“Impossible,” Nai said with a noticeable tremor in her voice. “I’m an atheist. Hell doesn’t exist anymore than God does.”
“No, you’re a scared little Christian hiding behind a mask of atheism because you know deep in your heart that you are not a good person,” Hattie replied, mimicking the teen’s smug tone. “And yes, Hell exists, as does Heaven and all other manner of afterlife for those who believe. True atheists are cycled without a stopover. Man, I really appreciate those,” she added as an aside to me.
“Just keep an eye on those numbers,” I warned her lightly. Atheists might have made her job easier, but too many souls skipping right back into the Cycle meant population booms the earth wasn’t capable of handling. Any time we had too many souls out at once, the Creator would have to schedule a catastrophe and I noticed far too many of them happening lately.
“Don’t worry,” she assured me. “There are still plenty of doomsday cults. Their raptures keep us balanced. Is there anything else you need?”
“Nah,” I waved her away. “Thanks for all your help.” I turned back to the kids. “Satisfied?”
Jem just stared at me with a confused look on his face, but Nai scowled.
“All that proves is that you’ve got some sort of elaborate special effects set up.”
“You think so? Okay Miss Smarty Pants, why don’t you ask your brother what just happened?”
“Well?” She turned her glare on her brother.
“It was so awesome!” Jem said with a dazed look. “Heaven is like, the coolest place ever. Grandma and grandpa were there and so was Rufus. Remember Rufus, my dog? He was running and jumping just like he was a puppy again. Dad said he and mom haven’t been this happy in…” Jem looked up at me and the color drained from his face “…years. They’re… Pete, why were my parents in Heaven?”
“I’m sorry Jem, you too, Nai,” I said quietly. I knew this would happen and yet I let myself be goaded by a surly teenager. One of the main reasons these two were cleared for service to the Order was because they had no familial ties that would draw them back. Order magic is strong enough to keep agents from revisiting the place where they had last lived, but family bonds could override that magic. “Your parents died in the same boating accident that took your lives.”
I allowed them each a moment to let reality sink in and threw up a few shields, especially around Nai. Just in time too, as her anger began to manifest into uncontrolled magical energy. I had my hand on the button to call security if need be, but the shields held. I couldn’t blame them. Everyone grieves in their own way and teenagers with new abilities that they weren’t even aware of yet were bound to try to destroy everything around them.
“All right, that’s enough,” I said sharply. Nai happened to notice the energy fluctuations and lost all pretense of grieving when she realized they were coming from her. “Now that you know you have super powers, are you ready to listen to me?”
“We have what?” Jem’s eyes went as wide as silver dollars as he raised his hands in front of his face, probably expecting to see lightning bolts or something similarly cliché.
“Powers,” I said with a sigh. “That’s why you are both sitting here in my office rather than languishing in the afterlife of your creation. You two have been hand selected for a very important role as agents of Order.”
“What’s that?” asked Jem.
“Order is the realm in which we exist,” I explained. “All of life, every soul, and all the things around us, both in the Cycle and outside of it are part of Order.”
“So like, the universe?” Jem asked.
“It’s more than that, but that’s a good start. The universe, plus the afterlife and all of us here in administration make up the Order,” I said, realizing that trying to explain the higher concept of Order to teenagers with literal minds might be a bit tougher than I thought. “Everything happens for a reason,” I went on. “Bad or good, it’s all part of the balance of Order. Bad and good are opposites, but they are both orderly and follow a prescribed pattern. Are you with me so far?”
“I think so,” said Jem, nodding his head enthusiastically, but the frown of concentration wasn’t convincing me.
“Where does chaos fit into this?” asked Nai, frowning for a completely different reason. Mainly because the energy she had built up earlier had dissipated.
“Funny you should ask,” I went on. “Chaos is the opposite of Order and is a realm that exists side by side with ours. The existence of Chaos balances Order, but occasionally, there are breaches. Agents of Chaos are called the Discordant. These are creatures that you would likely recognize from folklore, such as vampires, fairies, demons, and angels.”
“Wait, hold up. Did you just say angels?”
Another sigh escaped my lips. This was going to take longer than I likely had patience for.
“Forget everything you were taught to believe in Sunday school, kid. Order consists of people. Humans only and the natural animals that inhabit the earth. Anything that exists in folklore, be it portrayed as good or evil, is likely based on a creature of Chaos,” I explained. “The Discordant have one purpose and that is to bring down Order by stealing our souls and enslaving them in their realm. This causes an imbalance and if the balance tips too far in Chaos’ favor, all that is Order will be destroyed. This is where you come in.”
“You want us to fight the Discordant?” asked Jem. His blue eyes blazed with a renewed enthusiasm that I nearly felt bad about dashing.
“No, that is the Warriors’ job,” I said. “Aside from everything we do here in administration and facilities, there are three roles that function within the Cycle. You two will be Guardians.”
“What are we guarding?” asked Jem.
“Souls,” I said, launching into my explanation. “Guardians and Observers work closely to keep the balance in our favor. An Observer is gifted with the ability to see the emotional aspects of a soul in a physical manner. Their job is to monitor those who are in danger of becoming lost and to spot lost souls. As a Guardian, you will have the ability to see a soul’s status as well. However, you will see things a little differently than an Observer does. Your job is to put the lost souls on the right path before they fall to the Discordant, so your sight will be focused more on sensing what path that may be.”
“Wait, so we’re supposed to what? Stop people from doing bad things?” asked Nai. “I thought you said good and evil were both part of Order?”
“They are and no, you are not,” I said, feeling a headache coming on. “You can’t understand the difference right now, but you will once you encounter your first lost soul. The lost aren’t good or bad. They’re just… well, lost. Getting them back on the path of Order might just as likely involve convincing them to make a bad decision as much as a good one. Neither of you need to worry about the morality of the decision. All you are concerned with is that it’s the right one. Pushing them into the wrong decision might just push them closer to Chaos.”
“How will we know?” asked Jem.
“That’s where your powers will come into play,” I said, knowing I had their attention now. “A lot of times, it’ll be easy. But not always. For tough to gauge souls, you’ll have to use your soul gaze. This is the ability to see beyond the current Cycle and into the past lives of the soul. Then, you’ll be able to pick out patterns that might help you figure out which direction to push them in.”
“And what does that mean?” Nai asked. “Do we just tell them to do something or is there magic involved with that as well?”
“It’s a little of both,” I explained. “Another power you’ll have is influence. Use this sparingly and only on stubborn souls because it can be draining. Most of the time, all you will need to do is talk them down off the proverbial ledge, even if that means letting them jump from the literal ledge.”
“For real?” Nai asked with an amused expression.
“No way!” her brother said with a look of disgust. “I am not doing that!”
“It’s all balance, remember?” I reminded him. “But, that’s why we have the two of you. Normally, there is only one Guardian, but you two are something of a special case, considering that you are a split soul.”
“Huh?”
“A what?”
Two sets of confused eyes stared at me and I cursed Sven, who again, was supposed to have gone over all of this before they ever got to my office. With another deep and defeated sigh, I launched into my explanation.
“Much like your being twins is the result of an embryonic split, the two of you were, until this last Cycle, one single soul. This is rare, but not unheard of.”
“Is that why we’re so different?” asked Nai.
“Very much. The original soul was divided down the moral center, which is why you find your brother’s behavior to be annoyingly upbeat and do-good. Likewise, this is the reason he thinks you are pure evil and prays for your soul.”
“So… all those things I’ve done, the reason I’m a bad person, were not my fault?”
“No, not really. Had you lived, you would have likely done worse,” I admitted. There was no point in sugar coating the truth.
“So why would I have gone to Hell?” she asked, now getting upset. “How is that fair?”
“I never said it was fair,” I countered. “It’s just part of the balance. But getting back to the subject,” I started, but Nai cut me off again.
“No, don’t change the subject! This is bullshit!”
“She’s right,” added Jem, looking shocked that he agreed to anything his sister said. “It’s totally not fair. Can’t we like, split the punishment?”
“Huh?” I looked at the two of them for a moment, completely confused until I realized what they were saying. “No one is being punished. Don’t you get that? I only showed you what could have happened to your souls because you didn’t believe that you were dead. Neither of you is going to Hell. You’re going to Blackbird, which, I’m not going to lie, might be worse.”
“What the hell is Blackbird?” Nai asked, still gripping the sides of her chair as if the ground beneath her would crumble and expose the fiery pits of Hell.
“A small town in the Midwest that has an unusually high number of lost souls, which makes it a magnet for the Discordant. The last Guardian cycled a few days ago and the Observer is having a rough time of it. We’ve sent in a Warrior, one of the best, but neither a Warrior nor an Observer can save souls. And that’s where you two will come in.”
“So, we’re like, actually going to be guardian angels?”
Once again, I almost felt bad about wiping the dopey smile from Jem’s face.
“Guardians. Just Guardians. You do not, and I mean do not want to find yourself associating with angels.” Even here, outside of the Cycle, the thought of angels made me cringe. I really had to wonder how they became so twisted in Christian lore that people would willingly paint pictures and carve statues in their likeness. “But yes, you will be protecting souls. That is your job. Are you both clear?”
“Um, not really.”
“Oh?” I looked over at Jem, who was frowning.
“Well, it’s just that… If this Blackbird place is so bad, why are you sending in us? We’re the rookies, right?”
“Right,” I nodded. He did have a point and I found myself struggling to justify the Creator's decision. “It was a judgment call that the Creator made based on several factors. Number one, I wasn’t kidding, Desmond really is one of the best. A Warrior is only posted to places where Discordant activity is at a critically high level. He was pulled out of Los Angeles to deal with Blackbird. The Creator and I both trust that he will protect you. Number two, the Creator feels that historically, split souls make the best Guardians and the numbers back that up. And number three, to be honest, there’s a lack of qualified candidates at the moment. Your split, combined with the Discordant nature of your death, would have made you a candidate regardless, but as it stands, you two were the only souls available for the job.”
“What do you mean by the Discordant nature of our death? I thought we died in a boating accident?” Nai asked, looking more scared than angry.
“You did. Your boat sank as a result of a crash caused by a siren. But not to worry,” I added hastily. “The siren was caught and disposed of, and the enthralled captain was caught and rescued before his soul was sent to the realm of Chaos.”
“Oh, well yeah, now that you put it that way, what was I thinking?” Nai’s voice was sarcastic and I was almost worried that her eyes would roll so far up into her head that they would fall out her ears. “Thank goodness the idiot captain of a tour boat survived the crash that killed my whole damned family!”
“Okay, when you put it like that, yes, it is small comfort. I’m sorry,” I said and meant it. After thirty-five years of doling out post-death job assignments, sometimes I wasn’t as sensitive as I probably should have been.
“Did they suffer?” Jem asked in a small and shaky voice. Again, I had to remind myself that I was dealing with kids.
“I don’t know,” I said honestly. “It’s different for everyone. I don’t remember dying at all and I had known it was coming.”
“I don’t remember anything,” Nai said, scrunching up her face. “We were on a boat, heading out to a lighthouse, and I was bored. Next thing I know, we’re here.”
“You fell asleep,” Jem told her. “I remember falling over the side when we hit something, but not much after that.”
“Well, if it’s any consolation, your parents are in a better place until the time when they cycle again. They won’t have any memories of the accident, good or bad, because that’s how an afterlife works,” I informed them. I wasn’t sure if that was entirely correct, seeing as I haven’t been there myself, but that’s basically what Hattie described.
“I guess that’s something,” Jem said with a hopeful look at his sister.
“Well, it’s time,” I said, glancing at the clock on my desk. It didn’t keep time in the same way that a normal clock did. Instead, it gave me a read out of fluctuations in the cycle. Right then, something big was going down in Blackbird and I didn’t want to hold back the Guardians any longer than necessary. “I think we should go meet your new coworkers.”
That is, if they’re both still there, I added silently. No sense in completely scaring them off just yet.
Chapter 2
No One Hates Blueberry Pancakes
If Pete’s little dirty trick was meant to shame me, it failed miserably. If anything, it vindicated me against the accusations people have been throwing at me my whole life. Mom always wanted to know why I couldn’t be a good child who followed rules like my brother. Well, now I know. I’m simply not a good person. I’m the evil yin to my brothers goody two shoes yang. It’s an amazing feeling to know that there is nothing wrong with me. I’m evil, but that’s okay because I could never be anything but evil. And to think, I was merely a bit of a bitch! My only regret is that I showed so much unnecessary restraint. I mean, really! If I was headed to Hell whether I was a fluffy bunny lover or an axe murderer, why would I waste my time with bunnies?
I’d feel sorry for Jem, really, I would. It’s not his fault he’s an idiot, after all. But, because I am the embodiment of all things evil, I won’t feel sorry for him. Not really. I am incapable of such tender emotions and I will not be shamed because of this. Damn, that’s so freeing to think about!
“Why do you look so happy?” Jem asked with a nervous frown. Now that he knew about our split soul nonsense, he seemed torn between feeling bad for me and being terrified of me.
We were sitting in a small apartment, above a bar, in what passed as a downtown in Blackbird. Pete had just stepped out for a smoke. I considered asking if he had another one just to get away from Jem and his annoyingness, but knowing my luck, he’d probably just lecture me on why kids shouldn’t smoke. All adults were hypocrites like that.
According to Pete, this is where our new legal guardians l
ived, but we’d be moving to a bigger house because not all of us could fit. That was an understatement. This place was tiny, practically claustrophobically so. The kitchen was actually smaller than my bathroom back home. Not the main bathroom, my tiny private bath. Seriously, that’s how small this place was.
“What don’t I have to be happy about?” I sneered, turning back to face my brother. “I win, Jem. You lose.”
“But you’re pure evil!” he spit back in disgust. “How the heck do you think you’ve won? I feel so awful about this. I wish it didn’t have to be this way.”
“You feel sorry for me?” I laughed. “Jem you’re a damned idiot, you know that? I don’t feel sorry for you, you know.”
“I do know, and that’s the problem. Do you know how lucky you are to not be in Hell right now? I told you it was real!”
“Hell is only technically real. And you heard Pete, there’s nothing I could have done to save my soul, so suck it, brother! We both avoided our crappy afterlife and now we’re super heroes. I’ll say it again. I freaking win!”
“But you… I don’t even…” Jem sputtered, but whatever he was going to say, as well as whatever I was planning on shouting over him, died as the door to the apartment opened. Some blond guy who looked a bit like he had just been run over by a truck stared at us with these great big moon eyes, like he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Over his shoulder, a big, and I mean big, black guy peeked in, rolled his eyes, and moved away. Then the blonde guy shut the door.
“Ugh! Rude! What the hell do you think that was about?” I asked, more to hear my own voice since, obviously, Jem wouldn’t have any clue either.
“That was our team,” Jem answered, to my surprise. “You didn’t feel that?”
“Feel what?” I asked, but stopped. Jem was right. When the door opened, the energy shifted slightly. “Hang on,” I said and got up, moving into the teeny hallway that housed three doors. Two bedrooms and a bathroom. I put my hand on each of the bedroom doors and the weird shift returned. Nothing I felt was tangible, but somehow I could identify, without opening the door, which room belonged to each agent. “Wicked,” I said, and flopped back onto the sofa in the living room. “But kind of useless. Don’t we get anything fun, like curses?”
Rise of the Discordant: The Complete Five Book Series Page 18
