Deprive ~ Reaping

She stands immobile in the shadows. Some might say she lurks: so be it. She doesn’t mind the term. Let them think she does. They believe she is some kind of vampire who thrives in the darkness. She is no vampire: they’re demons of the worst sort. And darkness is only a state of mind, or rather a choice.
But since they believe her to be a creature of darkness, they never expect her in broad daylight. The truth is that it doesn’t matter. Light, darkness they mean nothing. Almost. In many ways she is beyond both and she is part of each. That’s made people think of her as an incarnation of evil.

No matter. Nobody can deprive her of her due. Well, almost nobody. The woman she is following had, not once today but twice. She must understand she can’t interfere with a Reaping. The names were spoken by the only master she knows; she needs no list. She knows everyone’s name. She has them inscribed in her heart, or it would be a heart if she were human. Only she isn’t.

She understands medicine; she knows it has changed in the past few lifetimes of men. But what this woman does is different. She wonders if the young woman ever knows what she accomplishes. She is a gifted healer but there is something more. She keeps the souls in place; long enough for them to hold on. Azrael has no idea why the woman can do it, nor does she need to know. But there are souls that have been called to rise or fall and her task is to usher them through the door. That woman keeps the door close. And it isn’t natural. Nobody should be able to prevent a Reaping.

Azrael knows the woman’s name, of course. She knows all names. This woman’s hasn’t been spoken yet, but it could. Because whatever it is she does, a human can’t push back death forever. Not without a cost. Unless…
“Raphael?”
That isn’t the woman’s name, but her brother has been known to work his miracles through some faithful before. Would he prevent the reaping of souls ordered by the Lord above though? Their Father would no more be deprived than she.

The woman doesn’t react. And Azrael is left to wonder. Even more so when she hears the voice asking her to let the two souls free, the thread of their lives uncut. Other souls will be reaped. She moves on.

©scolpron2016

In response to the Daily Post writing prompt Deprive