Angel of Death

Chapter 5

As the car got near to the factory site Natalie frowned. She could already sense something wasn’t right. As they drove down the gravel driveway and the factory came into sight there was no doubt of the hostility she was feeling just looking at it.

“What the hell, Martin?” Natalie said with menace.

He looked at her startled. “What is it?”

“I think you know, don’t you? Getting this property pretty cheap, huh?”

Martin flinched. “Yeah, pretty cheap, seems no one else wants to buy it.”

“Do you know exactly why?”

“I guessed malevolent spirit….that’s why you’re here.”

Natalie grimaced. “You do know that Death Dealers don’t really deal with spirits.”

“Yeah, but that’s why I called you.” Martin smiled as he glanced sideways at her.

He stopped the car and they watched the other property agent and the obvious owner get out of the only other car that was parked there.

“I’ll wait in the car, for now.” Natalie suggested.

“Okay.” Martin got out, grabbed his briefcase from the back seat and greeted the other men. They discussed business on the back of the car, signed some documents, shook hands and the other guys then hurriedly left in the car.

Natalie got out and looked around, staring at the factory building with a scowl. She turned and looked at Martin with a smirk. “They were in a hurry to leave.”

“Ha!...yeah…” Martin said nervously, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Okay, let me go and see what I’m dealing with…wait here.”

“I was hoping you would say that.” He said as he chucked her the keys.

Natalie looked at him. “You know, for a fairly competent Level two warlock, you are a complete wuss.”

“And proud of it…” Martin grinned.

Natalie shook her head, put her hands in the pockets of her hoody and walked up to the factory. It started to drizzle. Natalie looked up at the sky as she pulled her hood up over her head. Typical, she thought.

She unlocked the steel side door and entered the building. She wandered across the large factory floor, which was now devoid of any equipment, just a large open space. She wandered through to another smaller factory room then through to what would be the lunch room, the locker room and the showers. Then she went up to the mezzanine floor and wandered around the offices. As she came out and stood on the landing looking down on the factory floor she sensed something very foreboding. It felt like something was breathing down her neck. She grimaced and made her way back to the factory floor. She stood in the center and closed her eyes. She focused on the air in the room, every fiber of herself attuned to the slightest current and temperature deviation.

Shit, there wasn’t just a malevolent spirit here, there were spirits. She could sense them moving cautiously around her, sensing the power she wielded, so they were hesitant to attack. Something bad had happened here on this site over a hundred years ago…women tortured and killed…not all at once…serial killer.

“Fuck.” Natalie muttered to herself as she opened her eyes and made her way back outside to where Martin was waiting, sitting on the bonnet of his car.

“So?” Martin asked as she got near.

“You’ve just bought yourself a whole heap of trouble, Martin…”

“Why, what is it?”

“Several dead and very angry bitches.”

“f*****g hell!” Martin started pacing. “What the hell am I going to do now?”

“You’re going to go back to Portland and get sage…lots of it…a hay bale full if you can.”

Martin stared at her. “You can fix it?”

Natalie took off her hoodie and smiled at him as she tossed it on the seat in the car. “I owe you one, don’t I?”

“But I thought only soul reapers could…and they’re so rare to find…”

“I am a soul reaper…aren’t you lucky…” Martin stared at her with a combination of awe and terror. “Now go…I don’t want to be here all day.”

“Okay.”

Martin jumped in his car and drove off as Natalie stood looking at the building again. She sighed and went back inside. She wondered how all four women had become malevolent spirits, they must have gone through absolute hell before they died. She grimaced, this was not going to be a good day. A soul reaper had to cleanse the spirit of all its pain and suffering, which meant Natalie was going to have to relive everything that had been done to these women.

As she walked back to the center of the factory floor she splayed her hands out palms down and turned in a slow circle, her eyes glowing with purple light as purple light also started glowing from her hands. A pentagram appeared in purple light on the floor around her followed by strange runes and inscriptions that seemed to float in the air around her as she drew them. She started to hum a tune, it sounded like something you might hear in the background at a church, with multiple depths to it like Natalie suddenly had more than one voice. Natalie felt the presence of the women appear before her. Natalie lowered her hands and looked up, then turned to her left. There they were, the four dead women. The first came up to Natalie and stared at her.

“I’m here to help.” Natalie spoke to the apparition. “I am from the underworld, come to take you there, where you should be.”

The apparitions looked at each other then back to her.

Natalie smiled and held her arms out. “I can take your pain and free you from what is holding you to this realm.”

The first came up to Natalie and hugged her. Natalie’s eyes went wide as she hugged the spirit back. Natalie relived everything that had been done to the young woman and took her pain from her and set her free. She had to do the same for all of them and by the fourth one Natalie was on her knees, visibly shaking, tears streaming down her face, both from pain and sadness. As the fourth and final spirit was finally set free Natalie collapsed on to her hands and knees, crumpled over, her hair hanging over her face. She looked up.

“Go with haste to Hades with my blessing and you will enter Elysium without further judgement.” Natalie held a hand up and a rift appeared taking the spirits. As the spirits disappeared Natalie collapsed on the floor, the rift and pentagram vanishing.

Martin arrived back to find Natalie lying inert in the middle of the floor. He raced over and knelt down, brushing the hair back from her face.

“Natalie!” he yelled as he crouched down. “Are you alive?”

Natalie’s eyes opened and she laughed. “That’s what you ask? Am I alive?”

“Well, you weren’t moving…”

“f*****g hell, Martin…seriously?” She said as he helped her up to standing.

“I got the sage…”

“Okay, so start burning it…my job is done…take me into the mess hall, I need to sit down.” She said as she staggered with his help through to where the tables and chairs were, she slumped down in a chair and lent her head on her arms on the table. Martin looked at her a moment then went to organise the sage.

“So what are we waiting for, Martin?” Natalie asked bored after half an hour.

“The CEO, he’s coming here to pick up the papers himself.”

“The CEO?”

“Yeah, seems he needs them urgently, to get this place up and running ASAP, and he’s not in the office so he’s coming here. He messaged me while I was gone getting sage…so we just have to wait for him and then we can go, okay?”

“What company do you work for again?” Natalie looked at the papers on the table, she felt a trigger of warning run up her spine.

“Well, I work for Starlight Properties…but it’s a subsidiary of Belmont Industries. We acquire all their properties for them.”

Natalie frowned and lifted her head. “And the CEO’s name?”

“Ah…Belmont, he’s the owner actually.”

Natalie leant over the table closer to Martin, snarling, showing her fangs. He swallowed hard as he looked at her face. “First name?”

“Umm…Mikhail?”

“f*****g hell!” Natalie growled as she stood up. “Did he set this up?”

“Set what up?” Martin seemed confused. “The meeting…of course…”

“Me! Me being at this meeting?”

“Ah…no…he said I would need to find someone who could possibly deal with a spirit, perhaps a Death Dealer for protection, but…”

“f**k! I have to go, Martin. I can’t stay here.”

Natalie grabbed her hoodie that she had been using as a pillow after Martin had brought it inside. She put it on.

“But, it’s raining.”

“I can’t stay here…” Natalie stalked out of the building and up the gravel driveway then looked up the street. “f**k’s sake.” She muttered as she pulled her hood up and looked at her phone. No reception. “f**k!” She yelled, through gritted teeth at the phone and jammed the phone back in her pocket in frustration. She put her head down and started walking into the drizzle along the side of the highway.

She had only gone a hundred yards when she heard the roar of the V12, she glanced up, grabbing the edge of her hoodie and pulling it down, and saw the Aston Martin drive past her. She gritted her teeth hoping he hadn’t recognised her walking along the side of the road. Why would he? She thought to herself as she fought to stop herself from turning around. What was with this guy?

She heard it before she saw it. “f**k” She muttered to herself as the Aston cruised up beside her.

“What the hell are you doing out here…and in the rain?” She heard his low commanding voice call out. She flinched and stopped walking. She turned towards the car and lifted her head to peer at him from under her hood.

“Oh, I don’t know…it seemed like a good day for a stroll.” Her voice dripped sarcasm.

“Get in.” He ordered in that calm deep voice that made her body want to jump in response.

“No.” She walked on. The car followed then went ahead of her and pulled over. He got out and stood on the pavement in front of her. She stopped and looked around annoyed then looked at him as he stood there with his hands in the pockets of his fine wool trench coat. He was wearing dark blue jeans and a tight t-shirt. Natalie growled and shivered. He had no right to look that good.

“Why can’t you just get in the car? It’s raining and there’s no signal to ring your hero on the Ducati this time.” He said calmly as his green eyes sparkled with amusement.

Natalie appraised him. “Give me one good reason why I should?” She said to him smiling c**k eyed at him.

He grinned and looked away for a brief moment then looked back at her locking eyes with her.

“Because every part of your being is telling you to.”

Natalie growled shocked. How f*****g dare he! “f**k you!” She snarled at him.

“God! You are so f*****g stubborn!” He growled back in frustration. “All I want to do is help you get home.”

“Is that right, demon?”

He clenched his jaw and his eyes blazed. “Yes, that’s’ right. What the f**k do you think I’m going to do to a f*****g Death Dealer?”

“Oh, you finally figured out who I was.” Natalie scoffed.

“It makes no difference. Let me take you home…please.” He implored her, raking a hand through his hair.

The please tore at something deep inside her, she breathed in sharply and blinked in surprise. Mikhail frowned as he noticed the reaction. Natalie took a deep breath looking at the ground then looked up at him.

“Alright, I give in.” She walked to his car, opened the door and got in. She sat in the seat looking straight ahead, her arms folded and her hoody still up.

He glared at her stunned for a moment then walked round the car and got in.

“Thank you.” He said glancing at her as he started the engine. “I just have to pick up some papers from a place just back there…”

“I know.” Natalie muttered.

“What do you mean, you know?”

Natalie turned to look at him. “You seriously expect me to believe that you didn’t know I was the Death Dealer Martin had hired to protect him?”

Mikhail’s eyes widened in surprise. “I had no idea.” He raked a hand through his hair and sat back in the seat staring out the windscreen. “Look, I had no idea you were with Cassie the other night. I had no idea you lived at that beach house. And, I had no idea about today…I swear….this is….fuck.” He raked a hand through his hair again. It was longish on top, with a fade on the sides, and flopped around into his eyes, especially now it was damp from the drizzle. “What’s the point, you won’t believe me anyway.”

“I do.” Natalie said quietly.

He glanced sideways at her, she was staring at him, but looked away.

“Thank you.”

“Can we just go…?” Natalie grumbled and looked out the side window.

He clenched his jaw deciding not to say anything further and drove off, turning the car around. He drove back to the factory. As he drove down the drive Natalie spoke.

“Stop the car here.”

“What? Why?”

“Because I don’t want Martin to see me in your car.”

Mikhail clenched his jaw again but stopped the car and got out and walked the rest of the way up the drive. He was hoping like hell she was going to still be there when he got back.

What the f**k was going on? Natalie thought. How is it possible that these things kept happening and throwing him in her face?

She looked around his car. It was spotless, of course it was, classic control freak.

She opened the locked glove compartment, using her magic with a smug grin. She stared at what was inside gritting her teeth. A gun. Why the f**k would he have that? She closed the glove compartment and sat back, folding her arms.

After a few minutes Mikhail walked back up the drive, papers in hand. Natalie watched him. f**k he was a specimen alright and he was right about every fiber in her being was pulling her to him. It was all she could do to ignore it. There was no way she was going to get caught up with a high level demon….rogue or not. The Princes would inevitably find out and she couldn’t have that happen…if even one of them managed to find her…

He got into the car, relieved and surprised to find her still there. He grimaced to himself about the conversation he just had with Martin but decided to say nothing. He threw the papers over onto the back seat and started the engine. He backed out the drive then headed in the direction of the city. Natalie glanced at him. It was clear something was on his mind. Natalie could guess what it was. She looked down at her hands in her lap and smiled.

“Spit it out.” She said amused.

Mikhail glanced at her clenching his jaw. She turned in the seat to face him smiling benevolently at him, causing him to grit his teeth. “Go on…you’re dying to say it.” She flashed her fangs.

Mikhail growled. “You’re a f*****g Soul Reaper!”

Natalie laughed, not pleasantly. “So Martin did tell you…I’ll have to punish him for that.”

Mikhail glanced at her again surprised at the tone of her voice. “What the f**k are you?”

“That, my dear, is a very well-guarded secret.” Natalie said with pure venom.

“A Death Dealer and a Soul Reaper? You can only be a cross breed of something very high level…”

“Don’t do that…stop it.” Natalie visibly flinched and turned back in her seat to stare out the side window.

“Stop what?”

“Trying to figure it out.”

Mikhail laughed. “But, I want to know.”

“Trust me, you don’t.”

Mikhail frowned at her then decided to drop it. They pulled up at some traffic lights and Natalie’s phone finally pinged. Reception at last. Natalie pulled her phone out and read the message.

“Oh, for f**k’s sake!” She muttered, pinching the bridge of her nose. “I’m going to have to make a detour, I’m afraid, so just drop me here and I’ll get my guys to come and get me.”

“Trouble? Let me help.” Mikhail had no intention of letting her out of his car right now.

Natalie looked at him like he was insane, as he continued to drive.

“No...” She said through gritted teeth. “…just leave it…you can’t help.”

“Why not? Your ‘guys’ would help…what’s the difference?”

Natalie pinched the bridge of her nose again and leant her head back on the seat wary. “It’s Vamp trouble. I can’t turn up with a high level demon…it would start more trouble than it would solve.”

“I’ll stay in the car.”

Natalie sighed, she was already exhausted from dealing with the spirits back at the factory and couldn’t be bothered arguing. “f**k’s sake…” She muttered relenting. “You are a rogue, right?”

Mikhail chuckled. “Been looking into me? I’m flattered.”

“Don’t get ahead of yourself.” Natalie growled.

“Yes, I have no affiliation to any Prince.” He spat. Natalie raised an eyebrow causing him to chuckle. “You find that surprising, yet you haven’t even asked me what level or type of demon I am.”

“I don’t care.” Natalie muttered, causing Mikhail to frown. “Turn left.” She instructed. “The fact that you’re rogue is enough for me…if you weren’t you would be dead by now.”

“You think so?” Mikhail chuckled amused.

Natalie stared at him. “Cocky son of a b***h aren’t you.”

Mikhail shrugged. “Where exactly are we going?”

“Northwest Industrial.”

“Fuck.” Mikhail rolled his eyes. “I should have known.”

Natalie grinned. “Yeah, you probably should have…you lived here once before didn’t you?”

Mikhail looked at her amused. “You have been finding out about me…”

Natalie screwed her face up and looked out the side window again. “I make it a habit to find out about potential threats.”

Mikhail growled deep in his throat and slammed the breaks on. He swerved through the traffic and into a side street, stopping. He turned to face her as she looked at him startled.

“Let’s get this completely straight…I am not a threat to you.”

Natalie blinked and stared at him wide eyed a moment, then snarled showing her fangs. “You are…you just don’t know it.”

Mikhail frowned confused, raking a hand through his hair. “What? What does that even mean?”

“It doesn’t matter…can we go…?” She looked down at her lap.

Mikhail clenched his jaw and reached out and grabbed her wrist making her look back at him, her eyes blazed purple. “I would never hurt you, are we clear on that?” He growled in that deep calm voice.

Natalie looked at him with a lopsided smile. “Not intentionally…”

Mikhail shook his head, letting her go and gave up. He pulled back out on to the main street and headed to the industrial area in silence.