The Reaper Who Loved Me (Book 1)

Have you ever wondered if there is a Heaven and Hell? A God and Satan? Well if you have believed in these aspects then your not entirely wrong; there isn't one God but many that have their own role to play in our lives. The Morrigan just so happens to be one of them. She is the Goddess of war and death; she has carried more than a thousand souls over to the afterlife after their lives had ended. However, there were some souls she felt pity for, for those souls had their lives cut short due to tragedy. Either they were murdered for some type of greed, they took their own lives because they were handed the short end of the stick, or simply life did not favor them. So she made a deal with The Dagda and his wife Anu; she would take responsibility for the souls she gave a second chance and those souls would be the ones to protect humanity from the things that try to end it. These souls were given the title 'Grimm Reapers'. Reapers were beings who could not age, get sick, or die by normal means; these beings were immortal and the only way to kill them is to rip out their unbeating hearts and burn it to ashes. The only rules given to them was to never harm a human and to do the tasks that were to assign to them; otherwise, they were free to do as they please. It was said that this new deal worked so well that The Morrigan disappeared for a century or two only to reappear with a human husband and a demi-god child. However, peace never lasts forever... 18 years ago "Morgan! We have to go now or we're all going to die here!" Deric yelled out for his wife only to see her standing in the doorway of the portal room holding their newborn baby. She handed their child over to him and kissed both of their foreheads. "You have to go through the portal with our daughter alone dear I'll hol-" "Are you nuts! I will be damned if I leave you here to fight that-that THING all by yourself!" He grabbed Morgan's wrist trying to pull her through the portal with him but she just shook off his hold on her and ran to the doorway again. She looked back at them over her shoulder and with a weary smile she said, "I can't go with you, if I go with you that thing will follow us. So please my love, go. Protect our child; we will be a family again when the time is right." Just like that she left and he was still standing by the portal wondering if he really should go through it. Unfortunately, he was nothing more than a mere human, he knew he couldn't do anything to help his wife, the only thing he could do was run. When he went through the portal he ended up in the backyard of his sister's home in Maine. It was a cold December night and all he could do was hold his baby girl and walk into his sister's home; hoping she wouldn't shoot him for showing up this late. "Who the hel- wait... Deric? Is that you?" Jessie turned on the light switch to the small kitchen to make sure her assumption was right and what she saw in front of her was a sight she would never forget. "My God Deric! What happened to you!? Why are you standing here in nothing but pajama bottoms in the middle of winter and what is that you are holdin there?" She went over to her shaking brother knowing well enough the look on his face meant he wasn't shaking from the cold; she pulled the small purple quilt down far enough to see that it was a newborn baby that he was holding on to for dear life. Like he was afraid they would disappear if he let go. "I'll put on some coffee, something tells me you have one hell of a story to tell me. Don't you?" All he could do was look up from staring at his daughter to his sister's face and nod. 18 year's later Pluto's pov: "Hey, Auntie can you get dad! The phones' about to ring and it's for him!" I yelled from the kitchen downstairs. It's only been a couple of years since I first started gaining these weird talents. Like seeing or sensing when something is about to happen and being able to move things with just a thought or emotion. Telekinesis and premonitions. I thought to myself. These talents come in handy in some situations but in others, it makes me more of an outcast than I already am. My father, the Chief of police in this small town; was not the same color I was. He was clearly of African descent while I looked as pale white as fresh snow. People didn't really think that I was his daughter; that I must have been adopted or my mother had an affair and just played it off as I was really his child. Because of all those rumors, my dad had a paternity test done. Not because he didn't believe I was his blood-born child but because he thought it would silence those rumors. Unfortunately, it didn't it just made new rumors spread. I always wished I looked at least somewhat like my father and Aunt but they say I look exactly like my mother and that I should be proud of that. The phone started to ring just like I said it would. "I got it! I got it!" My dad said running down the stairs almost tripping over the last two steps. And that's where I got my clumsiness from folks! I said while shaking my head trying not to laugh out loud to where my dad could hear. "This is Officer Deric speaking, how can I help?" He said the same line that he always says when answering the phone. Even if it was me calling he would say the same thing; he's just like a broken record. I stopped listening to his conversation knowing its none of my business and went to sit down at the island in the middle of the kitchen. My Aunt walks up in her fuzzy pink robe shaking her head. "I swear he's a broken record Pluto, he says the same thing when I call his cell and I know for damn sure my name pops up when I call. That job is going to be the death of me one of these days I swear." She finishes saying while pouring three cups of coffee. I giggled at the last part of her statement. "Auntie Jessie how are you going to die from his job, huh? And I've been saying that for years, you're just now realizing it?" I drink the hot coffee hoping if I hold the mug long enough my hands will warm up. I'm always cold no matter what time of year it is or what the weather is like. The doctors say it's because I have an Iron deficiency but I keep taking these pills and it still doesn't help. "How you ask? Because he stresses me out with that job of his. You know your daddy didn't get in till one last night? I swear he's gonna work himself to death." She made herself Ice coffee since it's the middle of June. If I know my Aunt it's that she can't stand the heat; she tells me practically every day that she would love to be in my shoes where I stay cold all the time if she could. Just as I finished my coffee and was putting it in the sink my dad sat next to me with a puzzling look on his face. "Hey, what's up with you old man? Did your dementia kick in again and you forgot where you left something?" I say laughing and poking his ribs. He laughed while complaining that my poking was bruising his ribs. "First of all, I am only 38 and three-quarters you know. And two, you're never going to believe this but that was your mother who just called." I choked on air when he said it was my mother who called. None of us have seen or heard from my mother in almost 18 years. I would get the occasional birthday or holiday cards and sometimes small gifts from her. But actually talking to her? We never had her number or her address since all the mail she would send had no returning address; so communicating with her was never possible. "What did she want? I mean this is a first in almost, what? 18 years?" I said trying not to sound too hopeful and trying not to get my hopes up thinking that she would want to see me. My father sighed while rubbing his temples. "She wants us to go up there and stay with her for a while." He looked at Auntie Jessie with a smile on his face but the look on hers said she was worried. "First where? How long? And if Auntie Jessie isn't coming then I'm not going." I said folding my arms across my chest. I was excited that she wanted to see us but I was not going to leave without my Aunt. She was my main support system besides my dad and I knew on this trip I was going to need her. "A small village in Ireland called Inistioge, a year, and yes she's coming with us." Knowing my dad he probably knew I was going to ask those questions and had all the answers I needed ready. I looked over at my Aunt who looked more worried now than she did before. "Deric I don't know about this. I should probably stay here and you guys go. I don't want to be a bother." She said this rubbing her temples just like dad did before. I don't know why she wouldn't want to go, after all, she's been saying it's on her bucket list to see other countries. It didn't even hit me what the other two answers were till I had a moment to process what my Aunt just said. "Wait, Ireland? A year? Why a year? And when did you know mom was living in Ireland?" Dad looked away from me while rubbing the back of his head. So he's been keeping things from me... I thought to myself. Finally looking back at me he took a deep breath and told me a story I thought would definitely put him in the loony bin if he would have told anybody else besides me and my Aunt. "Pluto you know your not like other kids right?" I simply just nodded and waited for him to continue. "Well that's because your mother is far from an average woman you see she's uhm, well she's ah-" He kept starting and stopping the sentence trying to explain to me what it was he wanted to tell me. "Oh for God's sake Deric! Spit it out, She knows she's not normal so that little secret about her mother shouldn't come as a surprise to her. - Much.." she mumbled the last bit under her breath. She put her head in her palms trying to not get a headache for the stress I know she's feeling because of this. "Your mother isn't human Pluto. In her native land of Ireland, she's what the people call 'The Morrigan' the goddess of war and death." I looked at him in disbelief, did he honestly think I was going to believe that my mother is a goddess, an actual goddess, just because I had some special talents? He really does belong in the loony bin. Guessing from the look I'm giving him he knows I don't believe him. "I can't prove it to you but she can. She wants to see you and finally tell you everything. So what do you say? Should we go to Ireland and get the answers you've been wanting for almost 18 years now?" "Only if Aunt Jessie goes, if she doesn't go I don't go." I looked over at my aunt who was now at the other side of the kitchen grabbing her meds to stop the headache from getting worse. She looked to be in bad shape and I know it's selfish of me to ask her to go with me when she looks like this, but I just don't want to go without her. "I'll go as long as I get time to relax by myself on this trip, you got it?" She pointed her finger at both me and my father; we both nodded in agreement to this. "Good. So when are we leaving?" She looked at my father with a questioning look on her face while leaning on the kitchen counter. "3 days.." He said sheepishly. Me and my Aunt looked at each other and then back at him. "3 days!?" We yelled in unison. My dad covering his ears said that he was sorry for the last-minute trip but it wasn't like we had to pay for it which I will admit was nice that we didn't have to. Later that evening we finally finished making plans on what's to happen to the house and our car while we are gone. Dad asked some of his work buddies to help him do his job long-distance which they all agreed saying he needed the vacation anyways. The only thing I had to do was let my only two friends know that I was leaving for a year and that I'll keep them up to date which they made me swear on a twice a week update. 3 day's later I got up super early due to the fact that our plane leaves at 8 and we have to be there by 7 to check-in. I look over to my alarm clock which I only use to see the time and have never actually set an alarm in my entire life. I headed to the bathroom across the hall from my room to take a quick shower. After that, I pack everything of mine from that bathroom and started to get dressed. I decided since my first flight was about a two-hour trip and then the second one is going to be close to seven hours I was just going to wear my gray sweat pants and my cropped gray hoodie with some black sneakers. I'm only five foot so any extra weight always went to the places others called the 'right places'; I've never really had much fat on my stomach but I had enough where I wasn't considered skinny. I still dressed and ate however I want and never cared for all those social norms. The last thing I had to do to get ready was to pull my waist-length raven black hair up in a high ponytail and to put on some mascara and eyeliner to make me look like I was semi-alive. I headed downstairs where my Aunt was waiting for me and my dad was already helping our uber driver put our bags into the trunk of his car so that we could leave for the airport. I looked around our small two-story house one last time before heading out the door. Bye Castine, Maine; I'll see you in a year. I thought to myself as I watched all of the scenery of the small town I grew up in pass by. I wonder what awaits me in Ireland...