by Helen Scott
How many times in all my years in the afterlife had the Arbiter requested a tour guide for a specific spirit? When had I ever seen the same collection of demons in one place as I had seen during our experiment? Rarely and never were the only answers that came to mind as I paced my room.
Jude was supposed to be coming over, but my thoughts were too wrapped up in Avery for me to think I'd actually be good company. That wouldn't stop him though, the blasted man would only be more curious since he knew how rare it was for me to be interested in others. I turned to find a notebook and the scent of the woman in question drifted up to me from my shirt. I'd been carrying her as we ran and some of her perfume must have rubbed off on me. It didn't really smell like perfume, though. It was missing that floraly marker that they always seemed to have, as though women were grown in a garden.
I took another sniff of my shirt as I pulled it over my head and the aroma reminded me of night, that cool, almost autumn like scent that spoke of change, of the world preparing to sleep for the winter. She smelled of home, which was a worrying thought.
"You okay?" Jude's voice sounded off to my right and I turned to find him leaning against the door watching me sniff my own t-shirt.
"Yeah, just a weird smell on my shirt."
He strode forward with his hand outstretched, waiting for me to hand it over so he could inspect it as well. I should have known he wouldn't be satisfied by my answer. I thought about making an excuse and not handing the shirt over, but when he raised an eyebrow at me I knew that kind of reaction would only draw more attention, so I tossed the material at him.
Jude caught it deftly, without taking his eyes off mine. The man knew something was up and was trying to figure out what it was. The trouble was I didn't know what was going on, so I had no answers to give him.
His nose lowered to the fabric, burying into the folds as he took a deep breath. I waited for him to scrunch his face up and say that it smelled girly or sweaty or something, but that reaction never came. Instead he just took another, deeper sniff, clearly sensing the same thing I had been. The same energy, the same delicate scent that made me question everything I knew about the afterlife.
"What is that smell?" he asked, finally taking his eyes off mine as he closed them to take yet another breath.
"I think that's Avery. We did an experiment to see if demons were drawn to her, which they are, and I had to haul her ass out of there because she's still on limited powers." I turned to face the window, idly wondering where the demons had ended up. My guess was that they were still lurking somewhere outside, ready to claim their prize if she emerged from our house. Fortunately, that was unlikely to happen since she was currently passed out on the couch with the guys.
"The girl?" Jude sounded surprised. "Interesting. And you said the demons were attracted to her?"
I turned and nodded watching his brain working. It was what had drawn me to him in the first place. There was nothing like watching Jude examine an idea in his mind.
"She's attractive, isn't she?" he said, surprising me.
"Hadn't really thought about it." I’d just lied through my teeth. I had thought about it. I had thought about her ever since she came over to watch movies with the guys and I was awkwardly post coitus with Jude. All the times I'd thought about her though, he'd been there as well, like my brain couldn't separate the two.
Jude clicked his tongue at me. "Liar, liar, pants on fire."
"Fine, she's attractive, but she doesn't threaten anything between us," I replied, feeling defensive.
"I never said she did." Jude grinned at me for a moment before striding over and cupping my face between his hands. "You and I are a package deal. Even if we sometimes split up, we always come back to one another, but if she's interested in both of us then I won't object to sharing your bed. The afterlife is much too long to place restrictions like that. You will always have me, and I will always have you, but we can have others too. There are no rules here, we can be with and love whoever we want."
When his mouth claimed mine I melted into him as always. What he had said was true though, we were a package deal and nothing was ever going to change that. I wondered if Avery realized that the others were as well, whether they thought of it that way or not. I'd never seen any of them in a full-fledged relationship since they’d arrived in the afterlife. They all had occasional flings, but never anything serious. It was like they didn't want to upset the status quo.
In fact, Avery was the first woman who had spent any time with the three of them together, well, four if I included myself. I knew that if I was actually interested in her then I'd need to have a serious chat with her about Jude, which wasn't exactly going to be the easiest conversation in the world but it might be one of the most worthwhile if things kept going the way they were. For now though Jude needed my attention and I'd already let this matter linger too long on my mind as it was. I turned and fully focused on him, my lips moving over his as my tongue swept into his mouth and tangled with his own. There was another package that I wanted to pay attention to in that moment, one that had nothing to do with Avery.
Avery
I had spent the whole weekend with the guys and honestly didn't want to leave. It wasn't because I was scared of what was waiting for me outside their house. Although in truth I was a little, but I didn’t want to leave because I hated my room and my roommate situation. Plus, I didn't want to have another awkward conversation with Professor Matthias about why I was fading occasionally and inform him that now demons wanted to hunt me down like I was a home cooked meal.
There wasn't anything special about me, so I didn't understand why they were so focused on me. I mean, I grew up with my mom, only seeing my dad every other weekend when he could be bothered to show up. Not that different from many kids across the world. I went to school, averaged a B-, dated, played soccer, and was part of the debate team, although that was more to please my mom than myself since I hated conflict. I went to college, joined a sorority, changed my major no less than three times, and graduated with a B+ average. Then, like so many of my peers, I moved back home and began looking for a job, a task that seemed insurmountable thanks to the economic crisis that was plaguing the country at the time. When I finally found one and moved out on my own I thought my life was about to begin, only to have it end prematurely. There was nothing about me that wasn't average. So why did the demons seem to want me more than anyone else?
"You okay?" Sasha asked as she turned around to face me while we waited for the professor.
"Yeah, you know, just trying to figure out why demons want me dead. Just a normal weekend," I muttered under my breath.
She frowned at my heavy sarcasm. "Maybe you just smell good? I mean, do the guys react the same way?"
I glanced up at her and watched the mirth dancing in her eyes. "No."
"Aww, come on, not every girl has multiple men throwing themselves at her feet. I have to live vicariously through you!" She giggled at the end barely restraining the snort that I knew wanted to escape.
"There's nothing to report. They're just teases. They like to flirt but that's it," I grumbled as I angrily stabbed my pencil at the paper and began doodling in earnest. "No one is throwing themselves at my feet no matter how much I much I might wish it was different."
Sasha watched me her eyes clouding with concern as she realized how agitated I really was. There is nothing about the situation that I was really enjoying. Not the demons, not my roommate, and certainly not guys who were flirting with me with no intention of it going anywhere. That's the only thing I could think of because why else would four guys all flirt with me simultaneously. It wasn't like we could all date each other at once, was it?
"Hey, just because they're not throwing themselves at your feet right now doesn't mean they aren’t planning on it," Sasha said.
I sighed as I remembered the flashes of what a relationship would be like with each of them filtered through my mind, drawing a sigh from my lips. Over the weekend we had
enjoyed vegging on the couch watching movies or going for a walk around the neighborhood. I had even gone so far as to cook with them which was something I hated to do when I was alive.
It didn't hurt that I’d also had a few instances where I ran into them as they were coming out of the bathroom, towels wrapped around their waists and water dripping down their muscular chest. Thinking about it right now is not a good idea. no point in getting hot and bothered in class.
"Where is the professor?"
"I don't think we're the only ones asking that question," Sasha said as she gestured to everyone else in the room. Technically, class started half an hour ago. The professor just never showed up which as far as I could tell for purgatory was not normal. A few people gathered the courage to get up and leave and slowly the number of students in class dwindled until it was just Sasha and me. Finally, we stood and left as well. The rest of the day went as normal classes and lunch just your average day until I got to demonology. Professor Matthias was there and his eyes sharpened on me as I walked in the room. I wasn't late or early, I was right on time, so he had no excuse to pay me any extra attention.
For most of the class my attention wandered, focusing on anything and everything except what I should. I knew I should learn as much about the demons that were after me as possible, but the subject matter was just so dry that I could barely bring myself to show any interest. It was only when Professor Matthias mentioned the archdemon that my ears perked up.
When I glanced over at him I saw a smug smile tilting the corner of his mouth. Clearly, he had noticed that I wasn't paying attention and was surprised that this was what drew me back in. "The archdemon is a prince of the netherworld and a creature that is largely mythological. There is only one person who claims to have seen one. They are so physically large and metaphysically powerful that should one ever break into the realm of the afterlife, or worse the mortal realm, then we would stand no chance of defeating them.
“The likelihood of one of them ever coming to the realm, however, is slim to none. It's not something that we generally have to worry about, but it is something that I wanted you to be aware of because the possibility remains. Most of you will never see one. In fact, I'd be surprised if any of you ever saw one, seeing as how neither myself nor anyone else I've ever known can claim such an experience. Most likely you will all realize what's holding you in purgatory and solve that problem before one is ever able to break through and try and take over."
I raise my hand and he arched an eyebrow at me. “Yes, Ms. Everly?"
"Why would an archdemon want to break into our realm? Surely there are more powerful in their own realm. I mean, that's why they're the archdemon not just Joe Schmoe demon, right?"
"I understand where you're coming from, but remember that our realm and the mortal realm hold more magic for demons, therefore the argument would be that they probably want to become even more powerful by using the magic in the mortal realm as well as our own."
"Then why haven't they broken in before? Surely, if they’re so much more powerful here then they would be trying to get here and more people would have seen one?"
"Think about it like this, a lion is more powerful than a mouse but a mouse can get into more places than a lion can. A regular demon is the mouse in the situation and an archdemon is the lion. The more powerful and the larger the demon becomes the more difficult it is for them to break through the realms. So in theory, they're quite happy ruling over what they have in the netherworld, whereas smaller demons and less powerful demons are searching for power anywhere they can get it and as such are more likely and able to break into our realm and then go on to the mortal realm if possible." Before I could ask any more questions, the bell rang and all the students started packing up their belongings and headed out for the evening. I tried to get out before Professor Matthias could stop me but as soon as I picked up my books he called out, "Ms. Everly, a moment please?"
I tried to suppress the sigh of frustration that ran through me as we waited for all the other students to clear out. He went over to close the door when it was just the two of us, and that awkward tension surfaced once more. He was the only one outside the guys that knew about my current situation, well, except for Sasha of course.
"I hear you went demon hunting over the weekend, how was that?" Professor Matthias perched on the edge of his desk, crossing his arms over his chest as he waited for my response. His eyes watched me sharper than an eagle’s. He was taking in my every movement, every breath, every twitch.
"We did. There is a theory being floated around that the demons were attracted to me, and so we set out to prove that wrong."
"And were you successful?"
"No."
"Are you going to make me drag it out of you?"
"I'm not trying to be rude, but it's not really any of your business."
"Except for the fact that I saved your life, you're right, it's none of my business. However, having a faculty member on your side would be useful if it came down to the school thinking about expelling you which would mean your extinction."
I chewed on my bottom lip not wanting to share any more information than necessary with him even though he didn't seem to pose a threat. There was just something telling me to keep my mouth shut. I usually listened to my instincts, as they were on point, but this time I didn't have a choice but to give him something.
"We proved the opposite. The demons seem to be more attracted to me than anyone else. We barely escaped. If it wasn't for Xavier carrying me I doubt I would have. I'm sure they are waiting for me outside every night hoping to catch me unawares. The guys are pretty confident in that as well. I just can't figure out what they want from me."
"Would you like to hear my theory?" Professor Matthias's voice was low and calculating while he tried not to startle me.
"If you think it would help, sure." I wasn't exactly in the mood for another theory, but I felt like playing along and hearing what he had to say would get me out of there faster.
"I think when you come into your abilities you're going to be a powerful spirit. You're already recovering from the poisoning, and even though I had a hand in that, I didn't expect you to be making such a swift recovery. Most cases that I've seen before faded in and out for weeks afterward."
I debated what I was going to say for a moment, still trying to follow my instincts not to trust him and yet realizing that he was one of the few knowledgeable allies that I could have. It put me at odds with myself. "Do you know if spirits can get sick?"
"We don't get sick since we have no physical bodies for viruses and bacteria to attack, even though it feels like it. What you're really feeling is the other person's energy, which is often why relationships get so intense in the afterlife."
"So if a professor didn't come to class it wouldn't be because she was ill?"
"Unlikely. She could have moved on though. It would be unlikely but not out of the realm of possibility." Professor Matthias was approaching the problem logically which I appreciated even though every instinct I had was screaming that she had been murdered.
"Could you tell if you found her remains?" My voice rasped at the end. I could barely get the question out through the fear.
"Possibly, if I knew who it was you were looking for. If I've worked with them enough then I might be able to sense their energy signature around the remains."
"It's Professor Kenner, Moira, she never showed up for Ghostly Studies 101 this morning, and after finding all those remains before I'm worried that something happened to her." The words tumbled out of me like a waterfall.
"Understandable. Can you take me to where you found the remains?"
I nodded and watched as Professor Matthias stood and gathered his things before opening the door and gesturing for me to lead the way. To my surprise, as I stepped out of the room I found Bowie waiting for me. As the professor followed he simply raised an eyebrow. "Want to come with?" I asked, crooking my arm and offering it to him like I was an old schoo
l gentleman.
"I'd love to." A grin tipped his lips and, instead of looping his arm through mine, he slung it around my back so his hand was resting on my hip which made my breath hitch in my chest. Bowie, out of all of the guys, had been the most hands off. Until now.
17
Bowie
When Avery had first come out of the classroom with Matthias I'd been worried that I'd interrupted something I wasn't supposed to have seen. Seeing them together had sent my mind spinning into a tornado of doubt. But when she asked if I wanted to come with them, not that I even knew where they were going, the answer had been yes, no doubt remaining. Something told me when she offered me her arm that she didn't like being alone with him, but I wasn't sure why. He was one of the most affable professors out there.
As my hand slid around her waist and cupped the side of her hip she leaned into me and I had to fight the urge to pull her even tighter since that would probably trip her. I tried my best not to look at her and weird her out with how much this meant to me, but the truth was I hadn't been in a serious relationship since I died, and I didn't want to fuck this up. My eyes were drawn to her but the only thing I let myself do was watch her with my peripheral vision as she led the three of us toward the woods.
I caught her glancing at me a couple times and each time I felt like a teen on his first date. What she did to me was stupid, and no grown man I knew would ever admit to feeling like this, but this past weekend, spending time with her and just relaxing had brought us closer in a different way. I just didn't want her to think that I was only interested in friendship.