WILL IT NEVER END?

Untangling the Dead

Weave #13, Thread #IV

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Normally, my shoes would be the last thing on my mind after the second murder and the random extra soul that had briefly passed through my body, but it wasn’t. In front of all the guards, I slipped on the woman’s blood.

When I looked up, the mysterious extra soul’s greasy whisper of “There you are” echoed in my skull and Nagari’s gun pointed at my forehead.

But her gun wobbled. Nagari’s gun never wobbled.

“Morrissey,” she gurgled. “Morrissey, please, grab the gun!”

That was before I saw how white her fingers were on the trigger — how her feet pointed away from me, how she sobbed as if trying to move the gun away. Still, I stared into the barrel, transfixed. “Nagari. A soul-binder? Really?”

I could see the man who had disappeared now lived in her eyes, which had turned green instead of brown. Strangely, however, the brass pocket watch cooled, soothing my bloodied hand.

“Nagari, seriously?” (Nobody could accuse me of fear in the face of death).

“Shut up, and TAKE THE GUN!”

“I don’t think so.”

I raised a hand and stalled the guards. Out here, bloodied and injured outside the elevator, I looked like the victim.

“No,” I said, “because this evil soul passed through me, like all dead souls do. If you’re a soul-binder, which I suspect you are, it’ll pass through you.”

“I… can’t!”

“You already are. Look at me.”

She did.

“If I take the gun, he’ll kill you. See that woman? Her bloodied corpse?”

Nagari gulped.

“He used her to reach Veyr. He killed Veyr. See that picture of the two of them?”

She looked, and my brass pocket-watch cooled some more. I relaxed infinitesimally.

“Wait. Why’s my name on that paper? Why is it half-crossed, and WHY IS THE LINE ACROSS IT GROWING?”

Her fear steadied me, somehow. I continued, “Because you’re close to me. The evil soul couldn’t fight me. I’m experienced. He sought you instead. Fight it, and it’ll have to leave. Shoot me, and it’ll kill you next.”

She was sobbing now, but she was still fighting. Good. I relaxed some more, and looked around for help.

Then, a gunshot rang out, and Nagari screamed. When I looked up, she had collapsed and blood ran from her nose.

Despite everything, my heart froze and I sat down.

The mysterious soul was nowhere to be seen.

The scent of cologne faded.

The pocket watch went freezing cold.

Nagari’s name was fully crossed out on the journal page.

**Thread I **by Vipul Maurya: A soul-binder endures the harrowing psychic toll of reliving a tech mogul’s final moments, searching for clues to his murder. While the ritual only yields the phantom scent of expensive cologne, the victim’s final physical act leads the binder to a hidden compartment containing a brass pocket watch and a mysterious journal — just as the estate’s security override begins to chime.

Thread 2 by Meta Marvelia: Detective Shinta Nagari finds Elias Morrissey beside the corpse. She secures the scene and brings him in for questioning. Inside the elevator, Elias catches the same expensive cologne he sensed in Damien Veyr’s final memories. A woman stumbles into him, and an impossible soul-binding is forced upon him, and he discovers the woman possesses two souls. As the connection breaks, the pocket watch taken from Damien’s hidden compartment grows warm in Elias’s pocket.

Thread 3 by Sudarsan K Das: Elias is in an elevator where the scent of amber cologne intensifies, a brass pocket watch reacts violently, and a man near the elevator panel suddenly disappears. The woman with two souls interacts with him, after which Elias is forcibly pulled into a soul-binding, during which a single dark soul speaks, referencing Veyr and another woman, before he gets pulled back. He regains consciousness as the elevator reaches the ground floor and the situation turns into panic and chaos, with Elias finding blood on his hand, Nagari pointing a gun at him, and the collapsed woman beside him with a photo of her and Veyr. A journal is found scattered on the floor, containing names, including Shinta Nagari, partially crossed out.

Thread 4 by Zeest Zulfiqar: Now that the woman with two souls is dead and the evil soul fails to possess Morrissey, it moves on to Nagari. She fights bravely, refusing to ober the soul and shoot Morrissey, but she collapses and is silent. The pocket watch cools, and Nagari’s name is magically crossed out on the journal page. Nobody knows where the mysterious soul has gone.

Think you know what happens next? Lead us to the end of the Weave with Thread V. Drop a comment with the magic words, “I’m claiming the next Thread,” and you’re up!

*Tagging: Stephen Dalton, Karen Schwartz, Anna Soldenhoff, Michael John Scott, Val Francis, Maria Rattray, Mary Acton, Robbi Walls, John Hansen PAL, Noriko Yanyan, Holly Emery, Clarity, Sunita Chakraborty, Kaili Bisson, Claire Noire♡, T.F.H, and anyone else who is ready to deal with a fantasy multi murder chaos :)*

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