Page 6 of Malice

“Why would they choose that?”

“They haven’t accepted their reality yet. No matter how often they’re told that they’ve died, they don’t believe us. So we park them here. Surplus souls stuck in between.”

“In between what?”

“Realms. The Above and the Below. We’re part of the first stage for worthy souls, as I mentioned. There’s an express route for unworthy or disqualified souls. They head straight to the Below to be sorted accordingly.”

“Could you please explain to me what you’re talking about?”

Farnsworth blinks his weird eyes at me, then nods. “When a person dies, the assessment begins immediately. As stated previously, based on the selection criteria, you either come here or go to the Below. If you come here, you’re given three options. One: You’re accepted to join the society. More on that in a moment. Two: You join our support team. Or three: You come here. The Lost Souls room.”

“Are there lots of kids here?”

“No. Abigail was a sorting error, but she likes it here so she’s allowed to stay. Most children are unqualified, so they go to theBelow to spend eternity in the Garden. It’s a lovely, peaceful place.”

I don’t even know what to say.

“Back to the society,” he says, brushing past me and closing the door. “The Revival House is home to the Soul Chasers Society. What is that, you ask? Well, as I’m sure you’re aware, the Above has some souls who are very naughty. Upon death, they bypass us and go straight to the Below, where they spend eternity in a most unpleasant place. As you can imagine, they aren’t happy with their predicament and at times are capable of escape.”

“Escape? They can get out?”

Farnsworth nods, clicking his tongue. “The living always provide openings. Séances, spirit boards, mediums—the list of portals is endless, and a crafty soul uses that to their advantage. We call them Horrors. In the Above they’re called ghosts, spirits, poltergeists.”

The meaning sinks in. “They get out and haunt people?”

“People, places, whatever. It’s the society’s job to get them back. That’s where you come in, Aster.” He gestures down a hall that fades into nothing but blackness. “Down there is a portal to the Below. It’s where we, the society members, return the Horrors upon capture.”

I nod, even though none of that makes sense to me.

“To be offered a place in the society, a soul must meet the following criteria: Your death was premature and no fault of your own, you were a relatively decent person, and you were a pet lover and/or owned a pet.”

I blink several times. “That’s it?”

“That’s it. You met the criteria. Now the offer.”

He walks past me again and I follow him, waiting for more information. We only take a few steps, but somehow we end up back in the main room with all the workers.

“Aster Charboneau, you are being offered a position in the Soul Chasers Society.”

The choir of voices gasp, sounding awestruck, as they stop what they were doing and gather around me and Farnsworth, including the figures in black.

“If you accept, you agree to dedicate your eternal existence to hunting and retrieving the Horrors to return them to the Below. In exchange, you’ll return to life in the Above.”

I open my mouth and close it several times. “What? I would be alive again?”

Farnsworth nods. “Yes. It’s a fair trade.”

“Let me get this straight. I join your soul chasing group and then I’m not dead anymore?”

“Correct.”

“Who would say no to that?”

“Not every soul wishes to rejoin the living,” he explains. “For a myriad of reasons.” He reaches down and pats Abigail’s little head. “And the job is not for the weak. The Horrors don’t want to return and will do everything in their power not to.”

The warning in his voice pokes at my chest, echoing through my mind, but I wasn’t done living yet. Far from it. And I could see my dog. It’s a no-brainer.

“I’ll do it.”

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