The Glass Dagger (Afterlife Chronicles Book 1)

by Stephanie Hudson

“Which side we are from, Heaven or Hell…right?” he said making Sophia inwardly wince before voicing the only answer she could give…

  “Yeah… pretty much.”

  21

  Which Side Are You On?

  “Yeah… pretty much,” she said after shrugging her shoulders and agreeing with Theo’s statement about which side they were on. Of course, this quickly caused another outburst from the group.

  “What?!” Ena said at the same time Zane said,

  “You gotta be kidding me.”

  “So, is that what happened down there in the club, was it like Hell trying to drag us down there or something?” Janie asked looking around frantically, focusing on the windows and the walls as though she was expecting something to happen at any second.

  “Okay, okay, guys, let me explain. First, nothing is going to drag you up, down, sideways or anywhere else you don’t wish to go. And secondly, what happened down in the club was just your other selves reacting to this place…as if it was finding home for the first time and feeding from its power,” Sophia said trying to calm down the group.

  “Like turning on a light bulb?” Zane asked but Theo shot him an ‘Are you for real’ look.

  “Yeah, just like that actually,” Sophia agreed smiling.

  “Explain the bit about our ‘other selves’. You mean if we are a demon or an angel…right?” Theo asked, pressing for more.

  “Alright, so let me try and explain this the best way I can. A lot of humans believe that when you die, your soul goes to Heaven or Hell and your body remains as it’s something you no longer need…like shedding an outer shell that kept your soul safe until it was time to pass on.” Theo thought about this and couldn’t help but think about that box in the attic and that depressing case number written on the side. Is that what had happened to him? His body was no longer needed and his soul finally found peace?

  “Well, our bodies are just that. They are the outer shell that houses what we truly are. The face we display to the world that we hide our true natures from.”

  “But why hide? Would it be so bad if humans knew the truth?” Janie asked once Sophia had finished, but it was Theo who answered that one, remembering what Draven had told him on the rooftop and repeating the same words,

  “Your world is something you hide for a reason, as you cannot protect a world in chaos, only prevent it from happening and that is where lies its greatest protection.” Sophia laughed once and said,

  “You sound like my brother.” Theo looked down to hide his awkward reaction and ignored the obvious stares from the others.

  “The world today has changed from the days when Gods were powerful from worship and named the makers of this world without question. And science was decades away from giving people alternative answers. Those days of strong belief are simply not strong enough now to overcome the fear of something that people find hard, if not impossible, to understand. So, we keep the peace by restoring and maintaining the balance between our kind, so humans remain unaffected as well as protected, to live as the Gods intended…with free will granted.”

  “So, you’re like the Supernatural police?” Ena asked tucking her blue streaks behind her ear, only to have the short strands fall forward again.

  “Sort of, yes,” Sophia replied with a smirk.

  “And your bodies, you mentioned them being like ‘outer shells’?” Janie asked this time and Theo looked to Zane, wondering for once why he was so quiet.

  “Yes, we call them vessels or hosts.”

  “That sounds a bit cold,” Ena said hugging herself as if, unbeknown to her, she was trying to hold onto hers.

  “Not at all, I can assure you I am quite fond of mine, as we have spent many lifetimes together,” Sophia corrected.

  “Uh…you don’t look that old, not at all,” Zane said after clearing his throat, something he seemed to have to do a lot when around the beautiful Sophia. She gave him a warm smile and said,

  “Thank you sweetheart, but I am a lot older than I look.” Theo remembered Rue saying the same thing to him before he got on that bus…of course now he felt like an idiot.

  “You no age your body time?” Ivan asked in his own unique way.

  “My host does age, but at an incredibly slow rate. Our essence regenerates our body’s cells constantly although we still have to take care of it,” she said answering the questions freely.

  “How so?” Ena asked.

  “Well as one would a plant, we still must feed it, give it water, although not as much or as often as a human would have to, but we still need to rest it and give it time if it needs to heal from very large and deadly wounds.”

  “So, uh can you…like…die?” Zane asked suddenly having the strange urge to cut himself and to see if it healed like Wolverine.

  “Our bodies can be damaged beyond repair if we are not prepared to protect it, or do not have the power to do so…for example if we are fighting someone with far greater power. Well, then they could do enough damage to our host but death…” She thought a moment, trying to find once again the best way of describing it.

  “…Well our demon, angel sides would only be banished back to where we came from in the hope of someday being granted a new vessel…but depending on our rank, the punishment, our power, things like that, then that would depend upon many factors as to what could happen to us. Death can come at the hands of Gods above or below, if it is deemed so, once back in their domain,” Sophia said, knowing she was going to need a large glass of Absinthe after this first class, as she had hoped to ease them into it, but all hopes of that were quickly sinking down the supernatural wormhole.

  “And on Earth, do the Gods punish?” And there it was, another doozy of a question for her to answer, surprisingly by the shy but inquisitive Janie.

  “This may come as a surprise but the Gods have no power on this plane.”

  “What!?” This outburst all came at her as a collective from the teens.

  “Earth is human territory, first and foremost, which means it is untouchable by any greater power from above or below. The Gods gave humans free will to choose their own path and whether it be right or wrong, it is not for us to decide or more importantly to intervene.” Sophia could see that they all found this shocking, which wasn’t surprising given that it was the complete opposite to what had been taught about most religions.

  “So, you can’t punish a human?” Theo asked frowning when thinking about all the wrong doings by human hands that were getting away with great evil.

  “Punishment for humans is left to humans, always has and always will be. Whether it be in the form of revenge or a justice system.”

  “But think of the good you could do?” Theo argued again and Sophia granted him a soft look before saying,

  “Think about it Theo, it would be like a heavyweight champion punishing a child for hitting another child and where do you draw the line. After all, innocents go to jail everyday just as the guilty go free. It is an unfair world you live in but for most, it is a free world. We keep our own kind in line and are left only to hope that the humans do the same with theirs.”

  “So, what’s the point of even believing in Gods, if they have no power to help people?” Theo asked again, getting frustrated.

  “Oh, but there is great power in faith and hope. Believing in something bigger and better than yourselves can help to make humanity better. That is the power that Gods have on earth. Believing can join a nation in times of devastation. I have seen men do great things in my time on this Earth,” she said looking to each of them and seeing a flicker book of too many histories to count flash by in her mind.

  “I have seen them rebuild cities after the destruction by both men and nature and that was all driven by their belief that the Gods would help them through the devastation. That they had enough faith that when the time came, a better place awaited them if they did right by the Gods they believed in. So, as you see, religions can better a person enough to guide them to do right in this world an
d not to walk down the path of evil,” Sophia said, hoping this was all she would need to say on the matter but of course, there was one boy that wouldn’t let it go.

  “But it can also be the cause of war and death,” Theo said, throwing another argument back at her.

  “Very true. As we all know religion can be used as the excuse needed to manipulate men into following blindly a cause which was never their own. All a King had to say was how God had spoken to him and told him to destroy the heathens in the south. And before you know it, thousands are dead and all for land, wealth and power gained for a single man wearing a crown who wanted more. Something the common man would have died for without ever seeing a single thread of good come of it.” Sophia knew the second she finished what Theo would say.

  “And this is something your kind could have stopped,” Theo argued, thinking of the injustice of it all and what was worse, knowing that they had the power to stop it but didn’t.

  “War will never stop when greed drives those in control of nations. History will repeat itself, whether it be classed as more civilised or not. But if we were to involve ourselves in human disputes, then there would be more carnage. I can guarantee you of that.” She knew by one look at the frustrated teen that she needed to prove her point further.

  “Tell me Theo, how do you chose a side?”

  “What do you mean?” he asked frowning and all the rest were left to do nothing but watch this dispute in silence.

  “Alright, take the Second World War for example. If we had intervened, then whose side should we have taken?”

  “Well ours of course, the Germans were trying to invade,” Theo said sounding sure of himself but Zane smirked, knowing what was coming next.

  “And those Germans, you think they all deserved to die by our hands, because they were following orders from a tyrant dictator who would have killed off his own people if they’d rebelled? You think we should have wiped a whole nation off the map because of a single man’s rise to power?” she asked folding her arms across her chest and making her point enough that Theo had to admit defeat himself.

  “As I said, it is not that easy a question to answer when faced with all the facts. Each person who died in that war, whether on one side of the battlefield or the other, was a father, a husband, a brother or a son. They were loved by someone in the world and they died for another man’s cause. We accept this as the way of the human world, but just because we accept it, it doesn’t mean we want a part in it. Another lesson learned I think,” Sophia added looking to the others and then resting her eyes on Theo, who was now thinking about what she had said and most of all, admitting defeat himself.

  “Okay, so I get it. Biggy rule number one, no interfering with human life,” Theo said making Sophia laugh.

  “I would ask if there are any more questions, but I am starting to fear the many more disputes I will have on my hands…and you are far too good at debates,” she said nodding to Theo, making him blush.

  “I am sorry, Miss. Injustice is a bit of a sore spot with me,” he admitted honestly.

  “And that is not a bad thing Theo, for it will serve you well. We certainly have our fair share of injustice to act upon in our world. Have no fear of that, as once trained, we will keep you busy.” Now this definitely piqued all their interest, as it was a hint of what their future there held.

  “Are we going to become like…supernatural soldiers?” Ena asked and Zane piped up and said,

  “I would prefer the Superhero status …if we are choosing a name that is.”

  “I think that will be better explained by Rue, as she will be the one helping you discover what you are and what powers you have buried deep within your hosts,” Sophia said thinking she had at least dodged another difficult question for the day, when another one soon took its place making her want to sigh.

  “So, this host of ours, what exactly are you expecting to find lies beneath it?” Ena asked tentatively.

  Okay, so this was where things got tricky for Sophia as every one of her kind was different. Even the combined races didn’t always look alike, let alone throwing Angels and Demons into the mix. Hell, but she had seen enough scary looking angels in her many lifetimes to know a spoon wasn’t always a spoon and can in fact be a killing blade just hiding behind the innocent looking spoon…if that made any sense?

  Being of royal blood granted from both Heaven and Hell meant their family often had to face difficult decisions. It also meant trying to control the world’s supernatural races not only to get along without killing each other but also to do so hidden from inquisitive and suspicious human minds.

  But that all seemed like a piece of cake compared to being faced with five innocent teenagers all looking up to her to tell them the impossible was real and life was about to get a whole lot scarier…in the form of one day looking in the mirror and seeing your other self where once your human face used to be. Because in her world, monsters didn’t live under your bed or in the dark looming corners of your mind dreaming up such things. No, they were your neighbour, your colleague or even your friend. And even though Sophia knew she was beautiful on the outside, on the inside she was what any one of these teens would have called…

  Terrifying.

  So, she did the unthinkable, not knowing any other way of explaining it to them other than showing them…

  Her true demon form.

  22

  Demon Disco Dancing

  “Alright, let me try and explain this the best way I know how,” Sophia said knowing this was a risky move but at the same time she needed to test them.

  “And that is?” Theo asked and Sophia cocked her head slightly to the side and replied,

  “I’m going to show you.” And just like that, with only a single sentence as their warning she changed…

  Into a monster.

  The girls both let out high pitched screams and the boys scrambled out of their seats with open horror etched on their faces.

  “Janie, no look!” Ivan said turning her around to face the wall and Theo shouted out,

  “Whoa! Holy…”

  “Shit!” Zane said finishing off Theo’s sentence, whilst Theo pushed the others behind him in case it decided to attack. Because no matter how much warning they might have had, nothing could have prepared them for the sight that faced them now. The Sophia who had spent their first lesson talking to them with ease and kindness now looked as though she could rip their faces off and smile doing it. And with that disgusting grin facing them, they would have no chance to escape either as they were more likely to slip on their own vomit.

  In fact, Ena had a sickly green tinge to her skin and Zane looked half way to choosing whether to swallow bile or spit it out. Sophia's face had morphed into a grotesque and hideous version of herself, with skin cracked as though made from the hard desert sands left to bake under the hot blazing sun.

  She looked grey and lifeless as though she was a living corpse, with eyes of milky white as if she had been blinded by extreme light. Her smile, if it could be called that, looked as though a blade had slit along the corners of her mouth and up her cheeks, held together by a strange black substance oozing from beneath the many cracks in her flaky skin. It almost looked as though her black soul was trying to escape by any means possible, even if it meant seeping through her eye sockets and from the cracks in her eyelids, running down her face like mascara tears.

  Theo swallowed hard as he looked at her soulless eyes, when they transformed from white to onyx black, giving her demon form a more sinister depth. It reminded Theo of a horror movie he once saw, when some scientists were infected with a deadly virus, one that turned their blood black as if it had rotted in some way. But it wasn’t just her appearance that had changed, it was the addition of what followed her from behind, like a living shadow that was shaped like a pair of giant smoky wings.

  She held up her hands and started to walk towards them, her wings following her every step like magnetic vapour holding its shape but also look
ing like ink under water with the way they moved.

  “AHHH!” Ena screamed again, proving that when scared enough, it was certainly a convincing sound when she meant it to be, unlike when they were trying to get Ivan off the railings.

  “Okay guys, please, I know this looks bad but…” she never got chance to finish as this time Janie just happened to glance her way again and was soon left screaming once more like Ena did. The next thing they knew the door burst open and in ran Pip.

  “Holy Rip Van Winkle Batman, what the freak is going on?!” she shouted after coming to a skidding halt. She then looked to Sophia in her demon form with her raw, flaky hand tapping on her cocked hip and said,

  “What, what’s the biggy?” Sophia didn’t look impressed and nodded to the huddled group of scared teens for Pip to follow her gaze.

  “Oh…I see.”

  “Yeah, and so do they,” Sophia commented dryly.

  “I thought we talked about this. You know, in the meeting we had and my idea about…”

  “I am not juggling flashing balls, Pip,” Sophia said cutting her off and slicing a hand in the air, giving her obscene appearance a very human trait.

  “Yeah, but look at them, I told you that if we pull a scary then we have to back it up with a funny. Juggling balls is a classic, it’s that or…”

  “No Pip… I am not line dancing to Billy Ray Cyrus’ Achy Breaky Heart either,” she added before Pip could say more. It was at this point that an amazing thing happened and that was the faintest sound of a giggle coming from Ena. Pip heard it and nudged Sophia.

  “See, told you dudette, it could totally work,” she whispered and even though in this form the others wouldn’t be able to see it, she still rolled her eyes out of habit, knowing that Pip was right. She needed to make the point that she was still the same person they’d first encountered but in order to do that she had to show them that no matter what her appearance, she still had her humanity. And this lesson in trust would be one of their most important ones. So, she did something she didn’t really want to do, not without a few bottles of absinthe down her anyway. She nodded for Pip, giving her the go ahead.