Banished.”
I shifted uncomfortably. I didn’t have the courage to ask which sin he had committed, the suicide or the murder. “You see, there’s a lot of different spirits with different powers in the underworld. The most powerful call themselves the Royals. But there can only be one Royal in charge at a time, and the Royal can only stay as ruler with power, but to get power they need to have a source. Take, for example, what a tick may do to a dog; to stay alive and strong the tick must drain the dog of blood. Well, this is similar just on a much larger scale. The Royal needs to feed off us Banished souls for power, and to drain us we need to be destroyed in what is commonly called ‘hell’.”
My jaw dropped open. But, not wanting to prove his earlier claims of me being closed minded I, wisely, didn’t argue. “But there is a loop hole, you see. There used to be only two Realms other than earth when you die. They are known by humans as Heaven and Hell, but because science had started to take control over the world and people started to question the existence of greater spirits, there was another portal opened for people of non-believers, and that is called the Third Realm. It is our task to find the Staff and get to this Realm before we’re captured.” He paused for a breath, taking a moment to choose his words carefully before continuing on. “I suppose that is where the Goons come in; they only show up when there is death and are responsible for bringing all Banished souls to their end. Even though they look dark and what some people may call ‘evil,’ they are not very smart and can be easily tricked; it’s the Hunters who are we need to avoid. They are of high rank, the ones closest to the Royals, and residing in Heaven where they use daylight to search for us. When they find us, they snap our chains and feed us to the Goons. Without sacrificing, there is no way the current Royal could remain in power and all balance will be overturned.”
I paused for a moment, letting his words fully sink in before speaking in a soft whimpering breath, “I’m sorry but I need to know...where do I come in?”
Lock’s face remained neutral as if I were speaking to a stone wall, “You... like your father, are called the Host. We use you to hide. Goons patrol the Spirit World and Hunters patrol the light, so we have to hide here on earth where we don’t belong. Yet a Host’s soul can only last for so long, after a period of time the soul is completely drained and therefore the Host dies, leaving us exposed all over again until we find a new one.”
“What happens to the Host’s soul?” I leaned forward eagerly.
“You just die. I don’t know what else to tell you.”
“But where do we go, Heaven, Hell or the Third Realm? Come on you have to know the answer.” Lock was silent for he didn’t know the answer, he just bowed his head. My thoughts shot directly to my dad who was now lost in the Realm of Spirits. It was scary, but I honestly hadn’t really thought about what really caused my father’s death. For if he had taken his own life, and I knew by his history that he had tried, it meant there’s a good chance he has already been swallowed into Hell for fuel. Or maybe he’s running around now, a Banished spirit like Lock.
I felt my face grow tense.
“My dad, how did he die, I mean... was it really you that... killed him?” It may have sounded insensitive but I honestly hoped that it was Lock who killed him, only because then George couldn’t have been accused of killing himself. He would be safe, residing in peace with the rest of the saved souls. Lock cleared his throat as I held my breath, waiting for his slight nod. But he didn’t. He didn’t as much as look at me and turned his attention to the holes in his clothes.
“Lock? Lock, please, answer me...”
“I didn’t do it!” he barked with the roar of thunder behind him. Throat closing, the silence suddenly slapped me hard in the
I shifted uncomfortably. I didn’t have the courage to ask which sin he had committed, the suicide or the murder. “You see, there’s a lot of different spirits with different powers in the underworld. The most powerful call themselves the Royals. But there can only be one Royal in charge at a time, and the Royal can only stay as ruler with power, but to get power they need to have a source. Take, for example, what a tick may do to a dog; to stay alive and strong the tick must drain the dog of blood. Well, this is similar just on a much larger scale. The Royal needs to feed off us Banished souls for power, and to drain us we need to be destroyed in what is commonly called ‘hell’.”
My jaw dropped open. But, not wanting to prove his earlier claims of me being closed minded I, wisely, didn’t argue. “But there is a loop hole, you see. There used to be only two Realms other than earth when you die. They are known by humans as Heaven and Hell, but because science had started to take control over the world and people started to question the existence of greater spirits, there was another portal opened for people of non-believers, and that is called the Third Realm. It is our task to find the Staff and get to this Realm before we’re captured.” He paused for a breath, taking a moment to choose his words carefully before continuing on. “I suppose that is where the Goons come in; they only show up when there is death and are responsible for bringing all Banished souls to their end. Even though they look dark and what some people may call ‘evil,’ they are not very smart and can be easily tricked; it’s the Hunters who are we need to avoid. They are of high rank, the ones closest to the Royals, and residing in Heaven where they use daylight to search for us. When they find us, they snap our chains and feed us to the Goons. Without sacrificing, there is no way the current Royal could remain in power and all balance will be overturned.”
I paused for a moment, letting his words fully sink in before speaking in a soft whimpering breath, “I’m sorry but I need to know...where do I come in?”
Lock’s face remained neutral as if I were speaking to a stone wall, “You... like your father, are called the Host. We use you to hide. Goons patrol the Spirit World and Hunters patrol the light, so we have to hide here on earth where we don’t belong. Yet a Host’s soul can only last for so long, after a period of time the soul is completely drained and therefore the Host dies, leaving us exposed all over again until we find a new one.”
“What happens to the Host’s soul?” I leaned forward eagerly.
“You just die. I don’t know what else to tell you.”
“But where do we go, Heaven, Hell or the Third Realm? Come on you have to know the answer.” Lock was silent for he didn’t know the answer, he just bowed his head. My thoughts shot directly to my dad who was now lost in the Realm of Spirits. It was scary, but I honestly hadn’t really thought about what really caused my father’s death. For if he had taken his own life, and I knew by his history that he had tried, it meant there’s a good chance he has already been swallowed into Hell for fuel. Or maybe he’s running around now, a Banished spirit like Lock.
I felt my face grow tense.
“My dad, how did he die, I mean... was it really you that... killed him?” It may have sounded insensitive but I honestly hoped that it was Lock who killed him, only because then George couldn’t have been accused of killing himself. He would be safe, residing in peace with the rest of the saved souls. Lock cleared his throat as I held my breath, waiting for his slight nod. But he didn’t. He didn’t as much as look at me and turned his attention to the holes in his clothes.
“Lock? Lock, please, answer me...”
“I didn’t do it!” he barked with the roar of thunder behind him. Throat closing, the silence suddenly slapped me hard in the
Similar Books
