A Toiling Darkness by Jaliza Burwell

his attitude since I was considered
one of those things and so was he. He needed to accept that, though
now was probably not the time to point that out. I knew for a fact
no beings were in this area. I could feel them, well except for
Kalen. For some reason, I just couldn’t sense him when he was
nearby. Maybe it had to do with that weird stillness thing he does
or maybe because he was created to be my hunter.
    He spared me a glance, barely keeping
himself together. The air around him thickened with anger. “No
human would do this. Look at her!”
    I did. I took in her small frame, her
delicate bones and the pale white skin. If you took away the horror
on her face and the weird position she was sprawled in, you would
simply think she was napping or something.
    “Humans are capable of doing exactly this.”
I kept my voice low. I knew well what humans were capable of doing.
“No being did this. If they did, there wouldn’t be a body to find.
She wouldn’t even have had a chance to make a noise.”
    He fell silent, staring at me, his fists
clenched and eyes wide. I looked around wondering where her older
sister was. Did she run away or get taken? Was she hiding right
now, hoping to evade the horror that took her little sister away? I
reached out briefly to see if the other girl was hiding in the
woods. I found nothing but critters. The humans were still out in
the light, so I couldn't sense them. The mother was going to be
devastated. She came here with two little girls and was most likely
going to leave with none.
    “I can’t believe those words came out of
your mouth,” he whispered, drawing me back to my immediate
surroundings.
    “What words?” I scrunched up my eyebrows.
Had I said something weird?
    “That there wouldn’t be a body to find or
that she wouldn’t even have had a chance to scream. You said it
with the most emptiest face I’ve ever seen. Does this even bother
you? She’s just a child.”
    “I. Am. Not. Human.” I bit out each word
slowly, growing impatient. “You don’t even know me to make a
statement like that.”
    “Oh, I think I’m learning enough about you.
You’re a heartless little brat who only likes to sit on the
sidelines while others suffer. This isn’t even bothering you!” He
pointed to the body.
    You have nothing inside of you. Nothing.
You’re just this empty shell, making yourself go through each day
simply because you can’t die. That’s no way to live.
    I almost growled at him, hating those words.
Heartless. What a word. Did he even know how heartless I could
really be?
    Instead of giving in to my anger, I
shrugged. I didn’t even know what should be bothering me. I saw
death on a daily basis. Some would even argue that I was on really
good terms with Death. I always tell them I met Death before and he
was even scarier than me. I have a very short list of those I
feared and Death was second to the Consort. The only difference
between them was that Death didn’t differentiate who died, nor did
he really care how. He just wanted their souls while the Consort
aimed at the most creative way to kill their victims.
    “We should leave,” I suggested, glancing
around. The humans would be here soon.
    “I can’t just leave her here. And where is
the other one? I thought her sister was with her.”
    I risked touching him and tugged on his arm
until he looked away from the girl and at me. There was such pain
in his eyes—a grief I’ll never fully understand. “Let the police
handle the problem. This is between the humans. It has nothing to
do with us.”
    “It has everything to do with me.”
    “Why? Because someone died while you were
nearby?”
    “Because I could have protected her! Why
didn’t I sense this?”
    “You can always sense when someone is
dying?” I asked.
    He shook his head. “Only if a being is the
one causing the death.”
    That’s a weird prerequisite to have.
    “Can I ask what your orders are?” I
carefully held back the wave of excitement