ZONI
Before I could even blink out my shock, Adin disappeared into the dark alley between the two brick buildings. And at that exact microsecond, the invisible, iron-clad grip on my jaw vanished. My head was under my control again.
I took a sharp breath, and quickly gathered myself, before turning back to Jack. He was still staring out the window, his brow furrowed in genuine confusion.
"What were you looking at?" he asked, leaning in. "You looked... off. Like you were seeing a ghost."
I rolled my eyes at his nosy ass "Nothing, Jack. Just a bird hitting a window." I offered a tight, artificial smile. "Anyway, regarding your 'sweet' proposal, I'll give you a reply soon."
"What do you mean 'soon'?" Jack's face dropped into a mask of disbelief. He probably expected me to swoon over the shittiest show I'd seen in my dead life. Tsk.
I didn't bother replying to that. I pushed back my chair, the screech of metal on the floor providing a satisfying exclamation point to the conversation. I grabbed my bag and stood up.
"Where the hell are you going?" He was getting irritated now, his voice rising a predictable octave.
"Home. I'm tired, and your company is suddenly very draining. Bye."
I didn't wait for the rebuttal. I exited the cafe, and hauled my ass across the street. I headed straight for the gap where I'd seen Adin disappear.
I stepped into the alley, but the boy was nowhere to be found. I spun around, ready to call him out, when that same unnatural force returned. It yanked my chin upward.
Gracious lord.
I gasped as my eyes traveled up the vertical expanse of the building. There, perched on the very edge of the roof like some gargoyle, was Adin. But he wasn't just standing. As I watched, he stepped off the ledge.
I braced for the sound of a splat, but it never came. He didn't fall; he floated, his feet hovering a good fifty feet above the pavement as he drifted in the air.
I knew he was capable of weird shit—I mean, I was literally a walking corpse—but seeing it up close? I hit the ground in shock.
Up above, Adin let out a high-pitched, melodic cackle. "You should see your face! It's priceless!"
I scrambled to my feet, scowling as I brushed the alley grit off my palms. "It's not funny, you little demon!"
"Oh, it absolutely is," he chirped. His voice sounded small, like your average teenage boy's... nasal, slightly cracking, and entirely too smug.
I folded my arms, and repeated myself in a louder, deeper tone. "I said, it is NOT. FUNNY!"
In response, Adin's grin widened, revealing rows of teeth that looked a little too sharp. He leaned forward in the air, and when he spoke again, the "teenager" was gone.
"I DISAGREE. IT IS HILARIOUS."
The voice didn't come from his throat; it came from the atmosphere. It sounded like actual thunder clashing inside my skull. The pavement beneath my boots shuddered, the brick walls groaned, and I lost my footing again, tumbling backward in absolute fear.
But as I sat there in the dirt, a spark of heat flickered in my chest. I was already dead. I had nothing left to lose but my dignity, and I wasn't letting a 4-foot-tall supernatural intern take that too.
I scrambled up, ignored the trembling in my legs, and screamed at the top of my lungs. "I can scream too, bitch! So believe me when I say THIS! IS! NOT! FUNNY!"
Adin paused. He let out a playful, dramatic sigh and raised his hands in mock surrender. The vibration in the air died down, leaving an eerie silence in its wake.
"Now get down here," I snapped, dusting off the back of my trousers. "Let's talk like civilized... whatever we are."
"How about you come up here instead?" Adin said, his grin returning—this time, a toothless, boyish smirk.
"How exac—"
Before I could finish, my stomach did a somersault. I was hoisted into the air by an invisible crane, feet dangling as I was rocketed upward. I reached the roof in a second, landing with a stumble on the flat, gravelled surface.
Once I regained my balance, I took a long, hard look at him. Aside from those glowing, bloody eyes' he looked like a nerdy, slightly annoying golden retriever in human form.
I cleared my throat "Aren't you too young to be disrespecting your seniors?"
"Well..." Adin said, donning a proud, insufferable smile. "Even though I'm only seven hundred thousand and forty years old, I would say I've got a bit more life experience than most of my 'seniors.'"
My jaw dropped, and I momentarily forgot how to close my mouth.
"Seven hundred thousand and... what?" I managed to croak out. "You're really that old?"
"Yup," he nodded. "Don't believe me? I can show you my real form."
"NO! God, no. No thanks," I held up my hands, backing away. "I might actually die for real this time"
I didn't want to even imagine what his real form looked like. Something told me it wasn't going to be pretty.
"Good choice," Adin laughed. Then cleared his throat, his posture straightening. "Let's start over. Hi, I'm Adin, Page Boy of the Guardians of Hell."
I nodded. "Hades and Persephone..."
"Yes. I'm essentially their errand boy. Think of me as your supernatural HR representative." He shrugged. "And I'm here to give you the crash course so you don't mess up your first kill."
I exhaled. "Soul collection."
"Not just any souls, Zoni. Strictly souls of sinners. The ones the world is better off without."
I nodded slowly. "Right. That makes it... slightly better. Um, sorry to deviate... but are people not hearing us? We're literally shouting on a rooftop in the middle of a busy city."
Adin frowned, looking genuinely confused. "What people?"
And for the first time, I actually looked around us.
Everything had stopped. I mean everything, even the microscopic particles in the air.
Below us, I could see Jack through the cafe window, frozen like a wax figure. The city's roar had been replaced by a silence so heavy it made my ears ring.
"Time is frozen," Adin explained. "The only things 'alive' in this pocket of reality are us."
"How is this possible?" I whispered, mesmerized by the stillness.
"Anything is possible when you're dead, Zoni. Physics is for the living." He rose back into the air, his expression turning serious. "I'm going to be as quick and detailed as possible. Pay attention."
I focused on him.
"You've been given a second chance at life on Earth. Sort of," he began, pacing the edge of the roof. "And you are to earn your keep by sending condemned souls to Hell. Is that correct, Zoni?"
"Yes. That's what my contract says."
"Good. You have three months, starting tomorrow, to make your first kill... or rather, your first 'offering'."
"Bloody hell, just three months?" I asked. It sounded like a decent window, but then I remembered I'd never even killed a spider without feeling a twinge of guilt. Now I was supposed to harvest a human?
"Yes. Three months is perfectly sufficient. Others have done it in less than a week."
"Wait. There are others? Other soul collectors like me?"
"Pretty much." Adin shrugged, dismissive. "Back to the orientation. After your first kill, you have two months for your second. After that, the cycle stabilizes at a strict monthly basis. One soul every thirty days to keep your heart beating."
I sigh escaped my lips as he concluded. "Duly noted. Carry on."
"Now, we move on to the supplies you'll need to make your stay... uh... easier. The fun part, actually." Adin smiled a mischievous smile and waved a hand through the air.
With a faint shimmer, a black, stony box materialized out of thin air. It looked like it was carved from some volcanic rock type shit, and it pulsed with dark energy.
It clicked open to reveal a collection of objects I couldn't see well.
Adin reached in and pulled out a small, weathered brown pouch. He tossed it to me. It was so light I thought it was empty, but when I pulled the drawstring, I saw dozens of tiny, black crystals.
They were beautiful, small, and oddly...tempting. I had the sudden, bizarre urge to pop one in my mouth like candy.
What the helly?
"Those are Life Crystals," Adin said. "And as the name implies, they sustain your borrowed time here. You must boil one in water, or any liquid, really, and swallow it daily. Miss a day, and you drop dead."
I shivered, clutching the pouch tightly like my life depended on them.
What am I saying? Of course, they fucking do, Zo.
Don't lose the bag.
"There are ninety-one crystals in there to last you the first three months. Once you make your kill, I'll return to replenish your stock," he explained.
"Next... your Cross. The Mock Cross."
He reached into the box again and pulled out a black, wooden cross attached to a rosary.
The moment it emerged, a wave of cold, paralyzing dread hit me. It felt like the air had been sucked out of the world. My heart hammered against my ribs, and I instinctively scrambled backward, my heels skidding on the gravel.
"Get that thing away from me!!"