by Apryl Baker
“Five days.”
“What? I don’t understand.”
“The creatures that attacked you, they didn’t just go after flesh. They consumed part of your soul.” Gramps takes her hand. “You were very sick, Ella.”
“Something can really take your soul?”
“It can. More than a few things, actually.”
“Did you find a way to stop them?”
Gramps looks to me, and I have no idea how to tell her we can’t do jack to stop them.
“Gramps? Eli?” She swings her head between the two of us. “What’s going on?”
“We can’t do anything to stop them, Shortcake.”
She gasps like I hit her. “We have to!”
I sit back down and take her other hand. I tell her about the town pact and how the primordial evil keeps his children under control. If we killed him, they’d be free to roam.
“How do you know all this? Did the historian lady tell you?”
“No. Do you remember me telling you about the other living reaper?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, she’s more than just a reaper. I can’t tell you what because I can’t betray her confidence, but she and her husband came here. The three of us sat down and talked to the thing.”
“You talked to it?” Her eyes just about bug out of her head. If this wasn’t so serious, I’d laugh.
“Yeah. The bench is there for just that. It said most people just come in guns blazing, but if you sit, it will have a conversation with you. I’m not saying it won’t decide to kill you afterward, but it explained the town pact to us and why it agreed. We can’t kill it, or we’d doom who knows how many people. It’s not a risk we can take, Ella. As much as I hate to admit it, there’s nothing we can do.”
“Wasn’t she engaged to your brother? She married someone else?”
Of course she picked up on that and nothing else. I close my eyes. How the heck am I supposed to get out of this?
“She was engaged to his brother and is married to him,” Gramps says. “He’s Dan’s half-brother, and they don’t know each other well.”
“So, you do have family left alive?” Her green eyes bore into me, demanding answers.
“Yes, but I screwed him over. That’s why I’m here, and he hasn’t really called me. He came to protect Mattie, not me.”
“How did you screw him over?”
“My dad was married before he met my mother. Amelia was her name. She died when Caleb was little. She was pregnant when she died. We found out that Dan’s adoptive mother killed her and stole Dan. Dad didn’t know because the car crash was so bad, it burned everything to ashes. Caleb and I overheard Dan tell Mattie about it, and I called the cops, had his mother arrested and put in jail. She’s serving a life sentence now.”
“That’s not your fault, Eli. You did the right thing.”
“That’s what Mattie said. She even told me Dan would have eventually turned her in himself. He’s a cop, and he has this thing with always doing the right thing. I don’t know if he’s ever really forgiven me for forcing his hand, though. I know if it was me, I wouldn’t forgive him. I barely knew him before everything happened, and without Dad and Caleb in the picture…there’s not really a lot for us to bond over.”
“But he’s your family. You have to try.”
I shrug. I’m still not sure I believe that the Angels won’t try to kill my brother.
“Did he say anything to you when he was here?”
“Yeah, he said to call him.”
“See, he’s willing. You just have to be willing too.”
Again, I shrug. I don’t want to talk about this with her because it might mean more lying, and that’s the last thing I want to do.
“We have more to tell you. Your dad, he went hunting the thing.”
She shoots up. “Is he dead?”
“No. God, no. Calm down, Shortcake.”
She falls back, her face white. I really scared her.
“He was the only one who survived. He’s in the hospital.”
“How did he get away?”
“Mattie. She was there and saved him.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know. She didn’t tell me, and your dad has been hush-hush about the whole thing.”
“I need to go see him.”
“First we need to get you back to Rose Hill without anyone discovering you’re here and not there.”
I tell her about our escape from the hospital and how she got here before she can ask.
“How did she do that?”
“She’s got her full reaping abilities and can travel The Between.”
“I can’t do that.”
“You might not ever be able to. She’s not like you, Ella. She has more than just the blood of a reaper in her.”
“And you can’t tell me what else?”
“It’s not my truth to tell. My job is to protect her, and people knowing what she is, they’d want to hunt her. I have to guard her secrets to keep her safe.”
“It’s okay, Eli. I understand.”
“I’m going to go make sure I can take you home and then pull the truck around the back. We’ll need to have someone bring your Jeep home when it gets dark.”
“Thanks, Gramps. Appreciate it.”
“Hey.” Ella nudges me with her knee. “You okay?”
She looks so tiny and fragile lying there in such a big bed. There are no wires or IVs hooked to her, and despite that, she appears even more breakable than she did when the car hit her. I promise myself she’ll never be in this situation again.
Even if I know it’s a lie.
“Me?” I scoff, trying and probably failing to grin. “I’m not the one slacking off by sleeping the days away.”
“It’s not like I did it on purpose.” She pats the bed beside her, and I lie down next to her. “I was back in that dark place again where all I could hear were whispers. There was someone there with me, but I can’t remember who or what we talked about.”
“Maybe it was Selena?”
“No, I don’t think so. I do remember a distinct warning, though, Eli. Something about danger and staying away. I have to wonder if it was the creatures that did this to me.”
“Maybe.”
“I get why we can’t go up there and kill the monster. I do, but we have to tell the people who live here. They deserve to know why they’re dying. I think if we lay it out there, they’ll agree.”
“This price, it’s wrong, Ella, on so many levels.”
“I know. My grandfather, who was a soldier, once told me that if you want to win the war, you have to be prepared to lose some battles. I think this is a battle we aren’t going to win. And maybe it’s one we shouldn’t.”
My gut says she’s right.
“You ready to go home?”
She sighs and snuggles into me. “Is it bad I don’t want to go anywhere? I’m too tired to deal with my parents.”
“Then we’ll stay here for a little while longer. You still need to eat.”
“Promise you won’t leave me alone?”
“Never, Shortcake.”
“No more crazy monsters. From now on, let’s stick to ghosts. They’re plenty creepy enough for me.”
“How do you feel about haunted houses?”
“As long as they’re free of soul-sucking monsters, I’m down.”
“Good, because with Halloween on the horizon, the haunted houses and haunted hayrides and things are going to start popping up.”
“Ohh, I love Halloween. It’s my favorite holiday.”
“It’s also your birthday.”
“It is. But that’s not why I love it. The closer we get, the more you’ll understand why Halloween is my holiday.”
“Good stuff, Shortcake. You go to sleep, then we’ll feed you and get you home.”
She yawns and settles down. “Eli?”
“Hmm?”
“You did save me, you know. Whatever it was you did that caused that
bright light, that’s what stunned them long enough for you to get me out. I can feel how anxious you are, so don’t be so worried anymore. No matter what, you saved me.”
“I always will, Ella.”
I kiss her forehead and hold her while she drifts off to sleep.
There is a war brewing, a war with even greater evils coming out of the woodwork. It’s been looming for years. One that won’t end here. One that will end with my other charge.
How many more battles will we have to lose before we win the war, though? And how many of those will involve Ella?
Only time will tell. And in the meantime, I’m going to do my best to make sure she has as much fun as she can.
I close my eyes, and soon enough, I’m asleep right along with her.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
So who am I? Well, I’m the crazy girl with an imagination that never shuts up. I LOVE scary movies. My friends laugh at me when I scare myself watching them and tell me to stop watching them, but who doesn’t love to get scared? I grew up in a small town nestled in the southern mountains of West Virginia where I spent days roaming around in the woods, climbing trees, and causing general mayhem. Nights I would stay up reading Nancy Drew by flashlight under the covers until my parents yelled at me to go to sleep.
Growing up in a small town, I learned a lot of values and morals, I also learned parents have spies everywhere and there’s always someone to tell your mama you were seen kissing a particular boy on a particular day just a little too long. So when you get grounded, what is there left to do? Read! My Aunt Jo gave me my first real romance novel. It was a romance titled “Lord Margrave’s Deception.” I remember it fondly. But I also learned I had a deep and abiding love of mysteries and anything paranormal. As I grew up, I started to write just that and would entertain my friends with stories featuring them as main characters.
Now, I live Huntersville, NC where I entertain my niece and nephew and watch the cats get teased by the birds and laugh myself silly when they swoop down and then dive back up just out of reach. The cats start yelling something fierce…lol.
I love books, I love writing books, and I love entertaining people with my silly stories.
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