Grim

Chapter 19 - Testing, Testing, 1, 2, 3

After collecting the girl's soul, I turn to respond to the demon's last comment. Of course he is gone. Damn that Ornias. I guess he already is, isn't he?

He did give me quite a bit to think about though. What is Remiel going to do? I'm not worried about whether I get into heaven or not. I have always felt like the reaper duties are my calling. This is what I was meant to do. The voices inside argue, but Thomas, the one in charge, died to become a reaper. My life trained me for this duty.

I was always told that it was my choice as to where I went in the afterlife as it is everyone's. Some make that choice in life, some after death, and some others never make that decision. I feel sorry for those tortured wandering souls that have no purpose in death. What if I made that choice and Heaven rejected me? Would I become one of those souls? I never thought that either side would ever reject a soul. Is this something that has happened before?

Many of the voices in my head are lobbying for hell using foul language to describe Remiel and the other angels. A few others are coming through as a whisper, but that whisper supports choosing heaven. It's like a moth in a hurricane, but I can hear their plea. It is still my decision. These other voices have made theirs. I must remember that I am my own soul.

The list requires that I go to Mexico next. I teleport to the spot with sparks flying everywhere. At my destination straw spirals out from my feet on the ground. A few pieces have small flames that burn out before they can reach more fuel. I need to be careful where I teleport to. This barn could have caught fire.

Ornias is waiting for me as I exit the barn. "Take your time Thomas. I always enjoy the loose morals and churros of Mexico." There are three other demons with him.

"Who are your friends Ornias? They don't look friendly."

They actually look like fresh meat. New demons that have no idea how to control themselves. Dark clouds floating around aimlessly. I doubt they could even reach out to touch or manipulate anything. The demon responds, "Friends? Oh yes these new recruits. I brought them here to help you practice."

"Practice?"

The demon's eyes light up. "Oh yesss." The demon extends the word with a reptilian hiss. It makes me shift on my feet. He continues, "I would love to see you use that lightning attack on an angel, but I am fresh out. These bad apples will have to do." He kicks one of them, and it wails like an animal in response. "Useless. Believe me reaper, I would be experimenting on these demons if I didn't feel like your practice wasn't more important."

I have no love for demons, but I am not a torturer. The voices in my head universally disagree. I fight them, barely maintaining control. My hands twitch against my will.

"What's wrong reaper? Are you really feeling sorry for these demons? If you only knew what these three had been up to when they were alive. Should I describe their sins to you in detail? Or should I just have them try to attack you? They have told me that they are ready to try taking on a reaper." The trio of black clouds start floating towards me. "Uh Oh. It's out of my hands Thomas. You better defend yourself."

They must be joking. I could easily thrash each of these new demons with my staff, but I must admit that I am curious. I relent to the voices within. Power wells up in my hands as I extend them towards the nearest demon. I wonder if I will be able to hit it with my attack at all. The lightning flies from my fingers. The strike from my left hand blasts the dirt next to one of the other demons, but the strike from my right hand hits the demon I'm aiming at. It screaches like a small dying animal. The black smoke fades away to nothing. What did I do? The demon is completely gone! The other two demons lose their courage and start to back off.

Ornias yells at the remaining two, " Who are you more afraid of? Me or this reaper you all swore was no match for you?"

The two black clouds hesitate. Ornias springs into action. I can't tell what he does, but it looks similar to someone peeling layers off cotton candy until nothing is left. The wailing screams motivate the last demon to attack. It tries to launch itself at my face. I summon the anger within. The blast from my eye sockets hits the black cloud at it's center.

I am transported to a fiery pit. Lance Bell had just died and a reaper had sent him to hell. The heat dries his body out making him too weak to move. A demon collects him to chain him to a wall. The demon then begins peeling the flesh off his body bit by bit. He is stripped down until there is nothing left but a grey soul. The demons pick at and torture the soul. Over time the soul darkens with hate and malice. When the soul loses all it's light, it graduates to become a demon.

I snap back to the present to see the last bits of the demon disintegrate. What was that? It was like seeing the life story when I draw out the soul of the dying, but it wasn't quite the same. I think that may have been Lance's afterlife.

Ornias has a big smile on his face. "Excellent. It is just as I thought."

His smile fades as ten angels teleport to a spot less than twenty feet away with swords drawn. Remiel is one of them. "Consorting with demons wilst be thy undoing Thomas."