Death Has a Daughter

Ch 8 Six Months Gone By

Following the high-level soul for the last six months, was really starting to take a toll on my sleep schedule. I'd even missed my own 17th birthday dinner that Dad and Dave had planned. They waited all day at the house to catch me, but I never came home. Saying 'sorry' seemed to work, because they didn't seem too upset with me. It was my birthday I'd missed, not theirs, so that made sense.

The days just blend together for me now. While most Reapers have time to rest and rebuild, I use that time to get my lower-level souls.

The day when I would finally have her soul would be a nice break. Yawning, as I came up to do my regular stalking of the day, I slid behind the oak tree that was across the street in her neighbor's yard. It was always the same stalking routine—humans were such creatures of habit it made me sick. She slept, went to school, went to ballet, attended church on Sundays, and then went home. While she was at home during the week, she did the normal things that I researched human kids did. She watched TV, did homework, and was constantly on the computer with something called Facepage. She also played with her fat canine, which I researched to be a pug. Crazy, chubby creature this thing was. Short legs and rolls of 'fluff,' the girl called it, but its stomach hung barely two inches above the floor. Stupid thing would always bark at me when I first got to her house. You'd think it was another Guardian with how this thing wouldn't leave the girl's side. To be honest, this dog, which I heard the girl call 'Debbie,' was all the protection this soul needed. Why she had to have multiple Guardians boggled my mind, so whoever had given these Guardians the assignment, must have some overprotective-thing for blondes.

My fingers started counting down the seconds. In ten, she would be slipping out of her house to walk across the street and wait at the bus stop with the other teens. They would then chat about the meaningless drama that was going on in their high school. From what I gathered, from a distance, she was single and many boys were trying to change that. She was what my textbook would describe as "popular." This would only add more complication, because when I took her soul, the less witnesses to see her die the better, since I had a feeling this one wasn't coming easily.

My last finger counted down, signaling ten seconds was up. The soul stepped out of her house and looked up at the teens across the street to wave. She did this each day with an honest smile, but, to my surprise, today the smile never came. Instead, all that was on her face were wide eyes and a wide open mouth that was letting out a piercing scream. My eyes flashed to the kids; none of them were moving. No trees were swaying, no birds flying; all the surrounding area was still. Five Guardians came out of their hiding places and were immediately by her side. One blew some type of whistle thing and before I knew it six more came out of thin air. Good thing I never got the confidence to try and collect her soul. Noticing only five Guardians before, I'd clearly way underestimated the protection they had on this girl. They all raised their weapons and seemed to be waiting for something. Maybe they sensed me? No, because if so, why weren't they just attacking me?

It was then that my ears picked up on the laughter. Not like children's, sweet and wholesome. No, this laughter that echoed in my ears was of a different sort. The sort that I'd sometimes heard as they passed over our realm to enter earth. It was the dark, deep laughter of Demons. By the sound of it, there had to be at least twenty of them. Along with the laughter, I could hear the shrill, shrieking Harpies approaching. Unlike the birds of this human realm, these harpies were bear-sized, with human heads, bird wings, and they smelt like rotting bodies. The cool air forced my goose-bumps to rise, but this didn't make sense. Why would they be here after this simple girl? A huge misunderstanding, perhaps? They were seconds away; I needed to leave. They were of no danger to me, as far as I knew, but Father had warned me about them. He basically said, if they were around, they took over, and I should get out of their way. My feet wouldn't budge as I tried to rationalize the situation in my head. Demons only came in extreme circumstances.

The smell of rotting flesh hit my nose as a harpy swooped over my head. I was stuck now. The Demons and harpies immediately swarmed the Guardians, trying to get to this girl. The sky was bleeding red as the harpies began to fly in and tear at the Guardians' skin with their thick, sharp claws, at times carrying whatever flesh or body part they had detached from a Guardian. While some Demons attacked physically, others just flew over the Guardians, muttering curses that were quickly killing them off. There were so many horns, teeth, and fire—from the Demons—that came in-between the swarming harpies, I couldn't even make out which Demons there were.

Occasionally, as the battle raged on, I saw blue and gold lights send a Demon to its end, but it was a rare sight. These Guardians were good, but they had been blindsided. This would be over soon and the Guardians would be returned to their resting place. The Demons would end this and take the girl's soul. It was theirs now; no way could I take it from them.

The fight started to inch towards my direction. Only three Guardians were left now. The blonde Guardian, who I recognized from the truck incident, was one of the ones left and he seemed to not even be fighting. He appeared to be the blocker of incoming spells and objects that the Demons were using to try to kill the girl. I took a couple of steps back and found myself at the side of her neighbor's house. Even so, the battle continued to inch closer to where I stood. I wanted to run, or teleport out of there, but I couldn't risk a Demon mistaking me for one of the Guardians. Any movement would queue them in my direction, and death by Demon wasn't in the cards for today. Only a few minutes more, anyway, and they should have the girl and move on their way.

Two of the last three Guardians fell as a Demon came down like a tornado from the sky onto them. Before it landed on the remaining Guardians, they had flung the girl and her blonde blocker only a few feet from me, probably in an effort to sacrifice themselves in exchange for the girl's life. Their pupils dilated and the light left their eyes as they took their last breath underneath the Demon who had crushed them. This left the girl and the blonde Guardian, all alone.

The Demon laughter once again filled the air. The one who had come from the sky let out a call that had all the other Demons assembling behind him. This was no ordinary pigeon Demon. He had four sets of horns that shined dark-silver. Two of them, extending like a large bull's horns, twisting from the top of his head into pointed tips. The other two were like a ram's—thick and on the sides of his head that pointed towards the realm that he called home. Underneath were two metal spikes—one on each side of his head. His face consisted of a skeleton structure with black, hollowed eyes that were staring straight at me as his Demons assembled behind him. He let out a smile and I gasped at the sight of his teeth. Each canine had a fanged tip and, like a shark, the rows of his teeth seemed endless. I stared out at his hands. They almost appeared human, until you saw the tips of them, which were long blades that seemed to be growing in length. He extended both arms out, as if he were reaching for me. His fingertips pointed straight at the soul, and then back at himself. He was claiming the soul for himself. He lifted his hands, like many generals did before starting a war. I realized an ambush was going to end this.

The girl must have noticed this as well. In the seconds it was taking for the last Demons to assemble behind their horned master Demon, she grabbed the last Guardian's hand and ran my way.