“Shut up. It’s a classic.” Gavin pulled me next to him on the couch and slung his arm around my shoulders. “Totally ridiculous and awesome. Prepare to be dazzled.”
Danny settled back into his chair, arms and legs dangling all over the place. “Are you sure this isn’t something you found on YouTube?”
“I’ll make popcorn and bring out some drinks,” Naomi said.
“But you’ll miss the beginning.” Gavin almost pouted.
“I’m sure I’ll catch up. I’m clever like that.” Naomi winked at me then headed off to the kitchen.
In the beginning of the movie, an evil scientist threw a body wrapped in a sheet into an alligator-infested swamp.
“Guess that first date didn’t go well,” Danny said.
We all laughed. It was great to let off steam this way, and I immediately felt my shoulders relax. Naomi eventually returned with the popcorn and drinks, then curled her legs under her at a spot near Danny’s feet. Once in a while, she would throw a piece of popcorn in Danny’s direction because of his constant commentary.
Everything seemed to be going well until the dull ache started in my head. I shifted positions, thinking I might be pinching a nerve or something, but it didn’t reduce the heaviness that slowly took over.
It felt like a migraine was coming on. I took a sip of my soda, hoping the sugar or caffeine would chase the problem away. But after another ten minutes, my head felt worse. It was the same feeling I got at the dentist’s office when he used a drill. My neck and chest felt clammy. Though I didn’t want to move away from Gavin, I had to shift to cool down. Maybe I was coming down with a fever.
I put down my drink. “I’ll be right back.”
Gavin smiled up at me from the couch as I left the room.
Once I reached the hall, all the blood drained from my head. I stumbled in the hallway and had to slap my hand against the wall to steady myself. Everything swayed back and forth before me. The lights dimmed then got brighter. Or was the headache merely traveling to my eyes?
I pushed myself forward and finally reached the bathroom. I had to pause at the door for a moment to get the room to stop swimming before me. The sink was just two feet away from me, but it felt like miles. Holding my fingers to my temples, I thrust myself forward to the sink. The cool porcelain felt great on my hot skin. But only for a moment. Maybe I really was coming down with something.
I turned the tap on and leaned down, hoping a splash of water on my face would do the trick. Closing my eyes, I filled my palms with cold water and then splashed my face with it, allowing the icy liquid to run down my cheeks to my chin. The floor moved under my feet, so I steadied myself by gripping the counter.
You’re fine, Zadie. Get ahold of yourself.
I straightened up to check myself in the mirror. The eyes looking back at me were black. That couldn’t be, could it?
Then my reflection smirked at me.
What the hell?
It was my face, but I couldn’t feel myself making that expression. It was as if it was someone else in the reflection, taunting me. I tried to lift my hands to feel my face, but they wouldn’t budge from the counter. I tried to speak, to scream, but again, I had no control of my body.
A soft whisper tickled my ear. My name. The low growl of a voice drew my name out, long and rumbling. I watched in horror as my reflection backed away from the counter, chin lowered, eyes wide and determined. Whatever called my name had beckoned me. And my body was responding.
No matter how much I tried, I couldn’t fight it. The Reaper had me under his control. A shadow behind me floated through the bathroom door and into the hall. I followed.
Instead of heading to the living room, my body pulled to the right, to the kitchen. Almost before I realized what was happening, my hand swiped the set of keys off the counter, and my feet led me to the front door. I could hear Gavin and Danny bantering about the film, Naomi and Mara’s laughter floating through the air, but I couldn’t turn my head. I couldn’t call out to them. I couldn’t stop my feet from moving forward.
I was out the front door in an instant, leaving it open to the night air. A small flicker of hope tugged at my heart: someone was sure to notice the door was left open. That had to clue them in that I’d left the house. At least, once they realized I was missing.
The Reaper’s shadow swept over Nate’s car and then seeped into it. My fingers clutched the cool metal of the car key. With no trouble at all, I was inside Nate’s car, sticking the key in the ignition. Shock at the Reaper’s meticulous tactics shuddered through me, though my body didn’t react. I speedily pulled out of the driveway and barreled down the street.
Where was I headed? I wanted so badly to look around, to register my surroundings, but the Reaper wouldn’t allow it. The car was traveling down a road I didn’t recognize, and soon it was climbing a tree-lined street that led up the side of a hill.
Street lamps were sparse, and though I could barely see the narrow road ahead of me, I took every curve with expertise. Outside, I must have appeared cool and controlled, but inside, I was screaming, crying, trying desperately to claw my way out.
Just as I began to recall the words of Lilura’s chant, my foot slammed down on the brake. I flew forward and hit the steering wheel hard with my chest, my neck jolting from the impact. Sharp pain, like blades slicing my skin, raked down from my head to my back. But the Reaper wasn’t done with me, because I found myself getting out of the car.
The wind howled, blowing my hair around my face. My feet carried me to a small dirt road marked by a mailbox. There was no name on the mailbox, just a number.
When the Reaper turned me down the road, I focused on the house at the end. I didn’t recognize it. Dozens of cars were parked along the dirt road and more surrounded the house. Loud music blasted through the windows. Chatter and laughter wafted out to scrape against my ears.
As I approached, a clique of girls drinking beer on the front porch called out to me, but I couldn’t turn my head to acknowledge them. They ignored me, returning to their beers and their conversation. The front door was unlocked, and my feet carried me inside, thrusting me forward through the crowd of partygoers.
This must be Kelly’s house.
But why did the Reaper bring me here? I didn’t really have a big grudge against Kelly, so the Reaper couldn’t have been using my emotions to drive my actions. No matter how much Kelly disliked me, I had no ill will toward her. I even protected her on prom night.
Then it hit me. That’s why I was here.
Kelly got into the Reaper’s path on prom night. Maybe he wanted to punish her for that. He missed his chance when I used my magic to get rid of her. And now he wanted that chance back.
Inside my head, I started chanting. I’d been so overwhelmed by what had been happening that the idea momentarily escaped me and only now came back to mind. But the words weren’t coming to me naturally; I had to fight to remember them. The loud music and the people shoving and shouting didn’t help. No one seemed to care I was there. Or maybe they were too drunk to notice.
My feet carried me to the stairs. I climbed them at the Reaper’s will and headed for the room at the end of the hall. The room was dark, but I walked through it without bumping into anything. I went over to the sliding door that led out to a balcony facing the back yard. It was already open, letting the summer night’s air flow in.
Crowds of people—kids from school—were gathered in and around Kelly’s swimming pool. My hands came down on the balcony ledge, and then, to my horror, I lifted my knee and propped it on the ledge as well.
No, no, no! Please!
I hurried to recite the chant, but the Reaper continued to urge me up onto the railing. When my feet were on the ledge, my hand reached over to something on the side. A thick, wooden lattice wound with ivy. I lifted myself to stand on the ledge, stuck my feet in the grooves of the lattice, and started to climb.
He’s taking me to the roof!
It seemed to take
forever until someone noticed. Just as I reached the edge of the roof, the murmurs and gasps started. The Reaper made me hoist myself onto the roof. Once there, I stretched to my feet and turned toward the backyard. The toes of my shoes dangled off the edge of the slanted roof.
I couldn’t believe the control the Reaper had over my balance. Or was he playing with me? Did he really bring me here to hurl me to an awful death? Or to a near-death so he could drag my Vila soul to the In-Between to be fed on while my life hung in the balance?
I spotted Nicole pointing at me, shouting at Kelly with panic in her eyes. Kelly scowled at me and charged into the house. I couldn’t imagine what she thought. Could she really believe that I would climb to her roof to piss her off somehow? That didn’t even make any sense.
Some of the more inebriated party members laughed. And it only took half a minute before they started chanting: “Jump, jump, jump!”
I wanted to scream back at them. Shout at them to run, save themselves. There was a Reaper near, and no one was safe.
“What the hell are you doing?” Kelly shouted from her balcony.
She climbed the lattice up to the roof as if she’d done it a million times before. She probably had. Maybe it was her private space where she came to escape whatever problems rich and popular girls stressed about.
“Who the hell even invited you?”
I could only stare at her, but inside I was shouting: Get away, Kelly. Get away from me. You don’t know what I’m capable of.
She pushed herself to her feet and closed the distance between us. “How dare you come here and ruin my party? Is this some kind of stunt to get people to notice you? Huh? Are you that desperate for attention?”
The shadow behind her morphed.
Oh no! Please, Kelly. Get away!
“And now you won’t even answer me, you little freak?”
The wind picked up, and on it, a whisper. The Reaper’s barely audible growl drew out two slow words: Push her.
“Fine, you want to get noticed? Let’s see how you feel when everyone here notices how I humiliate you and kick you off my property, freak!”
Kelly grabbed my arm. But the Reaper was the only one who could move my body. Kelly looked shocked as she yanked my arm and nothing happened.
Push her.
My hand shot out and grabbed Kelly’s wrist. Her eyes widened even more, her jaw dropping as if in pain. Inside I was shrieking, praying for this to stop. Kelly dug her nails into my arm as I edged her toward the side of the roof. But I didn’t react. The Reaper wouldn’t let me.
“What are you doing? What are you doing? No, please. Stop!” Kelly’s words ran together. She swung at me and screamed, but she couldn’t stop me.
“Okay, Zadie, that’s enough.” Panic drowned her words. “Okay, wait a minute. You can’t do this. Come on. You know how things are in high school. We all have our place in the food chain. But look, I’ve graduated. You could take over for me.”
I nudged her so that her heels were off the roof. The crowd gasped again. But my hand held her wrist tightly. Kelly started to cry.
“Zadie, please! Please don’t do this!” One of Kelly’s shoes slipped off the edge. She made a choking sound as she grabbed onto my arm. By all laws of physics, we should have fallen. But we didn’t.
Do it. The Reaper’s voice was like thunder in my ears. I’m hungry.
“Zadie, stop!” Chase’s voice emanated from the edge of the roof, near the drainpipe. He swung up to the roof, and Gavin followed.
At the sight of Gavin, something stirred inside of me. For a fraction of a second, I felt myself loosen my grip on Kelly. She screamed, but Chase swept forward and grabbed her waist, pulling her to land sideways on the rooftop.
Between sobs, Kelly blubbered to Chase. “Oh, thank God. I always knew you were a good guy.”
I assumed Chase was helping her off the roof, but my eyes were locked on Gavin.
“Zadie. Zadie, look at me.” His voice was calm as he approached me.
The Reaper growled again. Push him.
No!
I concentrated on Gavin. His intense blue eyes. The curve of his cheek. His strong jaw. He was my Cation. He intensified my power. My power, not the Reaper’s. And the Reaper knew this.
Plus, if my heart had anything to do with it, I had to believe that my love for Gavin was stronger than the Reaper’s hold.
“Oh spirits of good, heed this plea,
Let demons touch not mine nor me.
Expel the evil forces all,
Protect our bodies, mind, and soul.
No evil shall cross, no evil shall enter,
Keep pure the light of the divine center.
Oh spirits of earth, fire, water, and air,
Banish the demons that cause us despair.”
The enormous cry the Reaper let out was deafening. My body went numb as the shadow launched into the night sky. I fell forward, my vision blacked out.
Chapter Fifteen
Gavin carried me off the roof. People were screaming, yelling, some were even laughing. But it was just a whirlwind of noise that Gavin pushed through. We eventually reached his car. I stretched my fingers and toes, glad to finally get the feeling back in them. Glad I was alive to experience the pins and needles.
Gavin opened the passenger side door. “Sit down, Zadie. You’re hurt.” He crouched down and examined my arm as I sat sideways in the seat.
I pressed my spinning head against the headrest, willing my vision to right itself.
“It’s just a scratch,” I said. “We have to go.”
“Go?” He looked up at me, brows drawn down.
“The Reaper’s not far. I have a feeling he went back to that old house. We need to get over there. Where’s Mara?”
Chase approached the car from behind Gavin. “Is she hurt?”
“Where’s Mara?” I asked again, this time to Chase.
“Waiting at Naomi’s in case you returned.”
I pulled out my phone. “We need to meet at the house on Ivy. Can you call Lilura? Tell her to meet us there, and to bring a piece of the scythe with her. The biggest piece we’ve got.”
Chase pulled his phone out and dialed while I texted Mara.
“What’s your plan, Zadie?” Gavin asked, both hands around my arm.
“I’m not exactly sure. It’s just a feeling I have. But we need to hurry.”
***
We gathered on the sidewalk in front of the house. The street was empty. We knew Rudy was in the hospital, and the next occupied house was too far out of view for us to worry about witnesses. Hunter carried a twelve-inch portion of the Reaper’s staff in one hand and a sawed-off shotgun in the other. The metal from both shone in the moonlight. My crossbow was firm in my hands, and Mara gripped two razor-sharp daggers. Chase and Gavin carried daggers as well, clutched at their sides. My arrowheads, the tips of the dagger blades, and the bullets in Hunter’s gun were all reinforced with metal from the Reaper’s scythe and treated with Chase’s tincture.
It was time.
“Let’s get on with it,” Lilura commanded. “And Hunter, once you shoot that thing, someone’s bound to call the cops. So use it as a last resort.”
Hunter grunted, obviously displeased with this instruction.
Like a gang of misfits, we approached the house. Wind rustled through the trees. The backdrop of a starlit sky framed our destination. None of us spoke. My heart played a fierce drum roll in my chest.
As we hit the porch, Lilura held her hand out toward the door. It clicked open at her will. I cringed, waiting for an alarm to go off, but was only met by silence. Signaling for us to follow, she led us inside.
Chase reached beside the door, hitting his hand on the wall. “The lights aren’t working.”
Suddenly, candlelight magically appeared, casting a dim light in the room.
“I spotted the candles when the door opened,” Mara whispered.
Lilura stepped forward, chin up and nose in the air as if she c
ould sniff the Reaper out. “We’ve got something of yours,” she shouted. Taking the staff piece from Hunter, she started to chant. She held the piece of metal up, slowly waving it around, as her voice diminished and inaudible words tumbled from her lips.
The growl of the Reaper filled the room. The shadow that appeared on the wall was in the form of a tattered cloak. No scythe. I had realized it back on Kelly’s roof too. We’d taken his weapon. It was just a guess that he might want it back badly enough to materialize for us. When the black eyes appeared in the shadow on the wall, I knew my hunch was right.
I slung an arrow into my crossbow and raised it, keeping my eye trained on the Reaper as he moved across the wall. I released my arrow, but the Reaper was too fast. Not only did he dodge my arrow, but daggers from the rest of the gang stuck into the wall where he once was.
We readied our weapons once again. I tried to judge the Reaper’s flight path, keeping ahead of him, such as Chase had taught me with his toy helicopter. But I couldn’t keep track. He zigzagged through the room so fast, it made me dizzy. It was almost as if he was coming at me from two directions.
Finally, I was able to track him. Just as I was ready to pull my trigger, the ground beneath us shook violently. The sparse furniture rattled, and books and lamps fell to the floor. I lost the grip on my crossbow, my arrow slipping out and bouncing off the hardwood. Lilura stumbled backward, but Hunter rushed forward and caught her before she totally lost her footing.
My eyes scanned the walls until I found the dark figure hovering in the corner.
“There!”
I grabbed the arrow off the floor and swung it into my crossbow, gritting my teeth as I aimed. The Reaper opened his mouth, strings of flesh and saliva stretching between his gray lips. I pulled my trigger, but as I did, the Reaper charged. His tattered cloak billowed wildly behind him as he zoomed above our heads. And as he let out a thunderous shriek, all the windows of the house shattered at once. Glass flew everywhere, and we had to crouch and raise our arms to protect ourselves from the fallout.
My Tethered Soul: Volume 2 (Reaper's Rite) Page 14
