| |
I sat in the family room surfing the channels on the television while Julia cleaned up. There were no messages on the answering machine or the cell phone and I wondered if we should call the police and report her parents missing, but Julia shot down the suggestion. I think she was hoping for a miracle – one we both knew was impossible.
The burning on my hip stepped up a notch and I glanced at the knife. A red hue flowed from the sheath and I stood, unsnapping the leather strap holding it in place. Wrapping my fingers around the hilt sent hot shivers up my arm like a subliminal warning and I bolted for the stairs, taking them two at a time with my heart pulsing in my throat.
I burst into Julia’s bedroom with the knife in hand, my eyes darting from her half-dressed form to the far corner where a reaper stood. Julia couldn’t see it, but his sinister smile told me more than words could, this wasn’t a friendly reaper and it was here for my girlfriend.
“Nick!” Julia covered her exposed bra with a shirt and I hardly noticed, instead I moved, intercepting its path and blocking it from getting to Julia.
“You think you can stop me boy?” the reaper snarled.
“Try me,” I said and tightened my grip on the knife and shifted so my body turned to the side. I brought the blade to my waist, ready to strike if the thing moved toward us. I just hoped like hell I knew where to hit the thing to destroy it, because, otherwise, all it would do is piss it off.
“What are you doing?” Julia said from behind me.
“Just stay behind me,” I said without taking my eyes off the advancing reaper. Judging distance was never my strong suit in martial arts class, and I took a deep breath, waiting until I was sure it was within the kill zone.
The reaper hesitated and I narrowed my eyes, waving it in with a smile of my own. “Looks like I’m not the one who’s chicken,” I taunted.
That did the trick. The thing launched toward me and I stepped forward in a lunge thrust, jabbing the blade through the black cloak where I thought the human heart would be. A scream shattered the room and ice flowed up my arm into my shoulder. I twisted the knife and winced at the high-pitched wail, but I didn’t pull away. Instead, I let the anger boiling in my blood, take control and I twisted and slashed until the reaper exploded in a cloud of dust.
I stood in the maelstrom of mist with my chest heaving and a dull ache in the muscles of my right arm. When the wind surrounding me died down, I glanced at the knife in my hand. It no longer glowed or vibrated in warning and I slipped it back into the sheath. I took a deep breath, aware of Julia’s raspy wheeze behind me and turned to meet her wide-eyed gaze.
“You okay?” I asked and stepped toward her.
She backed into the wall, answering my question without as much as a peep.
The fear radiated from her like gamma waves, prickling my nerves and for a moment, I saw through her eyes and I wasn’t a ninja like earlier. This time what she saw me as sent a shiver of revulsion down my spine.
A cloaked skeleton with sharp shark’s teeth reached for her.
I pulled my hand back, knowing it would do no good to reach out to her. Not with her seeing me like that, so I stepped back, putting distance between us. “Julia, it’s okay. It’s me, Nick,” I said and took another stride backward.
Her face reddened. “I saw it kill you!”
“Close your eyes, Julia. Concentrate on my voice,” I said, taming the panic throbbing in my temples but she just shook her head, her gaze tracking me like a frightened child. “Please. I promise I won’t hurt you.” I put my palms facing her and prayed she’d listen. I needed her to clear her mind, to concentrate on me. “Please,” I whispered.
She must have heard the plea in my voice because she closed her eyes, squeezing tears out of the corners and I watched the slow track down her cheeks and focused on her quivering chin, swallowing the lump in my own throat before I spoke. “Can you hear me?”
She nodded.
“Do you believe it’s really me?”
Hesitation and my heart sank.
“It’s me, Julia. There was a reaper in your room when I came in and I got it, not the other way around.” I ran my hand through my hair. “Isabel was right - the knife can kill a reaper.”
Her eyelids popped open and she stared at me, her chin quivering before she flew across the space. I wrapped my arms around her trembling form and held her, thanking God for small favors.
“I thought it killed you,” she said against my shoulder.
“Nah, not even a scratch,” I said and kissed her cheek.
She pulled away from my grasp and ran her fingers down my cheek. “Why am I seeing these things?”
“I don’t know.” I met her gaze. “I think the knife feeds off your imagination somehow.”
Her exposed skin puckered into a landscape of bumps and she rubbed her arms. “That’s just freaky.”
I let out a laugh and she smacked my arm.
“Don’t laugh at me.”
“I’m not laughing at you. I’m just laughing at the whole situation. I’ve got the strongest weapon on earth and when I take it out of its sheath, people around me start seeing things.”
“Kind of like the glamour spells in Harry Potter.”
I raised an eyebrow at the thought. “I wonder if you’re creating images based on my emotions.”
A crease appeared between her pretty, brown eyes. “What do you mean?”
“I’m not sure. All I know is I was scared out of my wits when I first ran in here, and earlier when I first held the knife, I felt invincible.”
“And so you think you projected those images?”
“I doubt it. I think it’s more you than me. My mom had a different vision of invincible than you did.” I smiled and shrugged. “For a moment there, I thought you’d project a supermodel.”
Her cheeks bloomed and she grinned. “If you had come in a minute earlier, you would have gotten an eyeful.”
“Yeah, well, the pink lace is a nice touch.” I couldn’t help but smirk.