The Sensitives huddled together in the center of the room with their heads bent in conversation. Their faces were hidden beneath their black hats.
Thor crossed the room and sniffed the bodies gingerly. Taking time with each one, he moved with purpose, like a police dog sniffing out drugs from luggage at the airport.
A Sensitive with gleaming dark eyes watched the dog from under his black fedora. An angry-looking scar marred the left side of his face. He spotted Kara, and after a moment he walked towards her. The tread of his heavy boots cut through the eerie silence. He tipped his hat in a greeting. “Kara. I’m glad you’re here.”
Kara gave a slight nod and kept her eyes on the scene. “Santo, what happened here?” She kept her voice low, afraid of disrespecting the dead.
Santo let out a heavy sigh. “A bloodbath.”
“But...” Kara met Santo’s dark eyes. “But I don’t see any weapons. It’s almost as though they were executed.”
Santo’s finger stroked the scar on the side of his face. “They were executed—by a group of murderous cowards. I should have been here. I would have ripped out their hearts with my bare hands.” Santo gripped the hilt of his sword until his knuckles turned white.
“And you’re sure the Seirs did this?” said Kara, in more of a statement than a question. The lifeless eyes of the dead watched her, as if accusing her of the massacre—that somehow this was her fault, that she should have protected them. She suppressed a shiver and looked away.
“Yes, it’s how they kill. It’s their signature, one slash across the throat. Cowards,” hissed Santo, and his expression darkened. “They weren’t prepared. They never had a fighting chance.” A large vein pulsed on his forehead below the rim of his hat. “I’m going to kill every last one of them. I swear it.”
“Here! Here!” said David, and he squared his shoulders. “Their days are numbered. You can quote me on that.”
Kara blinked to clear the fumes of disinfectant from her eyes. The whole situation was worse than she had anticipated. “What will you do with the bodies?”
Santo shifted his weight and stared at the floor. “We’ll bury them together in our sacred burial site outside the city. We’ll have a ceremonyand then we’ll bury our dead.”
The other Sensitives were intrigued as Thor pressed his paw on the body of a woman and waited. After a moment, he waddled up to her head and sat beside her. His lips moved and strings of drool dripped onto the woman’s face. Kara cocked her head to the side to try and get a better view of what he was doing. Why was he so interested in a dead mortal?
“Santo, what about their souls? Were the souls saved?”
Santo was silent for a while. “We got confirmation that their souls are dead. The Seirs slaughtered them and then destroyed their souls.”
Kara had witnessed the brilliant tiny crystals detaching themselves from the bodies of dead mortals many times. Most of the time she or another angel was there to take the glowing white ball back to safety. Unless the soul was saved, the mortal spirit would die.
The legion had lost thousands of angels in the battle against Asmodeus and his demons. Now there weren’t enough guardians to look after all the mortals. The situation was beyond horrendous.
“And you think the Seirs killed their souls too?” asked Kara. “But that doesn’t make any sense. They’re mortals. Why would the Seirs be interested in their souls?”
Santo closed his eyes and rubbed his temples with his thumb. “Seirs use mortal souls as payment—it’s part of the deal they’ve made with the netherworld. They help the demons to stay in our world by giving them souls. It’s all part of their plan to become demons themselves one day.”
Kara dug her fingers into her leg. This had Lilith’s signature all over it. Somehow, she knew her half-sister was involved, and she had to be stopped.
The young woman sobbed as she scrubbed the floor.
Kara looked away and shifted her weight uncomfortably. “I don’t see any children among the dead. Were there any children?” She bit her lip and prayed that the Seirs hadn’t hurt the children.
Santo clenched his jaw and stared at the bodies. His voice quivered when he spoke. “We think they took the children.”
“What! Why would they take the children?” Kara leaned forward and searched Santo’s face. A musty smell filled her nostrils.
Santo turned to face her and scratched his stubble. His mouth was pressed into a hard line. “We don’t know—it’s never happened before. I’ve never heard of Seirs taking children...Sensitive children even less. The elders are dumbfounded. We don’t understand what’s happening.”
Kara and David shared an uneasy glance.
She turned her attention back to Santo. “You said they took them, so that means they’re still alive, right? Then there’s still hope that we’ll find them. If they’re alive—we’ll find them. The legion will help you—I’m sure of it. We will find the children.”
Kara pressed a hand on Santo’s arm. When he didn’t say anything, she continued. “We’re going to find the children, I promise. The Seirs couldn’t have gotten far. My team and I will search the city. We’ll get them back.”
“It’s not just in this city.” Santo’s thick brows lowered into a scowl. “We have reports of killings and kidnappings all over the globe. All the children are missing. They’ve taken them and vanished. We don’t know how they did it, or how they were able to kill so many and get away. They must have gotten outside help.”
Kara had an idea of where this help had come from. Stone-faced, she kept her guilt at bay. She didn’t want Santo and the others to get a sense of what she was thinking. If she was right, and Lilith was behind this, it meant that Kara was partly to blame because Lilith was out for revenge. She knew how to get under Kara’s skin.
As Kara tore her eyes away from the dead bodies, she made a promise to herself. She would find the missing children and bring them back. They were innocent. Who knew what horrible things the Seirs were doing to them at this very moment? One thing was for certain, she had to find the children before the Seirs killed them.
“Kara.” Thor’s big eyes gleamed with urgency. “Quickly, she doesn’t have much longer.”
Kara followed the dog over to the body he had paid so much attention to earlier. David and Peter followed quickly behind. Strands of black hair were stuck to the woman’s sweaty forehead, and her chest rose and fell with effort. Her face was streaked with blood, and the deep gash on her throat gurgled quietly. Her eyelids fluttered open, and she stared up at the ceiling, unfocused. She blinked slowly and then saw Kara.
“A—are...you...Kara?” she croaked, each word making her wince.
“She’s still alive! We need to get her to a hospital . . .”
Kara’s words caught in her throat. Thor’s expression was solemn. He shook his head slowly and lowered his eyes.
Kara frowned. She leaned forward and took the woman’s hand in hers. Her touch was icy and Kara squeezed her palm gently. “Yes, I’m Kara. What...what can I do to help you?”
The woman’s mouth moved. Her bottom lip trembled, and she wheezed and closed her eyes. She opened her eyes after a moment and spoke. “I...have...a...message.”
Kara looked up and met Santo’s questioning look. The other Sensitives gathered around them.
“What’s the message? Who gave you this message?” Kara searched the woman’s face.
The woman’s eyes glazed over as she coughed up blood. Kara cringed at the sound as the woman tried to suck air into her lungs. She wasn’t sure she would be able to give the message.
“She’s in pain...please, can’t we do anything? She needs a doctor. ” Kara felt a slight squeeze on her hand. The woman stared at her and then opened her eyes wide and spoke with renewed vigor.
“To my dearest sister, Kara,” said the woman in a new voice—smooth and mocking. “Because of you, I’ve decided to take the mortal world as my own and kill all of these disgusting humans you care so much about.
My army of Seirs will annihilate the angels and exterminate the Sensitives who resist us. All free people will be killed or enslaved—and I will bend you to my will, too.
“You know that I’m doing all of this because of you. You will be to blame for the destruction of the mortal world, sister dear. Ta-ta!”
A soft breath escaped the woman’s mouth. Her eyes rolled in the back of her head, and her body went limp.
About the Author
Kim Richardson is the author of the SOUL GUARDIANS series. She was born in a small town in Northern Quebec, Canada, and studied in the field of 3D Animation. As an Animation Supervisor for a VFX company, Kim worked on big Hollywood films and stayed in the field of animation for 14 years. Since then, she has retired from the VFX world and settled in the country where she writes fulltime.
To learn more about Kim Richardson, visit:
www.kim-richardson.blogspot.com
www.facebook.com/KRAuthorPage
http://twitter.com/Kim_Richardson_
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MYSTICS– Coming 2013
Netherworld, Soul Guardians Book 4 Page 19