Forfeit Souls (The Ennead Book 1)

by Lila Huff

  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.

  The thing that was foremost in my mind was Ellie. I was noticing that it usually was anymore. I thought of this girl as Ellie, how she must have felt the night that she was taken. Knowing what I now knew of the Asakku, I was sad to admit to myself that I knew she had died in fear.

  It was too similar. Maybe I would become like Ryan. Maybe I wouldn’t be able to get past the demons of my past. I don’t know that I would be upset with being worthless, if it meant that I didn’t have to do this.

  No. I had to do this. I still had to avenge Ellie, and I would never know to whom that vengeance should be given, if I didn’t play my part now. I would do my best to make sure this girl didn’t suffer, but sadly, she would have to die.

  I stepped out of the alleyway and found myself behind her in a moment; grabbing her shoulder and head I poised my teeth over her neck about to take her. But I couldn’t.

  I couldn’t make myself take the life of someone who, as far as I knew, was blameless. In that moment of pause she wrenched herself from my grip, there was no scream, she was too frightened by what she saw.

  At first, I didn’t think she would even run from me, but I was mistaken, she took less than a second to find her legs and she ran quickly down the street, screaming at the top of her lungs. She turned into an alley after a moment. I shook my head at my mistake and quickly burst into flame, traveling the distance between where I had been and the alley’s entrance in less than a second.

  What I saw there took me completely aback. The girl was far off, still running, but between us, was a woman who seemed to be made of air, that was bathed in light. If there had ever been a time when I believed in angels, I would have sworn that the being in front of me was one.

  11. Mistakes

  -Joellen-

  “Was this your home?” I asked in almost a whisper. He just nodded. “It’s very impressive.”

  “My family lived here until sixteen-ten. They had been in this house for twelve generations, and then they were completely wiped out.”

  I couldn’t think of anything appropriate to say, so I looked at him apologetically, hoping that it would infer my remorse. He took my hand and led me into a hallway. It was dusty, but there were tarnished sconces all along the length of the wall. With a wave of his hand, all of the candles lit simultaneously, lending their flickering glow to the dark atmosphere of the hall. I didn’t need them to see in the dark but it made the old house much more welcoming than it had originally been.

  “No one has lived here since then,” he pointed to a portrait that hung on the wall, I looked at the likeness of him and smiled. “Though I have maintained everything the best I could.”

  “You had blue eyes,” I said with a smile.

  He nodded before moving on to the photo next to his. “This is my older brother Ryan.” The man in the photo looked very similar to Demetrius, but his nose was bigger, his mouth thinner and his eyes were a dark brown. I turned back to him, waiting for his next revelation. “You may see him again. When Father prevented Hephaestus from completely transforming me, the Asakku went after my family.”

  I stopped a moment, realizing what he was saying, and my eyes immediately went to the portrait of the blond girl that looked no more than twelve. She seemed so happy in the portrait.

  “The first thing they did was change my brother Ryan. Father was not in time to save him, though he tried. After a month or so, Gallu sent Ryan out to prove his loyalty. He massacred our parents and little Georgiana without a thought.” His voice was grave and he didn’t look toward the painting of Georgiana.

  I looked to the woman who looked so much like Metri, and then to the man in the portrait with her. He was so different from the others in the hall. He was a large man, his red hair was starkly contrasted to the woman with him and their three children.

  Metri took my hand and drew my attention away from his parents, “Hephaestus stalked me in a very similar way to your stalking.” He said as he led me into a room that seemed to be laid out as a parlor. “I had what anyone of that time could have called a happy childhood. My parents were rich, and so I was never forced to help in the fields. I received the best education that money could buy, and my mother saw to it that my siblings and I never wanted for anything.”

  “I was in London on a break from the school where I was studying law when he found me.” He pulled the dusty cloth off of a red velvet sofa and bade me to sit down. “I saw him for three days before he attacked. Each time I thought he was a phantom, come to haunt me for some unknown reason. And then, on the night of the third day, he followed me to my death.”

  “But Father saved you.” I interjected.

  “Yes, Father had seen that I was being stalked and attempted to keep me from this fate, but he was just barely too late, as he had been with you.” He sighed heavily, “and so, here I am.”

  We sat in silence for a long time. I only noticed that time had passed when dim light began to filter through the boards on the windows. We did not say anything until the sun’s light came through the crevices of the window’s shutters. Dust motes danced through the rays of light that shone into the room and cast lines of their light onto the dark wood floor and the moth-eaten blue rug that covered its center.

  “We’re a pair, aren’t we?” I laughed

  “A pair of what?” Demetrius said, opening his eyes for the first time all day.

  “A pair of pessimists, for one.” I said, trying to cheer myself up as well as him. “We spend too much time dwelling in the past. What’s done is done. As you’ve said, it can’t be undone, so why are we wasting our time thinking about it?”

  He looked at me as though I might be crazy. “It’s not like we don’t have time.”

  “But just because we have all of the time in the world doesn’t mean that we should waste it. We’ve been sitting here all day.” I looked toward the windows, where the light from the day was now only barely visible at the spaces between the boards. “If we’re forced to live out eternity in this semblance of an existence, we should make the best of it.”

  “What do you suggest we do?” He asked sullenly, but I could tell that he was less dejected than he was putting off.

  “I might start by getting off of this sofa.” I smiled fiendishly, “and perhaps we should begin by changing our clothes.”

  That made him smile. “Alright,” he said almost as a sigh, and as he exhaled he drifted away from me.

  I stood in the room for a moment admiring the architecture of the old man
or. It did not deserve the cobwebs and dust that now filled it. I would see to it that it would once again become a happy place for Demetrius.

  When I got back to the bedroom he had already changed and was sitting at his piano, playing the 14th sonata again.

  “I love that song,” I sighed as I went into the closet. It was different; there were more clothes on the rack and I quickly inspected them. There were still no jeans or any pants for that matter, which made me sigh. But there were several less-formal-looking dresses I could choose from. It was a blessing.

  I went to sit beside him at the piano, as the sonata was ending. “I wish your favorite piece was longer.”

  “How did you know it was my favorite?” I asked, slightly taken aback by his knowledge.

  “You told Mrs. Peppery when you checked into the bed and breakfast.” He said with a sheepish smile.

  “That wasn’t in the memory,” I accused, more curious than mad. How had he known that I had told her that?

  “Lilith didn’t tell you about Mamitu?” he looked at me like he knew that she had, but I just needed a little prodding to remember.

  “The spirit of the future?” I was kind of guessing at this point. She had said the three names at once; I hoped that their realms had been respective.

  “Yes. Well she doesn’t like Gallu’s plans any more than Lilith does, and she saw what you could do if you were to become an Asakku.”

  “And she saw that it was bad?” I guessed again.

  Demetrius nodded. “She saw your potential and sought to avert that possible future.” He narrowed one eye, making a grimace. “So she told Lilith and we were watching you when you arrived in London.”

  “I see,” I said quietly. “You were stalking me just like he was.”

  “But our purpose was to save you. We had no idea that you would have to be changed regardless.”

  I just nodded, staring off into space. The pessimist side of me wondered if all that I was being told was true, but I was in no position to find out. That aching feeling at the back of my mind made me wonder if maybe it wasn’t a complete accident that I hadn’t been saved in time. I drove the thought from my mind. There was no reason for me to think that – other than the ample amount of time that Father would have had when Hephaestus was following me down the street that night.