SHEOL

18

We had been out on the road for a few hours when The Healer broke the silence and informed us that we were stopping for gas.

"Can I get some food while we're there?" I questioned.

"I forgot that humans required food." The Window Killer said blatantly. "Did you remember, Healer?"

The Healer laughed. "Killer, I've been in and out of this realm for over 200 years. That's all anybody talks about: glutton and politics."

I turned to The Window Killer. "Spirits don't have to eat?"

He shook his head. "That's the hardest part about Sheol for human visitors, there's not very much food. You're a dyad though, so if required you could just channel your spirit half and your hunger would probably go away."

"She still has to feed the human half eventually." The Healer chimed in. "If she loses that too soon, she'll die quicker."

"Die!? You didn't tell me that becoming a Field was going to kill me!" I yelled.

"Oh, don't get your knickers in a twist." The Window Killer huffed. "Everyone dies. But you won't die a normal death. You'll slowly lose your human half eventually, and then you'll have to start using the red candles to keep you in this world. Finally, once you transfer The Spirit of the Fight into a new Field, you'll end up being damned to Sheol."

"... Like Mr. Moonshine..." I whispered.

"Correct." The Healer said in a standard fashion. "But you have nothing to worry about. Fields live for centuries before their human halves begin to fade. You'll be fine."

I looked at him. "I understand, but can you tell me about the red candles?" I stared at The Window Killer's candle in the cup holder, gleaming a dull and dusty color. "His candle is grey, but yours are red. Why is that?"

The Healer glanced at The Window Killer.

"She asked you, not me." He responded dryly.

The Healer sighed a great sigh. "The grey candles allow a spirit to visit The Realm of the Living temporarily. The soul is not seen by normal humans, and cannot touch the living. They are simply made from the fat of a leech, the hair of the spirit, and the wick of a dream. The red candles allow a spirit to live in the Realm of the Living, as long as the candle isn't blown out. The spirit is then able to be seen by other humans, and is also able to touch other humans as well."

"They're still monads of Sheol, however." The Window Killer chimed.

"Monad?" I questioned.

"Only have citizenship in one of the realms, like most humans and spirits." He responded.

"Ah, that makes sense." I thought for a moment. "But what are the red candles made of that makes them so special?"

The Healer and The Window Killer looked at each other. A long silence passed.

"Do you really want to know?" The Healer asked.

I nodded my head eagerly.

"The red candles allow a spirit to virtually turn human. They can touch and harm humans without suffering from any ill consequences. But it's much harder to obtain the ingredients." The Healer said in a monotone voice.

The Window Killer then rolled the recipe off of his tongue as though he'd made them a thousand times."The fat of a leech of Sheol, the hair of the spirit who wishes to visit, the wick of a dream, the blood of a virgin, the blood of the spirit who wishes to visit, nectar from The River of Life, and a petal from a black lotus." 

I stared at him in awe. "The blood of a virgin??"

The Window Killer laughed. "That's what you're concerned about?"

I stared at The Healer. "Where did you get the blood of a virgin from?"

"From a fucking virgin, you dimwit!" The Window Killer guffawed.

The Healer reached over and slapped him. "I was researching how to make the candles in London. I forced the Killer to murder only virgins because their blood was the purest."

I thought about my self, and then felt sick. "That's awful, you know."

"Well, to be fair, if they had merely enjoyed the simple pleasures of life, their fate wouldn't have been so grim. Also, if their spirits did wind up in Sheol, they could just craft some candles and visit The Realm of the Living again." The Window Killer said.

The Healer sighed. "I know it's selfish, October, but in a world like this, it's every man for himself. You should know that best of all."

As much as I loathed to admit it, he was right. He was absolutely and positively right. I was very selfish; that's how I had been raised. I was taught to take what I needed because survival was a necessity.

"But," The Healer's words punctured my thoughts. "The only way for us to win this war is by working together."

The Window Killer grudgingly nodded. "I hate to agree, but we don't have much of a choice."

The Healer flashed his signal and pulled into the nearest gas station on the left.