Tattered Souls (Broken Souls Book 1)

by Richard Hein

  I pressed my eyes closed and took a moment. It was legit. There weren’t a lot of people that knew about the OFC. Look, it’s not like I don’t think about the decade I spent working for them. I do, every day. It’s just a different thing to be confronted with it from the outside when you’re not expecting it. A lot of emotions punched up from within the vault I’d locked them in, things I’d spent a lot of times explicitly not coming to grips with.

  “That’s you, right?” Kate asked. Her voice was soft. Apparently she’d noticed that I’d wandered off to my own little party of one to wallow in misery. “What’s the OFC?”

  “I really can’t help,” I said. My throat felt raw and burned as I tried to convince this strange woman that had disturbed my life I wasn’t her savior. “If I get involved, you’ll wind up dead, Kate.”

  Blue eyes glanced down. “They already killed Ben. My brother. They’re coming for me next. I don’t know how Ben got mixed up in this, but this is his handwriting. His words.”

  Ah, hell. Demons after her. For a moment, the smell of blood overpowered the acrid odor in the office, but it was just a memory. What’s it called when you do the same thing over and over and expect different results?

  Insanity. Right. Little trails of sweat wandered south of my shirt collar as I stared with unseeing eyes. Why was this happening again? How could I be expected to—

  My eyes narrowed as the electric jolt of realization slammed my thoughts out of the way. Acrid odor. I blinked and swore.

  “I am getting stupid in my old age,” I said. “Stupid and slow. A couple of years of summing columns in spreadsheets and I’m just as dumb as the rest of you.”

  “Hey,” Kate said, brow furrowing. I ignored her and pushed up slowly, eyes rising above the edge of my cubicle like a submarine’s conning tower rising from the depths.

  “Figuratively stupid,” I said, though I was distracted. My eyes scanned around, but it wasn’t too hard to find them over by the emergency stairs next to the elevator. Crap. “As in, completely ignorant of the greater world around you. Like how most people are clueless about Entities from beyond. Or the fact that Margaret can’t be making popcorn now because Honcho hasn’t gotten corporate to replace the microwave yet.”

  They looked nothing like the corporate workers or managers. They wore their humanity like we wore clothes, though their forms were completely constructed. The two of them stood side by side, heads drifting left and right as their noses sniffed the air, shoulders stooped. Fingers twitched with each snuffling breath. One wore bright orange swim trunks, despite the mid-March Seattle showers we were getting, along with a baggy turquoise sweater. The other wore a local band t-shirt and a pair of flannel pajama bottoms.

  They were little more than messengers, able to follow basic instructions and carry crude conversation, but I had nothing on me that could hurt them. I slipped back down into the cubicle, heart pounding like the thunderous solo to most of the songs played by the band on the newcomer’s shirt.

  Demons.

  Chapter 2

  “You were right,” I said, feeling a mix of nausea and heady excitement. Damn it all, despite being away from it for years, it was a bit of a rush to confront it all again. Even with the way it all ended? I thought. The excitement popped like a grimy soap bubble, and my cheeks burned with shame that my mind had gone there. “Two EDEs followed you here.”

  “EDE?”

  “Extra-dimensional Entity,” I said, glancing around my cubicle. Nothing from this universe would even dent them. I could bash on them all day with a truck and it wouldn’t even scratch the surface, so to speak.

  To her credit, Kate popped up and gave them a look. “Really? Actual demons? How can you tell?”

  “Training,” I said, grabbing her arm and hauling her back down. That was not the reaction I’d been expecting. We needed to get out of here. They might not be full-blown Entities, but I had no easy way of stopping them. If I could get them separated, I might send them packing back home, but with two of them, it seemed unlikely. Turns out it’s hard to exorcise one while its buddy is gnawing on your back. “They look like demons.”

  “It’s Seattle. Half the city looks like that.”

  I sighed. “Just let me think.”

  They were lesser beings, easily confused, but efficient at not being lost once they laid eyes on their prey. Throwaway pawns, though usually that meant that whoever was holding their leash was nearby. That sent my blood running cold. It could mean whoever had summoned them up on Earth.

  Or it could mean someone higher up the extra-dimensional food chain. Something with enough power to be a serious problem now that I was out of the business.

  I hunkered down and peered around the end of my cubicle, trying to jump-start my brain back into a mode of thinking that had been dormant for three years. They were still just standing by the elevator and stairs, heads twisting back and forth while they tried to pick up any sign of Kate. Good. They had followed her here, but that was about it so far. We still had time.

  There were only three ways off the floor, though. The elevator, the stairs, and a soggy free fall for about thirty feet a window. I opted for one of the first two.

  “Okay, we’re getting out of here,” I said to Kate, reaching back and pulling her low to the ground with me. Margaret wandered by in the main aisle. She glanced into my cubicle, shrugged, and walked on, apparently finding no concern at me squatting on the floor with a strange woman. “Problem is, they’re blocking both the exits.”

  Kate snorted. “I’d expected something a little more…” She paused, rolling a hand in the air. “Evil. Sinister. My brother’s notes were intense. These guys…” Still, there was a frantic edge to her words, the sound of glass stressed just below the point of fracture.

  I ran a thumb over the solid platinum ring on my right hand as my brain chewed up processing cycles trying to come up with a solution. A good solution, anyway. Hunter demons of this sort were the diet flavor of these particular EDEs. Maybe they were only following her scent and hadn’t seen her yet. If we could blend in with the crowd, we might stand a chance.

  The little welcome packet I’d been given on my first day paid off. Back then, I’d been paying attention, positive that this time, unlike the other few times, I would learn to walk the walk and become a good little drone. I spotted my quarry and grabbed Kate’s hand just as Tweedledum and Tweedledee hunched low and began loping through the cubicles in a way that reminded me all too much of the raptors in Jurassic Park. I didn’t wait around to find out if the end results of a meeting would be the same.

  “Come on,” I whispered, pulling Kate along by the hand. She nodded, eyes wide but otherwise perfectly calm as she slipped out behind me. Honestly, she was taking this almost better than I was. I really didn’t want to deal with this world any more, to face the stark horrors that came along with it. That was a choice at least. This has all been thrust onto Kate and her family in some fashion, and even with the death of her brother, she hadn’t run screaming. She’d even been curious about the Entities, risking a peek instead of playing it safe.

  I envied her. My heart was thumping a frantic little ditty in my chest as we slipped into the main aisle and cut past Margaret’s desk toward the side wall of the office. A few coworkers noticed our unorthodox passing, hunkered low to the floor, and I started to feel eyes burning into us as we pulled more and more attention.

  “Samuel?” a voice asked, a healthy mix of amusement and confusion washing over us. “Hey buddy. Man, if you’re trying to get out of your review, I’m pretty sure Grant already knows you’re here.”

  I glanced up into a laughing face full of neatly trimmed beard and waved him off. Just a few more feet. Please, please let our luck hold. Kate’s grip on my hand was setting my fingers to tingling, which relieved me a little. She wasn’t as calm as she looked. Good. Normal people didn’t react calmly when confronted by the supernatural.

  That included myself.

  I glanced back over my
shoulder and caught sight of Swim Trunks and Band Shirt slapping hands onto the edge of my cubicle and staring into the now empty space. I could see their nostrils flare as they began to sniff the air though thankfully we were too far away to hear that horrific sound. Their heads snapped up simultaneously and twisted in our direction.

  Five feet. I shook my hand free of Kate’s, though for a frantic moment she clutched tighter. I hissed a few unintelligible syllables, snatched my hand free, and bounded to the far wall and smiled as I flicked up the little plastic dome.

  The fire alarm began to trill immediately, and like zombies from the grave in the lowest budget horror film, everyone on the floor rose as one. Two hundred heads surfaced above the edges of their cubicles. I bounded back across to Kate and motioned for her to rise.

  “Walk casual,” I said. “Blend in.”

  Kate gave a short nod as we slid into the shuffling masses filing for the front wall. In case of emergency, no one was supposed to use the elevator, so the river of bodies was being diverted down the stairs. I risked a glance back over my shoulder at Kate’s pursuers, who watched the passing horde with a look of seething anger boiling on their faces. I smiled.

  I still had it.

  Margaret fell into step beside me, teal dress as much an assault on my eyes as the clashing wardrobe the demons wore. Her eyes traced over Kate in a quick threat appraisal, then fixed me with her too-wide smile.

  “Anything that gets us out of here early, Samuel,” Margaret said, giving me a knowing wink.

  One of the entities roared. I craned my neck to peer through the masses of coworkers that all turned to stare at the screaming man in bright orange swim trunks. He hunkered down a second time, arms splaying out wide, and let loose with a bellow that was far too deep and animalistic to have come from a human. The sound tore at my ears. Glass cracked on desks around us, and I swore as I grabbed Kate’s hand once more and pushed our way through the crowd toward the relative safety of the stairwell door.

  Of course, most all of my coworkers threw themselves to the ground or behind cubicle walls as the beast roared a third time, leaving Kate and I clearly exposed as we darted away.

  Clever girl, I thought, just as the two EDEs charged.

  Swim Trunks leapt, inhuman legs propelling it up and through the air with grace. The top of its head brushed the drop ceiling tiles, and it landed with a crash on top of the heavy-duty printer just a dozen feet away from Kate and I as we pressed through the throng. Plastic crunched beneath it. People screamed. Band Shirt hurdled forward, hands batting bystanders out of the way and sending them flying like discarded and broken dolls. Bodies tumbled over the tops of cubicle walls as the beast stomped after us.

  The stairwell door was still clogged with people, though that had never been my goal. Thankfully everyone adhered to the little plastic sign beside the elevator doors, declaring it unfit for use during an emergency. Thank our corporate overlords for small miracles. I thumbed the down button and spun to face our demise.

  “Do something,” Kate urged, pressing her back against the stainless steel doors as the entities stormed closer. I nodded numbly. I really wish someone would do something, but my plan had been to sneak out on the elevator and it needed a bit to glide up from below. Kate’s dark hair whipped through the air as she glanced at me, the lit button beside us, and forward again. With a snarl of pure desperation, she grabbed at the trashcan resting comfortably beside the elevator, hoisted the receptacle of used coffee cups over her shoulder, and hurled it at Swim Trunks just as he launched through the air at us.

  It bounced off his face without any ill effect just as the door behind us chimed softly. Good instinct, I thought. I smiled, grabbed Kate and stepped back into the steel box, stuffing my hand into my pocket. Spinning, I thrust my hand forward toward Swim Trunks as his hands closed on the walls of the elevator, drew in a breath, and bellowed in a thunderous voice.

  “Back!” I cried, holding forth an object in my hand.

  It had the desired effect. Swim Trunks backpedaled, throwing himself clear of the elevator and tangling with Band Shirt as the doors slid closed. The elevator shuddered as it began to descend. I let out a little breath of relief.

  “Holy symbol?” Kate asked, near breathless. Her chest was heaving. I grinned and held open my hand, showing her my car keys.

  “I won’t get a second chance at that one,” I said, giving them a little jingle. “Next time we won’t be so lucky.”

  Kate stared.

  I really hoped I hadn’t just left two low-level EDEs up there with my coworkers, but I was fairly certain they’d continue to pursue Kate. Every Entity, even the ones gifted with god-like intelligence, were bound by their instincts and the orders of whatever controlled it. Sometimes that was an advantage when dealing with them, twisting things to your need. They should follow us, rather than stick around to ravage a bunch of corporate types. I swallowed, finding my throat suddenly dry at the thought of leaving them all to die at the demon’s hands.

  For a mad, frantic second, I thought about thumbing the button to head back up. No. I was right. They’d follow us. My nameless coworkers would be safe, which bled a little of the tension out of my shoulders. I didn’t wish any of them ill, despite hating the place.

  Well, maybe Honcho.

  The parking lot was mostly devoid of people, save a trio of smokers that had taken the fire alarm as an opportunity to light up. I gave them a nod as we passed. They ignored us. My keys jingled as I bounced them nervously against my thigh, trying to look everywhere at once, but we made it to my car without incident, a battered and weathered old Nissan Sentra that was about half primer gray. We slid in.

  “Did you drive?” I asked.

  “Bus.”

  “We’ll be safe at my house,” I said, starting the car. The engine puttered to life. For a moment, I entertained the crazy notion that the entities had managed to plant a car bomb. I mean, they’d be more likely to blow themselves home than accomplish something like that. Plus, I was pretty sure that only happened on television. Still, my fingers curled tight around the steering wheel for a few moments while I counted to ten. Nothing happened.

  “I bet you have all sorts of wards and blessed items,” Kate said.

  I sighed. “They don’t know where it is. They won’t be able to keep up on foot, and I don’t think hell clears them for bus passes.”

  “What if they drive?”

  My mind conjured up a vision of a stereotypical red-skinned, horn-bedecked demon zipping around in a Prius chasing after us. I laughed as I threw the car into reverse.

  “The DMV may seem hellish,” I said, backing out of my spot, “but they rarely license demons.”

  I glanced at the building in the rear view mirror. I probably wasn’t going to get a promotion after my review. Hell, I’d be lucky to still have a job tomorrow. How many points do they deduct for pulling a fire alarm? Misdemeanors generally look bad on a resume. I stared at the fourth place I’d been kicked from in the tiny little mirror. It was almost like it was a metaphor for my life or something.

  Stupid metaphor.

  The door we’d exited from slammed open, and the two demons shot out, exploding through the door and landing a dozen feet out onto the asphalt. The Entities clawed after us, loping on all fours like greyhounds.

  Kate snapped her head back, saw our pursuers, and shook my shoulder. “Samuel,” she hissed. “Go!”

  Anger bubbled up within me, hot and violent. My life, little as it was, had been disrupted by Kate and these pitiful creatures from another dimension. I had no ties to my old life, no weapons to fight with. I had nothing. My fingers tightened on the steering wheel again.

  To hell with this.

  I slammed the car in reverse and stomped on the gas. My car wasn’t exactly powerful, so the car simply lurched backward at a reasonable pace rather than squealing tires like I’d hoped. So much for dramatic effect.

  “You might want to buckle up,” I said in a conversational tone.
Kate stared at me, mouth agape, and scrambled to snap her belt into place just seconds before we slammed into the demons.

  There was the crunch of plastic and metal and a high pitched squeal as the car bounced and bounded over the demonic forces. Kate gasped as the car rocked, and I slipped the car back into drive. There were two dull thuds as I rolled back over the demons once more. I braked about ten feet forward, reached up and adjusted the mirror.

  I put the car into reverse once more.

  The second time was far more satisfying than the first. We slammed into the two tangled forms and knocked them to the pavement once more. I nodded to myself in grim satisfaction.

  I glanced to my right. Kate was sitting arrow-straight, eyes as wide as the full moon, hands clutching at her seat. She was breathing hard.

  “Did you kill them?” she asked, her voice a bare whisper.

  I chuckled. “No,” I said. “EDEs are invulnerable to anything from our universe.”

  “Oh.” I saw her swallow. I felt a few weak thumps beneath the car. “Then why?”

  I rolled a shoulder in a half-shrug. “Felt good.”

  There was a long, heavy pause, and then Kate started to laugh. A full, enthusiastic laugh, the sort that brings tears to your eyes and an ache to your muscles. I let myself smile a little and glanced out my window. The three smokers were staring at us, faces white, the ash on their cigarettes having grown long and forgotten. I gave them a salute and floored it, bouncing off of the demons once more and dashing off into the Seattle afternoon.

  The smile faded from my face moments later. It was time for some answers, and then some decisions. Above all else, I needed a drink.

  Chapter 3