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Chapter 33
“And then, Steve said to follow him, so I did. But we forgot the potion, so I went back and got it. And Rupert was with us, but later, he died. And I was really sad about that. So I researched that if you keep the healing potion, you can save him, so I’m going to restart when I get home and see if that works.”
Ira was standing next to her desk, telling her a story about Minecraft, and Ru was nodding along, even though she had no idea what he was talking about. “Wow, Ira, that sounds interesting. Can you tell me one more thing and then save the rest for recess?”
“Sure,” he replied. The young boy continued to talk, but Ru was no longer listening at all. She caught a glimpse of Cutter over his shoulder in the hallway. He glanced in her direction and then looked away, taking his class down the hall, likely headed toward lunch, which is where Ru would be taking her friends in just a few minutes. Retu
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Reaper's Hollow Chapter 34
Ru sat on her couch, her legs crisscrossed, her hands up, her eyes closed. She was doing her best to concentrate. If what Cutter said was true, and she really did have the same powers flowing within her, then she should be able to do what he had done. A little more research online, including the pages she’d found earlier where the kids were experimenting with powers like these, and she thought maybe now was the time to try it.Attempting to clear her mind, she concentrated on feeling her own energy flow freely through her body, visualizing a spark at her fingertips. Occasionally, she would think she felt something and opened her eyes to see—nothing. After a few hours, she collapsed onto the sofa, frustrated. “Gee, Ru, I wonder why you can’t make fire with your fingers? Maybe because everything Cutter said was made-up bullshit?”Her phone rang, and she sighed, hoping she hadn’t somehow just summoned hi
Reaper's Hollow Chapter 35
Ru stood on the top of a mountain, barren of any sort of life except for a few scraggly bushes in the distance. She felt the wind pick up, blowing the long white dress she wore out behind her. She was looking down into a rocky cavern illuminated by the moonlight, but she felt a presence behind her. Turning slowly, she wasn’t at all surprised to see the man standing there. Dressed in his black cloak, with his hood down around his shoulders, he stared at her. Even from twenty feet away, his green eyes seemed to penetrate her very soul.“How are you, Rune?” he asked, his melodic voice ringing out into the open air and dancing on the breeze. This time, his mouth moved. It was as if they were old friends.“Thanatos,” she said, acknowledging him. “What are we doing here?”“I wanted to speak to you,” he replied, no
Reaper's Hollow Chapter 36
Cutter opened his eyes and blinked a few times as his spirit form completely reunited with his body. It was a skill that had taken a while for him to learn at the age of five, but now, over twenty years later, he definitely had it down. The room was dark and a glance at the clock said it was about 3:30 in the morning.He was sitting on his bed in what one might call a lotus position, as he had been hours ago when he’d left his body to stay with Ru. He’d tried not to spy on her; the last thing he needed was for her to think he was invading her privacy, but he’d been certain for the last few weeks that Nat was stalking her. He’d showed up a time or two while Cutter was nearby but hadn’t attempted to manipulate her again. Until tonight.Jumping into Ru’s vision was a last resort, but it had been necessary. Nat’s promises were compelling, and he could tell from the moment he began to fill Ru’s
Reaper's Hollow Chapter 37
Rider had been hopping from one subconscious to another, attempting to pinpoint the location of the Reaper. He knew there was one nearby, but hunting in NYC was never easy. So many minds in such a compact area made it tough to find anyone.He’d just left a small boy dreaming about a day at the zoo with his parents when he got the sense a Reaper was in the same building. Jumping out of the dream, but staying in his spirit form, Rider felt with his mind. She was definitely close by, and she was no stranger.Following his instinct, Rider propelled himself into the mind of a woman on the third floor. Her sleep was not purely natural, as the empty bottles next to the bed would confess, and once he wound his way through thick layers of black, inky tendrils of depression and alcohol induced stupor, he landed in a dream that looked very much like the room she slept in.The woman, an African American lady who appeared to
Reaper's Hollow Chapter 38
Nat stood before a wide window, staring out at a rocky mountain range illuminated by a red and orange sky. In the distance, two dragons chased each other through the air, bursts of fire punctuating their attempts to char each other beyond recognition. Occasionally, one of the lumbering beasts would collide with the mountainside, sending a boulder or two tumbling into the valley below. While the red dragon seemed to have the upper hand at the moment, its elongated neck and sharp, black talons formidable, the smaller, more agile black dragon was able to thwart his foe by darting around behind him. Nat was secretly cheering for the black dragon as he could identify with its underdog position, but he also wouldn’t have cared if they both turned each other into piles of ash.None of it was real, of course. He could visualize whatever he liked out of this window since, in this realm, he could control matter much more easily than in the human world. Somet
Reaper's Hollow Chapter 39
Ru awoke to the sound of her cell phone ringing. She glanced at the clock and saw it was past 10:00. Wiping sleep from her eyes, she picked up the annoying device and saw Candice’s face smiling up at her. With a deep breath, she answered. “Hello?”“Hey there, sunshine! Whatcha up to?”Ru wondered how someone who likely drank half her weight in tequila shots the night before could sound so chipper. “Nothing,” she replied, pulling herself up into a half-sitting, half-slouched position. “What are you up to?”“Did I wake you?” Candice exclaimed. “You’re almost always up with the rooster. What’s going on?”“Nothing. I just… had a rough night.” Thoughts of her dream, and the aftermath, filled her mind, and Ru looked down at her free hand. Had she really created a glowing blue light there a few hours
Reaper's Hollow Chapter 40
Cutter found a table toward the front of the coffee shop. He’d left a few minutes after he’d gotten off the phone with Ru. Having stayed up most of the night after leaving her, he was exhausted, so the coffee house didn’t come as a suggestion just as a neutral place to meet but also as a place where he might find a reboot. He sipped the strong java and felt a little more alive as he stared out the window, waiting for her to arrive.He’d been hoping she’d call all morning. Surely, a situation like the one the night before would give her a little bit more of a clue that his story wasn’t fictional. She’d have to have some idea that it wasn’t just an ordinary dream. He wondered what information Liddy had shared with her about Seraphina, and if it was also helping her see the truth in his claims.. Still, finding Seraphina would be even more of a challenge than finding Ru.He saw her walk in and
Reaper's Hollow Chapter 41
“What about Larkin’s ancestor. Ronobe? Where is he?” Ru asked“Same place as Larkin,” Cutter replied. “Although he has managed to escape many times, which is how Larkin came to be.”“And Thanatos mentioned his father. Azrael?”Once again, Cutter nodded. “He was sent to Hell a long time ago, but like Ronobe, he occasionally escapes, and one of us has to catch him. Azrael is one of the few original Archangels who have fallen that continues to operate on this side of eternal damnation from time to time.”“Why is that?”“Because, originally, he was sanctioned by God with the duty of collecting names and recording them in the book. But once we realized he was allowing Reapers to collect unmarked souls without ramifications, he too was damned.”Ru took another sip and then puzz
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