The Garden of Death (2 page)

“
More mysterious deaths and strange
phenomena witnessed”

I looked to Asher for confirmation.

“More strange deaths?”

“Yeah, this isn’t the beginning, I’m afraid.
It’s increasing.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, people have been disappearing,
turning up dead, and then reappearing to their families.”

My eyes widen. “No way! People are dying and
coming back? Are they ghosts?”

“No, I don’t think so. One of the witnesses
said her daughter drowned in the pool and turned up a few days
after the funeral looking as new, fleshy, and warm as the day she
died.”

“Oh, please don’t tell me they’re zombies!
Please don’t tell me this is a zombie apocalypse!”

“No, that would be stupid.”

“Then what are they? They obviously can’t be
Nephilim anymore.”

“No one knows what they are.”

I read the article. A thought occurred to
me.

“How long has this been going on?”

“For about ten years.”

My suspicions were right. It can’t be a
coincidence!

“Eden? Babe? Are you all right? You’ve gone
pale.”

“This is all my fault!”

“What are you talking about?”

“I have to go.” I forgot about my toast and
ran to get dressed.

“Eden? What do you mean? Where are you
going?”

“I’m going to try to fix this.”

“Fix what?” I pull on jeans, a singlet top,
and lace up my sneakers before grabbing a hoodie. “Eden!”

I ran to the front door, but Asher grabbed
my arm and turned me back around.

“Eden, will you please fill me in. What’s
going on?”

“What if this is all my fault? I think I’m
the reason this is happening. I’ve upset the balance.”

“What on earth are you talking about?”

“I died ten years ago, Asher. That was not a
dream I had early this morning. That was a memory. You died, as
well.”

“Okay… I think you need to lie down, or eat
something. You’re not making sense.”

“No! I have to go find Jaz. She’s the one
who had caused me to die. She was the one person who had the
ability to harvest souls and return them. Killing me tipped the
scales and now everyone who dies, and who was meant to go the Realm
of Death, gets spat back out again.”

Now it was Asher’s time to turn a ghostly
shade of white. I realized he had no memory of what I was talking
about. He had no memory of our deaths. Could Jaz somehow have
tampered with his memories? I had to track her down and set things
straight and restore the balance in the world. I went to open the
door, but Asher’s voice stopped me.

“Eden, are you talking about Jaz, as in
Jazmine my ex-girlfriend?”

I clenched my fists.

“Ex-girlfriend?” Oh, that little witch. I
was going to end her and send her arse into the Realm of Death to
live with Abraham. Let’s see how she likes that!

“Yeah, before I married you, I dated
her.”

“You dated her? But how?” All this was doing
my head in.

“Babe, I’ve only known you for about a year.
Before that, I was with Jazmine.”

“A year? But I’ve known you since I was
sixteen. We met at the Michaelite Sanctuary. Do you not remember
that?”

She had definitely tampered with his
memories. I was going to find her and tamper with her memories.

“I’m sorry.”

“Well, since you seem to know her so well,
do you know where she might be?”

“Yeah, babe. She lives right next door.”

Asher

I stood back up and shook my hands before
walking back toward the door. Maybe if I knocked, they would
answer. Then I could barter with them to let me in. I was
determined to do anything to get through that door and be with
Eden. What were they doing to her down there, anyway?

I raised my fist to the door to knock. As
soon as my fist touched the wood of the door, a sharp jolt
propelled me backward again. Damn it! I couldn’t even knock to ask
for permission.

That means I will have to try to find
another way of getting my sister’s attention. As I picked myself up
off the floor again, a thought occurred to me. I wondered if I
could find a window to the basement from the outside. Then I could
try to get their attention that way, and be able to look in. I
headed off toward the garden, but as soon as I was near the door, I
heard an annoying voice coming from behind me.

“Oh, Asher, would you come here a
minute?”

I let out a frustrated breath. “What?”

“You know how we have exams soon? Well, I
just can’t seem to get past this question in Biology. I know you’re
a wiz at Biology, so would you be a darl and help me?”

Seriously? She wanted my help now? A minute
ago, she admitted she didn’t care. I bet she only wanted to study
my biology. I turned slowly and looked up at Jazmine who was
standing on the winding staircase midway, admiring the tips of her
hair.

“I thought you didn’t care about school,
Jazmine?”

“I don’t, but if I don’t pass this test,
they’re going to fail me, and I’ll get kicked out.”

“Fine. I’m coming.” I took one last glance
at the door to the basement, regretfully, before heading up the
stairs to join Jazmine.

I’ll rescue you, Eden. Don’t worry. I’ll
get you back.
I said in my mind, hoping she’d hear me.

Eden

“Next door? She lives next door?” Oh, he
must be freaking kidding me! All this time and that witch had been
living right next door? That gave a new meaning to neighbors from
hell.

“Yeah.”

“And have you been seeing her while you’ve
been married to me?”

“What? I’d never cheat on you. I can’t
believe you’d think that.”

“Well, excuse me for not being okay with it.
She is your ex-girlfriend, Asher. How do you think I’d feel hearing
my husband’s ex was living right next door? Thanks for asking, I’m
feeling rather peachy…” I couldn’t stand much more of this. I
pulled open the door and almost shrieked when I slammed right into
said neighbor from hell.

“Holy hell!”

“Well, hello, you must be Eden? I’m
Jaz…”

“I know very well who you are. What gives
you the right…” Before I had the chance to go all revengeful angel
on her arse, Asher stepped in.

“Hello, Jaz. How are you today? Sorry about
Eden. She got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.” He
shot me daggers, and I tried my hardest not to stick my tongue out
at him. I quickly remembered I was twenty-six, not sixteen. I
needed to start acting like a grown up… for appearances sake, at
least.

“I’m very well, Asher. I just came over to
see how you were doing and wondered if you’d like this extra pie I
baked? I made a few for the country fair, and they only needed two,
so I had one spare. I can’t eat it, you know, carbs and all.”

“That’s very thoughtful of her, isn’t it,
Eden?”

“Very,” I said sarcastically as I leaned
against the doorframe. I narrowed my eyes at her, doing my best
evil glare that I could manage without Asher noticing. Jazmine
noticed and had to do a double take before returning her gaze back
to Asher and smiling sweetly. Too sweet for my liking. I couldn’t
stand all of her sugar-coated
fakeness
.

“Sure. We’ll take the pie. Thanks, Jaz.”

“Thank you very much.” Then the witch did
something I was not expecting. Something that made my blood boil
even more and almost had me reaching inside of me for my Trait. She
placed her newly manicured nails on my husband’s chest and leaned
forward, peering inside our flat.

“Oh, I like what you’ve done with the place.
Very modern.”

I couldn’t believe her. I did the only thing
I could and stepped forward to put my body in between hers and
Asher’s. I put one arm around his waist and the other hand on his
chest, pushing her hand away, so she had no choice but to step
back. I then smiled smugly.

“Thanks. It was my idea.”

I wished I had a camera so I could capture
the look on her face right then. Oh, my gosh. It was priceless! She
blinked in astonishment, as if she couldn’t believe what I had just
done, and she tried to cover her embarrassment by examining her
nails. Like, really? If she weren’t any more obvious!

“Well, I must be going now. Enjoy the pie,
Ash. Bye bye.”

Oh, she had freaking nerve! She looked right
at Asher as she said it and didn’t even acknowledge me! She even
winked at him! Oh, if that witch thought she could come by and
openly flirt with my man, she had another thing coming! Good thing
Asher grabbed my arm as he shut the door, because I would’ve gone
right after her and scratched her eyes out.

Asher

“Show me what you need help with,” I said as
I followed Jazmine up the stairs.

“It’s just this one question. I need you to
demonstrate it.”

“Demonstrate?” When we reached the top of
the stairs, we paused outside the entry to the girl’s dorm.

“Wait here. I’ll be right back.”

“Okay.” Jazmine disappeared through the
door, and I waited as I leaned against the bannister growing more
bored by the second. All I wanted to do was to find the window to
the basement so I could see Eden, not tutor Jazmine. It struck me
as odd that she needed my help at the very moment I decided to try
to find a way to Eden. Was it a coincidence? Or was she planning
something? With what she did to Eden by creating the Death Blossoms
that had caused Eden to fall into a coma and also caused the sphere
that held my soul to shatter, no telling what she might do. I had
no idea where my soul was at that moment. Could it have returned
back to me? I didn’t feel any different, but Jazmine and my sister
could see me, so maybe it had returned. Maybe when my body crashed
down on Eden and broke the Soul Sphere, my soul returned that way.
That was the only logical explanation I could come up with at the
moment.

“Okay, got it.” Jaz’s voice broke my
reverie.

“Excellent. Where should we go?”

“In the library, of course. Where else? Or
we could do it in my room?”

What was she implying? “No, no, the library
is fine.” I hoped she couldn’t see the blood that had risen to my
cheeks.

“Let’s go.” She gripped my hand and led me
to the stairwell. I could tell what she was doing, so I jerked my
hand back.

“Jaz, you know I’m with Eden, right? Eden is
my girlfriend.”

“Really? I didn’t know that.” She tried to
hide her smirk, but I noticed it. She was definitely up to
something.

We entered the library and sank down into
chairs in front of the fireplace.

“Now that the Nephilim is being dealt with,
we can focus on our studying without distraction.”

“The Nephilim? Jazmine, I don’t like the
lack of respect you have for Eden. We’re supposed to be protecting
her.”

“You are. I never wanted to be a Michaelite
in the first place.”

“Why do you hate her so much? Other than the
obvious fact that I love her, and you’re jealous.”

She paused from opening the cover to the
leather bound book she was holding and looked up at me.

“Asher, you can’t love her. She’s Nephilim.
You’re human. If the rest of the Michaelites find out about your
dirty little tryst, you’ll be kicked out. You should forget about
her. She might die anyway.”

“How can you say that?” I stood up and
dumped the book she had given me on the chair behind her, causing
her to flinch.

“Where are you going? We haven’t even
started.”

“I am not tutoring you. If you paid
attention in class, you wouldn’t need me. I’m over your crap. When
will you get it out of your head that I’m not interested in you?
And you know what? I don’t give a damn if the Michaelites find out
about Eden and me. They accept her as one of their own.” I turned
on my heels and stormed out of the library.

I knew what Jazmine was up to, and I wasn’t
going to fall under her spell. I was determined to get to Eden, and
I knew I would do everything in my power to do it, no matter the
risks.

Eden

“What were you thinking?”

I blinked as he slammed the door.
“What?”

“I know what you were up to. It has to
stop.”

“How can you defend her? Do you know what?
If you care about her so much, you can go play Stepford Wives with
her!” I let out a frustrated scream and headed back into the
kitchen to get another cup of coffee and some food. But I had no
appetite anymore. The witch from next door had ruined that and left
me with a sour taste in my mouth.

Asher walked in a moment later and sat the
pie she had given him down on the counter. I studied the pie. It
had a crisscross lattice pattern on the top, with cherry or wild
berry filling oozing through the gaps. She was evil to the core,
and as I looked at the pie, I realized she wouldn’t just hand over
a pie as sweetly as she did without having some hidden agenda. I
took the pie and walked over to the trash bin and opened the
lid.

“What are you doing? That’s a perfectly good
pie!”

“It could be poisoned.” I threw the pie into
the rubbish and took my foot off the pedal, so the lid slammed back
down. I went to the sink and washed my hands to remove any poison
residue that could possibly have been left behind. Better to be
safe than sorry.

“She wouldn’t poison the pie, Eden. Why
would she do that?”

“Um, because she’s evil, callous, and a
cold-hearted witch. I think you need to open your eyes and take a
look around. I don’t know what kind of reality you’re living in,
Asher. But I am living in a universe that’s obviously not parallel
to yours.”

I couldn’t stand to be around him any
longer. I was so close to throwing my Trait at him. I was so
furious. I had to get out of there. I headed back toward the front
door and threw it open.

“Where are you going, Eden?”