw a glance over her shoulder, she saw a small blonde girl who couldn't have been older than eight was being dragged across the alley. A little girl? Here? Being attacked? Horror and anger consumed her, but she remained rooted to the spot.
The little girl saw her and met her eyes. She mouthed, "Help me." The Demon did not notice Eden and kept pulling the little girl by her hair around the corner of the pathway.
Eden stole a frightened look at the losing Angel. I'm sorry. She needs me more than you do. Turning around, she sped around the corner of the passage and saw it was empty. There were two doors in the alley, one leading left and one leading right.
Once again, the little girl shouted. The right, then. Eden headed right and stepped inside of a small room that had only two wooden chairs and a few pillows. The Demon, a stocky brunette, did not appear to notice she had followed him, so she pushed herself against the wall and dropped to her knees, swearing at the lack of hiding places.
The Demon grabbed the girl by her hair and held her up. "So you thought you could get away from me, did you?"
The little girl wriggled and sniveled. Eden couldn't take watching it happen and stood up and stepped forward.
"Knock it off," she said. "You shouldn't kidnap little kids."
When the Demon spun around and laid eyes on her, his mouth opened in shock. Eden glanced down and noticed the sword on his hip and fought down the urge to run away. Looking at the little girl with her wide, fearful eyes strengthened Eden's resolve. She seized one of the chairs to use as a weapon.
Eden raised the chair above her head and swung it at the Demon. Because she no longer had to battle with her muscles to get them to work, this action was surprisingly easy. She swung again, and the Demon darted away.
"How funny," the Demon said. "A lone girl coming to fight me. I think I'll toy with you a bit first. It's been a while since I've had some fun."
He pulled out his sword and approached her. When he swung, Eden tried to use the chair as a shield, but his sword sliced through the wood easily. She fell backward and accidentally tripped over the chair. Once she was on her back, she glanced up at a crumbling ceiling.
Wait. Crumbling ceiling. She gazed to the right and saw that the rafters had begun to rot. The rafter to her left lay apart from the wall completely and concave. One good push could tear it down.
Unfortunately, her revelation came too late. The Demon grabbed her, yanked her toward him, and pointed the knife to her throat. She protested and squirmed in his hands. Just as she thought it was over and she was about to be reincarnated, the Demon grunted and let out an angry growl. Eden peered down and saw that the girl had kicked him.
"You are going to regret that," the Demon said. "The master already wants you. Just you wait."
"You didn't think that it would be this easy, did you?" the child asked with a surprising amount of confidence, considering the fact the Demon had a sword out of its sheath.
The Demon moved to slash at the little girl, and Eden reacted without thinking about it. She kicked the Demon from behind, just like her friend Arnica had showed her. The Demon didn't twist or yell like she expected, but he lost his balance and dropped his sword. Eden bent down and seized it before he was able to. He whirled around and leered at her.
"Give it back," he said.
Eden shook her head and pointed the blade to his chest. She was stunned her hand didn't shake. I'm not ready for this. I can't hurt anyone. I've never stabbed anyone in my entire life.
"You won't wound me," the Demon said, grabbing the blade and holding onto it. "You are weak. A child, practically. I can see it on your face."
Her dad had said those words many times. Weak. I'm not weak. This girl needs me, and I can save her. I can. And she did. She closed her eyes and did what she didn’t think she could do. She stabbed him.
To her left, the door burst open and Thema and Adanna ran inside. Shock filled her. Thema's eyes were massive on her face, and Adanna didn't stop at the door. She seized Thema's hands and hauled her toward the wall.
Until We Meet Again Page 7
