Heven? Sam said, no doubt picking up on my stirring emotions.
Kimber was here.
How much damage?
Not nearly enough, I replied as I watched her drive away.
Beside me Riley was putting out the fire with a nearby fire extinguisher.
I’ll be home soon.
I’ll be waiting.
Riley dropped the red can at his feet. “This happen often?”
“Yep.”
“How about instead of lighting anything else on fire, you go make me a pie with these apples?”
He looked so hopeful I smiled.
“There it is,” he said.
“Why are you here, Riley?” I asked, still smiling.
“You called.”
“That’s it? No sign of Beelzebub?”
“Nope. He’s still here on Earth, causing trouble.”
I glanced back to where Kimber had driven away. Earth didn’t need Beelzebub around to make trouble. It seemed we humans made enough on our own. The truth was he’d been very quiet. I hadn’t seen or heard from him since that day at the school.
“I want those souls released, Riley.”
He nodded. “I know.”
“No, I want them released now. As soon as possible.”
“As soon as we can find them—” he began, but I made a sound, cutting him off.
“You don’t understand,” I started. “I’m tired, Riley. I’m tired of people dying. I’m tired of hurting, of wondering. I’m tired of knowing my mother is suffering. I’m going to find those souls. I’m going to do it soon and then Beelzebub and Hecate won’t be able to hurt us anymore.”
I didn’t realize I’d been crying until Riley wiped a tear off my cheek and rubbed it on his jeans. “Let’s do this,” he said.
“Let’s do this.”
Heven
In a strange way the death of my brother was a motivator. I wanted time to grieve, time to really mourn the people we’d lost. I realized I would never truly be able to have that until this was over and Beelzebub was too busy trying to build up his power source (stolen souls) to come after me and my loved ones anymore.
I wanted to hide. I wanted to dig out one of those oversized hoodies I used to wear, comb my hair over my face, and stay inside alone, but that wasn’t an option anymore. I was past that. I knew that wasn’t the answer.
The only way I was going to truly get my life back, to truly have the time and space I desperately wanted to grieve, was to fight.
So fight I would.
Today was the day. Today was the day we were going into hell and I was going to find those souls no matter what it took. I owed it to myself and to my mother.
My mother and I had a complicated relationship the final year of her life and the hurtful things she said to me before she died still rang in my ears. I probably wouldn’t ever forget the way she hurt me. But that had only been a small piece of our time together. For almost my entire life she did nothing but love me and my father.
I don’t know what happened to her before I was born, before my dad came into her life. I don’t know the path she walked on or the choices she was forced to make, but I did know whatever those choices were, they probably weren’t easy.
I knew better than anyone that sometimes the choices we make aren’t always the best ones, but in certain moments there are limited choices that a person can make. Sometimes those we have to choose from aren’t what we want, so we pick the one we can live with most and then we pray it turns out okay.
I guess in the end things didn’t turn out okay for her. But if she hadn’t made the choice she did, she might not have had all those wonderful years with me and Dad.
That was something. Wasn’t it?
I thought so.
I also thought she deserved for me to remember some of the good times we had together and not just the bad. And that’s what brought me here, to the house we used to live in.
With a heavy sigh I taped closed another box and stacked it in the corner, then sank onto the bed. I took a moment to look around the bare walls and empty closet.
The mattress dipped when Sam sat beside me, hooking his arm around my waist and pulling me into his side. “We’re not going to get it all done today.”
I sighed. “I want to empty out the desk. Then we can go.”
“We already have a heavy day planned, Hev. Don’t push yourself.”
“I know, but after the desk, this room will be finished.” I got up and went to the small desk against the wall. Cleaning out my mom’s house wasn’t something I ever thought about doing. Sure, I knew the day would come, but I always thought I’d be much, much older. We still had most of the house to box up, but I wanted to get her bedroom done, her most personal space out of the way. This was the most difficult room for me and I figured the sooner I got it done the better.
I began putting all her office supplies in a box and then all the papers and books she worked on for the church in a separate one so I could take it to the church office sometime next week. Sam was there beside me, cleaning out the three side drawers, labeling and sorting.
“I think we should call it a day,” Sam said, not too much later. “We can come back for the boxes tomorrow. There probably won’t be any school then, either.”
“I never even got the chance to ask Gemma about some kind of cure for the students,” I murmured. They were all still sick and being treating for an illness no one could diagnose. As far as I could tell from the news, not that many more new cases had occurred so at least it didn’t seem to be spreading, but no one was getting better, either.
“Hev.” Sam grabbed my wrist. I stared at the contrast between his skin and mine. He was golden and warm looking, while I was much more pale and cool looking. “Let’s go.”
I nodded, but then I noticed something I hadn’t before. “What is that?” I asked, focusing on a small box sitting on the desk.
He looked down at it. “I don’t know. It was in the very back of the bottom drawer. I figured you would know.”
“I’ve never seen that box before.” It was just a plain box, really, the size of a small shoebox and entirely black. It had a small silver lock hanging off the latch. “Is there a key?”
“Didn’t see one,” he replied. Instead of searching for the key, he reached out and gave the lock a great tug and it broke in his grip.
Why would my mother keep a box with a lock on it? What could possibly be inside that was worth locking away? I’d already gone through all her jewelry and Gran had already gotten all her important papers.