Darkest Dawn (23 page)

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Soul Taken

Book 1 in ‘The Life After’ trilogy

Chapter One

“Is it ready now?” Dylan asked for the tenth time in twenty minutes.

I reached my hand into the pouch at my hip and touched the silky essence pulsating under my fingers. “Not yet.”

Dylan was my newest Soul Collecting trainee, fresh from Gate Seven. Very fresh. He looked to have died when he was around eleven human years. Felix, my boss, usually had the young ones under my care as they were the most difficult to train, and since I died at seventeen, they could usually relate to a younger mentor.

I looked into the deli and saw our target, Joseph Bonds, lean over the counter, flirting with the female cashier. I touched the True Soul again, excitement flowing through it. The True Soul mirrored the emotions of its counterpart, and Joseph was very excited about his meal. I didn’t understand why, considering he’d spent all morning digging through a box of donut holes.

After over a hundred human years of my after-life, I had lost all reasoning why an excess of food was important to humans.

Dylan sat on the small wooden bench hugged against the building, his eyes trained on the cars, and his head darted back and forth as they passed. The kid had a fascination with cars.

The bell on the deli door jangled. Dylan jumped off the bench, just missing a woman passing in front of him down the sidewalk; he skittered back, still not used to his non-corporeal form.

Joseph waddled down the sidewalk, his bags crushed against his chest as if any moment someone would steal them. I started after Joseph, but halfway down the sidewalk I realized I was alone. I turned around.

Dylan stood at the edge of the curb, staring at the cars again, flinching.

I snapped my fingers. “Let’s go.”

Dylan blinked and looked at me, as if coming out of a trance. He glanced at the road again then sprinted to my side.

I pushed him forward. “You know I am only supposed to be observing, right?”

He looked up at me, eyes wide, but when he realized I wouldn’t help him out again, he took the initiative, opening his hand between us. I placed the essence in his palm and he swiftly tucked it in his pouch. His eyes narrowed on Joseph and he stepped ahead of me confidently. I couldn’t help but smile at his false bravado. I’d seen this before with him. He’d make it this far then, when it really counted, he would chicken out.

Felix had discussed, not for the first time, that I should put more faith into my training and trainees. But their consistent mistakes made letting go harder and harder each time I took on a new one. The worst part for me was that each failure counted against my record. And if I was going to get the newly opened Guard position, I needed Dylan to step up.

Dylan kept his distance from Joseph, as if he’d turn around any second and find him stalking behind him. I stayed a few steps behind Dylan, giving him working space.

Please do this right, I silently begged.

We arrived at the auto body shop. Joseph fumbled for his keys while balancing his bags of food. He pulled open the door with a grunt and stepped through.

Dylan slunk in right behind Joseph. I waited until the door shut before transitioning through the metal into the building. Collectors could pass through objects and Dylan knew that, yet he still insisted on the human way.

Dylan tailed Joseph, following in his footsteps as if they were in three feet of snow instead of an untidy shop. They weaved through the mess of scattered tools, creepers, and several empty boxes.

Joseph eyed the 1967 cherry-red Mustang that rested on the lift. He’d intended to finish it, but I knew he never would. Too bad for him.

The phone rang, echoing off the concrete walls as it had all morning.

Joseph grunted and waved a hand at it. “I’m on lunch!”

Dylan stopped in his tracks. I nudged him forward. “He can’t see you, I promise.”

Joseph put down his bags on the office desk and pulled a dirty rag from his back pocket, placing it over the phone and its persistent red flashing light. He fisted his left hand and coughed.

Even without the True Soul in my hand, I knew a heart attack was just around the corner for Joseph. I crossed my fingers, hoping Dylan would be able to pick up on it. The talent of spotting the moment or cause of death could not be learned. It was felt through the True Soul. Collectors had to find the precise moment that the soul was the weakest and able to sever ties with the body. Watching a human after their death time could potentially damage the soul. Unfortunately I had pretty much seen all the mistakes the trainees made. The most frequent being a trainee seeing death for the first several times, having a minor panic attack—or fumbling the actual act of getting the soul out of the body—and I ended up having to do it for them, resulting in more strikes against my Collecting record. But not today. I needed one more perfect Collection to put me over the top.

Dylan perched on a second chair next to the desk, watching Joseph strategically spread his food, buffet-style. The kid leaned over, dangerously close to the chili and cheese dog, as if he could still smell it.

Soul Collectors had the sense of smell and touch removed from our souls. Since the job entailed being around death, I thought losing my sense of smell was a blessing, especially watching Joseph shove the dripping hot dog in his mouth.

If I had a gag reflex, it would have been tested at that moment.

I turned away, letting the man have his last meal and reached into my pouch, more out of habit than anything, feeling nothing.

Let him do it on his own
, Felix’s words echoed in my mind.

I bit my lip.

“That looks delicious,” Dylan said wistfully.

I balked. Here we were, doing one of the most important jobs of the After by reuniting the True Soul with its counterpart, and all he could talk about was food. I’d have to speak to Felix about his screening process.

“It’s happening!” Dylan shrieked, jumping from the chair. He brought out the True Soul from his pouch, holding it out in front of him.

“Easy!” I warned.

His hands shook underneath the essence.

I swear, if he dropped it— I placed my hands under his, steadying them.

“It's too wiggly.”

I rolled my eyes. “It’s not wiggly; it’s, in a way, counting down the time it has until it’s reunited with its other half. Remember how the pulsing intensifies before it stops? That’s when we can do our job. Feel it.” I curled my fingers under his until he mimicked the movement. “Remember what I said about letting it guide you?”

We held the True Soul between us for a few seconds. Dylan’s eyes moved in time with the rhythm of the pulsing. I took my hands away from under his and he stepped closer to Joseph.

“Give the man a minute to finish his food,” I said, even though I wished he would stop. The slurping sounds would haunt me for some time.

Dylan’s almost translucent blue eyes stared up at me, pleading.

Crap. I had broken the kid’s concentration.

“You can do this,” I encouraged.

You will do this, I amended.

“Um … Maggie … so when …” he mumbled.

“When you feel the vibration within the True Soul intensify you will know it’s time to coax the soul from the being,” I instructed.

“I think I feel it! ” Dylan shouted. He covered his mouth with his arm and looked at Joseph. The human sucked his fingertips as if they were going to somehow manifest more food.

“Relax,” I said.

I led Dylan to the back of Joseph’s chair. “Where is the connection?” I prompted.

“Here.” He moved the True Soul to the back of Joseph’s neck.

“Okay … good,” I said. “Lightly place it against the body. There you go.”

As much as Dylan annoyed me while on our missions, his attention span more akin to a goldfish, I found that when the job became serious, so did he. I sensed my reputation had a lot to do with that. Other Collectors didn’t think I heard the whispers behind my back about my rigorous training methods, but any damage my trainees made to the human soul was on me, which didn’t bode well for my record. Or the souls. But, as much as I was feared, I knew they respected me and that was all I cared about.

Besides, it wouldn’t be too much longer before I said goodbye to the Collecting job. Soon enough, I’d be on the Guard. I imagined donning the black uniform and strapping the massive standard-issue broadsword to my back. All the stress of Collecting behind me, and it would be worth it.

The Guard were an elite group of souls. Soldiers that protected humans and participated in top-secret missions, earning collective respect from everyone in the After.

“Um,” Dylan mumbled, pulling me back to the present.

I let Dylan position the True Soul against Joseph’s head. My fingers moved as if I held the essence. Each Collector had their own methods of coaxing the soul from the body but I wouldn’t let any of my trainees into the field until my technique was perfected. It made the job quicker if the True Soul made contact with the body right before it died.

Joseph stilled at the unseen intrusion. That was the point in every Collection where everything was out of our hands. The True Soul takes over.

Joseph coughed and clutched his chest.

Calm spread through me as we watched Joseph struggle with his left arm. The man shook it a few times before squeezing the skin over his heart. He coughed a sputtering breath and moaned, leaning back in his chair.

“It’s going to be okay,” Dylan whispered, low enough that I wasn’t sure if he wanted me to hear it.

Joseph continued to gurgle and cough, leaning forward in his chair.

Dylan’s hands wavered as his target moved but I reached over and pressed my hands against the back of his.

“If you screw this up I’ll make sure you don’t touch another one for a year. Understand?”

A squeak burst from his lips, but he nodded in agreement.

Dylan repositioned his hand and I moved mine away.

Joseph reached for the telephone but, before his fingers could brush against it, he stilled.

The True Soul finished its work, the essence lit up like a star in the night sky as Joseph’s soul released from the body. The True Soul secured its connection to the back of Joseph’s neck and melded into the soul.

A younger and fitter version of Joseph stood in a not-quite solid form before us, staring at his hunched-over body. “Who are you?”

How a soul looked when Collected differed with each case. Usually when younger humans died their soul would reflect an imprint of their body, like in Dylan’s case. In older humans, like Joseph, the soul molded itself to whatever time in the human’s life that represented the happiest or most influential moments.

I grabbed Dylan’s hand and he did the same to Joseph. The younger Joseph looked frightened as he stole one last glance at his body before the world shimmered around us into a bright white light.

Chapter Two

A bit of pride welled within me as we safely arrived at Gate Seven, our final stop. The border between the Realms appeared as a bridge, which always remained the same even though the landscape changed. It appeared differently based on what the soul thought their after-life would look like, which meant we got to experience it with them. The True Soul extracted the image from the soul and projected it, easing the transition from the Living Realm to the After. Most souls imagined endless clouds, but many had other ideas.

Plush green grass filled the landscape as far as the eye could see. A setting sun appeared to rest atop a ridge of mountains in the distance. Joseph’s bridge connected two sides of a trickling stream. His soul heaved, as if it still needed oxygen, a leftover of breathing for fifty-six years.

On the other side of the bridge stood one of the Gatekeepers, Gwendolyn. Her radiant crimson hair ruffled in the wind. Her bright golden eyes sparkled against Joseph’s manifestation of the sun. She’d wait there until Joseph’s soul was ready to let go of its humanity and move on to the After.

I looked into the distance; more Gatekeepers stood on the other side of the border, waiting to welcome their souls. Even though Gate Seven was one place, each soul experienced it as if they were the only soul in existence.

I touched Dylan’s shoulder. “Time to go.”

Joseph knelt in the grass, staring into the distance. Maybe he’d visited this place at some point in his life. It was breathtaking. I took one last mental picture and transported away.

The Soul Collections office, where we were stationed, was nestled on the 68th floor of a skyscraper in downtown New York City. Even though the building was in the Living Realm, the office was in the After. Felix relocated us there about fifty years ago, stating that keeping us close to humans would help connect to our targets better. Somehow.

The wide expanse of the office looked out at the setting sun over the horizon. I never understood why humans were obsessed with the setting and rising of the sun. It was just something that was. Soul Collectors of every human age and size bustled around the office in between Collections.

“Hi, Dylan!” A young girl waved at him, skipping across the floor.

He grinned, waving back.

“Come on,” I said, pushing him toward the massive clear desk in the middle of the main floor. Seven Collections Officers sat behind it. They assigned and closed cases for every Collector.

Dylan barely reached the top of the counter. “Hi, Stacia,” he called.

“Name of soul,” she said, looking down at her hands.

The Collections Officers were a tough bunch but I appreciated the work ethic. Get in then out as quickly and efficiently as possible.

“Um,” he stammered.

“Joseph Bonds,” I answered, patting him on the head.

Dylan wasn’t used to the Caelestium, the original creatures of the After Realm. Stacia, like Gwendolyn, had the looks that many humans over the years had tried to replicate. Flawless skin, long silky hair, and natural charisma. But their biggest distinction were their golden eyes that sparkled as if beams of sunlight were constantly beating down on them.