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Chapter 15
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2021-04-04 12:31:51Cutter put his phone away and picked up the piece of paper Lyric had produced for him earlier that afternoon. It was a nice fall evening, and he sat on the porch swing, listening to the leaves rustling in the wind and the fading sounds of insects that would soon find their winter homes.
Rider walked out onto the porch, the sagging wood protesting and the door creaking behind him. He had a beer in his hand, and he took a swig as he crossed over. The porch swing seemed as unhappy at his presence as the porch. “So… now what?” he asked, leaning back as if he didn’t have a care in the world.
With a sigh, Cutter said, “I think… we give it another week or two, and then I figure out how to explain all of this to her.”
“Do you really think we have a week or two?” Rider asked, running a hand through his blond hair which was beginning to get a little shaggy around the edges.
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Sandra Delvecchio heard a noise and stumbled out of bed, certain it was her cat, Tiger, wanting out. Without fully opening her eyes, she shuffled toward the back door, the backs of her heels sticking out of her house shoes.She didn’t glance at the clock to see what time it was, but she felt like she’d been asleep for at least a few hours. Since she’d gone straight to bed after Bull, she figured it was close to midnight. Tiger usually wanted out about this time, and even though it was a pain in the ass, he was her only companion, so she tried to keep him happy.Opening the back door, she said, “Here you go, kitty,” expecting to feel him rub against her leg as he darted out into the fall evening, but there was nothing. “Tiger?” she called. Turning around and finally opening her eyes completely for the first time, she didn’t see him anywhere. “That’s odd,” she mutt
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“Okay, class, if you will go ahead and put away your notebooks, it is time for music!” A quiet round of “yays!” filled the classroom as twenty-two students slipped their science notebooks into their desks. “We will line up at the door whenever you are ready.” Ru waited for all of the students to show her they remembered her rule and were going to be able to walk down the hallway quietly, in an orderly fashion. Everyone looked ready except for Ira. He was having a little bit of difficulty this morning, and she could see him self-stimulating because he was struggling. His arms were moving back and forth rapidly, but he was smiling at her, and she knew he was doing the best he could. Smiling back at him, she said, “You may line up.”Twenty-two children stood, pushed in their chairs, and politely walked to the door. She was so proud when they courteously let others in front of them with no pushing or arguing. M
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The meeting lasted a little over half an hour, and when it was over, Ru had to rush off to get her students from the music teacher. She was in a good mood; they’d come up with some solutions that should help Ira. She saw Jane in the hallway, on her way to retrieve her class from art, and she was smiling, which surprised Ru. She thought she’d be angry at not getting her way with the parking spot.Returning to her classroom, Ru got her students started on their math assignment before taking a moment to look over her notes for Ira, who seemed to be much more calm now than he had been earlier in the day. She knew how much he loved music, and she’d even requested he be evaluated for music therapy services, which she thought would really help him. This truly was going to be the best year ever.At the end of the day, she sent each of her students out the door with hug, handshake, or high-five, their choice, and then took the
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“I thought you were leaving,” Candice said, walking back into the classroom.Ru picked up her purse. “I am,” she replied.“What is up with your face?” Candice stopped a foot away from her. “You look… happier than usual.”“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Ru replied, pulling her keys out of her purse and picking up her lunchbox and a few other items off of her desk that needed to go home with her.“Yes, you do,” Candice insisted. “What’s going on?”“Nothing.” Ru couldn’t hide her excitement, even though she was really trying.“Is something going on with you and Cutter?” Candice’s voice was a sharp whisper, but Ru couldn’t help but shush her. His door was open, and so was hers. “Tell me everything!”
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Cutter made sure Ru was out of the building before he switched from texting and gave Rider a call. As the phone was ringing, he stood and walked to his door, closing it, just in case anyone was listening in. Rider answered on the second ring. “What’s going on? How did it go?”“Well, the good news is, she agreed to go out with me tomorrow.”“Oh, you’ve turned it into a date then have you?” Rider teased.“No, not exactly,” Cutter replied, sitting back down. Not that he would mind dating Ru, though her comment on not dating coworkers was about to be taken to a whole ‘nother level. “But something else happened you need to know about.”“Yeah, I saw your text.”When Ru had walked in, he’d been in the process of trying to explain to Rider what had happened with the car. There was a distinct possi
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Ru sat on her sofa, her legs extended down the length of it, her laptop open in front of her, with Piper curled up at her feet. Spotify was blaring The Clash from her favorite punk playlist. Most people would be shocked to hear that she listened to this type of music, but it had gotten her through some dark times.Her keyboard had a very thick, plastic protector on top of it, and the rest of her laptop was not only in the thickest case she could find, she never set it directly on her lap, always putting a blanket or pillow between herself and the electronic device. So far, she’d only blown up one computer, and that had been years before. Replacing a hairdryer was one thing, but buying a new MacBook Air was another story.She’d been home for three hours, and most of that time had been spent researching special powers on the Internet. So far, she hadn’t found much reliable information. Other than some guy in Poughkeepsie
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Ru was standing outside, an impenetrable, misty fog encircling her, rising up from the ground in thick tendrils, wrapping around her and preventing her from seeing more than a foot or two in front of her face.The air was cool, and a layer of gooseflesh rose up on her bare arms. She was dressed all in black; her clothes seemed foreign. Everything about herself seemed altered, as if she didn’t know who she was or what she was doing.She took a step and found the ground to be marshy, as it often was off in the hollows around the outskirts of town. A few more steps revealed she was standing in thick woods. The trees here were twisted, their branches extended in long, scraggly fingers. Another few steps and movement in front of her caught her attention. She stopped in her tracks, wondering who or what it might be. Peering through the dense fog, she made out an outline of a tall figure.
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Ru sat straight up, sucking in air as if she’d actually been running through the woods. At first, she wasn’t sure where she was. A loud noise caught her attention, and she turned her head to see the television was on. Not exactly sure how that had happened, she fumbled for the remote on the coffee table. Piper was gone, likely frightened by the TV. The ceiling fan was also on, whirring around on high speed, and every light in the house, as far as Ru could see, was on, too. A noise was coming from the kitchen, another electric droning, and steadying herself, Ru rose to investigate. The blender was on, and the toaster had also been activated. Ru put on an oven mitt and turned them both off, along with the light switch.“It was just a dream,” she told herself as she methodically walked through the house, using the kitchen mitt to turn off the rest of the lights and the fan. She left the light on in her bedroom, knowing she’d be
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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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“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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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
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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
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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
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“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
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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
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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
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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
