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Chapter 157
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2021-04-29 10:20:21“I need to face him,” Cutter said. “And you need to get to the portal.”
Ru craned her neck around the tree. While there were still some Reapers near the entryway, for the most part, the Keepers were able to set up a perimeter around the portal. If she was going to go, now was the time. “Okay. Be careful,” she said. Realizing that Cutter was about to take on one of her assignments made Ru feel uncomfortable, particularly since she knew what the end result would be, and despite the bargain she’d almost just made with the devil, she still didn’t want to see Nat destroyed. But she had to push those thoughts out of her head. She quickly kissed Cutter’s cheek and scurried off to the next tree closest to the portal.
Nat saw her now, and he began to move in her direction, using his scythe to cut down an attacking Keeper as if he were nothing. Ru swallowed hard and steeled herself, looking for the next place to hide. If she used her powers on Nat, there was a chance she would
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Reaper's Hollow Chapter 158: Epilogue
One year later… “All right, boys and girls. That is enough for today. We will pick up with Ramona’s story tomorrow afternoon. For now, go ahead and get your backpacks on, and let’s line up at the door.” Groans filled the air as twenty-two fourth graders followed their teacher’s directions despite wanting to hear what happened next in the story. They stood and walked to the cubbies where their backpacks were hung and politely took turns getting their belongings before making an orderly line at the door. Ru took a deep breath and looked lovingly at her students. Even though she’d made the same prediction every year since she started teaching, she had had a feeling about this group of kids from the very beginning. And she was right. They were the best group of fourth graders she’d ever taught. The bell rang and she wished them all a good weekend, gathering up the four students who went to daycare and walking with th
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Silence is golden, until it isn’t. The forest was dark, and even though Jim stood just on the edge of it, the fact that not a single, solitary animal seemed to be stirring was even more frightening than the other sound, the one he’d heard a few moments ago that had led him out of his nice warm bed to come and investigate.Wearing his old flannel robe over his pajama pants and T-shirt, he’d managed to stick his feet into his slippers as he climbed from bed even though he felt as if he was still half asleep. His wife was sound asleep, although he didn’t know how the terrible shriek hadn’t woken her. He’d been in the middle of a dream, a good one, involving Tawny Kitaen—the Whitesnake version, not the reality star mess she’d become—when a noise like none he’d ever heard before had him shooting straight up, knocking the blankets off, and nearly dumping the glass of water he’d left precariously
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Ru Robertson ran around her quaint two-bedroom house, attempting to get to work on time without actually starting a fire, a feat that was somehow more complicated than most would’ve expected. Today was the day teachers reported back for duty, and with a new school year looming in just a couple of weeks, Ru was both excited and anxious. Both of those emotions tended to stir up a hornets’ nest within her, and if she wasn’t careful, she was going to wreck another straightening iron or toaster.She had one earring in and was struggling with the other as she approached the kitchen, thinking perhaps it would be more economical to skip the toast and just grab a breakfast shake, although there was a chance she could take out the refrigerator, something she’d only done once before, but she didn’t know how much she was willing to risk. It was usually small appliances that died at her hands, not the more industrial sized ones, although
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"What am I going to do?" Ru asked, gathering the papers that were finished up out of the tray and taking her originals that had copied off of the top of the machine. She considered unplugging it and plugging it back in, but since this had happened before, she knew it wouldn’t work. They would have to call someone from the copier company to come out and likely replace many of the electrical components.“Machine not working?”Ru hadn’t even heard the door open. She spun around and froze. She was looking into the brightest pair of electric blue eyes she’d ever seen. Swallowing hard, she struggled to compose herself. “Uh… I think… I broke it.”The man before her let out a soft, melodic chuckle. “I bet I can fix it,” he said.Despite her shock at being in the presence of an extremely attractive stranger, Ru managed to say, “I doubt i
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Ru walked down the hall toward her classroom, Cutter at her side. She knew he had to walk that way, too, but she still felt a little awkward. “So… she’s something.”She glanced up at him. Even though she was fairly tall for a woman at five-foot-ten, she still couldn’t get over how much she had to tip her head to look him in the eye, which she realized she should still probably avoid. “That’s Jane.” A wise woman at church had once told her, “If you can’t find something nice to say, don’t say anything at all,” and that was one lessen Ru had taken to heart. She really hated talking badly about others, even when Jane deserved it.“Well, I’m hopeful she will let you share your ideas.” They were almost to their classrooms, and he seemed to slow a bit. He had his hands pushed down into the pockets of his khakis.Ru slowed as well. &ldqu
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When Cutter walked into the library, a few other teachers were seated at the rectangular tables, talking excitedly, as if they hadn’t seen each other in years—or maybe it was just months. He couldn’t imagine what it would be like to work with people you didn’t see for a couple of months every year. As they noticed him, the women grew quiet for a few seconds, one or two even gasped aloud, and then the conversation shifted to whispers, assuring him he was the new topic of discussion.Normally, he would’ve gathered as much information as possible before subjecting himself to this sort of situation, but in this case, the discovery that the one they’d been searching for might actually be here had come with only enough time to get him this teaching position, and as Rider had pointed out, the website for Thomas Elementary was under construction. They weren’t too tech savvy around here, apparently. The Facebook page for
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“Okay, let’s get started everyone!” Mrs. Long said, standing at the front of the room. Many of the voices continued to chatter, so she said, “If you can hear me, clap once.” A few people clapped. Cutter tried not to be confused and prepared for her to ask again. “If you can hear me, clap twice.” This time, he was ready and joined in with about half of the teachers. “If you can hear me, clap three times.” This time, almost everyone was with them. “Are we ready then?”Mrs. Long had a captive audience. She was a short woman, probably in her mid-fifties, with reddish-brown hair that came out of a bottle, though likely the bottle of a stylist. She had a nice manicure and was dressed in a black pantsuit. Though she was a bit robust, she had a kind smile, and Cutter had liked her the moment they’d met. She seemed to really know a lot about education. It was a shame he’d had to lie to
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Latest chapter
Reaper's Hollow Chapter 158: Epilogue
One year later… “All right, boys and girls. That is enough for today. We will pick up with Ramona’s story tomorrow afternoon. For now, go ahead and get your backpacks on, and let’s line up at the door.” Groans filled the air as twenty-two fourth graders followed their teacher’s directions despite wanting to hear what happened next in the story. They stood and walked to the cubbies where their backpacks were hung and politely took turns getting their belongings before making an orderly line at the door. Ru took a deep breath and looked lovingly at her students. Even though she’d made the same prediction every year since she started teaching, she had had a feeling about this group of kids from the very beginning. And she was right. They were the best group of fourth graders she’d ever taught. The bell rang and she wished them all a good weekend, gathering up the four students who went to daycare and walking with th
Reaper's Hollow Chapter 157
“I need to face him,” Cutter said. “And you need to get to the portal.” Ru craned her neck around the tree. While there were still some Reapers near the entryway, for the most part, the Keepers were able to set up a perimeter around the portal. If she was going to go, now was the time. “Okay. Be careful,” she said. Realizing that Cutter was about to take on one of her assignments made Ru feel uncomfortable, particularly since she knew what the end result would be, and despite the bargain she’d almost just made with the devil, she still didn’t want to see Nat destroyed. But she had to push those thoughts out of her head. She quickly kissed Cutter’s cheek and scurried off to the next tree closest to the portal. Nat saw her now, and he began to move in her direction, using his scythe to cut down an attacking Keeper as if he were nothing. Ru swallowed hard and steeled herself, looking for the next place to hide. If she used her powers on Nat, there was a chance she would
Reaper's Hollow Chapter 156
A Reaper stepped through the portal opening. Tall, with ebony hair, he wore the long black cloak she expected to see, a scythe in his hand. The man quickly ran to the left of the portal, and then another Reaper appeared on his heels. Dressed identically, with the same weapon, he ran to the right. Then, another sprang forth, and another. Ru watched, her eyes wide as the Reapers continued to pour out of the portal, as if Hell had spilled an inkwell and the thick, black substance was covering the entire earth. “Holy Hell.” It was hard to pull her eyes off of the sight, but she turned to see Cutter standing next to her. “We’ll never be able to take all of them.” It was Ivy, and Ru glimpsed a look of defeat on her face as she came to a stop behind Cutter. “We have to try,” he said. Ru could see the resolve in his face and noticed his hands clenched into fists at his sides. “Ivy and I will hold them off while you concentrate on the portal.” There ha
Reaper's Hollow Chapter 155
The demons were up again, too, and the battles picked up where they had left off. Everyone else was engaged, which left Ru to face this Goliath all by herself. “Kill it! Kill it!” Rider shouted at her as streaks of blue wrapped around the snake’s midsection. He seemed to be closing in on his prey, and Ru tried not to let the sight distract her. He was right. It would be best to take out the giant before he was fully formed. With a deep breath, Ru drew upon all of the strength she had inside of her and aimed her blue light at the giant. It was difficult to figure out where to aim since he was only out of the portal up to his shins. Still, she hoped it would be enough. Perhaps it was because of his size, but she felt the need to shout even louder this time as she recited the incantation almost word for word along with Rider who was also sending the snake into oblivion. “Infernus et perdere faciam te in nomine Domini!” This time, Ru didn’t feel as confi
Reaper's Hollow Chapter 154
There it was, right in front of her, the portal. The final one. And all she had to do was raise her hands and say the incantation. All of this would be over. If Thanatos wasn’t here, she couldn’t kill him. Surely, Raphael would understand that. She’d just close the portal and sneak away, leaving that confrontation for another day. Except she knew it wasn’t that easy. Just because she didn’t see him didn’t mean he wasn’t there. And even before she could raise her hands, the pull from inside of her became overwhelming, causing Ru to double over. The air between the edges of the portal continued to ripple and wave, and Ru recognized the sensation from both of the previous portals. Something was coming. She looked at Cutter and for the first time she could remember, she saw fear in his eyes. “They’re coming,” she whispered. He opened his mouth to say something, but before anything came out, a rush of heat shot out of the portal opening. Both of them instinctively
Reaper's Hollow Chapter 153
“Well, that doesn’t even make sense.” Lyric rolled her eyes. “If you’re in charge, then why do you have to do what someone else told you?” Flint launched into a defense of his decision, but Ru shouted over him. “Flint! Look, the reason their numbers were so low at the beginning of the battle is obvious, isn’t it? It’s not because this portal doesn’t mean anything to them—it’s because it means everything to them. They’re not on the battlefield yet. They will come through the portal!” She had him by the shoulders, which caused him to jump backward, shaking himself free, and once Ru finished her statement she took a step back as well. “What? No,” Flint argued. “They’re not going to send them through the portal. That would be suicide. They’d have to come through a small opening into enemy controlled territory.” “Yeah, into a stream of five whole enemy fighters who cannot possibly hold them all off,” Rider reminded him. “You have to close in behind us.” Ru
Reaper's Hollow Chapter 152
Aokigahara sprawled in front of her like the untamed wild it was, trees encroaching into the neighboring farmlands and open spaces as if the forest insisted on reclaiming what used to be hers. From this direction, it was difficult to tell where the forest began and civilization ended, though Ru thought for certain she’d know when she crossed the line. She stifled a yawn and kept moving forward, one boot at a time, toward what might be her very last mission, if she had her way. Though she had fallen asleep for a few hours, for the most part, she’d gotten her wish and was able to stay up most of the night, with Cutter’s help, and the activity he’d chosen to occupy her certainly didn’t make her feel less worn out. The few hours she had spent in oblivion had been dreamless, as far as she knew. At least, if there had been dreams, they had been unmemorable. Her friends surrounded her as they made their way into the forest. Cutter was in front of her, Rider b
Reaper's Hollow Chapter 151
Navigating airports was hard enough for Ru when she was in countries where most everyone spoke English. Flying to Japan would’ve been completely overwhelming if Ivy wasn’t fluent in Japanese and Mandarin, especially when they had to switch planes in Shanghai. Luckily, the gentle-natured Keeper had managed to keep all of them in line and they’d made their way to Shizuoka Airport with little incident, though Rider complained about the lack of legroom on the commuter jet nearly the whole flight. Thank goodness for headphones, Ru had thought to herself. The entire van ride from the airport to their hotel, a place Ru hadn’t even attempted to try to pronounce for fear she’d embarrass herself, her eyes were glued out the window. From the buildings, to the natural surroundings off in the distance, to the smiling faces of those they passed along the streets, Ru was fascinated. By the looks she was getting, so were the people staring back at her. Five tall blondes with blue e
Reaper's Hollow Chapter 150
Cutter squeezed her leg, and Ru realized it must be apparent she wasn’t paying attention. She tuned back in to hear Sky say, “Now, the team we are meant to protect so that they can get in and close the portal will be given the code name Alfred. This will allow us to be briefer in our communications about the team.” Sky continued to talk, and she knew it was important that she listen, since Ru would be involved in whatever the blue-haired Keeper was discussing presently, but curiosity got the better of her. “Why Alfred?” she whispered to Cutter. Without turning his head, he replied, “Alfred Nobel.” “Huh?” Ru was still confused. “The inventor of dynamite.” “Oh.” Shaking her head, she turned her attention back to Sky, who was giving her the same look Ru might give a student who wasn’t paying attention. Ru swallowed hard and made herself concentrate. “Alfred will be dispatched from here, a break in the forest away from the typical entrance
