by Erin Zarro
Table of Contents
Also by Erin Zarro
Reaper Girl
Erin Zarro
Copyright © 2014 by Erin Zarro.
If you enjoyed this story, you'll love Under Her Protection: Stories of Women to the Rescue, edited by Siri Paulson.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
AUTHOR'S NOTE
Also by Erin Zarro
Poetry chapbooks:
Life as a Moving Target
Without Wings
Fey Touched series
Fey Touched
Grave Touched
Anthologies
In Flames (free at Smashwords)
Seasons Eternal (“Stasis”)
Winter's Night (various poems)
Under Her Protection (“Reaper Girl”)
Reaper Girl
Erin Zarro
Copyright © 2014 by Erin Zarro.
All rights reserved.
This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Originally appeared in “Under Her Protection,” a Turtleduck Press anthology edited by Siri Paulson.
A Turtleduck Press Release
http://www.turtleduckpress.com
Cover design: © Dannika Dark
Interior design: © Erin Zarro
Author photo: © Karen Conroy
REAPER GIRL is a work of fiction. Any similarity to person – living or dead – is purely coincidental, as are any places, events, or locales.
Except Love. She's real. :)
Author website: http://www.erinzarro.com
Author email: [email protected]
Author twitter: @ekendall
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When I first met Richard Ashton, he was dead.
At least that was what my senses told me: he was pale with no pulse, no breathing, and no life force.
I was called to the scene of a major highway accident. Twenty cars smashed and made into accordions, shattered glass glinting in the sunlight, bodies covered in blood and contorted strangely.
EMTs, on-lookers, and police milled around. Asking questions. Comforting the families. Treating the victims. Getting rid of the gawkers. Chaos everywhere I looked. To make things even more interesting, several of my fellow Reapers tended to the other humans who were dead.
I needed silence, peace, to do my work.
Richard's motorcycle sat a few feet away, in irregular pieces that would never match right again. Richard himself was bleeding from his shoulder and his right leg looked broken. His eyes were wide open. They were the color of a perfect cerulean sky.
I went to him and knelt by his side. My black cloak scraped the ground as I passed.
I touched his cheek, probed for his soul. The human soul pulsed with warmth and life and tasted sweet. Upon death, it was released from the body through the mouth.
And that was why what I did as a Grim Reaper was called the "death kiss."
Heedless of the blood that covered his scratched face, I bent down and kissed him.
Three things happened.
His soul came to me and I swallowed it down.
He sucked in a breath, scaring me witless.
Resistance pain from doing something wrong nearly cleaved me in half.
We fell apart from each other; Richard taking breaths in deep, frantic pulls.
I doubled over, tasting bile.
Apparently I'd really messed up.
I'd taken his soul.
But he wasn't dead.
The next thought in my head, as I struggled against the pain, was getting us out of here and to the portal to the Underworld. Richard's state of being was precarious. He needed to be away from life. All life. He'd be so drawn to it that he wouldn't be able to move on. And it would make what he was about to become so much more difficult – and heartbreaking.
I looked up, still panting from the pain, my punishment for a job epically failed, and the look on his face stopped me cold.
He was staring at me. Hellfire, my head pounded. Like having a hammer slammed into my skull. Repeatedly.
"What the hell...just...happened?" Richard's gaze bored right through me.
I cringed. "I – you – I thought you were dead," I said, feeling really foolish and a bit insane. "I did something I should not have done – "
"Kissing me? Yeah," Richard said, pushing his longish black hair – with blue streaks in it – away from his face. Didn't work too well with the blood caked in it. "Do you normally kiss dead people? Is that some kind of fetish?"
I wanted to laugh, but this wasn't a laughing matter. "Um, not usually. We need to get out of here. Now."
"To the hospital?" Richard swallowed hard. "Good plan."
I tried to stand, still hurting, but the pain had receded just a bit, enough for me to think. "Not...exactly. We're not really here, you see, so no one knows you're missing, Richard."
Richard tried to move, to his credit, but that leg was going to be a problem. "No one calls me Richard, okay? And I think my leg's broken."
"No kidding. What do I call you then? We're going to be spending some quality time together. I'm Leliel."
Richard's eyes narrowed. "What kind of name is that?"
I looked down my nose at him. "And what kind of name is Richard? Come on, we have to go. I'll explain everything – "
"Bum leg, remember, Leliel?" He enunciated my name carefully, but struggled. "And it's Rick to you."
"I can help with that." I took a step forward, did not topple over, and took another. I went slowly. "I can heal it while you're in this state. For transportation."
"My motorcycle is destroyed, so no go there," Rick said, rubbing his face and smearing the blood. I shuddered. Once he found out his true fate, there would be nowhere I could hide. "And what do you mean by 'in this state'?"
I knelt down beside him again, the ground feeling like blades to my knees. The pain wasn't letting up enough, so His Highness must have been really pissed. I reached out and touched his leg, infusing it with warmth and healing energies. "This won't hold forever, but it'll get us where we're going. Now try to stand. Please," I added when he frowned at me.
"Okay, here goes," Rick said.
First he flopped around like a beached whale, turning this way and that, obviously still in some kind of pain. I remembered his shoulder and healed that, too.
Then things went a bit more smoothly after that.
He smiled when he finally got to his feet. "Not bad, Leliel. Say, are you my guardian angel?" He gaze was a bit too penetrating.
"Hell no," I said. "But I guess I could be considered an angel of death." I shrugged. "Some people in some cultures believe that." I took his wrist in my hand and tugged. "Come on. I'll explain everything, but we – "
"Have to go now," Rick muttered. "I know."
"Okay, then. Move," I said, giving him a not-so-gentle push in the direction of the portal.
#
One thing I learned pretty quickly about Rick. He couldn't follow directions. And he kept getting distracted.
At one point, we passed a small park.
"The Lover's Place," Rick murmured, reaching out to touch the bark of one of the trees. Almost reverently.
I stopped and looked over my shoulder at him. "Lover's Place?"
Rick pointed upward. "The trees grew intertwined, the legend says. Like they couldn't be apart from each other." He arched a brow. "Like lovers."
He had plump lips, good for kissing. I had only felt
them for a split second, but looking at them now – ignoring the blood, of course – I wondered what a real kiss would be like. Not a death kiss. Just a kiss, and his kiss in particular.
I felt my face flush and studied the ground. I couldn't meet his eyes. He would know what I was thinking.
"Leliel, have I embarrassed you?" Rick asked in a husky voice.
I forced myself to chuckle. "No, of course not. I just...don't get out much." Ouch. Awkward.
"Oh, well...anyway. This place is neat, is all I was trying to say." He moved forward until we stood next to each other, taking care not to touch me.
But I wanted him to touch me...didn't I?
But he was practically dead, and – his fate...okay, not thinking about that right now.
"We're almost there," I said as cheerfully as I could manage. The idea of what was ahead scared me for the first time in my three-hundred-year existence.
The street was completely empty. "So here comes the explanation. Listen closely, okay?"
Rick stopped and rubbed the back of his neck. "Is this the part where you tell me I'm actually dead and running around with an incredibly beautiful woman is not just a dream?" He almost looked...disappointed. "Because I like this way better than the alternative."
"Um," I said, averting my gaze. He had it almost right. "This – state you're in" – I gestured toward him, my hand shaking slightly – "it's not...natural. You're what is called a Reanimate. A person without a soul."
"Okay, so what does that mean, pretty lady?" He came closer, almost within touching distance.
I was so not going there. "You'll basically begin to lose what makes you, you. You'll live forever, but incorporeal –"
"So I'd be...nothing?" A look of pain shot across Rick's face, then disappeared.
I was not about to tell him he was becoming nothing. "Not exactly. You'll still exist, but without a body."
I started walking again, and Rick fell into step next to me. "So you'll be in excruciating emotional pain. And you'll be alone, as no one can see or hear you. Or touch you. Well, except Grim Reapers and His Highness."
His jaw dropped. "Sounds...horrific."
I nodded. "It is worse than anything you can possibly imagine." I looked up at him, catching his gaze. "I'm sorry."
"Why are you sorry? You didn't cause this..." I could almost see the moment when the light bulb switched on. "Or did you?"
We were almost to the building that held the portal. I could feel the Underworld pulling me closer, seeking me, screwing with my thoughts.
"Leliel," Rick said with an exasperated sigh. "Please, just freaking tell me so I know what I'm up against. I'm sure we have other things to do here besides talking."
Why did the way he said that make my heart flutter?
Crap. I'd been cloistered too long. I'd been...not living, that was for sure.
Later, drama queen. Focus. I tucked a few strands of hair behind my ear, frantically thinking. "Remember the kiss?" I asked. His eyes went a bit distant, and he nodded. "It wasn't a fetish." We kept walking, and I kept getting pulled to the portal. Like a freaking magnet. "Well, it wasn't just a kiss. It was the way to get your soul."
"You wanted my soul?"
"I didn't want it." This was making my head hurt worse. "I had to take it because I believed you were dead. But...you're not. Not...exactly." Way to sound like I knew what I was doing. Three hundred years, thousands of reaped souls, and I choke. "Anyway, I want to talk to His Highness about giving you your soul back. To fix you." And endure the Three Trials, but I wasn't about to mention that – yet.
Rick shuddered. "That would be good. I don't want to become nothing."
The building that held the portal stood in front of us, the last building in a row of five. It had stood empty for at least twenty years, maybe more. It was the magic that kept people away. I'd heard it said that it made humans feel wrong.
I'd been inside many times, and I still could not shake the weird feelings.
The building itself was in severe disrepair – warped wood, boarded windows, graffiti in bright colors covering almost every inch of it.
Yet it pulsed with magic.
No one except Reapers and not-so-dead could feel the Underworld calling.
"It's...a building?" Rick asked. "That's some crazy graffiti there."
"Yeah. Some people with strong wills did this. Most run away before they get that far," I said. "Can you feel it?"
"Oh yeah," Rick said, drawing out the yeah. He shivered. "I don't...like this. Can't we get to it some other way?"
I frowned. "Nope. This is the only way." I reached for his hand. "We're going to the portal to the Underworld. You'll need to hold my hand, and don't let go for anything. I'm serious. Bad things will happen."
"Okay." He took my hand in his. "I'm...kind of...scared, Leliel."
I squeezed his hand. "I'm here, and I'll keep you safe, okay?"
He let out a breath. Looked at the building. "Okay."
Hand in hand, we walked to the building. I opened the door, and it was like descending into the open mouth of darkness, into the unknown.
"Okay, now I'm really scared," Rick said. "Where's the portal?"
"Downstairs," I murmured, switching on my flashlight, illuminating the mildewed walls and graffiti and...blood? Yuck.
I took special care not to touch the wall. I led Rick into what was supposed to be the main room of an office, but instead had cockroaches scurrying out of my beam of light, dust, and broken glass. The stairs were in the very back.
Rick sucked in a breath, then sneezed. "Wow, lotta dust here, huh?" His voice quivered, and my heart, the shriveled thing it was, went out to him. I could feel his terror in every word he spoke.
"Yeah, this place is crazy. But don't worry, I've got your back." I stepped closer to him, catching his gaze. "Trust me, okay? It will be okay."
"I believe you," Rick said. "I really do. But I'm still scared."
He couldn't wimp out on me. If he did...we were both so screwed. "We'll take it step by step."
We went down the stairs, floorboards creaking, sounding as loud as gun shots. As we descended, a glowing light captured my attention.
"That's it, right there," I said, pointing. "It's not scary, right?"
We moved closer to it. It pulsated, spreading golden light everywhere.
"It's beautiful," Rick whispered.
"We're gonna step through it. It might feel a bit weird, but roll with it, okay? I don't have time to explain."
I stepped forward.
"Leliel, wait." I turned to face Rick, my eyes narrowing. "I just wanna say...thank you."
I smiled. Well, that was nice. But I was sure he wouldn't be thanking me later. "You're welcome. Shall we?" I asked, gesturing toward the portal.
Rick squeezed my hand, and we stepped through the portal together.
And we were off, splitting into the atoms and molecules and whatever else made us. Hurtling through the air and cannon-balled into the Underworld at full freaking speed. It was like flying. Except you know, no wings. Or hands. Or anything.
And then we reformed – or, rather, I'd reformed.
Rick was nowhere to be seen.
Crap.
The frigid air of the Underworld enveloped me, and I shivered. Thick fog covered every square inch, making it impossible to freaking see anything. Barren trees with body parts dripping blood for branches and fingers for leaves were everywhere. I remembered the first time I saw the bloody stumps. I'd thrown up for ten minutes straight, but because time flowed weird here, it felt more like ten days.
Yeah. Going to have to ignore them.
"Okay, this isn't funny," I said. I must have searched the Underworld for the past two hours. The cold was getting to me, and the resistance pain was getting worse the closer I got to His Highness's palace.
My missing Reanimate? Nowhere.
He was all sorts of vulnerable here. He didn't know how things worked, the treachery and dishonesty and tricks and –<
br />
Hissing. Somewhere to my left.
I ran in that direction, fighting dizziness and dense black air. It wasn't exactly a party here for Reapers.
Hellcats.
About two dozen of them. Cornering Rick. Hissing and growling. Their eyes glowed green.
My heart sank to my stomach. He didn't follow my instructions. This was a very bad thing. "Rick, why did you let go of my hand?"
Rick's eyes were wide with fear. He was backed into a tree, so tight that the bark probably dug into his skin. "I – I didn't mean to."
The hellcats noticed me.
Crap!
As one, they attacked. Claws cut me, sending searing pain through my chest and legs. Teeth bit, pinpricks of pain that I was sure reached my soul. Eyes tried to enthrall me. I flailed around, dodging them. But damn, they bit hard.
Still, I had to take care of Rick. "Rick, go somewhere and hide! Quick! Before they realize you're still here!" I dodged another set of claws.
I shoved a hellcat off my stomach, kicked another.
"I can't just leave you!" Rick cried. "I'm gonna help!"
Fear shot through me like a bullet. "No! You have no soul! Go! Get out of here!"
"I will not leave you!" Rick jumped into the fray.
Foolish man.
I watched in horror as he picked two hellcats up and flung them at the tree. They hit it with a crack and fell to the ground, unmoving, the glow in their eyes snuffed out.
I didn't look at the pair of eyes currently trying to enthrall me. I dodged more teeth, shoving the hellcat away from me, and got more scratches for my trouble.
Rick grabbed it and hurled it at the tree.
The hellcat became a blur of fur and flailing limbs. Between the two of us, we managed to kill all but one. Since that one wasn't trying to eat me, I let it go.
"Go find someone else to eat," I said.
It sat in front of me, ears twitching. Meow.
"Oh, crap. I think we just found a feral hellcat."
Rick eyed the cat, which was black with green eyes. "What does that mean?"
I kept my eyes on the hellcat. Waiting for it to move, or twitch. "Well, they're more dangerous than the normal variety of hellcats. Their bite is poison. Their claws can rip flesh from bone. And, they don't necessarily roam with a pack."
