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Who’s the fourth? I can never remember his name?
Barbas chuckles lightly in my head.Never let Malphas hear he’s forgettable.
Ah, Malphas, that’s it.
Malphas doesn’t immediately bring any associations to mind, so for now, his mental image is blank. And, once safely ensconced in my car, I start asking the real questions.
How many souls do we need? Why are we collecting them? I mean, besides the trial, like, what happens to them once collected? Because I’m not trying to send people’s eternal souls to hell to get tortured, just so you and your mates have a nice place to live.
Barbas sighs audibly in my head, and I imagine him wiping his hand across his face.I’ve already explained, we aren’t competing for a “nice” place to live. We’re competing for limited resources. And the more souls we have, the better—
Yeah, more souls, better placement for the next part of the trail. What happens to the souls, exactly?
Souls are simply energy, Lily. No part of the person remains. It’s simply the energy that moves through a person. The electrical communication between synapses and the chemicals that tell muscles to twitch and the heart to pump.
OK, fine. What do you do with the energy, then?I ask.
We use it to run our plane. It powers every part of our existence. Which is why we have to compete in the trials in the first place. Limited souls to power our plane means limited everything, housing, food, water. All of those things are dictated by how much energy we collect.
That wasn’t the answer I expected, and I took a minute to soak it all in.
The demon and human planes have always had a symbiotic relationship. In the past, the symbiosis was balanced. There were no trials because there was enough for all.
I glance around the parking garage to make sure no one’s watching me sit here talking to the demon in my head. All is clear, but I pull out my phone and hold it to my ear just to be safe.What changed?
The same thing that always changes. Those in power want more and the rift between those that have and those that don’t grows into a chasm. Now, if that’s all, we really must get started.
OK, but you didn’t answer my first question. How many souls do we need, Barbas?
As many as we can get, Lily.
Fine. Where to, then?
Back inside. Fourth floor.
I should have known. That was the floor my mom was on before. The staff had moved her now that she wasn’t… well, dying anymore.
I take us back into the hospital.
Once on the right floor, it’s up to you how present you are. You can take a backseat entirely and give me full control or you can do everything but the actual soul collecting. Your choice.
Hm. Do I have to choose now?
You do not. But I want you to let me know if you see anything strange.
Strange like what?
That I can’t say. But you’ll know it if you see it.
Wait!You can’t just walk in!
I decided to take a backseat, just until I learned the soul harvesting ropes.
Barbas stops, hand hovering over the handle to a dying person’s hospital room.Why not? This is how it’s done.
Because they’re dying!I say, which, admittedly, is less than helpful.I mean, their family is there. They’ll ask who we are and why we’re there.
No, Lily. They won’t. Not when I’ve got so much control of your body.
