by Lori Aisling
Remembering my reaction to Lucifer and his addictive temptation, tears flooded my eyes and I pressed my forehead against the smooth tiles. I felt desire for him. My body and mind responded to the sinful pleasures he promised and I had been too weak to resist him. Shame overwhelmed me as I remembered the carnal draw I felt toward the Prince of Darkness. I couldn’t deny what I felt. His strong, solid body pressed against my back excited me; I even craved his touch, envisioning his fingers sliding across my flesh. Watching him slay his own minions for me awakened a primal passion I only felt for one other.
Was I worthy of the unconditional, undying love of my soulmate? He deserved better, of that I was certain. What would he think of me? Yes, everything I have done, I have done for him. But I crossed a line tonight with Luc, for sure. My tears mixed with the falling water and my cries echoed off the shower walls. I longed to beg Callon for his forgiveness, to crawl into his lap, feeling his big arms wrap around me, losing myself in the silver depths of his eyes.
Why did you stop? The question slammed into my mind, sudden and forceful. I pondered those four little words, the truth leaping to the forefront of my brain. Because I didn’t want Lucifer. I was tempted, yes. He was the King of Temptation, but I was not his. I didn’t love him and there was nothing he could ever do that would take Callon’s place in my soul. My revelation was true, but it didn’t justify my actions or sinful thoughts. In my attempt to work with Luc to save our realms, I opened myself up to his seduction.
Turning off the water and stepping from my shower-turned-sauna, I wrapped myself in a towel before wringing the water from my hair and quickly braiding it into a thick plait. Dressing in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, and pulling on a pair of boots, I made my way into the kitchen. I started a pot of coffee before opening the refrigerator door realizing I was hungry. I pretty much blew off the pesky eating thing, I was just too busy. For the first time since my mate went missing, I felt the grumbling in my belly telling me it was demanding my attention. I grabbed a cheese stick and snacked on it while putting together a peanut butter and honey sandwich.
Carrying my meager meal and a fresh cup of coffee, I went into Callon’s office and took my place behind his massive desk. Opening the ledger, I dipped the quill and began to pen the over one million reapings. As the pages began to fill with the branded print, I laid the pen down and let the design The Beginning created fill the parchment. I held numerous souls in purgatory who would need to be addressed. Jophiel said Michael was ruthless in his punishment, and I knew Lucifer also sent many to await their grim fate.
Mortal souls were reaped and escorted by the guides, but it was not my place to judge them. The soul itself was either pure and reassigned, or tainted and sent to a darker role, or given to Lucifer for punishment. There was no judge and jury after death, mortals indeed create their own fate. The only time Death would intervene to sentence a soul was in the instance of a Timeless, Light or Dark.
For someone to harness Callon’s power and use it to reap mortal souls was a key part to solving this entire puzzle. Why? For what purpose? If Lucifer and my mate were correct, and we indeed existed for the souls, then what would the justification be for this unknown fiend to rob souls? There seemed to be no clear pattern to the souls which were taken. Some were darker: gang members, prisoners, and drug dealers were all left as vacant husks. Yet, plenty of decent, honest people also remained with no chance to their rightful afterlife. For goodness sake, one woman died in a church! I highly doubted she was destined to spend time in Hell’s prison, so what were they doing with them?
Jeremiel made mention of cherubim and seraphim protesting the hierarchy of Heaven, disgruntled they held no option to rise as archangels. Luc’s questioning if archangels, Death, and the Lord contained souls could very well explain why God was not concerned with a method of allowing his other blessed members to rise. Hell boasted no such issue, as Lucifer was happy to allow lower-ranking demons the chance to climb the ranks should they prove themselves. He himself was the only actual archangel in Hell, the demons who were sent with him from Heaven were not of his status, contrary to popular, yet misguided, religious beliefs.
Could the contention in Heaven be severe enough to actually turn members of The Light to the temptation of The Dark? It seemed highly unlikely. The conversation Joe and Jer overhead sounded more like an entirely different plan. As if the design the Beginning created would be completely done away with.
The ledger inscribed the last entry and I felt the pull on my mind release. I closed the ancient tome, but stayed at the desk, continuing my train of thought while sipping the dark roast. If Heaven and Hell no longer existed, yet this new crew was reaping souls, were they using them to repopulate an abandoned and destructed realm? That led me back to the same question- why? To serve them? That made no sense, either. The Kingdom of Light was opulent to the extreme and The Dark reveled in their chaos. If the two members were indeed of each faction, were they desiring a benign realm? One like mine perhaps? Death was unbiased, but the purpose was clear- counterbalance. With no Light or Dark, there was no reason for a checks and balances system.
My brain was perplexed, there was simply no logical explanation. The souls would need to exist for the purpose of the realm, somehow. With no Timeless to argue and battle for souls or power, they would simply exist to provide service to the world they inhabited.
The last puzzle piece slammed into place and I shot to my feet as realization grabbed me by the shoulders and shook me- hard. To validate my thought process, one of Luc’s memories replayed the final words of a demon he questioned. The stoneware mug dropped to the floor, breaking into pieces and I raced from the room. I needed to get to Heaven- I knew who was responsible and the clock was ticking. I knew my mate was alive, and I needed to find him before he was finally siphoned of all life. If he truly did not have a soul, I would lose him forever. I had a plan now, but very limited time to enact it.
Running into the living room, I saw Lucinda barreling towards the door, teeth bared, hackles raised. My gaze swung to the floor-to-ceiling windows seeing movement in my peripheral vision. Condemned souls, demons, cherubim, and seraphim swarmed the area. My realm was under attack. Correction: I was under attack.
Seed of Memory
Fueled by the anger of my recent revelation combined with the audacity of these beings to invade my private space, I stormed towards the entrance. If they wanted a fight, I would gladly give them one. I would not flee. I knew who my enemy was now, and I would reap my revenge and return my soulmate to his rightful place.
I swung the heavy door open and Lue attacked, sinking her razor-sharp teeth into a condemned who was charging the opening. “Kill them, Lucinda,” I ordered. There would be no sentence, no leniency for this betrayal to The Beginning and The Counterbalance.
Attacking me here was foolhardy: I was at the pinnacle of my strength while in my home, and I could feel the energy of my realm connecting with me, the void throbbing with the intensity of my strength. I let it fill me, absorbing every ounce of power Callon selflessly mirrored to me. I felt his love soak into every fiber of my being, my skin tingling with the strength The Beginning meant for Death.
Lunging toward me was a duo I would never have expected to work in tandem. A seraph flanked by a bargainer. Obviously, their hypocrisy knew no bounds. If they wanted to join forces, I would happily help them out. Encompassing the two Timeless in the force of my strength, I clapped my hands. They crashed into each other, but I didn’t stop there. I rubbed my palms together, gritting my teeth as the screams of the treacherous entities filled the void of my home. Focusing my intent, I watched as the matter began melding together, the two beings truly becoming one.
Falling to the barren ground in front of me, the monstrosity shrieked, arms and legs jutting out from a melted mass of flesh. One head stuck out at a disturbing angle, the seraph’s cheek blended into what I could only assume was the bargainer’s chest. The other face was barely visible under an arm, its eyes f
lashing with terror.
I squatted down to get a closer look at my creation. “You chose poorly. You should’ve respected the gift you were given as Timeless. I did intend to kill you, but I’ve changed my mind- now I’m going to let your souls live as they are now, warped and coexisting; for 300 mortal years you shall suffer as one in purgatory. Death will decide your future fate at that time.”
Their screams escalated, but with a swipe of my hand I destroyed the vessels and sent the souls to the sentence I levied. There needed to be repercussions for this treason, and death didn’t seem nearly staunch enough punishment.
I let Lucinda continue to race through the fray, demolishing condemned souls, but I rather liked my new plan for The Timeless. The Light wanted to side with the Dark? Fine. I strode into the depths of my realm, grabbing cherubim and seraphim, flinging their souls to Luc in Hell, leaving decimated bodies littering the fallow landscape. When Satan’s lieutenant opened the gates to the prison, it resulted in a mighty drain of Hell’s power, now I was thrilled to pay Lucifer back. He would relish the chore of torturing these creatures of Heaven for a few hundred years. Their sentences attached, the souls howled, clawing at the vacant space around them as they were sucked from my realm into the bowels of Hell.
As for The Dark demons, I made a plan for them, too. They would pay for their treason by powering the realm they fought against for so long. I sentenced them as voids, souls who would live in purgatory, their minds intact, but unable to experience satisfaction of any kind. Pain, hunger, grief, desire, and sickness would ravage their minds, yet they would never heal, never feed, never rest- every emotion would batter them, consume them, with no relief available.
My realm continued to feed me, my strength never waning. Seeing a flash in the far distance, I focused my eyes on the gold light. Archangel. This one was different, though. Upon further study, I could see the yellow glow was laced with the greenish tint of my realm, like veins crawling throughout the illumination. The trespassers around me began to pulse with the same glow, increasing their attacks. They were faster, and although it took more concentration of my intent to defeat them, they still fell easily.
The foolish angel was mistaken: Yes, my mate was siphoned of his power, but my foe forgot one very important factor- The Beginning and its design. Stealing Callon’s strength was one thing, being Death was something entirely different. Granted, they could reap souls, and destroying Timeless was now in their arsenal, but I wore the cape and this realm was mine. Coming here was a grievous error they would all regret.
I want that fucking angel. Gritting my teeth, I envisioned every molecule of my body filling with the power of Death. Feeling the void respond immediately to my request, I shoved my will into The Timeless infiltrating my realm. In an instant, I became the judge and executioner of them all. The screaming was incredible in its intensity as I felt my vengeance being exacted.
The golden glow flickered and I pulled at the being in its center, straining as the coward leaped from my realm. I could still feel the connection and I grasped at it, connecting my source of power to the magic they stole from Callon. Likened to oil and water, the golden energy slithered away from my draw, but the force of Death clung to me and I sank my intent in deep, determined to win this cosmic tug of war.
What they possessed was not theirs to own, it belonged to my soulmate. I felt the siphon as the force that was Death struggled to reunite with its realm- with me. This was Callon’s essence. I could feel traits of him in the tendrils as they made their way back to me, wrapping me in his steadfast hold. Tears streamed down my face with the brutal realization. He would not be taken from me again. I cared not if the angel escaped now; I knew who it was, and I would track my foe to the last realm and eradicate every molecule associated with the slightest memory of their existence.
I screamed as I pulled, refusing to release my hold. Lucinda appeared at my side and I saw her viper rise, her forked tongue flicking the air once before striking. She sank her fangs into my neck and I felt a renewed source of energy as my faithful friend pumped her own power into me. The additional strength fueled the siphon I created and I ripped free the very source of my mate’s being from his captor.
The air throbbed with the injection of Callon’s strength. The glow took on a life of its own and my void no longer felt as vacant as usual. It felt...content. I was unable to stay on my feet, my knees giving out and I sunk to the bare earth while I watched the lifeforce of my eternal love swirl and twist through the air. I held my hand up as a wisp of greenish-grey energy slowly spiraled around me. The force wound up my arm, slipping through my fingers like a lover’s embrace and I could feel Callon’s aura surround me. His love, acceptance, determination, and devotion were as real and present as if the flesh and blood man were standing right before me, whole and complete.
I realized the force was dissipating, not fading in any way, just quietly slipping into the realm and reinforcing the void, erasing all feelings of malcontent.
“NO!” I sobbed, feeling him slip through my fingers. “Wait! Don’t leave me! Please! I need you!” My cries were answered with a light ‘sshh’ and the feeling of a feather-soft kiss against my lips carried by a whisper on the wind. I collapsed onto the lifeless earth and I felt the dreadful weight of losing him all over again crashing down upon me. Lucinda laid down next to me, her heads on her paws and she whined, sharing in my torment.
This was not what I expected when I walked out the door to face my enemy. I anticipated a fierce battle followed by a grand showdown with my foe, quickly followed by being reunited with my mate. I was going to save him,bring him home and spend eternity by his side! I never dreamed I would save his very essence only to see it returned back to the void he so coveted. Lucifer was right: Callon did not have a soul; what he did possess literally just passed through my fingers.
The Beginning bestowed upon a great man the mantle of Death. A Timeless being with the purpose of assisting souls to their next cycle and holding the scales of balance across his broad shoulders. Heaven operated as the ultimate goal for all mankind, Hell being viewed as a terminal avoidance, regardless of temptation . This perfect plan enabled all humanity the tools they needed to make their life choices, with the decisions they made between good and evil ebbing and flowing, but never moving too far from the center.
The design never planned another cycle for Callon. There was no ‘next life’ for Death as he was destined to always ‘be’. Now his duties passed to me because he was simply gone. Truly, if anyone deserved a place in the halls of Light, it was him.
I knew not how I could continue without him. I had no desire to exist for eternity with this gaping chasm in my soul, I felt as if someone ripped a massive hole right through the fabric of my being. I curled into Lucinda, burying my head into the thick fur of my hellhound’s shoulder and surrendered to the pain of final truth.
The Pieces Fall
A cool, wet nose prodded my cheek and I reached out to cup a head in my hand. She was right. I needed to finish this. I may have stripped the mutinous angel of Death’s power, but the game was not over. The Lord was still missing, and until my foe was dead and rotting, I would not rest.
I pulled myself to my feet and surveyed my world. The bodies of the defeated dotted the landscape, the wisps swaying and dancing around them like a silent celebration. The corpses were stripped of all flesh when I destroyed them, only bare bones remained decorating the sparse expanse. They would serve as a constant reminder to any who dared defy the course of existence The Beginning designed.
Walking into my home didn’t feel the same as it once did. Before today, I viewed it as a source of hope; I would see Callon grace this house again. I once saw our future so clearly in my mind. Now, it was more like a shrine and I knew it would be this way until the end of time.
I quickly stripped my filthy clothes, soiled from the battle with the Timeless. I redressed with no thought to what I donned, my brain focused only on seeing this to the end. If The L
ord was still alive, I feared His time could be short, especially since I destroyed the foul plan of ruling with Callon’s power.
I didn’t fear for my own safety; I was confident I would prevail. My rival clearly proved to have inadequate control of the greatest source of strength in existence, allowing me to strip them of their stolen prize.
Nevertheless, all incidentals, such as they were, would be addressed now. It was the right thing to do, so Lue and I stepped into the firm managing Callon’s mass holdings. The lead attorney quickly ushered me into his office and stared at me slack-jawed as I appointed Kyle Boronski power of attorney over Callon Thead’s estate, also making him the sole beneficiary. If there was one living being in all the realms I could have faith in, it was Kyle. I knew he would manage Callon’s wealth well, continuing my mate’s dedication to humanity with philanthropy and financing hope world-wide.
I would let Kyle decide how to proceed with making the public announcement of Callon Thead’s death. That was one road the mortal would have to walk alone, I would have no part in it. My office in Seattle was my next and final stop in this realm. I quickly jotted a note to Lynn granting her full ownership of the House, telling her to speak with Kyle concerning the legalities. It was done. My ties were cut and all loose ends addressed.
Before my hound and I could depart, a bright golden glow flashed in the air and a rather frazzled Jeremiel stood before me. “Thank The Lord! I have been looking for you everywhere and you never answer a phone. We need help, Amara. Heaven is falling and I don’t know what to do!”
I carefully studied the angel before me. The last time he appeared in this office, I almost died. However, this was no imposter, this was indeed God’s Angel of Mercy and Hope. “I will finish this, Jer. I was just on my way, actually. Heaven will not fall,” I said, unable to grant him any additional details and still maintain my composure- it was hanging on with the most delicate thread.