“So, you came to join us? Are there others of your kind?” I asked, closing my eyes. The last thing I needed was another lecture on the importance of Krista being raised.
There are exactly fifty of us who will stand with you. Many of my kind will not, for the pure fact that it means choosing a side. We usually choose to remain neutral during times of war. Reapers benefit from the loss of lives on both sides. Choosing would mean giving up the rights to the other side’s souls. However, if this queen is successful, we will no longer have work and will become extinct.
“Fifty’s pretty good, right?” I asked slowly.
There are thousands of us, so this is a mere drop in the bucket. I would like to say that I can get more, but they will take convincing. We will help you raise your third. We will protect that balance; nothing will come through us without meeting Death.
“Are you serious?” I asked, my heartbeat increasing. I felt like I was going to faint myself.
I never lie. Usually what is given to Death cannot be returned. In this case, however, she was not a reaped soul; she was never taken to her final resting place. This means that we can assist in a resurrection because we are not taking from Death. We are merely taking her from Purgatory.
Helen started to stir as she came to. I could hear her whimpering, which meant she felt pain somewhere.
“I would suggest putting the hood back on,” I suggested, nodding towards Helen. “Can you wait in the kitchen while I talk to them?” I asked.
Death nodded and turned to leave.
“Do you have a name other than Death?” I asked. “If there’s one thing that I have learned over the last year, it is that even when parted from the mortal world; we all have a name.”
I was called Peter once. I would like to be named Peter again.
“Then Peter you shall be,” I said, smiling.
He left the room without responding. I could see it was a challenge understanding the emotions of a reaper, especially when they gave no outward sign of what they were thinking or feeling.
Helen’s eyes sprang open, and she jumped to her feet. She wobbled for a second and stared around the room, looking confused and disoriented.
“Where is he?” she demanded, turning in a complete circle.
“Where’s who?” I asked, laughing.
“Death! I saw Death! Why are you laughing?” she screamed.
“He’s in the kitchen,” I told her. I didn’t know why I was finding this so funny. Seeing Helen so disoriented did give me a sense of satisfaction. Her outward aura came across as impenetrable, but her brush with the Reaper Peter only made her appear more human.
“What? Why is he in the kitchen?” she asked, her eyes wide. “You know what it means if you see Death, right?” Her mouth was twitching uncontrollably, which sent me into a fit of giggles.
“Yes, yes, I know all that. But he didn’t mean to frighten you. He’s here to join us; not kill us.”
I put my hands on my hips. I really needed to get my mother up, so I didn’t have to say this all over again. I walked over and shook her shoulder. Slowly her eyes opened, and after a few seconds, she too jumped to her feet.
“Don’t go setting things on fire now, Mom,” I warned. “Death is in the kitchen, but he isn’t here to hurt us. He’s here to join us.”
My mother let out a big breath. “Well, I suppose that makes more sense. He gave me a fright, I admit.” She brushed off her pants and tidied her hair.
“Trust you to take it like a champ,” I murmured. “He says there are fifty of them who want to ally with us.”
“Only fifty?” said Helen. “That’s not very many.”
“Well, it’s fifty more than we had.” I was trying to be optimistic, and she had just rained on my parade.
“She’s right,” my mother intervened, stepping out of her corner. She swayed a little but caught herself.
“So, he’s here to join us, huh?” Helen asked. “Well, he scared the shit out of me.”
“Well, I can understand that,” I conceded. “It doesn’t help that he can’t talk. All you get is this voice in your head.”
“I’d better go and talk to him,” said my mother.
“His name is Peter,” I told her.
“Death’s name is Peter?” My mother looked surprised. “I’ve known him for centuries, and I never thought to ask his name.”
She turned and disappeared into the kitchen.
“Did he say anything else?” Helen asked as soon as she was gone.
“Yeah, they’re going to come with us to the gravesite tonight to give us protection.”
“That’s nice of them.” She looked bewildered. “Usually Death won’t let us bring back a lost soul.”
“Krista isn’t lost. We know where she is. And Death didn’t take her, so it doesn’t count. She willed herself to an angel.”
“Still, she is considered dead.” Helen started pacing. “I guess we should be happy that we have allies already showing.”
“Yeah, I guess.” I looked at the clock on the wall. “It’s time we got our shit on the road and did a bit more training. We only get one shot tonight, and we need to make sure we do it right.”
****
We practiced all day to get every last detail correct. As twilight approached, we loaded up into the cars and drove to the cemetery where Krista’s body had been laid to rest eighteen years earlier. The ground was damp with recent rain, which in itself was odd because it hadn’t rained at the manor. We walked four rows in, three headstones down, and there it was; Krista’s tombstone. It was worn from the weather, but otherwise untouched. Bits of dead flowers littered the ground around the stone, leading me to believe that her adoptive parents had been there in the last few months to pay their respects.
My mother smiled at the stone then reached out and touched it softly. I could see the sentiment in her eyes as she paid her respects. The moment my mother’s hands left the smooth surface, the wind suddenly picked up. It was so intense I was nearly knocked off my feet. That was when she stepped out of the shadows: a blonde-haired woman in her early forties with her hands lifted above her head.
“You came!” my mother exclaimed, running towards the woman, and wrapping her arms around her.
“I wasn’t sure if I believed you, Angie. I’m still not sure. She’s been dead for so long,” the woman said dully.
My mother called me over. “Dawn, this is Adrianne. She was Krista’s adoptive mother.”
I held out my hand. She hesitated at first, then grasped it firmly.
“Oh God, is it true?” she cried. “Are you really going to bring my baby girl back from the dead?”
“I’m sure going to try,” I stammered as Helen came up behind me.
“Both of you! Oh my! I never thought I would see the day.” Adrianne held onto both of us, the tears streaming down her face. Then she caught sight of Peter and his group taking their positions around the tombstone and gasped.
“Don’t worry, they’re with us,” I explained, trying to reassure her.
“But they’re reapers?” she exclaimed, looking at my mother. “How did you get reapers?”
“Apparently Peter is an old friend of mine from my days on the cloud,” my mother murmured.
“Well, this is a blessing in itself! Even Death is helping to raise the dead.” Adrianne pushed past us and approached the headstone. “What do you need me to do?”
“I just need your power,” my mother said softly, taking Adrianne’s hand. “We have quite a bit of it here. We just need a little more.” She smiled at me. “When the wind picks up Dawn is going to have to fight to keep the flame lit. I’ll need a little extra power to make sure that the wind doesn’t hit as too hard.”
“Anything, Angie. Anything to bring my daughter back.” She squeezed my mother’s hand.
“It’s time,” my father announced, taking his position next to Shawn and Minerva.
Everything was prepared and ready to go. The scene looked like this: on
e circle of fifty reapers, one ring of purebloods and Carriers, and me and Helen in the center of the ring. I concentrated and managed to light only a white flame, which spread around the circle, enclosing us, and keeping all others out. The purpose of the flame was to purify the area. That way there was no chance that Krista could come back dark. She would return in the exact state she was in before she died.
The ground began to crack and shake as Helen took to the air. Her white wings were gorgeous and at any other time would have been a distraction. A crack began to form in the dirt by the headstone, and little by little, the casket made its way to the surface.
I reached out with my other hand and forced the lid off. Krista’s body was perfectly preserved as if it had just been buried there the day before. She looked gorgeous and so peaceful with her hands crossed over her chest. Suddenly the earth around us started to sing in unison, words that I didn’t understand but repeated to the best of my ability. I knew I was getting some of them wrong, but I had a feeling God would forgive me.
The wind started to pick up, just as my mother had predicted. It seemed to breathe life back into the dead girl’s body, nature’s way of giving CPR. Then, unexpectedly, the fire burnt out and the world went silent. I thought that I had done something wrong and tried to relight the flame, but nothing would come from my hands, no matter how hard I tried. Suddenly I felt torn. My body lurched, and I fell to the ground. My knees hit the earth hard and pain radiated through my body. A burning sensation in my soul caused me to cry out. Then it was gone. All I felt was the pain from my fall. I pulled myself to my feet and looked at my mother. She appeared concerned but was clearly too afraid to break the circle and run to my aid.
Helen touched down on the earth, her eyes gray and weary. I gave her a confused look. This hadn’t happened in the trial runs. What did it mean? Had it worked? Did we bring her back?
“We wait,” she said, wrapping her arms around me.
Nobody moved. I was about to give up hope when I heard it. First, it was a soft cough, then a sharp breath, and finally… words.
“Can you hear me?” Krista’s voice cracked as if she was parched.
“Oh, my God!”
I flew from Helen and bent over the casket. Krista was blinking, she was breathing, and she was alive!
“I knew you would be the first face I see, dark one,” she said, smiling awkwardly up at me.
I reached in and took her hands in mine, helping her sit up. I heard gasps and cries as I attempted to help her from her prison.
“You going to be able to do this?” I asked her softly.
“I haven’t walked on my own two legs in eighteen years, Dawn. I have a feeling it isn’t like riding a bike.” She laughed hoarsely.
I motioned to Shawn to come into the circle. He lifted Krista from the casket and held her tight to his chest.
“Don’t worry, little lady. We’ll get you to the house, where you can change into something chicer and more up-to-date,” he teased her.
She laughed and wrapped her arms around his neck.
I looked back at Adrianne as my mother comforted her. She was hysterical with happiness; then again, I think I would have been too if I’d just seen my child raised from the dead eighteen years after she was murdered. I walked over to her and slipped an arm around her shoulders.
“You’re coming back to the house?” I asked as she sobbed.
“Yes, yes, I have some clothes for her in the car.” She smiled at me. “Thank you; thank you, all of you.”
Peter gave me a polite nod. I had the feeling that he was smiling inside. Then, with another gust of wind, the reapers were gone. I would never forget what they had done for us that night.
We will return if we are needed.
Peter’s voice echoed in my head. I felt a sudden peace. With the reapers on our side, how could we lose? More would be coming; I knew that for certain.
****
Upon returning to the house, we were welcomed with cheers from Adam as he jumped around squealing about how we had done it. I found myself wondering what he had managed to get into, but then I realized he was just excited.
Krista ate more than I could have done in three meals, shoveling food into her mouth without chewing. It was actually quite disgusting to watch, but then again, she hadn’t eaten in over eighteen years. She was amazing; her voice far more angelic than it had been in my visions. She thanked all of us and held onto her mother with all her might. It was an unexpected and unsurpassable reunion.
It took her a few days to get walking again. She hadn’t been kidding when she said she wasn’t sure how to use a real body anymore. She had to be retaught a lot of basic movements without sending gusts of wind through the house and breaking the glass. The control of her power was even more erratic than mine.
I was sitting in the living room watching a horror movie one evening when Krista walked in. She had taken to the new style nicely and had on a pair of flared jeans and a purple baby doll shirt with “Angel” written in sparkly silver letters across the chest. She took a seat next to me and looked at the screen. I took my eyes away from the TV long enough to watch as her eyes grew wider and her mouth opened in shock.
“You really like this stuff?” she asked.
“Yeah. It’s nice to watch something that I don’t have a hand in. For the hour and a half I watch a movie I feel normal,” I answered her truthfully.
“I don’t see how this makes you feel normal. I mean, watching this should make you feel empowered.” She looked at me and smiled slowly.
“How is this going to make me feel empowered?” I laughed, pulling my knees closer to my body.
“Because we are meant to stop things like this from happening. Look here; this demon seems to think that he can inhabit anyone’s body that he wants. It’s our job to stop that. You’ve seen the possessed first hand. They are quite frightening.” She looked back at the TV.
“I guess you could say that. Never thought of it that way.” More truth.
“You know, back when I was alive things were a bit different.” She spoke as if she was still floating in Purgatory. I supposed it was going to take some getting used to, being back in a living body. “I never saw anyone die. Not until that night John killed me.”
“I’ve meant to ask you a question about that,” I said, losing interest in the movie.
“Anything.” She turned to face me.
“Mara said you knew what he was. Yet you still loved him?”
I saw her eyes cloud up. “John was very dear to me. When I met him all I saw was the good in him. That boy would give the shirt off his back to a homeless man if it meant giving him just an ounce of comfort. He was giving, kind and honest. I should have known when he went away; he would come back changed. I held onto hope though. I hoped that he wouldn’t find the darkness that was in him.” Her smile faded, and she looked lost for a moment.
“He hurt you, and yet you still came for him when he meant to do me in,” I said softly.
“I will always love him. Even the eighteen years I spent in Purgatory wasn’t enough to make me stop. You still love your Wesley even after he betrayed you,” she reminded me. It was a valid point. I did still love my blue-eyed boy.
“You may be right. What happened that day? I only saw some of it.” I hoped that I wasn’t crossing an imaginary line.
“I met him at a restaurant, where we had dinner. There were four of us: John, his friend Ryan, Ryan’s girlfriend, and me. John lost his cool in the parking lot outside the restaurant. I had received a phone call while we were at dinner and I was concerned it was the girl I had seen in the drawings. He hit me. You saw all of that. The whole thing went so fast that before I knew it, I was scared and crouched in his closet. My last moments were the worst moments of my life. When he had taken the last bit of innocence from me, all I willed for was death. Nobody was there to save me. I didn’t have any amazing friends as you do.” She ran her fingers through her blonde hair.
“You don�
��t remember much then, do you?” I asked as she looked toward her feet.
“No, just the fragments that I have in my sleep now and then.” She looked tired suddenly at the thought of sleep.
“You know, anytime you need me I’m just one door down,” I reassured her.
“Thank you, Dawn.” She reached out to grasp my hand. “You know the same goes for you.”
“What’s going on in here?”
I heard Adam’s voice from behind the couch. We both looked up to see him staring back at us.
“Nothing. Just watching a movie,” I said, hitting play on the remote.
Our brief moment of getting to know each other was over.
“Ah, yes,” said Adam, glancing at the TV, “an oldie but a goodie.”
Krista let out a snort, and Adam frowned.
“Let’s not forget I’m thirty-six years old, trapped in an eighteen-year-old body,” Krista said, laughing.
“You know, for an old lady you’re pretty hot.” Adam winked at her and Krista roared with laughter once more.
I looked at Adam and frowned. I had never heard him hit on anyone, and here he was flirting with Krista. It was odd how it made me feel funny, not quite how it was with Helen, but still there under the skin.
“Adam, you’re a charmer,” Krista told him. “Your girlfriend must be so happy to have you,” she teased.
I liked how she reminded him of Nadine. The last few days I’d developed the feeling that he had forgotten all about her.
“Yeah, she’s pretty lucky.” He winked again and jumped over the back of the couch, taking a seat between the two of us. “Of course, right now I think I’m pretty lucky. I have an awesome best friend, and I have you, beautiful.”
“Oh, please.” I poked him with my big toe.
*****
Mom sent Adam back to Midvale with his father a few days later. The reapers promised to keep them safe, and that put my mother at ease. Adam would be returning after school ended, with his father to continue training. Mom thought it was best that way. It was already raising eyebrows that both Adam and I were missing. It was starting to get around that we had run off to elope. Teenagers and their rumors, right?
Smoke & Ash (Wardens Series Book 2) Page 26
