Paul Kohler - The Borrowed Souls, A Novel

I nodded and retook my seat. “I was standing next to Enoch on the balcony.”

“Precisely.”

I continued to breathe in the fresh mile-high air as a number of thoughts crossed my mind. “Tell me, Wilson. Do you have any regrets?”

“Such as?” he asked.

“I don’t know. Like do you wish you had just died back then? Do you wish that you would have just passed on becoming a soul collector altogether?”

“I think there was an immediate sense of regret early on. But the longer I did the job, the easier everything became,” Wilson said, looking at me suspiciously. “No lasting regrets.”

“I see,” I said, as I formulated my next question. I didn’t want to let out anything that might jeopardize my own personal agenda on Penny’s collection. “Wilson, can you… hear my thoughts while you’re experiencing my memories with me?”

“I don’t follow what you mean,” Wilson said, a quizzical look crossing his face.

“I mean, can you hear my internal thinking? When I think words to Hauser, I assume that those are in my own head.”

“No, no. Those are not just your own. I can hear all of your conversations just as clear as if you were speaking them out loud.”

“What about my personal thoughts? Can you hear those as well?” I asked, hoping to maintain at least a sliver of my deeper plan.

“You mean inconsequential thinking? Can you give me an example?” Wilson asked.

“For instance, when I had a sip of the coffee, I thought about the nutty, burnt flavor, and how much I missed drinking it every morning,” I said, hoping to steer the conversation in a safe direction.

“No, I’m sorry Jack, but I did not get any of that from your shared memories. Needless to say, it appears you are still privy to your own thoughts. Either that or you’ve learned to control your thoughts more efficiently since your training with the Sentinel.”

I nodded, thankful that not everything was being shared with Wilson. I wasn’t entirely ready to disclose my personal feelings regarding the afterlife, so I was relieved that I didn’t have to explain anything further.

“All right, then. Let’s get back to this,” I said, picking up the coin and flipping it in my hand.

I stood to the right and slightly behind Enoch. I waited a few moments, trying to figure out the best way to administer the injection before he could jump. As I replayed our plan in my mind, Enoch suddenly turned to face me.

“So you think you can track me?”

Crap, I thought.

“And you think that the Sentinel would actually just sit back and do nothing?” I asked.

“No. Quite the opposite. I fully expected the Sentinel to react, but what surprises me is that they sent you, all on your own. You are alone, aren’t you?” Enoch asked as he looked around our immediate vicinity.

“Yes, it’s just me, and you’d be a fool to underestimate my capabilities,” I said, thankful that I hadn’t betrayed any more of our plan.

“Well? Give me everything you’ve got,” Enoch said, holding his hands in the air, tempting me to try and apprehend him.

I gripped the injector in the palm of my hand, but hesitated. “No, not quite yet,” I said. “I’d like to know why first. Why are you doing all of this?”

Enoch dropped his hands into his pockets and swayed, casually shifting his weight from foot to foot. “Why am I taking your souls? Or why am I focusing on you?”

“Both.”

“They sort of go hand in hand, wouldn’t you say? You are the newest soul collector that the Sentinel has, and you are weak, man. You’re an easy target for me, and it gives me the ability to take the souls that you’re sent to collect without resistance. How does that make you feel? Does that upset you?”

Don’t let him get in your head, Jack, Hauser thought to me. Keep him talking and I’ll try and sneak up behind him.

“No, it doesn’t. Honestly, I have far thicker skin than you might imagine. As well as a stronger passion for life salvation than you will ever have.”

“Ah, so there it is. You are in the Sentinel on false pretenses. Do they know that you’re reluctant to take all the souls that you’ve been tasked with?”

“They do. That is a benefit—”

“Cut the crap, Jack. I’d imagine that the Sentinel is quite disappointed in you. Tell me, was it Wilson that picked you out, or was it somebody else higher up the chain?”

I could feel my anger building, and it boggled my mind that Enoch knew more about me than I did. “That doesn’t really matter here, now does it? I’m here, and there’s nothing you can do to change that.” I caught a slight movement over Enoch’s shoulder as Hauser, popping in and out of reality, got closer and closer to Enoch.

I smiled, ignoring the verbal jabs. “All I know is, you should just move on and forget about interfering with my current collection.”

“Where’s the fun in that, Jack? I’ve been following along with you and Penny, and she seems just about prime for the picking.”

“I said back the hell off! Seriously, can’t you just go fetch your own souls? Why just prey on the ones I’m supposed to collect?”

“If you must know, I’ve been able to take a random person’s soul many times, but somehow I’ve lost the ability to do so. Something happened to me some time ago that only permits me to take the soul from someone that the Sentinel has already deemed close to the end of their fate. I can’t actually kill anyone anymore, and I have to say, it’s quite disheartening.”

Relieved at hearing this, I took a step closer.

“Back off, Jack. I said that I could no longer kill, but that only applies to those that are fated to continue living. You, on the other hand, are fair game. I could kill you right now and take your soul without breaking a sweat.”

I froze. Was he telling the truth? I contemplated asking Hauser through my thoughts, but did not want to give Enoch any more knowledge of our plan. I held my hands up in the air and took two steps back. “All right, all right. If you have the ability to kill me and take my soul, why haven’t you done it already?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Enoch asked. “It’s because you are my pipeline. Your weak mind is all I need to continue my personal agenda. And neither you,” Enoch paused, “or Hauser, who is making his way up behind me now, can do a thing to stop me.”

Before I could ask more about his personal agenda, Hauser materialized right behind Enoch. But as he raised his hand with the auto injector, Enoch vanished then reappeared on the balcony just across the way.

“You two think you’re so sly. Did you think I’d actually let you mark me somehow with whatever that device is? And truly, Hauser, I would’ve expected more from you.”

Hauser vanished and reappeared on the far balcony, right next to Enoch. A moment later I followed. Unfortunately, as I reappeared, Enoch vanished again, followed by Hauser. I stood and looked around the second floor of the bookstore before I noticed Enoch standing right behind Penny.

“Penny!” I shouted.

She looked up at me quizzically, but did not say anything. Hauser appeared next to Enoch and reached out with the injector pen, but he narrowly missed his mark as Enoch vanished once again, reappearing right next to me.

“Well, Jack, it appears that you’ve been holding out on me. It looks like you have a new ability, and I want it. Whatever it is that the Sentinel has given you, I suggest you hand it over,” Enoch said, pulling out a gun and pointing it at my chest.

“Sorry, Enoch, but whatever they’ve done to give me this temporary life interaction, it’s nothing that I have and can hold. It’s something that they control from above, and there’s no way for you to get it,” I said smugly.