Ru recognized her location immediately. She was standing in the same garden where she’d met Thanatos not too long ago, a hundred years ago. This time, the bench where he’d sat crying, mourning the loss of a family killed by a woman his Reapers had attempted to claim the day before she stole a car and drove the wrong way down the freeway, losing her own life in the process. Thanatos’s tears had overwhelmed and confused her. Cutter insisted he was a monster, but at the time, he’d seemed anything but.
The petals cascaded from the trees as she walked along, making her way with bare feet down a row of flowered trees which rained an endless volume of red, pink, and white flowers down upon her. She glanced down to see she was wearing a long, flowing black dress and wondered who, exactly, was picking her wardrobe for these forays.
It didn’t take her long to find him. He was a beacon, after all, much like the portal openings.
The burning sensation Ru had felt in her stomach when she was in the woods looking for the portal returned. “What do you mean?” she asked, one hand pressing down on her abdomen. “They won’t hurt her.”He scoffed. “What do you mean they won’t hurt her? Rune, you know what she did. They have to punish her for that. They will punish her for that. Be certain.”She was shaking her head wildly. “No, they won’t. No one is angry at my mother. It wasn’t her fault. She was a… a child. They’ve assured me she’ll come back home to Los Angeles, to her mother.” She realized she may have said too much, that perhaps she shouldn’t have given away their plan, but she was fairly certain the Reapers couldn’t do anything to the citizens of the village, and he would probably assume that her mother would return there anyway.“It’s very sad th
Ru sat at her Nana’s kitchen table sipping warm tea as the other woman worked on rolling out cookie dough. At her feet, Piper played with Nana’s cat, Patches, and Ru absently wondered how Piper even remembered what it was like to have another feline to play with since she hadn’t had any others around since she was a tiny kitten herself. Her neighbor had found the litter in the garage and it hadn’t taken much convincing for Ru to choose one. Piper stood out to her immediately. That was four years ago, back when Ru was a new teacher, and Piper had been her faithful companion ever since.“Cats are our best friends sometimes, aren’t they?” Nana asked, glancing up from her task long enough to catch Ru’s eyes. “My Patches has been a constant companion to me for… years.”“They are,” Ru agreed. She remembered Thanatos’s warning from the night before. The first “person” Ru thought o
Nana seemed a little stuck on the notion God had sent a divine prophecy on her back. She decided to let that go. At least the idea that her mother had said she ruined everything was cleared up once and for all, or so she hoped. “Do you know why Sera assumed she couldn’t come back here?” Thanatos’s words from the night before, his belief that the Keepers wanted to hurt her mom were fresh in her mind.“I have no idea. I told her both times she called that we just wanted the two of you home. The first time, she said she couldn’t come back. She was still in love with Larkin, still thinking he could be saved, that the world would be saved through their love or some such rubbish.” Ru couldn’t help but think the statement was a little harsh considering her mother likely was sincere with her emotions, even if they were misguided. “I always told her to come home. She wouldn’t. Brighton was out searching for her, you know, whe
Cutter’s house was empty when Ru arrived back, and she noticed his parents’ and Cinder’s vehicles were gone. Assuming they’d all gone out somewhere together, she’d tried the doorknob and been relieved they’d left it unlocked. She assumed they rarely went to the trouble to barricade the doors in these parts. Piper took to the stairs as soon as they met them, and Ru thought she might be retreating to the comfort of her own area for a while. Her own bed, dishes, and carrier might’ve been a consolation to her.Despite feeling a little odd walking through Windy and Walt’s home while they weren’t there, Ru headed for the kitchen in search of a drink of water. When she entered the cozy room, she saw Cutter sitting outside on the steps of the back porch. In the short time she’d lived with him at Angel Grove, she’d noticed he seemed to like to sit outside and think. While part of her thought it might be a good idea to l
“So… my brother….”Ru looked up, surprised. She didn’t expect him to tackle that topic as well, not when he was already clearly uncomfortable. Perhaps he thought it would be easier to get it all out in the open at the same time. “Leaf?”Cutter licked his lips and then leaned back so that his forearms were resting on the porch behind him. “My siblings are much older than me. You may have noticed that with Cinder. She’s ten years older than I am. Leaf was thirteen years my senior.”Avoiding the statement that his mother either looked good for her age or had started out young, Ru only nodded. She’d caught Cinder’s statement that she’d been doing this for a few decades when she’d barked at her the night before.“My brother was my hero,” he continued, still not looking at her for more than split second glances at a time. “My mom did a lot of my training when
Ru wanted to argue with Cutter, especially since she noticed how carefully he’d chosen his words, reassuring her that he thought of her only as a Keeper and not at all a Reaper, even though she had yet to reconcile that other part of herself at this point. Was it really as simple as choosing a side? If she had been capable of selecting an identity growing up, her life would’ve turned out much differently. She wouldn’t have chosen to be the unloved, under-appreciated, cast off “ugly stepsister.” Looking down, she realized his hand was on her arm, near her elbow, and noted this was the first time he had voluntarily touched her since her insensitive comment. The thought was fleeting, and she remembered his statement. “I don’t know, Cutter,” she admitted. “I guess it’s possible. I think it’s more like an ulcer at this point, though.” Her stomach screamed at her whenever she got anxious or upset, which didn’t a
The bedroom she was standing in was even more unfamiliar than the one she’d fallen asleep in likely an hour or two ago. The sunlight peeking through the curtained window revealed it was early morning in whatever dreamland she’d stumbled into. The border at the top of light blue walls consisted of trains, cars, and sailboats. That and the bedspread curled around a smallish, sleeping body revealed this room must belong to a young boy.Glancing around, Ru realized the room might be in need of updating. There were no toys similar to the ones in the border; instead, a table full of Legos took up a huge amount of space against one wall. There were figurines on a shelf, mostly Minecraft, Star Wars, and Pokémon. This child must’ve been about ten or so, she thought, though he seemed short for his age or was just really good at rolling into a ball. “Why am I here?” Ru whispered, not wanting to disturb him, but she was c
“Really?” Kyle asked. Before she could answer, he dropped to his knee. “Hey, Ira, how would you like to go to a place where everything is made of Legos? You can build whatever you want to, all day long. No school. No interruption. Sounds cool, doesn’t it? Wanna go?”She could tell by Ira’s excited reaction he was considering it. Regardless of his preferences, she put both hands on his shoulders. “No!” she said, pulling him back a few steps. “You can’t do that! You can’t lie to him to get him to come with you.”“I’m not lying,” Kyle protested. “It’s true. What do you say, buddy?”Ira pulled away from her, giving her the harsh look he dealt to those who touched him without permission. “Stop, Ms. Roberts,” he insisted.“Ira,” she said, ducking her head to look into his eyes, “this is
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
“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
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
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
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
“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
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
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
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