I was surprised I hadn't been ripped to shreds after travelling through Hell's void.
"No!" I shouted again as the black hole swallowed me whole. For a brief moment I could still see Dad's devious look as he watched me fall, hear the screams of my sister as she desperately tried to come after me, smelt the familiar scent burning flesh fade away, and felt the power I'd grown so accustomed to melt from my essence, until eventually all I could sense was the betrayal, anger and hatred in my veins.
Everything was dark, and I knew that even if I had my powerful sight, I wouldn't have been able to penetrate the black blanket that had covered my eyes. I was falling and falling, as if tumbling down a hole into a bottomless pit with no hope of salvation.
This was it. My end.
And then all of a sudden, there was a light.
Landing with a painful thump, I wobbled dizzily as my new eyes tried to take in the brightness that was blinding me. They took a few seconds to finally adjust, the light blurring slowly from colours to shapes and finally to objects which I slowly began to recognise. I'd landed in a skip in some sort of alley, covered in dust and surrounded by rubbish and trash. The smell wasn't too great either, as my new human nose took in the stench that I was enclosed in. Rotten eggs and vomit. It was as if Dad had somehow planned for the void to drop me in this particular spot, as if to demonstrate just how much he thought of me as trash.
Oh the irony.
My first thought was that my usual snazzy black suit was officially ruined, but when I glanced down I had to do my best to suppress a gasp, quickly re-regarding my worries as I realised I wasn't wearing my suit. I couldn't forget to give Dad some credit. He was truly evil.
Being the all and mighty powerful lord of the Underworld meant that whilst his powers in part were limited, he still had a great amount of control over certain areas outside of his demon duties. That being the power to torment his victims in whichever way he saw truly fitting.
For me, that had been to 'alter' my clothes.
He'd swapped my much loved fitted shirt and blazer for that of a plain and cheap white t-shirt that bore the logo of what looked like a football team, made from such a thin fabric I was sure it would rip if I tugged at all on it. My skinny trousers had been replaced by flared out dark jeans that were fraying at the hems, and the black patent black shoes I'd stolen from the Devil himself were gone. What I now wore on my feet was a pair of discounted sneakers that I were sure were second hand, and seemed to be quite worn out.
To be fair, I was quite surprised he hadn't ensured any items of clothing bore any holes.
Of course, he still had to maintain the whole parent reputation so he clearly couldn't take his punishment too far.
How father-like of him.
Sighing, I picked myself up the best that I could among the soft and squashy trash and jumped out of the skip, unfortunately landing pathetically and grazing my hand. I was clearly lacking in the demon powers department.
I rose to my feet and took in my surroundings.
I could tell I was near a beach since there was a high intensity of sea salt in the air that I could taste on my tongue and I could faintly hear seagulls in the distance. It also felt quite warm, the temperature cuddling my skin a little as I began to wonder out of the alley. The road that led on from there was still, bar a cat that was hurriedly bounding away from me. Buildings towered over me with each step, worn and in need of a paint job which told me that wherever Dad had banished me to wasn't Hollywood or high-class London. Of course he wouldn't send me somewhere bearable: he had to make my now mundane existence that every bit not worth living.
I decided to follow the dusty brick road left of the alley, hoping I'd find some sort of indication of where I might be. Hopefully I wouldn't have to endure one of those embarrassing movie moments of not knowing the date or what country I was in, and find a sign before the situation got awkward. I didn't want to draw too much attention either, especially in this place: I wasn't a prince anymore with dazzling powers or mind-blowing strength to defend myself, so keeping a low profile seemed a good plan.
The further I walked, the more I began to hear voices. Faint at first, but eventually I could hear two and then four and then six. Turning onto another road I was greeted by a bunch of people grouped around the entrance of a quaint little café, glasses and bottles in hand as they chatted and laughed at stupidly mundane things they each said to one another. I'd never seen a Living before, just the souls that I ferried from their bodies to Hell when they died. But I saw no real difference, just that these ones were breathing and had a cheery glow to their skin as opposed to a grey discoloured one.
I paid no particular attention to what any of them looked like, just that they were a mix of skin colours and sizes. Their accents seemed a little mixed too, so nothing to help me determine where I was.
I paid them no attention as I walked past, apart from the fact that a waitress had come over to them and asked if they wanted anything from the 'dinner menu'. That gave me the estimation of it being near evening time, which meant that soon enough, night was approaching.
A few more people were gathered further down the street, as were people busying between shops as I walked. It wasn't long before I found myself having to mill through people to move forward. The further I walked, the crowded it got, until I was practically shoving people to get past. I listened in closer to voices around me, and before long I had hear enough to be able to match their accents to that of Florida.
I stopped walking.
Dad had banished me to Florida.
Florida, where it was constantly sunny and light, nearly summer all year round. Where everyone was cheery and pleased with their pathetic little lives.
Where Disney Land was practically round to corner.
This was worse than Hell.
Angry, I began moving again, hands balled into a fist. No longer paying attention to where I was going, in a rage I found myself with a view of the ocean.
Oddly, I soon felt calmer whilst looking at it.
The view reminded me of the river Styx, the setting sun turning the water a reddish colour like the blood that coursed through the underworld as the Styx. It was there I had opened up to Jules about my crazy actions of letting that pathetic Living keep her life.
I stood there, and took in the picture of the sunset and the ocean.
But seconds later I had to turn away to stop myself from feeling nauseous and eventually throwing up, because another part of my punishment that Dad had added was the unfortunate ability to get seasick.
Bastard.
When I did, my eyes rested on a group of teenagers messing around in the sand about twenty metres from me. Out of the five of them, three were girls and two were guys, gathered in a less than perfect circle. They seemed to be chatting.
Just the sight of them made me want to gorge my eyes out. They were laughing, smiling, and having fun.
The only fun I knew was the kind of fun you had pissing your dick-of-a-dad off, fucking a lonely soul behind one of Hell's many night clubs or constantly pranking your older brothers.
Forgetting I was staring, I felt almost embarrassed when one of the girls noticed me. She looked up at me with weary eyes, adjusted her bikini top, and then quickly told her friend, whose back was turned to me.
I felt more nauseous once the friend turned round and I saw her face.
With earth brown hair and eyes that matched the sky, Rachel gave me a quizzing stare. Like her weary friend, she too stared at me, before nudging the boy next to her whose eyes soon locked with mine. And then he got up.
With no time to react, and no powers to aid me, I froze in my spot, pleading he wasn't going to speak to me. After everything, that was the last thing I needed. I hadn't actually spoken to a Living yet, despite having been in this pitiful world for at least an hour, maybe more considering that I had no idea how long I'd been in that skip.
"Hey, sorry I thought I recognised you," The boy stated to me after closing the distance between us. Back in Hell, I'd taken my transportation power for granted, because I'd never dreamt that my own father would strip it from me. But right there and then, I would have sold my soul to the hot shot in Heaven to get it back. "This might sound weird, but are you okay? You were staring at us for a while and you look really sick," he said, a wave of concern flashing across his tanned features.
Failing my plan of avoiding attention, I shook my head as believably as I could. "Nope, I just feel vaguely queasy," I replied, hoping my shaky tone wouldn't draw even more unwanted attention.
The boy just gawked at me.
"Um," he began, clearly not sure about what to say. "Can I get you anything?" he asked, trying, but when I shook my head the boy fell short of what else to say. He was obviously thrown by the awkward situation, and even looked back to his friends for some help. Taking a few seconds to think, he asked if I'd like to come and sit with him and his friends until I felt a little better.
Except all I heard was 'Would you like to come sit next to the girl whose life you mistakenly spared, and in turn, cost you your own?'
Trying not to come across to eager, I shrugged and then nodded.
This would be... fun.
I honestly had no idea what I was doing. Evidently Dad had chosen to place me here due to the fact that the very reason I was here was sitting five metres in front of me. Whilst she carried on her little mundane life, I was suffering in my own, all because I couldn't just ferry over her pitiful tragic soul down to the Underworld.
What was he playing at?
As we approached Rachel and her friends, I found myself recalling their faces, one by one. The girl who had first noticed me was Rachel's closest friend, Berlie. She was a 'blonde bombshell' as my older brother Seth had called her once when he'd wondered into my office, also adding that he'd be happy to show her around the many corners of Hell if I ferried her down to Hell, especially the corners of his chambers.
I'd banned him from my office after that comment.
She was one of those in denial girls, not wanting to admit she couldn't have been less of a 'Barbie girl'. Berlie sat there with her legs crossed, her pink bikini so tiny I was sure that if it had been any smaller, it wouldn't have been serving its sole purpose of covering her up.
Not that I would have minded.
The other girl I didn't recognise, but the boy next to her I remembered was Marcel, Rachel's neighbour who she considered to be like family. Like the blonde, he too was in denial but more about what gender he preferred. He wasn't gay, because he had once told Blondie how he wanted to, and I quote 'Bash her brains out,' but he also wasn't straight after he got drunk and ended up in bed with his older brother's gay friend, soon after perusing a 'friends with benefits' sort of agreement with him which had ended not too long ago due to Marcel's confusion.
And finally, the boy who'd come up to me I recollected to be Jake, Rachel's boyfriend.
He was what my one of my brothers, Coran, would have called a 'Simple' Living. He didn't expect much from life, he simply wanted to get by and enjoy it.
What a silly Living notion.
Rachel and her friends gave Jake a confused stare just as he and I sat down, yet Jake simply shrugged and told them how I felt a bit sick. The girl I didn't recognise rested a cold hand on my shoulder. "Are you drunk?"
While her voice seemed rather familiar, I still couldn't place her. I shook my head, and then rubbed my eyes. "The sea makes me feel woozy," I lied.
Rachel threw me a sympathetic look, one I'd seen her give before, mostly to her mother.
It had been weeks since I'd learned her name. Every day I'd be given a list of souls to snatch and humans to kill, along with their profile and reason of death, all sent to me from each member of my family. Flicking through the various names had never caused me any hassle, nor should it since they were just Livings, and killing was my duty. I'd skimmed past millions upon millions of names, their profiles and the reasons listed to end their life. I could still remember Rachel's profile and reason of death as if it were only yesterday:
Rachel August.
Seventeen.
Living alone with mother who has severe alcohol obsession. No father figure after he left them for her mother's sister.
Finishing High School with no intentions of attending further education. Intends to find job and move out of home.
Has two close friends and a boyfriend of six months.
Reason to die: Not applicable.
That was the problem with the profiles. The reasons were never really reasons, more of an invitation to kill someone for the sake of it. At the time I had no idea what had made me stop at her name. Had it been the unusual 'not applicable' answer listed? Not likely, since whilst it was a rare reason, it wasn't uncommon. No one had put her under their name so I couldn't just go and ask my siblings, not without seeming overly interested. But being the new Grim Reaper, I was taking my job kind of seriously, so seriously I decided to investigate. Why would anyone want a soul like hers, especially just for the fun of it?
And that's how my downfall began.
I started watching her during an argument between her and her mother. Her mother had made a comment about Jake being no good for Rachel, which set Rachel off, and after some drama, Rachel slapped her mother around the face and stormed off in tears. Rachel's mother barely noticed the red hand print on her cheek while she had opened yet another bottle of vodka.
Watching Rachel cry had been one of the most heart-breaking things I'd ever encountered, taking second place beside my mother telling us that we'd all been mistakes. For some unknown reason, in that one moment I felt so connected to her it was unlike anything I'd ever experienced before. I could feel her pain, her desperation and her anger. I understood the struggle she was fighting every day and I could see in her eyes the complete and utter hope that filled her very essence. It was such a strange sensation that soon enough wanted more of it.
It wasn't long before I became obsessed with watching Rachel, wanting to know her every move, every person she came into contact with, every place she visited, every emotion she experienced.
After some documenting, it became clear than the place she hardly went to was her house.
"So," Rachel started casually, breaking my trance. I turned my attention from my thoughts to her, my gaze dropping down to her lips. I had imagined what it'd be like to kiss her, to kiss a Living.
I'd had plenty of girls back in hell, but they were just dead meat compared to this flourish of life. Their screams of pleasure did nothing for me, while just thinking about holding Rachel's hand sent shivers down my spine.
When I'd started thinking like that, that's when humanity must have caught the better of me, because it was then that I discarded her profile. I'd set it alight and watched as all trace of Rachel August ever having been a possible candidate for death burned away into specs and whips of ash, drifting away.
Yet I'd felt so guilty and confused, so I'd told Jules my secret.
How had that worked out for me?
"Hey?"
I looked up to Rachel, whose hand was moving in front of my face. I gave her a cautious look.
"I asked you what your name was." She repeated, her tone tired. I knew last night had been bad for her, having to work late shifts in the Movie Store to pay last months late rent. The uncommon feeling of empathy rushed over me and pulled my heart down, to the point that I began wondering when I'd even had a heart. I mentally sighed.
"Caleb," I told her, and then realising we were in a group, repeated myself so they could hear me.
"That's a cool name," the girl I didn't know commented. "Have you got a surname to accompany it?"
Shit. A surname.
I couldn't use Grimm- anyone in this realm who knew of the outer realms would know instantly who I was. Struggling to think of one, I quickly glanced around for an idea, something to fill the blank. It was then my eyes fell upon a small sign for the beach, the heading 'Have a charming day' plastered across it.
"Charm," I told the new girl, adding an uneasy smile afterwards. "Caleb Charm."
Everyone began to laugh.
That was, until they realised I was dead serious.
"Wow, Caleb Charm," Marcel laughed, giving me quite an intrigued look. "What a charming demon you are."
I snapped my head to look at him at the word 'demon,' but I shook it off when he started laughing. Not wanting to come across strange, I laughed along with them. Maybe this was going to be harder than I'd thought.
"More like Prince Charming," the unknown girl added, although too quiet for anyone to have heard her enough to laugh. I pitied her at that moment.
Each of the Livings introduced themselves to me, despite the fact I already knew nearly everything about them. I nodded to be polite, despite how the setting sun was beginning to make my skin blaze.
I was about to attempt to find some information about my whereabouts, but Rachel was quick to ask me more questions.
"How come you're at a beach, if the ocean makes you feel sick?" She asked, keeping eye contact with me. The way she was looking at me make me want to reach up and touch her face.
Like I already said to Dad back home, I wasn't in love with Rachel. I may have wanted to touch her face and kiss her lips, but she was a Living. I'd been drawn to her for experience, and in the end that was all I was in it for, if it was up for grabs.
Maybe this had been Dad's masterplan all along. To see if I really felt anything for the Living, because he wasn't sure?
And that's when I thought of it. I was here on Earth because I'd messed up and spared her life... so if I killed her, maybe Dad would grant me passage back home. Maybe I could do it more stylishly... maybe get her to fall for me and then rip her throat out?
Knowing Dad, he was probably watching my every move. He wouldn't know what I was doing until the last second.
My plan was perfect.
I just laughed. "Had to get away, didn't I?" I told her. The first step was finding a common interest or link between us. I knew everything about her, and being a devilish bastard, I could lie without giving it away. This would be as easy as pissing off Dad. And that was easy.
When Rachel and her friends didn't understand what I was talking about, I explained. "My dad's a bit of a jerk, and we got into a huge argument over my sister and he kind of threw me out."
As long as I left out the whole 'I'm an ex Grim Reaper' shit, I could easily relate with Rachel.
"Oh, that's peak man," Jake agreed, nodding his head but was now looking over at Rachel admiringly. When I had watched him, I had felt utterly sickened by the notion. Now I felt myself questioning why he was doing it. Just because I wasn't capable of love didn't mean I wasn't capable of understanding it. Not to mention, it gave me something to do while I was in this deplorable world.
"Yeah, it's not the most ideal situation," I lied flawlessly. As long as I could worm my way into Rachel's life, killing her would be easy and sweet. And truly evil.
"How old are you exactly?" Asked the girl I hadn't recognised. She turned out to be Jake's cousin Ella, and was staying with him and his family during the Summer Break, a holiday for younger Livings from school. The idea perplexed me. I knew what school was: Dad had forced each of my siblings, including me, to train every day for our whole lives on how to be truly evil. There, we'd learnt about some of the destinies we could have been chosen for on our eighteenth birthdays, such as being a Grim Reaper like me or being a Pain Bearer like Jules. We'd studied long and hard for tests on using our powers and spent days on end coming to terms with why we hated the Living and those who disgustingly spent forever up in Heaven. I'd done that for eighteen years of my life.
But I never got a 'Summer Break.'
Then again, we didn't really have summer down in Hell, so what was I expecting? Dad to pop in while I was harvesting souls and say 'Hey Caleb, time for Purgatory Break!'
Yeah, right.
Answering Ella's question, I said, "Just turned Eighteen." That wasn't a lie.
"That's cool, we're all seventeen though, except for Jake who's the same age as you," She informed me, as if I cared. She mentioned how he was going to college next year, and asked if I had made any plans. I shrugged.
"Think I'll take a year off," I said. "To consider my options."
"Oh, you're doing what I'm doing then?" Rachel added, surprising me. I actually had no idea what she was referring to. "I'm seventeen but I'm advanced by a year so I just graduated. But I don't know what to do so I'm taking a year's leave."
I just nodded, not really interested yet absorbing the information. So Jake wasn't going to be around for a while once college started, and the kiddies were all going to be in school. That meant I'd have Rachel all too myself.
I chatted some more with her and her friends, mostly about myself and what I was going to do about sleeping arrangements.
"Shit," I muttered, trying to act as if I hadn't already planned this. "I completely forgot about that. I was looking in all the hotels, but they all said full."
"Haven't you got any friends?" Jake laughed, however Rachel smacked his arm, accusing him of being rude.
"Most of them are abroad for holidays, and the rest's parents are all really close with my Dad so it would probably be a no," I said glumly, and then for added effect added, "I don't want him feeling like he's won to be honest."
I didn't meet eye contact with any of the Livings, counting down the seconds as my words seeped into reality. I was hoping one of them would pick up on the sadness I was faking and maybe offer me somewhere to stay.
I couldn't have been more pleased when Rachel piped up.
"My mom is probably at her boyfriend's tonight," She thought aloud. She twiddled a lock of her wavy hair, trying to figure out the best solution with what to do with me. "I guess you could crash at mine, as long as you either try patch things up with your dad or find somewhere else the next day?"
On the outside, I beamed, thankful.
On the inside, I'd started laughing sinisterly.
Using my undeniably good-looks and charm, I cocked a smile. "I promise Rachel. Thank you."
Hey there to my 9 fans :3 This is officially the first story that I plan to be at least developed that I've posted on Wattpad. The whole idea came from a dream I had and I've been meaning to start writing it for a while. I'm glad I can finally share how messed up my dreams are with people ;P
Song for this chapter is Pierce the Veil- King for a Day which I love <3 I also felt like this song really represented how Caleb feels in this point in time, so yeah. I'm also a huge PTV fan :)
But tell me down below, if you could be banished anywhere, what place would you absolutely love to go? (technically not banishment but Oh well)
Anyway, meows and purrs, Leah x
PIC OF Rachel and Caleb TO THE SIDE :P
8/6 Thanks to @Dancingteen8 who also created an awesome looking cover for me :D