Souls of the Reaper

by Markie Madden

God, I certainly hope she’s not going to ‘sir’ me every time she speaks. Otherwise, I might have to go a couple rounds with her. “Fine. Find him and the both of you report to my office.”

  “Not a problem.” The young woman seemed to bounce as she walked toward the Unit’s small break room.

  Lacey threw her car keys on the table right inside her office door and resisted the urge to sigh. She thought Colton was bad when they first paired up, but he was surly and argumentative. She was almost certain she could tolerate that better than an excess of enthusiasm. Jesus, I hope a little seasoning will help to rein in her excitement. Though, if I thought about it long enough, I can imagine myself in her place. Here’s hoping we can get a little work done. She thought she might have a few minutes before the overzealous youngster dragged Colton back to her office.

  So, she turned on her laptop and logged in. Then she called up Colton’s crime reports, and folded her hands on the desk.

  “Morning, boss.” Colton gave a half-grunt as he walked in her office, Kazz in tow. They hadn’t made her wait long.

  “Have you briefed Officer Moss?”

  “Was I supposed to?”

  She counted to ten. If he ever takes it on his own initiative, it would be like matter and antimatter colliding! “You can do it in a minute. And assign her an empty station.”

  “Sure.”

  “Have you looked at these crime data?”

  He shrugged. “Some of it I caught as it was being compiled.”

  She punched a few buttons on her tablet, and the reports appeared on the big black screen across from the desk. Colton studied the graphs and numbers. Kazz made a small sound, as if she wanted to say something.

  “Kazz?” Lacey asked, raising her eyebrows.

  “Um, what are we looking at here? Sir?” She suddenly sounded timid.

  “This is a crime statistic report I had Colton put together the other day. And don’t call me sir.”

  “Then, um, what should I call you?”

  “My name is Lacey.” She said it dryly, then regretted it when she heard Kazz’s audible gulp. “Kazz, I know they teach you to respect your superiors in the Academy, but we’re not that formal around here. I’m Lacey, that’s Colton. And you’re Kazz.” She didn’t bother to ask Colton if that was acceptable to him.

  “Okay, sir. Oops, I mean, Lacey.”

  “So, Colton, tell her what we’ve got here.” She half listened while her partner briefed Kazz on what the crime numbers meant. Lacey could tell the instant Colton put two and two together.

  “Is this exactly the same report I logged in? You didn’t screw with it to mess with me, did you?”

  “It’s the same one. Now you can see why I’m alarmed.”

  “Alarmed?” He gave her a stunned look. “That could well be the understatement of the year. Hell, the decade. Have you told the commander?”

  “He’s aware. But you can understand why he tells us to hurry up and find this guy.”

  “Yeah, but trying to find this guy is like looking for a needle in a...a stack of fake needles!”

  She almost laughed at the absurdity, but recovered with a jerk as the phone rang. “Anderson.” She listened for a moment. “Yes, doctor. Can you hold on for a moment?” She placed the call on hold and looked at Colton. “Take Kazz out to the bullpen and get her set up with a desk and laptop. Brief her on this case while you’re at it.”

  “No problem.” He crooked a finger in Kazz’s direction. “Come on, rook.”

  Once they’d left the office, Lacey picked up the phone again. “Sorry about that doctor. I wanted to run a proposal by you, if you have a minute.”

  “Sure, Lieutenant, shoot.”

  “The department has authorized me to bring you on as an expert civilian consultant. The pay’s lousy.” Because she didn’t trust her memory, she consulted the computer before giving him a number. “And, I can promise long hours and little appreciation. Except mine, of course.”

  “I take it you’re not asking me to quit my job?” Dr. Matthews gave a quick chuckle.

  “No, we’ll let you keep it,” Lacey said with a smile. “But only because no one else wants it.”

  “Isn’t that the truth? So, what will you need?”

  “Mostly, information about Reapers, for starters. It seems as if your theory might not be too far off base. But so far, our research isn’t helping any.”

  “No, I wouldn’t imagine so. It’s hard to know which of the stories are based in fact.”

  “That’s where you’ll come in. We’ve got some other feelers out, but it may take some time before we get any answers. Added to that, if there is a rogue Reaper running around out there, we need to figure out a way to find him. And fast! So, what do you say?”

  “If it is true and there’s a Reaper stealing souls, it goes against everything we’re taught, everything we believe in. Yes, I have a duty to help. Whatever you need, Lieutenant, if it’s in my power, it’s yours.”

  “Thanks.” She smiled a crooked grin. “You might regret saying that.”

  ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞

  Colton was chafing under the collar to be playing nursemaid to a rook. But, he remembered the comment he made to Lacey when she mentioned bringing the young officer into the Unit, that he would have someone to make do all the dirty work. So, he pulled up his research on Reapers, and rolled a chair from an empty desk so Kazz could sit.

  “What do you know about where Reapers came from?” He kept his voice quiet so others wouldn’t hear their conversation.

  “Not much.” The woman replied as she sat and scooted the chair so she could see the computer. “Now, I know a lot about the history and origins of Shifters, but not so much with any of the other species.”

  “Speaking of, how did Shifters come to be?” He was curious to know.

  “Oh, that’s easy. We evolved among groups of people who lived on the extreme edges of quote-unquote ‘habitable’ zones all across the world. Like, I’m talking far northern Canada, Greenland, Siberia, places like that. Shifters basically evolved to change into animals so it was easier for them to hunt for food.”

  “Okay, that makes a bit of sense.”

  “In the early days, Shifters were able to turn into more than one animal, but as our DNA changed through evolution and it no longer became necessary, each one of us can now morph into one animal. Mine is a dog, if you remember.”

  He laughed. “That was some trick with the partial morph! You know, I bet that guy looks over his shoulder for a week.”

  “When I was little, I used to do it to scare my little brother.” She laughed with him.

  Colton could imagine seeing his siblings’ reactions if he had a similar skill. He was often the winner in skirmishes when they were kids, but he lost his fair share of fights. Then, an image of his mother popped in his head, shaking her fist at her pups and demanding, “If you keep doing that, your face will freeze that way!” The thought amused him.

  “So, anyway, here’s what we have on the case so far.” He began to brief her on all the data they collected, including the theories from both Drs. Matthews and Dilorenzo. The more he shared, the bigger Kazz’s eyes got.

  “Wow. I never thought something like that was possible. The humans are not going to like this when word gets out.”

  “Exactly why we have to keep this on the down low until we figure out some way to catch this guy.”

  “So, how do Reapers take a human soul, anyway?”

  Colton walked her through the research he did, plus recounted the conversation he and Lacey had with Dr. Matthews.

  “That’s almost creepy,” Kazz commented. “It’s no wonder the humans didn’t want to allow Reapers to join in the Registry!”

  “But, it’s all nothing more than a theory for the time being. There’s no way to know if something like this is actually possible.”

  At that moment, Lacey stepped out of her office and walked to Colton’s cubicle. “Okay, I’ve got Doctor Matthews coming in an hour.
We’ll be able to fully brief him then. And, Joe will also be meeting up with us.” She referred to Joseph Pratt, the young assistant district attorney who helped them with their last big case. The ADA, or the DA for that matter, were essential to police officers as they investigated crime. Many years ago, a new law decreed that police officers must go through the district attorney’s office for any search or arrest warrants, and the attorney in charge would then go to a judge to gain the signed warrant. “So, let’s book a conference room, shall we?”

  “No problem.” Colton turned to his computer. “Should we let the commander in on this?”

  “No, I sent him a message. He’s aware of where we’re at right now, and I’m not sure if he’ll come over or not.

  “Okay. Look, room B is free. So, I’ve got it booked.”

  “You’ll be coming along too.” Lacey spoke to Kazz. “Have you been briefed?”

  “Yes, sir. I mean, Lacey. Sorry, old habits die hard.”

  Lacey grinned. “I’ll get used to it. What are your thoughts on this case so far?”

  “It’s hard to know what to think. I mean, it’s barbaric, isn’t it? Do you think he can steal the souls of Immortals?” She shivered.

  “I don’t know.” Lacey didn’t mention she thought Immortals didn’t have a soul to steal. “That’s a good question you can ask Doctor Matthews.” She turned to Colton. “Make sure you combine all the case files we have into a single case. Even the assault on Mr. Pope. Since we believe they’re all connected, we might as well present it as such.”

  “Well, how in the hell are we going to find this asshat, anyway?”

  “That’s another question for the doctor. We need to figure out how to determine who the victims are, how to find the perpetrator, and how to get the stolen souls back where they belong.” Lacey counted on her fingers as she spoke.

  “I have a feeling that’s going to be the hardest one.” Colton countered.

  “Yeah, what happens to the people if we can’t return their souls?” Kazz wanted to know.

  “That’s something that will have to rest with the shrinks, I guess.” Lacey shrugged.

  “Speaking of,” Colton interjected. “Have you asked our head-shrinker extraordinaire to this briefing as well?”

  “No, but that’s a good idea. I’ll go call him now. You two, carry on until the briefing.” With that, Lacey returned to her office.

  ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞

  An hour later, they convened in the Major Crimes Unit’s secondary conference room. Along with Lacey, Colton, and Kazz, the newest member of the Undead Unit, were Drs. Matthews and Dilorenzo, and ADA Joe Pratt. Joe was a respected member of the district attorney’s office, and also happened to be a Shifter who could turn into an owl. The commander had another engagement, so he asked Lacey to provide him with a transcript after the meeting was concluded. Once introductions were made and coffee or tea was in front of everyone, Lacey called them to order.

  “Now, we have a few members of the team who aren’t quite up to speed, so you’ll excuse me if some of this information is stuff you’ve already heard before.” She launched into a recap of events, going back to the very first call, the assault on the driver who caused the vehicle accident. Joe listened intently, running his long, talon-like fingers up and down the length of a fancy wooden pen, a habit Lacey knew meant he was evaluating the information on all levels. Kazz was especially attentive as well, often cocking her head to the side like a dog listening to a high-pitched noise. Lacey concluded with the current hypothesis suggested by Dr. Matthews.

  Marcell then picked up the thread, providing them with some information he discovered during the course of his research, including the fact that Reapers operated during astral projection of their own life force, something Niall confirmed as being factual.

  “Okay, Doctor Matthews.” Lacey gave him the floor. “Tell me, if it is possible for a rogue Reaper to be stealing human souls, and we’re fairly certain it is, how can we find him?”

  “I’ve been thinking about this ever since we talked about it at the hospital,” he replied thoughtfully. “Let me give you a little bit more detail. Astral projection is a way of separating the life force from the physical body and traveling on a different plane from the physical plane. When people do this, they leave behind a tether, kind of like an umbilical cord, so the spirit will be able to find its way back to the body. Reapers who astral project during the course of their duties also leave behind this silver cord.”

  “How is that going to help us find him?” Lacey asked.

  “When the human soul is near death, it begins to emit a glow on the astral plane that can be seen by Reapers, day or night. It makes it easier for the person’s Reaper to find them. But these stolen souls, they still have a physical body. So, I’m curious to find out if perhaps their astral cord is still connecting their souls with their bodies. Human souls also glow when they are sleeping, as it’s a time when their spirits are, for lack of a better term, thinking ‘outside the box’, or outside the realm of the physical. Now, I think, perhaps, if we were to have a known or suspected victim, who we could sedate to simulate sleep, I might be able to follow their tether from the body to where the soul currently resides, which would, as a guess, be inside our Reaper’s body.”

  “That’s an interesting theory,” Marcell commented. “What sort of sedative would the human victim need to be subjected to? You realize that we can’t compel victims to take part in anything that might be dangerous for them.”

  “Any of the hypnotic sleep drugs would work. They would simply need to be sedated enough to enter into REM sleep. And honestly, I think wandering around without their soul is more dangerous to them than an FDA-approved sleep aid.”

  “Yeah, I can see your point.” Kazz spoke up for the first time, though Lacey could tell she seemed a bit shy.

  “You had a question, Officer Moss?” Lacey used the woman’s title and last name as a way of acknowledging her, and as a way to let her know this was a more formal meeting than if it was only the three Undead Unit team members. Lacey hoped Kazz would remember the question the young woman voiced earlier.

  “Yes, sir.” She answered smartly, telling Lacey she got the message. “Maybe it’s a little silly, though.”

  “No such thing as a silly question around here, Officer. Go ahead.” Lacey encouraged the newest member of her team.

  “Well, if there IS such a thing, as a Reaper who can steal human souls, what if he can steal Immortal souls as well? I mean, there are some Immortals who are truly undying, as the Lieutenant is, but some of us are especially long-lived, even though the humans group us all in the same class as Immortals.”

  All eyes turned to Niall as the ramifications of the question hit home. He cleared his throat and shifted nervously. “We’re not supposed to talk about it. But, considering the circumstances, I think it’s necessary. A living, active Reaper can harvest the souls of humans. The task of Reaping Immortal souls falls to a Reaper who is already retired, in other words, one who has already moved on to the next plane of existence.”

  Kazz sighed almost visibly. “Does that put your mind at ease, Officer?” Lacey asked her.

  “Yes, sir, it does. Still, it doesn’t make me feel any better about the humans out there.”

  “Which begs another question.” Lacey looked directly at Niall. “How many victims could we be looking at?”

  He raised his hands uncertainly. “Ten? Forty? A hundred? There’s no way to guess. They could be scattered all over from here to Timbuktu. In fact, the perpetrator need not even live in Dallas to be scooping up the city’s souls. And that’s not even the worst part.” He looked down at his hands, folded together on the table. “If we don’t find him, and soon, the souls may be spoiled past the point of no return.”

  13

  Lying and stealing are next door neighbors. ~~Arabian proverb

  “What do you mean, past the point of no return?” Lacey’s demand followed a moment of shocked silence.
<
br />   “Remember I told you that the power of the human soul is like a small nuclear reactor?” Niall shifted again in his seat, betraying the fact that he was uncomfortable. “Even though a Reaper is naturally hard-wired to handle the extra energy, power if you will, of the soul transfer, what we keep inside is a tiny fraction of that. The remainder of the energy is supposed to be returned to the Universe, so that the natural balance is maintained. What this one is doing, it’s...” As if unable to stand it any longer, Niall got up and started pacing the tiny conference room.

  “Doctor, please.” Marcell spoke up. “Whatever is disturbing you, please, share with the rest of us. It’s the only way we can put a stop to it.”

  “I think we will find that, as the number of souls he steals increases, his mental stability will decrease exponentially. There will come a point where the Reaper’s insanity will taint the spirits. And, human souls aren’t equipped to live long away from their physical bodies. We may already be too late to help the oldest of the victims, those that were the first ones stolen. Those souls may be lost forever. And as a Reaper who takes my duties very seriously, the loss of those souls is tragic.”

  Another uncomfortable silence fell among the group. Colton was the first one to speak up. “So, doc, you going to help us find him?”

  “Yes, I don’t have a choice, now.”

  “We’re not forcing you to help us, Niall.” Lacey’s tone was kind.

  “Oh, I know that. I know. But, I have to help, for the good of those poor lost souls. We can’t afford to lose any more.”

  “Why is it so important, Doctor Matthews?” Kazz’s voice was still timid.

  He smiled slightly. “That’s something I don’t have an answer for. Or, if I did, I couldn’t tell you. I know that my mentor taught me the human soul has an important role to play in the balance of the Universe. This is why we’re sent to escort them across the threshold from one existence to another. It’s not for us to know why, simply to know that they’re important.”

  Lacey glanced at the clock and noticed that they had been discussing the case for almost two hours. “Let’s take a quick break, about ten minutes or so. Then we’ll meet back here, start getting some sort of strategy going for finding this guy. Colton, you want to show Niall where the break room is? He looks as if he could use some coffee.”