“Please do this for us.”
“I believe in you.”
“We all do.”
“Fight him with everything you’ve got.”
“Make him pay.”
“Make him suffer.”
“Do it quickly.”
They were all going to be so disappointed when I let them down. They were going to hate me and they would be lucky to have eternity to stew on it.
Their cheering was almost drowning out the devil’s snickering. “You’re all fools. Nobody is going anywhere. Give it a minute and the stupid girl will be dead.”
They ignored him and continued.
“We’re going to Heaven.”
“Where we’re supposed to be.”
“Hell is going to be empty.”
“You’ll be all alone.”
“You will have no-one to torture anymore.”
“We’ll be out of this heat.”
“We’ll be flying with the angels.”
“Our souls will soar.”
“You’ll never be this powerful again.”
Lucifer wasn’t listening, he didn’t have to engage them in an argument. Everyone knew he was the one in charge here without question.
For just a moment, I hoped it could have been me.
I wanted to win.
But the devil always won.
“Everly!” Jet’s shriek brought me back to the present and the thousands of voices swirling around my head.
He was gripping onto the demon’s arm, as thick as a tree trunk. He was being dragged along but kicking any body part he could reach.
Kostucha shrugged him off, Jet’s head snapping as it bounced off the ground. My heart stopped when he didn’t get up again. I rushed over to him, crouching down on the ground and pushing away the throbbing in my ankle.
“Jet. Jet! Please be okay. You have to be okay. Please, wake up. Wake up wake up wake up.”
He wasn’t waking up.
I felt for a pulse.
It was there, faintly. Thank God he wasn’t gone yet. He was still with me. I tapped his cheek, begging and pleading with him to wake up. For a moment the demon was forgotten and the most important thing in the world was for Jet to open his eyes.
“Come on, Jet. Don’t leave me here. You said you wouldn’t. You promised. It’s not your time yet, not now and not like this. Please.”
His eyelids fluttered.
I pulled them open, begging him to do it himself. After a little more encouragement he held them open and stared at me, unseeing. A few more blinks and he was back.
“Jet, thank God.”
“Everly, look,” he whispered. I turned around and followed his line of sight.
I wished I hadn’t.
The demon had found my sister.
“What do we have here?” Kostucha said in a singsong voice. He was standing over Faith, her weak little body unmoving. She was awake but no amount of panic would allow her to move away from the demon.
It was my worst nightmare come to life and haunting my waking moments. It mocked me with its realism, taunting me that there was nothing I could do to stop the scene playing out as if it were a movie.
Time stood still and all I could hear was my blood rushing through my ears.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh.
I didn’t know what to do. All I knew for sure was that I could not let the demon hurt my little sister. I had failed in protecting her once and I would not do it again.
Never. Again.
My legs were moving before I had a clear, conscious thought about what I was doing. I ran to get between them as Kostucha bent over to be closer to her.
The spirits all gasped behind me, the devil chuckled.
Jet was screaming my name but I wasn’t entirely sure where he was. As long as he was away from Kostucha, that was all that mattered.
I gave one glance away to locate him. He was trying to catch up with me but I was too fast. Jet held the dagger, holding it up until he got my attention and then throwing it at me.
The silver metal shone in the light as it spun around and around in midair. The dagger was useless but I caught it anyway. It felt heavy in my hand but I gripped it tightly so it wouldn’t fall away. There was something reassuring about its weight.
My sister’s mouth opened to scream but nothing came out.
So I did it for her.
I yelled at the demon to get away from her, to not lay even one of his horrible fingers on her. My words all merged together into one primal scream, ripping the air from my lungs as I thrust them at him.
Just like my weapon, my words bounced off the demon with no regard for my wishes. The distance between us was too unbearable. I ran faster, harder than I had ever done before.
It felt like I was wading through quicksand to get to her. That I was in the middle of a nightmare and was going in slow motion while the rest of the world ran in fast forward.
My sister was not going to be harmed.
I would protect her at all costs.
My legs burned, my lungs screamed for air that wasn’t as hot as the sun. I needed water, anything to stop the pain making its home in my body.
Finally, I reached her.
I threw myself between them, shielding Faith from the demon who was only inches away from grabbing her throat. He gripped mine instead. He shook me and my head rattled back and forth like I was nothing more than a ragdoll.
This close to him I could see the murderous intent in his eyes. He wanted my blood, my death, and then my soul.
“I’m going to enjoy eating you,” he snarled through teeth so rotten I’m surprised they were still hanging onto his gums. It looked like eating just one hard candy would make them all voluntarily fall out.
“Take me instead of her.” I had to squeeze every word out through his hand around my throat. I could feel my blood pooling in my head, throbbing while it couldn’t drain away and go about its normal routine. It was quickly causing a serious headache.
“I’m going to take you both.” His laughter was joined by Lucifer’s, still chuckling in the distance.
He wasn’t going to take us both.
He was going to take us all.
There was no way to get out of his grip no matter how much I struggled against his hold. His fingers were growing tighter, cutting off any chance of oxygen and slowly crushing my bones.
My death would change nothing but I had one last shot at taking him down with me. I raised my right arm and thrust the dagger up into his chest. I buried it deep into his ribcage. If he had a heart, I hoped to pierce it.
“You will not hurt my sister!” I screamed into his face.
Just before my lifeless body crumpled to the ground.
Dead.
Chapter Nineteen
I had seen so many new spirits leave their body that I thought it would be easy when it came to my time. I thought it would simply be a matter of standing up and saying goodbye to a corporeal form.
I was wrong.
Every ache and pain that I felt in my body was still with me. My mind was screaming at me to get up and cross over but I didn’t know how. I was trapped in the body that was unmoving and discarded.
My eyes still worked, though.
Kostucha stumbled back from where my body was lying. He was screaming, trying to pull out the dagger I had put inside him. But it wasn’t moving. No matter how much he tugged at it, the blade remained steadfast between his ribs.
There was a serious sense of satisfaction in that.
I wanted him to suffer and it seemed I had been granted my wish.
The moment Jet saw me, he rushed over to my body and started cradling it in his arms. He was whispering my name over and over again. I hated the fact that my death brought him so much pain. He deserved to be spared so, so much.
Faith was lying beside me, her mouth still hanging open as she tried to understand and comprehend everything that was going on around her. I would be able to join her again soon, maybe we’d even ma
ke it to Heaven together one day.
Maybe we could see our parents.
Maybe I was fooling myself.
Perhaps being dead was always a better option than fighting for survival.
“Everly, please be okay. Don’t leave me. Please,” Jet said, repeating the words like they were a mantra. Like they would change everything.
He was missing all the action.
Behind him, the demon was no longer trying to pull out my dagger. He had to give up because of the flames. Every part of him was engulfed in burning orange and red flickers of light. They started at his wound and radiated outwards until he was nothing more than a ball of fire.
The thousands of spirits were all holding their breath, their eyes fixed on the demon while he burned alive. The drama going on with my lifeless body was a poor second act to all that.
Lucifer was clapping like we had put on a Saturday matinee. I was glad he was having fun because the rest of us surely weren’t. It was probably the most action Hell had seen in a very long time.
The ball of fire enshrouding Kostucha suddenly exploded, sending out a shockwave of power that could actually be seen with the naked eye. The sound of the eruption was so loud it made the ground vibrate and shake.
The souls all screamed and threw up their hands to shield themselves from the rain of fire that fell down in the explosion’s wake. Some of their rags caught the embers as they danced around trying to put out the small fires.
Jet and Faith didn’t escape the shower. They sat back up from their defensive crouch. I could feel Jet’s hands as they brushed the ashes from my bare skin.
Still protecting me, even in death.
There was nothing left of Kostucha but a pile of scorched earth where the fire had been. He was completely gone, his soul destroyed by a dagger that should not have had any effect on him.
“You did it, Ever. You saved them all. Now wake up, come on, please.” Without the distraction of the demon, Jet was back to begging me to change what happened and wake up.
I wished I could.
But there was nothing I could do to move, I couldn’t even leave my body to be a proper spirit. Now Kostucha was dead, I should have been able to see the light and go toward it. Get as far away from Hell as possible.
It was like the world had stopped and nobody knew what to do now. They were all holding their breath and not daring to exhale in case it caused something to go wrong.
But nobody could hold their breath forever.
Even the dead.
If it wasn’t for the devil, we would all be stuck in a freeze frame. Lucifer finally stopped his solo round of applause as he stepped closer to us. I cringed, wishing he wasn’t so close to my sister and the boy I loved.
“What a show!” he whooped. I never imagined the devil could be capable of so much emotion and delight. His hooves slapped together and held there while he spoke. “Oh, don’t look like that. You can’t tell me that wasn’t something to see.”
“Leave us alone,” Jet shot back. He was still crouched over me in a protective stance. I hated to tell him he was too late, that I was already gone. He should have realized when I stopped moving.
Faith shuffled so she was closer to Jet. I repeated a thousand thank you’s in my head that they were together. He had helped her to cross over once, he would do it again. I trusted him more than anyone else.
“Humans,” the devil continued, oblivious to Jet’s request. “You’re all so dramatic. Everything is life or death with you. Do you even realize what just happened here?”
Jet clenched his jaw, refusing to engage in conversation. His curiosity eventually won out and he shook his head, giving Lucifer the green light to continue.
And he did so, happily. “It is very difficult to kill a demon. Most humans think it’s impossible. But they aren’t indestructible like yours truly. What would you call it… an Achilles heel? Is that the correct term?”
He was actually waiting for an answer.
“Yes.” Faith croaked the single word. I silently willed her to stay quiet, she didn’t need the attention of the devil. It was best if he completely forget she was there.
The devil glanced her way, locking eyes with the little girl for just a moment before returning his gaze back to Jet. “To kill a demon, one must use their fear. The demon of hungry souls – rest in chaos – feared love the most. His power came from corrupt souls so if one was pure and loved freely it wasn’t as tasty and would barely register on his energy sensor.”
Jet interrupted before he could continue. “Why are you telling me all this? I don’t care. Just leave us alone.”
“It is rude to interrupt.”
“Get out of here!” he yelled back. Faith slid her arm through his, reminding him that he wasn’t alone with his pain.
Lucifer just laughed and continued. “I’m telling you this because I have a point. Aren’t you curious about your little friend here?” He went to nudge me with his cloven-hoofed foot but Jet threw himself in the way.
“Do. Not. Touch. Her.”
He didn’t scare the devil but he didn’t touch me either. He returned his foot to the ground again. “As I was saying… the only way to kill the demon of hungry souls is to kill him with love. By sacrificing herself for her sister without hesitation or thought, she showed the ultimate act of love.”
It wasn’t the dagger at all.
I had killed Kostucha by giving my life for my sister’s.
Faith gasped and I wished I could tell her that it was worth it. That it didn’t matter and none of this was her fault. That I was glad I did it and would do it again and again if I had to.
The souls surrounding us were whispering amongst themselves. They had been listening intently to every word like it was the season finale of a daytime soap opera. The few murmurs I could make out told me they approved of my actions.
“Oh, don’t look like that.” Lucifer smirked, mocking all of Jet’s grief with one expression. “She’s not dead.”
That got all of our attention.
“What do you mean she’s not dead?” Jet asked, trying to keep his voice steady. One hand was still on my side, resting there in comfort – for his or mine, I wasn’t sure.
“The girl has suffered some… shock. But she’ll make a full recovery.”
“Are you sure?” There was too much hope in his voice, it broke my heart. Surely I would know if I was still alive and I certainly felt more dead than anything else.
“I collect souls. Hers is not yet up for grabs. She lives. Now, what am I going to do with all of you?” He turned around to the thousands of souls, addressing them like they worshipped him.
I tuned them all out as I thought about what he said. My soul was not up for grabs so it was still with my body. That had to be the reason why I couldn’t leave my corporeal form.
But I didn’t know how to wake up.
It was like I was being kept apart from my body, locked away in my mind and unable to spring out from my prison. I had to focus. All I knew was that I had to find a way.
I started with my arms, trying to feel what they were doing. One was on the ground, stretched out next to Jet. The other was draped across my chest, so close to Jet’s hand that I could almost feel the heat from his skin.
That was what I focused on.
“Ever, come on. You have to be in there. Come back to me,” Jet said, getting just as frustrated as I was. I looked up into the faces of him and my sister. The love there, it was… overwhelming.
Beautiful.
Pure.
Needed.
I could feel Jet’s hand on my side. It was warm and gentle, resting there but putting no weight on the area in case he hurt me. I could feel it!
Piece by piece, I pushed myself back into my body. My soul entwined itself with muscle, cartilage, and bone. The fabric of my being knitted itself together with my physical form until it was one again. I didn’t stop until I could wiggle my toes and blink my eyes. Everything hurt but it didn’t ma
tter.
I was alive.
And it felt marvelous.
My greedy lungs gasped for air as I coughed and spluttered. Jet pulled me up, helping me to sit so I didn’t choke. Tears were running down his cheeks as he pulled me against him and held me tight.
“Thank God, Everly. Thank you thank you thank you.”
Faith patted my arm, her big blue eyes welling up. “You came back to us.”
I couldn’t speak until Jet released me. “I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry. God, Everly, I’m the one who is sorry I didn’t stop him before he got to you,” Jet said, the words pouring from him like liquid. “Don’t do that again, okay? Don’t die, I couldn’t handle it.”
“Same goes for you, okay?” I tried a smile but it hurt using so many muscles all at one time.
“Uh, guys?” Faith interrupted. “I think something’s happening.”
Jet helped me to stand up, my legs capable of holding me as long as I had a strong person to lean on. The three of us all saw the light at the same time. It was a bright flash, high up in the air. All the souls were watching it expand.
The brilliant white light grew larger and larger until it covered as far into the distance as I could see. It was almost too beautiful to look at as it shimmered with a silvery thread.
“Stuff you,” the devil yelled, shaking a hoof at the sky.
“Can you feel that?” Faith asked. She had a peaceful smile on her face, her features a picture of serenity. “It’s so… nice. Like a bath of warm honey. It’s so beautiful.”
The souls all had their faces upturned toward the sky. They each wore the same look, like they were basking in glorious ecstasy and didn’t have a care in the world.
It was the light.
The one they should have gone into over a year ago.
One by one, they started floating upwards, being embraced and welcomed into the arms of Heaven so they could rest eternally in peace. They had earned it. They deserved it. All of it.
And my sister was about to join them.
I lunged for her, wrapped her in my arms while I still had a chance. “Faith, I’m going to miss you so much but everything will be alright in the light. Okay? Don’t be afraid, Mom and Dad will be there for you. Okay?”
We Are Always Forever Page 18
