A Little Piece Of Heaven

The terrace gardens still held the scent of flowers as they all walked together.
It was a dark clear night, maybe a little after nine and a few others were still enjoying the paths lit by tall gas lamps. The city shone below them, Claire still found it hard after many months under the blackout. She wondered if Lilith and Syn had sorted their difference, both able to tune her out when they felt the need to scream at each other in private.
“So you’re trying to tell me that you guys reap souls and the girls here are witches ? Jeez Jimmy, what the fuck have you been drinking ?”
Jimmy looked abashed, a small smile crossing his face as Dani and Claire winked at each other. Raven was indeed perfect for him, feisty and smart and not about to buy any bullshit. The four girls had done a rite the Christmas before after deciding that he had been alone long enough and the universe had indeed sent him the right woman. They were still deciding whether to tell him this t some point in the future.
“I know, I can’t really find a better way to tell you than to have the gang here and show you.”
Raven giggled, he really knew how to pull a fast one and she could see his friends all grinning so this was maybe some kind of girlfriend initiation thing. She loved the way his eyes flashed in the half light and wondered just what she would have done if he hadn’t been in that alley.
“Show me ?”
They had come to a row of benches that looked out over the end of the garden and the girls sat down. Claire smiled reassuringly at Raven as Stefanie sat on her other side. Dani remained attached to Matt, anxious to not let him out of her sight again. He had been whispering some very interesting promises all night and was not going to get out of fulfilling them. Jimmy smiled to himself and looked at Zacky.
“My Raven likes knives, I reckon she’d love that pretty one of yours.”
Zacky returned the smile, reaching in his jacket as Raven gasped. It was possibly the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. The blade had a wicked curve to it, strange symbols running down the serrated edge to the ornately carved bone handle. Anyone stuck with it would not live, one twist in flesh and the wound would be too wide and deep to close.
“Here, hold it. It’s a one of a kind piece.”
“Wow, thanks…Oh!”
Raven gasped at the weight and hum of electricity that felt like it went up her wrist and arm. It felt so comfortable to hold it, so right and how much better it would feel to plunge it into flesh and bone. A small smile turned into a smirk and Zacky nodded, he could feel the pull of his blade even when someone else was holding it and understood exactly what thoughts were going through Raven’s mind. He lifted her chin to look into her eyes, noticing that she was definitely one of the prettiest women he had seen in a long time. Jimmy had every right to be smitten.
“The blade knows what you want to do. Tell me what it’s telling you.”
“It wants to hurt, it wants me to stab someone with it. My god, what the hell is this thing ?”
Zacky gently took the knife from her, his fingers gently caressing the hilt as Raven shook her head and tried to make sense of what had just happened. The thing had been in her head and it now felt like the hum had gone missing. It was horrible and yet faintly she could still taste the desire and now mildly panicked, she reached for Jimmy.
“What the fuck is that ?”
“It’s a very ancient and powerful tool, it has attached itself to Zacky now and responds best to him but you had a taste of it. What did it tell you ?”
She still felt cold although he had her wrapped in his arms and something told her that this was no game and no joke. Concentrating hard raven reached for the fading memory and glanced anew at Zacky. There was indeed a quiet power to the man, something commanding and while unthreatening she realised she was in the presence of a killer. It wasn’t the first time, growing up on the streets Raven had known more than one and had been prepared to kill in self-defence more than once but this was different.
“It told me….it told me to stab someone. It wanted me to kill and enjoy it.”
Jimmy nodded, few would have picked up on the blade unless they had a link to the otherworld and it confirmed that his girl was an ideal addition to the crew if he could persuade her. He watched Claire and Dani take Raven’s hand and cast a cleansing spell to rid her mind of the influence of the blade. Claire looked at Jimmy.
“That thing is a little dangerous, you ok Raven ?”
Raven nodded, as bemused by the calm feelings washing over her now as she had been by the dark thoughts of the weapon. She glanced at the others, wondering what else they could do before looking at Stefanie.
“You build weapons right ? Did you build that ?”
Stefanie giggled and shook her head, impressed at how well Raven was taking all this.
“No, that’s ancient black magic. You would need to talk to Lilith about that. We build gadgets and do as much good as harm. Pretty much any invention of the last fifty years has us behind it. The car, electric lighting, sub machine gun….”
“That was me, I thought I’d fucked it up but it turned out ok.”
Johnny shrugged and shook of a needling hug from Matt who looked at Raven and tried to couch it in terms that made it seem a little more sensible. He wondered if Jimmy had engineered this night just to get help in explaining all this to her and he knew that if he had been in Raven’s position without prior knowledge of the supernatural it would be one hell of a shock.
“We’re not evil….well, most of us. Souls need to be taken when it is their time. Some are evil doers, some are old or sick. Some are innocent. Our job is not to deal with whatever morality of the current time span, just to do what needs to be done. There are perks and downsides like in any job.”
“What about this war and the last one ?”
Her voice had hardened a little and Jimmy felt a little stab of worry. If she wanted to walk away from him then he would have to accept that but he really hoped that it wouldn’t be the case. He turned her face to his, Raven’s heart skipping a beat at the earnest look on his face.
“There are things we can’t stop. Things that have to happen and we have to deal with it and make sure it doesn’t lead to the end of humanity as a whole. Not always a pleasant thing but necessary.”
She was about to reply to him when two figures appeared in the midst of her new friends. Both were out of breath, dishevelled but smiling.
“You made it up then.”
Zacky rolled his eyes as Syn pulled Lilith back into his arms for another rough kiss against bruised lips. He had been tempted just to fuck off to the nearest hotel but Lilith had reminded him that they owed Jimmy this favour after he had forgiven them for Moscow. She winked at Raven and then looked at her sometime lover and sister.
“Don’t we always ? Besides, I have a present for my man that he’s going to love.”
“You better give it to me.”
“Oh I’ll give it to you alright…”
The tense mood was broken as Matt and Johnny pulled disgusted faces, Claire just smiled and the others started to laugh. Raven almost couldn’t take the switch, it seemed surreal to go from talking about death to smirking at two people who obviously just couldn’t be left alone for five minutes without either fucking or fighting. Syn caught her curious look and grinned.
“So did he tell you about the job then ?”
“I guess so. It’s kinda hard to take in.”
Lilith sat down beside Claire and adjusted her dress a little. She wasn’t as convinced as the others about Jimmy needing a woman of his own, wasn’t like any of them couldn’t find a warm body at night but she had gone along with the majority view and found that she liked Raven, the first test had been passed as she had not run away screaming or called the police.
“It’s fun. It’s exciting and the rules are few.”
“But there are rules, don’t make me have to enforce them.”
Lilith pouted at Jimmy, clearly he hadn’t quite forgiven them for causing chaos and the punishment of being separated from Syn still obviously hung over her head. She painted a contrite expression on her face and could feel Syn smiling from behind her. He always handled Matt and Jimmy better than she could and she intended to keep some details of her recent visit to Europe quiet until after they had engineered this country’s entrance into the conflict.
“The whole Russian thing was an accident.”
Syn choked on his beer as Jimmy’s composure completely broke and he howled with helpless laughter. Dani linked her arm through Raven’s and whispered that she would have to get used to certain people having no morals whatsoever. Johnny just smirked and kept out of Syn’s reach as he replied.
“Fucking on the alter of St Basils Cathedral and inciting a riot that in turn started an even bigger riot and a revolution ?”
Syn shrugged, taking a glance down Lilith’s cleavage. Hell he would do that again in a heartbeat and still wondered what this damn present of hers was. The thought of his woman doing god knows what in Europe was bad enough but when you added in that the death count had spiked and he had missed the fun it was annoying.
“Entirely accidental and had nothing to do with the monk’s outfit.”
A fresh round of laughter and accusation broke out until Raven felt the need to bring the matter in hand back to the fore. Despite her scepticism on the whole thing there was something in her mind that was telling her that this was real and they really were what they said they were. Quite why this thought was in her head she couldn’t tell but one vital question remained.
“How do you do it ?”
A silence fell. Jimmy looked into her eyes and drew a long breath.
“Reap someone ? You can tell from a look if it’s their time and then decide on you own way. An evil soul may meet Zack in an alley and answer to the knife. Or be a test subject for one of Johnny’s weapons. We all use different methods. For the old it could be Dani or Claire that innocently take them off. It can be pleasant or unpleasant.”
Lilith appeared beside her, the dark haired woman now smiling innocently at her.
“See that man over there ? Beside the pond ?”
Raven looked. An older gentleman was looking at the fish in the elaborate fishpond below them. He was out of shape and sporting a large cognac and fat cigar. Lilith leaned over to get a better look and quietly continued.
“His time is up, we should have collected him earlier in the week but I thought a demonstration might be needed. He’s an asshole but he’s never been a malicious man so I will be merciful.”
Raven found she couldn’t move, Jimmy’s arm around her and the others close with them watching as Lilith made her way slowly down the steps and towards the man. They exchanged pleasantries and stood admiring the fish for a moment, laughing together as if old friends. Finally she went to make her leave and kissed his cheek. The old man smiled and went back to looking at the view as Lilith walked back up the stairs and over to where Jimmy and Raven stood.
“Any minute…..now.”
Raven’s eyes widened, any doubt dispelled from her mind as the man clasped at his chest and fell to his knees. He could now see them watching, his eyes clouded with disbelief as his heart stuttered and gave out, his body falling with a thump into the gravel below. Lilith just smiled, Claire turning away to raise an alarm that was already too late. Her smile was not unkind but Raven was instantly aware that Lilith was a somewhat darker witch than her friends.
“Any questions ?”

Notes