Chapter 2
1553 Words
2
Nena spun around and gaped at him. “You’re going to do what?”
He shrugged. “It’s the best plan we have. Besides, it might even work out both ways. Death might actually come and save you.”
Nena narrowed her eyes at the spirit. “Save me from what exactly?”
He flashed a grin at her. “From us.”
She blinked at him and shook her head. “I don’t follow.”
Jack gestured to Catherine. “We’ll have Catherine set you in a hex circle and-”
Catherine’s eyes widened. “I will do no such thing with her!”
“But we’ve got to make it believable, and a hex circle is just the thing,” Jack insisted.
Catherine turned away from him and crossed her arms over her chest. “Find yourself another witch to put her immortal soul in danger.”
“Um, could I have some input in here?” Nena spoke up. She caught Jack’s eye and pointed at Catherine. “And what’s this about a hex circle and my immortal soul?”
Catherine pursed her lips, but her eyes flickered to the young woman. “A hex circle is a powerful spell that pulls a soul from a person’s body and bottles it to use it as a sort of limited djinn.”
“Djinn? Like a genie?” she guessed.
Catherine nodded. “Yes, but in this case the djinn doesn’t go from master to master after three wishes. After the wishes are granted the soul is destroyed. Forever.”
Nena swallowed the lump in her throat. “Like, no heaven or hell?”
“Nothing. It ceases to exist.”
Doc coughed into his fist. “If I might interrupt here, but I would rather not place Miss Nena in danger, mortal or otherwise.”
Jack’s eyes flickered over his companions. “Does anyone have any better ideas for getting out of here?” None of them met his gaze. “Then I’m seeing this as our best bet for getting out of here before the world ends, especially since-” He paused and glanced overhead at the ceiling tiles.
“The room is secure,” Doc assured him.
“And doubly so,” Catherine confirmed.
“Especially since it’s Scratch who’s making this trouble and not Death,” Jack finished.
“The Devil will not be easily defeated,” Peter mused.
“And he’s been cooking this trouble up since the beginning of time,” Catherine added.
“Yeah, but if this was easy for him he would have done it a long time ago,” Jack pointed out as he leaned his shoulder against the nearby wall. “So there must be some rules even he can’t break that would anger-well-” He pointed upward.
Nena scoffed. “You really think anybody’s up there making sure the Devil follows any rules?”
“Somebody’s stopping Scratch from using the Mort Detector to find Death,” he reminded her.
Doc rubbed his chin in one hand and furrowed his brow. “How very unusual that he should build such a contraption.”
Nena tilted her head to one side. “Why? It showed everybody that he was trying to find Dad-I mean, Death.”
Doc smiled at her. “You may use either title for him. He is your father, after all.”
Nena hung her head and held up her hands to study her pale palms. “I know, but-” She shook her head and raised her eyes to her friends. “Never mind.”
Catherine scoffed. “You have a mind, share it.”
Nena shrugged. “I just think there’s something going on, something we haven’t figured out yet.”
“You mean besides the end of the world?” Jack asked her.
She nodded. “Yeah. I mean, there’s that, but there’s something else going on. Like Dad and Scratch are playing two games that happen to meet in the middle.”
“How do you know this?” Peter wondered.
The young woman ran a hand through her hair. “I don’t know. I guess it’s just a feeling.”
“Feelings are often a door to the truth,” Catherine mused.
“Well, whatever the truth is, we need to find it before Scratch wins his game,” Jack insisted. “And that means getting out of this place and finding the rest of those servers.” His gaze settled on Catherine. “So are you going to get us out of here?”
Catherine looked to Nena. “Only if she’s willing.”
Nena nodded. “I think we can try it. I mean, it won’t be for real, right?”
“I will perform the ritual as far as I dare, but even standing in the hexagram is dangerous,” Catherine warned her. “A wrong word or a misspoken line and the soul could be doomed.”
Nena cringed. “Well, maybe we won’t get that far. I mean, this isn’t really to capture my dad, right? We just need to get out of here and look for Archimedes.”
Jack folded his arms over his chest. “To be honest finding Death might not be such a bad idea. Your dad might have all the answers to our questions, so if we could get even ten minutes with him then we could figure out where to go and what to do to stop Scratch.”
“Death may not believe we intend to sacrifice Nena,” Peter pointed out. “What reason will we give among ourselves for performing such a dangerous ritual on an ally?”
“We’ll just say it was on Scratch’s orders,” Jack suggested.
“And how will putting my soul in danger help Scratch?” Nena asked him. “Why wouldn’t we use one of the agents or a stranger?”
“The agents are demons and thus have no soul,” Catherine reminded her.
“And your being a Death Touched grants you greater abilities for wishes,” Doc added. “There are certain rules a djinn can’t break, like murdering someone, but as one who’s Touched you may be able to kill someone. That makes you very valuable.”
“Don’t I feel lucky. . .” Nena mumbled.
Jack moved toward the door. “Let’s go see if Scratch is up for a hexing tonight.”
“I will have to bow out,” Doc announced as he stepped back from them with a smile. “My pets need some repairs otherwise Scratch will be sure to listen in on our plans.”
Catherine scoffed at him. “You just don’t want to get your hands dirty.”
He chuckled. “Perhaps not, but I wish you all good luck in your hunt, and-” his eyes settled on Catherine and his voice softened, “-return safe.”
The four exited the room and made their way down into the bowels of the Agency of Celestial Episodes. The elevator doors opened to the long hall that led to Scratch’s office. Near the elevator stood Azazel, her immaculate red outfit a matching fit for the predatory smile on her lips. Tucked under one arm was a clipboard with a few papers on it.
“It’s always a pleasure to see you all again,” she greeted the companions as they stepped out of the elevator. “Before I allow you to see Mr. Scratch, however, there are certain deficiencies in the security system which must be addressed.”
“We’re your dogs, not your eyes,” Jack reminded her.
She chuckled as she drew the clipboard from under her arm and read the contents of the documents. “It appears that surveillance is being interrupted wherever your group gathers. Do you care to explain why?”
Jack shrugged. “Maybe your cameras can’t handle my handsome visage.”
“And there’s been a great deal of damage done to our many important surveillance bugs,” she added.
“Probably a malfunction in their circuits,” Jack added as he glanced at Peter. “I bet Pete here could make better types for you.”
Azazel’s lips tightened together. “I’m sure he can, but I must insist that you stop with this wanton destruction. A surveyed company is a safe company.”
“Then send your surveys in paper format and we’ll fill them out,” Jack quipped as he strode past her. “And while you’re printing those out we’ll have a talk with Scratch.”
Azazel glared at the party as they swept by her, but she grudgingly followed them. Jack reached the door and waltzed into the office of the devil himself. The room was as dark and hot as usual, and Scratch sat in his chair with a smile on his lips and an infinite darkness in his eyes.
“Good evening, ladies and gentlemen,” he greeted the party as they entered his domain. “To what do I owe the pleasure of your company?”
“We have a proposition for you,” Jack offered as he stood before the desk with the others at his back.
Azazel slipped past him and turned to stand beside the corner of the desk. “What sort of proposition?” she questioned him.
“Catherine has a way that we can use Nena to lure Death to us,” Jack explained. “We just use a hex spell to act like we’re going to use her soul and he’ll come in to save the person he Touched.”
Azazel arched an eyebrow. “You’d risk her soul to capture Death?”
“Are you complaining?” Jack countered.
A sly smile slipped onto her red lips. “I’m just surprised. It’s reckless, even for you.”
“If we don’t have much time than this should be just what we need to do,” Jack insisted.
“Then do it, but under supervision,” Scratch approved.
Jack frowned. “We don’t need any babysitters to get us into trouble.”
“Perhaps not, but how do you expect to capture Death?” he wondered.
“Our mission has always been to eradicate Death,” Peter spoke up.
“Times have changed,” Azazel mused as she seated herself on the corner of the desk. “Now Death might be our best asset at stopping him, so the more agents we have at the scene the better the outcome for us.”
“How would Death be an asset?” Jack questioned her.
Azazel chuckled. “That’s for you to find out, but-” her eyes flickered to Catherine, “-how soon can the hex be performed?”
“I can do it tonight,” Catherine assured her.
“Then perform the hex tonight,” Scratch commanded them.
- Writer
