Let Them Speak

"Try to stay focused, Addii!" Jenna yelled excitedly. It was about midday and I'd gone there after waking up in Darryn's bed. Last night had been amazing! A nice play and then some amazing sex! But, for some reason when Darryn said "I'd feel like I'd owe them something." Well, I do owe them my help! He's witnessed firsthand me helping Karen and Chris get Blessed, and my attempt with Daniel.

Now, I sat crossed legged on Jenna Harks's bed, closing my eyes, trying to do as she had asked. She was trying to train me how to tune them out. She said it required a lot of energy the first few times and that I'd have to practice at it. I tried to keep concentrated and eventually a faint -yet not irritating- humming went through my head.

"Is there supposed to be a humming noise?" I asked, keeping my eyes closed, focusing on the noise.

"Yes, now open your eyes. Keep focused on the humming!" I did as she told me. I opened them and nothing but Jenna was there. I didn't feel any of the deathly presences always around me, nor did I hear whispers, see any sign of the Shadows. "You'll get the hang of it, but for now it will drop if you don't keep focused. I was at it for a least a month before it was a natural instinct."

"Ah, shit!" Trying to listen had broken my concentration. "I'm only supposed to focus on that and not listen to people? This is hard."

"At least you can get them blocked. If there's a swarm of ghosts, it'll be easier to concentrate, trust me." She laughed and I smiled. It was nice to have a teacher. "Now, I have other abilities I could teach you, if you like?"

"Like what?"

"Well, I can see the Blessed. Raise the dead by myself, but only with people I knew and cared about. It's kind of a rule. I can also do this..." She sat still and then- then she just faded out of view. Not invisible, but like translucent. If I didn't know where she was, I would've never found her.

"Holy shit!" She giggled and slowly became visible again.

"There's a bunch of other stuff. I know what you're probably thinking. Being able to have a bond with the dead, is like having super powers. The more we do and interact with them, the more skills we adapt."

"Holy shit!" I repeated. "How did you do that?"

"About three weeks of practice. But, you're not powerful enough."

"How do I become more powerful?"

"Well, about when I was ten, I had the same questions, so I studied every religion and cult and found an answer- Soul Reaping."

"What's Soul Reaping?"

"Well, it's when you kill something and as it's dying, you trap it's life essence -soul- inside your body."

"So, you kill people and take their soul?" It was disgusting, revolting, and weirdly interesting. I would never kill anyone, so there had to be another way.

"Well, not people- but I guess you could. But, animals of good size. Such as a cat or dog, something along that line." She went over to the window. "Speaking of cats..."



I refused to kill the cat, nor be anywhere near when Jenna did. We were in a secluded alley, my back turned. I heard the cat screech in terror and pain and then a loud snap! Jenna scoffed.

"Hurry." Was all she said. I turned around and almost threw up. The cat was just lying on the cold ground, eyes dormant, staring off into nowhere. I was also disgusted by the fact that Jenna had done this plenty of times before. I looked closer at the cat, heightening my senses like Jenna had said to do. And there it was.

The cat's life essence, it's soul was floating upward, out of the cat. It was a beautiful thing- the soul, not the dead cat. It was large orb of shining white, flowed by a tail of beautiful pink and white sparkles. It started to flow around the alley, first to Jenna, circling her body from head to toe, then proceed to me.

"Now." I did as Jenna had instructed me to do. I put my feet down, getting a good stance. I looked down at the ground and let out a large breath. Then, I imagined the same energy of that soul around me, imagining it flowing into my body and staying there. About a moment later, a surge of power fell through me.

"Good, Addii! The feeling of power will fade, but the skills you can now do will not." I still felt disgusted, but it bothered me less.

"What can I do now?"

"Well, the first time I reaped a soul, I could so this." Jenna stood still and then started to float, levitating. She was walking over my head, just on the air. Her blond hair flowed behind her and her blue eyes shone with promise. "Try it."

I concentrated on floating. It took awhile, but before I knew it, I was in the air. Jenna smiled. Her student had accomplished what she had wanted him to do. I didn't like the reaping of the souls part, but I could already feel an addiction to this power forming.

An addiction I would have to hide from Darryn, the love of my life.