Netherworld, Soul Guardians Book 4 (2 page)

David smiled uncomfortably
and scratched the back of his neck. “Uh…no, Mr. P—but thanks
anyway. I’m sure they’re all…swell.” David turned to Kara and
whispered under his breath. “He’s still calling me
Denis
.” Kara covered her
mouth and laughed.

Mr. Patterson halted and
watched Kara warily. “Clara? Why are you holding the
mad-bat
? Did something
happen? Were you engaged in combat with a psychotic
customer?”

“
Uh, no, I was
just…”

David snorted. “The
mad-bat? Seriously? Sounds a little
batty
to me—”

Kara kicked David in the shin and hid
the baseball bat behind her back. “Uh…nothing. I was just…cleaning
it.” She walked over to the counter and placed the bat behind
it.

“
Actually, Mr. P,” said
David, “I came to see if Kara could get the rest of the afternoon
off.”

“
I see.” Mr. Patterson eyed
David suspiciously for a moment. His clear blue eyes peered out
from under the folds of hundreds of wrinkles. He pursed his lips
and scratched his head. “Well, I don’t see why not. I think Clara’s
done quite enough today already. You can go with Denis if it
pleases you.”

Excitement rushed through Kara’s
breast. She dashed back. “Really? Thank you, Mr. Patterson. You’re
too good to me.”

“
Nonsense.” Mr. Patterson
waved a dismissive hand. He stood silent for a moment, his face
perplexed. “Dear me. I can’t remember what I was about to do just
now…my mind seems to wander on its own as I get older. A very
strange business, this old age.” His blue eyes glazed over, and he
stared into space.

Kara peeked at David and
then back at Mr. Patterson. “Mr. Patterson—if you want, I can stay
and help you find what you were looking for. Really it’s fine. I
can go to the movies another time. I’m sure
David
won’t mind.” Kara gave David a
sidelong glance.

“
No, no. That won’t be
necessary, my dear. You go on now with David. I’m sure whatever it
was…it’ll turn up soon enough.” Mr. Patterson waddled over behind
the counter. He slid open the glass compartment door from which he
pulled a fist-sized crystal ball. Specks of light reflected off his
face, and he gazed at it intensely without blinking. He held it
with both hands and was still.

“
Mr. Patterson? Are you all
right?” asked Kara. And when he didn’t answer, she asked again.
“Are you feeling okay? You seem a little pale. Can I get you a
glass of water?”

“
The guy’s a little spaced
out…if you know what I mean,” whispered David beside her. He
whirled his finger at the side of his head and opened his eyes
wide.

Kara ignored David and studied the old
man. She lowered her voice. “He does that sometimes. Whenever he
stares into one of those crystal balls—it seems he forgets the
world around him. It’s as if he’s off somewhere else. It’s
pretty…freaky.”

“
Maybe he’s got the early
signs of Alzheimer’s.”

Kara shook her head irritably. “No, he
doesn’t. He’s just…old. I’d like to see you at his age—see how you
would handle yourself.”

“
I’d be the sexiest old
fart in town, baby. All the single senior ladies would be chasing
me with their canes. I’d be awesome.”

Kara rolled her eyes and laughed.
“You’re such a moron.” She watched the old man somberly. It pained
her to see him so distraught. “I hate to leave him here like this,
though. What if someone comes in…and he’s still staring into that
ball, and he doesn’t answer them? They might call the police or
something. What if they lock him up?”

David squeezed her shoulder gently.
“Don’t worry. The old dude had this shop long before you came
along. I’m sure he’ll be fine. Let’s go. The movie starts in half
an hour.”

“
I hope so.” Reluctantly,
Kara turned around and followed David towards the door. “So… what
movie did you want to see? Please don’t say another zombie film. I
think I’ve seen enough blood and guts to last me a
lifetime.”

David cracked his knuckles and
grinned. “I was thinking the new—”

“
Wait! Stop!”

With a crash, Mr. Patterson’s crystal
ball exploded into a million pieces as it hit the floor. He ignored
it and ran wildly towards them. His white hair bounced from the top
of his head, and Kara couldn’t help but be reminded of the little
luck-trolls with wispy purple hair she used to collect. He waved
his hands frantically in the air. “You cannot leave. The darkness
comes. The legion needs you. The mortals are in danger!”

David whistled softly. “Whoa…and you
said the old fart wasn’t nuts? He just poured a bucket of crazy on
us—”

“
Hang on,” said Kara,
cutting him off. “Something’s wrong. I’ve never seen him so
agitated.”

After a moment, Mr. Patterson stood
before them. His eyes were wide and crazed. He pulled at his hair
with trembling hands. “I have seen it! It is time. You must go
back!”

Kara searched his face. His big blue
eyes were lost under bushy white brows.

“
Time for what? You’re not
making any sense.” Her body stiffened. What if he had gone mad? She
would have to look for another job. A lump formed in her throat.
She looked over at David who raised his brows.

Mr. Patterson paced on the spot. “The
time is now. You must prepare yourselves. They are waiting for you.
You must leave the mortal world.”

Kara wiped the sweat from her forehead
with her hand. It was getting worse by the minute. “Who’s waiting?
I don’t understand. Mr. Patterson, you’re not making any
sense—”

“
Keys! I almost forgot!”
The old man rushed over to the counter, rummaged through a drawer,
and rocketed back. Two golden key cards glimmered in his hands. He
held them up to Kara and David. “Here—you must take your cards. You
cannot enter level five without them.”

David laughed and took one of the
keys. “Thanks, Mr. P—maybe you should sit down and relax a little.
Whoa…is this real gold?”

Kara shoved David aside and shook Mr.
Patterson gently by the shoulders. “Mr. Patterson. You’re scaring
me. I think you need to lie down and have a glass of water. Did you
eat something today?”

Mr. Patterson nodded impatiently.
“Yes, yes, of course.” He grabbed her hand and placed the other
golden key card in her palm. He curled her fingers around it. “Kept
it safe. You will need it. It’s only a matter of seconds
now.”

Kara blinked the moisture from her
eyes. “Okay. That’s it. I’m going to lock up and take you home.
We’re not going to the movies anymore.”

She started for the door, but Mr.
Patterson grabbed her arm forcefully and pulled her back to face
him.

“
No! It’s happening. You
cannot go anywhere. You must stay here. Both of you.”

Kara and David shared a look. She
realized this was a lot worse than she had first anticipated. She
would have to call someone. She decided to phone her mother. Her
mother would know what to do.

“
I need to use your
phone.”

“
No!” Mr. Patterson grabbed
Kara by the elbow and steered her back to face him. “There isn’t
time. It comes now. Prepare yourselves.”

“
What’s coming?” laughed
David, playing along. “The darkness? Will it give us more gold
cards?”

The old man backed away from them
suddenly and pointed towards the ceiling. His eyes were wide in
fear. “The earthquake,” he whispered.

Kara frowned. “The earthquake? We
don’t get earthquakes here—”

As if on cue, the bookshelves started
to rattle and the ground shook fiercely. An enormous boom thundered
around them, as though the earth itself had split open. Bookshelves
swayed dangerously, spilling out their contents. Books toppled over
and crashed onto the floor around them. The walls cracked,
revealing large gaping holes. Chunks of plaster cascaded down from
the ceiling and covered Kara and David in a blanket of white dust.
Kara coughed as the powder burned her throat.

“
Kara! This way!” David
yanked Kara by the arm and pulled her towards the counter. They
ducked and flung themselves against the wood frame to protect
themselves from the falling rubble as best as they
could.

Kara looked around nervously. “Where’s
Mr. Patterson?” she shouted over the groans and creaks of falling
debris.

A huge chunk of plaster crashed on the
floor, just inches away from them.

“
I don’t know!” yelled
David. He inspected the ceiling for more falling boulders. “The
ceiling is coming down. We’ll get crushed if we stay here. We have
to get out of here now!”

Kara nodded and followed David out
from behind the counter. They ducked and jumped out of the way of
broken shelves and dangerously sharp chunks of rock—

BOOM!

Half the ceiling came down behind
them. The counter disappeared under an avalanche of
wreckage.

Kara watched David’s lips move, but
she couldn’t hear what he was saying. All she could hear was the
hammering of her heart and the thundering crash of falling debris.
He pointed to the door and grabbed her hand.

Desperately they ran for the door. It
was near. They were almost at the threshold—

An earsplitting crack vibrated around
them.

The remaining ceiling tumbled
down.

Kara’s last image was of a brick wall
crashing on top of her. A tremendous weight pressed on her chest,
and then her consciousness left.

Chapter 2

Back Again

A
fter a distasteful five-minute elevator ride with an
orangutan in a pink bathrobe and hair curlers, who kept attacking
them with a volley of insults, Kara and David found themselves in a
large round chamber the size of a baseball field. Unlike her usual
encounters with the division where hundreds of guardian angels
busied themselves typing on keyboards and running up metal
staircases that reached to higher levels, barking out orders, this
time only a handful of guardians operated the vast room. Kara
shivered uncomfortably in the silence, an eerie reminder of the
great loss Counter Demon Division had suffered fighting Asmodeus.
It came as no surprise now why they had been called back so
soon—CDD was like a ghost town.

At first Kara had felt a little
resentment towards the legion for bringing her back so quickly
without having spent much time with David as mortals. They had only
really just begun to get to know one another. But now, she
understood their need to have her back. And she was glad for
it—glad to be part of something special and important, like saving
mortal souls from demons—glad to have the chance to bring back
balance between the worlds.

“
So, we’re back,” said Kara
to no one in particular. She turned and looked at David. His face
was strained, and he walked and stared at the floor. “David? What’s
the matter?” She wasn’t used to seeing him so distressed, it
unnerved her.

David was silent for a moment, and
then he answered. “I...I was dead, Kara. It’s coming back to me
now. I remember. My soul died. Asmodeus killed me…”

Pain gushed in her chest as she
remembered holding David in her arms before his body evaporated
into golden dust. She never wanted to experience that
again.

“
Well, your soul wasn’t
really dead. It just expired for a little while. And now you’re
back. The chief brought you back, David.”

David searched Kara’s face. His lips
broke into a smile. “I’m sure you had something to do with
this…didn’t you?”

Kara looked away. “I have no idea what
you mean.” Something hard pressed against her in her jeans pocket.
She reached inside and pulled out a golden key card. It gleamed in
the light, and she held it up and examined it more closely. Her
frowning face reflected back at her. “Mr. Patterson…he gave us our
golden keys.”

“
Yup. The old fart’s an
oracle.”

Kara suppressed a laugh. “It explains
a lot.” She remembered his dirty bare feet and crazy Hawaiian
shirts. His obsession with crystal balls made sense now. He had
been very kind to her, and Kara wondered if that was just because
he was looking out for her. How many oracles were stationed on
Earth incognito? She found herself wondering what had happened to
him after the building collapsed. Did he immediately return to
Horizon just as they did?

They made their way slowly past large
holographic screens that flickered like x-rays with different
images of cities across the globe. A large round desk was raised on
a platform in the middle of the large space. Kara counted ten
angels sitting around the desk. A few faces stood out, but she
didn’t recognize most of them. She recognized Peter’s and Jenny’s
immediately. Jenny’s pointy face broke into a large grin. Her big
green eyes flashed excitedly. She jumped up and squeezed Kara into
a tight hug. Her purple spiked hair tickled Kara’s neck.

“
Welcome back, girl. I
missed you.”