Horror Short Story: SOUL SEARCHING

Hestia counted the souls in the Sorting Annex. She sighed as she reached the back end, she always had trouble counting that far back. Her bottom lip dipped as she got to a hundred and two. Hestia wrote the total on the log, two other Sorters read over her shoulders, they then headed to the side doors and opened them. 
“When I call your name, you will come up to the table and be interviewed by the Committee.” Hestia pointed to the long banquet table next to her where three Committee members were seated. “You will then be sorted into one of four rooms,” Hestia glanced down at the list of names.
“Wait! What’s going on? Where am I?” Someone from the back shouted.
“Sir, what is your name?” Hestia said
“David Davenport,” The thin man said.
“Mr. Davenport, I will call your name shortly. Please be patient.”
“I want to know what’s going on here!” 
The group began to murmur and become restless. Some of them asked the same questions and some whimpered.
Hestia almost told them the truth, yet she knew it would cause more trouble.
Roustabouts materialized on each side of the Annex, they loomed over the crowd causing the souls to quiet down. Their frames quivered in billowing shadows and their eyes smoldered in red heat.
Hestia returned to the list and started reading the names. It took more than an hour since a few of the souls kept interrupting her. Even though it was normal for the souls to be confused and ask questions, Hestia couldn’t help but be annoyed. 
The interviews are brief, since it’s only used to determine the soul’s awareness of where they are. There would be more interviews in the following department. Sorting the souls into the Wicked room is the easiest since these individuals know of what they have done and are the worst of the lot. The rest have either accepted their deaths, or haven’t or are clueless as to what happened to them. The group began to thin out as each soul was sorted into each room. There had been 43 for the Wicked room, 16 for the Accepted room, 14 for the Not Accepted room and 29 for the Unaware room.
Each of the members of the Committee stood and stretched their bat-like wings that were tucked in behind their backs. One of them yawned and flames licked the corners of its mouth. The last one at the table, pulled at its collar. It was mandatory for staff to wear formal attire in order to make it more welcoming to the souls. 
Hestia instinctively scratched at her sleeves. She glanced at the wall clock, it was almost time for them to change shifts. Thank Satan! It’s been a long day! The next round of souls were about the same size and had to be settled by the Roustabouts too. After calling out a name, Hestia absentmindedly peered at the man who approached the table. He was dressed in the last clothing he wore on Earth: prison garbs. 
This was nothing new to Hestia, she had seen plenty of souls with prison clothing and knew immediately that they were executed because of their heinous crimes. She couldn’t help but stare at the individual. He walked self-assuredly and he had an air of calm drifting around him. He sensed her eyes upon him, he looked up and smiled. Hestia blinked rapidly, she had never had any of the souls smile at her. 
Glancing at the list, she re-read his name - Leonard Bennett. She was so intrigued by him, that it took one of her co-workers to tap her on the shoulder. Hestia apologized and began reading off the names. Leonard passed by Hestia on his way to the Wicked room and she glanced at him as he sauntered in. 
The clanging of bells alerted Hestia to the shift change. She switched places with her co-worker and instead of leaving the Sorting Annex, she ventured towards the Wicked room. Leonard was leaning against a wall as he vaguely listened to the instructions being given by one of the Head Sorters. With her head within the doorway, Hestia didn’t notice that someone was behind her. 
“What are you doing?” the voice asked.
Hestia turned quickly. “Nothing!” She said.
“It looks like you’re looking at something.”
She relaxed when she realized it was one of her friends, Julian, who she daily had lunch with. “Jules, don’t ever sneak up on me like that.”
“What? I doubt you were scared. Nobody here has any feelings or reaction. We’re a pretty dull bunch.” Julian said, shrugging.
“I know that, but it doesn’t mean it’s alright.” Hestia said, rolling her eyes.
“You still haven’t answered my question.”
Hestia shook her head.
“Oh, c’mon! I know there’s something happening. You only have that frown on your face when you’re up to something.” 
“I wish you didn’t know me so well!” Hestia hissed.
She noticed that some of their co-workers were staring at them. 
Julian shifted. “Look how about you tell me over lunch later? I need to get back to work here before I get sent to the boss again.”
“Fine.” Hestia said and she glanced back at Leonard before she closed the door.
Hestia peered at the typewriter. She only had until the next part of her shift to type up her morning report. She began typing and realized that she typed two words: Leonard Bennett. 
She couldn’t take her mind off of this person, for some reason, she wanted to know who he was and why he was sent to the Wicked room. To Hestia, he didn’t appear to be a criminal; on the contrary he seemed to be someone who would abhor doing anything wrong. She yanked the paper out of the typewriter and tossed it into the trash bin. Why should I even care? The ticking of the wall clock drew her attention, it was almost lunch and then afterwards she would start her afternoon shift. As she stared at the clock an idea came to her.
Furiously typing away, she barely finished her report when the alarm for lunch break began to peal. Hestia tossed the report on her boss’s desk and dashed out towards the cafeteria. 

Clanking their trays full of food onto a table, Hestia and Julian sat across from each other and leaned forward. The cacophony of voices and of banging utensils and trays masked their clandestine conversation. 
“So, what’s this all about?” Julian asked.
“It’s about Leonard Bennett.” Hestia said.
“Who’s Leonard Bennett?” 
“Exactly! I want to find out, I need to find out.”
“Why?”
“He smiled at me.”
“So?”
“Don’t you find that weird? Plus, he was sent to the Wicked room and he doesn’t look like someone that belongs there.”
“Hes, you don’t have to look the part in order to be a psycho killer.” Julian said as he grabbed a moldy piece of bread.
“Right… but still, there’s something about him.”
“Well, it’s not like you can go over to one of the Head Sorters in the Wicked room and ask  about him.”
“Actually, I think I can. Well, I have an idea,” Hestia said, she plucked a worm from her tray and slurped it between her lips. “Aren’t you dating Ophelia from the Wicked Room?”
“Yeah, but she’s not a Head Sorter, she’s just an assistant.”
“So, she can still has access to information about all the souls that go through there.”
“She could get into major trouble if she gave any of that information out. Maybe even end up in Solitary for it.”
“It’s just a little bit of info. You would be curious too, if you saw him.”
Julian shrugged. “It’s too risky. Besides, me and Ophelia are getting pretty serious and I don’t want to screw it up.”
“What if I did your I morning report? We both do the same thing. Just give me the numbers and I’ll type it up - for a month.” Hestia said.
Julian rubbed his horn. “Make that two months and you have a deal.”
“Fine!” Hestia said.

Cutting their lunch time short, Hestia and Julian made their way to the Head Sorter Administration offices. Julian scanned the office through the floor to ceiling windows and found Ophelia sitting at a nearby desk. He poked his stubby pointer at the window. Ophelia glanced up from her typewriter. Her expression shifted from a frown to a wide smile. She rushed to the door and opened.
“Julie! You came to visit me!” Ophelia said.
“Julie?” Hestia said.
Julian shushed Hestia, “Opie! I couldn’t wait until after work to see you!”
They embraced and gave each other a long, deep kiss. Hestia cleared her throat. Julian and Ophelia broke away.
“Ophelia, you know Hestia from the Sorting Annex?” Julian said.
“Yes, I do.” Ophelia said as she gave Hestia a once over, her purple lips puckering.
Hestia waved at her and then bumped into Julian.
“Uh, Opie I was just talking to Hestia and telling her how you have such a big and important job in the Wicked Room; that you even have access to each soul’s records,” Julian glanced at Hestia. “But she doesn’t believe me when I tell her that.”
Ophelia peered at Hestia. “I do have access to the records. That’s part of my job.”
“See I told you.” Julian said, crossing his arms.
“Prove it. I still don’t believe it.” Hestia said.
Ophelia glanced at Julian. “Um… sure.” She turned and opened the door, allowing Hestia and Julian to enter the offices.
Staying near the wall, Ophelia led them to an inner office. Inside, were rows of file cabinets, that appeared to go on. 
“These are it?” Hestia said.
“Yes.” Ophelia said, glancing back at the door.
“Wow, it seems to go on forever.” Julian said.
“So for example, where is this morning’s report?” Hestia asked.
“Over here.” Ophelia started to walk towards one end of the row when the door opened.
A man with a pointy nose and rumpled dress shirt, stepped in. “What’s going here? Who are these people, Ophelia?”
“Oh, uh, Mr. Kapersky. They claim that their morning report had an error on it and wanted to revise it.” Opelia explained.
“That’s for an Admin Specialist to deal with and they would contact them directly. There’s no reason for them to be here.” Mr. Kapersky said, his long, black nails tapping at the file folder he was holding. 
“I’m sorry, Mr. Kapersky. I’ll show them out right away.”
Hestia sighed, she was so close to finding out who Leonard Bennett was.

Julian stomped on ahead of Hestia as they slipped out the office door, with Ophelia being left behind with Mr. Kapersky.
“She’s probably in trouble now!” Julian said over his shoulder.
“She might not be. Her boss didn’t seem that upset.” Hestia said, trying to keep up with him.
Julian spun. “You don’t know that! I knew I shouldn’t have helped you with this. Once you put something in your mind to do, you are willing to throw anybody under the bus.”
“That’s not true!”
“Don’t you remember, Louise? She ended up on suspension when you pressured her to change shifts with you without asking a boss first?” Julian said.
“That was a long time ago… it wasn’t like she got fired or anything.” 
“She could have. She doesn’t even talk to you anymore,” Julian said, as he walked away. “I might not be talking to you if I find out that Ophelia got punished.”

Hestia paced outside of the Wicked Room’s door, rehearsing what she would say to the department head. Pausing in front of the door, Hestia sighed. She couldn’t wait too long, someone passing by would question her. Hestia glanced at her watch, through the cracked glass she could see that she only had fifteen minutes left on her break. She turned the doorknob and entered.
Feeling a bit of relief seeing exactly the person she hoped to see; he sat alone at the Committee table. Sebastien was studying his appearance on his pocket mirror. He scratched with his long nail over one of his pointy teeth. Satisfied, he began grooming his raven black hair. Hestia stood in front of him and cleared her throat.
“Excuse me, Sebastien?” She began.
“Yeah?” Sebastien said as he carefully placed his mirror down.
“I just wanted to say that I’m such a great admirer of yours.”
“Really?”
“Yes, from the way you dress and take care of your good looks to how you do your job.” Hestia said, she noticed his defined eyebrows quivering.
“Well, I do like to proud myself in knowing that I can be a great role model.”
“Would it be too much to ask, how do you do it?”
“No, not at all,” Sebastien said and he clasped his hands together in front of him. “I work hard on my looks, just as hard as I work here in the Wicked Room.”
“You must be very brave to deal with so many terrible souls that walk through here.” Hestia said and she leaned on the table and batted her eyelashes.
Sebastien leaned towards her. “I guess you can call it that. It’s not for the faint of heart.”
“How do you figure out if they have been bad? There are some of them that don’t even look the part. I noticed one particular person who was sent here this morning and he looked like a —
“An accountant? I know who you’re talking about.”
Hestia’s heart thrummed. “You do?”
Sebastien opened his mouth and an alarm blared. Hestia recognized it as a siren for an alert.
“There goes another soul trying to escape,” Sebastien said as he rolled his eyes.
He stood up. “Sorry, but I have to go help out. Doesn’t your shift start soon?”
Hestia nodded, trying to contain her annoyance.
Sebastien jogged to the nearest door and went through.
Hestia stifled a scream. Why can’t I finally get an answer?
She left the Wicked Room and dragged her feet down a vacant hallway; soon it would be teeming with employees dashing into the nearby offices. She was staring at the floor when she heard running footsteps. Glancing up, the figure bounding towards her was none other than Leonard Bennett. Hestia stared, transfixed to the spot. Leonard barely stopped as he grabbed hold of her.
“How do you get out of here?” He asked.
“You don’t.” Hestia said.
“There’s gotta be a way and you’re going to show me.”
“What makes you think that I would do that?”
“You seem like a nice enough… demon? Not sure what you are.”
“Funny I could say the same thing about you.” Hestia said as she was pulled by Leonard into one of the offices.
Hestia and Leonard peered about, she realized that it was a supply room. 
“I don’t think there’s a way to get out of here unless you go back the way you came in.” As she said this a pummeling of footsteps passed by the door. Leonard staggered backwards away from it. 
“You have to help!” Leonard said.
“Fine, I’ll help you but you have to tell me how you got here.”
“Ok, ok.”
“Follow me.” Hestia said and they slowly slipped back into the hallway.
They made it down the hall and started to turn the corner when Hestia heard her name. Spinning around she saw it was Ophelia.
“Ophelia! I was wondering when someone would show up.” Hestia felt Leonard’s eyes on her.
“Hestia, what are you doing with the escapee? Are you helping him, you know there’s no way out?” Ophelia said as she approached them, her eyes flared red.
“No! No! Of course not!”
“What? You said you would get me out,” Leonard said.
Ophelia cupped her mouth and yelled for help. “Pay back is a bitch, huh, Hestia?”
A flapping of wings and the stomping of feet reached Hestia and Leonard. They were pushed up against the wall and were bounded by the wrists.
As Hestia was being dragged down the hall, she resisted. “What did he do?!”
Ophelia laughed. “Leonard Bennett stole money from his job and then he killed himself when his employers found out. Did you forget that committing suicide is one of the ultimate sins, Hestia?
From the corner of her eyes, Hestia noticed Julian, along with a few others, standing at an office door, his head shaking.