The Scythe-Bearer

Chapter 4: The name upon a page

I have never been this bored in my entire lifespan as I am at this moment. I sat in a class where a teacher is giving a lesson on the history of the Cold War. I practically stared, blank faced, at the windows. The world outside seemed to burst with colour and excitement while in this room the only colour is grey and boredom is the activity.

“Why did I have to go through this again? Oh yeah, because Lucas expects me to be his full-time servant and clean up his stupid mistakes.”

I frowned, feeling anger prickling like electricity at my spine. I felt a slight knock on my shoulder; I turned my head to see Sarah smile and wave with a paper airplane in her hand. Gentle but slight warmth entered the air and the grey world didn’t seem so prominent anymore. I felt a tug at my lips, certainly a strange sensation. Just as I was trying to decipher what is happening to me the teacher looked up and seemed to spot us over the half asleep class.

“Sarah, since you seemed to be so inclined to have a conversation with Sy you can answer, what exactly is the Cold War?”

Sarah didn’t stutter or flinch she simply stood up, winked at me, and spoke with confidence.

“The Cold War isn’t war that is fought directly but rather it is two countries gathering fire arms to challenge each other indirectly with threats.”

The teacher looked as if someone just gave her the cure to cancer and turned to carry on with the lesson without further conversation. Sarah sat down and smirked at me. I just looked at her with complete and utter new respect. The bell for lunch rang and students awoke from their history induced slumber. I got up and started for the door when Sarah stopped me.

“Hey Sy! Want to have lunch with me?”

I turned to face her

“Sure…”

We walked to the oak tree where I first met Sarah and her…um…gang if I could even call them that. Jason and Lee-Anne were already there.

“Hey Sy, joining us again?” Jason smiled and waved, “I am still not sure about him. I don’t know if he is generally friendly or is it just façade.”

Lee-Anne said nothing but plastered a scowl on her face.

“Ah, she is much easier. She doesn’t hide her feelings so she is very quick to read. Someone isn’t happy with my presence.”

I nodded and took my place against the bark of the tree. Sarah and the others conversed with each other about the most insignificant stuff; I closed my eyes and relaxed into observing with my third eye, it is not a real eye but my sensing of souls. I searched through the students’ souls for a smokey black one because this signals that it is a smokie that is possessing a human body. I breathed slowly and carried on through the crowd treading through the unoccupied white souls. I was just beginning to tire when Lee-Anne called for my attention with an under biting tone.

“Hey now don’t tell me you are actually sleeping?”

I opened my eyes and put up a hand at the stray ray of light that entered my cornea through minimal cover of the oak tree.

“History was really dull and boring.”

I yawned for effect and Lee-Anne crossed her arms

“Or maybe you think our conversations are really boring and you rather go somewhere else?”

“Think what you want.” I shrugged. “I really don’t care what you think.”

Lee-Anne narrowed her eyes at my lack of denial or anger. I guess she wanted to push my buttons, lucky her that I have no energy to bother with her poking.

“Come on now guys, it’s not good for the soul to argue.”

“Yeah Lee-Anne quit trying to pick fights when you know that there won’t be much competition when you have a black belt.”

Lee-Anne smirked smugly at me, I looked unimpressed at the way of Jason complimented Lee-Anne.

“Humans…faltering for acceptance”

“Sy, can I ask you a question?” Sarah looked at me clearly embarrassed to break the tense silence.

“Depends on the question.”

“Well, like why don’t you ever smile?”

The question confused me and it must have shown on my face because Lee-Anne butted in.

“She means why do you always look like the world hates you and you hate it back?”

“I have no reason to.”

All three stared at me with surprise at my blunt honesty. Lee-Anne was, for the first time, not making snide remarks about my answer. She shifted and seemed embarrassed or rather uncomfortable about what she was to say.

“Sy…why do you think you don’t have a reason to? You don’t need a reason to smile.”

Her sincerity threw me off for a bit, Jason’s eyes seemed to project the same words as he stared intently at me. After a moment of awkwardness I stuttered, clearly thrown off by the atmosphere shift.

“W...well...um”

Sarah placed her hand on my shoulder with her face full of concern.

“Sy, do you even know how to smile?”

The question hit me like a 10 ton truck; it sparked a reaction I never felt before and it scared me though I will never admit it out loud. They are getting too close to breaking down my carefully placed walls, they are close to chipping away to reveal my vulnerability. All sorts of thoughts flowed through my mind at one time, so many reasons why and not one is sitting right with me but I believe those reasons because they are all I know. “Please don’t come closer, I am not supposed to smile. It isn’t my place. It isn’t right for a monster to smile. Smiling is meant for those with pure souls and I don’t even have one!”

I feel my heart twisting in my chest causing a painful sensation. Sensing my distress Sarah tried to change the subject by asking Jason about his new shirt but Lee-Anne seemed distracted by the previous events.

The conservation continued while I slipped back into observing the crowd for my target, the real reason why I am here. “I just want to get this assignment done so I can leave this school and go back to my simple existence.”

At the edge of my vision I caught a glimpse of a grey hue mixed with the brightness of white. I sat up quickly causing the other three to look at me.

“Sy, what’s the matter?”

I didn’t answer, I was searching the crowd for that grey hue but it was gone and the school bell rang for the end of break. “Dammit! So close…”

“Hey Sy! Earth to Sy.”

I looked towards Jason and the others looking at me with questioning looks.

“Sorry I thought I saw something but it’s nothing.”

“Well it doesn’t matter lets head to class.”

We made about four steps before I was hit with unimaginable pain in my frontal lobe; I grasped my head with my hands and scrunched my eyes closed.

“Ugh!”

Sarah turned to me while Jason and Lee-Anne joined her. The pain intensified tenfold, I fell to my knees and groaned. “This feeling is much worse than all the others; I never expected to feel this so soon.”

“Sy! What is wrong?! Is it your Head?”

Sarah placed her warm hands on my shoulders while Lee-Anne told Jason to find a teacher. Even the Sarah’s hands didn’t seem to dull the pain in fact it increased. I felt my consciousness slipping and before I knew it, I felt nothing. Everything blurred out of existence…

***

I can’t see, what is happening! I feel as though someone is calling me but I can’t hear anything through the sound of roaring fire. I can’t breathe, I must go but I can’t move. The scene changed to the woman with fiery hair, she keeps crying and calling out to me with a foreign name but she is bound by ropes. The flames touch her causing her flesh to bubble but she doesn’t cry out in pain, the only thing she cries are the names Falce and Lapis. I feel tears leaking from my eyes but I don’t know why. “Who are you?!” I shouted towards her, “Why do you always appear?! Who is Falce?! Who is Lapis?!” I felt a gust of wind and the flames disappear to reveal a dark figure sitting upon a throne in a cave lit by candlelight. The figure though small in comparison of the room seemed to dominate the room but I felt no fear in fact I felt safe and calm. The sensation shocked me but before I could figure out why it all slipped away from me. Again…

I pulled my eye lids back slowly only to be met with an unfamiliar ceiling, “Where am I?” I felt a weight on my side; I looked towards it to find it was Sarah resting her head on my arm. I felt warmth rise in my chest and it was, once again, confusing. I observed the room; it was the school’s infirmary. My movement awoke Sarah; she looked at me with half-lidded sleepy eyes.

“Sy…I glad you are okay; you gave us quite a shock. I am sorry I asked personal questions, I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. Are we still friends?”

She didn’t remove her head from my arm and just looked up at me, expectantly.

“Yeah, we are still friends. Sorry for making you worry, you can continue sleeping. I will wake you when it is home time.”

She smiled and closed her eyes. I felt my heart tug and a strange sensation began to churn in my stomach. I looked around to see if there was anyone around then I lifted my free hand to summon my Grim. “Please don’t let it be, please don’t let it be.”

The pages of the Grim flew open to a new page where a new name materialized; I stared intently at it awaiting someone’s prescribed death, hoping that my gut was wrong. “I don’t mind being wrong this time, I don’t want to cause any more pain just let me be wrong.” The name became clearer…Sarah Lockwell…