Oliver held up his hands in capitulation. He wasn’t nearly as worried as Doug about punishments the reaper council might dole out. Reapers had magic, so they were a threat, but it was limited. Oliver’s powers far outweighed those of a lone reaper. In truth, he figured he could fight three at once if he had to. He doubted it would become necessary, but he’d thought every aspect out when applying for this job. He wanted to leave nothing to chance.
“I’m not going to say anything,” he promised, sincere. “We’re having a simple conversation. You don’t have to worry about me. I have no interest in limiting your prospects.”
Doug bobbed his head, placated. “That’s good. Still, I know you were half joking when you asked the question, but I have researched the gate a great deal and I think you’re right. Someone had to cross over voluntarily.”
“Do you think they were unable to come back?”
“That’s one possibility, isn’t it?” Doug’s eyes sparkled with enthusiasm. “Perhaps those who crossed over were unable to come back. Maybe the sentries that ride herd on the souls wouldn’t allow it. Maybe the souls separated from the bodies the second they crossed the threshold and there was physically no way to return.”
In truth, Oliver had considered that possibility himself. He didn’t know how much stock he held in the notion, but he couldn’t rule it out. That’s why he was so interested in the science of the matter.
The line started moving again, which meant they were finally going to see the big prize of the tour. The rest of the operation had been ho-hum. The gate was something else entirely.
“There’s also one other possibility,” Doug added after a beat.
“Oh, yeah?” Oliver was distracted now. He could practically feel his skin humming the closer he got to the gate room. Still, he didn’t want to be rude. He fancied himself a polite individual ... by choice. There was no need to be rude unless dealing with a boorish idiot. Doug might not have been the smartest man in the room, but he was neither boorish nor stupid. “What’s that?”
“It’s always possible that once a soul reaches the other side it simply doesn’t want to return to this plane of existence.”
Oliver was taken aback and inadvertently slowed his pace. “You think what’s over there is so great that the souls choose to stay behind. That’s ... interesting.”
“But you don’t believe it.” Doug pursed his lips. “I’m not saying it’s fact. It’s just a premise.”
“It’s an interesting one.” Oliver opted for the truth. “I don’t know what I believe. It’s possible we’ll never know.”
“Not never. We all die at some point. We’ll find out the truth then. Sure, it might be a long wait, but we’ll eventually know. There’s comfort in that ... at least for me.”
And there, Oliver realized, was the part he struggled with most. There wasn’t inevitability in his death. He could conceivably amble along forever. Even if he did die, chose to somehow end his life, there was no way of knowing if his soul would pass over.
Some people believed vampires didn’t have souls. He knew otherwise. He felt things like normal humans. He loved. He grieved. He was even depressed occasionally. If he didn’t have a soul, those things shouldn’t be possible.
Still, the humans persisted in spreading the lie that vampires didn’t have souls. As much as he considered himself worldly, a man who formed his own opinions, part of him wondered if they were right. That’s why he wanted to see the gate so very badly.
“Yes,” he said as the door appeared in front of him. “We all die eventually.”
The gate was resplendent in shimmery goodness when Oliver passed into the next room. He forgot all about Doug and focused on the portal, his eyes going wide as the surface glowed.
The room was absolutely silent except for the scuffle of feet on the floor. Everyone in their orientation group — all twenty men (women weren’t yet allowed into the program despite persistent rumors) — were focused on the gate. No one said a word. They only stared.
Then the tour guide started to speak. “This is what you’ve all been waiting for,” he said. “Does anyone have any questions?”
No one so much as raised a hand. The gate was too magnificent to mar the moment with words. All the assembled individuals did was stare ... and stare some more.
“That is amazing,” Doug said finally on a shaky breath. “I mean ... I’ve seen photos, but ... I didn’t realize it would be like this.”
Oliver couldn’t help but agree. He opened his mouth to say just that, but a bright light at the corner of the gate caught his attention and he lost his train of thought. He focused on that spot, wondering if he’d somehow imagined it or if it was a trick of the room, and found a pinprick of light that was somehow brighter than the rest. After staring for a few moments, he glanced around at the other men to see if they noticed the phenomenon. He appeared to be the only one who could see the difference.
To him, that didn’t bode well.
As if on cue, perhaps to match the pulses of anxiety rolling through him, the gate surface began to ripple. First small waves, then bigger ones. Within seconds, the gate was making a strange crackling.
“What is that?” one of the other orientation members asked, confused.
The tour guide looked as concerned as the others felt. “I don’t know. Perhaps we should head upstairs and get a technician down here. If the gate is malfunctioning it needs to be repaired.”
Even though Oliver wanted to stay where he was, study the gate for hours, he realized he was in a different position than the others. He was unlikely to die if something went wrong. Humans were more vulnerable, softer. They weren’t as durable as he. That meant they could easily fall if something actually did go wrong with the gate. “We should definitely go,” he agreed, reaching for Doug’s arm when the man shifted closer to the gate. “We can come back later.”
Doug brushed off his new friend’s concern. “Just a second,” his eyes never moved from the gate surface. It was as if he was entranced. “I just want to see something.”
Doug lifted his fingers and extended them toward the gate. He was still a good ten feet away, but he was moving almost before Oliver could register what he was doing.
“What are you doing?” Oliver called out, alarmed. “You can’t go through the gate.”
“I just want to see,” Doug repeated, his voice hollow. He didn’t resemble the person Oliver had been trapped in the hallway with. He was devoid of emotion, his face blank.
“You can’t.” Oliver took a step in his direction, but the crackling the gate was emitting doubled in volume, causing the humans to clamp their hands over their ears and drop to their knees. Even Doug was down, his eyes going wide as he protectively shielded his hearing.
Oliver was the only one in the room who could tolerate the sound. It wasn’t exactly pleasant, but he was stronger than the others. That’s why he stood there like an idiot as the gate began to pulse. At first it was one pulse every three seconds. Then one pulse a second. Eventually, it was one nonstop pulse.
Even as the light in the room exploded to a level that made Oliver want to cringe, he kept his eyes open. He was almost positive he saw shadows moving on the other side of the gate threshold. He was convinced if he continued to stare long enough that he would be able to see something magnificent.