“Please,” the shade whispers.
“Answer the question and I’ll let you go,” Interitus says.
“I… we’re not supposed to go to the other side unless we’re called by Finis.”
“And yet… so many shades find their way into the mortal realm anyway.”She sags against Interitus.“So tell me, shade.How do I cross?”
“If you are not called, then you must cut your way out or escape through a tear.”
She’s young, her voice too full of youth.She died long before she was supposed to—her early twenties, I think.My heart twinges as I listen to the shade speak.A sinister loop coils in my gut, twisting and gnarling.I don’t want her to answer any more questions.But she will.Because Interitus always gets her way.I fear that one day when she does, it will not have good consequences for anyone.
“And how do I do that?”Interitus asks.
“It’s a magic laced in our souls.It’s how we respond when they call us…”
Interitus’s head tilts as she scans the shade, then her mouth drops open impossibly wide.
Oh no.
No.No.No.
The shade leans forward, her expression bulging wide as her body distorts and warps.
She wails.It’s weak compared to the screech of a wraith.But what makes a shiver run through my soul is how human she sounds.My feathers rise, all hackles and goosebumps.Piece by piece the shade breaks apart, sucked inside my sister.I stare, agog as Interitus rips the woman apart to find her power.
She breaks her.
Devours her.
Ruins her.
That’s all she ever does.All she’s capable of.All she will ever bring to this world.
I am horrified.
A sour flavour creeps up my throat and seeps into every cell in my mouth.The shade was innocent.Angels don’t do this.This is not right or proper for a celestial being.This behaviour is more reflective of a demon’s conduct.Perhaps this is why Interitus fits so well here.
I want to scour the vision from my mind, erase the memory and pretend my sister isn’t a monster.
Interitus may have chosen to become a fallen angel, but that doesn’t mean she has to behave like one.We are better than this.
When it’s over and there’s not a wisp left of the shade, I breathe out words coated in horror.“What have you done?”
Interitus snaps her head to me, as if she’d forgotten I was even observing.
“I took her power from her, and now I’ll use it for myself.”Interitus’s finger glows the same strange phosphorescent hue as the shade had.
The spot where the spirit stood is so empty it makes my insides gnash.What will become of her soul?Will she still exist in some plane or is she gone forever?
My heart cinches as it settles on the latter.Interitus is too efficient at destroying; I suspect she’s been erased.
Interitus’s finger draws down through the air.Slicing.The fabric between realms shimmers and bends, fraying where she cuts.In the space between the layers, forest and stone appear, and the lush colours of autumn leaves and evergreen trees create a landscape more beautiful than any masterpiece.
The mortal realm.
Interitus slides through without a backwards glance.
In my heart, I recognise the sorrow that my sister will bring to that world.But the creator of possibility inside me pleads for hope.
