by Amy Starr
The next event happened in a matter of seconds. Without thinking twice about his actions, Hudson stood on his feet and turned to face the high reaper who was addressing Harkness. Before anyone had time to react, Hud threw the dart through the air as hard as he possibly could. It sailed through the sky like a missile before hitting the head reaper in the back of the head. A loud crack erupted through the court room.
There was a moment of shocked hush. The high reaper felt the back of its head and touched the silver dart. It began to speak a name, but before it could utter anything the reaper exploded. Dust went flying out onto the shocked crowd as the reaper’s cloak floated back to the ground. Horrified gasps echoed through the reapers and the rest of the high reapers flinched back.
One of the high reapers swung around and faced Hudson, pointing a bony finger at him.
“The mortal was the assassin!” The high reaper barked.
Hudson stood in place, an expression of horror on his face. “No…no I didn’t mean to do it!”
He gazed down at his shaking hands. Hud had no idea what had happened. He couldn’t even remember anything that had just occurred. All at once, there was a massive uproar in the court.
“Murderer!”
“Banish him to the Purgatorium!”
“Throw him in and never let him return!”
He felt the hands of reapers grab him, pull him out of the stand he was in and drag him away. He a held a hand out to Poppy who gave him a horrified glance. She was completely frozen in fear as another reaper came behind her and grabbed her.
“It wasn’t me! Please!” Hudson pleaded.
Whipping his head around the court room, he saw all the reapers standing and glaring at him with red glowing eyes. All except one. A single reaper sat at one of the back pews, its arms folded, and its hooded head tilted downwards. It gave Hud a small wave before he was carted off.
Chapter Six
Poppy felt numb as she was thrown into a small blank room with Harkness. They were ordered to stay inside and not to attempt to leave at risk of being banished eternally before they were left alone. Poppy stood up and began slamming her fists against the side of the wall, screaming at the top of her lungs.
“He didn’t do it! Let us out!”
“I have never seen a mortal kill a reaper before.” Harkness murmured, an element of shock to its usually calm voice. Poppy had never heard a reaper sound so shaken before.
Poppy darted her eyes to the reaper. Her mind was swimming with a million thoughts. “I don’t understand, how is it even possible for a reaper to die? Aren’t you uh…already dead?”
The reaper stared up at the ceiling, thinking of the words it was going to say before speaking. “Reapers do not die like humans do. When a reaper’s life ends, they cease to exist, and nothing will bring them back.”
The psychic let out a soft moan and held her head in her hands. She knew Hud was in a dire situation and she had no idea what she was going to do. “What’s going to happen to him?” Poppy asked the reaper in a small voice.
Harkness floated over to the wall and placed a hand on it. It could easily phase through the wall, but Poppy had a feeling the reaper just chose not to go through.
“Well, seeing as he was caught murdering one of the high reapers, he is most likely on his way to being banished in the Purgatorium for all eternity.”
Poppy’s eyes grew wide and she shook her head in disbelief. “No, no this cannot be happening. He didn’t do it; I know he didn’t. Hudson wouldn’t murder anyone.”
Her eyes narrowed and a furious scowl formed on her face. “It was Morgana. I knew that bitch was behind all of this.”
“Morgana?”
Poppy explained the strange demon hunter to Harkness, who let out a small hum in reply. “There is no way a mortal could have been trapped here for a decade without being found.”
“I knew it!” Poppy hissed. “She’s behind this. Once I find a way out of here, I’m going to tell everyone what happened.”
Without warning, a figure stepped through the wall, startling the psychic. Her blood went cold when she recognised the black-haired woman smiling strangely at her.
“Poppy! Thank God I found you.” Morgana ran up to her and gave her a hug that was just a little too tightly. “Listen, we need to get out of here and-”
Poppy shoved Morgana back and glared at her. “I know it was you who did all of this, don’t lie to us.”
The black-haired woman let out a strange tinkling of laughter and began approaching Harkness. In one swift movement, she pulled out her taser and pressed it against the reaper’s cloak. A loud buzz of electricity echoed through the room and the reaper let out a gurgling cry before falling into a twitching heap.
“You’re lucky I used my last sickltite on that goddamn high reaper or you’d be a pile of dust.” Morgana growled in a deep and crackly way that sounded nothing like her original voice.
Poppy reached into her bag to find a salt bomb, but to her despair she could not find any. She heard Morgana chuckle and Poppy could only watch as the black-haired woman held up a handkerchief – Poppy’s handkerchief – filled with several balls of concentrated salt.
“Looking for this?” She cooed softly, crushing the bombs in her hand with the aid of the handkerchief.
She dropped the salt dust onto the ground and walked over it, approaching the slowly shrinking back Poppy.
“My idiot brothers had this much trouble defeating you?” She sighed, whipping her long hair back. “I’ve had Powers that were trickier to destroy.”
Morgana grabbed Poppy by her neck and grinned at her, showing a full set of sharp teeth. The psychic went to speak but the disguised demon shook one of its pale slender fingers at her in a condescending way.
“Oh Poppy, Poppy…I know exactly what you’re going to say to me right now. Am I going to kill you? Well obviously, but not quite yet.”
She leant in close to Poppy’s ear and hissed through a demented giggle. “That wouldn’t be any fun at all, would it? No, I’m going to make you watch that idiot of a demon hunter get sent to the Purgatorium forever first. Then, I’m going to directly deliver you to your personal hell myself.”
With that, Morgana dragged Poppy out of the room by her throat.
Chapter Seven
Hudson was hauled through a crowd of furious reapers. They jeered and hissed at him as he kept his head low. He glanced at his shaking hands, still trying to comprehend what had happened. I just destroyed a reaper; he heard his own voice echo through his head. Why did I do that? Why would I even want to do that?
He was brought down the golden stairs of the trial room. At one point, he felt someone push him and he stumbled over the last step. Strong arms pull him up and forcefully turned him to the left. The moment he saw the swirling portal he felt his heart starting to leap out of his chest.
“I swear I didn’t do it,” he moaned, but his voice was drowned out by the furious shouts and calls of the cloaked figures around him.
Eventually, Hudson found himself face-to-face with the black vortex that he and Poppy had been staring at not too long ago. The entrance to the Purgatorium. A few of the high reapers stood on either side of the portal as one of them approached the book on the stand. It took the ancient tome into its hands before it spoke in a booming voice that sent a shiver down Hud’s spine.
“Hudson Cooper, you stand here after murdering a high reaper in cold blood in front of an audience of reapers. You have been sentenced to an eternity within the Purgatorium, never to be judged.”
Hud felt his blood pressure skyrocket as he struggled against the grip of the reapers who held him tightly. “I said before, I didn’t do it!”
He thought back to his previous experience in the Infernal Region and quickly stammered to the crowd of reapers.
“I-I think a demon influenced me. There are demons here, I swear!”
A quiet hush fell over the room and the high reaper holding the book floated over to Hudson. Even
without seeing its eyes, Hud could tell it was staring into his soul.
“A demon influenced you?”
Hudson nodded his head desperately. The reaper seemed to consider this before leaning forward and touching Hudson’s forehead. Hudson shivered. The high reaper’s hand felt colder than ice, and he was certain that it had left behind a burn after it brought its hand back. Hud clamped his eyes shut and silently prayed that he had proved his innocence to this merciless reaper.
“I feel no influence. Do not delay the inevitable, Hudson Cooper.”
Hud let out a moan of despair and, opening his eyes, found himself looking directly into the reaper’s hood. As Hudson stared into the high reaper’s hood, he noticed something strange. He thought back to the time that he had seen Harkness without its hood on. The reaper had a very distinctive head. In fact, it had been literally a skull. Peering into the high reaper’s cloak, Hud could tell that this reaper’s head was not a skull. There was a definite shape to it, like an upside-down triangle.
Something else caught his eye as well. Small points jutted up from the top of the reaper’s head in an erratic manner. It didn’t take a demon hunter to realise they were horns.
It was at the point Hudson came to a realisation that made his stomach drop. He had been so busy panicking about his life, he had not even noticed its absence.
“Where’s the Demotome.” Hud asked in a small voice.
“Do not change the subject-”
“Where is my book?”
As if responding to his question, a great light began to shine from the crowd of reapers. They all turned to stare at one reaper, who was beginning to shake like a tree buffeted in the wind. Without warning, it let out an inhuman shriek and tore its cloak off. The Demotome came tumbling down and landed on the fallen cloak. No one noticed that though as they were all too busy staring at the very non-reaper figure that had just decloaked itself.
It had dark black scales running up and down its body, reminding Hudson of a deep-sea fish that had never seen the light of day. Its golden eyes darted from one reaper to the other fearfully.
“A demon!” Cried one of the reapers, lifting its scythe up in a defensive manner. Other reapers followed suit and began to gang up on the demonic creature. Before the attacking reaper could hit the frightened demon, another reaper caught it with their own scythe. Their hood fell, revealing another demon with shining red horns and a pig’s snout.
“We’ve been infiltrated!” One of the elder reapers yelled, holding its arms skyward. “Reapers and reaplings, pull down your hoods and reveal yourselves!”
The elder reaper’s call was drowned out by the sounds of brawling between the reapers and disguised demons. The reapers holding tightly to Hudson released him and went to join the fray. Now free to move, Hud went to sprint away but the thing that was disguised as the elder reaper grabbed him.
“You’re not going anywhere.” It hissed, glaring at Hudson with red eyes. “I’m going to enjoy devouring your soul, demon hunter.”
“Just a second!”
Hud lifted his head in time to see Morgana and Poppy racing towards them. His heart skipped a beat with joy, but this excitement was short lived when he saw how terrified Poppy looked and how tightly the black-haired demon hunter was clenching her arm. Morgana pushed Poppy forward, a nasty grin on her face. The disguised demon gave the black-haired woman a bow and smiled up at her nervously.
“Ah, Prince Belphegor, I have the demon hunter.”
Morgana chuckled and shoved Poppy to the cloaked demon. “Excellent work. Push them both into the Purgatorium. If anyone asks, the mortals were dealt with appropriately.”
Hudson felt his stomach drop. “Morgana…”
The black-haired woman screwed her face up in a mocking version of a pained expression. “Oh Hud, I’m so sorry. Sorry that you were too much of an idiot to see the truth that was right in front of you.”
She turned her back to them and began walking away, kicking the Demotome away as she did so.
“Throw them in.”
One moment, Hudson was standing on the cool marble tiles and the next he was hurtling through a spiralling vortex. Desperately, Hud tried to reach out for Poppy but he could not find her. He swung his head around, but he could barely see his hands in front of his face.
“Poppy!”
He cried out her name before he plunged into the cold black waters of purgatory.
Chapter Eight
Poppy was fighting to keep her head above the dark water. She thrashed through the waves and jerked her head from side to side. All she could see was an endless see of darkness.
“Hud!” Poppy shouted, feeling the cool water enter her mouth.
She coughed and spluttered as the strange liquid slipped down her windpipe. It was the strangest feeling she had ever experienced. It felt like she had just drunken a cup of cigarette smoke, yet there was no real taste to it except the faintest essence of burnt wood.
The psychic screamed for Hudson again and tried to listen for a reply. She slowed her paddling down so that she could hear better. That was when she heard the frantic splashing coming from her left.
“Hud, I’m coming!”
Poppy swam over to the sound of the splashing. It took what felt like half an hour before she saw a figure floating in the water in front of her. It wasn’t Hudson, the person was too small and delicate looking. It was a woman, perhaps a teenager. There was a glowing cord stretching from the figure’s stomach down into the deep water below them. She paused when she realized who it was.
“Emma-Lee?”
The brunette glanced up at Poppy from where she had been treading water, a shocked expression growing on her face.
“You found me, oh my God!”
Letting out a small sob, Emma-Lee swam over to Poppy desperately. She went to hug her only to realise she had no way to support her body in that position. The brown-haired girl glanced about as she floated on the water. “Where’s Hudson? Has he got a way out of here?”
Poppy gave Emma-Lee a solemn look and the teenager’s face fell.
“No…” She moaned, tears forming in her eyes. “What happened?”
“We’re stuck, but I think Hud is around here somewhere.”
The two women began calling out for Hudson as they tried to stay afloat on the water. That was when Poppy noticed something moving towards them on top of the water. She squinted her eyes and it became clear what the black cloaked figure was.
“Oh no…we have to go!” Emma-Lee shrieked.
Emma-Lee went to swim away but Poppy grabbed her arm. The brunette tried to tug away and began to protest but Poppy spoke over the top of her. “No, look.”
The approaching reaper was holding a limp figure in its arms. From the person’s hair and size, both Poppy and Emma-Lee knew exactly who it was.
“Hudson!” Emma-Lee cried.
Poppy paddled over to the reaper as it placed Hudson gently on top of the water. Despite how generic the reaper looked; Poppy was certain she recognised the cloaked figure from how they moved.
“Harkness...”
Harkness nodded its head. “He should be okay.”
Emma-Lee stared wide eyed at the looming reaper and hid behind Poppy. “Why isn’t it trying to grab me?” She murmured. “What’s going on?”
“It’s okay, this reaper is on our side!” Poppy said to her.
Harkness gazed down at the three of them and let out something that sounded like a soft sigh. It lifted its hand and stared down at it. Poppy realized that it had blood splattered on it.
“I am starting to remember things.” Harkness hissed in a strangely soft voice. “Things that I thought I had forgotten long ago.”
It glanced from Poppy to Hudson floating on the water. “I believe I know why I created that first portal, the one that brought you two together.”
Poppy tilted her head to the side. “Why Harkness?”
The banished reaper shook its head.
“I do no
t have time to explain right now. You and Hudson need to go back and stop Belphegor before he overruns the Reaper’s court.”
Harkness pulled the Demotome out of its cloak and placed it on Hudson’s chest. “I shall return you to a safe place so Hud can recover, but then it will be up to you to stop him. I do not have the power to defeat the demon.”
The reaper created a portal with its scythe on top of the water. “Go now, I shall catch up with you in a moment. Oh, but before you go.”
Harkness lifted up its shining sickle and brought it down on Emma-Lee. The brunette let out a shriek and Poppy lifted her hands to stop the reaper. She stopped when she saw the silver blade slice through the cord connecting the teenager to the dark ocean.
“Now go!” Harkness said, pointing a bony finger to the swirling vortex.
Pulling Hudson along, Poppy and Emma-Lee entered the portal and fell through the spiralling darkness.
Chapter Nine
Hudson’s mind felt like there was a million bees buzzing inside it. He groaned and squirmed around. All he could think about was the water swirling around him as he swam towards the portal that led him to the psychic’s fridge. There was a face glaring at him from the other side. It was not Poppy though; it was a man. The man was shockingly handsome and had long blonde hair. He beckoned Hud forward and Hudson obliged, getting closer to the strange man. Just before he reached him, Hud felt himself stirring from sleep.
Hudson opened his eyes and saw an angel staring down at him. Not one of those creepy tall inhuman angels, but one of the ones his mother used to talk about, like a guardian angel. Covering his eyes with one of his hands, he tried to get a better look at her. She had long dark-brown hair and a warm smile that made him feel safe and secure. For a split second he thought it was his mother, back when she was younger, and he was a little boy.