Paul Kohler - The Borrowed Souls, A Novel

My pleas for help were interrupted by a screeching howl that echoed through the woods just outside the cabin door. As I craned my neck to peek out the front window, I heard a loud thump from the back of the cabin.

“Hauser?” I asked, eager to have another person to actually talk to.

Bump, bump. The sound continued rhythmically.

I jumped from the couch and went out to investigate, only to find a fallen branch that was brushing up against the rear wall of the cabin. Disappointed at finding myself still alone, I returned to the couch next to the fireplace. I lay back down, propped my feet up again, and returned to the previous realm of thoughts.

Since becoming a soul collector, I’d been conflicted with nearly every soul collection that had passed through my hands. Why had it taken me so long—until entering the afterlife—before I actually gave a shit about life and for the living? Deep inside, I hated to see anyone die. But it was only through Hauser’s—or was it the Sentinel’s?—training regimen that clarity was being brought forth in my own soul. I truly wanted to save everyone, and I was fairly confident that that realization was not what the training was intended for.

With no real sign or indication to do otherwise, I decided a change was going to be made. Not being a God-fearing man, I prayed regardless. I prayed that the Sentinel wouldn’t come down on me too hard for what I was about to do. Tomorrow morning, with any luck, three lives would be forever altered.

As I walked in the front door of Hero’s Pet World at just after ten in the morning, I passed by the front-window display cages that housed the puppies and kittens. I continued walking through the store, down aisles stocked full of nearly every pet care item the mind could conceive. Having never been a pet owner myself, it boggled my mind at just how much money the average American spent on their pets. I had no doubt that Dana’s business would be a gold mine.

Nearing the sales counter at the back of the store, I came upon a woman I assumed was Maxine. The store had just opened moments earlier, and I was surprised that Dana wasn’t in control of his retail world. At least momentarily, that is, until he decided to go kill his wife and her lover.

I walked by Maxine and stepped into the back hallway, passing by a series of animal cages housing various older cats and dogs. As I did so, each of them sensed my presence, barking or hissing as I passed by. At the end of the hallway, I came to a closed door labeled PRIVATE and promptly jumped to the other side of the wall, unnoticed.

Once inside the manager’s office, I found Dana sitting at his desk talking on the phone.

“… and you’re sure that it’s her?… Yes, I know that’s what I paid you for, but I need to be positive about this… Okay, and is she alone or is she with someone?… Duke, no Luke? Holloway… No, it doesn’t ring a bell… Okay, I’ll take your word for it… What’s the address again?… Got it. Okay, thanks. Send me your bill and I’ll pay it promptly.”

Dana hung up the phone with what I assumed was a private detective. I looked over his shoulder as he rewrote the address on a new sheet of paper and tucked it into his shirt pocket. I recognized it as the address of Luke’s apartment.

Shit. Things were already in motion. I looked at my watch. Had an hour actually passed since I first came into the store? No, it couldn’t have. I wondered if my mind was slipping or if it was something else. Was something in the afterlife being altered?

As I contemplated the time differences between regular life and the afterlife, Dana slid open his desk drawer and withdrew a Colt revolver. It appeared to be the same one I’d seen him wield in Luke’s flash-forward. Dana’s hand trembled as he ejected the six-round chamber and fumbled with loading its bullets. It was clear that he was nervous about what his next move might be.

“Just stop, buddy. There’s other ways to handle this. Killing your wife is not the answer. No matter how torn up you feel inside. Trust me, I know.”

It was clear that Dana couldn’t hear me as he finished loading his gun. Once the last bullet slid into its chamber, he closed the revolver and spun it, just like I’d seen in the movies hundreds of times. Then he unzipped the bank bag sitting on the corner of the desk and dumped all of the cash into the desk drawer. With the bank bag empty, he slid the loaded revolver inside and zipped it closed. A moment later he rose from his desk and walked out the door.

Shit. What could I do?

I followed Dana out into the store, walking by the barking dogs once more.

“Hush up, guys,” I said. “I’ll be gone in a moment, I promise.”

Dana stopped at the front counter and talked to Maxine. “How’s it going out here?” he asked.

“It’s all good,” she replied. “The store is open and I’ve stocked the shelves like you’ve asked me to. No customers yet.”

“And you think you’ll be okay for a while? Alone?” he asked.

“Sure thing. If it’s anything like Saturday was, I should be fine on my own for a few hours.”

“Great. I just have a few errands to run, and I need to stop by the bank,” Dana held up the bank bag, “but I should be back by the end of the day. If not, you do have your key, right?”

“I do. Everything is going to be fine, Mr. Sharp.”

“Okay, then. Don’t forget to feed all of the animals before you leave as well,” he reminded her.

The animals! That’s it. But how—

Just then, a brilliant idea came to me. I jumped from standing next to Dana and Maxine and landed at the front of the store, just out of their eyesight. I leaned down to the puppy cage and unlatched the door, instantly releasing all the puppies into the store. A second later, I jumped to the other side of the entry and did the same to the kitten cage. “Go. Be free,” I said.

The puppies wasted no time exiting the cage, but the kittens were much more passive about venturing out into the store. My plan wasn’t exactly panning out as I had hoped, as the puppies only circled around my ankles.

“Scat! Go play!” I demanded, but none of them obeyed. So I began to jump around the store, landing first by the food and then by the toys, leading the puppies as I went. Finally, both the puppies and the kittens were wondering about the store aimlessly, and then it happened.

“Who let the dogs out?” Dana said in a panic. “And the kittens!”

“I… I don’t know,” Maxine responded, rushing out onto the sales floor.

Within moments, both Dana and Maxine had gathered up nearly all of the kittens and a few of the puppies. I suddenly knew that the distraction was not enough to cause him to miss his appointment with doom. That’s when I remembered the adult dogs and cats at the back of the store, and jumped to their cages. A moment later, real chaos ensued.

I opened every cage, releasing more than a dozen full-size dogs and several cats out into the store. I again jumped from spot to spot in the store. The adult cats were much more brazen than the kittens and exited their cages far more eagerly. With the cats on the prowl, the dogs began to chase. Hissing and growling and barking and more hissing ensued, causing quite a scene.

As I jumped forward in the store, Dana caught sight of the debacle happening at the rear of the store and screamed at Maxine to close the front door. Within seconds, Maxine sprang to action. She unlatched the hold-open on the door and it began to close slowly. Just as the latch clicked, a number of wandering dogs charged in that direction.

I continued jumping from spot to spot throughout the store, keeping an eye on my watch. The double murder was to take place just after lunch, and Luke’s apartment was a good forty-minute taxi ride away. It was 11:20 a.m. according to my watch. I just had to keep the chaos going on little longer to prevent Dana from leaving.