Reclaiming Souls (10 page)

“Kale! Why are you acting like this!? I’m still trying to piece how you fit into my life before I died and you can’t even be understanding about this!” I huffed out as we made our way down the street to go pick up his list and I was, well, going to get a fresh memory.

“I think it’s bullshit, that’s why! I’ve been more than accommodating for you and trying to help and not get in the way and letting you figure everything out but this is where I draw the line. I just got you back in my life and you want to basically punish me!”

“How is this punishing you!? I’m trying to help the souls who don’t need to come back yet. I have a chance to make a difference in so many souls’ lives and you’re being selfish and an ass!” I wanted to strangle him.

“Yeah, I am being a little selfish. You’re mine, Dev, so why can’t I have a say so in the matter?”

Whoa. That stopped me dead in my tracks. “You do not own me, I am not yours, and you have NO right to speak to me like a piece of damn property,” I hissed at him. I was clenching my fists as the fire inside me grew. It took everything I had to not lay him out right there.

“Oh come on, that’s not what I meant, Dev,” he rolled his eyes.

“I don’t give a rats ass how you meant it because what you said was plain as day. You know, if you were anything like this down there, I’m glad I don’t remember you. I’m glad the only things I’ll miss are your beautiful eyes and perfect hair! Goodbye, Kale!” I stormed off and went straight to the Creator. I was shaking so bad I couldn’t stand it.

I stood in front of his chair while I waited; nervously shaking my hands and rocking back and forth on my feet. He wasn’t there yet and I was beginning to think I was making the wrong decision. A door squeaked open to my right; I spun my head to look. He came in and took my hand in his. “Good morning, Devalynn. How are you today?”

“I’m good, thank you. Yourself?”

“I’m always good,” he smiled, “So, are you ready? Have you made your choice?”

We began to walk out towards the tombs. “Yes,” I looked down at my feet as they shuffled under me, “I’m going to do it. I need to help the others not suffer a horrible eternity.”

He nodded, “Okay. You have made the right call on this, you know. Now the system will be reworked and it’s all going to be thanks to you.”

“Is there any way I can at least retain some of my memory or get it back when I’m done?” My voice was shaking and unsteady.

He frowned a little, “No, I’m sorry. Once it’s done, I can’t undo it. Is that a deal breaker?”

“No, I was just hoping to have something in the end. Not so much a reward but a piece of myself still intact.” I took a deep breath and sighed, “Get it over with, please.” I had forgotten to look at the inscription on the ring so I quickly took it off and read what Kellin had written. K+D I love you, my bride. I smiled, my lips trembled, and I closed my eyes while I slipped the ring back on my finger.

His hand touched my forehead. A dizzying feeling overcame my body; a bright purple light filled my mind and invaded the depths of my memories.

Chapter Eight

“Good morning, everyone! My name is Devalynn. I have been tasked with overhauling the Reclamation department. It seems the system is faulty and too many souls are being taken back for minor infractions. If you have any concerns or want to discuss a particular area that needs to be looked at, please don’t hesitate to see me,” I smiled from the podium at my audience.

A hand went up; I pointed at them to stand. “How soon are we looking at changes?” the man asked.

“Hopefully only a few days at the most. I have already been informed of the situation and have seen how it works. There are ideas bubbling to get everything fixed,” I smiled.

“Thanks, Dev,” he smiled but kind of with a sad tone to his voice. I couldn’t understand why he wouldn’t be happy about the changes about to happen.

“Okay, I’m sorry; I can’t take any more questions. I really need to get to work so we can get the ball rolling. See me later today with your concerns. Thanks, everyone. Have a great day,” I waved as I stepped down from the podium with my papers in one hand.

“Excuse me, Devalynn?” A girl’s voice from behind me called out.

“Yup?” I turned and looked at her. Her hair was a gorgeous blonde with waves and she was dressed in all black.

“I’ve been tasked as your assistant,” she smiled.

“That’s great! What’s your name?” I asked.

Her smile faded.  “I’m Lexie.” She held her hand out for mine.

I shook it firmly. “Nice to meet you, Lexie. Sure hope you’re ready to get this started because we have a lot of work to do.”

“Sure thing.” She put her hands in the back pockets of her pants as we walked.

“So what’s there to do up here? I just got here and have no idea what to do for some fun.” I tried to make some conversation with her to get her talking.

“Well, I want to introduce you to someone who can show you around more than I can,” she smirked.

“Okay,” I laughed, “why does that sound like I should be scared?”

She shook her head, “I promise, you won’t be scared. Come on.” She led me to a building with a line of Collectors standing outside. We made our way through them and pushed inside.

“Hey Kellin,” she called out.

A handsome man turned around and looked at us. He went from laughing to damn near crying. Why in the hell was everyone reacting like that to me? I couldn’t figure it out. He walked over to us, running a hand through his thick brown hair. “Hey, Lex, what’s up?”

“This is Devalynn. She was asking what all there is to do around here. Figured you could give her the grand tour,” she winked at him.

He extended his hand for mine, “Nice to meet you, Dev.”

I smiled, “Thank you. Nice meeting you, too. So how about after work you can show me around? If you have time that is.”

“Absolutely, I would love to show you around. I have somewhere to take you that I think you will really enjoy.” His smile started to creep back up slowly in the corners of his lips...oh I wanted his lips against mine; to feel them against my skin. I shook my head really quick, trying to make the thought leave me alone.

“Sounds great, I look forward to it. Have a good day,” I waved as we parted and turned away. “He seems really nice,” I told Lexie.

“Oh he’s a total sweetheart. I think you two will get along just great.”

“Hey, Lexie, why does everyone seem to freak out when I come around? Do they not want me here?” We headed back towards the tombs to sit down and start going over the new plans.

“Oh no, we want you here. I think it’s just taking some of us by surprise, that’s all,” she replied; gentleness in her voice.

“Seems like every time someone looks at me, they get on the verge of tears or stop smiling.”

“Trust me, okay, you’re fine. No one hates you or wants you gone. So what are we doing first? What do you need me to do?”

Next to the tombs was a small building. We went inside and looked around. There were some old desks and a lot of filing cabinets. “Well, I guess go through the records and find the ones that stand out as probable wrongful reclamations and make a stack over there,” I pointed to the side of one desk. “I’m going to go ahead and review the laws and start making changes. It really shouldn’t take too long. In a few days you’ll be able to go back to what you were doing before. Sorry you got stuck helping me.” I sat down at a desk and began to look over the Laws for Reclamations book.

“I don’t feel stuck helping. Glad to do it. It’s nice getting to hang out with you again.”

I looked up at her quizzically. “What do you mean, again?”

“Oh, um, nothing. Never mind that comment. I’ll let you get to work. Seems I’ve got a lot to do, too.” She buried her face in the files as she began to go through them.

I opened the book and the first rule had me shaking my head.

Law 1. All souls committing a crime SHALL be reclaimed.

I revised it accordingly.

Law 1. (Revised) Only souls that have committed a heinous crime shall be reclaimed immediately.

It sounded good to me. I also improvised and added a new one.

Law 1a. All souls not committing a heinous crime shall be given three strikes or if the reclaimer feels that the soul is truly incapable of changing their ways, they may be reclaimed and the Creator shall give the appropriate punishment or reject the claim by the reclaimer and send the soul back to earth.

I had a feeling it was going to be a long day and it was. Every law I came across had to be amended or new sub laws created. A few hours later when my stomach rumbled for food, I forced myself to take a break. “Hey, you want to go get something to eat? I could use the break. How about you?”

Lexie had made good progress. The stack next to the table had morphed into four stacks lining the opposite wall. “Yeah, I’m starving. Let’s go grab some food from my place since it’s right around the corner.” She stood to her feet and I stretched my body out first before getting up. We walked out and headed to her place.

“I see you’ve got a lot done so far. I think going through those files is going to take way longer than redoing that book. I can’t believe how outdated and immoral it is,” I said, shaking my head.

“I’m nowhere near done, either. It’ll probably take weeks to get through them with just me and you. I say we recruit someone to help,” she smirked.

“Any suggestions?” I eyed her.

“I have a few in mind,” she giggled.

I rolled my eyes, “I guess get them together and see if they will help. So tell me about yourself.”

“Not much to know. I died, I came here, I met Jackson, we got united,” she flashed her ring at me, “and here I am. Just boring ole me.”

“United? Like married?”

“Yeah, it’s done a little different here. We just got united this morning right before your big speech. He’s actually in the process of moving all his stuff over into my house since it was bigger than his.”

“Congratulations! I didn’t know you could do that here.”

“Oh yeah, happens pretty often but you’ll figure that out soon enough. What about you? What do you remember of yourself?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well when you come here, memories usually don’t make the crossover too.”

“Oh well, let me think.” I tried. I tried damn hard to remember anything and everything before that morning but it was an empty black hole. I shook my head. “Nothing...is that normal?”

She shrugged, “It can be. Just keep fighting it and try to find a way into the memories. Some might recover themselves.” We walked up the steps to a beautiful cottage.

“I guess. I’m not really worried about it.”

She looked down at my hand. “Where did you get that ring? It’s beautiful.”

“I don’t know. I’ve been looking at it trying to figure the same thing out but I just can’t get myself to take it off. It feels too important to me for some reason. I think it’s absolutely beautiful.”

She smiled while holding the door for me, “Yeah, it is. Welcome to my home. Excuse the mess. Jackson should be around here shortly.”

“I’m not worried about a messy house,” I laughed as I shut the door behind me and walked into the kitchen behind her.

There was a knock on the door and it swung open. “Hey, what are you guys up to?” Kellin walked in and wrapped his arm around my neck. I must have turned every color of red possible. I felt the temperature in my face rise quickly. He looked down at my hand covering my chest where my racing heartbeat should have been. With his other hand, he reached up for mine and brought it closer to examine my ring. “Pretty rare ring; it’s flawless and looks stunning on you.” He looked over and down into my eyes. I was slightly shorter than him; fitting perfectly in the nook of his arm.

“We were just talking about it. I love it. Not sure where it came from but I won’t take it off.” His beautiful eyes bore into mine; into my soul.

“Good. Don’t ever take it off. It suits you,” he grinned from ear to ear.

“I don’t plan on it,” I replied.

“Kellin, we need some extra hands at the warehouse going through all the old files of the souls reclaimed and entombed. Would you want to help?” Lexie winked at him.

“Count me in. That’s better than sitting around building the lists for the next day.”

“Great! We’re eating really quick and then headed back over there to finish out the day.” She reached into a cupboard and pulled out some plates then set them on the counter in her kitchen. Kellin took his arm from around me to go help her with lunch. I actually felt kind of disappointed that he moved. It was nice and felt...fitting.

“This stuff looks really weird and gross,” I laughed at the yellow and pink mixture in front of Kellin. I was trying to figure out what it was and half guessed it was a soup.

He leaned over the counter with a spoon and held it to my mouth. “Try it.” I looked at him then down at the spoon with the fascinating concoction on it.

“Umm, I don’t know,” I replied, cautiously.

He stared into my eyes again, “Trust me. You’ll like it. If not, then I guess you’ll starve because we don’t have that nasty human food up here.” He eased the spoon closer to my mouth and I opened just enough to tip it in and he was right. It was amazing. A bit spilt out of my mouth and ran down my chin. Before I could wipe it away he took a napkin and rubbed it gently next to my lip and down; cleaning it up.

“Thanks,” I replied, lost in his gaze.

“You’re welcome. Here,” he handed me a bowl of the soupy stuff, “eat up.” He winked at me and fixed himself a bowl.

I bit my lip while I was watching him; the beautiful creature that he was. Lexie caught me staring at the back of his head and cleared her throat. I snapped out of the spell I was under and ate my soup stuff. The sat at the counter next me as we ate a somewhat rushed lunch. It really was amazing.

“That was delicious. Thank you for lunch. I guess it’s time to get back to work.” Lexie stood to clear away the dishes. “Let me do that. You cooked, I clean. Isn’t that how it goes?” I laughed.

“You’re welcome! Oh stop, you don’t have to clean up. I’ll leave it for Jackson to do,” she laughed.

“Yeah, he’ll just love coming home to that, huh?” Kellin teased her.

“He’ll like it or get out. He’s got to learn to do things like that now. Come on.” We walked out of the front door and headed down the steps. “Oh crap, I forgot my drink. I’ll be right back.” She turned on her heels and ran back inside.