Taming the Darkness

by Sarah Carter

  Wyatt looks at me. “Well, I’ve seen Star Wars and I like it.”

  “Favorite?” Avery asks.

  “Rogue One,” Wyatt answers.

  Avery’s eyes get wide and he agrees, “That’s my favorite too. That movie is so bad ass.”

  “I don’t like that everyone dies in the end,” Israel snorts.

  “Well, now I guess I don’t need to watch it,” I laugh.

  They all look at me. Wyatt says, “That’s where they get the Death Star plans.”

  “What the hell is a Death Star?” I ask.

  “Do you hide in a hole?” Wyatt asks, looking shocked. “How do you not know what the Death Star is?”

  I shrug a shoulder. “Eh, not my thing.”

  “You live in a bubble,” Avery says, shaking his head. He looks so serious, and I laugh.

  “Well, come on,” I insist. “Let’s go see the Star Wars stuff.”

  We stand up and head to find a map. Looking at it, Katerina says, “There is so much to do.”

  “No wonder people stay here for days,” Israel exhales. “Wow.”

  “That’s where the Star Wars exhibit is,” Avery says, pointing to the map. Suddenly, his eyes widen and he looks at me. “Oh my God, can you make your seraph blade into a light saber?” I give him a dead pan stare. “You do know what a light saber is?”

  “Yes, I know what one is,” I snap. “No, it can’t be made into a light saber. They aren’t real. I can make it into something without moving parts. Like, I can’t make it into a gun for instance. Swords, staffs, bow and arrow. That sort of stuff.”

  Wyatt looks at me. “Can you try?”

  I roll my eyes. “No, I’m not going to try.”

  “Now, that’d be cool,” Avery states, with a nod.

  “Let’s just go over there,” I groan. This is so stupid.

  “It’s this way,” Katerina says.

  I twirl my blade around so it returns to a staff. Everyone looks at me. “Better to be prepared than not.” With that, we start to walk. I look around at everything as we walk. This boggles my mind. Humans are so easily entertained. I see adults getting their pictures taken with giant characters. Adults. This makes no sense to me. Now, if I could get a picture of me beheading one of them, that’d make me laugh.

  “What are you thinking about so hard?” Avery asks, taking my other hand.

  “Why people take their pictures with these characters. There’s someone inside of there. Adults know this. Kids don’t, but adults do.”

  Avery smiles. “Because it’s fun.”

  “It’s stupid.”

  “So, you won’t go do it?” Avery laughs.

  “We don’t show up in pictures,” I reply.

  He looks surprised. “Really?”

  I shake my head. “Yep. We appear like a burst of light. Demons don’t show up in pictures either.”

  “Wait, are ghosts real?” Avery asks.

  Nodding, I say, “They are lost souls. Sometimes, people don’t want to let go. They get lost in the space between. There are some angels that spend their time trying to get the people out of the grey space. But once a human is in the grey space, they lose who they were. They aren’t human anymore. They really don’t remember who they are or what they were. They are literally lost souls.”

  “That’s kind of scary,” Avery whispers.

  “It is a little bit,” I reply. “But, it doesn’t happen very often. It mostly happens to people who are afraid of hell. They pull back. They don’t want to go to either. They fight death.”

  “So, how bad does someone have to be to go to hell?” Avery asks.

  Wyatt turns around. “Pretty bad. Rapists, murderers, child molesters. The people we reap for the most part. Humans have their entire life to repent.”

  “Then why do you guys intervene the way you do?” Avery asks.

  “We step in and put a stop to the really bad crimes,” Katerina answers. “Crimes we can’t overlook or ignore. We give the criminals a chance to repent and change. It doesn’t happen very often. Some people just let the darkness win. They let the darkness take over.”

  Avery shakes his head. “That’s sad and scary.”

  “Like I told you before, you can still repent while in hell,” I say.

  “Unless your soul is broken,” Avery notes.

  I nod. “Yes, unless one of us breaks the soul.”

  “Don’t you get in trouble, taking away the person’s right to be saved?”

  Never thought about it that way. “You know, there’s a lot of stuff we don’t understand. It’s just the way things are. Sometimes I wonder if certain souls are meant to be broken. God’s plans aren’t really our business. It doesn’t always make sense to us.”

  “To think I didn’t believe in any of this a week ago,” Avery says, shaking his head.

  Some little kid comes running past us with a light saber in a black outfit. “Look, it’s a little Darth Vader,” Katerina coos.

  “We must be getting close,” Julius declares, watching the kid pass.

  We make our way over to the Star Wars pavilion. “There is so much to do,” Avery exclaims. His eyes are wide and he has the biggest smile on his face. It makes me chuckle.

  “Well, let’s do it. It’ll be nice to have a little reprieve from all of this,” I sigh.

  “I want my own light saber,” Avery gasps, walking over to the store.

  “Oh boy,” I snort, following him.

  Finally, at the end of the day, Avery sighs. “I’m exhausted.”

  “Where are we going to stay tonight?” Katerina asks. “We’re tired too.”

  “You had the safe house,” Avery says to me. “Is there anything like that? What about purgatory?”

  “You want to volunteer to hang out in purgatory,” Wyatt laughs. “You have no idea what you are suggesting.”

  His shoulders fall. “Then what are our options? Will Raphael help again?”

  “He would have told us if he was,” I sigh. “And he hasn’t so far, so I would say he’s leaving it up to us.” I’m racking my brain trying to figure out where we can go. Avery and I would be safe inside a church, because he can touch me to relieve the guaranteed pain I would endure, but that doesn’t help the other five reapers.

  “Anyone have any ideas?” Wyatt asks.

  “What if…” I start. “What if we went back to my apartment. What if all six of us put up wards. Mine are the strongest but with all of our runes, it would be like reinforcing the walls. It would be hard for demons to break through. It wouldn’t last a full 24 hours, but close. We could sleep in shifts, keep an eye on the runes and make sure they stay strong. What do you guys think?”

  They all look around at each other. Israel finally says, “I think that may be our only option. It may just work. An apartment is small enough that we would be near each other. That many wards will last a little longer than just a single set. It may just be the best idea that we have.”

  “Better than purgatory,” Julius states, waving his hand.

  “Well, let’s go. We will have to put up the wards quickly. We will each take a wall and then rotate until it’s all covered. I will carve a protection circle around Avery,” I say.

  “What’s a protection circle?” Avery asks.

  “It doesn’t last long, but if you stay within the circle, you will be safe for like fifteen, twenty minutes.”

  Avery puts his hand on my shoulder and warmth spreads across me. I feel the familiar ache in just that little touch. “Are you sure it’s safe?”

  I shake my head to clear it. “Yeah, we will get the runes done as fast as possible.”

  He nods. “Okay, let’s do it.”

  “Ready guys?” I ask, grabbing Avery. They all nod. “Let’s go.”

  Chapter 11

  It’s a mad dash when we get to my apartment. The reapers run to the walls. I carve a circle in the floor with my seraph blade. “Step inside there,” I tell Avery and he complies. I carve four runes around it and it
blazes to life. “Now, don’t move,” I snap. He nods. I run over to the closest wall. “My runes will be stronger because of the seraph blade.” It takes us about twenty minutes to cover the whole apartment. Finally, I let out a sigh. “We’re finished.”

  As I say that, the circle disappears from around Avery. “That’s perfect timing.”

  “We can rest now,” I say.

  Israel looks around. “Man, your apartment is super clean.”

  “What?” I gasp, spinning around. Israel is right, everything is spotless. “What the hell? I’m not this clean.”

  “No, but I am!” I hear a voice gleefully yell.

  We all spin with weapons in hand. Gale puts up his hands. “It’s me!”

  I glare at him. “Gale, all of hell is after us. You can’t be here.”

  “But, I’ve been a detective!” Gale exclaims. “I think I may have found something that will interest you.”

  “What’s that?” I say, going to the cabinet. I start to pull down some bottles and glasses.

  “There’s another prophecy,” Gale replies, coming over to me. “This prophecy says that there will be an angel that brings both sides together.”

  Stopping, I turn and look at him. “That’s what Avery is supposed to do. Save the fallen.”

  “His love with save the fallen, yes, but this angel will bring both sides together.”

  “So…what? Are you suggesting it’s me? Why would it be me?”

  Israel pipes in with, “You have a mark and a seraph blade.”

  “We have been trying to tell you that we think you are special,” Katerina states.

  Oh, this is crap again. “You guys are reapers just like me, why would either side listen to us, especially me? The fallen hate the white angels. And we know how much heaven hates the fallen. I don’t understand how one angel is going to unite everyone. This whole thing could be a crock of shit.”

  Gale furrows his eyebrows. “Language, Raven. It’s a prophecy.”

  “Maybe one prophecy has nothing to do with the other,” I say. “Maybe they aren’t even really prophecies.”

  “So you think God lied to you?” Wyatt says. “You think God or even the archangels would make it up? For what reason?”

  My head starts to hurt and I rub my temple. “This is all too much. I need a break.”

  “I thought I did good detective work to help my friend,” Gale sighs.

  “Gale, you are doing a great job. Maybe this will all make sense in the end but I don’t want you involved in this. All of hell is after us and it’s not safe for you. So, for now, no more coming to Earth. Promise?”

  He nods. “Yes, Raven.”

  “No, seriously, you promise? No matter what, you won’t come to Earth?”

  Gale takes his fingers and says, “Cross my heart.”

  “Okay, thanks for your help. Go, be safe now, okay?”

  Gale walks over and gives me a hug. It’s a breath of fresh air, all my stress is gone. I have a clear, calm mind. As soon as he steps back, all the pain rushes back.

  “Bye, Gale.”

  “Bye, guys.” With a whirlwind of light, Gale is gone.

  Avery looks at me. "So, what do you think?"

  "I think I don't want to hear about prophecies anymore today," I mumble. "Need a drink."

  "Oh, we’re all having one then," Wyatt says.

  I grab one bottle and pour its contents into six glasses. Then I look at Avery. "Do you want some Jack?"

  "Oh, hell yes," Avery snorts. "Take some of the edge off."

  Pouring some liquor into his glass, I hand it to him. "There. That will help."

  "This is intense," Wyatt exhales, as he sits down. "Having all of hell after you..."

  "Hell isn't after you," I state. "They are after us."

  Wyatt leans over. "Do you think we aren't a target now, too? We have helped you. We have targets on our backs, just like you. We need to see this through and make sure we all stay alive."

  "I kind of feel bad that I dragged you into this," I mumble. I take a big swig of the liquor. It burns but its effects are instant.

  A silence hangs in the air and then out of nowhere Katerina says, "This is important. We need to help as much as we can, because I was thinking about something."

  "What's that?" I ask, sitting down on my desk chair.

  "If he saves the fallen, then that means we can't fall to Lucifer," Katerina declares slowly.

  We all stare at each other for a minute. “That’s true,” Wyatt exhales.

  Avery looks at me. “I guess this is important to all of you, but how is my love supposed to save the fallen?”

  I shake my head. “I don’t think I can think about this anymore tonight. We need to rest.” I take a big swig of my drink.

  Israel plops down on my couch and says, “I totally agree.”

  Everyone sits down with audible sighs of relief. We are quiet for a little while consuming our drinks. Avery finally says, “We should talk about something.”

  “What would you like to talk about?” Wyatt asks.

  He shrugs. “Since I just learned about reapers and angels, I was wondering if you could tell me any stories about your experiences?”

  Wyatt answers, “What do you want to know?”

  Shifting in his seat, Avery asks, “What’s been your worst mark?”

  Wyatt looks up and replies, “Hmmm, that would have been this guy, don’t remember his name, but he killed 15 kids. Dirty son of a bitch. He kidnapped them.”

  “Did he…?” Avery trails off.

  With an odd look, Wyatt says, “No, he just killed them. Weird, right? Usually, they torture their victims first. Not this guy. He held them captive for two weeks trying to be fatherly so he could convince them to love him. When they wouldn’t conform to being his kid, he killed them. I honestly thought I could get him to repent.”

  “How is there redemption for someone like that?” Avery yells.

  “Everyone has the ability to repent,” Wyatt replies. “It’s God’s gift to people, the reason Jesus died. You can be forgiven of all your sins, no matter what. I’ll agree that it’s bullshit the way humans have squandered the grace of God. And regardless, not all sins are created equal. Stealing someone’s money is not the same as killing 15 kids.”

  “I had one of those high-end clepto’s once,” Julius says. “God awful woman. She stole millions from people. She would go to families that had lost everything. She would tell them she would buy a house for the family so they would have a place to live. They would pay her the house payment and the deal was when they got back on their feet, they could buy the house back.”

  “And?” Avery says.

  “They would sell the house for the lowest possible price. As soon as the sale was finished, she evicted the families and leave with the house payments she had pocketed. With no money for attorneys, so many of the families couldn’t compete with her legal team. She did this for ten years.”

  Avery shakes his head. “That deserves going to hell?”

  “She did this to hundreds of families. Think of how many people she destroyed. Marriages dissolved under the pressure and heartache. She devastated them on purpose. She knew what she was doing. I went there to get her to see the error of her ways, to get her to repent and learn from her mistakes. She refused and said she was going to keep doing it. That it was fair and she did nothing wrong. I couldn’t believe her audacity.” We all sit quietly, processing after Julius’s retelling of her worst mark.

  “I’ve been meaning to ask about the whole ‘God doesn’t make mistakes’ thing. Is that even true?” Avery asks.

  Katerina laughs. “People aren’t mistakes. Humans have free will. What they do with that isn’t God’s choice, it’s theirs. People aren’t mistakes but their negative actions are. Each person has the right to repent for their sins. We just put a stop to it if they choose not to.”

  Avery scoffs. “I’ve never thought about that.”

  “Look at the priest we dealt with
,” Israel says. “He repented. Did all those awful things but still decided to change.”

  “What happens if he does it again?” Avery asks. “If he has free will, he could do it again.”

  “Then we come back,” I finally say. “The second time we aren’t so lenient.”

  Avery looks at me. “Does that happen often?”

  “More often than I like,” I reply. “People have to want to change themselves. If they don’t really want to, then they revert to old habits. When you get redeemed in God’s eyes and truly repent, it’s a clean slate. If the repentance isn’t genuine, we come for you and the second time, we aren’t so nice.”

  He shakes his head. “This is all way too incredible.” Avery downs the rest of his drink. We all follow. It’s quiet for a few minutes. “Is it a hard job?” He asks.

  “I suppose it could seem like a difficult job but we don’t really know anything else,” I reply. “We are trained and then set free when we are ready. We understand the darkness because we are half fallen. It’s much easier to fall to the darkness than people understand. Evil is a big temptation because Lucifer is good at what he does.”

  “Do any of you feel the light?” Avery asks, looking at the other reapers.

  Katerina nods. “When I go to heaven, I feel it.”

  “As do I,” Wyatt says. “But, I feel the weight of the darkness, too.”

  “That’s all I feel,” I mumble. The pride of taking down the bad guys is the closest to joy I’ve ever felt; but, Raphael was right. I do plead for the marks to repent. I hate harvesting souls and taking them to hell. I know they deserve it, but I also know what hell is like. I see what they go through. It’s hard taking soul after soul down there. The dark likes the reaping, but the light hates taking the souls there. “I do feel the light,” I admit, hesitatingly.

  They all turn to me. “What?” Avery rebounds.

  “I enjoy reaping the souls, but I want them to repent. I hate taking them to hell. I want them to be saved.” As the words come out of my mouth, I feel something swell in my chest. I don’t know what it is but it feels similar to angelic touch, like when Gale hugs me.