The Glass Dagger (Afterlife Chronicles Book 1)

  “No, I didn’t think so,” he added after everyone gave him a moment of silence. Then he took a much-needed deep breath and pushed all his hair back in a frustrated gesture before saying more calmly,

  “I know this is a lot to take in, but right now look around guys, because we are all we have got left in this world, one we have no clue about and if we are going to survive it, then we will only do that together.” On hearing this everyone had a different reaction, Ena and Zane looked sheepishly to the side trying to avoid being singled out and Janie gave Theo an encouraging head nod and a small smile as though this was what she had been trying to say herself. Ivan on the other hand had been obviously lost in his own thoughts and asked,

  “I be Angel?” Theo coughed to hide his choked surprise and Zane laughed once before walking over to him and slapping him on the back.

  “I’m thinking not big man, not after what we saw but hey, even the Hulk could be a good guy...okay, one that might cost the city millions of dollars in damage after one green tantrum, but hey, no one’s perfect right?” It was at this point that Theo was glad that Ivan couldn’t understand half of what Zane said but that still didn’t mean he didn’t want to slap his forehead and pray for strength...although who exactly he would be praying to right now he had no clue.

  “Seriously, do you even have a filter?” Ena said after doing what Theo had refrained from doing and smacking her own forehead.

  “Of course I do.” Zane said looking back over his shoulder at her.

  “Then why don’t you execute the right to use it, smartass!” Ena said putting a hand on her hip and giving him that ‘I am not impressed look.

  “Okay, so this wasn’t exactly what I had in mind guys,” Theo said feeling exasperated.

  “Why don’t you go ahead Theo and explain it to us a bit more, that way I am sure we will understand it better.” Janie said obviously feeling sorry for what he was having to deal with right now. Theo gave a her a small smile in thanks but before he could say anything Zane spoke first,

  “Yeah man, tell us more... especially the part about us no longer being human, ‘cause that should be a riot.” Theo ignored the sarcasm and continued with what he was going to say.

  “Well, from what I could gather, we have all been chosen.”

  “For what exactly, to turn us unfortunate orphans into even greater freaks!” Ena snapped and this time her reply didn’t come from Theo but Death himself...

  “Well yeah, but first I had to kill you.”

  9

  Say Hello to My Little

  Dark Friend

  “You!” Theo hissed at the man he held responsible for all this madness and by far the worst experience of his life so far. It wasn’t just his own death he thought of, but more like the living nightmare of having to watch helplessly as others around him died without being able to do anything to stop it. For someone like Theo this was pure torture and it was as though something deep within his genetic makeup was snapping the threads holding the crucial pieces of himself together. Watching others suffer actually caused him pain, but with this group it was so much worse...it was like watching a family he had longed for being cruelly snatched away from him just as he was reaching out for them.

  Watching them slip through his fingers...literally.

  Well ‘no more’ his mind screamed at him as his fists clenched and his jaw locked in an anger he could feel burning deep within his veins. Something was coming but he didn’t know what, only that he could feel the change was near, a change that felt fuelled by raw anger.

  “I do not have time for your insolence boy, I have come to speak to your master,” Carrick said walking past him, only Theo was having none of it. He snatched out quicker than he knew he could move and grabbed onto Carrick’s arm. The silver haired man first looked down at the foreign hand restraining him and then looked down his nose at its owner. Carrick raised a single eyebrow before saying,

  “What’s the matter boy, do you have a second death wish?”

  “Come Theo, let him go,” Ena said cautiously and was quickly followed by Zane agreeing,

  “Yeah man, he’s not worth it.” But Theo wasn’t listening…or should he say, the beast inside him refused to listen. All he could see was the man who had caused his friends fear and death when they simply believed themselves lucky enough to be chosen for a new life. Well, at least that was the way that Theo saw it and he just assumed the others did too.

  This was the reason that instead of letting go, his grip locked tighter as did his jaw the second he finally let his rage boil over and give in to his darker side that he could feel screaming at him to do damage.

  “Oh I disagree...it’s worth it,” Theo said in a voice he no longer recognised and one that seemed to have been dragged from Hell itself. Carrick’s eyes widened in surprise and just as he opened his mouth to give another warning, he quickly learnt it was far too late, as it was time for something no one was expecting...

  It was time for Theo’s Demon.

  But time only seemed to slow down for Theo and even when Carrick’s lips started to mouth words of denial it was too late for that. Theo’s blind rage was overriding any other logical thought. It was as if years of pain and mental suffering had finally hit its limit and it all seemed to burst out of him as though he’d had a live grenade of great power in his chest all this time.

  Well Carrick had just pulled the pin and he knew it. A blinding white force exploded from within Theo but as quickly as it hit, it quickly started to implode before the fingers of destruction could reach out and hurt anyone other than the person he was in direct contact with. As though some invisible black hole was absorbing all the power back inside of him and with it something else as well.

  It wasn’t just his own power being sucked back into his chest but also a foreign energy from Death himself. One that seemed to travel up through his veins as though Theo’s heart was a battery that suddenly needed recharging and holding onto Carrick was just the power source he needed.

  Theo could feel his eyes changing at the sight of Carrick falling to his knees as though he no longer had enough strength to hold himself on his feet. Theo bent lower to keep hold of him as he continued to somehow drain Carrick of his power and he couldn’t say it wasn’t a satisfying sight, not considering he had witnessed first-hand what that power could do to five innocent lives on a bus.

  “Theo, your eyes…what’s…what’s happening to you?” Ena asked him, unable to keep the fear from her voice.

  He cut his burning eyes to hers and knew it was bad when he saw her wince, stepping back into Zane for protection. He could barely stand seeing the way they all looked at him now. Ivan with his eyes wide and at the ready, holding onto Janie’s shoulders as if prepared to pick her up and carry her to safety. Zane mouthing the word ‘Dude?’ in a questioning manner and Ena shaking her head as if judging him for bringing a man to his knees, no matter what his crimes.

  But instead of feeling enough guilt to let him go, it only seemed to morph into something darker…crueller. It was as though Theo couldn’t find his way back from the anger, so instead of reaching out to try and release it, he was in fact running further towards it. And in doing so, his grip tightened on Carrick, his fingers digging in and trying to find root.

  “Im…possible,” Carrick stammered out just before his hand slapped to the floor to stop himself from falling forward and his face from slamming into the slate tiles.

  “Now it’s time you pay.” Theo’s demon threatened and just before he could allow what he knew in his heart was wrong to be unleashed fully, a cool calm voice of authority cut through the murderous tension like a burning blade cutting through a frozen lake of solid ice.

  “Let him go, Theo.”

  “Oh, thank God.” Ena and Janie both muttered in sync with their prayers for peace at the sight of their headmaster stood in the doorway with his arms folded.

  Theo, without being able to do anything but give in to the command, let go of the Death deal
er and the second he did Carrick inhaled deep as though finally being able to take his first breath from that icy lake. These thoughts made Theo growl as if a wild beast was beating against the inside of his chest trying to claw his way back out. It was as if another side to him was taunting him to take back hold of Carrick and inflict even more damage. Which was why Theo without being able to stop himself reached out to try and grab a hold of Carrick once more, again giving in to his other side.

  “ENOUGH!” This time the demand came out as a thundering wave, blasting a power of will and control throughout the room, enough for Theo to find himself falling to his own knees beside Carrick. The rest of the group released a collective gasp at the sight of such a powerful figure commanding the room and the incredible show of dominance and power.

  This time there was no hiding in the shadows or cryptic words spoken from afar. No, now he was here right in front of them, as real as the sun that shone through the tall arched windows and no longer a myth or just a name at the end of a letter. It was the masterful sight of a man who ruled a supernatural world looking like some gothic mob boss with his strange bodyguards framing his presence.

  “Okay, seriously man, just when we thought shit couldn’t get any weirder, enter an Albino assassin, a Samurai master and the dude that ate Goliath,” Zane said leaning into Ena, a statement this time she had no choice but to agree with.

  Not that the man in charge looked as if he needed back up against anyone, being as tall and muscular as they come in any decent action movie. But let’s just say that if he had a battle to fight, one where he was out numbered ten to one, then yeah, his back up would certainly have come in handy.

  And like Zane said, you had the mysterious hooded Albino who looked like he could have killed you with little more than a look, let alone with the killer curved blade he had strapped to his thigh. He had long bleached white hair and skin to match, well that was other than the wicked looking tribal tattoos that inked jet black all down one side of his face. One that snaked through a fatal looking scar that no doubt would have killed him if he had been mortal which, clearly, he was far from. In fact, it looked like someone had spilt ink on ice and then had dragged a blade though the frosted surface.

  And as a contrast to the harsh features of the Albino was the soft knowledgeable face of the Samurai, who had earned the name, not just thanks to his hakama trousers and black montsuki kimono that seemed to have some sort of family crest embroidered just below each shoulder in two large crimson circles. No, it was the kind expression and respectful eyes he cast upon the room. Oh, and the huge samurai sword that was barely an inch from scraping the ground tucked into the material at his waist.

  Now for the last and most terrifying of the three, the real-life giant who looked down at the room with tree trunk arms folded and a scowl on his scarred face.

  “Holy crapola, but this guy looks as though he eats teenagers for breakfast and uses their fingerbones to pick the toenails out of his teeth!” Zane muttered to Ena who was still stood with her back to him.

  “I really wouldn’t speak right now if I were you…not unless you want those toothpick bones he uses to be yours.” Ena warned under her breath back at Zane.

  “Good plan, anyone who looks as if they spend their nights sleeping in an iron maiden coffin is obviously not a man you wanna play scrabble with.” Ena looked back at him over her shoulder as though he had lost the plot, one she wasn’t sure he’d had to begin with.

  “Are you high?” She asked him only half serious.

  “I wish, then maybe I could account for this freak out,” he answered nodding back to poor Theo who was now shaking with his head in his hands.

  “What’s wrong with me…what’s wrong with me…what have I done?!” Theo muttered over and over again to no one but his own nightmares. Carrick arose to his feet and looked disdainfully down at Theo as he brushed off his jacket and straightened it before speaking.

  “I want this boy punish…”

  “SILENCE!” The headmaster bellowed cutting him off and proving his words to be very effective. Then he walked over to Theo and looked down at the quivering boy at his feet before bending on one knee and placing a gentle hand upon his shoulder.

  “Don’t touch me!” Theo shouted pulling away from him and looking him in the eyes with nothing but sorrow in his soul. Mr Draven just raised a single eyebrow in question and he didn’t have to wait long before guilt got the better of Theo, making him quietly admit his fears.

  “I don’t want to hurt you too.” Mr Draven took a thoughtful moment to digest that before nodding once, telling Theo without words that he understood before confirming them verbally.

  “You can’t hurt me my boy, it isn’t possible.”

  “Then wh…what was that?” Theo managed to get out needing to take a breath in between words.

  “My mistake,” Mr Draven said in response to this and Theo quickly realised that this was what he had feared all along…

  Rejection.

  10

  Reaper’s Brief Bargain

  “My mistake,” Mr Draven replied cryptically but Theo took his words the wrong way and the headmaster knew it the second he saw Theo’s eyes close as though he was in pain.

  “Have no fear Theo, you will learn to control it…just give me time.” He said softly placing his hand once more on his shoulder, one this time Theo didn’t resist. Then he rose to his feet and held a hand out for Theo to do the same. Theo followed suit but couldn’t take his eyes from the floor, too ashamed to face the others, who up until then he knew had looked up to him.

  “Never feel ashamed of who you truly are, for none of my kind ever should and nor should they ever judge what is true of heart…remember that, young one.” Mr Draven said so only Theo could hear but also looking back over his shoulder to his men, making Theo follow his gaze to see the three men who couldn’t be more different if they tried. This made him look back at his own adopted family to see the same concern he would have for each of them if the roles had been reversed.

  Ena even mouthed the question, ‘Are you okay?’ to which he nodded in reply, making her lip quirk to the side in a secret smile she tried to hide but Theo knew better.

  “Dominic.” Carrick spoke and Theo could swear he heard a small growl rise up from his new headmaster’s chest.

  “Go to them Theo, I will deal with this,” Mr Draven said looking down to him given their height difference. Theo didn’t argue but just nodded once in respect, something this man just earned from him quicker than any other man had ever done before. He had learnt that hard lesson of trust long ago and looking at the powerful figure before him now, he could barely believe he had broken down some of those barriers of his this quickly.

  “Why are you here, Carrick?” Mr Draven said, cutting right to business, obviously leaving out the niceties.

  “Very well I will get straight to it then, should I?” Carrick said pulling down on one of his shirt cuffs and fixing the chrome skull cufflink that had come loose.

  “That would be preferable, yes.” Mr Draven said in reply, folding his arms across his chest and somehow making his presence even more indisputable as the man in charge.

  “The boy owes me a blood oath.” Carrick said nodding to Theo who was now stood back in the protective fold of his friends. Without even looking at Theo, Mr Draven laughed once without humour and said reassuringly,

  “I sincerely doubt that but please, go ahead and enlighten me.”

  “You obviously underestimate your…”

  “Careful Death dealer of what you speak. I underestimate nothing and the proof of that is currently forgetting himself and to whom he is speaking right now in such a manner. So, if I were you I would choose my next words very carefully and explain it in a way you hope I will approve to hear.” Mr Draven said in such a way that every being in the room knew he was so much more than what he claimed to be…a simple headmaster.

  “Holy shit, I think I just wee’d a little.” Zane whispered making
Ena whisper back sarcastically,

  “Ooo, my hero.”

  “My apologies My Lord, let me show you, for fear my words will not please, of course.” Carrick replied nodding respectfully before quickly producing a suitcase Theo remembered well, only now there was a very distinct difference.

  “Impossible.” Mr Draven said after seeming lost in thought for a moment at the damaged he now witnessed.

  “My words exactly.” Carrick agreed tapping his finger against the now scorched leather where Theo’s hand print seemed forever immortalised there. It looked as though he had somehow branded it with barely a touch and under the flood of lake water that had taken their lives.

  “But I…” Theo started to say but one look from the headmaster and he decided against trying to understand it.

  “And you believe this to be from the boy?” Mr Draven asked, obviously trying to cast doubt upon what seemed an unlikely action, that was if their reactions were anything to go by.

  “I think considering the boy just had me on my knees, then it is not as farfetched as it seems. For even you can surely see the power that has been passed down to him. After all, considering where the roots of his power lie, it is not exactly surprising now is it My Lord?” The way Carrick said this was as though it held a hidden message and one that made Mr Draven clench his jaw for he knew exactly what it was.

  “Even so, you really think a blood debt is owed to you when it was your own actions he was retaliating against?” Even Theo knew by the sound of his argument that he was trying everything to get Theo out of this new mess and from the looks of the smug smile on Carrick’s face, he also knew it was useless.

  “As you rightly know better than most My Lord, I don’t assign the souls, I just take them and tick them off.” Hearing this Draven closed his eyes briefly and surprised Theo by holding the bridge of his nose just as he himself did when he was frustrated.

  “If I recall, you remember what it was like being on the other end of one of those blood oaths yourself and that didn’t end too well for you, now did it?” Mr Draven said raising an eyebrow at him and Carrick laughed once and said,