Where All Souls Meet (3 page)

Eden, Yuri, Aaron, Adanna, and Jared all stood in front of Gabriel. The last time Eden had been at this place, the city had been abuzz with Demon soldiers in the midst of preparing for the Blood Stone ceremony. Now, the city was empty, the seaside shanties were abandoned, and the cobblestone streets were cluttered with debris from buildings.

Worst of all, she did not see Thema anywhere. Thema would have waited for them, wouldn't she? After Eden had been captured and taken to the hated prison of Cantica, Thema had promised she would wait for her here. Though it was a long time ago, it was easy for her to remember.

"Listen, Thema has a message for you," Aaron said. "She says she'll wait in the city for you for as long as it takes. We still have a few hours before we depart, and I know where she is. Would you like for me to deliver a message to her?"

"I do have a message for her," Eden said.

"What is it?" Aaron asked.

"Tell her, until we meet again, I'll look after her sister." Eden reached over and squeezed Adanna's hand.

Now Eden sighed and wished she had not had to leave Thema behind. When she turned her head, she saw Adanna's bottom lip quiver in sadness.
No, Thema would not have left here willingly.
Eden had a sick feeling that Demon soldiers had taken Thema. And if that had happened…

"She's here, Adanna," Eden said, though she was attempting to convince herself more than her friend.

Nodding, Adanna took a step into the city, though Eden longed to tell her not go. The city appeared like it belonged to the undead. The idea made her shiver. She headed into the city too and heard whispering surrounding her again.

"I hear you fear the undead…"

Eden stopped and Yuri ran into her from behind.

"I hear you are more scared of the undead more than anything else in the world."

It was Agares. How could anyone have this kind of power? How could any demon have the ability to change her surroundings so much she swore he was speaking in her mind? Something in her head clicked then. Morsus. Morsus infected the soul. Were the demons manipulating her and her soul using the same method Morsus did? She groaned and felt Yuri grab her hand, pulling her forward.

"This will be interesting,"
Agares said, and she swore he whispered the words in her ear as well as her mind.
"The undead will be easy. Too easy."

Stop, stop, stop.
Agares was ten times more powerful than Asag had been, she realized, because he had more powers. She should have been happy with just Asag following her around. The idea of zombies, like the ones she'd seen watching TV with her dad, made her shudder.

"There's somebody down there," Aaron cried.

Intense fear coursed through Eden's soul, but she realized there couldn't possibly be zombies in Purgatory. No humans died here, so there would be no dead to raise. If there were undead, it would only be in her vision. The person Aaron saw had to be real.

She pushed her way past her friends and her cross vibrated so hard it began to hum. She focused on the being at the end of the street and saw a tall, dark shadow there. The shadow turned around and focused on her, and she was hit with memories so strong it made her soul run cold.

Glowing red lights flickered in front of her, and fear gave way to hope. She was almost out. Maybe the passage led to Moloch, the city in the passage between the angel and demon continents. After all, it had lights. She never believed she could be happy to see that city. With a cry, she stumbled into the passage and heard the low moan of doors behind her. She spun around and discovered she had gone through two stone double-doors with images of red-eyed dark shadows devouring children painted upon them.

And those doors were quickly closing.

"No," Eden screamed, rushing toward them. They closed with a bang seconds before she reached them. "No, please, no."

She grabbed the door handle and tried to open it, but it was sealed shut. Closing her eyes, she grabbed the door and pulled with all of her might. The door didn't give. She began to pound at the stone with her fist.

"Let me out," she said. "Please let me out."

"You fell for it," the evil voice said from beyond the door. "The humans always fall for it."

The whispers continued on the other side of the door, and then the halls filled with laughter.

When she had been pursued in the tunnel five months ago, she wondered what kind of Satan Spawn followed her. Now she knew; it stared right at her with the same glowing red eyes of the demonic mist figures. She took a step back and dirt crunched beneath her shoe. There was no closing her eyes to this danger. It was real, and she had a feeling the shadow figure planned to herd her now just like it had back then. Satan wanted her, and he was willing to do awful things to capture her.

"Should we call him?" Aaron asked, putting his hand on her shoulder and looking over her.

"It's a demon," she said.

Jared peered around her shoulder, frowning.

"Wh-what?" Aaron asked.

The demon flashed and was gone. She could hear its movements to her right, then she saw a burst of darkness to her left.
I don't know what to do. The last time I tangled with one of these, I fell for its tricks and ended up straight in the midst of hell itself.
She dug around in her pockets and felt for a vial holy water. To her horror, she discovered she had only one left. A being like this demon would not be triumphed over so easily.

"We should run," Aaron said.

"No, wait," Eden said. "It's going to try to herd us somewhere, I think."

"Are you sure?" Yuri asked, withdrawing his broadsword from the sheath at his waist and sounding panicked.

"No," Eden said, "but I am equally certain this demon is smarter than any of us. I've seen what those dark shadow demons can do, and they were small compared to him."

A long, tall shadow grew taller on the side of a sea shanty. She heard cackling.

"What's the matter?" the demon asked, mimicking her mom's voice. "You sound scared."

Her friends glanced at her, but she ignored them. She had to think. Now. She had to keep herself and the others from being assembled.

"Don't you want to come and apologize?" the demon said. "Or do you want me to tell your friends about how horrible you were to your poor, dear mom?"

Eden strained to not remember that awful night and the horrible things she had said. It was the only moment of her life she wished she could take back, but she couldn't… But no, she shouldn't be thinking about it now.
I have to figure out this demon's plan. Have to.

"Admit it. You are too selfish and immature to bring me along," the demon said, mimicking Eden's voice now instead. "You were always like that. You've always made it perfectly clear you've never wanted me. Well, guess what? Maybe I don't want you either."

Her friends gasped.

"I hate you. I hope you die!" the demon yelled in her voice.

The memory was so vivid she tightened her hand her hand on the sheath of her sword. If she could have, she would have cried — but as a soul, she'd lost that ability. She could feel the pain, but she couldn't shed the tears.

"I loved my mother!" Eden screamed. "I did!"

There was silence and then high-pitched laughter. The demon took on its own deep, sickening, voice again. "She died because you killed her. She died because she was thinking of you when she was driving. If she hadn't been, she would have gotten out of the way in time."

"It's not true," she said, though the fear had always been present foremost in her mind. "It isn't."

"You killed your mother, Eden Schmidt," the demon said. "It is all your fault, just like you feared it was. How does it make you feel?"

"Shut up!" Eden screamed.

Ripping out her sword, Eden lunged forward only to be caught around the waist by Yuri. She swung, focusing on the shadow by the sea shanty. Yuri turned her around and kicked the sword out of her hand. As he pressed her head against his shoulder, she thought about her mother. Did her mom truly blame her?

Though Yuri tried to protect her, she heard the dark shadow cackle in response to her reaction. She tightened her grip on his jacket and pushed him away. No. She was not weak. She had faced Asag on her own; she would not let a pushy demon get in her way. This monster was small compared to what she would have to face later, and she would not let God, her friends, Yuri, or her mom down. It was the beauty of being a human soul. She could always make up for what she had done in the past, no matter how much it hurt. It was something a demon could not understand.

"There is nothing you can say to hurt me," she said. "Demons only have as much power as we give them."

"Is that so?" the demon said in his own voice again — a deep, low booming. A blurry shadow moved to the right and then was gone.

On the ground in front of them, a massive shadow formed with long claws. The being rose and became a massive figure in front of her. The demon loomed over her in his physical darkness and Eden compared him to the white mist figures she had seen earlier. She looked down at her lamp and tried to extend its glow toward the demon, but unlike with the Raiders mist, the light did not harm him. She realized then those mist figures had still been Raiders, even when controlled by their demon lords. It was not the case here. This was a true demon, even if it was a minor one. A little light would not harm it.

"Now you see me," the demon said. "Now you don't."

It disappeared into the shadow between two broken-down shanties. She shone the light on the demon in confusion and then moved to face the main city. She could chase down the demon, or she could search for Thema; she opted for the latter. "Come on," Eden said, waving her friends forward. "He's just a shadow. Ignore him and look for Thema."

Aaron said, "But, Eden—"

"We can't win against him," she said. "I don't intend to try. Right now, saving the world is more important than he is."

"Eden…" Aaron blew out a trembling sigh.

As the group progressed, Eden felt nervous every time she saw the demon shadow dart across her path. She forced herself to ignore it.
This time, I will not be tricked. I won't let a demon like this enter my thoughts. I'll try to fight it. I've learned my lesson.

As she walked, she noticed the speed and urgency of the demon's movements got stronger. He began to appear in the shadows directly in front of her, a physical being; she ignored him and walked around him. There was the sound of loud, guttural growling and the demon appeared directly in front of her again.

"What are you doing?" the demon said.

She did not say a word and continued to walk around his shadow.

With another growl and then a wild, angered hiss, the demon hovered closer and loomed over her.
Ignore him, ignore him, ignore him.
She heard her friends slow. His breath smelled sour, as if he had chewed upon rotten flesh. She saw his long arm extend toward her, but it was like attempting not to notice the beams of a fast approaching car.

The demon reached for her, grasped her arm, and she was shocked that he was strong. When she tried to raise her sword, the demon dragged her toward him and enveloped her in an embrace of darkness. In the demon's arms, she felt cold and sick. The smell of sulfur filled her lungs. She struggled to get away, but she couldn't.

"No more playing," the demon said. "I am taking you to my master. He has been waiting a long time to capture you."

"Don't," Eden said.

With an evil cackle, the demon squeezed her and caused pain to fill her soul. She screamed and tossed back her head, struggling. The sound of water filled her ears.
No. I will not be defeated by a minor demon. Not after I defeated Asag.
Just when she thought she might implode, Yuri thrust his sword straight into the demon's eye. The demon didn't gasp or groan or scream. Instead his head reformed as if the sword meant nothing.

She dug around in her pocket, pulled out her bottle of holy water, and threw it in the demon's face. The demon let out a high-pitched scream she was certain every Satan Spawn within a ten mile radius heard. She pushed the demon's arms away and fell to the ground where Adanna and Yuri seized her and yanked her backward against the wall of the sea shanty.

"Agares will not like it if I let you get away," the demon said. "You are meant to be
his
."

Suddenly, the demon was gone. Eden felt two cold hands grasp her thin waist and she smelled the same sour breath. She shut her eyes and shuddered.
Oh, no. He's appearing behind me.
She groaned and attempted to move forward, but his grip was too strong.

"I think you're scared." The demon breathed into her ear as Yuri and Adanna swung their weapons at the shadows, which did nothing. "I love fear. I love fear so much I wish to drink the emotion from you."

The demon released a shaky exhale like the wanting sigh of a lover. She willed herself to be brave, but the cold, shadowy hands around her waist made it impossible. She had defeated Asag, hadn't she? What was the matter with her now? She struggled to get away, pulling and tugging with all her might. The demon cackled and held on tighter. He then shoved her against the shanty wall.

Then the impossible happened. The darkness began to overcome her eyes, her mouth, everything. It was like being smothered in tar. Before the darkness stole her sight, she stretched out her hand toward Yuri, who desperately grabbed her.