The Soul Thief

by Kim Richardson

  Alexa sighed. “I did have some protection. I had salt. It wasn’t a soul blade, but was enough to kill a demon.”

  Erik laughed, but his hard features returned. “You got lucky.”

  “Rookies aren’t allowed to use them. Only in training.”

  Erik shifted his weight. “Whatever. Do you know how to use it?”

  “Of course,” snapped Alexa. She was good with the blade, very good. The archangel Ariel had called her a natural. It was true. She moved instinctively and had surpassed all the other trainees to reach the expert level within three months. It was her best skill.

  She took the blade and secured it with a hook at her waist. It disappeared beneath her jacket seamlessly and would be perfectly hidden from mortal eyes.

  Alexa was determined to make the best of it in the world of the living. A higher power had chosen her for a reason, and she would prove to everyone that choosing her hadn’t been a mistake. She would be kickass in death.

  And her first step would be to solve the murders, to find the soul thieves, and to destroy them.

  Erik had stopped smiling. “Let’s go.”

  She followed him up the steps and through the large oak doors. It was like stepping into a freezer. Alexa looked over at Erik. She half expected to see him exhaling white mist from his mouth, but if he had been as shocked she was by the cold, he didn’t mention it.

  The smell of bleach and other hard chemicals hit her like a slap across the face. If the outside of the building had been a complete disaster, it was nothing compared to the inside. They walked through a corridor with peeling gray paint that might once have been white. An old mop and pail leaned against the wall at the entrance, and Alexa suspected the foul bleach odor was coming from that water.

  She heard voices when they entered the first room on the left. Santo, Haru, Evelyn and Denton were gathered around a table and were watching the medical examiner.

  The room was long, deep, and even colder than the hallway. On the opposite side of the room was a refrigerated section of individual drawers. She assumed they were for bodies. A medical cart carried striker saws for ripping bone, suturing materials, knives, and scalpels. Alexa tried not to think about why they were there. Two stainless steel operating tables stood in the center of the white tiled floor. One was empty. The other was not.

  The victim was young and female. The body was naked except for a thin white sheet that covered her from the chest down. She was glad of it. The victim deserved better.

  The grim faces of Erik’s friends only heightened Alexa’s sense of urgency to catch the demon behind the killings. They watched her without welcome. Alexa didn’t ask how Santo and his team had been allowed to witness the autopsy. It was too bad that she had not had a chance to search the scene of the crime for clues.

  Alexa felt like she’d just stepped into an X-Files episode, where Agent Scully was about to perform an autopsy in her familiar white lab coat and safety goggles. Instead of the witty redhead, the medical examiner was a wrinkled old man with thick glasses and mousy brown hair. He looked up from his conversation with Santo when she and Erik walked in.

  “You’ve got an hour before the coroner comes to take the body,” he said. He pulled off his gloves and threw them in a gray trashcan. Then he disappeared out the door without another word or glance in their direction.

  Alexa stepped closer to the body. The first thing she noticed was the red, blistered flesh around the girl’s eye sockets. Only black fleshy holes remained of what were once her eyes. Blue, guessed Alexa, judging by the fairness of the victim’s skin and her golden hair. The wounds were identical to the other victim.

  Carefully, she peeled off the sheet and examined the victim’s chest. Nothing. The first victim’s body had been severely butchered, but his one appeared to have no other wounds apart from her eyes. But the expression on her face said it all. It was still contorted in pain. Whatever did this to her had made her suffer first.

  “What did the examiner say was the cause of death?” she asked to no one in particular. She pulled the sheet back over the girl.

  “He said it was natural causes,” answered Santo. “…heart attack due to the stress of having her eyes burned.”

  “While she was alive,” said Evelyn angrily. “I want to kill the SOB who’s doing this. It isn’t right. These are just kids. Kids. They don’t deserve to die like this.”

  “We’ll get them, Evelyn,” said Denton, and he squeezed her arm gently. “And we’ll make them pay. I promise.”

  Denton and Haru shared a look, a silent promise that they were going to avenge these killings.

  Evelyn walked away, wiping her eyes, and that’s when Alexa knew that she had children. She looked like she was in her late twenties, maybe early thirties, so it made sense. And as a mother, she probably felt a deeper connection to the young victims than the rest of them. She had no doubt Evelyn would rip out the eyes of the demon that was doing this. Alexa could see Evelyn’s strong, toned body under her long leather coat. She was a force to be reckoned with. She looked badass.

  The room had gone quiet, and Alexa felt the weight of the world on her shoulders. It was as though the operatives were expecting her to say something that only an angel would see, a missing clue, anything.

  There was nothing in the world that Alexa wanted more than to find a clue that would push them in the right direction. What kind of demon steals mortal souls, only to ingest them later? And why did they take the time to burn the mortals’ eyes? So far, they had only discovered female victims. Was that a clue?

  There must be a connection, but she just couldn’t put her finger on it. An experienced angel might have been able to give them answers. Alexa had nothing that the operatives didn’t already know. She looked away from the body.

  “Alexa?” Erik had moved next to her. His jacket brushed up against hers, and she felt a tingling all over her body.

  “You were about to say something back at the park before the stiff, I mean Ryan, cut you off. What was it?”

  “Just that I don’t think the demon I vanquished in the park is the same demon that killed the girl.” Her eyes moved back to the body. “Or this girl. They don’t have the same wounds as the boy. The way that demon stole some of the boy’s life force left him looking deathly pale and ill. These victims don’t look like that. They don’t look haggard or even sick. They died differently. Even though this one wasn’t cut up like the other girl, I still feel they were both killed by the same demon. Both victims had their souls taken. Both victims had their eyes taken. Something else killed them.”

  She looked at Santo. “Do you know of a demon that would burn the eyes of their victims?”

  Santo stroked his weeks-old beard. “Hard to say. A lot of them could have done it, just because they’re twisted in that way. But off the top of my head, no. My guess would be a Higher demon. They’re powerful enough for this.”

  “Do they normally burn the eyes of their victims?”

  “Not that I know of,” said Santo. His companions all shrugged.

  Alexa’s gaze fell back on the victim. “So, there are a couple of Higher demons running around, stealing souls, and burning the victims’ eyes for the fun of it? Doesn’t that sound odd to you?”

  “Coming from demons, nothing is ever odd” said Santo. His scarred face was hidden in the shadow of his hat. “I’ll speak to my guy Daniel later and see what he can pull out from the records. He’s an expert in everything supernatural, a walking Wikipedia if you ask me. If there’s anything on file about missing eyes and souls, he’ll find it. Maybe he can shed some light on this.”

  Alexa was impressed that they had records about demons, but then so did the Legion. “Maybe it’s something new, but it’s definitely demon. As far as I know, they’re the only creatures that feed off mortal souls, right? Werewolves, goblins and ghouls feed on human flesh, not souls. So, it has to be demons.”

  But what Alexa didn’t say was that whatever was killing these mortals was mak
ing a bold statement with the eyes. Why go through all the trouble to do it if it’s not to say something? Burning someone’s eyes had to mean something.

  “But the questions remain,” continued Alexa, “if demons did this, where are they taking the souls and why?”

  The group was silent for a long while. No one seemed to have the answers they needed. Alexa knew the killings wouldn’t stop until they found those responsible. She needed to fulfill her assignment and figure out why and where the souls were being taken. She needed to find the demon or demons responsible. To catch them in the act seemed the way to go, but how she was going to pull that off was a whole different ballgame.

  Alexa was deflated and felt a little out of her league. It didn’t help that her company kept looking to her for the answers she didn’t have. It was clear they needed help. And so did she.

  “Maybe,” she began, hating what she was about to admit, but knowing it was the right thing to do. “Maybe we should contact the Legion. We could really use their help on this, and there definitely should be more than one angel on this case.” Although it stung her pride to admit it, she knew it was the truth.

  “There are more angels on the case,” said Santo.

  Alexa swallowed in shock and surprise. “What? You contacted the Legion?”

  Without her tracker mite, she had no way of communicating with the Legion. How did these mortals have direct contact? She glanced about the room, expecting to see a cavalry of angels ready to take her back. She knew it was a possibility. She had just hoped she would have more time.

  “The pompous ones from the park were already here when we arrived,” said Santo icily. “They left five minutes before you two got here. Didn’t say much either.”

  “Only to tell us to get lost,” said Denton. “That this was the Legion’s business now.”

  “What?” Alexa looked up at the large dark man. “What did you say?”

  “The angels told us to back off, Alexa,” answered Santo controlling his rage. “That they were going to deal with it. Whatever that means. Whatever this is, apparently it’s too dangerous for us mere mortals. They want us out of the way.”

  “That makes no sense,” said Alexa. She’d never heard of angels dismissing Sensitive operatives from a job, but then again she was rookie. She did know that Sensitive operatives were essential to the Legion. They were the physical representatives of angels on Earth, so to speak. They were particularly important because angels only had limited time on Earth because their M-suits expired quickly. Maybe this sort of thing happened often. Still, it didn’t rest well with her. Something was definitely off.

  “I know it doesn’t make sense,” Denton replied flatly. “But we don’t make the rules, the stiffs do.” He looked at her with a challenge in his eyes, waiting for her to refute him.

  Although she was slightly peeved at his choice of words, Alexa bit her tongue. She could see that Erik waited to see her reaction, too. But she wouldn’t give them one.

  Erik stepped away from Alexa. “Doesn’t matter. We don’t need their help. We can do this without them, just like we’ve been doing for years. We’re the ones who actually live here. We are part of this world. Not them. Most of the time they just leave us with their mess anyway. People are dying here, and I don’t need their permission to do something about it.”

  Alexa couldn’t help but cringe at the spitefulness in his words. She didn’t know why, but his words stung in a way that they shouldn’t.

  Santo looked at Alexa. “Didn’t they tell you?”

  Alexa hesitated, taken aback by the question. “No—I mean, no one told me—” She caught herself before admitting too much. When it came to the Legion, she was in the dark.

  “Doesn’t matter,” said the operative leader. “It never stopped us from doing our job, which is to exterminate those demon SOBs. And that’s exactly what we’re going to do.”

  Alexa was more confused than ever. There must have been be a good reason why the Legion had pulled the Sensitives from this case, but she couldn’t see one. It was almost as though they were hiding something, purposely keeping something from them, from her. She was going to figure out what.

  Santo gestured behind her. “But, they did leave this one behind.”

  For a panic filled instant, Alexa whirled around, expecting to see an angel. She gasped and bumped into the metal bed when she staggered back.

  Across from her, silent and ominous, stood a large white wolf.

  CHAPTER 8

  IT WAS MOST DEFINITELY A WOLF. Alexa had only ever seen them on television, but it was definitely a real one. It was terrifying. Large and muscular, it was the size of an Alaskan malamute, slightly longer than tall. Its thick fur was the color of snow, and its large golden eyes pinned her on the spot with an eerie stare that gleamed with a heightened intelligence. There was something particular about the way it looked at her, as though its eyes were human. All the creepier was the fact that it seemed to be looking just at her. Instinctively, she moved her hand towards her soul blade.

  Alexa cleared her throat. “Why is there a wolf staring at me?” She hoped her voice didn’t reveal the fear she felt. She gripped the handle of her blade more tightly.

  The wolf wagged its tail. “I’m Lancelot, your Scout,” said the white wolf. “But you can call me Lance.” It had a strange voice, half-howl, half-whimper. It hissed the vowels so that it sounded harsh and alien.

  Alexa froze and stared at the wolf for a moment. She gave a little sort of moan of surprise as she composed herself. Only when she realized that she was the only one who appeared to be mildly petrified of the talking wolf did she let her guard down.

  The talking wolf continued wagging its tail. She took that as a good sign and dropped her hand away from her weapon.

  “You’re a talking wolf?” Alexa could hardly hear herself speak.

  The creature stretched and then posed like a show dog with its head looking straight ahead.

  “Correction. I’m a white German Shepard, but I get that all the time so don’t worry. I mean, I could have chosen the body of a wolf, but then it would have made my task the more difficult, if you catch my meaning. Wolves don’t walk around in the streets of a small town.”

  Alexa’s fear quickly disappeared as she realized what this was. Although she’d never actually met one before, she knew that Scouts were guardian angels who worked as spies for the Legion. They watched for demon activity and reported back to Horizon. They used animal disguises so they could move around unnoticed.

  Alexa knew there could only be one reason the Legion would send her a Scout.

  “You’re my babysitter, aren’t you?” asked Alexa when she realized what was going on. She knew the Legion only wanted to protect her, but she still felt irritated. She didn’t need looking after.

  The dog cocked his head to the side, eyebrows raised in a very human gesture. “Think of me as your guardian angel, guardian.”

  “So they told you I didn’t want to come in, is that it?” Alexa tried to keep her voice low so the others wouldn’t hear, but her words echoed around the tiled room.

  “Something like that,” said Lance. “Ariel felt it best that I come along to keep you out of trouble, and to keep trouble away from you. But I’m also here to help. I have many talents.”

  “I’m sure.” Alexa felt her hopes of her proving her worth to the Legion fade away. Her artificial heart sank to her feet.

  “Wait a minute,” Haru looked at Alexa with an exasperated expression. “Are you telling me that she’s gone rogue?”

  “Rogue?” asked Erik. “What are you talking about?” His gaze shifted to Alexa, and she felt the flush of embarrassment rise on her face.

  “A rogue angel,” explained Haru. “The ones that refuse to go back to Horizon. The ones that want to be mortal again.”

  Alexa raised her arms. “Wait a minute…that’s not it.”

  “It does happen from time to time,” said Lance, cutting Alexa off.

  She f
elt Erik’s gaze on her again, but she refused to look at him. He knew the real reason, or at least a part of it. He had witnessed her fear of water with his own eyes.

  “We do get the occasional rogue,” continued the dog smugly. He sat on his hind legs. “Sometimes, when angels get the feel of the mortal world again, their emotions crack. They can’t handle it. And then they don’t want to return to Horizon. But angels don’t belong here. Their time in the mortal world is over. So, from time to time, Scouts are sent to retrieve the rogue angels. It’s been happening more often now with the new M-9s. The suit feels too mortal, and it gives the angel a false sense of being human again.”

  “So, then you’re here to retrieve me?” asked Alexa. She felt absolutely deflated. “I didn’t go rogue. Honestly, I want to help.”

  Everyone in the room was looking at her, and the room felt increasingly small and crowded. Even though she didn’t need to breathe, she felt like she was suffocating. Her new M-suit enabled her to feel numb.

  Still, she was determined to prove herself. She remembered her father’s absence and her mother’s lack of interest. She might not have been worth much to anyone when she was alive, but she refused to be ignored, hurt, and tossed aside now. She wasn’t a victim anymore. She was chosen. She was an angel. She was badass.

  Lance opened his mouth, and his long pink tongue rolled out. “I never said that you, specifically, were rogue. And I wasn’t sent to bring you back either. I’m just here to guide you and to help push you in the right direction…when the time’s right.”

  Lance was silent for a moment. His golden eyes focused on Alexa, and she felt that he could see right through her. She couldn’t help but feel that Lance knew something he wasn’t sharing.

  Alexa met his gaze. “Fine.” She tried not to show how relieved she actually felt, but she had the feeling that Lance knew exactly. It was disturbing.

  Santo crossed the room and stood next to the dog. “Is there anything else you can tell us, or has the Legion forbidden you from speaking to us about this case, too.”