by Linda Foster
Ash closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to rein in his frustration. Seek the devil and the devil you shall find? Was the man … Ash’s thought trailed off. Death, he thought. Yes, he supposed, that would mean he was the devil. He opened his eyes to ask for clarification, but saw her golden gaze focusing on something behind him.
Turning, he spotted the man from the party standing about 20 feet away, at the edge of the forest. His red eyes locked with Ash’s, making his heart drop, and Ash froze, unsure whether he should run or freeze. The fear he’d felt at the party came back, even stronger than before, and he stepped silently back toward the golden-haired girl.
“You killed your sister,” the man mused, staring at Ash with a half-smile on his lips. He looked as though he knew Ash was in pain, and as though that pain brought him joy. “You should be dead, not her. Tut, tut, tut.” He waggled his head from side to side in a mocking fashion. “You should be ashamed of yourself.”
The voice in Ash’s head whispered that word once again. Death. It was odd, but there was something about the thought that comforted him. Death. He let the word float in his mind, tasting it, feeling it. No, it wouldn’t be so bad, he thought. The man was right – he shouldn’t live if his sister died. She’d always been the brighter one, the one more deserving of life. The man’s smile grew, as if he could read Ash’s thoughts. Somewhere inside his head, Ash heard the girl’s voice again. “This is the wrong choice, boy,” she said.
A part of him agreed with her, and screamed a warning. Then that voice went silent, leaving him alone to choose.
Grace ground her teeth in frustration. She’d been sitting in the hospital chair for hours, helplessly watching her parents decide whether to end her life. She couldn’t believe they were even considering it. Pulling the plug on their own daughter! Her heart was breaking, but she didn’t know what she could do about it. She wished Ash hadn’t left. She wanted to see him again before her parents did anything stupid.
He’d stormed out of the room earlier, though their parents had barely noticed, and it wasn’t hard to see what he was thinking. He must have been feeling terribly guilty. But it hadn’t been his fault. There’d been something going on that night … something terrible. And although she couldn’t remember the details, she knew that her brother had been trying to save her. What had happened wasn’t his fault. She wanted to see him one last time, to tell him not to blame himself. The party had been her idea, and she’d taken him along. It wasn’t his fault, and he needed to know that. If she had one wish, it would be to see him again. She closed her eyes, desperate to shut out her parents’ anguished conversation, and made her wish.
When she opened her eyes, she was shocked to find the hospital room gone, replaced by the forest outside of town. Ash stood in front of her. And he wasn’t alone.
There was a girl to his right. She was beautiful, with curly blonde hair and glowing hazel eyes. She seemed larger than the landscape around her, and was encircled by a bright white light, though it was dark and stormy outside. Grace felt drawn to her, but she had no idea who the girl was. Peace radiated from her, and Grace wanted that peace – more than she had ever realized.
Now the girl glanced over at Grace, stopping her in her tracks. Grace expected her gaze to move through and over her. But the golden eyes stopped, meeting Grace’s own. She radiated with sympathy, love, and a deep sadness.
“You can see me?” Grace asked in a choked voice. The girl didn’t react at first, and Grace’s heart sank a fraction. She was about to look away when the girl gave the tiniest nod. She gasped, wanting to ask a billion questions, but before she could the girl held one finger up to her lips and frowned. She pointed at Ash. No, past Ash to a man. Grace’s eyes followed the gesture, and she froze.
He was the exact opposite of the girl. Just looking at the man made her take an involuntary step away. He was pale with dark hair and … crimson eyes. She was sure of it. Those eyes flickered in Grace’s direction for only a second before returning to Ash. They showed with a gloating triumph. And evil. She watched the exchange between Ash and the man, confused and frightened as to why this creature was here with her brother.
“Ash, what are you doing?” she whispered, horrified.
“You know you deserve to die in place of your sister,” the man almost laughed. A chill ran down Ash’s spine at the sound. “You are responsible for her death.”
He shuddered. The man was right. It was his fault that Grace was dying, and if he could do anything about it … if he could save her … it was his responsibility to do it. He was terrified, but he knew that he was doing the right thing.
“You’re right,” he replied, his voice cracking. An image of his sister laughing and smiling tore through his mind, abruptly replaced by the image of her lying in the hospital bed, dying. There was nothing in this world or any other that could be worse than the pain and guilt he felt. All at once, the man took a step forward, his eyes glowing bright red in startling contrast to his pale skin and black ensemble.
“Would you willingly take her place?” he crooned. His eyebrow lifted in question, and his mouth turned up in an ugly smirk.
“Of course I would,” Ash said, choking on the words. He would do anything to bring her smile back, though he wasn’t sure what this man was asking. “I’ll do anything you ask. Please just save her. Take me. I’ll die in her place.”
There was a gasp behind him, and Ash snapped his head back toward the girl, who had remained silent until now. “Ash no,” she pleaded softly. “Your sister doesn’t want this.”
“No!” Grace screamed. She watched in desperation as the girl with the golden curls tried to stop Ash. He couldn’t do this. He didn’t know what was at stake.
He didn’t realize that the man with the red eyes was going to steal his soul.
“Grace wouldn’t want me to let her die,” Ash argued, his face turning hard. Grace had never seen her brother look so angry with anyone, and wondered what had come over him. This didn’t seem like the Ash she knew.
“No I wouldn’t!” Grace shouted, knowing that he wouldn’t hear her. She turned toward the girl, desperate. “Don’t let him do this! Please!”
She wasn’t positive what was going on, or how she knew, but something was wrong with the man standing with her brother. She glanced at him, taking in the shiny black suit, gaunt face, and glowing eyes. That creature would hurt her brother, she was sure of it.
“And what if you both could live?” The man’s voice came out like liquid. Ash stared at him, his anger turning into confusion. The man was lying, she could feel it. She wanted to drag Ash away from him, get him away from the danger. She rushed toward him, reaching out, but her hand went right through his arm.
“Please, Ash, don’t do this,” she whispered. Then her thoughts shattered as an electric shock passed through her body. Suddenly, the world started to turn sideways.
“Clear!” someone yelled. Another shot of electricity coursed through her, making the world spin anew. She fell to her knees and gasped for air, unable to breath. The forest around her disappeared.
“Who are you?” Ash begged as the man stepped toward him. His blood was running colder with each step the man took. Each breath seemed harder to reach. There was something deep down, the same instinct he’d felt at the party, screaming for him to run. He’d been sure this was the right thing to do, and had even sensed Grace was with him, watching over him. That presence was gone now, though, and it felt like his strength had left with it.
“Ash,” the strange girl said again. She came forward to put a hand on his arm. “Ash, this is a demon. He will steal your soul, and he cannot save Grace. She would not want this.”
Ash closed his eyes, taking in the girl’s words. The first part made no sense, but the second … Something told him that she was right. Grace wouldn’t want this.
The man tilted his head, his face growing hard. “Seraphine, the boy is mine!” He turned to Ash, softening his face seductively. “I’m your
only hope to save your sister,” he wheedled. “This girl doesn’t know what she’s talking about. Come.” He held out a beckoning hand, and the red of his eyes tore through Ash. Was this man telling the truth? Could he save Grace? He reached his hand out slowly.
“A demon?” His voice was a whisper, his breath coming in short, painful spurts. Time itself seemed to have frozen. The image of his sister lying still and pale in the hospital bed filled his head, drowning everything else out. He would give anything to save her, he thought. Anything.
“Don’t do it,” the girl’s voice came again, sounding more determined, more desperate. Ash glanced at her to find her eyes staring firmly at the blank space between Ash and the demon.
“I have to,” he answered quietly. Any second, his sister could be dead. It might already be too late, he thought, with renewed panic building in his chest.
“Why are you here, messenger?” the demon asked suddenly, taking a step toward her. “This is not your place. This is my deal, and it’s nearly done. You’ve come too late. Get thee gone!”
Ash looked toward this Seraphine, wondering who she was and why she worried the demon so much. Was she a friend? Could she help save Grace? The girl in question glanced at the demon and clenched jaw.
“This boy isn’t yours to take,” she growled. “This is not right, and I’m here to stop it.” She took a step closer to Ash, putting a protective arm between him and the demon.
“He’s alive, is he not?” the demon asked sweetly. “And offering himself freely. That makes him fair game.”
“Demon …” The girl’s voice sounded like a warning, and Ash took a step back. He couldn’t understand the argument, but it was clearly about more than him. “Don’t. You have no idea what you’re starting.”
The man ignored her, turning his eyes back to Ash, who met the red gaze, confused. “I’m here to make the deal you’ve been begging for, boy. I heard it in your mind. Your desperation to do anything to make this go away. To save your sister.”
“It’s not too late, Ash,” the girl said, drawing his attention again. The demon snarled. “Run away and don’t turn back, let everything be as it should. You cannot play with fate without bringing about extreme consequences. This will not save your sister.”
Her pleas were desperate now, but Ash had already made up his mind.
“What do you wish to trade?” he asked the demon, already knowing the answer, but unsure whether it would be possible. Was he really sitting here, with a demon, making a deal for his sister’s life?
“I’ll save your sister,” the man replied, turning his attention away from Seraphine. “I ask only one small thing in return.”
“Ash,” she tried to cut in. The demon stepped in front of Ash, blocking her out.
“What do you want?” Ash whispered, terrified. “My life?”
The demon chuckled, amused at the question, and sensing that victory was near. “I want your soul, dear boy,” he replied.
The word ‘soul’ echoed in Ash’s head, and he fell to his knees.
The electricity continued to jolt through Grace’s body. She still couldn’t breathe, and stars began to move along the edges of her vision. Her head felt as if it were stuffed with cotton. She could hear people talking, but their conversation sounded far away.
“Don’t,” the girl said, warning someone. Suddenly Grace’s vision cleared and she could see the clearing in the forest again. The man was holding his hands out to Ash, almost in a fatherly fashion. The mysterious girl was taking a step forward to stop him. Ash glanced over. He seemed to meet the girl’s eyes, but looked away.
“Please,” she said softly.
The demon – for Grace knew him as one now – reached toward Ash.
“Ash!” she tried to scream his name, but it came out as no more than a hoarse whisper. Suddenly, another shot of electricity shot through her, and the world began to fade to black. The last image she saw before she was pulled under was Ash’s hand, stretching out toward the demon’s. Another wave of blackness and searing pain from a shot of electricity yanked her away before she could stop him, and then she was in the hospital room again, floating above the bed.
The monitor that showed her heart rate was flat lining and five doctors stood around her lifeless body. Her parents were outside the room, watching through the glass. Her mom crumpled to the ground and her dad fumbled to catch her. Then the world spun. A bright white light rushed toward her, taking her under to a place filled with peace and warmth.
“Nurse,” Grace barely heard the doctor say. “Mark time of death.”
Ash raised his hand, shaking with both pain and fear. He could see Seraphine move forward in his peripheral vision, but he ignored her. He’d made his choice, and it was to save his sister. He took a deep breath, steadied his shoulders, and put his hand into the demon’s.
“Deal,” he said, his voice hollow but certain.
The demon smiled again. A searing pain that matched the intensity of the demon’s eyes suddenly engulfed Ash and he was thrown to the ground. His vision fragmented while his body caught fire, and all the breath rushed from his body. Then the demon released his hand, leaving Ash both burnt and hollow. When his vision cleared, he looked up to find that the demon had vanished into a black mist.
Seraphine knelt down in front of him, her eyes large and sad. “I hope you’re strong enough for this,” she said with vast sadness in her voice. “For you have started a war.” Then she was gone too, fading into a soft white light.
Ash sat for a moment, the searing pain fading slowly into the background. He shook his head, wondering whether the girl and demon had ever been there, or if he’d been imagining things. The hollow, cold feeling in his chest told him that it had been real, though, and that …
Grace. Hope flowed in to fill the void, and before he knew it he was on his feet and sprinting back toward the hospital.
He screeched to a halt just outside the hospital room, breathing heavily. He could hear his mom crying inside the room. The sound broke his heart and tore through the hope that his sister would live. Pain and panic built back up in his chest, tearing at him. What if he’d been wrong? What if it hadn’t worked? He put his hand on the door, unable to wait any longer, and tried to compose himself. This was it. Either Grace would be alive or she’d be dead.
He pushed the door open and limped inside. What he saw there stopped him dead in his tracks. His sister was sitting up in bed, her hair disheveled and her skin pale. Her bright blue eyes were filled with tears. But she was looking at him, and very much alive.
He fell to the ground, overcome. Grace looked over and gave him a tense smile, tears rolling down her cheeks. Both of his parents laughed with joy. His dad strode over to him, pulling him off the ground and toward his sister’s bed.
“It’s okay, son,” he said. “It’s going to be okay.”
Just then a doctor walked in. He checked Grace’s vitals, dumbstruck, and shook his head. Ash staggered closer to Grace, amazed, and held out his hands. His sister looked up and smiled tenderly at him, but there was sadness and pain in her eyes. Guilt flashed through him, made worse by her words.
“Ash,” she whispered, pulling him against her. “I must talk to you.”
Before he could respond, a black cloud of smoke rose just behind her bed, a set of red eyes appearing in the cloud to glare at him in anger. The burning pain in his chest flared, and his heart skipped in his chest. Gasping, he fell to the ground.
His mom ran to his side, calling for the doctors. There was a swirl of confusion as nurses and the doctor came running back in the room. They put Ash back into his bed, and hooked him up to an IV drip. But Ash’s attention never left the demon in the corner.
“It’s just the stress,” the nurse reassured his parents.
“He needs to rest,” the doctor added. “He’ll be fine. It’s a lot to take in, and he’s still recovering from his own injuries.”
Ash watched the doctor walk away, and saw everyone return to
Grace’s bedside, but turned back to the demon, terrified. Had he returned to take Grace? Had Ash’s soul not been enough?
“My end of the deal is done,” the demon’s cold voice said, breaking into Ash’s thoughts. Whatever drug the nurse had given him was starting to pull him down into unconsciousness, yet the pain of the voice coursed through him as if his veins were on fire. The pain killers weren’t helping. Then his mother was at his side, whispering something into his ear, but it was drowned out. He couldn’t hear anything above the demon’s voice in his head.
“Now it’s time for you to hold up your side of our bargain. You have one year to say goodbye to your friends and family.” The voice echoed in his throbbing skull, rattling through his bones. “Then I’ll be back to collect your soul. Your debt to me …”
My soul! Ash thought, terrified. Before he could think any further, though, his eyes closed, and he drifted to sleep.
Adrian was definitely up to something, and from what Kali could see, it wasn’t good. She’d been warned, of course, but she hadn’t believed – not really. This was Adrian, her friend and the highest-ranking angel in Heaven. The idea of him doing something this outrageous … When Michael first approached her about it, she’d thought he was being overly cautious. Paranoid.
Ridiculous.
After what she’d just heard, though, she was starting to think otherwise. And that was … dangerous. To say the least.
As she closed her eyes and focused on her flight to Earth, her wings tucked against her sides, she thought back over the last hours. Michael had come to her with another angel, Seraphine, who claimed that Adrian was plotting a revolution. Adrian is holding secret meetings with others, making plans against the Creator, Seraphine told her, with urgency and ferocity in her voice. He’s promising a new order in Heaven, gathering angels and telling them that a revolution is coming. He wants us to stand with him against our lord, and promises to give us the power once he’s in charge. To destroy the human race. There were so many angels – hundreds of them – and they all agreed that we’ve come in second to humans for far too long. They want to see the race of man destroyed. He asked the other angels to pledge their loyalty to him above the Creator, and follow him on his crusade to overthrow our father.