by Apryl Baker
“What about Dan?” I ask. “Dan knows a lot. We both spilled the beans earlier.”
“I took care of Daniel earlier,” Silas says, his grin wider. “You may have to go and untie him, though.”
“What?” I shout and jump up. “What did you do to Dan?”
“Oh for the love of…sit down! That old man over there is becoming much too curious. If you don’t behave, I may have to go over there and pull his stomach out through his nose. It will be very unpleasant for him, but very therapeutic for me after the day I’ve had.”
I glance over to see Mr. Burnett frowning at us. He’s a nice old geezer, always smiling and helping out people in the neighborhood. I’d seen him help Mrs. Moore unload her groceries just this morning. I can’t let Silas hurt him.
“Hey, Mr. Burnett!” I wave.
“Everything okay, Mattie?” he hollers.
“Yes, sir! This is my cousin, Silas Crane. He and I are just getting acquainted.”
The old man frowns, but doesn’t say much else. The entire block knows I’d found my dad. I’m hoping Mr. Burnett will leave it be and take it at face value.
“You going inside?” he calls.
“No, sir, not until Silas leaves.”
He nods and goes back to his flowers. He’d been pulling weeds when we sat down on the swing. As long as I’m outside where he can watch me, he assumes I’m safer. Nice old coot. I’m just glad the porch railing blocked what Silas had been doing to my arm.
“Good girl.” Silas beams like a proud papa. “You do please me, my girl. You please me more than you’ll ever know.”
“I don’t care if I please you or not,” I snap back. “What did you do to Dan?”
“I had to test the new design on someone before I tried it on you.” Silas shrugged. “Dan’s apartment isn’t demon-proofed so I tied the boy to his bed and imprinted the design upon him first. He survived it, so I came here.”
“The blood on your hands from before, was that Dan’s?” Fear takes root in my stomach and everything in me wants to run to find Dan, but the demon sitting next to me keeps me still. If I push, he could go back and kill Dan.
“No, not his. I had to collect a debt, and was already irritated because I had to call in two markers to get the souls I needed for the designs. When my mark ran away, I took my frustration out on him. I do so love a good gouging.” His fingers flex, as if sinking them into someone and I cringe away from him.
“So Dan’s okay?” I ask, cautious.
“He was still breathing when I left him.” Silas shrugs and stands up. “Now, you and I are going to need to chat more about your father, but I have some business to attend to first. There is a very talented young actor who is in need of my services. One has to adore Hollywood. Do try to stay out of trouble until I return.”
I blink and he’s gone. Then I’m up and running for my phone on the kitchen table. Dan doesn’t answer. I didn’t really expect him to, but I needed to try. Next call. Eli picks up on the first ring.
“What’s wrong and why the hell haven’t you been answering your phone?”
“We need to get to Dan’s.” I can hear my voice crack and fight back the sob that’s threatening. I don’t have time to break down right now. “Silas did something to him and he’s not answering his phone.”
“Caleb and I are in Boone,” Eli says, frustrated. “Call Dad. He’s still in Charlotte. I put Dad’s number in your phone.”
I don’t even say ’bye, just disconnect and dig through my contacts for J. Malone. He answers on the third ring. “Hello?”
“Mr. Malone, it’s Mattie. Silas did something to Dan!”
“Where are the two of you?” he asks, voice rough but calm.
“I’m home and Dan is at his apartment, I think.”
“Can you meet me there?”
“No! I don’t have a ride. Can you pick me up? I have a key to Dan’s place. Please hurry, Mr. Malone. Silas said he was still breathing, but…”
“I’ll be there in twenty minutes.”
The phone goes dead and I shove it in my pocket.
Please, please let Dan be okay.
Chapter Twenty-Four
By the time Mr. Malone picks me up and we reach Dan’s apartment, an hour has passed. I know logically, if he’s tied up he can’t answer the phone, but that doesn’t stop this insane fear in my gut. I’m so scared I can’t stop shaking. I can’t lose Dan, I just can’t.
I’m out of the SUV and running even before Mr. Malone can stop. His apartment is on the third floor. That elevator ride feels like a slow crawl. All I can think about is finding Dan cold and dead, tied to his bed because a demon decided to use him as guinea pig. This is on me.
When I get the door open, I shout his name, but can’t hear anything. Did Silas gag him? The bedroom door is firmly closed. When I open it, I freeze. Dan is lying face down on his bed, tied spread eagle with a piece of duct tape over his mouth. Mr. Malone pushes me aside and rushes to check his pulse. Then he’s on his phone, calling 911. All I can do is stare, frozen, like a statue.
Dan has always been my rock, the one person who never let me down. To see him lying there helpless opens a deep, dark rift inside of me. Rage and anger bubble out, and it has to go somewhere. All I can feel is the burn of the rage running rampant through me. Silas will pay for this!
“Mattie?”
I glance to where Mr. Malone is eying me warily.
“Mattie, your eyes…”
“What about my eyes?” I ask.
“They’re turning black.”
Black? Black is the color of a demon’s eyes. I can’t think about that right now. “Will he be okay?” I ask instead.
Mr. Malone sighs while cutting the bindings. “I don’t know. There are no physical wounds, so I’m not sure what happened. Do you know what Silas did to him?”
I nod. I wish I didn’t. “He used him to test a design to make me immune to my father’s truth trick. When Dan survived it, Silas did the same thing to me.”
“I don’t see anything like that.” Mr. Malone leans closer and turns Dan over. Dan’s head rolls to one side. There’s a vicious cut near his right temple. Silas must have knocked him out. The rage burns hotter. Silas is going to suffer.
“The design disappears once Silas forces a soul into the wounds. At least, I’m pretty sure that’s what that glowing stuff was in the vial,” I say against the rage.
Mr. Malone’s face pales. “He soul-locked it?”
I resist touching Dan, since that wouldn’t help him. “I don’t know what that means.”
“Mattie, what are you doing here?” It can’t be…
My eyes jerk to the open bedroom door. Dan is standing there, looking at me oddly. I glance back to the bed. His body’s there, but his soul is out. Fudgepops. This means he’s close to death. Where is the freaking ambulance?
“Dan…” I try to speak, but choke on the words. He can’t die. I won’t let him die. No matter what I have to do, I won’t let him die. He’s all I have. Panic swirls, mixing with the barely-controlled rage within.
“He’s going to be okay, Mattie,” Mr. Malone says and wraps an arm around me.
“You don’t see him, but I do,” I whisper, while staring at his soul standing across from me.
“Mattie, what do you see?” Dan asks. “Is there something here?”
I step away from Mr. Malone and Dan’s eyes land on his own body.
“What the…that’s me.” Dan’s face pales. “I’m…dead?”
“Not yet,” I tell him, ignoring Mr. Malone. “I won’t let you die, Dan, I promise. No matter what I have to do, I won’t let you die.”
The EMTs rush into the room and Mr. Malone pulls me to the side while they work on Dan’s body. In a blur, I hear random facts thrown out about a weak and thready pulse and shallow breathing. I pay it no mind. Instead, I watch Ghost-Dan as he stares, horrified, at the EMTs working to stabilize his body.
I hear one of the EMTs curse and glance over just
long enough to see Dan’s heartbeat flat-line on the monitor they’d hooked to him. Mr. Malone rushes over, terrified, but I stay put…for another reason. The doorway to the afterlife has opened. I see the beautiful white light appear, and Dan gazes into it. His face lights up. But as a Reaper, I’ve never looked into the light. Whatever Dan sees, it makes him happy.
“My heart hurts sooo much. “You have to fight it, Dan,” I whisper. “Please.”
“It’s so beautiful, Mattie. It feels…” Dan begins.
NO! “I don’t care how it feels!” I yell, not caring that everyone is staring at me. “If you go into that light, you’re gone. Don’t leave me, Dan. Please, don’t leave me.”
“Squirt…” He takes a step closer to the light. I can feel the pull it has on him because I can feel him. The background noise of the EMTs working dims. All I hear and see is Dan.
“Please, Dan, please don’t go. You promised me. You said you were in it for the long haul. Don’t lie to me again. Please, please stay here with me. Please…” The last word breaks on a sob.
“I’m trying, Mattie, I swear I’m trying, but the light, it’s pulling me into it. I can’t move away from the light.”
Whatever is in that light is going to bugger off. Dan belongs to me. I concentrate on the doorway of light. I’ve never tried to see into it before, but I need to know how to fight this. I dig deep and find the place where my Reaping abilities stay hidden most of the time. In my mind, it’s a dark and murky lake. I imagine myself falling into it, immersing myself in those cold dark waters. When I break free to the surface, I am the lake. I am the Reaper and this time…when I look into the light, I can see.
There is joy and love in that light. A thin net leaks out from the light, much like a spider’s web. On the other side, I can see the Reaper standing there, waiting to lead Dan through The Between. He stares at me from his side of the light with eyes full of sorrow. That sorrow is for me, and pity.
Don’t ever pity Mattie Hathaway.
I reach out with my own little web of light, and wrap it tightly around Dan. The Reaper frowns and shakes his head. I can hear him within.
“What are you doing? It is his time,” the stern voice states.
“No, it’s NOT his time!” I mentally shout. “He belongs to me and you can’t have him.”
The monitor in the background is still flat-lining. Now they’re using the portable defibrillator, trying to restart his heart.
“He’s dying, child. You need to let him go. If he doesn’t come, then you cause the natural cycle of life to tilt, to change. He’s supposed to come with me now.”
The Reaper is stronger than I am, his pull much more forceful. He’s a full Reaper and I’m not. My abilities are new, untrained, and I can’t hold Dan. I can feel him fight, struggle to stay with me, but it’s not working.
“SILAS!” I scream.
“Where?” Mr. Malone is at my side in an instant.
“Be quiet,” I hiss. Sweat breaks out across my forehead as I struggle to hold onto Dan. “SILAS!”
Silas pops into the room. His eyes sweep the scene. “You rang?”
“I need your help,” I tell him, ignoring Mr. Malone, who takes a step away from Silas. The EMTs are too busy with Dan to pay attention to us.
“I can see that,” he purrs. “What will you give me in return?”
“You said I had a freebie,” I snarl. “This is my freebie since you caused this!”
Silas cocks his head, studying me. “I never said which freebie I would grant. He is just a chess piece on the elaborate board we are moving on, Emma Rose. His death does not matter in the grand scheme of things.”
That rage I felt before is back in an instant, and sears every cell in my body. Then I plunge into that place inside that scares me, the place where I can kill without a moment’s thought. I close my eyes, letting my mind settle into the cold, white light. When I open them, Mr. Malone and Silas step back, slowly sliding away from me.
Little does Silas know that I am only getting started. “You are the one responsible for this, Silas. Do you think I won’t find a way to destroy you if he dies? First, I will string you up, flay every speck of skin from your pathetic bones, and laugh while I do it. Second, I will drain you dry and use it to immortalize you in my work, making sure you feel the agony of your own death for as long as I choose. Do you really understand what I will do to you if you let him take Dan from me?”
Silas watches my face, gauging how serious I am.
I growl and take a step toward him. He flinches back. “I will kill you if he dies, Silas. I swear it.”
Silas stands straighter, his decision made. He doesn’t get close to me, however. I think he truly knows in this moment I will kill him no matter the cost to me.
“Your eyes are black, my darling girl. You’ve found that part of yourself I need. You’ve pleased me so much, my sweet child, I will help your Officer Dan.”
Silas turns and stares into the light. The Reaper on the other side gasps and then the web of light holding Dan disintegrates. Silas nods. “You must release him as well, Emma Rose.”
Once I let him go, Silas starts to speak in a language I’ve never even come close to hearing. It’s old, beautiful, and hauntingly familiar.
The monitor starts to beep slowly behind me. They’ve found a pulse. I hear them rushing to lay Dan onto a gurney so they can load him up and get him to the hospital in a big hurry. He’s alive. I turn to see…nothing.
“Where is he?” The fear in my voice is hard to mask, and I don’t care.
“He’s still here, dear girl,” Silas says soothingly. “I had to hide him from the Reapers and that includes you. You can’t see him, but he’s here and can hear every word you say. The choice to live or die is truly up to him now.”
I nod. At least he’s safe from the Reapers.
“You must stay close to him, Emma Rose. I tethered his soul to yours, and if you have any hope of returning it, you can’t stray too far from his body. Do you understand?”
“Yes,” I whisper. “He won’t leave me.”
“Mattie…”
“No!” I glare at Silas. “He won’t leave me.” Please, please don’t leave me. My vision blurs and I sway, falling to my knees. Dan can’t die, he can’t leave me alone.
Please, God, please don’t take him from me.
Then the world goes black.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Three days.
“She hasn’t said a word since we got here,” Mr. Malone says.
It takes three days for the soul to complete its journey from here to the next plane of existence. I don’t know how I know, I just do.
“Has she eaten anything?” Nancy asks.
He looks so pale and helpless lying there.
“Maybe we should make her go home?” Mrs. Cross suggests.
Why won’t he wake up?
“No,” Mr. Malone says. “That might make it worse if you force her to leave.”
Massive head trauma with a brain bleed.
“Dan didn’t leave her the entire time after…well, he stayed by her side,” Mr. Richards murmurs. “If she wants to stay with him, then she can.”
The longer he stays in his coma, the less likely it is he’ll wake up.
“She needs to eat,” Nancy worries.
Three days…is he giving up?
“I’ll make sure she eats and takes a shower,” Eli promises. “Just, Mr. Richards, I know Dan’s mom doesn’t want her here…could you let me know when you’re bringing her by so I can try to keep Mattie out of her crosshairs?”
Dan’s mom blames me and she’s right. This, this really is my fault.
“Of course.” Mr. Richards sighs. “I’m not bringing her back until tomorrow so you’re good for the rest of the night.”
I just want him to open his eyes again.
“Son, I’m taking your mother and Benny home,” Mr. Malone says, his voice quiet. “Caleb and Ava are in the waiting room if you need anything.
”
Please, please, open your eyes.
Eli shuffles over to me. “I’m going to go grab something for us to eat in the cafeteria, Hilda. I’ll be back in just a bit.” His lips feel so warm against my cold skin.
The door swishes shut and it gets so quiet, all I hear is the steady sound of the machines and my own heart pounding in my ears. My hands release Dan’s and I brush the hair back from his forehead. The bandage wrapped around his head is a glaring white against all his chocolate brown hair.
~~~~~~ DAN ~~~~~~
“What if I promise to forgive Meg and be nice to her again?” She leans up to my ear and whispers, “Will you wake up for me then?”
I want to wake up…but I can’t!
I’ve screamed, shouted, begged, but she can’t hear me, can’t see me.
No one can.
I can only watch and listen while the people I love suffer. If I could just let them know I’m here, that I’m trying to come back…I turn and slam my fist into the wall. It goes straight through. It doesn’t hurt, doesn’t relieve any of the anger and frustration inside.
Mattie climbs up into the bed with me and curls into my side. Tears fall from her eyes. I’ve tried to touch her, to let her know I’m here, but I can’t get near her. It’s like there’s a brick wall between us and no matter what I do, I can’t climb over it.
“Don’t give up on me,” she whispers, her voice broken and bruised. “Please, Dan, don’t give up. I need you.”
I hurt so much for her, and I’m not giving up. I just don’t know how to come back. I move to the other side of the bed and watch helplessly as silent sobs shake my Mattie. She’s hurting and I can’t help her. It’s killing me. She’s begged me since she hit my bedside to wake up, to not say good-bye.
Good-bye. It feels like I should say that word. Everything in me says to give in and say good-bye, but then I see my little Squirt and I can’t do it. I won’t do it. I will never say good-bye to her.
My mom was here earlier. She told me it was okay to say good-bye, to let go.
Mattie went after her like a banshee.
