by Nicky Graves
“No, I don’t think so. I might have hallucinated someone though.”
“What did the person look like?”
I pulled out my notebook. “I’m not good at drawing, but he kind of looked like this guy. There were snakes made of smoke, and they were coming from his cloak. But it had to be a dream or something.”
“Did you see his face?”
“No, why?”
“Did your crystal do anything when you saw him?”
“I don’t know. It was in my pocket. Why?”
“Just curious.”
“Do you think he’s real?” I asked. “I would have run if I had thought he was real.”
“Most people do, little reaper.” And then Ranger shifted, and I was alone in my room.
The snake guy was real?
At school, I dodged point-blank stares. I knew I looked horrible. I tried to cover as much as I could with makeup, but my skin was so damaged, the makeup burned and itched. I finally had to wash it all off.
“You should go see the school nurse,” Larue said as she walked with me to my locker. “Maybe she has cream you can use.”
“I’ll be fine,” I muttered, dodging another group of students who stopped talking when they saw me.
I just wanted to get to my locker and my next class without seeing Chloe. However, my steps slowed when I saw Dane leaning against Chloe’s locker. He must be waiting for her. He straightened when he saw me. And just like the others, he looked at me with rounded eyes.
“You okay, Riley?” he asked when I stopped at my locker.
“Yeah,” I said, ignoring his gaze. At least he didn’t just gawk. He sounded as if he was concerned. As I tried to hurry to open my locker, my hands began shaking. I didn’t need his pity or concern. And I didn’t want to be here longer than I needed to be.
Larue brushed my hands away and opened my locker for me. I muttered my thanks. Before I could even retrieve the books out of my locker, Chloe rounded the corner. Her gaze landed on Dane first and then me as I ducked my head into my locker.
Dane turned toward Chloe, blocking her from me. I wasn’t sure if he did it on purpose or if it was just good luck. Either way, I took advantage of it and grabbed my books, slammed my locker shut, and hobbled as quickly as I could to my next class.
Larue hounded my steps as she searched for the best skin creams on her phone and relayed her findings.
After school, Boomer appeared in my bedroom. I was getting a bit tired of my sanctuary becoming a revolving door. I sat on my desk chair with a bottle of salve for my feet.
“Are you decent?” he asked, eyes covered.
“Yes.”
He opened his eyes and then cringed. “What’s with your face?”
“I’m moisturizing,” I said.
My mom wanted to take me to the dermatologist, but I lathered up my face instead.
“You look like you’re the whipped cream topping of a pie.”
“Thanks,” I muttered.
“Did you wear that mask to school?”
I stared flatly at him. “No. But they all marveled at how gross my face was.”
“Well, once you’re a reaper you won’t have to worry about looking like a mummy. You might dry out, but you’ll rejuvenate quickly.” He frowned at me. “I never had this much trouble when I was in training.”
“That’s because you were dead when you trained. I’m not. And these last couple of weeks have been total crap. And this crystal that’s supposed to help has been more useful as a paperweight,” I said, pointing to the crystal that sat on a pile of books on my desk.
“Boohoo,” he said without an ounce of compassion. I knew I couldn’t rely on him for sympathy. But he could have at least attempted.
“Don’t tell me boohoo.” I pointed to my feet. “This crap hurts. I can guarantee you didn’t have to go through this.”
He rolled his eyes. “This is why girls shouldn’t be reapers. Too much drama.”
“Don’t you dare spin this into a girl versus boy war. You will lose.”
“I don’t have time for this.” He shook his head and then shifted from my room. It was a moment later that Lawson appeared, looking annoyingly calm.
“Where did Boomer go?” I asked, too angry to care that Lawson was seeing me with a moisturizing mask on. “I’m not through with him yet.”
“He said you were bringing him down and that I should deal with you.” Lawson scanned my face and down the length of me. I know he was just trying to judge if I was okay, but sometimes his gaze felt like more. Warm and tingly almost, which made my heart beat rapidly and my already-sensitive skin burn. “I wanted to talk to you anyway. Are you okay?”
Maybe if he’d stop staring at me I would be.
“I’ll be fine.”
“I’m sorry you had to go through this, especially on your own.” He rubbed the back of his neck and dropped his gaze, allowing me to breathe. “After the stone took you, we looked everywhere. I’m sorry I put you through that.”
“I survived,” I muttered.
“Boomer also said you think your crystal isn’t working.”
“He said an awful lot considering he just shifted out of here a second ago.”
“Time works differently in the dead zone. You’ll be thankful for the time difference later. It allows us to take longer breaks.” He leaned against the desk next to me. “The Supreme Elder wants you to start training with the crystal. He’s one of the few who are okay proceeding with training. However, I won’t push you. But if you want to try, I’m willing to help. We’ll do this at your pace.”
I’m not sure why that annoyed me. I didn’t want special accommodations. And yet, I knew Lawson felt bad for what happened, which made me feel better.
“I think it’s broken,” I said, picking up the crystal.
“Why do you think that?”
“Because it doesn’t light up anymore. It’s just a chunk of glass.” I was about to hand it to him when he backed away from me.
“Only you can touch it,” he said.
“Why?”
When he didn’t say anything, I glared at him. “Why can’t you touch it?”
“Only the person who bonds with it can touch it.”
“That’s the only reason?” I asked, wondering if there was more to the story.
“Yes. Ranger and I are still learning how the crystal works. We’ve never had to work with one. It’s best if you hold on to it.”
I looked at the rock and then placed it on my desk. “How are reapers chosen?”
“Not even the elders know the answer to that. Some say we are born with our fate. Some say we’re randomly chosen.”
“I take it the elders still have their underwear in a bunch about me.”
“They’re confused. There has been a lot of debate amongst them.”
“Like what?”
“Like why you show signs of being a reaper early. Also, what changed to allow a female to become a reaper.”
“Because females are weak and better suited for staying at home?” I challenged.
“Don’t put words into my mouth. I don’t think you’re weak, especially not after what you’ve been through. Although, I’m not going to lie to you either. There are some on the council that feel women have no business being reapers. There are some that want to strip you of becoming a reaper, but they wouldn’t know how.”
“They’ve never had to do that before?” I asked, grabbing a towel from the clothes pile to wipe the moisturizer off my face.
“No. Once you’re a reaper, it can’t be taken away.”
“But they want to try?”
“Some do. Not all.”
“What happens to unwanted reapers?”
“The majority are wanted. We need all reapers to work. But there are some that go bad enough that the Elder Council hands them over to the Grim.”
“What does he do with them?”
“Some he kills. Some he makes into blanks. But he normally only keeps twelv
e blanks at a time. Mostly, he just—” Lawson stopped
I paused the towel and looked at him. “That’s what the council wants to happen to me? They’d rather kill me than train me?”
He didn’t say anything, and I read his silence loud and clear.
“That’s only a few on the council. Which is why I want your training to be successful. If they can see you’re valuable, the others will be swayed to your side.”
“Are reapers allowed to quit?”
“No, but some have tried to suppress their gifts and turn their back on reaping. But it’s impossible to do forever. Eventually, they begin to crave death and start taking lives before they are ready.”
“So, I would become a murderer if I tried to quit.”
“Eventually, yes. Some of the most notorious serial killers are reapers who went too long repressing their gifts.”
“So, my choice is death or becoming a serial killer?”
“You forgot the best choice.”
I glanced warily at him.
He took the towel from my hand and gently grazed it over my cheek, wiping away the moisturizer. “You have the capability of being a great reaper and showing those dusty old fossils just how strong you can be. You have the opportunity to be the first woman reaper. It won’t be easy, but if I didn’t believe in you, I wouldn’t be trying to help you.”
I tried not to shy away from his gaze or words.
“Thank you,” I said.
He gave a nod and handed back the towel. “And just because you’re going to be a reaper doesn’t mean everything is going to be bad. There is good.”
“Like what?”
“The dead zone.”
“The dead zone is depressing. There’s no sun. Everything looks the same.”
He held out his hand. “Not true. I think it’s time for an official tour. Let me show you what it can be.”
As I reached out to take his hand, I suppressed a surge of gratitude.
We shifted to the dead zone. There was no pain like when the crystal took me to the desolate realm. In fact, the usual queasiness I felt at shifting was gone, too. I wasn’t sure I was comfortable with that realization. Did it mean I was acclimating, or was I closer to dying?
We walked past an old stone arch with the prettiest shimmering light emanating from it. I wondered if the realm this arch led to would have the same pretty shimmering qualities. It’d be nice to see a place that wasn’t gray, bleak nothingness.
“Are we going in there?” I asked.
“Never go into a doorway,” he said.
“It’s an arch.”
“Still a doorway.”
“It’s pretty.”
“It’s a lure. Nothing pretty exists on the other side.”
I was going to ask him what was on the other side, but he placed his hand on a pod and then walked in, pulling me in with him. I was surprised to see a large park. There was sun and grass. A pond with ducks. Mature trees surrounded the area with a large stretch of flowers that cascaded up and down sloping hills.
“How is this possible?” I asked as my eyes devoured the landscape that looked like it came from a painting.
“Anything is possible in pods. I have no idea who created this, but it must have taken them centuries.”
“It was worth it,” I said, inhaling the scent of grass, flowers, and . . . if it was possible, I thought I even detected the warm, comfortable scent of sunshine.
“There are other places like this here,” he said.
“More parks?”
“Yes. Everything you love on Earth, you can probably find here. Well, maybe not everything.” He looked at me. His gaze felt weighted, but I wasn’t sure why. If there were parks here, it seemed like everything else was possible.
“Like what?” I asked. “Show me something else.”
He took my hand and we exited the park, back into the dreary dead zone. Why did I feel disappointed when he dropped my hand as soon as we were clear of the pod? What was wrong with me? All this bucket list stuff and reaper stuff had to be getting in my head. The last thing I needed were romantic ideas.
I followed him a little farther down to another pod. He held out his hand for mine, and I tried not to notice the way my pulse jumped when his fingers wrapped around mine.
Thoughts fled the moment we stepped inside and I gazed at the beauty around me. I barely noticed him release my hand as I stared at the large cacti that dotted the brown sand. Stretches of red sand cut through the landscape.
“It’s pretty here. But after dehydrating like a mummy, I’d rather go somewhere else,” I said. “I don’t suppose you have cafés or bars here, do you?”
“Yes.”
“Really? Can you take me to one?”
“No.”
“Why not?” I asked.
“The fewer people who see you, the better. I’m okay with showing you a few places here, but not ones with other reapers.”
“Why?”
He sighed. “Can’t you let anything go without questioning it?”
“Normally, yes. At school I’m forever getting dinged on my report card because I’m not inquisitive enough. But this is my future, not math. Show me more places.”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“The truth?”
“It would be nice.”
“You’re the first female reaper. Do you know what that means?”
“Equality.”
“No. Can you imagine what it’s like living your life for hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands of years? Unless you’re gay, companionship is limited to those on Earth, and they die in what seems like a blink of an eye. And a lot of times, when they die, you then have to be the one to transition them. It’s hard. Many reapers shun relationships because of it. You are a game changer.”
“A game changer?” I echoed.
“You’re female. You’ll be immortal.”
“So . . .”
“Do I have to spell it out for you?” he asked, looking at me as though he didn’t want to.
I wasn’t so clueless as to not understand I would be a source of curiosity. But I think he feared too much.
“You don’t have to spell it out.”
“We have to keep a low profile on you for a while. I have no idea what kind of reaction you will cause.”
“Judging from the boys at school, not much of one.”
“I’m serious. You have no idea what we go through. You could cause fights.”
“Really?”
“Don’t be flattered,” he said.
“I’m not. But I’ve never had anyone want to fight for me.”
“It’s not because of you. It’s because of what you represent.”
“Gee, thanks.”
His gaze locked with mine. “Think of cavemen trying to claim a woman. It would be as romantic as that.”
“So, there are cavemen reapers?”
He clenched his jaw, and I figured I might have pushed him a little too far.
“Okay, so my presence might cause a bit of havoc. But it’s going to happen sooner or later. Why not rip the bandage off?”
“You hold a lot of power in your hands. Be careful. Eternity is a long time to have angry exes.”
I had never thought about it that way.
“I promise not to be a ho,” I said with a serious face.
His jaw muscle ticked.
“I was kidding,” I said, laughing. “I promise to keep a low profile. But in all seriousness, if there really happened to be a fight over me, what would I even do? Is there pepper spray for reapers?”
“We’ll figure it out when the time comes. Until then, just keep wearing that white stuff on your face.”
“Thanks for the advice,” I muttered.
He smiled. “That’s what I’m here for, kid.”
Kid.
Lawson obviously had no interest in me. The other reapers would probably have the same reaction as he did. I was thoroughly forgettable.
<
br /> 11
I stood in front of my locker reading a text from Lawson when I heard, “What’s wrong with your face? Other than the usual things, of course.”
Judging by the caustic tone, I knew who it was before I even closed the locker door, revealing Chloe. She gave me a side smirk as she placed a book in her locker.
“A little tip,” she said, glancing at herself in the mirror before closing her locker door. “If you’re going to go out in public, at least attempt to look less gross.”
“And you could attempt to be less of a bitch,” I said with a shrug. “But, here we are.”
I snapped my locker closed and was relieved to see Larue walking toward me.
“Ready for lunch?” Larue asked, smiling at me and then at Chloe.
Chloe glowered at Larue. “Don’t get too cozy with Finn. He’ll be on to another girl soon.”
As Chloe walked off in a snooty huff, Larue eyed me. “What’s her problem?”
“Same as always. Me.”
“Come on, let’s go to lunch and forget about her. I’m starving.”
Unfortunately, Chloe was also headed to the lunchroom. On her way through the hall, she snagged Dane. She snaked her arm around his and looked every bit like a doting angel.
If she wasn’t such a witch, they would look good together with her blonde hair and petite frame and his sandy hair and broad shoulders. The two of them together were nauseating.
When Larue and I sat down at a lunch table, she said, “I wish you were in my AP bio class.”
I shivered. “You know I’ll never take another bio class.”
“It was just a little frog.”
“It was disgusting,” I said, trying not to remember the rubbery frog that had laid belly up on the metal tray.
“It’s natural,” she said.
“Carving up a frog is not natural.”
It didn’t help that my lab partner had proceeded to terrorize me with wiggly innards.
I peeked at my phone, rereading the message from Lawson. Train with Boomer after school. That was it. Not much of a message. I had hoped there might be a little bit more, especially after spending time with him the day before. But he was back to business as usual.
When I pocketed my phone, I noticed Larue tracking Finn with her gaze. He sat at a table across the room surrounded by his friends, which included Dane and Chloe. Finn’s smile dazzled, and he looked every bit of the most popular guy in school. Larue’s near-drool status made me suspect she’d rather sit with him.
