“He showed up inside your room?” Randall asks Arlena.

“Yes.” She replies. “I thought he was going to kill me, but he just wanted to speak to me. He saw what was on my mind, he saw the memories I have of Gina. Then, he showed me Gina. She said she was okay now; no longer suffering, and I should go on.”

“Wait.” Tori spoke to her. “He showed Gina to you?”

“Yes, Ms. Lorne. He did.”

“Okay, Arlena.” Mandy spoke with doubt in her voice. “I’m not meaning to be rude, but I find that hard to believe. Even though I think the man is… otherworldly, but—”

“But what?” Arlena interrupts her. “Didn’t you see what he did to Elder Denby?”

“Of course, I did! But…”

“Come on, Mrs. Garner. How could it be hard to believe when you saw what he did?” Arlena asked calmly.

I materialize to my physical form behind everyone with Arlena staring at me. She then looks at Mandy.

“Why don’t you ask him yourself?”

Arlena pointed at me to Mandy, prompting her and the others to turn and face me which shocked them to where Mandy jumped. They calmed themselves eventually.

“What are you doing out here?” Arlena asks me.

“Talia was in trouble, I had to interfere.” I answer her.

“Interfere with what?” Tori asks.

“With whom.” I corrected.

We heard footsteps that were out on the road behind me. I turn to see the seven men carrying Ramondo’s body. As they passed by, the group looked at me as I turned to face them; they saw the same thing.

“What did you do to Ramondo?” Tori asks with worry.

“I showed him his sins.” I explain. “I made him feel the way that Mandy, Loretta, and the rest of the women felt; along with Gina and Bethany.”

“Just like how you showed me my memories with Gina?” Arlena asks.

“Close, but not quite.”

“Or how you claimed what you did to Solomon?” Tori asks.

I smirk.

“Yes.”

“And like you said then, you didn’t suspend Solomon from that tree, just like how you didn’t shoot Ramondo?”

“Correct. He did it to himself.”

“Alright, let us get this straight.” Randall says. “You use your powers… to show people, the worst of the worst, what they’ve done, which might prompt them to take the easy way out or not. And you’re doing it to the people who have harmed Talia.”

“Yes, that is what I have done so far, with the exception for a group of men that are no longer alive.”

“No longer alive? Who else…”

The company looked to each other wondering what group I was talking about until they realized…

“Sampson and his gang!” Rachel exclaimed.

“Right!” Tori spoke. “We haven’t seen them since the other night.”

Tori looks at me.

“What did you do to them?”

“Sliced them and turned them to ash.”

“What for?” Rachel asks.

“They tried to kill Talia in her house that night.”

They were bewildered by this information, but Tori was in understanding.

“You made that decision in order to save her life.”

“Yes.” I respond. “Now you all understand how I operate, I have told you all before, I commend you all defending Talia and I am willing to keep you all safe within the coming days. So, everyone, please, keep your wits about you. and Arlena…”

Arlena looks at me.

“You can see Talia tomorrow. Until then, farewell.”

I turned back into smoke. My next location, back to Talia. I floated my way back to the sunflower fields, finding the hollowed tree. I turn back to my physical form, quietly walking inside and seeing Talia asleep. Her breathing is irregular, and she is wincing in pain. She is holding her right side; it was her ribs that were hurting her. I moved her hand to the side and laid my hands over her injury so I could heal it. As I am doing so, Talia let out a breath from her lips. The emotion when she did so, reached me… It is a sense of sensuality that I felt from her, and it is clouding my mind. I see she is waking up…

.   .   .

(Talia)

… I’m feeling my pain fade. It feels so warm and… this feeling…

“Mmm…”

It made me open my eyes to see Seth by my side, moving his hands away. The look on his face was of surprise, but it faded away.

“How are you feeling?” He asks me.

“Better.” I answer. “Thank you, Seth.”

“You are welcome.”

I couldn’t help but look at him in his eyes. I have an urge of wanting to ask him questions.

“Well, no one will harm you for the rest of the night.” He says to me. “So, I will take my leave. Goodnight, Talia.”

Seth stood up so he could leave, but I didn’t want him to.

“Wait.”

I caught his left arm which made him look at me.

“Can you stay with me tonight?” I asked him. “I don’t want to be left alone.”

By the look of his calm face, Seth isn’t going to object.

“Okay.” He responds. “I can stay with you tonight.”

He sat back on the ground. Not only did I want Seth’s company, but I also feel like knowing him more. Ever since he came to town protecting me, I’ve called him Karma Incarnate. He’s been like a guardian angel to me. Everything about him is inhuman from his powers all the way to his demeanor. I’m truly curious and have been for a while, but I’m not sure what to ask nor how to ask it. I’m certain that Seth is reading my thoughts and he’s waiting on me to ask something aloud.

“Seth.” I called his name.

“Yes?”

“You know everything about me since you are that kind of entity. I’ve met you for only a few days and I really want to know you better. So, whatever I ask, will you answer the questions?”

Seth looks hesitant as he sighed, but he looks me in the eye.

“I will answer your questions.” He responds.

“Truthfully?”

“…Yes. Truthfully.”

“Okay. So, what or who are you?”

He looks hesitant to answer but is willing to do so still.

“You are right.” He speaks. “You do not know me. What I am is an entity that collects souls. Either they are transferred to my realm, or I take them myself. Also, who I am, Seth is not my real name. My native name is Yaji. Yaji Mkusa.”

“What does your name mean?”

“It is a representation of my occupation.”

“So, you’re like the Grim Reaper?”

“Yes.”

Hearing this made me have goosebumps, but it isn’t stopping my curiosity. I need to know more about him.

“So…” I speak. “You collect souls for… God himself and… Him below?”

“Yes.”

“Are they… like your family?”

“You can say that. I do not know if one of them or both created me.”

“Do you ever talk to them?”

“Yah, from time to time. Luce, frequently.”

“Well… what would you two speak about?”

“Humanity. How your kind betray one another and continue to do so recklessly. Always for gratification and validation.”

“…Yeah. That’s true.” I comment while nodding.

Seth wasn’t wrong about that. The majority of the people in Tinton have always been that way from what I’ve seen in my life. My attackers, my abusers, they did the same, and thinking about them is making me upset. I ignored the thought and I decided to ask another question.

“So, your realm,” I speak. “Where is it?”

I see Seth take a deep breath and exhale smoke out of his mouth. It’s starting to spread throughout the inside of the tree and spreading outside, I see the night sky turn from dark blue to dark purple with a tint of red. I turn to Seth, gasping with shock. His true form. His skin, dark gray, crimson eyes with slits like a snake’s. His nails are now claws which I’ve seen before, his fangs are longer than in his human form, and his hair has turned into tendrils that have a mind of their own. This true form of his is making me so unsettled, but one of the tendrils slithered over to me. It caresses my cheek, trying to calm me down which is working. It extends to my hand; I decide to hold it.

Seth stands up and looks at me. “Follow me.”

So, with his tendril in hand, I stand and follow Seth outside. Outside, the sunflowers just look like dry stocks. There’s dead grass, bare trees along with the tree I sleep in. It was eerily quiet where there’s no wind blowing nor birds chirping, and I didn’t hear the water from the brook. Seth and I walk to where the brook would be, only to see there is no water, just dried up dirt.

“This place is my home, Talia.” He speaks.

“I see.” I reply. “It must feel sad, being here by yourself.”

“If you are someone like me, who has lived half as many lifetimes than Yah or Luce, the concept of sadness or loneliness would not pass my mind.”

Sadness and loneliness. Those words have always been a part of my life. The thought of his job to me sounds unfulfilling. There must be a reason why he decided to come into town. So, I ask:

“What made you decide to come to Tinton?”

“The cries. The cries of those women, the cries of you.” He answers. “When I saw their souls come here, I felt an imbalance. Their cries were different. I would look through their lives until their last breaths to see what they went through. Their torment, their cries for help, what they were feeling, it was affecting me in a way I thought could never happen. Luce was telling me to ignore them, but I refused to do so. He was telling me I was becoming soft, berating me, and telling me to continue what I was supposed to do, but Yah intervened. He told Luce that I was not his puppet. I am allowed to do whatever I wish, even if it is against his will or Luce’s will.”

“Free will.”

Seth looks at me with a questioned face.

“You’re free to choose whatever you want to do, but you must understand the boundaries and know the consequences. That’s what us human beings have and it’s what you have, too. Human or not.”

Seth smirks in response to my take.

“Hmm. Fair point.” He comments.

I nod and continue.

“So… you felt that there was injustice happening here?”

“I never thought to put it that way, but yes.”

“And what you decided to do was redress the balance.”

“Yes. Also, my actions and my presence here has been causing such a stir to where there is division and dissention in the town. And it has come to the point where some townspeople are hoping to see you again.”

People wanting to see me? I find that hard to believe, so I tell him:

“I thank you for telling me that, but… Even though I’ve seen people defending me that night, I don’t believe they want to see me.”

I let his tendril go and sat down in the dirt. I still don’t trust the people in my town. I’m sure Seth sensed my thoughts and he kneels down to my side.

“I am not the one to lie.” He tells me. “Let alone, you have seen for yourself for what they have said. Also, I must tell you this.”