“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
Ru breathed a sigh of relief but then looked up to see Thanatos, looking every bit like himself, no longer needing the ruse of Kyle, standing by the closet door. His forehead was bleeding and she assumed there was another gash in the back. “You ready for more?” she asked, raising her hands.“You know I can hurt you, too?” He stuck out his hand in her direction, as if he were about to shoot something at her, and Ru took a few steps backward.“I already sent for the others!” she shouted, hoping it would be enough to deter him. “They’ll be here any second.”At first, he seemed to be in doubt of her proclamation, but then something changed, and Ru wondered if someone really was coming. Perhaps he could sense it. She was likely not as sensitive as he was. With a loud exhale, Thanatos said, “This isn’t over!” and just as he had disappeared in the woo
Ru erupted back into Leaf’s bed with a resounding boom which shook the room. She’d never experienced anything like it, but as her eyes flew open, she realized her body was gyrating and the bed was vibrating across the floor. The lights were still off, as were the other electronic devices, but the feeling in her stomach seemed to be surfacing, and as she watched, the darkness came to life as the pain seemed to gather into a sphere inside of her and erupted out of her hand in a surge of energy. Confusion swept over her as she realized this wasn’t the warm blue light she was used to. Even in the darkness, she could see the blackness ejected from her right palm, leaving trails of smoke in its wake as it dissipated into the room. Her eyes were wide with bewilderment. It looked just like the puff Nat used to propel himself into another realm.Before she could even begin to consider what might’ve been happening, the bedroom door flew open and Cutter was stand
Rider opened his mouth to say something, but once she finished her statement, he laughed. “Bleed his own blood?” he repeated, shaking his head. “Okay, Ru. I get it. But… for the love of God, we’ve got to get you fully trained. We are past the point where having little convos with the enemy is going to do us any good. If we could actually take him down, it would make our jobs a hell of a lot easier.”“I understand that,” Ru said, taking another deep breath to calm herself. “But… he is willing to talk to me. And the more he says, the better chance we have of knowing what’s going on with the Reapers. He says he won’t threaten any more of my students, but we still need to let Sky know about this.” She was addressing Cutter now, and he nodded when she looked at him. Turning her attention back to Rider, she said, “I wasn’t even sure if anyone was coming. I was just trying to figure out what
London wasn’t exactly what Ru had imagined it would be. In her mind, it was the hauntingly beautiful, foggy world of Dickens and Peter Pan. In reality, it was a lot like every other noisy, crowded city she’d ever visited, although some of the architecture was unlike anything she’d ever imagined. Perhaps if she’d had more time to actually visit some of the touristy places, she’d have come away with a different impression, but for now, she would rather read about the capital of Great Britain than actually visit.She had plenty of time to reflect on the city as Rider steered their rented van down winding rural roads leading out of the congestion toward the serene Holy Island. It would be a seven-hour drive, and a glance at the time on her phone told Ru they weren’t even halfway there.They’d had to plan their trip carefully because of the tides that covered the causeway every day. She’d left all the planning to other team me
Ahead of them, the town started to take shape. At first, she could only see the tops of some distant buildings, but then they started to come into view, and about the time they made their way off of the causeway, she began to get a feel for Lindisfarne. It was a small town. She knew that already. Less than two hundred people actually lived there. But lots of tourists made their way across the causeway to see the castle and other historical buildings annually. She’d read online that the ruins of an ancient church were recently uncovered here.“So… how come no one ever looked here before?” Ru asked, leaning forward in her seat as they slowly crawled through town.“We have,” Cutter replied, turning as much as he could in his seat to face her. “But if your mother was here then, she was good at hiding.”“We did a surface sweep,” Ivy elaborated, also turning to look at her. “It was a few years ago. We
Though the diner had been crowded, there weren’t a lot of vehicles in the parking lot, and looking up at the castle in the distance, Ru could see why. There must’ve been a thousand steps. The castle sat on top of a hill, and there was a stairwell that wound its way around the base. In the sunlight, the bricks gave off a golden glow. With the backdrop of the sea behind it, the scene was breathtaking.“Guess we’ll be getting in our cardio,” Rider mumbled, pulling the keys out and opening his door.“This place will literally take your breath away,” Ivy agreed as she climbed from the far back seat of the van and followed her teammates out.Ru was hardly aware of what everyone else was doing as she stared at the fortress before her. The hum was softer now, but not more distant, just more content, as if it was pleased with her choices. She would’ve continued to sit in the van indefinitely, just staring at the complex, if
Hushed voices filled their ears as they reached the bottom. One of them was definitely Stew and the other sounded like a woman. Ru braced herself. What if she was hearing the voice of her mother?Cutter looked up at her. “Can you hear them?” he asked, his voice not even a whisper. She shook her head. “He’s telling her someone is here asking about her, and she’s asking if there’s a place she can hide.”“Thank God for your superhuman hearing,” she replied. “Let’s go.”He looked at her for a moment, as if asking if she was sure, and she nodded. Cutter descended the final stairs, and she followed.The scene wasn’t exactly what she was expecting. The pair was actually standing well across the narrow basement, which slightly resembled a dungeon. Two bare bulbs hung from the ceiling, illuminating tables lined with artifacts. Stew was speaking to a waif of a woman with dark hair, standi
The worker’s lounge seemed to be much bigger than necessary from Ru’s perspective considering there were only two people manning the castle at a time, but she supposed it was difficult to find a normal sized room in a palace. Either enormous chambers or small spaces previously used by servants were likely the norm.Surprisingly, the walls here were not stone, as Ru had assumed they would be. Someone had hung sheetrock, or another substance to serve the same purpose, and the room was painted a cheery buttercream color. The one window was draped in white curtains, and the round table where she sat across from this strange mother of hers had a matching tablecloth. Across the room, at least twenty feet away, there were the normal small appliances one might expect to see in such a place; a coffee maker, microwave, dorm room-sized refrigerator. A package of Styrofoam cups and some sweetener sat at the ready, but when Maggie had offered her a drink, she’d declined,
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