Reaper (18 page)

“So,” she continued. “Maybe they live around here.”

“Oh my gosh.” That hadn’t occurred to me.

“It could explain why they know what Mystery looks like.”

“Hang on,” I said as I made a mad dash out of the truck and back into the house. I returned with Hunter. “Wanna drive around and look?”

“Of course,” René smiled.

I turned left out of my driveway and sped off, driving away from town.

“What exactly are we looking for?” René asked me.

“I don’t really know,” I confessed. “Anything that looks strange.”

“And if we find anything strange…”

“We’ll investigate it!”

“Ok,” she agreed.

I rolled down the windows and slowed the truck to a stop when we were a mile from my house. I closed my eyes and let my shields drop.

“Anything?” René asked.

I shook my head. “Hunter doesn’t sense anything unusual either. Let’s keep going.” I drove another mile and a half down a road I’d yet to travel on. “Nothing,” I muttered after we stopped. Repeating the process, we drove another mile. “The barn is haunted,” I stated and pointed to an old, red barn behind a yellow farmhouse. “The spirit doesn’t feel too intelligent. I’m assuming it’s a residual haunting.”

“Residual?” René asked.

I shifted gears and continued down the road. “Yeah, it means that the ghost is stuck in a broken record patter; it doesn’t know it’s dead.”

“So ghosts like that wouldn’t be able to give you a sign if you asked during a séance, right?”

“Right,” I affirmed. We spent two hours driving around the roads near my house and came up empty handed. It was a little assuring to know that my neighbors weren’t spying on me, at least.

With René, grocery shopping was almost fun. Hunter was stretched out in the backseat, enjoying the cool breeze that blew in from the open windows when we returned with a cartful of groceries.

René left to go to class still feeling slightly disheartened by our wasted search. I gathered up an armload of groceries to go in the freezer in the basement when Laney called.

“Hey!” she said enthusiastically.

“Hey, Laney!” I replied. “How are you?”

“Pretty good, now that I’m out of school for the day. You’re so lucky you graduated early.”

“Yeah,” I agreed. “Though I miss you guys terribly, I
do not
miss high school.”

“Tell me about it,” she laughed. “So,” she said, switching the subject. “Anything
fun
going on?”

“Fun?” I questioned. “Uh, not really. I’m putting away groceries.”

She laughed. “Annie, I don’t mean, normal fun. I can’t say the word because I’m in mixed company.”

“Oh, you mean magical?”

“That or the other, not so fun one.”

“Demons,” I speculated.

“Yes. We need a code word for them,” she requested.

“Kittens,” I automatically suggested and laughed.

“Oh, I like it! And the, uh, fluffier they are, the more dangerous they are.”

I laughed. “It’s good, and it’ll work.” I felt a little bad for not calling Laney and telling her the details of my hallucinations. But that really wasn’t something I was eager to share. “Well, I do have a slight fluff-factor kitten. I don’t even know what’s going on, to be honest.”

“Oh, well let me know when you figure it out.”

“I will,” I promised again. “I miss you, Laney.”

“I miss you too. The barn isn’t as fun without you. Oh, Amanda left.”

“Why?” I asked. Amanda was a girl around my age; her horse Ally was kept in a stall next to Mystery. She was extremely shy and quiet and usually only came to the barn in the evening. I didn’t know her that well, but I was very thankful she was at the barn the night the bounty hunting Pricolici attacked my trainer, Leslie.

“I don’t know,” Laney explained. “She didn’t tell anyone. One day she just up and left. Ally’s stall was empty and Amanda’s tack locker was cleared out. It’s weird.”

“That is,” I agreed, though I had done the same.

“Well, Josh and I are double dating with his cousin and her girlfriend. I gotta go get ready. Take care, Annie!”

“You too!” I set the phone down and closed the dishwasher. The basement door slowly creaked open.

“Ethan?” I called. I had seen him only minutes ago, and he was upstairs. Hunter jumped off the couch and moved to the basement door. He showed me that it was closed. I shook my head. “This is not happening,” I whispered to myself. “Not again.”

The front door opened and a gust of wind blew dead, dry leaves down the hall. Feet scampered through the kitchen. I closed my eyes and counted to ten. When I opened them, the kitchen was covered in mud, dust, and blood. “No,” I spoke to the walls. “You’re not real.”

Hunter padded his way over, his claws clicking on the tile floor. When I looked into his mind, everything was how it should be. A sick feeling rippled throughout my body and I thought I might puke. Laughter echoed from upstairs and something bounced down the stairs. I slipped my fingers under Hunter’s collar and walked into the family room.

Sunlight reflected off the marbles that were rolling down the stairs. Not letting go of my Guardian, I bent down and picked one up. It felt so real. The glass was cool and hard. I held it up to the light before letting it slip from my fingers. I could hear it bounce and roll along the hardwood floor before stopping under the couch.

Someone scampered through the hall above me.

“Thomas?” I asked, trying my hardest not to appear as shaken as I felt. “Is that you?”

The blonde boy appeared at the top of the stairs. He smiled and ducked out of my view. I closed my eyes again and tried to will everything away.

“I told them it wasn’t going to work on you,” the boy spoke, making me jump. He was right in front of me. My grasp on Hunter tightened.

“What didn’t work on me?” I asked.

“The plan.”

“What plan?”

Thomas laughed. “I can’t tell you that.” He leapt off the bottom stair and paused in the sunroom before making his way into the living room. “It doesn’t have to be hard, you know,” he called from over his shoulder.

Keeping Hunter glued to my side, I followed the boy. He sat on one of the armchairs in the living room and motioned for me to sit as well. Perching on the edge of the couch, I glared at him.

“Whatever you’re playing, you can just stop.
 
I know you’re not a ghost,” I told him. “What do you want?”

“I need help,” he said in a small voice.

“With what?”

He ever so slightly shook his head. “Will you help me?”

I sighed. “You know, I wasn’t born yesterday. I’m not agreeing to help you until you tell me what I’m helping you with.”

“You’ll get a reward,” he offered.

I looked at the boy sitting on the chair in front of me. He looked and sounded so
real
. But he wasn’t, and I needed to remember that.

“What kind of reward?” I asked, not because I was interested in it. I was hoping to bait Thomas into giving away important information. I had never interrogated anyone before, let alone do it without them realizing what my intent was.

“Anything,” he whispered, his eyes sparkling with amazement.

“Anything?” I repeated doubtfully.

“Yes. Anything.”

I rolled my eyes. “Sure. What if I told you I wanted to give birth to a unicorn and then ride it to Candy Mountain? Doubt you can make
that
happen.”

Thomas blinked and didn’t say a word. I noticed that, though he was sitting, his body didn’t weigh down the cushion.

“On second thought,” I said and put my hands on my stomach. “Scratch that. The horn won’t feel good coming out.” I smiled at him. “You’re not going to tell me what you really want?”

Footfalls came from behind me. Hunter turned, verifying reality.

“Who are you talking to?” Ethan asked and came into the room.

In the split second it took to look at Ethan and then back at Thomas, the boy disappeared.

“Uh, no one, I guess,” I answered.
 
A tremor ran through my body. “I don’t—or maybe…”

“What?”

“Thomas.”

“That boy?” Some of the blood drained from Ethan’s face. “Do you see him now?”

I shook my head. “He disappeared when you came in. Hunter never saw him, either,” I added since I was sure Ethan was going to ask me that next.

He nodded. “And what were you two chatting about?”

I knew Ethan didn’t mean to sound patronizing. “Um, he told me he wanted my help, but he didn’t say with what.” I turned to better face Ethan. “Did I imagine the whole thing?” I grabbed my elbows and pressed my arms against my body. Hunter rested his head in my lap.

“I don’t know,” Ethan confessed quietly. “Something is doing this to you.”

“Told you,” I snapped. I shook my head. “Sorry. I’m on edge. I feel like I’m going insane,” I confessed.

“Annie,” Ethan started and sat next to me. “And you’re not going insane.”

I closed my eyes, took a breath, and nodded.

Ethan kissed my forehead. “I won’t let anything bad happen to you,” he promised.

I slipped my fingers though his. “You keep saying that, and I like hearing it, but do you really believe it’s true?”

“I want to,” he told me. I scooted closer to him. One of his hands went around my waist and the other played with my hair. “Do you want to know the truth?” he asked in a flat, level voice. I nodded. “If you’re attacked with magic, there’s nothing I can do.”

“I know,” I agreed. “I’ve thought about it before. I think I need to be more proactive in learning self defense.” I picked at a button on Ethan’s shirt. “Magical self defense, I mean. I wish I had someone to teach me.”

“Yeah, that would be nice.”

I enjoyed the false security of Ethan’s embrace. It was inevitable that the time would come when the protector-protected balance would shift. Maybe it was selfish of me to wish it wouldn’t happen just yet.

~*~

It was a beautiful spring morning. The sun shone down on the cold, brown earth so brightly that even the empty, gray trees seemed alive. Chirps and whistles of birds echoed across the still farmland and the promise of warmth blew in the wind, rustling my hair around my face. I tilted my head back and let the sun’s rays beat down on me.

It was a struggle to keep up with Ethan while exercising in general, but even more of a struggle for me while we were running. I supposed I should have been more consistent with working out. Promising myself I would, I asked Ethan to go over the martial arts moves he had been teaching me. Hot, sweaty, and tired, I plodded up the stairs to take a shower. I didn’t even get inside my room before I saw Thomas. He was standing by the bed, holding Romeo upside down by his tail.

I blinked. No, he wasn’t real. Thomas saw me staring and laughed, holding Romeo up. My eyes darted to Romeo’s cage, which was still closed and locked. I could see my ferret sleeping in his hammock.

“Annie?” Ethan’s voice came from behind me. “Why are you standing in the doorway?”

Not taking my eyes off the boy, I whispered, “He’s here.”

“What is he doing?” Ethan asked, setting a hand on the small of my back.

“Torturing Romeo. But he’s not, not really. I can see the fake Romie and the real one.”

“I see the real one,” Ethan assured me. “And he’s safe in his cage.”

I nodded. Though I knew it wasn’t really happening, seeing the boy poke at my ferret made me sick. Ethan put his lips to my neck, as if he was going to kiss me.

“Ignore him,” he suggested. “I’ll get Romeo for you. Just take a shower like you had planned.”

“He’ll see me naked!” I whispered back.

“He’s not real,” Ethan reminded me. “Ignore him.”

With a stiff nod, I walked into the room and turned right. I didn’t as much as glance at Thomas. In the bathroom, I closed the door and stared into the mirror.

“Stop it,” I told myself. “Stop.” My green eyes looked back at me, full of nerves and terror. “Stop,” I repeated.
I am not afraid,
I tried to convince myself.
I am a witch, I can handle this
. A small wave of shame splashed my heart when I thought of Aunt Estelle. Though I didn’t know her, I doubted that she would feel so helpless and afraid. I touched the Coven pendent and felt something go through me.

And I wasn’t afraid anymore.

“Screw you, Thomas,” I said and turned on the shower. I pulled my hair out of the pony tail and took off my socks. I wanted to shower. I didn’t even care if Thomas watched. He wasn’t going to stop me from doing what I wanted.

I was completely naked when Ethan came into the bathroom. Romeo was in one hand and a smoldering sage smudge stick was in the other. He eyed me up and down.

“Feeling better?” he asked with a smile.

“Yes,” I said confidently. “I’m not going to let some mirage ruin my life.”