Death has a Daughter (DHAD Series) (9 page)

My arms throbbed as I awoke
, still feeling sore from my Demon training. Sensing I’d been sleeping for a while now, it was time to get back to my realm.  Stretching, while I walked out of the tent, I saw Trevor sitting guard there.  He glanced up at me as I passed him.

“
Try not to be late this time. We need all the time we can get to train,” he said and looked back down to whatever he was doing with his hands.

“
Bye,” I said before I flashed out of there and into my house.

What had I gotten myself into? 
Was all the training he was having me do really necessary?  I mean, who knows if I’d even still be around when the Demon came for her soul again. If luck was in my corner, Trevor would be healed soon and I’d be out of the picture.  Better safe than sorry, though.  I swear I’d seen some books in Dad’s study about Demons. I’d start doing some research on them.

We
’d never really learned much about Demons in class, besides the basics.  Just that they held powers that counteracted Angels.  They were Lucifer’s soldiers who went to earth in an attempt to tip the balance of good and evil to Lucifer’s side, for they believed if they could tip the scale in Lucifer’s court, it would prove that humans shouldn’t have been given the choice of freewill. 

Demons
were constantly fighting against Angels to maintain this balance of good and evil.  It was a never-ending battle to attempt to tip the scale, if even for a day.  The more a Demon was able to prove he was helping to tip the scale, the more legions in hell he would be rewarded.  They were also awarded legions based on the amount of souls they were able to possess and the quality of the souls.  For example, if you were able to possess someone who would have become a priest, you would be awarded extra because you were changing the destiny of the lives that they would have touched.  They would also, if they believed a soul was meant to make a difference, work to have that person make choices that would lead to their life becoming a wreck that they couldn’t get over.  They preferred possession over this though, because possession made sure a soul couldn’t make any effort at all, and had the added bonus of taking away their freewill. Last but not least, in order to attempt to tip the balance, they would create circumstances to test a human’s reaction.  Any behavior or choice that was evil was said to tip the scale in Lucifer’s favor. 

As soon as I reached
Dad’s study, I went for a book titled
Demon’s Friend or Foe?
  It was time to find out what I had accidently saved Lacie from.  It was only two-thousand pages.  This was going to take forever.  If only we had picture books, this would have been a lot easier.

So many of the D
emons in the book had horns and could potentially fit the description of Lacie’s Demon.  It wasn’t like I could just go down to their level in hell and look around.  I was never going to find him.  Frustrated, I dropped the book to the floor.  To my surprise, after its initial bounce, the book flipped open and a name caught my eye.

Mobrolantis:  Four
-horned Demon. Two large bull horns that twist up towards heaven. Two large, thick ram horns on the side of his head that point to his home.  Two large spikes below the horns. Skeleton-structured face.  Has 643 Legions.  Over 700 souls collected. Battle record: 43-5-2.  Claim to fame:  Once made it to the entrance of heaven.  Made it past all the wards while possessing a soul he had pretended to be for ninety years. Killed twenty-five Angels in his quest to enter the gates.  Eventually forced to leave and obtained his second loss ever.  It is said if he would have had others, he would have been able to enter.  He is the only Demon to have ever made it that far into heaven.  Since then, additional screens and tests were put in place to make sure it never happened again. Is said to always be looking for another way back to heaven. Like all Demons, he has the ability to possess humans, port to any realm but heaven, and breathe fire.  Is known for his ability to cast spells that cause disarray, death, and destruction amongst humans.

It had to be him
; it fit perfectly.  I walked downstairs and Dad was in the kitchen, washing his hands at the sink.  I approached the island in the center and cleared my throat.

“
Hey you, I didn’t know you were home,” he said with and excited smile.

“
Yeah, not for long; I was just reading some books in your study,”

I said
, and his eyebrow rose.

“
Yeah, I know, but I was, really. Just an odd thought crossed my mind.  Not that it’s happened or anything, but Dave and I were talking....What do you do if, say, a Demon was at the same spot as a soul that you’re supposed to collect?”

“
Have you come across one? Has Dave come across one? You would tell me, right?  This isn’t something you mess around with.  Are you trying to tell me something?”

Wow
, he could read me like a book.

“
No, it’s just hypothetical.” 

“
Oh, okay.  Well, if it happens, you just get out.  That’s it; end of story, Cendall.”

“
So you never worked with one, Dad?”

“
Not with one, but I’ve been at the same location, if that’s what you’re asking.”

“
What was it like working with one?” I asked.

“
I wouldn’t call it working with them.  Just because we’re from the same place, it doesn’t put us on the same team.  All they do and care about is tipping that damn scale of good vs evil.  Not something I’ve ever been interested in or understood.  I know some higher-level Reapers try to get close, as they want to one day become one, but it’s never been something I’ve been interested in.”

“
Why’s that?” 

“
I like being where I’m at.  I don’t want any part in helping mold where a human soul shall lie.  I’ve never been a good sales man; I just like dropping the product off. Never had an interest in the politics of it all.  I’ve never gotten the point of constantly fighting day in and day out.  They almost never tip the scale, but they pride themselves on the minor times it has been tipped.  Then it blinds them into thinking they can get it to be that way all the time.  But it’s simply impossible with freewill.  To me, the time spent is not worth the brief time that it’s not balanced, which is why your old man still stands before you, instead of working on getting little minion Demons”  He laughed. 

“
Where do we play in the balance of good and evil?” I asked.

“
We don’t…we simply take human souls during vulnerable times, and then they go, depending on how they’ve lived their life, to their final resting place.”

“
Then why do Guardians view us as evil, Dad?”

“
Because we take life.  Humans hate us because they don’t understand us.  They just feel the pain of us taking away someone they love.  For all they know, we could be taking them at the correct time—a time before they could make a decision that would change their final resting place to be some level in hell.  The times their soul is vulnerable, are times they’re marked that way.  They can’t possibly understand that if they don’t die at one of these vulnerable moments, they could end up restless and randomly wandering the earth in spirit form. Those souls are the ones that humans call ghosts.  They haunt humans to try and relay a message across so they can finally get peace and move on.”

“
But Guardians fight against us to try and keep their humans alive for longer.  Since there are many times when a human can die, their goal is to get them to that final time on the chart, instead of the times before.  Humans all have their time, but it is our job to help decide when that time is. We help monitor and maintain the balance of life and death by getting humans at their time so that they are not lost in translation, so to say. As you know, due to humans having freewill, people don’t always die at their vulnerable times.  It’s our job to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

“
Can Reapers, or the people who make these lists, just put people on there that don’t belong?”

“
I don’t think so, and what purpose would that serve Cendall?

“
Just wondering if there had ever been a mistake, or like a rogue that had…”

“
A Reaper would have no reason to put a soul on a list that didn’t belong there,” he interrupted.

“
A Reaper wouldn’t, but a Demon would, wouldn’t they?” I asked.

“
Reapers don’t work with Demons, Cendall, and certainly not for that.  It wouldn’t make any sense.  It would be a violation of the very thing we do.  We only work with them when a big event happens—we help collect the souls that are vulnerable, either during or after the fight.  Some Reapers will interact with the Demons, but that’s just if they want to one day become one.  But those Reapers wouldn’t be involved in the list-making anyway.  Where are all these questions coming from?  Is there something you’re not telling me?  Are they not teaching you these things in class anymore?  These are all things that are covered in basic training.” 

“
No, I was just wondering.”  I probably should have paid more attention in class.  He gave me a very strange look and again raised his eyebrow.  It was a look that screamed that he was calling my bullshit. I needed to get out.  “Well, I have places to be, souls to collect...thanks for the boring history lesson.”  I laughed, hoping he wouldn’t think any more about my questions.

He laughed
.  “Your mother used to hate when I would get a new list; she said I was like a killer zombie for months.  You look tired, and you’re starting to act crazy.  With all the odd questions that you asked today, maybe you need a day off?  Trust me, sometimes it helps to take at least a day off.”

“
Yeah, and I will, I swear; I just want to get this first list done, you know. I’ll figure out time management better later, when I need to.”

“
I know you will; you just look so exhausted, Cendall.”

If only he knew
....I wish I could tell him—just belt it out:  Yes, Dad, I’m super-exhausted.  I used to stalk this girl during the day and collect souls at night.  Recently, though, I collect souls during the day, and, instead of sleeping, I help guard a soul from a Demon. 

“
Yeah, I know; but I’ll be fine, no worries.  I’ll get some extra sleep tonight.” Maybe I’d get three hours, instead of the two that I normally got.

“
Alright, make sure you do, and go see Dave—he’s been driving me nuts.  Comes here every day asking where you are.”

“
Got it.”

“
Oh, and Drake too—he was wondering where you were.”

“
Drake?”

“
Yeah, I was surprised too, probably wants to see where you’re at in your list.”  My dad laughed.  He was probably right.

I walked outside and h
eaded to Dave’s place.  I’d missed him so much, but there just hadn’t been any time lately.

“
Hey stranger,” he said with a smile as he opened the door.

“
Hey Dave.” I smiled back.

“
How have you been?” he asked.

“
I’m fine.”  We walked in and said ‘hi’ to his parents before walking upstairs to his room.

“
Okay, now take the time to answer me honestly,” he said, as soon as he closed the door and we were alone in his room.

“
Freaking tired.”

“
I can tell,” Dave said.

“
Thank you for telling me I look like crap.”  I laughed

“
Sorry, but you just look exhausted.  Did you get a difficult list?” he asked.

“
Not really, it’s just this one soul.”

“
Well, what’s up with it?” he asked.

“
Just a level three; I’ll figure it out,” I said with a shoulder shrug, hoping he would believe that I wasn’t that concerned.  I wanted to tell him so badly, but if this played out bad, I didn’t want to take him down with me for knowing it was going on.

“
Well, at least you got something interesting. My list is all level ones.  Pretty easy, and only four of the twenty I’ve collected have had Guardians.”

“
You’ve battled Guardians?” I asked, and felt my eyes open wide.

“
Yeah. You haven’t?” he asked with a puzzled look.

“
No, not one.”

“
Well, you’ve collected souls; I see that you’re at the top of list, in front of Drake, I might add.  How have you not battled one?” Dave asked.

“
I have no idea.”

“
Well, what level have your souls been?”

“
The ones I’ve collected so far I would categorize at like ones and a few twos,” I said, as my stomach gave that familiar ache that let me know someone on my list was about to enter my realm.