Beyond The Veil (A Paranormal Romance)

Chapter 30

The apartment was dark when Sadi quietly slipped through the half-opened door.

Good, he thought, that should be a piece of cake.

Slowly, he took one step after the other, careful as to not make a sound. Unfortunately, there were empty liquor bottles strewn all across the floor, and before he realized it, his foot had kicked one of them and it rolled towards a second one. Noisily, it clanked against it, making it move toward yet another one, setting off a chain reaction. Soon the entry hall was filled with the obnoxious sound of rattling bottles.

"Damnit," he hissed in frustration. "Can't he clean?"

"Emily?" A male voice slurred angrily from another room. "Where the hell have you been?"

Sadi wasn't sure if he should make his presence known or remain quiet. Maybe the drunkard was so wasted that he would pass out again before he would be able to check who was in the hallway. Yes, that seemed like the most reasonable thing to do. In the end, it actually didn't matter too much whether that souse was awake or not, but with him asleep it would be a lot easier to get that job done. So he just stood in silence, motionless, waiting for the man to drift back into his alcohol-induced comatose state.

He seemed to be in luck. Not much later, no more sounds were to be heard from the adjacent room. After a few more minutes of just hovering in the hallway, Sadi was pretty sure that it was now safe to get on with what he had come here for.

Stepping over the bottles and avoiding any more noise turned out to be quite the obstacle course, but he finally managed to enter the bedroom without any further unwanted incidents.

"Ugh." Sadi pinched his nose, his fingers tightly pressing his nostrils shut. The sour stench that snoring man emanated was just unbearable! Anger rose inside his chest with every repulsed step he took toward the bed. He shouldn't have to be doing this kind of work. This was Daniel's job! But since he had fallen from grace, Sadi had found himself taking over his duties.

Sadi wasn't destined to take life, he was just a simple Soul Guide, leading the spirits of the lost safely to their destination once they had parted from their bodies. Yet, he'd been ending earthly existence for roughly ten years now, and he hated it. Oh, how he hated it! And he deeply despised Daniel, blaming him for this mess he had to deal with now.

Frankly, he had always disliked him but still felt some sort of respect for him; after all, he was his boss, and as such, Sadi used to look up to him, even though not many of the other guides shared that attitude. Daniel was loathed by many, if not all. He had a reputation of being relentless and as cold as stone. However, Sadi always saw it as his way of coping. When Daniel was assigned to be the right hand of Death, it came as quite a shock to him. He was not the type of entity to carry out such ruthless orders. In fact, he used to be one of the most pleasant beings Sadi had ever met. So, it didn't surprise him at all that Daniel didn't want his new position; he had tried everything to get out of it, to be spared that miserable existence of witnessing and being responsible for death. Yet, there was really no point in bargaining with the one who held power over all life on earth.

From that moment on, Daniel changed. He lost all of the light that had always surrounded him, that had always been brighter than anyone else's. He had simply given up, and he became the sarcastic, fear-inducing, emotionless jerk he was now. Only that Sadi now also had to do the dirty work for him.

God, how he resented every bit of it! But the first part was always the worst – getting the soul out of the body.

He frowned in disgust as he leaned over the bed, examining his victim who was snoring away in blissful ignorance of the looming danger.

How should he do it? Stab him with the dagger he always carried around? This was something he had actually learned from Daniel. If nothing else worked, the dagger would reliably do the deed. It was so messy, though.

No, there would have to be a better way tonight.

Sadi looked around the room for inspiration. When his green eyes fell on the beer glass on the chaotic nightstand, he smirked. Yes, that would do. Perfect.

He grabbed it and checked its contents. There was still enough liquid in it to help him out. Wonderful, at least he didn't have to use violence here. Gently, almost lovingly, he brought the glass to the man's open mouth and waited until he inhaled deeply between his frantic snores, then carefully poured the stale beer down his throat.

Works like a charm, Sadi grinned with satisfaction as the drunk began to cough and gasp for air, his arms flailing around in a panicked struggle with death. His hands clutched his throat in a pointless attempt to open up his airways, but Sadi softly took them and held them down in a firm grip.

"Don't fight it," he whispered to the dying. "You had it coming. Shouldn't have destroyed your liver like that, old fool. It looks rather nasty, if you ask me."

Saliva was running out of the man's wide-open mouth, and his eyes stared in horror at Sadi, as he let out one final desperate grunt, and fell limp.

"On to the next part," Sadi stated matter-of-factly, letting go of the lifeless hands that still felt warm.

"What did you do to me?" The dead's soul was leaving its confinement and immediately confronted his murderer.

"Don't take it personal." He shrugged his shoulders. "Your time was up."

"Where's my daughter?" The soul sounded aggravated and in huge emotional distress. "Where's Emily?"

Sadi sighed. That always happened when they died. Feeling guilty for the things they had done, wanting to see their loved ones, not being able to bear the shame they had brought on themselves during their lives, not being able to handle the remorse that hit them the moment they were able to see everything clearly and undistorted by their worldly shackles.

"I don't know," he finally responded truthfully. "But I assume she is with my boss. He's taken quite a liking to her."

"What does that mean?" To describe Emily's father's state as distraught would have been an immense understatement. "Who is your boss? What is he doing with her? Is she ... " He would have choked on those words, if it still had been possible. "Is she dead, too?"

Sadi shook his head, causing his long white-blonde hair to brush over his shoulders. "No, Charles, don't worry, her heart is still beating. The question is, though, for how long. My boss is death's right hand, and he is going to take her with him."

"Why?" He almost yelled that word, grabbing Sadi's shoulders as if he had to hold on to something. "Tell me! What's going on?"

"You really surprise me. You're not the least bit bothered by the fact that you just died, all you are concerned about is that girl."

Charles glared at him, tightening the grip on his shoulders in anger. "She's my daughter, for crying out loud! What do you expect?"

"Hear, hear," Sadi sneered. "Why didn't you think of that before, when you were still alive and could have changed something? It's a little late now to remember your duty as a father, don't you agree?"

"Shut the hell up!" Charles screamed in fury, viciously shaking the Soul Guide. "I want to see her! Take me to her! I need to see my baby girl!"