“My name is Gabriel. I am the archangel of the Lord God.” His voice had an echo to it that seemed to soothe and agitate me at the same time. The angel folded his wings into his back and knelt beside the dead man in my lap. His fingers hovered over the wound the bullet had left through the man’s back.
“As I thought…he is dead.”
More tears poured as I tried to explain. “I-I didn’t know it was him. There was a monster chasing me. I got scared. I’m so sorry.”
Gabriel’s face fell into that of a pitying expression. “You are human. It was only natural for you to be afraid. However, the Father cannot overlook what you have done. The man before you is a Seer—one of the few humans in this world who can see angels, demons, and spirits. He was hunting the demon you saw a moment ago.”
“Please, I don’t want to die. I’ll do anything to make this better,” I whispered, bowing to the angel.
He touched the crown of my head in comfort. “There is something you can do to make amends, my child. You must take his place.”
I looked up in shock. “What?”
“You are a Seer, Jordan. Your abilities had not awakened until just now. That is why the demon was drawn to you. Your time to serve the Lord is now. In order to pay for the crime of taking this man’s life, you must help one hundred wandering souls cross from this world to the next. If you do not finish this task two years from this day, I am afraid your soul shall be sent to hell.”
“H-How? How do I even know which people are spirits?” I stammered in protest.
“The dead have no feet to walk upon because they are no longer tied to the Earth. Your task is to discover how they died and help them fulfill their final wish. Do not fear, for I will teach you how to free their souls. After this is done, the soul will go to the next world and I will write down the name in the Book of Penance.”
He held out his hand and a red leather book materialized, spelling out my name in gold cursive across the front. It managed to be both beautiful and macabre. Gabriel placed it by my side and carefully rolled the man over onto his back. He plucked a feather from his wings and pressed it over the man’s heart.
“Rest in peace. The gates of Heaven are waiting.”
I watched with wonderment as the feather dissipated into tiny flecks of light and felt warmth as something nearly transparent rose from the body. I realized with shock that it was the man’s soul. He hung in the air between Gabriel and me for a moment before floating upward and out of sight. His body faded seconds later, leaving only the bloodstained clothes behind. My fingers closed over the grey duster, which was still salvageable in comparison to the shirt and pants.
“I shall be watching over you always, Jordan Amador. Do your very best and above all, have faith.” He rose upward on those amazing wings once more and was gone.
“Wow,” Michael murmured. “That’s…pretty damn heavy. So did you ever learn the guy’s name who you…y’know?”
I shook my head. “Gabriel said it wasn’t important, but…”
I stood and walked over to the counter, opening the first drawer on my right. From it, I found a manila folder and tossed it to Michael. He flipped the cover open, reading the file name.
“Mr. N?”
“N as in unknown?”
“Geek,” he said. Inside were several news clippings I had collected that told of a nameless man who performed exorcisms around the world and appeared at the scene of a crime days in advance. No one knew anything about him or where he lived. He was as much a ghost as any of the spirits I had met.
“This guy was a serious bad ass. I hope you find out who he is someday.”
“Me too.”
He paused. “Wait, so you’ve been on your own doing this for two years? What about your family? Parents?”
“I never knew my father. My mother…” I took a deep breath. “They took me away from her when I was five. She was put in a psychiatric hospital and committed suicide not long afterwards.”
“Jesus.” He started to say more, but I just shook my head.
“The worst thing you can do is feel sorry for me. It’s a small price to pay for my soul so I’ll pay it.”
“So what? You think you deserve to be completely alienated from every aspect of humanity because you accidentally killed someone?” The disbelief in his voice was nearly palpable. I merely shrugged.
He let out a bitter chuckle, raking a hand through his hair. “You’re a piece of work, alright. There are a lot of things you can do wrong in this life, but killing someone in self-defense is not the worst crime ever committed.”
I hardened my gaze. “That’s easy for you to say. You don’t remember your life. I highly doubt with your rock star status that you ever killed someone and sat there watching them bleed to death in front of you.”
My throat tightened as the mental image of his blood on my hands flashed through my head. I brushed the thought away as quickly as I could. “I don’t care if I never have to speak to another human being again as long as I can pay for my mistake.”