The Garden of Eden

by L. L Hunter

  The main building here in the Realm of Death was much like any other Headquarters in any of the other realms. It served a purpose and was where the realm’s gatekeepers lived. The Headquarters in the Realm of Death was a gloomy building. It looked like a gothic mansion on the outside, with vines overwhelming almost every surface. As we neared the front door, it opened automatically, as if it had a motion detector installed. And just like all the other headquarters of the realms, each of the interiors was completely different from the exteriors. I expected it to be gloomy, cold and dark, but it was none of those. Lately I was beginning to realise that Nephilim loved to surround themselves with lush furnishings. And this was no exception. Every chair in sight, from the ones next to the grand staircase, to the loveseats on each side of the foyer, was covered in red velvet. A red velvet runner also lay down the middle of the enormous oak grand staircase in front of me. Before I could ask any questions, Abraham spoke.

  “Don’t question the interior design effort, it wasn’t my idea.”

  “Whose was it?”

  “I said don’t question it.”

  “Fine. So when do we get to train?”

  “Later, once you’ve…”

  “Come on, you’re not going to make me go to bed, are you? I’m not tired.”

  Before he could reply, a bluish-white light pulsed near the front door.

  Abraham groaned. “No rest for the wicked!”

  “What does that mean?” I asked, watching the light. The pulsing grew more persistent by the minute.

  “It means someone is waiting for us.”

  “Us? So you mean it? You’re going to take me on a job?” I almost couldn’t contain my excitement.

  “Why not? Come on.” No sooner had we arrived, we left again. It was back on the boat for us.

  Chapter Twelve

  Asher

  I checked my phone again. Still no text messages. Where had she gone? Was she avoiding me? When I had checked her room earlier, the majority of her belongings were still there, but her sneakers were missing, as was her black hoodie. Crap. I knew what this meant. She had escaped.

  After dinner and lights out, and once the halls were quiet and dark, I snuck out. My luck was good, up until I reached the front door. The butler was sitting in his chair awake and staring right at the front door. I froze, hoping his eyesight would be too poor for the dim lighting. After waiting a few seconds, he didn’t stop me. He simply looked back down to the book he was reading, some spy novel, I was certain. He hadn’t seen me. I breathed out, as I was relieved, and I began to turn the door handle. I slipped out without making a sound.

  As I walked through the streets, I began to feel the sudden urge to head towards the water. I turned down a side street that I knew would lead me to the pier. I couldn’t explain the feeling. First, the butler hadn’t noticed me when I was standing right in front of him. It was as if I were invisible. And now the urge to walk to the pier was so strong, I couldn’t think of anything else. What was happening to me? Was I dreaming? Sleepwalking? I tried to pinch myself but I didn’t feel any different. When I rounded a corner, I could hear the lapping of water against the pylons under the pier. The water was murky and I couldn’t see a thing, but the invisible thread pulled me forward until I came to stand at the end of the pier. I didn’t need my eyes. What greeted me there answered all my questions.

  Eden

  The ride back out of the Realm of Death was a lot faster than the ride over. Did Abraham turn on the motor or something?

  “So, do you get any information about the… uh, soul, before you take them over?”

  “No, not these. I only get told about the ones I’m meant to reap on land, when they are about to die.”

  “Interesting.” I pondered this as we drew closer to the pier, and what awaited us there made my blood run cold.

  “No!” I stood up, making the boat rock profusely.

  “I’m sorry, Eden.”

  “Why did you do this?” I couldn’t breathe. How could he do this to me? I was on my way back to him! I was making myself safe for him!

  “I had no choice. I had to find you.”

  “But I was coming back! You didn’t have to die!” I composed myself enough to jump up onto the pier, and I grabbed onto Asher.

  “How did you know where I would be?”

  “I can’t explain it. Something brought me here.”

  “You shouldn’t have come.”

  “But you don’t understand, I was about to tell you how I felt, but you ran away.”

  “No, please don’t say it.” Tears fell over, and ran down my face.

  “I have no choice, Eden. It’s too late. You’re like a drug to me.”

  “No, it’s not real. It’s an illusion. It’s because I’m Nephilim, and you’re… you’re…”

  “Human? Yes, I’m human, I know. But that doesn’t mean what I feel isn’t true.”

  “No! It’s not real! You have to go back now!” I pushed my hands against his chest, hoping he would just leave. But he stood solid like a brick wall, refusing to move. Abraham’s voice broke our emotional turmoil.

  “Ahh, young love. I’m guessing this is the boyfriend you were so eager to get back to? Looks like you don’t have to make your way back now. He found his way to you.”

  “No!” I spun around to face Abraham. “You can’t take his soul! He’s not dead!”

  “Uh… I’m afraid to say that he is, love.”

  “What? No, no, no! This can’t be possible!”

  “Sorry,” Asher added. I spun back around to face him.

  “How dare you kill yourself for me!”

  “What? I didn’t kill myself.”

  “What? Then how did you die?”

  “I don’t understand it, I just… passed out, and when I woke up I felt the strongest urge to find you, and then I was standing here. I don’t know how I got here and I don’t know how I died.”

  A huge grin appeared on Abraham’s face, which Asher noticed.

  “What is he grinning about?” Asher asked.

  “Oh, he grins all the time like that.” I glared at Abraham. “Okay, spill. What do you know?”

  “I just want to say, congratulations. You’ve discovered the full extent of your trait.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You touched him, am I right?”

  “Um… yes.” My heart rate picked up as I glanced back at Asher and began to feel dizzy. Could I really have caused his death by a mere touch? I thought he was immune. My hands flew to my mouth.

  “Oh, My God!”

  “It’s not your fault, Eden. We couldn’t resist.”

  “But I killed you! I’m so sorry!” Tears spilled from my eyes and my knees could no longer hold my weight as I fell forward.

  “Hey.” He caught my arms, sliding his fingers down so that he was holding my hands. Then he made me look at him. I tried to tear my eyes away, I couldn’t stand it, but he made me.

  “Don’t beat yourself up.”

  “But I killed you, Asher! I warned you.”

  “I guess you didn’t warn me enough,” he added with a smirk.

  “Not helping.” I looked down at our hands. “I warned you to stay away from me. I’m toxic.”

  “You know that I couldn’t. I’d much rather be here with you than back there with Jazmine.”

  I tried to pull away, but his grip was tight. “You don’t know what you’re saying.”

  “Okay, let me rephrase that. What I’m trying to say is that I want to be a part of your life.”

  This time I managed to turn away. “My life. My life is doomed, Asher.”

  “What are you going to do, tell me to go home? It’s too late. I’m here and I’m not leaving.”

  I sighed but continued facing Abraham. He was waiting for me to make my decision. And in a second, it was made.

  “Okay, you want to know why I am here, with this man?” I told Asher, turning back towards him.

  “Yes, I would.”
/>
  “Well, you already know what I can do, my trait. I was offered a job.”

  “A job? What kind of job?”

  “I’m going to be the new Grim Reaper.”

  Asher began to laugh and stopped when he saw I wasn’t laughing along with him. “You’re serious?”

  “Yes.”

  “So, what, you kill people?”

  “I can kill people, but my job description involves taking souls over to the Realm of Death.”

  “Is that what you’re going to do to me?”

  I glanced at Abraham. He stood up straighter. He seemed to be waiting for my answer. I knew what I wanted.

  “Yes.”

  The expression on Asher’s face was one of worry. Abraham grinned as I walked towards Asher. I reached out and took his hand.

  It was bizarre, I expected not to be able to feel his hand in mine, but it felt the same as it did the last time we had touched in the garden. He felt solid, but cool. I guess ghosts were always cool. I led Asher to the ferry, stepping in after Abraham.

  As we set sail once again, I grinned at Asher and then internally at myself. I had a plan and no one was going to get in my way.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Asher

  Holy heck!

  I was dead.

  It was Eden who had met me on the dark and murky pier. It was Eden who had probably called me to her. And it was Eden who was going to take my soul. And you know what? I was totally okay with it.

  I was dead, but I could still feel Eden’s touch like before. So I didn’t care I was going to The Realm of the Dead.

  Eden

  As soon as we were back at the Headquarters, Abraham showed me to my room, promising not to take Asher’s soul. He had said Asher’s soul was already taken, but I knew souls were stored in those little crystal spheres that hung around your neck. I couldn’t let him take the one person whom I felt a connection to. Not when I had a plan to get him back. And I also had a plan to learn how to use my trait so that once I did get him back I wouldn’t kill him, or anyone, again.

  My bedroom here at the Realm of Death Headquarters was just as lush as the furnishings downstairs in the foyer. My room was situated at the top of the grand oak staircase and at the end of a long hallway. Once I opened the door, Asher appeared. He was sitting on my four-poster bed with black velvet bedspread and throw cushions. I smiled and ran towards him, but stopping just before we touched.

  “Hey,” I said, a little breathlessly.

  “Hey.”

  “I thought you had disappeared.”

  “I’m still here. This place is like a haunted house. Do you understand how many spirits there are?”

  “Are any of them evil?”

  “No, they’re more like… trapped.”

  “Lost souls,” I gasped.

  “What?”

  “They’re lost souls. They can never leave.”

  “How do you know?”

  “Just a little thing I learned here.” I sat down on the bed beside him. His gaze was intense. I moved back an inch.

  “You don’t have to be afraid of me anymore.”

  “I should be saying that to you about me. I am not afraid of you.”

  “Well, you don’t have to avoid me anymore.”

  “I just don’t want to hurt you anymore.”

  “How can you hurt me when I’m already dead?” He brushed my bangs out of my face, which set my blood on fire. I couldn’t resist anymore. I leaned forward and kissed him with everything I had. He definitely didn’t feel dead to me.

  “Wow,” he said, breaking the staring contest we were having.

  “Worth the wait?”

  “Definitely.”

  We were lying on the bed, on top, not under the covers. I wouldn’t let him get that close to me yet. And nothing had happened, only the kiss.

  “Tell me something.”

  “Anything.”

  “What is it about me that you like? Because I don’t understand.”

  He propped himself up onto his elbow, “First, you’re hot. Second, you’re not boring.”

  “Come on, I am so boring.”

  “No, you’re not. You’re the most interesting person I have ever met.”

  “But I’m not technically a person.”

  “Exactly.”

  “And sorry to say, buddy, you’re not either. Welcome to the world of the supernatural.”

  “I like it here,” he replied with another breath-stealing kiss. Asher pulled away for a moment and drank me in. “Don’t you find it weird that I’m a ghost and we can do this?”

  “At first, but remember I am the new Daughter of Death. So you’re not a ghost to me.”

  “Daughter of Death. I like it.” He chuckled and kissed me again. I rolled over so that I was now straddling him. My hands found the bare patch of skin in between his jeans and the bottom of his shirt. I pushed my fingertip underneath the fabric. Asher gasped and pulled me to him so that I was now flush right up against him. This position was doing all kinds of bad things to my body. Just when I was about to rip off his shirt, the door opened and Abraham stepped in.

  “Eden…”

  “Oh, My God, Abraham! Knock please!” I jumped off Asher faster than humanly possible (I wasn’t human) and adjusted my clothes, trying to cover any bits that may have been revealed in our hot make out session.

  “Sorry, I didn’t realise you had company.”

  “There’s something you should know,” I began to tell him. He had to know. “From this moment on, Asher won’t be leaving my side.”

  “Eden, you do know he has to move on.”

  “No! He’s never moving on, not while I’m the gatekeeper’s apprentice.”

  “He can’t stay here, unless you want him to become a lost soul.”

  “He’s not going to be a lost soul, not while I have anything to say about it.”

  “Well, you better find the time, courage and heart to say goodbye. Training starts soon.” And with those parting words, he left the room.

  “Ugh!” I threw a pillow across the room and it exploded in a firework of feathers.

  “What if he’s right, Eden?”

  “No, you can’t say that. I’m never saying goodbye to you.” I jumped into his arms again and we both fell backwards onto the bed. “Don’t worry, I’ll find a way for us to stay together.”

  “I don’t doubt you, not for one moment.”

  My heart fluttered like any teenage girl’s would when their crush told them what they were waiting to hear. But I wasn’t an ordinary teenage girl and Asher didn’t need to tell me he cared. I knew.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Eden

  After reluctantly leaving Asher’s arms, I dragged myself to the bathroom and changed. For a world full of death, I sure I had good digs—and a good wardrobe. After I showered, I slipped into grey skinny jeans, black lace up boots that went all the way to my knees, a black tank top, and a huge, comfortable black woolly jumper. It was the most comfortable thing I had ever worn and I wanted to live in it forever. I applied some red cherry lip-gloss (yes, there was lip gloss here too!) and went off to find Abraham for my training. I had no idea what my training would involve since he promised to teach me how to use my trait properly. My trait was the touch of death, so unless it involved touching people and bringing them here, I had no clue. After searching the entire house, well, exploring the house, I eventually found Abraham in the library. As soon as I entered the library, I was completely awestruck. There were two stories, and four walls, completely covered in books. To get to the top level you had to climb a ladder, and each ladder had wheels on the bottom. Sliding ladders! Cool! I couldn’t wait to experiment. Abraham’s voice snapped me out of my daydream.

  “Good morning, Eden.”

  “Morning? But it’s still dark.”

  “It’s always dark here. But it is morning.”

  He was seated at an oak desk in the middle of the room, writing something in a leather bound ledger wi
th a huge white quill. A Nephilim feather? There were two vintage winged armchairs opposite, and he gestured for me to sit in one. I sat and he looked up from his writing.

  “Before you scream or freak out…” Abraham’s eyes searched the room and the chair next to me. The one I was sitting on was mustard yellow and the other was baby blue.

  “Where is Asher? This involves him, too.”

  As if waiting for him to give the signal, Asher suddenly appeared beside me. My beating heart grew wild. “What involves me?” asked Asher, giving me a wink. Great. What was he doing to me? I thought I had control over my emotions. Obviously not.

  “We are going to the earth realm for Eden’s training.”

  I sat up straighter in my seat. “Can I see my Mum?”

  “No.”

  “What? Why?” Why did I take this stinking job? Oh yeah that’s right, because it’s my fate. Well, fate sucks.

  “Because you’re on a strict schedule. Treat it like school, and you, too, Asher, since you refuse to cross over.” Abraham narrowed his eyes at Asher. Asher met his expression and returned it. I rolled my eyes. Boys! So immature.

  “Fine. But like school, we get to have fun after homework.” I suggested, hopeful.

  Abraham sighed. “Fine. You can see your mother if I see potential. But we have to leave the earth realm when I say.”

  “Fine.” I wasn’t happy with it, but I had a slim window of opportunity and didn’t want to waste any of it.

  The journey back to the earth realm didn’t drag on as it had the last time we made the crossing. I had Asher with me to help fill the time. We played spot-o but there wasn’t much to spot. It was always dark and too misty to see anything on the lake. As soon as we reached the pier and climbed out of the boat, Abraham touched both our shoulders before we could take a step forward, and we were jolted backwards into nothingness. It was the most surreal experience, like falling, except I don’t think we were falling down. We were falling sideways. And a second later, we were standing on solid ground again, but in a different location.