Reaper's Hollow: The Complete Series

Chapter 14-2

Cutter found a table toward the front of the coffee shop. He’d left a few minutes after he’d gotten off the phone with Ru. Having stayed up most of the night after leaving her, he was exhausted, so the coffee house didn’t come as a suggestion just as a neutral place to meet but also as a place where he might find a reboot. He sipped the strong java and felt a little more alive as he stared out the window, waiting for her to arrive.

He’d been hoping she’d call all morning. Surely, a situation like the one the night before would give her a little bit more of a clue that his story wasn’t fictional. She’d have to have some idea that it wasn’t just an ordinary dream. He wondered what information Liddy had shared with her about Seraphina, and if it was also helping her see the truth in his claims.. Still, finding Seraphina would be even more of a challenge than finding Ru.

He saw her walk in and his heart skipped a beat. Even with her hair pulled up and in a sweater and jeans, she looked amazing. Perhaps the most endearing quality about Ru was that she had no idea how gorgeous she was. She saw him and her face flickered in recognition, though she didn’t exactly smile. He knew she wasn’t happy with him at the moment, which he hated, but he thought she’d come around soon enough. So long as they were able to keep Nat at bay. Now that the Reaper knew his lair might be compromised, he’d have to be more cautious, wouldn’t he? Rider had recounted his near-discovery and was still kicking himself for not keeping up with Raven.

Ru signaled that she’d be over in a moment and approached the barista. There were only a few other people in the shop, and she pointed out to the teenager behind the counter where she’d be sitting as she paid and dropped a few dollars in the tip jar.

Taking her jacket off as she approached the chair across from him, Ru said, “Hi. Sorry I’m late.”

“You’re not,” he replied, smiling at her. “I was early.”

She slung her purse over the back of the chair on top of her jacket and tugged at her sleeves, pulling them up to her elbows as if she was hot or otherwise uncomfortable. “I hope I didn’t ruin any plans you had for today.”

There was that word—ruin. She just assumed everything she did ruined something for someone else. “Not at all,” he replied. “Rider is taking down that tacky wallpaper in the parlor, so you got me out of helping.”

Ru looked a little confused, as if she wasn’t sure what the wallpaper had looked like, but she didn’t ask. “Well, then, you’re welcome,” she joked.

“So what’s up?” he asked. He wasn’t sure whether or not he should tell her what he already knew. After all, telling her he was fully aware of what she’d dreamt the night before might scare the bejesus out of her, but it would also prove he was telling the truth. But then… producing fire out of the palms of his hands didn’t seem to make much difference to her, so why would revealing information there was no way he could possibly know?

Ru looked hesitant, like she didn’t quite know what to say. She bit her bottom lip, and he tried not to stare, absently wondering what that would feel like, what it would taste like. She cleared her voice and his eyes lifted back to meet hers. “Liddy said… she said she remembered my mother’s name was Seraphina or something, and that’s why she chose Sara for my middle name. She said she had told her my last name was something that started with an R, but she wasn’t sure what it was, so she chose Roberts.”

Cutter raised his eyebrows but didn’t say anything, taking a sip of his coffee instead, letting her go on.

“She said my mom mentioned there were some bad people she was mixed up with, and that if any of them ever came looking for me, to hide me and not let them have me. Liddy agreed, apparently, even though when I started asking her questions, she was afraid I might put her or my sisters in danger.”

Having never met Liddy Brown, it seemed a bit extreme to hate her, and yet Cutter didn’t think it was much of a stretch to say that’s how he felt about Ru’s adoptive mother. Clearly, the woman had done some serious damage to Ru’s self-esteem. Thank God she hadn’t done anything worse, though if Ru wasn’t such a strong person, things could’ve turned out disastrous under the circumstances. “Did she tell you anything else?”

Ru shook her head and shifted in her chair, as if there was more but she didn’t want to say. He wondered if it had to do with her mother or the vision she’d seen last night. Before he could ask, the girl from the counter arrived with Ru’s order. She took the cup and thanked the barista, waiting for her to walk away before she caught Cutter’s eyes again and then shifted to look out the window.

He cleared his throat, absently spinning his coffee cup for a moment before realizing what he was doing and stopping. “Ru, if you don’t want to tell me about your dream, the one you had of Nat last night, it’s okay. You don’t have to.”

Her eyes widened as they bore into him. “What did you say?” she asked, quietly, her hands beginning to shake as they surrounded the coffee cup.

“I said, you don’t have to tell me about it. I already know.”

She continued to stare at him, silent as stone. For a moment, he thought she might get up and bolt out the door, terrified of his revelation again. But she didn’t. After a lengthy pause, she said, “You were there.” It was more of a statement than a question, but there was a lilt of doubt at the end.

Cutter nodded. “I’m sorry. I didn’t want to be. I mean… I don’t want you to think I purposely invaded your privacy, but I had to make sure he didn’t get to you—convince you to go with him.”

Finally, Ru blinked and looked away, settling her eyes back out the window. A car passed by slowly out front, then another, before she said, “How is that possible?” It was almost a whisper, and Cutter didn’t think it was directed at him, so he waited for her to turn her head back to face him before he answered.

“It wasn’t a dream. Not exactly, anyway. Reapers can slip through realms—different strands of reality—and they can pull another soul in with them. Keepers can do it, too, though we rarely do. There would be no reason for us to do it. Reapers definitely have a purpose, however.”

“Is that how they kill?” Ru asked, her forehead crinkling.

Cutter slowly nodded. “They can take people who are fully awake and functioning in this world, as well. In fact, that’s how they’re meant to do it. But it’s easier to trick people who are unmarked to come along with them when the person assumes they are just having a dream.”

“And… Thanatos sucked me into one of those realms somehow, when I was asleep? Like Freddie Krueger or The Matrix or some s**t?”

Cutter couldn’t help but chuckle, not at the questions themselves but at the way she said it with some conviction. “Boy, you really do have a pop culture reference for everything, don’t you?” he muttered under his breath before actually attempting to answer her question. “Essentially, it is sort of like both of those things. In order to intercept Nat last night, I had to leave my body and travel over several plains to reach you. He had to do the same.”

Ru’s eyebrows shot up. “Leave your body?” She leaned back in her chair like she was trying to get away from him.

“I know it sounds crazy,” Cutter explained, hoping he wasn’t going down the wrong path again. He’d already learned he had to be cautious with her. “But it is true. You don’t really need to worry about all of that right now. The important thing for you to know is that I was really there, I do know that Nat is dangerous, and I am glad you didn’t decide to go with him. Because… that would’ve been really bad.”

“But he said he wouldn’t kill me,” Ru countered, finally taking a sip of her beverage.

“No, he doesn’t intend to. Not at this juncture, anyway,” Cutter agreed. “You’re too valuable to his cause.”

“How’s that?” Ru asked, setting her cup back down.

“Like I told you before, I think you’re the first of your kind. I don’t think a Keeper and a Reaper have ever had a child before. Likely, Azrael, Thanatos’s father, wants you, wants to see how powerful you may become. He certainly wants you to help him find Seraphina.”

“Why does he want my mother?” she asked, her voice wavering on the last word, as if she couldn’t quite bring herself to associate Sera with that title.

“Because in Azrael’s mind, Sera is responsible for having Larkin banished to Hell, and he wants her to pay for that.”

“Is Larkin really as powerful as Thanatos said?” Ru asked, placing her arms on the table and leaning forward over them.

Cutter nodded. “He was. Now, he’s essentially banished to Hell for eternity. When Raphael found out what had happened between Sera and Larkin, he came down from Heaven, something the Archangels haven’t done in thousands of years, and took Larkin to Hell himself.”

Ru raised her eyebrows. “That sounds both incredible and impossible at the same time.”

Chuckling, Cutter said, “Yeah, I bet it does. And nevertheless, it’s true.”

“What about Larkin’s ancestor. Ronobes? Where is he?”

“Same place as Larkin,” Cutter replied. “Although he has managed to escape many times, which is how Larkin came to be.”

“And Thanatos mentioned his father. Azrael?”

Once again, Cutter nodded. “He was sent to Hell a long time ago, but like Ronobes, he occasionally escapes, and one of us has to catch him. Azrael is one of the few original Archangels who have fallen that continues to operate on this side of eternal damnation from time to time.”

“Why is that?”

“Because, originally, he was sanctioned by God with the duty of collecting names and recording them in the book. But once we realized he was allowing Reapers to collect unmarked souls without ramifications, he too was damned.”

Ru took another sip and then puzzled over his comment for a moment before asking, “So he wasn’t one of the original fallen angels.”

“No. There was good in Azrael for a long time. No one knows what changed him.”

“And Thanatos is his actual son?”

“Yes. Like I said, Azrael is clever. Much like Nat, he can come and go wherever he pleases via portals to Hell.”

“Like the one in Reaper’s Hollow—the one Washington Irving was alluding to?”

“Precisely. Azrael doesn’t come out often. He chooses to stay below and record the names, letting the Reapers do the collecting. But from time to time, he does surface. And in the case of Nat, he left something behind as a remembrance.”

Ru shook her head, and he wasn’t sure if it was in disbelief or if she felt sorry for Nat or his mother. “She was a human?”

“Is. Yes. She’s still alive.”

Her eyes widened momentarily again, but she said nothing about his remark. “Nat… is a tricky dude. He doesn’t look like a demon.”

“No, he doesn’t. That’s one of the reasons why he’s so powerful,” Cutter agreed. He took another drink and realized his cup was almost empty. He contemplated a refill but already felt a little jittery, though some of that might’ve had to do with the beautiful woman across from him and the conversation they were having.

Once more, Ru grew contemplative for quite some time. She ran her hand through the top of her hair, straightened her ponytail, stared out the window, focused on her own folded hands. “So… if… if I wanted to, would I actually be able to do all that. I mean, the vision stuff you were talking about. Leaping through other realms?”

Not exactly sure how to answer her without scaring her, Cutter held her gaze and slowly nodded.

Ru scoffed, her shoulders vibrating in disbelief. “I can’t imagine.”

“I know,” he assured her. “I wouldn’t be able to either. But it’s true. Look, Ru, you’ve got to remember, this is different for all of us. We were all raised by parents who trained us from when we were little in how to do all of this; how to utilize our power, how to leave this realm, enter visions, whatever we needed to do to find Reapers, chase them down, and capture or destroy them. You haven’t had that benefit, obviously. So, how could you possibly just accept all of it? It’s going to take you some time to let it all in. And that’s fine. Take all the time you need. Just keep in mind that Nat sees you as an acquisition. He will do his best to convince you that he’s the good guy here, and if he should get his hands on you, it wouldn’t be pretty.”

“So take my time, but remember a crazy half-demon is trying to manipulate me and take me to the center of Hell. Awesome.”

Cutter laughed, more an attempt to calm her than anything else. “That’s not exactly what I said, but, yeah, something like that.”

“Cutter, I want to believe you. I really do. It just all seems impossible, you know?”

“Absolutely,” he replied. “But Ru, we’re here to show you what you are capable of. And once you see that you’re part of this, that you belong with the rest of us, that you’re a Keeper, not only will you be able to do a lot of good in this world, we can also help you find your mom.”

Her eyes brightened at the mention, but then it faded. He wondered if she’d been so ingrained with the idea that her mother didn’t love her that she felt that any search would just end in more heartache and disappointment.

“What if I choose not to accept it?” she asked, not meeting his eyes. “What if I choose to continue to believe my reality is the only one there is?”

“I’m afraid that won’t be an option much longer, Ru. You might somehow convince Rider, Ivy, Lyric, and I to leave you alone, but the Arches would just send others to try again where we have failed. Not to mention, Nat isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.”

She ran a hand through her hair again, causing the loose locks to cascade around her face. “I didn’t ask for this.” The phrase was emphatic, though not loud. She seemed exasperated well beyond what one might’ve guessed if they were observing the conversation from a distance.

“I know you didn’t, but it’s your lot, Ru.”

“My what?” she asked, as if she hadn’t understood completely what he meant.

“Your hand, your fate, what providence has dealt you. You are destined to be a Keeper, and probably one of the most powerful ever to walk the Earth. And I am honored that I was chosen to help you fulfill that destiny. I just hope I can make you see that you can trust me to do it. I promise, Ru, I will always protect you. I will always keep you safe. And most importantly, I will go wherever we need to go in order for you to find your mother. But while we are doing all of that, we also have a war to fight. And we need you. Thanatos needs to be stopped. I think you’re the key to doing that, to helping us find the portal in Reaper’s Hollow and banishing him to Hell, once and for all.”

Ru was silent after he finished talking, holding his gaze for a long moment before slowly looking away, out the window again, and Cutter assumed that, once again, he’d said way too much. He was contemplating whether or not to apologize when she took a deep breath and turned her attention back to him. “Well, you’ve certainly given me a lot to think about.”

He managed a small smile but was afraid to say anything else for fear of muddying things even more.

“I don’t suppose there’s a chance I can do all of that and continue to teach fourth grade?”

Cutter slowly shook his head. “I wouldn’t see how. And it could be dangerous. For your students.”

Ru’s eyebrows arched again, but no further information was needed. She nodded. “If you don’t mind, I think I should head home. See if I can sort all of this out in my head a little bit.”

“Of course,” Cutter replied. “I’m sure it’s overwhelming, and I apologize for having to dump it all on you at once.”

She didn’t say anything, only nodded again.

“If… if you happen to have any questions, you know you can call me or text me at any time. Right?”

“Sure. Okay. Thanks.” She reached around the back of her chair and grabbed her jacket. “You were in my dream last night? So… are you hanging around my house or something? How did you know Nat was even there?”

“It’s hard to explain. We aren’t invading your privacy, though. We are taking turns checking in on you briefly, just enough to know if you’re asleep, and once you fall asleep, well, we watch a little more closely.”

Ru froze with her arm half in one sleeve. “That’s creepy. How about you guys don’t do that anymore?”

“We were just trying to keep you safe.” Cutter didn’t mean to sound defensive, but he knew it came out that way.

“I understand that, but it isn’t necessary. I’m not about to go gallivanting through the forest with Thanatos, okay? You don’t have to worry about that anymore.”

Cutter was hesitant to agree to anything. He might trust Ru not to make any poor decisions when it came to the demon that sought her out, but Nat could not be trusted. Still, she’d asked for them to stop their surveillance. He couldn’t ignore the request. “Fine,” he said quietly as she finished putting on her jacket. “But… don’t trust him, Ru. At all. He’s calculating. Your best bet, if he shows up in another one of your dreams, is to wake yourself up immediately or else he will try to convince you of who knows what. If you ever see him in your home in spirit form, get out immediately and call me. In his human form, he’s more or less… human. Although he has powers just as strong as ours, if not stronger.”

“Like what? Can he use fire and electricity, too?”

“No, only Keepers of the Light, like you and I, and Rider, can do that. He uses something much more sinister.”

Ru’s eyes widened for about the hundredth time in the half-hour or so they’d been speaking. “And what’s that?”

“Pain.”