Soul Bringer

Chapter 4

"Bring me her soul." My father said to me, his voice dark and chilling as it gripped me, rooting me in place. I watched the small child, her hair a blonde halo around her porcelain face. The child was no more than ten years old. She was an innocent, but he had made a deal with her regardless.

To save her dying sister from cancer.

My father had given the child one more year to live, her soul in exchange for healing her dying sister. The young child's time was now up, and it was my job to reap her soul. But, how could I?

I watched the scene play out before my eyes, knowing that this was a dream, a memory, but I couldn't seem to open my eyes. The nightmare was pulling me down into the depths of its terrifying darkness.

I had reaped countless souls for my father before this. Murderers, thieves, and other violent people that belonged in my father's dark world. I had gladly given their souls over to him, believing that this was my purpose. But an innocent child? How could he ask this of me?

"No." I had told him, my words cutting like a thick steel blade. Father cast his dark glare at me and pointed at the child on the other side of the Echo.

"She made a deal with me. I saved her sister. Now her soul is mine!" His eyes grew darker with each passing second and I knew my father would soon punish me for denying his wishes. Even the fear of what I would receive in return for my insubordination was not enough to tempt me to steal the girl's soul.

"I can't do this for you father." My father's eyes glowed at my words, like a fiery wisp of anger in the embers of his eyes.

"Do it, or I will send Sylvie to kill her and her sister."

As if summoned by merely saying her name, Sylvie appeared at my father's side. She let out a deep, hungry growl. I knew my father wasn't bluffing. If I took the girl's soul, killing her, I could make it painless. If I left the deed to Sylvie, it would be a brutal and violent death. Not to mention that her deal, her sacrifice, would have been for nothing.

I swallowed my pride. I shoved the small scraps of my morality deep inside the darkest parts of my soul as I stepped towards that shimmering veil. Father produced the blade of realms and he slashed at the Echo. Light flowed out through the wavering veil and I plunged my hands towards the girl's heart.

Her life was a flickering flame. It was the brightest soul I had ever felt. The warmth from it alone caused something to stir within me. I could feel her love for her sister. I could hear her laughter. And in return I felt guilt, remorse, and sorrow wash over my skin like a falling tide.

This felt wrong.

I glanced back at my father, the greed filling his face. I looked down at Sylvie as she stood on her haunches, ready to kill the girl and the sister she had saved.

I closed my eyes, ignoring the swarm of emotions that threatened to rip me apart from the seams. I let out my delicate song as I pulled the girl's soul forward. She did not scream, a first for me. I normally enjoyed tearing their souls from their bodies with such force that their cries could be heard echoing through the entirety of Remna. For this child though, I gave her no pain. Only peace.

It made me question my entire purpose.

Her cold, lost gaze still stared at me as I opened my eyes. I had fallen asleep sometime during the drive. The sun had disappeared along the horizon. Kai glanced at me as I sat up. He drew his eyebrows close, as if concerned.

"What did you dream about?" He asked.

"Nothing." I said in reply.

I tried to forget the girl's face, but I knew she would forever haunt me. There would be no whispering sunrise in my future. The shadows of the world I had been a part of would forever torment me.

I could still feel her precious soul in my hands, its purity, its lovely light. I could still feel the coldness that had settled over me when I held her beating life in the palm of my hands. The reaping had felt terribly wrong.

Who was I?

I didn't know. All I knew was that I would never reap a soul for my father again.

"I don't believe you." I turned to look at Kai, to study the earnest in his gaze. Could I trust him with the darkness of my past? Would he understand what I had been? Would he believe me when I told him that I wanted to be better?

"I did things for my father." I said at last. "Terrible things." Kai reached out and squeezed my hand. The contact so foreign, so alien to me. I could feel the warmth from his tender touch. His soul seemed to reach out to me, as if in greeting. I held on to his hand, searching for a moment as I felt the bright soul beneath. Within the light of his soul I could feel all the goodness in Kai and his sympathy towards me.

"It's alright." He said at last. "You can tell me."

Images of my reapings came to mind. I had found pleasure in immersing my hands into my victim's hearts, ripping their souls out from their skins. Their cries of pain were my musings. I knew their souls, the black taint they carried from their heinous sins. I knew the shadowy darkness of their souls, a sight so familiar to me. For years, I killed the most abhorrent of people, giving their souls to my father.

Why a child?

Why now?

What did my father want with a pure soul?

I tried to tell Kai what I had done. I opened my mouth to do so but words were lost to me. He squeezed my hand again, as if in comfort. I wanted to look at him, to peer into his eyes and see the honesty and kindness reflecting there. But I was too ashamed of who I was, the nefariousness that coated my own soul, to look into the light of Kai's eyes.

He would think me a monster if he knew who I was.

Wasn't I a monster?

"It's alright Meleena."

"Please, call me Lee." I told him. I let out a little laugh as I wiped at the liquid pooling in my eyes before Kai could see. "If I hadn't given those souls to my father, what do you think would have happened to them?"

"You have a purpose Lee." Kai said softly. "But it isn't for me to tell you."

The car pulled off the road and made its way down a dirt road towards an old farm house. The second the driver placed the car in park a woman ran out of the white house. I stared at the woman as she hurried towards the car. It was like looking into a mirror almost. She looked so similar to me, except older. Her hair was long, dark and wavy. She had the same brilliant blue eyes that I had. Her nose was slightly crooked, like mine, and on her, that slight uniqueness made her even that much more beautiful.

My heart stilled at the sight, then it felt as if I was falling down a cliff as I watched her run to me.

Mom.

"There she is." Kai said softly. I smiled at his words, feeling my heart suddenly take flight from that fateful plunge.

My mom.

After all this time.