DREAMS : WORLD OF ANGELS

Chapter 17 Time Witch

Now it's my turn to uncomfortable about Damien. He comes to class but I ignore him. He seems to understand and gives me my space.

We go on missions and I'm more careful. I let him mostly take the lead. I just follow before and free the souls after he's done most of the heavy work of attacking the tainted souls.

We hardly talk but somehow we start to get used to it. At least I do. Then one day we are on a mission. I see it's a little girl, and she's half naked. Her little soul is sitting behind a trash bin, where her body is sticking out of.

"Hey dear," I say softly. She looks disheveled but she is smiling. She didn't become a tainted soul. I touch her lightly. She bursts into light and disappears.

"That's really messed up, isn't it?" I hear Damien say behind me. I know. It is.

"You've lived a long time, haven't you. Is this common?" I hear myself ask.

He nods his head.

"I want to know what happened to me. How can I find out? No one is left at the house," I say.

"You need to visit a time witch," he says. "Open up a time loop and view what happened."

"A time loop? Isn't that dangerous?" I ask. I remember in class we were taught that doing magical things beyond releasing souls is extremely dangerous and should be avoided at all costs.

Damien grins. "Isn't everything with me dangerous?"

I shrug. "Sure, let's do it." I don't know any other way so this will have to do.

"It involves going to the underworld...are you already with it?" he asks cautionly.

I remember that dark place...and I think, it must be done, otherwise I will continue to live for eternity without knowing what happened to me. And lucky me, my lover is the devil's son, what other better resource to find out how I died so gruesomely.

We fly back to the ocean and dive into the ocean waters. We come out the other side. I'm dripping wet and I remember how long it took for me to dry last time. I drag my feet through the river we emerged from, to the river bank.

I look at the dock where the boatman is, and he isn't there. Instead, there is a little, hunched person in a black robe, standing at the port.

"Is that the time witch?" I ask slowly. Damien is wringing his sleeves.

"My damn suit..." he mutters. He looks up and see the little hunched creature. "I think so...it was a really long time since I saw her," he admits.

We leave the river bank and walk to the port.

Two small clawed hands reach up from its sleeves and removes the hood over it's head.

It's an old little crone with short frizzy white hair, with one eye, that's clouded over. She's blind. Is everyone blind in hell, I wonder. I suppose so, there's nothing worth looking at down here in this gloom.

"Damien, how long has it been?" she croakes.

"Not long enough," he grins. "I brought a friend."

She barks a laugh. "I may be blind but I'm not a fool...."

"Fine fine, I brought my girlfriend, happy?"

"Much better...I prefer it when we are all honest..."

I stand in surprise. I didn't expect for the time witch to have such a friendly personality. I expected someone solemn and serious.

"Hello, Ms. White time?" I ask polite.

"It's Narrisa," she says.

"Ms. Narrisa, it's a pleasure to meet you," I begin.

"Deary, just get to the chase, we all know you didn't come here to make polite chitchat," her face wrinkles as she smiles at me. I feel more confident.

"I want to know what happened to me," I say.

"You died and become an angel, I'm sure you already know that, why travel all this way to ask me?" she says, shrugging.

"I mean, like..."

"When you died?" she interjects.

"Yes,"I finally end.

"Everything comes with a price, do you still wish to know?" she asks.

"What would the price be?" I ask.

"It's whatever you think the knowledge is worth," she smiles and I see crooked teeth.

I think for a moment. How badly did I want to know? I felt that there was a certain bliss in not knowing, however, it kept nagging in my mind wondering what happened to be every time I saw a tainted soul or freed a soul similar tome. I wondered what I could offer up, things that were of worth to me. There wasn't much I owed but there was things that mattered to me. I loved my wings, I've loving an angel, I loved Damien....but I couldn't give up Damien for knowledge, could I?

"I don't have much to offer," I say.

She says nothing and looks from me to Damien. Damien says nothing either. It's all up to me if I want to pay the price.

"I want time to think about it," I say.