Project Death: Resurrection by Danielle Thamasa

  Chapter Eight

  I stood over the young woman, watching as the life drained out of her. She had been swimming at the public pond and she had gotten caught down at the bottom. Someone had noticed her absence and they started looking for her. It was too late though. She had gone too long without oxygen and her heartbeat slowed, beating in an abnormal rhythm.

  I was aware that she had been excellent in the water, having been a competitive swimmer most of her life. Unfortunately that hadn't helped her this time. A cramp had hit her while she was underwater and then when she tried to push off for the surface she had gotten entangled with some of the underwater plants.

  All of this I knew as I looked down at her. Others were trying to help her, having pulled her out onto the beach and started rescue breathing. It was a shame that she had to die but her name was on the list. There was nothing that could save her. I waved my left hand over her body and watched as a shadowy form emerged, being pulled out of her. With another wave of my hand I sent her soul away to whatever place souls went after death. It had been this way for the past two weeks in the field.

  I couldn’t say that I was actually comfortable with Reaping but it did seem to be a touch easier. At least now I wasn’t running home and crying after each soul I collected. Thanos probably appreciated that.

  Then I looked up at the Resurrector standing a few feet away. He was the first one I had really seen in my time as Angel of Death, which wasn’t all that surprising considering their low numbers. I remembered him from a few of the classes we had to take. For the most part I remembered him as a nice guy, one who never really had any qualms with anyone else. I also recalled that he had not joined in on the taunts against me, nor had he stood up for me. Now he had arrived too late to save his charge. I would blame exhaustion; he probably hadn't rested much in the past weeks from having to work almost constantly. I knew the feeling well, though I imagined it was even harder now with their numbers so low. He was slow and weak, incapable of even trying to stop me.

  I could see the sorrow in his eyes at the loss, and the disappointment for not being able to succeed. Things would get easier for them when the newest batch of Resurrectors graduated and were sent out to begin their work. It didn't matter to me how many Resurrectors there were. I would still be able to do my job well. "I'm sorry, Anwell. It was her time to die."

  I felt bad for him. He hadn't expected me to be here. They probably thought the Angel of Death was gone. It was almost a certainty that the Leaders hadn't told them anything to the contrary. I wondered if the Leaders had told them anything. They had probably made an announcement about me and my supposed betrayal but they wouldn't say one thing about the fact that there was another Angel of Death or if they even knew another one had been recruited. This encounter would inform all of the Resurrectors. Anwell was sure to tell them what was going on.

  Then the Resurrectors would be a little more prepared for what could happen when they answered a charge's call. Prepared yet still helpless. I was far stronger than any of them.

  I left the scene in a dark gray mist. To look at the scroll I needed to be somewhere without Resurrectors. That was my own personal rule. It wouldn't do to let them see how I did my job. Once in the Between, the area through which I traveled though it was actually just an expansive nothingness, I pulled out the scroll and looked at the name on the top of my list. Okay, I could do this.

  Touching the name I merely thought of the person and I felt myself getting pulled to them. No longer was I at a charge's beck and call, not really. Each soul I Reaped had a window of time when they were meant to die. Sometimes the window would only last minutes but I had seen a few that allowed for a Reap anytime in the span of a week. There was no more being woken up in the middle of the night. The Resurrectors couldn't save everyone, not with their numbers so low. It certainly made my job simpler.

  I was adjusting to my new lifestyle and though I sometimes felt bad about ending some people's lives, especially children, I knew it was for a purpose. Without death, life wouldn't have as much meaning. Sometimes I went back to watch the loved ones and mostly I saw them coming together as a family and as a community to help each other grieve and rebuild their lives. It was nice.

  Because of the change in demands for my job and because of my now regular eating schedule, I was healthier than I had been since my initiation as a Resurrector. The only downside to my new life was that I never got to spend time with my friends. So far I hadn't run into Sitara, Alaula, or Damir. I knew that could only last for so long. Eventually I would have to face them, and I knew things would never be the same between us. After what they had been told about Kiran and my supposed role in his death, my friends were sure to hate me.

  How was I going to handle that? I could already see Alaula and Sitara when I took a charge from them. It was going to be difficult. They were sure to feel betrayed, hurt, and angry. Could I blame them? If I was lucky there would be some time to prepare before I ran into them, because right now I didn’t feel ready for that.

  As I arrived at my next destination I noticed there wasn't a Resurrector around. Good, that made things a little easier for me. I was in a surgical room of a hospital. The doctors and nurses were standing around the patient, a man with heart problems. He hadn't taken very good care of himself and his artery walls were corroded. They were attempting a transplant. They were lucky to have found a donor for him.

  Unfortunately the heart was going to be used for someone else, someone whose name disappeared from the list at the same time this man’s name appeared. This man's time was up and nothing could change that. "I'm sorry for you," I said to his medicated body. He couldn't hear me but I still felt that I had to say it to him. Reaping still wasn't easy to handle but I felt that saying sorry that their life was over made it easier. Then I waved my hand over his body and watched his soul emerge slowly.

  That's when I saw the cord connecting him to his body. Even under anesthesia he was fighting this. Not many could fight against the pull of death. I sighed, almost wishing that because he was fighting I could give him another chance. There should be times when such a resurrection was possible. No, there was no second chance for this man. With one slicing gesture I severed the cord and then sent his soul away, watching as the doctors struggled to keep him alive before finally calling his time of death.

  I let out a deep breath and looked at my scroll again. The list never seemed to get any shorter. People were always near death. It was a side I hadn't seen as a Resurrector. The job had been so biased then; the Leaders made it seem like lives would be better if death only occurred when people reached old age. That wasn't even close to the actual truth and I knew that now, though I felt there was so much more to the story. Someday I hoped to hear the full tale of how the Resurrector Leaders had become so…corrupt.

  Death was necessary. We learned from death, but we also learned from near death experiences, when the end seemed to be so incredibly close. To be healed and removed from the jaws of death was an unforgettable experience. I had been able to give that to one person so far and she had thanked me for it. She had been only one of many who had begged for their life or even just a little time so they could get their affairs in order and say goodbye to those they cared about.

  It was so gratifying to be able to tell her that it was not yet her time and to place my hands on her and heal her. For a moment I almost felt like my old self, like I had back when I was a Resurrector. I was healing and helping. It was a wonderful feeling but then I realized that it couldn't last like that. I would have to go back to ensuring that Fate got what it wanted and that people died when they were meant to.

  I moved from place to place, fulfilling my duties as Angel of Death. The time flew by as I dealt with people who begged for more time and dealing with Resurrectors. Each time I thwarted the Resurrectors and got the person I was after. I felt powerful, unstoppable.

  I traveled through the Between to my last death of the day. The rest of the names on my list could
wait. In that way I could give people just a little more time. After that I was going to go back to the Facility and relax, maybe take a nice hot shower. It had been a long day and I was ready to put it all behind me. Though I had been doing this for a couple weeks and it was easier now, I still found that each person was engraved into my mind and often their faces appeared in my dreams. I didn't think I would ever be able to forget these ones and I hoped that eventually they wouldn't affect me as much.

  When I reached my destination I looked around, taking in my surroundings. I found it was always beneficial to know what all was around me. As I turned around I saw someone standing a few feet away and I froze, instantly recognizing the profile of someone I had called a friend at one time.

  "Tamesis?"