Twelve
Thirteen
Fourteen
Fifteen
Sixteen
Seventeen
Eighteen
Nineteen
Twenty
Twenty-One
Twenty-Two
Twenty-Three
Twenty-Four
Twenty-Five
Twenty-Six
Twenty-Seven
Twenty-Eight
Twenty-Nine
Thirty
Thirty-One
Thirty-Two
Thirty-Three
Thirty-Four
Thirty-Five
Thirty-Six
Thirty-Seven
Epilogue
I watched as the sun set over the horizon and the world transitioned into soft light. Dusk; not day or night, but some indefinable place in between, a small window of time that doesn’t belong to either. I’d never paid much attention to it in my mortal life, but now I anxiously awaited its arrival. I lived in my own sliver of life. Not alive but not dead. I used to think it was a curse. But with so many things in life that seem horrible on the surface, there’s often a blessing buried deep within.
Musings from a transfer.
Prologue
“She’s uncontrollable and should be eradicated.” The woman pounded her fist on the massive, long wooden table she sat at, and a clap of thunder echoed through the air. “At the very least, returned to human status where we can limit the damage she does.”
The other woman and man who sat at the table voiced their agreement.
Paddy stood before them, and just shook his head, then looked skyward at the twinkling stars above. He loved this room. It was his favorite place and one of the things he missed most when he returned to Earth. It was hard to understand the beauty of the stars until you were in their very midst, with no Earthly atmosphere to dull their glory.
“She’s adding to the danger, not helping.” The same woman pounded her fist a second time.
Again, Paddy simply shook his head but kept his gaze star-bound.
“What is it about this soul that you are so attached to? That you think she, this pathetic uncontrolled being, will be our salvation?” the male at the long table asked.
Somebody had been talking.
Paddy pulled his gaze away from the stars to survey the three he’d known before eternity, back when they didn’t have individual consciousness. He knew them as well as himself. Or he had, before time and physical distance started to create a divide; as it tended to do to all things, even them.
A long time ago, he’d thought they were immune to what happened to other beings. He too had been foolish in his relative youth. He’d thought that they’d always be in tuned to each other, but here they were, a chasm between them.
“I don’t know if she will save us. I don’t know anything at all, for sure. Not anymore.” The long eons weighed down upon him. This was it. Even if she was the one, and they made it past what was coming, this would be his end.
It had been too long. He’d done all he could. He’d fulfilled his obligations. He was tired. It was time for him to become one with the Universe again. But they needn’t know that yet. They’d fight his decision.
If he went back without them, even with their current status it would be painful to them, mentally and even perhaps physically. He understood it, but he only had enough strength for one foe at the moment.
“Then why?” she asked.
He had spent an eternity playing amongst the stars with them, until he’d decided to walk a different path. Now he was of them but separate, but he still knew them. How could they not see it as clearly as he did? “Because she could be.”
The male at the table leaned forward. “You spend too much time with them. It’s affecting your thoughts.”
“I do, and it’s why I know.” And why they didn’t. They sat removed, peering down from lofty perches that obscured their view.
“Why can’t you return to us? You belong here, not with them,” Farah said, softening slightly. Once he had thought exactly as she did. They’d been inseparable. He’d changed, but so had she.
Yet, when he saw her now, he saw the sadness that leaked through into the anger. She was trying so hard to mask the pain that it was hard to watch.
“You’re wrong. I do belong with them.” He knew what those words would do to her.
“We’ve talked amongst ourselves, and we’ve decided to end her,” Fia, the other woman, said, her first words spoken a death sentence.
“No.” Paddy didn’t scream but calmly listened.
“It must be done. What if she keeps going against us?” Fith, the other male, asked.
“You end her and you won’t need to worry about them any longer. I’ll be your biggest problem.” It was a lie. Paddy would kill himself before harming them. But even though he still knew them, they no longer knew him well enough to realize it was an idle threat.
Farah jumped from her seat. “You wouldn’t.”
“I would.” That she thought it was possible destroyed him. He needed to leave this beautiful place before more harm was done.
He walked out of the chamber. He’d hoped they’d see reason. If not, that they’d trust in his judgment; but the gap was worse than he’d realized.
Chapter One
First step is admitting there’s a problem.
I pushed my hair back from my face, took a breath and decided to accept the inevitable. Lady Luck, my closest friend here, had set up this meeting, thinking I still needed help transitioning. Even though I wasn’t sure this was the way to go about it, I didn’t have the heart to tell her it was a waste of time.
So I stood in front of my mostly bored looking coworkers and decided to get this over with. “My name is Camilla, and I’m a dead girl.”
“No!” Luck quickly scanned through the notes in front of her. “You are supposed to say, ‘My name is Karma, and I’m a recovering mortal.’”
Was she kidding?
She looked at me and smiled encouragingly. No. Not kidding.
Trying to keep an impartial expression on my face, I stared at the people in front of me, sitting on folding chairs amidst the dingy office that the Universe called its headquarters.
We were in a building operated and run by Unknown Forces of the Universe. The place was a dump and my coworkers weren’t exactly awe inspiring, either. The whole place and everything we did was hush hush, but I wasn’t sure it mattered. Even if I brought a normal mortal here, to this dated building filled with Formica and employees plucked from every spectrum of the reject rainbow, who in their right mind would buy it? They were more likely to run out of here laughing than scurry up a mob for a witch-hunt.
Luck stared expectantly at me from where she sat next to Murphy’s Law, another coworker. I repeated the line and then stood there, waiting for the next order. She’s so lucky the ten-year-old coffee maker had held today. If I hadn’t had that extra cup, I’m not sure what might have happened.
I didn’t know what she wanted next, but she was a tad bossy so I knew I wouldn’t have to wait long.
“Now, give us a story of what your normal day would’ve been, back when you had this horrible problem.” Luck checked something off on her notepad, while Kitty, the cat herder in charge of black cats, sat behind her, yawning.
Jockey was a seat over from Kitty, picking his teeth with a piece of hay. I’d heard there was an entire stable of Night Mares around here, but I hadn’t found it yet. That was on my to do list, right after I tracked down Santa, who was still on Spring Break.
The Tooth Fairy, who I’d only met recently, smacked Jockey’s hand away from his mouth and handed him floss. T, as a lot of people called him, was a nice enough guy, but it was hard to talk to him, with the way he stared at your mouth when you spoke.